Friday, October 4, 2013

CORN BREAD FOR KRUSHCHEV (MOLDOVAN CORN BREAD)






Deputy Gheorghe Ghimpu replaces the Soviet flag on the Parliament with the Moldovan flag on April 27, 1990.


Food & Wine magazine recently published this excellent-seeming corn bread recipe as one of its daily emailed “recipe of the day features.

They (or, more correctly, the recipe’s authors) gave the dish a silly name (I don’t remember anything truly amusing about Nikita Krushshchev, whose birthday I share, incidentally), but the corn bread itself looks tremendous and I’ve already purchased the ingredients.







Corn Bread for Khrushchev



Contributed by Anya von Bremzen 

  • ACTIVE: 20 MIN
  • TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 15 MIN
  • SERVINGS: 6 to 8

In the US, Nikita Khrushchev is best known for his shoe-banging at the United Nations. In Russia, the eccentric premier is mostly remembered for his obsession with planting corn everywhere—which earned him the nickname of Kukuruznik (Corn Man). As a comical tribute to Khrushchev, Anya von Bremzen and her mother often make this moist, fluffy Moldovan corn bread with feta and sour cream. It's fantastic for dunking into sauces and dips, or with more feta and fire-roasted red peppers. It also makes a great toast.

Ingredients:

      1.      1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus more for the pan
      2.     2 large eggs, lightly beaten
      3.    2 cups milk
      4.    1/2 cup sour cream
      5.    2 cups fine yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
      6.    3/4 cup all-purpose flour
      7.     2 teaspoons baking powder
      8.    1 teaspoon salt
      9.    1 teaspoon sugar
      10. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
      11. 3/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled
      12.   Thinly sliced jarred roasted red peppers, for serving (optional)

Method:

      1.     Preheat the oven to 400° and butter a 9-inch square baking pan. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, sour cream and melted butter. In a medium bowl, whisk the cornmeal with the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and baking soda. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until smooth, then fold in the crumbled feta.
      2.    Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the corn bread cool slightly, then cut into squares and serve with roasted peppers. 

Make Ahead. The corn bread can be stored in an airtight container overnight; serve at room temperature. 
 



Panorama of the museum complex Old Orhei, a system of historical monuments and natural landscapes, famous for its cave monasteries.




Mihai Eminescu, national poet of Moldova and Romania.

3 comments:

  1. is your birthday really April 15? This of course enhances your importance even further in the mind of every right-thinking tax lawyer.

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    Replies
    1. Damn. I was always under the impression, based on my father's annual business calendars (decades of them from the same stationer) that it was April 17, just like Doolittle's raid on Tokyo and one day ahead of Paul Revere's ride and my unsainted aunt's birthday. I need to consult the record books. I myself have for years used a calendar from a Spanish stationer (long story) where each day is a holiday/saint's day. That, as they say, is the ticket. I'm happy someone read this very beautiful post. What a recipe. I mean, really. Very intense day; I think an intense weekend upcoming also. I hope you enjoy your flight. Curtis

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    2. I am, incidentally, burned up by the Krushchev Birthday Burn, if the information that fueled my childhood actually turns out to be inaccurate. (According to Wikipedia, it is.) I cannot be mistaken in my recollection, but it's entirely possible that the calendar I relied on was. That being said, I share a birthday with Senor Wences, William Holden and the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Not to mention Doolittle's raid on Tokyo, a fact I'll keep to myself if I ever eventually visit Japan. Curtis

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