At the end of Thanksgiving weekend, I hold onto the last little bits of fall before the holidays kick in.  It always seems that Christmas comes too early.  Even though Winter doesn't "officially" begin until December 21st ... snowflakes already grace store windows as garland.

So, in my last little ode to fall, I went on a little day trip with fellow Innkeepers Jim & Ana with the Mount Dora Historic Inn to a local corn maze.  A maize maze.  I thought getting lost in 6 acres of corn would be a great way to get outdoors, enjoy the weather and walk off all the tasty holiday indulgences.

It sounded quite easy, like kids play that we adults were just entertaining ourselves with.  Perhaps the gps in my car has made me too confident in my wayfinding skills, but that all changed when the stalks were 2 feet over our heads and every corner and twisted turn looked the same.  We really did get lost.  Good conversation with friends was the only thing that kept me from screaming out in a claustrophobic fit.  We got to talking about jobs we had before innkeeping and becoming serial entrepreneurs.  One of my first jobs was working in marketing for an agricultural association, so being ear-deep in corn (hehe) shouldn't have been so out of place for me.  One of the stories I shared with them was the time I was introduced to red-eye gravy.  It's a country thing, I guess.  Bacon grease and black coffee.  To be honest, I never actually tasted it.  I love bacon ... on my plate.  I love coffee ... in my cup.  But bacon and coffee mixed together.  Ew. I wrinkle my nose at the thought.  Perhaps I should be more open minded.  It is breakfast, after all.

Jim took this as a "challenge."  Picture an Einstein-mad-scientist-type, crazy hair, tongue sticking out with a wild look in his eye, groovy 70's music blaring, things bubbling, steam rising.   Now, picture that scientist in a chef's coat  and replace the lab with a kitchen ... except with clean cut hair ... but his tongue still sticking out.  Yeah.  That's Jim.  He loves experimenting a creating new things.  Especially when it comes to baking.  And I had just given him an idea.  A bacon and coffee infused dish.  Since were were lost in the middle of a corn field, I threw in the added ingredient of corn.  Poof.  Bam.  The idea was born.  A savory corn cupcake with bacon and coffee.  I didn't know whether to be intrigued or grossed out.

My first experience with a savory cupcake was in Oklahoma.  Yup.  Not some culinary capitol like Chicago or NYC.  The heartland.  Oklahoma.  So the fact that this idea was born in the middle of a farm shouldn't have surprised me at all.

The cupcake place we found in Oklahoma City was an adorable little cottage with the most perfect little cupcakes I'd ever seen.  They had red velvet, chocolate and classic vanilla.  They also had green tea cupcakes and a savory egg-y breakfast cupcake.  They were delish, so I unwrinkled my nose and accepted the bacon-coffee-corn-cupcake challenge.  It was a bake-off between me and Jim.  And I have to tell you in advance, his cupcake won!

The stars of this show ...

Do you hear the StarWars-like music?  Duuuuuun ... Dooooooon ... Da-DOOOOOON.  Bom Bom Bom Bom Bom Bom.

Corn ... check.

Bacon ... check.

Coffee ... hmm ...

Recently Marx Foods offered to send some free salt samples to food bloggers.  I sent in my info and got a little box of all kind of chef-y sounding flavors of salt.  Things I would never in a million years find at my local grocer.  My homesick NYC neighbors squealed in delight  that they could order gourmet-to-go direct to their doorstep as flavorful reminders of home.  I was just excited and inspired to try something new.

One of those flavors happened to be ... espresso salt.

Using espresso salt in a breakfast recipe may be uncreative or cliche ... but I'm a breakfast girl so that's the first place my mind will go.  I think my neighbors used it to season their steaks.  Yum.

On with the bake-off.

First, REAL bacon bits ...

Then, fresh white sweet corn from our local farm.  Did you know that corn has one "silk" hair per kernel?

Yup.  I learned that in the corn maze.

Also learned that it kinda looks like blonde barbie doll hair.

Or nose hair.  See ... this is why I'm no chef-y.  I get distracted and play with my food.

My mom says when I was a kid I used to call this "corn on the NOB" instead of "corn on the cob" because of the little corn nobs stuck into the ends.  Again ... playing with my food.

Hmm. Perhaps I should have pulled out a bigger cutting board?  Ya think?  Naaaah ... would of spoiled the fun.

This little bow saw knife made me feel like I was playing a violin ... again ... playing with my food.

CORN!

Fresh.  Uncooked.  Do not try to adjust the color on your screen.  This is not yellow corn ... but sweet white corn.

Mix together the dry ingredients (full list and recipe at the bottom of the post)

Now... I have a question for you.

I looked it up.

My photographer friend Jim looked it up.

We Googled it.

Still ... no answer ... on the history ... of what in the heck is a "Clabber" girl ... as opposed to just the name of some baking powder.  Looks like there'd be some historical story to it, but we couldn't find it.  If you know ... PLEASE TELL US!

Add your wet ingredients to a separate bowl ...

Oops.  I lied.  One "dry" ingredient goes into this "wet" bowl.  Sugar.

Some eggs.  Some Buttah'.  Some sour cream.  Jim added a lot of creamy things to this recipe.  Gives it a moist cake texture.  No classic cornbread here.

A spoonful of bacon grease.

A cap full of vanilla.

Blend.

Pour into dry ingredient bowl and "mix" ... not too much ... or they'll be tough.

Add the corn last.

Dollop into your cupcake/muffin pan.  This is where I went wrong.  I always use paper cups for easy servings and even easier clean up.  But these suckers stick to the paper like glue, so I would grease your cupcake/muffin tin and skip the paper.

