HARVEST TIME RECIPES

HARVEST TIME!

Southern Cornbread

Anytime you put the words "Southern" in front of a dish, it's likely to stir up controversy, and cornbread is no exception. It seems like every person I've ever known from the South has their favorite way of making it, and every way is different. But the thing that distinguishes Southern cornbread from, say Yankee cornbread, or any other cornbread one is likely to eat outside of the southern states, is that it is savory, not particularly sweet, and it is made mostly with cornmeal. Northern cornbreads tend to be more cake-like, on the sweet side, with a finer crumb due to more flour in the mixture. Southern cornbread is flavored with bacon grease, and cooked in a cast iron skillet, a perfect side for barbecues, or chili.

{Southern Cornbread Recipe}

Prep time: 15 minutes

• Cook time: 20 minutes

White cornmeal is used in most Southern cornbreads, but we could not find any here in California, so we used yellow cornmeal. If you can find white cornmeal, by all means use it.

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Ingredients

• 2 cups cornmeal OR 1 1/2 cups cornmeal and 1/2 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar (optional)
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 egg (optional)
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp bacon drippings

Method

1 Put the bacon fat in a 9 or 10-inch cast iron skillet and put the skillet into the oven. Then preheat the oven to 400° with the skillet inside. (If you don't have an iron skillet, you can use an uncovered Dutch oven or a metal cake pan.)
2 Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat the egg and buttermilk until combined, then mix that into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir in the melted butter.


3 When the oven is hot, take out the skillet (carefully, as the handle will be hot!). Add the cornbread batter and make sure it is evenly distributed in the skillet. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the edges are beginning to brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
4 Let the bread rest for 10-30 minutes in the skillet before cutting it into wedges and serving.
To avoid burning your hand because you've forgotten the pan is hot, I recommend placing a pot holder on the pan's handle while the cornbread is resting, or cooling the handle down a bit with an ice cube.
Yield: Makes 8 servings.

Fesenjan Persian Chicken Stew with Walnut and Pomegranate Sauce

Fall is here, and in our little corner of Sacramento, that means walnuts and pomegranates. First the walnuts make an appearance, dropping cleanly out of their thick green husks. If the neighborhood crows are lucky, walnuts will bounce onto the pavement to be run over by passing cars, yielding an instant feast for the birds. If not, the crows will scoop up whole walnuts in their beaks, fly high and drop them, hoping the nuts crack open when they hit the ground. Next to ripen are the pomegranates. With the shorter days the pomegranates become ruby red, but that doesn't mean they're ready. It's when they start to crack open, revealing the jewels inside, that it's time to pick.

{Fesenjan Persian Chicken Stew with Walnut and Pomegranate Sauce Recipe}

Prep time: 10 minutes

• Cook time: 2 hours

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Ingredients

• 1 to 2 large yellow onions, chopped, (3 cups)
• 2 Tbps unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 5 Tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1/2 pound walnut halves (about 2 cups)
• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs and/or breasts, trimmed of excess fat, cut into medium size pieces, patted dry and salted
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp plus 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Salt

Method

1 First toast the walnuts. You can do that one of two ways. You can either spread them out in a single layer in a large skillet, and toast them on medium high heat, stirring frequently until lightly toasted, or you can spread them out in a single layer in a baking rimmed baking sheet, and toast at 350°F in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes. In either case, once toasted, remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, pulse in a food processor or blender until finely ground.

2 In a large pan, heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, pat the chicken pieces dry again and place the chicken pieces in the pan, working in batches if necessary to not crowd the pan, and cook until golden brown on all sides. Sprinkle the chicken with salt while they are cooking.
3 Use a slotted spoon or tongs to remove the chicken from the pan, set aside. Add a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of oil to the pan. Lower the heat to medium low. Add chopped onions to the pan and sauté until translucent, stirring on occasion to release the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

4 Return the chicken pieces to the pan with the onions. Pour 2 cups of chicken stock over the chicken and onions. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.

5 Stir in the ground walnuts, pomegranate molasses, sugar, and spices. Cover and cook on very low heat for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so to prevent the walnuts from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
6 Remove from heat and adjust sugar/salt to taste. At this point the chicken should be fall apart tender.
Garnish with pomegranate seeds. Serve over parsi pulao or other favorite rice.
Yield: Serves 6-8.