Jalapeno & Honey Corn Bread (gluten free)

Once a student of a topic, no matter how many official titles you receive after studying that topic you still always remain a student. Well, at least one should. When I first finished my degree in nutrition, whenever I would write a recipe I would start off by identifying all the vitamin & minerals and other various compounds of said ingredients, and highlighting their said benefits, looking at it from a completely reductionist point of view while waxing lyrical about “whole food”.  What I have found in recent years is our understanding of these compounds might not be as fixed as we think. If I had written this article a few years ago, I would have talked about corn and how its high in vitamin C; good for skin, capillaries, the adrenals & reducing the instance of cold & flu or that it had magnesium for a healthy metabolism & nerve and muscle function & beta-carotene for cancer prevention etc etc.

But do we really understand everything about nutritional biochemistry that we think we do? To analyse the nutritional contents of corn or any other vegetable one would have to do the following.....

To isolate vitamin C from food is a lengthy process that includes grinding irradiating, a series of hazardous chemicals like metaphosphoric acid, nitrogen, Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid, 2,6-Dichlorophenolindophenol & Ethyl acetate.

Chemicals such as Hydrochloric acid, Sodium hydroxide & Ammonium oxalate are added to plant material to isolate magnesium & carotenoids are usually extracted & analysed by using solvents like acetone, often combined with hexane or petroleum ether. It’s known that these chemicals used to analyse & isolate these nutrients can be incredibly harmful to humans. it’s known that collectively, chemicals can be attributed to almost every disease. We know if we tried to put all these chemically extracted vitamins & minerals back together again, we could not recreate the living, vital, food matrix that is corn or any other fruit or vegetable or herb. My point is do we really know what we are finding in these chemical extractions, does it represent the plant and its affinity with the human body or are they just chemically laden artifacts?

By no means am I saying that certain foods don’t have certain qualities & healing benefits but maybe this is best done by observation. Looking at the season it grows in, the taste, colour, texture etc rather than turning it into a toxic soup to try & find the answers. In traditional Chinese medicine Corn is thought to strengthen the Spleen and Stomach aiding digestion, improving appetite & circulation of nutrients or elements to the rest of the body.

Corn is drying & cooling, supporting the bladder, lymphatic system, promoting hydration while clearing excess fluids from the body. Its action of fluid balance also promotes blood flow & heart health. Harvested late summer early Autumn, corn is the perfect design to help the body transition from being in the dry, hot environment of summer into cooler, damper weather. Focusing on local seasonal food helps the body with the change of weather, reducing the occurrence of illness like cold & flu.

The more I know as a nutritionist, the less I focus on individual nutrients & the more I only focus on a few basic principles, is organic/chemical free, is it local & seasonal to me, is it free from chemicals & additives & is it what I feel like eating?

What I will say about this recipe is it is that corn is in season right now, so this is the perfect time to make it. It’s incredibly delicious as part of a Mexican-ish dinner or for breakfast with scrambled eggs or on its own, toasted with some organic grass-fed butter. I like to toast it by placing it on a dry fry pan & cooking until golden on both sides. It lasts in the fridge for a few days, alternatively you can slice it & freeze it, making it prefect for meal prep that you can use a few different ways.

Notes:

Tapioca flour substitute

I made this gluten free by using tapioca flour, but regular flour would work just as well.

Buttermilk substitute

Buttermilk is a fermented, tangy, and slightly thick dairy drink, traditionally the leftover liquid from churning butter.

Personally, I never buy it as you can make it easily by either…

Adding a tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice. leave it sit for 15 minutes; it will look curdled but that’s what you want. You can also use a plant-based milk to do this.

Or

Or by adding whey, I often have whey leftover from straining yogurt to make labneh. In that case use half milk & half whey

Or

By doing half milk half yogurt

Ingredients

170g (1 1/2 cup) coarse polenta

1 tsp sea salt (I use this one)

2 eggs, lightly whisked

250ml buttermilk (see note on alternatives)

1 tbsp olive oil + extra to grease tin

Corn kernels from 2 corn cobs

1 tbsp pickled jalapenos, roughly chopped + 70 g jalapeno slices

190g grated cheddar

½ cup tapioca flour (or see note)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp of runny raw honey

A few grinds of black pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C) fan forced

Brush a loaf tin with olive oil to grease I used 22.8cm x 13.3cm (base measurement) loaf tin. Line the base and sides with unbleached baking paper. Line the bottom of the prepared tin with jalapenos & drizzle them with runny raw honey.

Place the tapioca flour, polenta, salt, pepper and baking soda into a large bowl. Stir until well combined. Make a well in the centre.

Combine the egg, buttermilk and oil in a large jug. Gradually add to the polenta mixture, stirring until smooth. Stir in the corn, chopped jalapenos and three-quarters of the cheddar.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the remaining cheddar. Bake for 35 minutes or until a metal skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 5 minutes to cool before turning onto a wire rack. Cut into slices and serve.