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Cornbread meets cinnamon muffins – that’s how I’d describe this one.  I was reading through the tons of recipes I’ve flagged to try recently and discovered the stand-out ingredient in these bars…cornmeal – huh?!  I’ve had polenta cake, in fact I’ve made polenta cake in a cooking class once, but anytime I’ve seen recipes for that they generally include lemon and poppy seeds.  I’ve never seen one that includes my favorite spice.  Obvs, I had to make it.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a good lemon poppy seed muffin or cake, but vanilla and cinnamon are much more fall-like.  And just for those who may not know, cornmeal and polenta are the same exact thing – most definitely interchangeable in a recipe.  The only difference is the packaging they come in at the store and the name on the label.

This recipe comes together really quickly – no mixing dry ingredients separately then adding alternatively with liquids….its super simple.  Mix the wet ingredients, add all the dry into the bowl, stir, pour into a pan and bake.  Done.  Well except for the glaze.  Glazes are like my signature by this point – one I’m quite proud of too!

The texture of these bars is really interesting.  They’re definitely a little crumbly like cornbread, but have enough flour to still keep them cakey enough not to fall apart.  Without the glaze I think they’d be a little dry, but with it – perfect.  These won’t become a staple for me, but they are definitely worth a try when you want something a little off the beaten path.

Recipe adapted from www.pastryaffair.com  - Vanilla Bean Cinnamon Bars

Ingredients

1 cup dark brown sugar

6 Tbsp butter, melted

¼ cup milk – I used 1%

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla bean paste or 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup finely ground cornmeal

1 cup all purpose flour

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2-3 tsp milk (or more, if you want a runnier consistency)

Couple shakes of cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease 8x8” pan.  In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, milk, egg and vanilla until smooth.  Stir in the cornmeal, flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt, and mix until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 30 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool before glazing.

For the glazing, mix all ingredients in a bowl and stir.  Cut the bars into even pieces and using a spoon drizzle the glaze on each piece.  Let the glaze set before serving, assuming you can wait that long.

I’m willing to bet that even if you’re not hungry, you’d start salivating a little when you get a whiff of fresh garlic hitting a hot pan.  We’re talking Pavlov style here.  There are a few things that always do it for me – garlic, the sound and smell of sizzling onions, and on the sweet side – the scent of cinnamon wafting from the oven - I’m a sucker for it.

This super simple recipe starts out with sautéing some chopped fresh garlic.  If you like to cook as I do, the smell invokes instant relaxation and puts everything swirling around in your head to rest, at least for the 30 minutes it takes to put this together. (Kind of how the sound of a running dishwasher makes you want to curl up on the couch with a blanket and nap….no?  Just me?)  It’s perfect for a quick weeknight meal and can easily be adapted as you’ll see below.  After cooking up the garlic and some peppers for a couple minutes, it’s really just a matter of tossing everything into one pot and letting it go.  Healthy, flavorful and high in protein, you can’t argue with that.

Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats: 

(http://www.annies-eats.com/2012/11/05/mexican-quinoa/) 

Ingredients

2-3 tsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced – I used 3 medium sized cloves

3-4 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped – I subbed about 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained – I used red, but color doesn’t matter

1 ¼ cups vegetable broth – I used chicken broth

1 can (about 1 ½ cups) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes, with juice

1 cup frozen corn (or kernels from 2 cobs)

½ tsp kosher salt

⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro – I used about 1 tsp dried cilantro

Squeeze of fresh lime juice

3 scallions, thinly sliced – my addition

Instructions

Heat olive oil in large saucepan (one that has a lid) over medium-high heat.  Add garlic and jalapeños/crushed red pepper and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Stir in the quinoa and let it toast for 2-3 minutes.  Add broth, black beans, tomatoes, corn and salt and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and let simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the liquid is fully absorbed.  If using dried cilantro, add it when you have about 5 minutes of simmering left.  Once the liquid is absorbed, remove from heat.  Add the fresh cilantro and lime juice.

