Caramelized Onion and Apple Cornbread

You know when you eat something that you haven’t had or haven’t had in a long time and it’s all you want to eat?

I am having a moment with apples and onions. Roasted and raw, it’s on my mind every time I am making food. Weird? I don’t know, but it’s sweet and savory and all fall like and comforting. It’s a good moment.

So now I am passing on my moment in the form of cornbread. Why cornbread? Well I think cornbread is a fine fine vessel for things that could be perceived sweet of savory. This cornbread is in fact not sweet, but not not sweet. It is a little both and suits the the apple and onion moment quite well.

People ate it, at first somewhat suspect that it was not going to be good, but after a bite or two they too appreciated the apple onion combination. And the cornbread. Even got a lady that doesn't even like cornbread to like this so that is something right?

Embrace the moments.. To the cornbread!

The stuff. A couple apples, an onion, cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking soda. Also soy milk, oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, pepper, Sansa little earth balance.

Start by thinly slicing the onions. Toss them into a oven safe skillet with about a tablespoon of earth balance and place on a medium heat.

Once the onions are cooking, thinly slice the apples too.

Toss the apples in with the onions and stir around wait a few minutes and stir around some more until the stuff all looks like…

This. The apples ans onions are super tender sans soft and amazing and do not eat them all, but maybe have bite or two.

Scoop the mixture out of the skillet ans melt another tablespoon of earth balance into the skillet, trying to evenly coat the bottom.

Now to the cornbread. Mix together all of the dry ingredients.

Then add in all the wet and gently mix until completely incorporated.

Pour the batter into the greased skillet

Top with the apple union mixture then pop into the oven for about 40-45 minutes to bake.

Golden crisp and amazing smelling. Check for donees with a tester stuck in the middle and when its done, its done.

Now the hard part. Let it cool. You can go right at it, but it will crumble and fall apart. This bread really needs a little time to chill.

Then it’s time. Eat what you need. Careful, it might be all of it.

-C

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Caramelized Onion and Apple Cornbread

makes a 10 inch round skillet of bread

• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 2/3 cups soy or other plant based milk

• 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 1/3 cup maple syrup

• 1/3 cup neutral oil like canola

• 1 large onion

• 2 apples (macon or mac)

• 2 tablespoon earth balance or vegan butter

• Pepper

Note. This bread is baked in a cast iron skillet. If you don’t have one, you can use a 10 inch cake pan or a 9x9 square pan.

Preheat oven to 400

Start by cutting the onion in half length wise then slice the halves into very thing pieces. Grab a 8-10 inch oven safe skillet and place on medium heat with about a tablespoon of butter. Add in the onions, stir around, and let cook. Grab the apples, remove the cores and slice into thin pieces. Add the apples to the onions and stir. Keep cooking and stirring until the apples and onions are very tender and starting to brown. Place the mixture into a bowl then coat the bottom and sides of the skillet again with another tablespoon of butter. Set skillet aside for a minute.

For the cornbread, mix together the flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking soda in large bowl. Add in the soy milk, maple, oil, and vinegar and gently mix until completely incorporated and there are no big lumps. Pour batter into the greased skillet. Evenly top with the apple onion mixture, sprinkle with a little pepper, then pop the skillet into the preheated oven. Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until it’s a nice dark golden brown and a taster stuck in the middle comes out clean. Once cooked, remove from oven and let cool for at least a half hour. The cornbread needs the time to cool or else it will cut really crumbly.

Once cooled, eat. Left overs can be stored in airtight box at room temperature for a day, but any longer it should go into the fridge.

