Tuesdays with Dorie is a group of bakers who are baking through Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours. The bakers take turns picking the recipe for the week and we all post on Tuesdays (hence the name).
Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake (one of my faves!) chose this week's recipe, Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins. I was looking forward to this one, not just because we've been craving a savory break from all of the sweets, but because I love corn muffins. I used a stone ground corn meal, thinking it would make the muffins rustic. Since I was sharing these with visitors who may or may not like spicy food, I omitted the jalapeno. I used a ground Ancho chile powder, and added about a half teaspoon of cumin to round out the flavor. I increased the corn (I used frozen) to about 3/4 cup. I also subbed fat free yogurt for the buttermilk. I popped them in the oven and waited eagerly for them to come out. They baked for about 19 minutes. I tasted one right after I took them out of the oven (ouch!) Hmm...
They were kind of disappointing. The flavor was...muddled. The jalapeno would have helped, and adding cheddar would have helped a lot. The worst part was the stone ground corn meal was gritty and didn't add a great texture. The corn meal was less gritty the following day, but the extra day dried out the corn so that it was almost desiccated. Maybe fresh corn would hold up better.
Check out the other TWD bakers here. They had better results than I did, and they reported that the muffins were fantastic with chili. I would try these again, stick with the recipe, using buttermilk, jalapenos and less corn, plus skipping the cumin. It's possible I made too many changes and it blanded out the flavors.
36 comments:
I'm sorry that these were a disappointment for you. I think you're right about the cheese, but then I think ANYTHING is better with cheese. :o)
Well, it is great that your tried. I mean that is how we all become better. Thanks for all the tips. I really like reading blogs that offer a little bit of everything, the good and bad. I mean we all can not have picture perfect culinary moments. Good job all the same!!!
Bummer that these didn't turn out how you liked them. Hopefully next time will be better!
Sorry that you didn't care for them.
We loved them.
Too bad you didn't like these. I think your cheese idea is a great one though!
The stone ground cornmeal definitely adds some texture that not everyone would like. Maybe with some changes, you'd like these better.
Sorry you didn't love them. I'm not a huge spicy fan, but I do like a little heat and even after adding a whole jalapeno (seeds and insides removed), I thought they would be good even a little spicier. Leave in some of the seeds of the jalapeno or something. Definitely try them again (but I still say Bobby Flay's are better! sigh)
I love how dark yours look, I thought maybe it was whole wheat flour or something, must be the stoneground corn, mine was just the regular kind.
Too bad you didn't loved these- at least you gave them a shot. I was thinking the cumin sounded really great!
Too bad you didn't like the muffins. They look gorgeous though!
Oh sorry you didn't like them. I loved mine. But next week we have berry cake! something to look forward to?
Did you use the butter called for? Buttermilk has very little fat maybe 2% or less. Unless you don't like it. I'm just curious why you used yogurt.... Anyway, its super fun to play with recipes I think. Go girl!! I am used to a heavier sort of texture not so crumbly gritty myself. I make one with sauteed jalep, onion + monterrey jack and creamed corn. Pretty yoummy if you want...I'll share. Oh yea there is buttermilk too.
Thank you so much for visiting.
AmyRuth
Sorry these didn't turn out the way you would have liked. Ah, the joys of baking!
Thanks for your comment on my blog:)
You know, I had that problem with stone ground cornmeal in the past. It just messed up the flavor and texture of the cornbread.
A good Wisconsin cheddar would be perfect:)
They look great! I double ground my corn meal - reminded me too much of grits. And I agree - everything is better with cheese.
Oh, how disappointing to go to all that work and then not enjoy them immensely! Not every recipe is a hit...we have gotten lucky so far, but we are not very picky around here...nothing like a household of men to eat...the 16 year old sons will eat anything not nailed down, I think. Yours do look very nice and tasty!
www.grandmaskitchentable.typepad.com
I thought for sure you were on track for a slam-dunk with the ancho and cumin. What a bummer that your adaptations didn't work. I like the crunch of stone ground corn meal, but it is what I always use and accustomed to.
I had some of the same feelings about these muffins - hey, they were quick and easy though - onto the next recipe, right? They still looked wonderful though -and yes, they would probably be better with cheese!
mike
oh no! sorry you didn't enjoy the muffins all that much. they look great though, especially with that pat of butter!
I'm glad I'm not the only one that didn't just love these. They were fine for me, just not spectacular like everything else I've tried from this book so far.
Thanks for the nice comments on my little blog! I look forward to more baking with you!
Thanks for stopping by. I love your Ellie Krieger meal below and I think that I will order her cookbook (I'll pick it up when I go to the US in a few weeks)- I could use healthy but delicious food!
I'm sorry you ended up with less than stellar corn muffins :( You should definitely give them another try to see which of the changes might have been the one to blame. I used canned corn which worked well. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I love the way you attacked this recipe. Sounds so familiar to me! I try to stick right with Dorie (and sometimes I succeed) but usually I succumb to changing one little thing, then another!
Nancy
Sorry they weren't your favourite, the cheese would have been good though.
Sorry you didn't like them but it's always good experience to experiment. I used Indian Head brand Stone Ground Cornmeal and didn't find it gritty at all but if yours was a very coarse grind that might be the problem. I've had that happen with the more natural brands.
Sorry to hear that these didn't turn out for you... I do like your idea about adding cheese.
Too bad you didn't like them, but the way I look at it, I learn from my experiments, even the failed ones. It looks like you did, too.
I'm sorr that they didn't work out so well! I hope you get a chance to try them again!!!
Ciao ! I'm sorry they weren't so good for you !Thanks for being so nice to me to think I'm such a good embroiderer ! If you want check the edited post !
I'm sure next time you'll have better luck with those muffins since now you know what you liked and what you didn't. Its good that we gave it a try even though in my case I forgot the corn! We'll do it better next time :)
Sorry these weren't your favorite...the addition of the jalapeno added a nice bite. They do look nice though!!! :)
Sorry that these didn't work for you...we all have our hits and misses. I had one with the Linzer Sables last month! Next week will be a better week!:)
Your muffins looks so tasty and festive! Sorry you were disappointed with them.
Too bad these didn't turn out for you. They look so beautiful and golden.
My thoughts exactly on these muffins. Too grainy, no real flavor, oh well. Can't win them all, sure were pretty though!
Bummer you weren't a fan but I agree that you really can't go wrong with adding cheese to anything. HAHA. Oh well. There's always next week. Berry cake! Yum!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
You know I screwed up, too--too much chile powder...but everybody else seems to love them, so I am def. going to try try again.
Babette
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