Aeble-what?

   I've been known to find some different (and on occasion, bizarre) foods. It was when I was doing some searching for Aloo Palak that I found--by a rather circuitous route-- Aebleskivers. To be honest, I'm not a fan of pancakes at all. Not sure why, I think it's something about the flavor and texture, but something about these little round Danish pancake balls really sounded interesting. So for kicks and giggles I found a cheapish pan, scoured the web for recipes, and gave it a whirl. Happily, I rather enjoyed them and have made them rather often for a quick brunch or snack to have on hand. After some time, I was a bit tired and bored with just the plain ones. After yet more scouring of the the web I found a winner-- Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread Aebleskivers. I can't seem to find a reference to the first recipe I used (I'm beginning to think maybe I just made cornbread and added stuff to it), but tonight while satisfying my Cornbread Aebleskiver craving I found a keeper. This tasty little recipe comes from the blog "The Other Side of Fifty".

  First whisk some flour, cornmeal, salt, brown sugar, baking soda and powder, cayenne and black pepper together in a medium bowl. I really recommend adding a touch less than the 1/2 tsp of cayenne called for if you're not a fan of spicy stuff. This was almost too much for me and I love spicy stuff, so I'd probably do a scant 1/2 teaspoon the next time.

   Next, whisk some buttermilk (this will help tone down the cayenne quite a bit), melted butter, and eggs in a small bowl. Not the most appetizing look concoction. Now dump that lovely stuff on the dry ingredients and mix until combined. You don't want to overmix it, just get everything moist.

  Done with the combining? Now add your diced jalapeños to the mix (if your using them) and give it a good stir. At some point in time, you'll want to melt some more butter and heat up your aebleskiver pan. It usually doesn't take too long to do that, well at least with my little cast iron pan it doesn't anyway.


   Now you're going to want to brush the wells of your pan with some butter and add a Tablespoon or less mix to it. Add a chunk of cheese, add a little more mix (try not to overfill) and let the sides brown, flipping once each side is done. There are a couple ways to flip these things, but my personal favorite is using a knitting needle or bamboo skewer and flip them a quarter turn each time the side is brown and holds together. This takes some practice, so don't worry if they look funny. The first time, batch, and attempt with new recipes usually do look funny until you get the hang of it. The other way to flip them is to brown one half and flip it all the way over and cook the second half. Oh, and if you have an aluminum pan use a bamboo skewer so you don't scratch the non-stick coating. I have better luck with a knitting needle on my cast iron one, so it's just a matter of trying one and seeing which suits you better.

   Once you're done browning the little lovelies and making sure they're cooked all the way through, enjoy! I love eating these with a bowl of chili. It's just a different variation of cornbread, but I think that's what makes it fun. :)