Persimmon Maple cornbread

This time next week the mr and I will be on our jolly (the word jolly is way underused) journey through the hill of the Irish countryside.  I am getting a bit nervous. First off, we have yet to book a single b and b (we are air bnb-ing it the whole time.) We still haven't reserved a car, have just starting looking at baggage requirements and have no clue how we are getting home from the airport. But we did print out the plane tickets last night, so that's something!!  I make it sound like we have been slacking, but it really isn't our fault (most of it). We have most of the stuff we need to book ready to pay for, but our credit card we ordered for this trip was lost in the mail and we can't book anything without it. Aagh!  But hopefully the new one will be in the mailbox today and we can get on our way to planning the best trip ever

With the trip getting so close, my mind is doing this weird thing where it doesn't want to research things anymore. It is sick of looking up attractions or prices of this, or how to translate that. I have done all the research that I can handle and am mentally tired. I just want to chill on the internet stuff and spend the rest of this week cleaning the house and baking things until we leave. You know, smash in as much domestic things as I can.

So clean I do and bake things I am. The other day I bought 4 beautiful vanilla persimmons (yeah persimmons!)  and instead of hoarding them all to my face, I baked a little persimmon cornbread concoction for the mr(he doesn't get excited about fresh persimmon like I do) This way he gets in on some of the persimmon action and I don't feel as guilty about buying 4 persimmons.

Dense, moist on the inside, crispy on the outside. A nice sweet maple glazed layer of soft persimmon nicely layered on top to take it to the next level .This bread, it's and all sorts of good. It hugs the boarder of a bread and cake. but still makes a great side to a big bowl of squash soup, black bean chili, or whatever.  The mr, he ate a piece for a snack after I made it, then a chunk with his dinner, a little slice for late night snacking and then a piece for breakfast. I might just make him a lunch situation with the rest of it for him today. And then it will be gone.. whoa.  I guess that means it perfect for anytime and it's just that good.

I am that good. But we can talk about me later, for now, the cornbread.

The stuff. A persimmon, some white whole wheat flour, yellow cornmeal, baking soda and powder and salt. Maple syrup, melted earth balance, and some soy milk are going in too.

Start by preheating the oven and then thinly slicing the persimmon into the prettiest little rounds

And now whisk together all the dry stuff in a big bowl then dump in all the wet stuff.

Mix it all together until full just incorporated. (don't over mix.)

Grease a 9 inch pan (can use a 9 inch square) and coat the grease with cornmeal.

Spread the mixture in the pan then layer the top with the sliced persimmon.

Lovely right.

Now stick it into the oven.

After about 25 minutes, the cake is just about done. Remove it from the oven and quickly brush the top with maple syrup then stick it back into the oven to finish baking.

And when the bread is completely baked, the persimmons nice and soft and glimmering,  remove from the oven and sit on a rack to let cool.

And when you can't wait any longer..... cut yourself a big piece

Along with a cup of coffee.....

Nothing to worry about here.

Have a great day.. Wish me luck!

-C

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Persimmon Maple Cornbread

make a 9 inch round bread cake

• 1 cup white wheat flour
• 1 cup yellow or white corn meal
• 1/3 cup melted earth balance
• 1/4 cup maple syrup plus about 2 tablespoons more for brushing the top of bread
• 1 1/2 cups soy milk
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• pinch of salt
• 1 large ripe but firm vanilla or fuyu persimmon (If you have smaller ones, you might need 2)

Preheat oven to 375

First off, slice the persimmon into really thin slices.

Next, combine the flour, the cornmeal, baking soda powder, ans the salt into a large bowl and whisk together. Add in the maple syrup, the soy milk, the melted earth balance and the apple cider vinegar. Mix together until just combined.  Dumb the batter into to a greased and cornflour coated 9 inch cake pan and layer persimmon slices on top, starting with the outer edge and layering inward (or whatever way you want to)

Place bread into oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until the cornbread has risen and is starting to brown, but could use a few more minutes. Take cake out and brush the persimmons with maple syrup. Place back into over to bake for another 8-10 minutes or until the cornbread is completely cooked.(tester comes out clean)

Remove from oven and let cool in pan on a wire rack

Slice, serve, and eat.