After some months of planning and research, a fun little project is coming together for us down near Rockport on the Texas coast.
It’s a fruitful opportunity that just happens to be within minutes of some of the most accessible fly fishing water in the neighborhood (imagine that), and as we spend a bit more time down there we’re beginning to meet some damned interesting folks and explore the local food scene.
My favorite mentor, Ed, likes to say it’s amazing what you can learn by keeping your mouth shut and your ears open. We sometimes hate it when he’s proven right yet again, though here’s a great confirmation of his point.
On our last trip down I was in one of the local county offices doing some research and happened to overhear an animated phone conversation about cornbread muffins. I was in the plat room pouring over maps and heard the key words “my grandma’s recipe”, “blueberries and pecans”, “melted butter” and “prize winning”.
Long story made short, I sidled up to the matron of the plat room, and through a combination of polite flattery, playing the fumbling guy in the kitchen ploy, and offering one of my own grandma recipes in exchange was able to score this South Texas Blueberry Corn Muffin recipe.
According to Lizzy in the plat room, the keys to success are using a tangy plain yogurt, the full stick of melted butter, fresh blueberries and perfectly toasted pecans, and most importantly, don’t overmix the batter.
Nuff said.
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup white flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 scant tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt1 cup plain yogurt
8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
1 and 1/2 cups blueberries (frozen ok in a pinch)
1 cup toasted pecan pieces, rough chopped
Preheat your trusty oven to 400; grease a full sized muffin tin.
Combine the first 5 (dry) ingredients in a mixing bowl; make a well in the center.
Spoon in the yogurt, lemon zest, melted butter and egg; stir only until just combined.
Gently fold in the blueberries and toasted pecans until just combined.
Fill the muffin tin cups 2/3’s full with batter; bake until golden and done for 20-23 minutes.
Guarantee you can’t eat just one, whether it’s hot out of the oven or out of the cooler in the boat.
Enjoy.