Sprinkle with bacon bits and espresso salt to taste.  A sort of "red eye gravy" topping.  They're both SALTY SALTY SALTY ... but it contrasts nicely with the sweet and creamy cupcake.

Then bake!

This is also where Jim's cupcakes beat mine.  He made 6 big poofy ones.  Like a cupcake should look.  I made 12 ... so they came out kinda teeny.

And voila.  A savory corn red eye gravy cupcake.  It was EXCELLENT hot with eggs over easy.  However, I didn't like it cold.  This is not a cupcake to keep in a pastry display for everyone to grab on the go at room temperature.  This is an eat it hot and fresh for breakfast in the morning kind of meal.  A little weird, I do admit.  But it was fun to make!

Savory Corn Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup cake flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

8 strips bacon, cooked, crisp & crumbled

1 1/2 cup corn

1 cup buttermilk

8 oz sour cream

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 stick of butter, melted

2 large eggs

1/4 lemon, juiced

1 tbsp bacon grease

1 capful vanilla extract

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 360 degrees.  Yes, that is 360, not 350.  Grease muffin pan.

2) Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt

3) Cream together eggs & sugar, then add bacon grease, butter, buttermilk, softened cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla and lemon juice.

4) Add to flour mixture along with corn and fold together until well blended.  Do not whisk.  Do not overmix.

5) Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins and sprinkle with espresso salt and crumbled bacon.

6) Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

7) Serve with eggs and enjoy!

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Want to add some color to your breakfast?  Then then read on because the blend of lavender, dry mustard, cayenne and green chilies makes this a rainbow of flavor.  But it's not sweet like Skittles. This New Mexico Souffle fills your senses with calm floral lavender and leaves you with a zippy heat from the chilies.  Get ready to have a party in your mouth, New Mexico style.

Tammy with the Mauger Estate B&B in Albuquerque submitted this recipe.    Coming from the South West, full of  bright colors and a little heat, this is a great one to bookmark and whip up in the morning when the grey winter blues stroll in.

Here's what you'll need.  Get out a pen and paper or hit your print button 'cause there's a lot of goin into this souffle casserole.  And unbelievably ... wait ... the world just stood still for a whole 1/100th of a second ... I didn't FORGET an ingredient.  WOW!

Hmm.  Looking at the recipe again there really isn't a whole lot to it.  Didn't mean to make it sound intimidating (or LOOK) intimidating by my big menagerie of ingredients.  I think I went a little overboard with double checking and re-checking to make sure I didn't forget anything.  There are at least 4 of those in the photo that are "accoutrement" for serving.  Including:  the tortillas, sour cream, salsa, and jalapeno that I'm too wimpy for.  Anything that sets my mouth on fire and requires a fire hydrant to put out is a bit too much spice for my tongue.  But, for those that like nuclear heat, chop it up and serve it on the side.

Here's the "list" in order of appearance ...

Whisk together:

8 eggs, 1/2 cup of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 3 tsp dry mustard, 1 tsp salt, 1tsp cayenne pepper.

Then add:

2 cups cottage cheese, 2 cups shredded jack cheese, 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, 2 cups corn, 16 oz. green chilies, and my favorite ... 2 tablespoons of lavender.

Let's take a look, shall we?

All the color spread across my counter has got me thinking of this a a painter's pallet.  Fortunately, it doesn't require anything too artsy.   The lavender smells AMAZING.

The green chilies took me a little while to find at my local grocer.  Mostly because they have "two" Latin food areas.  After I went up and down a few aisles I ended up finding them in the most obvious location ... next to taco mix and shells.  These came in small little cans, so I had to use 4 cans to get 16 oz.  Make a note of that when you go shopping.

And it's as easy as it sounds.  Get one great big ole bowl, whisk together your eggs, and then add the first list of ingredients.  Starting with flour ...

Then your spices and baking powder.

Blend.  Mmm.

Next add your cheeses.  Starting with cottage cheese.  Can't you just hear it plop?

Now.  The recipe called for "Jack Cheese."  I found Monterey Jack.  And Colby Jack.  But not just plain old Jack.  Then it got me thinking, who is Monterey or Colby anyway?  Where did these names come from?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Mixed cheese going into the bowl ...

Then the corn.  You can use fresh, frozen or canned.  I opted for canned.  Just make sure you drain and rinse.

Add in the chilies and stir.

Wow.  Lavender. I love this little flower, but I've never cooked with it.  I've eaten it once, in a cheese that I can't remember the name of, and  it was fabulous.

Rub it together between your fingers to release the aroma and flavor.

Now your souffle is about ready!

Add the shredded potatoes to a 9 x 13 greased pan.

You can just spray it with Pam.

This is my "oh my God, is it all gonna fit?" face ...

I don't know.  I'm beginning to wonder if I should bring out a second pan.

Well, whatdya know.  It all did fit into one pan!  Forgot about that nifty thing called gravity.

Sprinkle on some paprika and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

When it's done, let it cool for a bit (maybe about 5 minutes) and then slice and serve.

New Mexico Souffle

Ingredients & Directions

Whisk together the following:

8 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Then add:

2 cups cottage cheese

2 cups shredded jack cheese

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups corn (frozen or drained canned)

16 oz. green chile

2 tbsp lavender (rub between fingers/palms to release aroma and flavor)

Additional Ingredients:

2-3 cups shredded potatoes (hash browns)

tortillas

salsa

sour cream

In a 9 x 13 pan, spray with Pam and layer the bottom of the pan with shredded potatoes (frozen hash browns).

Next, pour the cheese/egg mixture over the potatoes.  Dust with paprika and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.  Serve with tortillas, salsa, sour cream and raspberry chipotle sauce.

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