CORN BREAD FOR KRUSHCHEV (MOLDOVAN CORN BREAD)

Deputy Gheorghe Ghimpu replaces the Soviet flag on the Parliament with the Moldovan flag on April 27, 1990.

Food & Wine magazine recently published this excellent-seeming corn bread recipe as one of its daily emailed “recipe of the day features.

They (or, more correctly, the recipe’s authors) gave the dish a silly name (I don’t remember anything truly amusing about Nikita Krushshchev, whose birthday I share, incidentally), but the corn bread itself looks tremendous and I’ve already purchased the ingredients.

Corn Bread for Khrushchev

Contributed by Anya von Bremzen 

• ACTIVE: 20 MIN
• TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 15 MIN
• SERVINGS: 6 to 8

In the US, Nikita Khrushchev is best known for his shoe-banging at the United Nations. In Russia, the eccentric premier is mostly remembered for his obsession with planting corn everywhere—which earned him the nickname of Kukuruznik (Corn Man). As a comical tribute to Khrushchev, Anya von Bremzen and her mother often make this moist, fluffy Moldovan corn bread with feta and sour cream. It's fantastic for dunking into sauces and dips, or with more feta and fire-roasted red peppers. It also makes a great toast.

Ingredients:

      1.      1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus more for the pan

      2.     2 large eggs, lightly beaten

      3.    2 cups milk

      4.    1/2 cup sour cream

      5.    2 cups fine yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground

      6.    3/4 cup all-purpose flour

      7.     2 teaspoons baking powder

      8.    1 teaspoon salt

      9.    1 teaspoon sugar

      10. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

      11. 3/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled

      12.   Thinly sliced jarred roasted red peppers, for serving (optional)

Method:

      1.     Preheat the oven to 400° and butter a 9-inch square baking pan. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, sour cream and melted butter. In a medium bowl, whisk the cornmeal with the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and baking soda. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until smooth, then fold in the crumbled feta.

      2.    Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the corn bread cool slightly, then cut into squares and serve with roasted peppers. 

Make Ahead. The corn bread can be stored in an airtight container overnight; serve at room temperature. 

 

Panorama of the museum complex Old Orhei, a system of historical monuments and natural landscapes, famous for its cave monasteries.

Mihai Eminescu, national poet of Moldova and Romania.