*Couple notes:  I had a leftover chicken breast, so I chopped that up and added it at the same time as everything else.  Nothing wrong with even more protein, right?  I also couldn’t believe this recipe didn’t include onion of some sort so I chopped up a few scallions and tossed them in for the simmer as well.  I think it adds a flavor that would have been lacking.

Optional toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream/plain Greek yogurt, salsa, avocado, etc.  Enjoy!

Thai X’ing - the not-so-secret secret Thai place you definitely want to check out.  The restaurant is located in a row house on Florida Avenue tucked away behind grape-vine covered trellises.  Unless you’re looking for it, you could easily pass it by.  Until recently, the only way to get a reservation was to call and call and call and hope they would return your increasingly more desperate messages.  Then, as of a few days ago, when I was trying to retrieve my wallet that I inadvertently dropped on the floor the night I ate there, an email address popped up on their site (and they responded within an hour!).  However, their website seems to change on an almost daily basis, so don't be surprised if only a phone number is available.  Not sure what’s up with that, but here is the site (www.thaix-ing.com) - do your best to get a reservation and try it, it is totally worth the time and trouble.

Here’s the deal:  This isn’t a fancy place.  You’re basically sitting in someone’s house as a few servers scurry around bringing you plates of food and walkie-talkie messages to the kitchen.  As far as I know, they only serve water, so bring your own alcohol if you prefer.  Some nights are vegetarian and some nights have meat.  There is never a menu.  When I went, we had a group of 4 people and received 9 dishes, including a whole fish and it was more than we could eat.  Here’s a rundown of what we were served:

In addition to all of this, you are given a large bowl of white rice to sop up all of the amazing sauces.  I think I could pour that pumpkin curry sauce on anything and it would be good.  

Bottom line – try Thai X’ing.  It’s family run, authentic and an experience.  At $30-$40 it is well worth your money. 

Oh my f*#&ing god.  That was almost what I entitled this post…seriously.  Alas, I maintained my cool – barely.  It’s been a long time since I tried out a new recipe and was totally blown away.  I don’t know if it’s that this combo of flavors really just works, or if they were just hitting the spot for me today or very likely a combo of the two, but this recipe should definitely go on your “must make” list. (Come on, I can’t be the only one who has one of those right?!) 

I’ve known for a while that orange and cardamom are a great combination.  The floral scent/taste of cardamom just fits with sweet floral oranges.  My mom makes Scandinavian orange cardamom bread at Christmas, often per my insistent request.  It’s considered a sweet bread, but it has just a hint of sweetness to it.  Toast it up, add a little butter and (here we go again), oh my f*#&ing god, it’s so good.  I’ll have to attempt to make that myself someday, but for now I’ll leave it as a mom specialty.  Anyway, back to this cake.

I like to try to make something seasonal for the guys so they can really get a taste of home, especially in the fall since fall flavors are so rich and warm.  How can you not feel cozy, even if just for a second, when eating some apple pie or pumpkin bread or butternut squash ravioli – yum.  I saw the name of this recipe and was intrigued.  However, as you can tell by the pictures I didn’t make this in bundt cake form.  I’ve only sent one cake overseas and it was tricky to pack.  It was probably tricky to share as well, so I thought I’d stick with something easier in both departments, hence the muffins.  Be jealous people, these are awesome – and fellas, eat your hearts out!

**Note**  Cardamom is my “secret spice”.  I like to slip it into random recipes (even once in chocolate chip cookies!).  It is used a lot in both Indian cooking as well as Scandinavian.  Considering my parents lived in India for several years and my mom’s family is Norwegian, I grew up with her using it quite a bit.  I made an apple pie for someone this past weekend, and after deliberating with my mom about whether it would work with apples or not, I decided to chance it and throw some in.  The verdict?  Well, I was told the pie was “mindblowing”.  ‘Nuff said – thank you cardamom!