Cinco de Mayo Cornbread Pizza with a Caribbean Cruise

 
     Okay, we were in the throws of winter.  My outdoor thermometer seemed to be stuck somewhere between -10º Fahrenheit and "get the f*** out of here".  Last week, I was getting sunburned on a beach in Cabo San Lucas, tipping Amando to rearrange my lounging chairs and umbrella.  I wanted to bring that feeling back, and the closest I could come was a Mexican-ish pizza recipe and a fruity cocktail.  I had to take what I could get.
     There was no one to join me this week.  My husband was out of town, Pam was in Mexico (that lucky lady) with my parents (also very lucky), Jennifer was away on business, Roger and the kids had kid-stuff to attend to, and my friends were incomunicado (that's Spanish, by the way, for incommunicado).
     I had told my co-worker that I was probably going to skip the drink of the week, because it was just going to be me, and it really wasn't worth the trouble of making pineapple juice and mixing a bunch of ingredients just for me.  However, when I got home, I thought - why aren't I worth the trouble?  I really wanted the whole experience of pizza night, and who deserved it more than me?  If we can't pamper ourselves, pampering others just isn't any fun any more.
     I wasn't about to go whole cerdo or anything and make two pizzas just for me.  I kept it to the one, and I actually cut that recipe in half.  I didn't want to have to eat pizza for every meal afterward for the next few days.  The beauty of it was that I didn't have to prepare for it.  I had all of the ingredients on hand, and it was going to be done when it was going to be done.  I didn't have to worry about anyone having hunger pains or snacking away the time while waiting for the finished product.

Cinco de Mayo Cornbread Pizza

Adapted from The Everything Pizza Cookbook by Belinda Hulin

1½ cups cornmeal

½ cup bread flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 jumbo egg

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 whole pickled jalapeño, minced

½ cup picante sauce (such as Pace medium)
10 ounces ground beef
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
½ teaspoon granulated garlic
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Salt to taste

6 ounces Mexican style cheese blend

1 avocado

Preheat oven to 400º F.  In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the cornmeal, flour, a teaspoon of salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Stir on low to combine.  In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg, and butter.  Add this to the cornmeal mixture and whisk until smooth.  Stir in the minced jalapeño.  Spray a 9x9 pan with cooking spray to coat.  Pour in the cornmeal batter.  Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes or until cornbread is just starting to firm up.  Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, brown the ground beef with the taco seasoning, garlic, cumin, and salt to taste.  Remove the cornbread from oven and spread picante sauce over it.  Drain the ground beef (you may want to add more salt or other seasonings after draining, as you may lose some in the process).   Sprinkle the beef over the picante sauce.  Top with the cheese.  Bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and browned.  Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes.  Cut into squares and serve topped with sliced avocado.

     It would have been nice if I had prepared a little bit - like if I had taken the 3 pound package of hamburger out of the freezer to thaw.  Instead, I tried to hack off 3/4 of a pound from the solid mass with a boning knife, with the idea that I only needed to thaw a little bit.  I was less than successful.  I did have to snip the metal closures off of either end and thaw it in the microwave for five minutes or so to even get my knife into the meat.  It was a small sacrifice to make.  I can say that now that I know I didn't lose any fingers over it.

     The original recipe called for already browned and seasoned beef.  I don't know if one can buy such a thing, but I had beef and I had seasonings, so I wasn't willing to find out.  I used a taco seasoning I had purchased at Sam's club recently, but I haven't been crazy about its flavor (or lack thereof), so I added more garlic (of course I did) and more cumin, hoping to liven it up a bit.  In hind sight, I should have added some ground hot pepper to it, too.  It browned up in less time than it took my cornbread base to cook.  I drained it and let it cool a bit while I mixed the cornmeal batter.
     I didn't have any canned chiles on hand to put in the cornmeal crust.  I ended up using some pickled jalapeños Pam had canned herself.  I was hoping for something a little spicier - I have found that most pickled jalapeños don't have the same kick as fresh or canned.

     I cheated a little and didn't make the home-made picante sauce the recipe had called for.  I had a big jug of Pace Chunky salsa in the refrigerator, and it seemed superfluous to make more (especially when it is just for me - where do I get these ideas??).  The half a cup barely wet the surface of the cornbread.

     The hamburger made a nice appearance over the salsa, and I had high hopes for this pizza.  Mounds of cheese covered the meat, and my "pie" was ready for the oven.  It took a little bit longer than ten minutes to get the cheese to brown up in places the way I like it.  By the time that happened, the entire mound of ingredients were pulsing with heat.

     A short rest for the pizza, and I was ready to dig in.  The original recipe suggested that it be topped with black olives and sour cream.  While I am an avid fan of sour cream and often dream up different ways to use it or even just dip a spoon in and eat it, I had an avocado that needed to be eaten (they were on sale at Cub this week) right away, and I didn't want to take away from the rich silkiness of a perfectly ripe avocado by smothering it with sour cream.  The olives - well, I am decidedly not an avid fan of them.  I am growing to like them a lot, but not enough to open an entire can for myself.

    It really was a pretty pizza.  It wasn't the great Mexican masterpiece that I had hoped it would be.  I thought that there was a little too much cornbread in comparison to the toppings.  I may revisit this recipe at a later date and use the same amount of cornbread batter, but spread it into a 9x13 pan and double the topping ingredients.  Or, I might add more jalapeños (or replace them with fresh jalapeños) to the batter and some cheese!  I would definitely sprinkle a little cilantro over the top of it when it came out of the oven - for color and a little extra something.

,Caribbean Cruise

1½ measures light rum

1½ measures coconut rum

4 measures pineapple juice

1 spoon grenadine

Shake all ingredients in an ice-filled shaker.  Strain into an ice-filled glass.  Serve with an umbrella straw and garnish with a wedge of pineapple on the rim.

     The drink, on the other hand, was absolutely perfecto!  It was slightly sweet with the coconut undertone and the lovely fruitiness from the pineapple.  It brought me straight back to Cabo and reminded me of the piña coladas we had on the beach.  I turned the heat up to 80º F, made myself two of these little brebajes, closed my eyes, and envisioned the beach.

     

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