Chive and Black Pepper Cornbread with Seared Mushroom Gravy: A Piece of Cake #61
Chive and Black Pepper Cornbread with Seared Mushroom Gravy: A Piece of Cake #61
Your brunch table is ready. (And you don't have to put pants on.)
As soon as Andrew and I returned to indoor dining last year, we hightailed it Joseph Leonard’s, one of my standby Manhattan joints. What a perfect return to NYC restaurants: crammed into a cozy little space, perched at a tiny little table, an inch from your neighbors, reveling in their gossip. It was like coming home, if “home” included the possibility of strangers breaking up next to you. We ordered a vegetarian entree that night, not because it was veggie, but because it sounded so good. And it was. Smoky collards and black-eyed peas over a big chunk of cornbread. Simply and perfectly composed. That was the memory I tapped into for this crowd-pleasing vegetarian brunch.
For the base of this cornbread recipe, I returned to an old friend, The Moosewood Cookbook. I’ve been making this cornbread for years, and I grew up going to Moosewood in Ithaca, New York. If this recipe inspires you to pick up a copy of the book, get yourself an older printing. Mine is a hardcover from the 80’s that my mom passed down to me, and it's perfect. The design, the page-feel; it has a vibe that newer books just can’t compete with. Can a cookbook have terroir? Anways, back to the cornbread. I added a bunch of chopped chives and black pepper to make this fully savory. Mine were super-punchy garlic chives, but any chive (or scallion) will do.
I knew wanted a rich gravy to top the cornbread, which led me to mushrooms. I love mushrooms (all kinds), and my favorite way to eat a shroom is seared. Mushrooms sizzling in butter would get me out of bed just as fast as the smell of frying bacon. I used a combination of shitake, oyster, and enoki for the photoshoot, but any combination of quality, flavorful mushrooms will do. You can't beat the visual of a pile of wild mushrooms.
When trimming any mushrooms, but particularly shiitakes, I save the stems and toss them in the freezer to add to my next batch of stock. And if you don’t happen to have any gorgeous homemade veggie stock stashed in your freezer, don’t fret: I keep a canister of Totole granulated mushroom bouillon in my pantry, and I suggest you do the same. It’s packed with flavor and a healthy dose of MSG. As with any bouillon, I always hold back on flavoring with salt until I’ve added the bouillon in. Different bouillon brands have wildly different salinity and it’s hard to correct an oversalted dish.
I use another of my “depth of flavor” tools in the recipe: a splash of cognac. Obviously, this can be omitted, but I love the little oomph it adds. If your gravy gets a bit too thick between making and serving, whisk in a little more stock to thin it out and taste for seasoning. Serve a warm slab of cornbread, topped with gravy and seared mushrooms. Add a fried egg, a mimosa, and use a cloth napkin to really make it feel like you’re in a restaurant. But skip the public breakup part.
This week’s issue is brought to you by our friends over at Great Jones, who provided the gorgeous cookware you see in the photos. You can shop all of the featured products here, on their site. Use my code BILLCLARKMAKES15 for 15% off your order over $100. (One use per customer, cannot be combined with other offers.)
Chive and Black Pepper Cornbread with Seared Mushroom Gravy
For the cornbread
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped chives
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt
1 egg
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Flaky salt, for topping
For the mushroom gravy
¾ pound mixed mushrooms (oyster, enoki, or maitake) torn into large pieces
½ pound sliced shitake or crimini
1 stick of unsalted butter, divided
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cognac
2 cups vegetable stock or mushroom bouillon, dissolved
Make the cornbread
In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, black pepper, and chives. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk or yogurt, egg, honey, and melted butter.
Using a rubber spatula, stir the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients until fully combined. Scrape into a greased 9-inch cake pan, top with flaky salt, and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the center is firm to the touch. Cool in the pan. Serve warm.
Make the mushrooms and gravy
In a large cast-iron skillet, melt half of the butter. Working in batches if necessary, sear off the large pieces of wild mushrooms. Once nicely browned on both sides, season with salt and set aside on a plate. Saute the sliced mushrooms in the cast iron, adding a tablespoon of oil if it looks too dry. Remove and set aside separately.
Melt the remaining butter in the cast iron skillet. Add the nutmeg and season with black pepper, sizzle until fragrant.
Add the flour and whisk to combine. Cook for a few minutes, whisking until the flour darkens but does not burn. Turn off the heat, then deglaze with the cognac (it’s flammable!). Whisk in the stock/bouillon to form a smooth gravy. Simmer the gravy to your desired consistency. Stir in the sauteed sliced mushrooms. Season with salt to taste.
Serve the gravy over a slice of cornbread, topped with seared mushrooms and a fried egg.
A Piece of Cake is written by Bill Clark and edited by Andrew Spena. Photography by Hunter Abrams. Logo design by Brett LaBauve.