Blue Corn Muffins

On a recent date to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, I was inspired to: 1.) cook Southwestern food, 2.) do something with chutneys, and 3.) bake experimental breads. We went for brunch and it all began with a basket of freshly baked muffins. These were not just any kind of muffins; they included jalapeno cornbread muffins, coffee cake, cornbread with raisins, and a blue corn bread muffin. The basket came accompanied by a little tray of a delicious sweet and spicy mango chutney that both my boyfriend and I agreed was one of the best parts of the meal. Did I mention the bread basket was bottomless? Yes, we finished our first basket and they replenished it before our main entrees arrived! So my first Mesa-inspired cooking experiment were these blue corn muffins. I couldn't find blue cornmeal in Whole Foods, our local health food store, or Gristede's! Finally I found it in Kalustyan's, officially making that place my favorite store. I also picked up a small jar of Roland's spicy mango chutney which is not as tasty as Bobby Flay's but it will suffice until I learn how to make that too. Blue cornmeal has a slightly sweeter taste than yellow cornmeal and I felt like the texture was a little softer too, but I could be wrong about that. I tried to research the difference between blue and yellow cornmeal but I couldn't find anything useful so if any of you know, please share!

Blue Corn Muffins

(Makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:
1 cup blue cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
5 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup fake eggs (or two real eggs)
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup corn kernels

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl mix together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Stir in the eggs, milk and olive oil. Add in the corn kernels.
2. Pour batter evenly into muffin baking tray. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let muffins cool for 10 minutes on a rack before serving with mango chutney. Enjoy!