Eat Some Wear Some
It has been a while since i've had so much trouble getting a recipe right, but this one kicked my butt. Â The first attempt resulted in one solid muffin top and a whole lot of batter crusted on the bottom of my oven. Not pretty.
I have definitely had my fair share of collapsed cakes (see cheesecake post), blasphemous attempts at a great grandmother's recipe, and just downright inedible dishes, but I always learn more from the failures than the successes.  It is hard to appreciate the lesson learned when you are serving 15 people a cake that looks like it went through the washing machine...yeah, that happened too.  But when you are cooking for people you love, they are usually very forgiving and it helps to have a certain husband who likes to keep my chef ego in check by reminding me of these fiascos on a regular basis, particularly those instances when he was able to swoop in and save the day AND make me laugh about it.
Ok, I am done with my spiel. Back to the muffins. Third time was the charm here and boy were they worth the effort (although my family and doormen might be a little corned out at the moment).
It is pepper season! These are New Mexican hatch chiles but you can really use whatever you like - poblanos would be great, or go for jalapeños if you like things a little more picante. The roasting and skin-removing process is a bit of a pain but trust me, it makes such a difference in the flavor. If having to do this step might keep you from making these, you can buy canned green chiles - I would use 2 of the small 4oz cans.
These are so good with some eggs and avocado for brunch or alongside a big bowl of tomato soup. Or with a generous smear of butter.
Fresh Corn & Green Chile Muffins
Serves:
12 muffins
Ingredients
4oz unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 tbl honey
1 cup sour cream
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cornmeal (I like medium or coarse ground)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp kosher salt
2 cups fresh raw corn (roughly 2 cobs)
2 green chiles (such as new mexican, poblano, or jalapeño)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350˚F and line two 12-muffin pans with paper cups – alternating every other space (to allow muffin tops to grow freely). You can also grease the pans with melted butter using a pastry brush.
Roast chiles over a burner, turning with tongs until the skin becomes completely blackened. Place in a bowl and cover for 5-10 minutes – this steams the pepper and makes the skin easier to remove. Scrape off charred skin, remove seeds, and chop into small pieces, set aside. Remove corn from cobs and set aside with chiles.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl before mixing in the honey and sour cream.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
Fold in fresh corn and chiles by hand – use a big spatula here and make sure to get all the way to the bottom as you fold.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans.*
Bake for 30-40 minutes, rotating the pans after 15 minutes.
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*If you want them hot out of the oven in the morning, put them in the fridge at this point - leave uncovered as plastic wrap will take precious batter with it when removed.