Color Kitchen

Better in Blue.

Anything you can make with corn meal, you can make with blue corn meal! While the raw meal is indeed a slightly blue color, it’s when you cook the grain that it really becomes a blueish purple. The blue corn kernels are coarser than regular yellow or white corn, so anything made with blue corn meal has a stronger, nuttier taste. It’s also going to be lower in starch and higher in protein, so there’s good reason to experiment with the new hue. Here are some ideas:

Blue cornbread:

• 1 cup blue corn meal
• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk (whole, low fat, or non-fat all work)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoon agave nectar (or honey, or maple syrup)

Mix the dry stuff together in a bowl. Beat the egg well in a separate bowl, then add the rest of the wet stuff. Mix the dry stuff with the wet stuff. Pour this mixture into a greased baking pan, or into muffin cups. Bake at 425F for 15-20 minutes. 

Blue Corn Tortillas

• 3/4 cup regular corn meal
• 1/4 cup cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup blue corn meal
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add oil. Add hot water in 1/2 cup increments until a smooth but firm dough forms. 

Knead the dough for three minutes, ending with a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for 15- 20 minutes. 

Divide your ball in half, then again in half, and again, until you have 12 pieces (or stop at 8, if you want bigger tortillas). 

Roll each smaller piece into a ball, then flatten with a roller or the palms of your hands, working in a circular motion. A rolling pin is easier!

You can roll the tortillas as you cook them, or if you want to roll in advance, just make sure you keep some saran wrap or paper towels between the stack so they don’t stick.

Heat a large non-stick skillet, or lightly grease a regular pan. Cook each tortilla for one minute on each side on medium heat. After removing from the pan, stack the tortillas with paper towels between them and wrap in an additional paper towel to keep warm. Serve quickly afterwards.

*To make arepas instead of tortillas:

Skip the flour, add an additional 1/2 teaspoon salt, and swap 1/2 cup of whole milk for the vegetable oil. Instead of a rolling pin, use your hands to fan out your arepa, roughly 1.5 centimeters thick. Do this with WET hands!

Put 1 teaspoon of butter in the pan for every arepa you fry. Eat immediately!!

(Photo by Mia Tramz)