Homemade Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

As I alluded to in this post, I made cornbread for our Oscars Watch Party at this girl's house.  Since I had a bunch of cornmeal from back when I made French bread, I decided to make it from scratch and use up some of the large container in the process!

I scoured the internet for recipes using cornmeal and came across this one from Ina Garten.  She used yellow cornmeal and all I had was white cornmeal, but it turned out great regardless!  It does call for quite a bit of butter, but the results meant a very moist and tasty bread!  So much so that I didn't get any pictures of the final product before it was devoured.  Here's the recipe:

Homemade Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread, taken from the Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal (I used white)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups milk
3 extra large eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 pound (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, melted--I told you it has a lot of butter!
1/3 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts (about 3 scallions), plus one more for garnish
1 seeded and minced jalapeno
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese--I used a Mexican cheese blend from Trader Joe's, which was even better!


Kitchen Supplies:
Knife
Fork
Spoon
Cutting board
Two mixing bowls
9 x 13 glass pan--I used a 7 x 11 pan and then poured the additional batter into a 6 muffin tin
Toothpick

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease baking dish with butter, set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt.   In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, milk, and eggs.  Add wet ingredients to dry, mixing just until most of the lumps have dissolved.  Add 2 cups of cheddar cheese, scallions and jalapeno, mixing well.  Let sit on the counter for twenty minutes to combine.

Pour mixture into greased dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese and scallion.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (mine took 33 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the dish comes out clean.  Cut into big squares and serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves: 6-8


I am not a big fan of spicy food and am notorious for touching my eyes and face after dealing with hot peppers--the first time J met my extended family, I had just touched my eye with jalapeno juice and it looked as if I had a black eye!  Therefore, I try to handle the pepper as little as possible when cutting it up.  Here's how I do it:  First, I cut the pepper in half.  Then working with one half at a time, I spear the narrow end with a fork so my hands never actually touch the pepper.  The fork acts as a hand to stabilize the pepper while you work.  I then use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and ribs before cutting the pepper into strips, stopping just before the fork (this way the fork holds the whole half together while you chop it into smaller pieces).  Eventually I am able to run my knife through the diced jalapenos and put them in the bowl using the back of my knife, all without actually touching it!

Have you ever made cornbread?  Do you have an aversion to peppers like I do?  Any tips for not getting hot pepper juices in my eye?  I'm all eyes ears!

Blizzard Pumpkin Bread Pudding

This recipe came about because last week when the news was calling for a blizzard of epic proportions.  Fearing the worst, J and I ventured to the grocery store to stock up just in case we lost power as some were cautioning we might!  While we were there, we bought a loaf of Italian bread, not remembering the loaf and a half we had left at home. 

We didn't lose power or get the amount of snow that was originally projected, which meant we had a lot of extra bread.  Now, we don't usually eat a lot of sandwiches around here to begin with (hence the loaf and a half at home) and since then it has just been sitting there waiting for something to be done with it.

On Wednesday night, it popped into my head that I should make a bread pudding with the loaf of bread.  I cut it into cubes and dried them out a bit in the oven first, the way you would with croutons or bread when you are making homemade stuffing.  The results were definitely tasty and the bread held up pretty well considering it is sandwich bread and not baguette, which traditional bread puddings use.  I don't know if I would recommend making it this way by choice, but if you have extra bread laying around that you are going to throw out, this is a great option.

Here is the recipe either with or sans sandwich bread:

Blizzard Pumpkin Bread Pudding, adapted from Epicurious

Not my best photographic effort but I was trying to get this and dinner on the table before going to the laundry mat!

Ingredients:
5 cups of cubed crusty bread, like French baguette--I used Italian sandwich bread (see above)
1 cup of heavy cream--I used half and half to cut down on some of the calories
1/2 cup whole milk--I used skim milk to make it less caloric (less calories per bite equals more bites!)
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs plus 1 yolk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice--I used nutmeg because I didn't have any allspice
3/4 of a stick of margarine, melted


Kitchen Supplies:
2 mixing bowls
Whisk
2 quart glass baking dish
Measuring cups and spoons

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter either in a saucepan on the stove or in the microwave. 
In one bowl, whisk together cream, milk, eggs, pumpkin, sugar and spices.  In another bowl toss the butter and bread cubes together until combined.  Pour bread cubes into the milk and egg mixture, tossing to coat.  Pour mixture into ungreased baking dish and bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes until the custard is set.  Remove from oven and serve.

Serves: 6

Have you ever had leftovers that were going to spoil that caused you to improvise?  What was it and what did you make?

Bananas Foster Bread Pudding

Now for my favorite part of any meal (except maybe those lambsicles), dessert!  And what is better than dessert, you ask?  Bread pudding for dessert because it is my absolute favorite dessert.  Ask J, if we are out to dinner and that is a choice for dessert, it doesn't matter what else is on the menu because I will go for bread pudding every time.

This bread pudding was no exception and a great way to cap off our NOLA themed night.  Sadly, I didn't get a picture before I devoured it (despite having ate six previous courses) but trust me, it's good!

Bananas Foster Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup milk

9 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 bananas, cut 3/4 inch thick

1/4 cup banana liquor

1/2 cup dark rum

4 large eggs, beaten

3 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch salt

6 cups bread cubes--we used day old french baguette and it was fantastic!


