Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Tuesdays with Dorie—Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

Savory Corn and Pepper MuffinsI love homemade muffins since they satisfy my craving for a snack any time of day. And they're so easy to throw together. Whisk the dry ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients. Mix the two together until combined (but don't overmix) and bake.
Oh, do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, do you know the muffin man,
That lives on Drury Lane?
Nursery Rhyme explained
I was inspired by fellow food blogger at Food Rockz to crack open one of my favorite cookbooks, Michel Richard's Happy in the Kitchen: The Craft of Cooking The Art of Eating, where I found a recipe for Lemon-Lime Madeleine Muffins. Since I have a little-used mini madeleine pan, I thought I'd make Madeleine Muffins using Dorie's recipe. Served alongside some homemade chili, I had the perfect lunch.

Recipe

For me, the recipe made 12 mini madeleines, 12 mini muffins and 8 regular-sized muffins. I baked the minis for half the time stated in the recipe (10 minutes).

Ingredients for Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal, stone-ground
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons chili powder, or more to taste
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup buttermilk
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg yolk
¼ cup corn kernels
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded, deveined and finely diced
¼ red bell pepper, seeded deveined and finely diced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

You can find the recipe for Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins in the book Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or here. To see how the rest of the TWD group fared with this week's recipe, click here and then click on each blogger! Thanks to Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake who chose the recipe for this week and will post the recipe.

Savory Corn and Pepper MuffinsTasting Notes
These muffins have the perfect combination of spice and heat to go with many main dishes, and can be tweaked to fit many different palates. For more spice, add more chili pepper and jalapeños or take the spice out all together for a more corn muffin flavor. As well, the texture was excellent since it didn't crumble but was moist and cake-like. These muffins would be delicious with scrambled eggs, in a bread bowl at a Super Bowl Party, but we thought they were perfect with chili, which I'll post about soon.
"You don't get tired of muffins, but you don't find inspiration in them."
— George Bernard Shaw, British playwright and critic (although likely referring to English Muffins)
Recipe for Next Week (January 20)
Berry Surprise Cake on pages 273-275 chosen by Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen.

Other savory muffin ideas:
Savory Rosemary & Chevre Muffins at Always Order Dessert
Honey-Cheese Corn Muffins at Gourmeted
Breakfast Pizza Muffins at What's Cooking?
Parmesan Tuna Muffin at Yummy!!

Some sweet muffin ideas:
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Pumpkin Muffins

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  • 40 comments:

    Audrey said...

    I love the madeleines! I was trying to figure out how you made them in that gorgeous shape, but of course (said with French accent). What a great idea...I have a madeleine pan but hardly ever make madeleines (tho, on the other hand, should make those more too).

    Anonymous said...

    These were good weren't they? They're wonderful in madeleine form.

    Anonymous said...

    Oh, I love the little minis and the little mini Madeleines! You know how I love little one or two bite things, so these are so perfect...I am definitely adding this to my recipe...thanks for the info on how many of each it made, that is so helpful when you do that! Yours looks so pretty and nice...very beautiful!

    Jodie said...

    Cute madeleines! Fun idea!

    Jules Someone said...

    Madeline muffins! Oh my! Lovely, just lovely.

    Cathy said...

    Love the little madeleines! I am so glad that you liked these. I think yours look beautiful in all of their assorted forms. Looking forward to hearing about your chili, too!

    Unknown said...

    Wow, how creative. I love the madeleines!

    Unknown said...

    These look delicious!

    Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

    Beautiful pictures! I think I say that on all of your pictures! :)

    TeaLady said...

    These muffins were pretty good and sooooo colorful. YOurs look great, but the madeleines look even better....

    Beryl said...

    you are a genius- these look great!

    chocolatechic said...

    Yours always look so cute.

    Anonymous said...

    Your pictures are gorgeous as always. Mini-madeleines! How cute. Your muffins look great.

    Donna-FFW said...

    Awesome photos! Muffins look wonderfully delectable!

    Marthe said...

    Awww.... those pretty little madeleine muffins look sooo cute!
    I thought they tasted amazing!

    Engineer Baker said...

    Dangit, I should have gone with madeleines too. Mini muffins were wonderful, but I just love the shape of madeleins. Beautiful!

    vibi said...

    AH! ha! Little corn madeleines! Cute! ...and perfect for breakfast! A mix of the New and the Old Worlds!
    Hummm... would you be giving in the politicaly correct, now? LOL
    Beautiful as usual, Shari!

    Peggy said...

    awe. . . madeleines! So creative. I loved these muffins!

    Anonymous said...

    love the madeleines. you're right, these would go really good with scrambled eggs.

    Linda said...

    I love the out of the box thinking with the madeleine mold!

    Meeta K. Wolff said...

    i always forget how great savory muffins are. this is a great reminder looks awesome!

    Anonymous said...

    These look really delicious. Love the various forms you chose!

    Jan said...

    I love the look of those muffins - I don't like cakes and things but muffins made with corn and pepper....Oooh I would like those!

    Cooking for Comfort by Jennifer said...

    Your muffins look delicious...and I agree with Mr. Shaw...sometimes it's hard to find inspiration in a muffin....but these were INSPIRING!

    Anonymous said...

    Using the madeleine pans was a great idea. And congratulations on your anniversary!

    Carol Peterman/TableFare said...

    What an excellent use of a madeleine mold. Mine is under used as well, but now might be seeing some corn muffin action.

    Anonymous said...

    I've always been more of a savoury breakfast kind of guy, so this sounds right up my alley!

    Anonymous said...

    I love muffins especially homemade one..Thank you for the post..Can't wait to try this..

    restaurant grill

    pam said...

    I love Tuesdays with Dorrie! These muffins popping up all over sound and look fabulous!

    grace said...

    aw...the madeleines are absolutely perfect, especially because they're resting on a glorious bed of cilantro. :)

    Pamela said...

    Great picture on the Madeline muffin on the cilantro. Beautiful job!

    AmyRuth said...

    Eureka! What a great idea. They look good Shari
    AmyRuth

    Anonymous said...

    How pretty! Lovely presentation. You took these muffins uptown.

    Leslie said...

    Those cornbread madeleines look like fun! I'm glad these worked out for you.

    The Food Librarian said...

    Love all the different shapes! What a great idea!!!!

    LyB said...

    I think I'm going to use my madeleines pans way more often from now on. Madeleine-shaped muffins, here I come! :) Thanks for sharing your creative ideas with us, they're always so inspiring.

    Olga said...

    Those look very delicious!
    I made something similar a few times but started off with a Jiffy mix :)

    I also like adding cheese.

    Anonymous said...

    yum! i really like savoury muffins. having them around is like having the best tasty snack ever! these look fab.

    Anonymous said...

    Nice recipe.. I definitely appreciate that bit of extra heat from savory muffins.

    kimberly salem said...

    way to make use of that madeleine pan! :) they look so cute. glad you liked them. i think the mini or madeleine size is just perfect!