Who Isn’t a Little Soft in the Middle?

I went to my first crab feast of the season two weeks ago. While I like softshell crabs and crab cakes, my favorite way to eat this crustacean is to break the shit open with my hands. As lazy as I am in life, I love the hard work it requires to eat a boiled crab. I love the newspaper thrown over a backyard table. I love how Old Bay coats everything from my finger tips to my elbow. I love the taste of determination when I pull out a leg and all of the meat comes with it. And of course I love the beer and drunkenness that always attaches itself to the crab feast.

The sides are pretty great too. There’s usually a boiled potato dish in the mix. But I wanted to bring something a bit different. And something I could whip up quick. I turned to my old friend, Jiffy corn bread mix.

Kefir Chili Corn Cake

Even though the Old Bay has a kick, and I probably should have brought something to tame that heat, I decided to throw in a ton of spiciness to this corn cake. In this version of a corn cake I used a poblano, jalapeno, roasted garlic, the rest of my kale pesto, montery jack cheese, subbed low fat, plain Kefir (I’m guessing baking removes its healthful qualities) for milk, an egg, cumin, salt, pepper, and of course, the corn cake mix. I followed the box’s cooking time of 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

I find that the corn bread/cake/muffin can be quite dry when following the package instructions of only the mix, egg and milk. I think the moisture from the vegtables, plus the cheese and the thinkness of the Kefir (it’s like liquid yogurt) really helps create a crazy moist texture. Actally, it was so full of moistness that the middle barely cooked. Awesome!

So I basically had to pull a Blondie. This means I had to cut off and remove an inch of the corn cake from around the sides, because that part was cooked through, and then I had to stick the rest back in the oven. I’m not sure how this could be fixed. Maybe longer oven time but with foil over at the end/beginning? Any baking suggestions?

Artistic photographic assistance courtesy of  crab feast host, Burger.