Pumpkin Cornbread

It's the day after Halloween and all through the land millions of carved pumpkin carcasses are being thrown in the bin. Ours are still out on the balcony, on the balcony bar that Mr R made from the wooden palettes we had left from the various deliveries after we moved. Clever sausage that one! We actually carved them on Monday evening and have been lighting them each night with the stash of tea lights that Mr R has been trying to get me to get rid of for ages, continuously asking why I am keeping them. For moments such as these dear! Whilst our pumpkin's are starting to look a little sad, Venom is developing a bit of an overbite, but we'll light them again tonight and keep them going for as long as we can.

I think you will agree that the prize for the best one goes to Mr R this year. His is the one on the left, Venom, whilst mine on the right is the Cannibal Pumpkin-king. I have to admit I was feeling a little uninspired this year.  Halloween itself passed unremarkably yesterday, no trick or treaters, not that we were really expecting any in our building. I think we are one of the few people that actually have a child and Wee Man is a little too young to be trick or treating. I'm pretty pleased to say that he is 9 months old and, to my knowledge, hasn't tried any chocolate. I want to try and keep it that way until he is at least 1. I don't think he needs to develop a sweet tooth just yet. He's only got two so far!
I had my go to Halloween films on whilst I edited the pictures for this blog, Hocus Pocus of course, which nearly made me cry when I realised it's 25 years old. Now I feel old. And I also watched Crimson Peak which I do think is incredibly under-rated. The costumes and sets are amazing and visually the film is stunning! Wee Man wore his Halloween onesie from Nana and Grandad, fuelling my compulsion to dress him as a tiny goth/rocker all the time. I didn't dress up but decided to give myself big vampy eye make up just for fun. I think the neighbour who knocked to ask for the filter from her hoover which she had dropped on to our balcony was a little surprised but was polite enough not to say anything. I totally forgot until I closed the door behind her and caught a look of myself in the mirror. Oh well!

I'm quite excited for the weekend as we are going to a bonfire and fireworks here in Amsterdam. Bonfire night is another thing we miss here in Holland as it is very much a British celebration. I've always loved going to displays. When I was little there there was a great big one in the park with a huge bonfire and brilliant fireworks. We'd also go to smaller ones arranged by friends and local groups. These would normally serve food like jacket potatoes served with chilli or big mugs of soup and slices of rich ginger cake full of black treacle and warm spices. The display we are going to is being arranged by a group of expats here and hopefully should be really good fun. According to Mr R there's going to be food there too. I'm hoping for a chilli or a stew like the firework displays of my childhood and my Pumpkin Cornbread would be a perfect accompaniment!

I know this is my second pumpkin recipe this month but it is a totally different way of using it and if you bought a tin of pumpkin to make the Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Swirl Brownies this is a great way of using up the rest of the tin! If you don't have a tin of pumpkin puree go back and check that post for my tips on preparing the pumpkin puree.

Cornbread is a great accompaniment to a chilli or a stew. It is best served warm from the oven generously spread with some salted butter. If you are familiar with cornbread you'll know that it is an American dish that has roots back to the Native Americans. In the US it is often cooked in a cast iron skillet (which I don't have but if anyone wants to get me one for Christmas I'd love one!) and is more commonly eaten in the southern states with chilli and BBQ. It is a staple soul food side dish alongside mac and cheese, collared greens and okra.
It is unleavened, so no yeast and instead uses the bicarbonate of soda as a raising agent. It's texture is somewhere between that of a cake and bread and some recipes will take it down either a savoury or sweet route due to this. I found it quite interesting when I was researching that recipes from the northern states tend to be sweeter and contain more sugar and wheat flour. These recipes are more likely to be the ones that you might see baked as muffins. This recipe is definitely of the savoury persuasion. There is no sugar  although the pumpkin adds a sweetness and the jalapeños add a lovely warmth.

This recipe is one that I have used for years. I actually baked little cornbread mini muffins for my wedding that went out as appetisers alongside the fizz as the guests arrived at the reception. Weeks beforehand I baked hundreds of them, froze them and simply defrosted and warmed back through in the oven. You could do exactly the same with this recipe. It is almost exactly the same I've just vamped it up with the pumpkin puree. It's a great staple to have in freezer that you can just pull out and serve on the side of dinner to make it something special.
I've sometimes found with cornbread that it's texture dries out very quickly which why it is best eaten whilst it is still warm from the oven but the pumpkin in this recipe helps keeps it moister than most. The Greek yogurt also helps with this. Traditionally buttermilk would be used but because it is harder to find in the UK and here, in Holland I have found that Greek yogurt works just as well. It is acidic enough to react with the bicarbonate of soda and give the bread it's rise.

One important note here is to use fresh jalapeño in this recipe and not the pickled variety you might find in jars. Whilst the pickled ones have the heat you desire for this recipe they are far too wet and if you don't soak up that liquid before you add them to the mix they can leach that liquid into the mix during baking and change the consistency. Fresh jalapeño's are wonderfully crisp and the little flecks of vibrant green look wonderful in the orange batter.

PUMPKIN CORNBREAD
Makes 15

Ingredients

275g Cornmeal
65g Plain Flour
1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
2 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
200g Pumpkin Puree
300g Full Fat Greek Yogurt or Buttermilk
50g Unsalted Butter, Melted
1/2 Jalapeño, Finely diced plus extra cut into rings for decoration (optional)

• Grease a baking tray or shallow casserole dish and preheat the oven to 200°c.
• Combine the cornmeal, flour, bicarb and salt in a bowl.
• In another bowl combine the melted butter, yogurt, pumpkin puree and eggs.
• Slowly pour the wet into the dry combining from the centre out until you have a smooth mix, then fold in the finely diced jalapeño.
• Pour into the prepared baking tray or casserole dish and decorate with the extra slices of jalapeño if you wish. 
• Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
• Leave to cool for 10 minutes then cut into portions. Best served whilst still warm from the oven.

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