Cornmeal muffins with spinach for Marta's July table - because they're delicious, easy and speedy if you're as rushed as I am!


It's no secret how much I love bread, is it? After all I have countless bread recipes around. And I tend to have a few recipes of cornbread in the midst of all the rest. I really love cornbread, as a side dish, to go with a hearty stew in Autumn, or the dead of Winter, when all's bleak and colourless and you're in need of a ray of sunshine. A fragrant, yellow cornbread smack in the mid of February is something I tend to resort to, whenever the Winter blues are taking its toll and I am longing for Spring, warmth, sunlight. It fits the bill, and all sorts of cravings get silenced with it. 


But I also find that cornbread is perfect Summer fare. To side along a spicy barbecue, sitting next to a fresh salad, to munch away with a cheese platter, or even as the perfect friend for  roast chicken i early September when I begin to crave for Autumn and the first gales of wind. Cornbread is something I can find a delight in whatever the season. As with corn. I love corn and runner beans, for instance. Just boiled and tossed with some freshly grated black pepper, it's one of my favourite side dishes for just about anything. I also love corn with peas, and corn rice. But the way I like corn better is really just tossed into a hefty salad, one that is ripe with veggies. Corn goes so well with a big bowl of tomato and lettuce, onions for bite, a simple vinaigrette coating the whole of it. I do like my corn.


And corn muffins are something I resort to when I'm in the mood for something small and savoury and indulging. They're like tiny bites of goodness I enjoy on one of those Saturday night dinners where we stock up on a world of different bites and sit around the table chatting away and chewing away and having fun just the three of us. They're good as light fare meal, and also as an entrée of sorts. They're handy for speedy lunches or hurried meals. And they're just about perfect for a good old picnic, be it in  park, in the woods, at the beach. Cornmeal muffins should be pictured in any sort of picnic, I tell you. Seeing that picnic season is already in full swing, I am already dreaming of baking a load of these for my next picnic.


When Marta from Intrusa na Cozinha announced this month's ingredient, I had recently baked these boys. I had also styled them and photographed them, and was pending editing the photos so I could share here on my blog. Seeing that corn was the choice of ingredient for July, I was really happy, because last month it was cherries and I didn't cook with them - I can only eat raw cherries, for starters, and I was also overwhelmed with work. Not that I'm no longer overwhelmed, I think I'm eve more, right now, but these babies were cooked already, and it would be a shame not bringing them to Marta's table when they are so good! I always tend to add something extra to my corn muffins, as you can see here, and this time it was no different. I added spinach, as the two go together well, and they were really yummy and more-ish, these muffins. Go ahead and try for yourselves!


How do you go about it? You'll need:
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups cornmeal flour
  • 1 1/4 cups of milk
  • 4 tbsp melted butter
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 thawed cubes of frozen spinach
  • olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic powder
Turn on the oven at 180º, and line your muffin tins. I used silicone mini bundt tins, so no need for hassles there. On a fying pan heat up a glug of olive oil. Add the spinach to it, season with salt, pepper and the garlic powder and let them cook. Once they're done, reserve and let cool. On a bowl, whisk the milk, the egg and the butter together until they are fully combined and start adding the dry ingredients, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Mix in the spinach. Once the mixture gets smooth, pour the batter into the tins and bake in the oven for about half an hour, but keep a close eye on them. As soon as they're golden and done, let them cool completely before unmoulding. They can be baked the previous night and packed away next morning for your picnics, and because they're no trouble whatsoever you can even bake a batch to tke with you to a dinner party with friends and family, along with the proverbial wine bottle. I bet they will love the thought!



Comments

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    Replies
    1. Pode encontrar os meus contactos no topo do lado esquerdo do ecrã

      Delete
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  4. i love bread so i don't blame you (; and since these have spinach, it's not that decadent and okay to finish off the whole batch in one sitting, right? (;

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think it's wrong to eat them all in one go, not at all ;) they got their greens so they be healthy ahaha!!

      Delete
  5. Olá linda!
    Eu partilho contigo a paixão por pão.. pão de milho, ou em especial broa de milho é algo a que não resisto seja no pico do verão ou no frio do inverno. É bom sempre, a acompanhar tudo! Até com sardinhas assadas eu gosto.
    É E depois também concordo contigo que milho vai excelente em saladas ou num arroz. Vai bem com tudo 😉
    Houve uma altura em que o meu marido dizia que qualquer dia me cresciam penas, virava a galinha, de tanto milho que comia! Homes....
    Muffins de milho curiosamente nunca experimentei. Mas vou levar a receita para o próximo pic nic!
    Obrigado minha querida, pela tua presença na nossa mesa de julho.
    Beijoca grande
    Marta

    ReplyDelete
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    (well, almost...HaHa!) Wonderful job. I really loved what you had to say, and more than that,
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    ReplyDelete
    Replies
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      Delete
  7. We're having a BBQ this weekend and this (adapted to make it vegan) would go so well with it. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I never know how to adapt a recipe to make it vegan, would loooove to see your take on this!!

      Delete

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