By Labor Day weekend. This is the one I always feel — not as an ending exactly, but as a change in the light that is distinct from mid-summer and doesn't get confused with fall quite yet. The particular quality of early September light in the valley, the blue shading toward something deeper at the edges, the shadows arriving earlier. I notice this every year and each year it still surprises me that the same feeling can arrive fresh.
Started scouting the east ridge on Saturday. Three miles in from the trailhead, the bench where I've had good luck, the spring that draws elk in the late evening. The aspen are starting to turn at the tips — maybe two weeks from peak, which puts the colors right at the opener. I checked the sign at the spring and found it: fresh tracks, good size, a bull. Not a guarantee, but a good beginning.
The garden is slowing but not done. Tomatoes still coming, though smaller now. The dried chiles are done — Mom grew four varieties and we harvested them all, hung them in the barn to finish drying. I tested the ancho and guajillo this week, ground them in small batches, noted the heat and the fragrance. They're good. Better than what I've been buying, though I won't make that judgment definitively until the chili. The chili tells the truth.
Made corn chowder Sunday from the last of the sweet corn. Cut it fresh off the cob, cooked with potatoes and onion and cream, finished with bacon. The season's last corn chowder always hits differently than the first — there's an awareness in it that this is the last time until next summer and you eat it like you're paying attention. Which you should. We should always eat the last of the season with that awareness. Most of us don't, most years.
The corn chowder was the meal I’ll remember from that weekend, but these Farmhouse Barbecue Muffins were what came out of the oven Saturday evening after we got back from the ridge—same instinct, different form: something warm, substantial, made with attention. There’s something about a late-summer harvest weekend, the barn full of drying chiles, the garden still giving, that calls for food with a little backbone to it. These hit that note exactly.
Farmhouse Barbecue Muffins
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef (85/15)
- 1/2 cup barbecue sauce, plus more for topping
- 1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 400°F. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper cups.
- Cook the meat. In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the diced onion, breaking it up as it cooks, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat. Stir in the barbecue sauce and remove from heat. Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. Stir in 3/4 cup of the shredded cheddar.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, oil, and egg until combined.
- Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined—do not overmix. Fold in the cooled meat mixture gently until evenly distributed.
- Fill and top. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Top each with a pinch of the remaining cheddar and a small spoonful of extra barbecue sauce if desired.
- Bake. Bake for 18–20 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out. Serve warm.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 278 | Protein: 13g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 370mg