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.
