Friday, February 9, 2018

Caribbean Reduction # 1

The question last time was, "How much pineapple can one batch of cornbread hold?" The "Caribbean Reduction" started with 20 oz of crushed pineapple, 13.5 oz of coconut milk, and about 1/2 cup fresh pineapple. 

 Mashed in a colander the 20 oz crushed pineapple gave up 6 oz juice. This was added to the 13.5 oz of coconut milk and boiled while whisking to keep it from foaming. This was slow as I was a reduction rookie (45 min) but the smell was amazing. 
I figured it would be tough to tell just how much reduction had
occurred, so at the beginning I stuck a butter knife in the mix to get a start point to mark with tape.






The reduction continued till the level had fallen by 2/3. I then dumped the pineapple back in and poured it in a measuring cup. The new combined volume was 16 oz. The "Kentucky Cornbread 2.0" recipe I'm working from normally got 15 oz of cream style corn. 

 The oil this time was all corn 3/4 cup was all
the oil used. First all the pans got a little oil in each cell then the rest was added to the batter along with two eggs and 7 oz of buttermilk (instead of the usual 8). Before heating the pans the wet ingredients were mixed well and the 1 1/2 cups self-rising cornmeal mix was measured and put aside. While the pans were preheating the corn meal mix was stirred in. The last minute add-ins included flaked sweetened coconut, about 1/2 cup pineapple (half-a-pinky sized) pieces, and some pepper-jack for a few.

  After 28 minutes (in my oven) at 425 degrees f they were ready. WooHoo.



                                            







As Dr Zoidburg would put it "It was me, I'm tha hero!"
If only I were that excited, for all the time and flavor intensifying steps, this cornbread was still pretty mild. I liked all the pineapple fiber hidden away in it, still, most of the pineapple taste seemed to be coming from the add-in chunks. The concentrated coconut milk also remained pretty low key. But what about all that hidden fiber (slightly more than a pound) hmm? What if the pineapple were actually hiding out? See "Kentucky Cornbread P I" (pineapple incognito).

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