’Tis the season of giving, making and getting gifts. With the recent arrival of our holiday issue, we’ve rolled out several guides to help inform your shopping, including one for books, one for bottles and one for edibles. The first of those is a roundup of the best of this year’s crop of New York books, including Sunday Suppers: Recipes + Gatherings by Brooklyn-based blogger and hostess extraordinaire Karen Mordechai.
This book is for minimalist cooks who abide by quality, whole ingredients. The recipes are mostly organized by season, and they’re not very complex for the most part — so better to not skimp on the wild mushrooms or green tomatoes when it’s their time. For winter, we’re eyeing the truffled turkey with white wine gravy (read that again) and tea- and ginger-cured sea bass.
Sometimes, and often in December, we just want to bake, though — and especially Mordechai’s buttermilk corn bread and honey butter recipe. For brunch, breakfast in bed or just because, sign us up:
Buttermilk Corn Bread with Honey Butter
Serves 6 to 8
I tend to favor a moist corn bread, served warm and slathered in honey butter. It’s that mix of sweet and savory and the little bit of crumble that perfectly accompanies the rest of this robust menu.
Corn bread
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for the pan
½ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup honey
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups yellow cornmeal
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Honey butter
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup honey
Make the corn bread: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease an 8- by 13-inch baking pan. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar and honey remove from the heat. Quickly add the eggs and beat until blended.
Combine the buttermilk with the baking soda, and stir into the pan. Stir in the cornmeal, flour and salt until well blended and few lumps remain.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan and cut into squares for serving.
Meanwhile, make the honey butter: Mix the butter and honey together in a small bowl until well blended. Serve at room temperature with the corn bread.
