I have spent a lot of the past year learning how to eat local. Our garden has expanded, we’ve lived off frozen berries in the winter instead of buying imported fruit (what DOES a banana taste like? I’ve almost forgotten…) and I have even managed to source some locally grown and ground flour.
But every once in a while you have to deviate from the plan. Especially for something like this.
This, my friends, is purple corn flour. Purple! And yes, I know it had to fly here on a plane, from Peru…but it’s PURPLE!! (I really just couldn’t resist.) And it was on sale…. Sale is a magic word to me. Guaranteed to make me spend more money than I was planning on….
Anyway, so I had this beautiful purple corn flour. And it doesn’t just look good, it smells good too. Slightly sweet, and not really that “corny” if you know what I mean.
And I’ve been reading Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book by Laurel Robertson and there was a great recipe in there for corn bread. And since I had these on the counter that needed to be used pronto
And a garden full of these (It’s almost time to start leaving them on doorsteps….)
I decided to throw them in too. I mean, if you are going to make purple bread, you might as well throw in some blue and green too, right?
Oops! Where did THOSE come from? These didn’t actually make it in the bread but to the freezer for later and let me just give you a piece of advice. If your friend should happen to give you some overripe bananas for baking because her freezer is full of them and you haven’t bought any in a year, don’t forget about them and leave them in your backpack for a couple of days. The bananas will survive ok….but the backpack…well, I’m not sure it will ever be (er, smell) the same!
Back to the bread, even with only a cup of purple cornflour the batter has a beautiful purple glow.
And hot out of the oven it looks like cake (and almost tastes like cake despite the absence of sugar in the dough.) Beautiful, moist and tasty.
Here is the recipe so you can make your own purple and blue and green cornbread, or just yellow and blue and green if you can’t find purple corn flour, or really, just yellow if you aren’t feeling adventurous and don’t have zucchinis overflowing in your garden (would you like some?)
Basic (or not-so-basic) Cornbread
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 1/2 cups cornmeal (I used 1 cup purple, 1 cup yellow and 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour)
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 Tbsp. melted butter
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 grated zucchini
- 1 cup blueberries
Combine salt, baking powder, baking soda and cornmeal in a bowl. In a separate bowl beat the eggs and combine with honey, butter, buttermilk and zucchini. Pour into the flour and stir until just-mixed. Fold in the blueberries. Pour into a greased 8×8 pan and bake at 425 for about 25 minutes, or until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Enjoy!
Amazing post. I have bookmarked your site. I am looking forward to reading more
I had the same feeling when I saw this corn flour at Whole Foods today: it’s not local but it’s PURPLE corn flour!!! After seeing your success with the cornbread I think I’m going to try making some purple corn and quinoa waffles with blueberry syrup. Loving your blog, by the way. 🙂
Laura, that sounds delicious! Purple Corn and Quinoa waffles…..wish I was at your house for breakfast!
I just got some purple and blue corn flour from a friend that is locally ground and all natural! I don’t know where local is for you, but if you’re ever in central Indiana, you should stop by.
http://bridgetonmill.com/