Bumblebee Salsa

Most people who believe in past lives will usually claim to be an exotic Pharoh or a wealthy world traveler.  Me?  I'm pretty much convinced I was a bumblebee in a past life.  I've always been fascinated by them, the fact that such a tiny insect has such profound impact on our species (no bees=no pollination=no plants=no food) and how the colony survives by each little bee doing their part for the common good.  Plus honey!  I have lost many summer hours sitting on the porch reading a good book to the sound of buzzing as the busy little fellas flower hop, it's practically hypnotic.  One of my favorite quotes and a personal mantra of mine features bees:

"Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway." -Mary Kay Ash

This salsa recipe is one that I like to have in the icebox during the summer for those days when it's so hot you don't want to turn on the oven or stove.  It's great with chips, as a topping for fish tacos, a filling for a quesadilla or just by the spoonful.  The vibrant yellow of the corn against the black beans is how this summertime staple got it's name.  It's a huge bonus that it doesn't take long to throw together and most of the ingredients are pantry staples.

Bumblebee Salsa

2 cans black beans
1 can corn
2 large tomatoes
3 green onions, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, minced (remove the seeds and veins unless you like it spicy)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons vinegar
1 lime
Salt to taste

Drain and rinse the black beans and set aside.  

Cut the stem and core out of the tomatoes and squeeze the juice and seeds into a large bowl.  

Chop the tomatoes and add to the bowl along with the onions, garlic and jalapeño.  

Add the black beans and the drained can of corn.  (Can ya tell how I came up with the name now?)

Stir well and add the oil and vinegar along with the juice of the lime.  Add a fairly large pinch of salt (like salting potatoes it takes more than you think it will) taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.  

Keep in mind that this salsa gets better with age and the flavors will intensify as it sits so err on the side of caution at this stage, you can always add more heat or salt or vinegar later.  Cover and refrigerate, stirring occasionally. After a few hours in the icebox check and adjust seasoning.

A few wee tips:

Use caution when handling jalapeños, the juice can easily blister your skin especially if you have sensitive skin. It's a good idea to use gloves when cutting them.  Keep your fingers away from your eyes or nose (I have awful memories of jalapeño fingers and contact lenses...believe me, not fun!) and keep in mind that oil rubbed onto your skin may help to dilute the capsaicin (the stuff responsible for the burn) since it is an oil soluble substance.

In my experience, jalapeños are the pepper that has the most inconsistent heat level so when using them in a recipe it's a good idea to take a nibble so you can judge how much you will need.  The jalapeño I used to make this batch was a particularly spicy one so I only used half of it.  On an interesting side note, the heat level (scoville heat units) is somewhat influenced by the temperature that they are grown in, so peppers I grow in my backyard in Las Vegas will be spicier than the ones my dad grows in Colorado.  The more you know!

Brown Butter Sweet Cornbread

I'm a Southern girl through and through, but I was doubly blessed because both my Mom and Grandma are amazing cooks.  I have fond memories of standing in a chair helping to stir whatever was bubbling away on my Mom's stove and decorating cookies with her on all the major holidays...there is a holiday because the grass is green right?!  I also remember my Grandma had this giant tin (nearly as tall as I was if memory serves me right) full of flour in one of the cupboard and when she asked me to count out cups of flour I knew something yummy was in my future, biscuits or pancakes or pies.  No one will ever convince me that there is a better pie out there than one that came from my Mamaw's kitchen. 

One of the many staples of a Southern kitchen is cornbread.  Serve it up with stew or chili, break it up in a bowl and drizzle it with milk or buttermilk and eat it with a spoon or slather it with honey butter for breakfast, one can always find an excuse to eat a piece of cornbread.  There are cornbread mixes out there and while they aren't horrible, they usually turn out a dry and mostly tasteless piece of bread that usually doesn't make it into the leftover section in the icebox.  The good news is that making it from scratch is super easy and will taste so good it will knock your socks off!  

This is a recipe I've been tweaking over the years and is exactly how I like cornbread, sweet and moist with a little texture from the addition of the grits and with a slight nuttiness form the browned butter.  If you don't have grits on hand, don't worry, you can use a full cup of corn meal instead, you just won't get the occasional pops of crunch.  My recipe calls for putting a cast iron skillet and butter in the oven while it's preheating, this too is optional.  I like the way the batter fries up a bit when you pour it into a sizzling hot skillet because it gives a nice crunchy crust.  If you don't have an oven proof skillet, you can use an oven proof glass pan and melt the butter in it.  As far as the liquid goes, you need a cup of something from the dairy aisle, but whatever you choose to use is up to you, milk, half and half, cream or buttermilk.  

Browned Butter Sweet Cornbread

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

3/4 cup corn meal

1/4 grits

1 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

1 cup half and half

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place 3 Tablespoons butter in am oven proof skillet and place in the oven to melt the butter and heat the skillet. 

In a bowl, add corn meal, flour, grits, sugar, salt, and baking powder and stir.  Add the egg and half and half and stir just until combined and there are no pockets of dry ingredients. 

Check on the melted butter in the skillet, once bubbly and the milk solids have begun to brown (you can see the browned bits of the butter in the pictures above and below), use a pot holder to remove the skillet and stir the browned butter into the batter.  Replace the skillet in the oven with the 2 Tablespoons left over butter until it melts.  Once the butter is melted, carefully take the skillet out of the oven with a pot holder and swirl the butter around until evenly coated and quickly pour the batter into the skillet and put back in the oven.  This should be done as quickly as you can (while still being safe) to avoid the skillet loosing any heat.  

Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking done-ness with a toothpick. 

A few wee tips:

*If you are unsure of how seasoned (that's what makes cast iron non-stick) and you are planning to turn the corn bread out of the skillet instead of cutting slices while still in the pan, cut a circle of parchment paper to fit the bottom of your skillet.  After pouring off the first three TBSPs of butter, place the parchment in the bottom of the skillet and add the rest of the butter and continue the recipe as written.

*I find that cornbread keeps best when it is stored in a zip top bag that isn't zipped all the way.  The bread is moist compared to most breads and letting it breathe helps it from going bad so quickly. 

*If, by some miracle, you have leftovers, you can smash the cornbread into crumbs and freeze, it makes a great substitute for regular bread crumbs when breading veggies or meat.