Month: January 2018

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A Little Corny

Heirloom corn from a lovely CSA we joined last summer, run by some seriously solid human beans, Agua Dulce Farm of San Diego.  Kelsey and Ben sweat it out in Chula Vista, but also keep it hyperlocal as well when they started the Bancroft Center For Sustainability, which I’m fired up about because that’s ma hood.

In our last box we received a bag of heirloom corn meal.  Oaxacan Green Dent corn to be precise. Already seeing a Facebook post about it, I knew what it was immediately but was still excitedly surprised. We mulled over how to use it because we really wanted to highlight the corn flavor. Not just use it…but really taste it. We settled on cornbread and it was a good decision. It had a lovely blue green hue and tasted like corn, not cardboard; I know, shocking! 

With our remaining corn meal we made Johnny cakes for breakfast. If you’ve never had Johnny cakes, they are cornmeal pancakes and they are rad.  Below is a recipe and some pictures for you to make your own. Do it, because they are super bomb-omb.

Heirloom Corn Johnny Cakes

1/2c cornmeal
1/2c water
1 egg
1T oil
1T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3-1/2c buttermilk
1/2c flour
1/4tsp baking soda
3/4-1tsp baking powder

Whisk the water and cornmeal then let sit for a minute. Whisk in the oil, sugar, egg, salt and milk. Dust over the flour and leavening, stir until combined. Cook like pancakes with equal parts oil and butter…don’t skimp on the fat. and serve with something sweet.

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San Diego Grilling Season Is Here

Happy New year; and if you live here, happy grilling season. A 365 day grilling season is convenient and it shouldn’t be taken for granted. It would be nice to build a big outdoor grilling station, but right now, time and sweet moolah are required elsewhere.

That doesn’t change the fact that a grill was needed. Not looking at anything to drop major coin on, but not a piece of crap that brings regret. After researching new grills, there was nothing worth buying under $250, but $350 was at the peak. Being a charcoal enthusiast, I had needs. Being married to someone that appreciates the simplicity of gas was also important. I wasn’t torn, I just new my parameters and was confident there was an answer.  And there was…

Market choices

The  Char-broil, Gas2Coal Hybrid Grill. At $250, it had a good rating, good company history, easily found parts, heavy iron grates, a side burner and the option to use charcoal. The only question was. Would it produce the heat to suit my needs, and did the charcoal insert work as advertised?

Aside from the lame red stripe and the needed panel modifications, I’m very happy.  The back burner rages away nicely, the grill grates retain heat and the charcoal insert is easy and awesome. It’s also the easiest lighting and cooking of charcoal I’ve ever dealt with. The lack of flare ups while cooking fatty hamburgers was a game changer.

Grill mods

The panel mods entailed unscrewing some bolts and attaching a magnet. The front panels are not designed to open, which was forcing me to access the grill from the rear. Inconvenient and irritating, but somewhat easily fixed.  After that fix, I did the same with the red panel.  I highly recommend this grill for anyone not wanting to invest long term and wanting a charcoal option.