Kitchen Supplies:
Bread knife, for bread cubes
Heavy saucepan
Whisk
10 x 14 inch baking dish
Large skillet
Lighter stick or match
Wire rack, for cooling

Combine sugar, water, and lemon juice in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and cook until sugar dissolves.  Let boil without stirring until it becomes deep amber color, 2-3 minutes.  Carefully add cream whisking to combine and remove from heat.  Add milk, 2 tablespoons at a time until desired consistency is reached.  Let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 10 x 14 inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter and set aside.

Melt remaining 8 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add 1 cup of the brown sugar and the cinnamon and cook until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes.  Add the bananas and cook on both sides until the bananas begin to soften, and brown about 3 minutes.  Add the banana liquor and stir to blend.  Carefully add the rum and shake the pan to flame the rum.  Shake the pan back and forth until the flame dies.  Remove from heat and cool.  Let me let you in on a little secret: when we made this, the pan did not flambe (light) and you know what, it turned out great!  So if you make this recipe and yours does not ignite, not to worry.  It will still taste wonderful!

Whisk the eggs and add the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, the cream, milk, vanilla and salt in a bowl.  Add the cooled banana mixture and bread and stir until blended thoroughly.  Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake until firm, about 50 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.  Serve a scoop of pudding on a plate and top with vanilla ice cream and drizzle with caramel sauce.

Serves: 10

And that concludes my NYE recipe round-up.  Now go out there and try some of these recipes.  You will not regret it!  And as always, please let me know if you try them.

Happy weekend, everyone!

French Bread, or Woods Finds an Open Window

On Sunday afternoon, I decided to make French bread for our dinner party.  Since I was already baking this dessert, I figured, why not add some fresh baked bread to the meal!  

Here is the recipe, adapted from this source:

KitchenAid Stand Mixer French Bread

Ingredients:

2 packages active yeast

2 1/2 cups of hot, but not scalding, water 

1 tablespoon of salt

1 tablespoon of melted butter

7 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons of corn meal

Stick of butter

Kitchen Supplies:

Stand mixer--while there are many recipes out there for french bread you make by hand, this recipe is especially designed for stand mixer since it does all the kneeding for you.  I am sure it could be adapted for use without a stand mixer

Glass bowl

Kitchen towel

Rolling pin

Cookie sheet

Rinse mixing bowl with warm water to warm up the sides and bottom of the bowl.  Pat dry.  Add yeast and hot water.  Mix by hand until combined.  Place mixing bowl on Stand mixer.  Add melted butter, flour and salt.  Using the dough hook attachment, mix on speed 2 for 1 minute or until well blended.  Continue on speed 2 for an additional two minutes.  Turn contents of bowl into a glass bowl greased with butter.  Cover with towel and place in a warm place free of draft for one hour.

For a warm, draft-free place (especially in the winter) I usually use my oven.  Turn the oven to 350 for 2 minutes to warm it and then turn it off.  Place the dough mixture inside.  Also take care to lower the oven racks so you don't burn a hole through or set your towel on fire once it's in there!

Once an hour has elapsed, remove from oven (or other warm place) and punch mixture down.  It should have doubled in size over this time.  Remove from bowl and divide into two equal pieces.  With a small amount of flour to prevent sticking, roll out each piece to approximately 12 inches by 16 inches.  Starting from the longest end, roll up tightly into a long baguette roll.  Shape the ends into tapers if desired.  Place on a cookie sheet that has been dusted with the cornmeal.  Repeat with other half.  Cover and return to warmed oven (again warm for 2 minutes) and let rise for an hour.

Remove from oven.  The baguettes should have again risen over the second hour.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Using a sharp knife, cut four slits across the top of the loafs.  

Cook bread for 25 minutes, then remove from oven.  Run a stick of butter over the tops of the bread and return to oven for five more minutes of cooking.  Remove from oven.  Serve hot or cold with your favorite dishes.

There is a lot of down time during this process and this time I used to clean the house and soak our stove's drip plates which had, sadly, lots of caked on food on them from all the cooking we have been doing as of late. While I was baking, it occurred to me I should have cleaned the oven too because it got a little smoky and our very sensitive fire alarms went off.  I opened the kitchen window to stop the incessant beeping and when I turned around, I found this.

Apparently Woods enjoy an open window no matter what the size!

Happy baking and happy Christmas Eve everyone!

Tastes of My Childhood

I already mentioned that J and I spent 3 1/2 hours baking, cooking and cleaning up after our Sunday night dinner. What I didn't mention is how delicious the end result was, nor did I share with you the details of what exactly we were working on for that long!

First, I decided to use the KitchenAid Stand Mixer again and make some more fresh bread, this time classic white bread. It turned out even better than my French bread last week.

Next, we chopped and chopped vegetables for Paul Prudhomme's Pasta Primavera (something I've been wanting and missing) and a side salad of oil and vinegar slaw (something J had been craving all week).


My dad learned to cook (and boy can he cook!) with Chef Paul Prudhomme's cookbooks, especially Louisiana Kitchen and Fiery Foods That I Love. It began at a time where my parents had three children under five and little money for a babysitter. My parents would put us to bed, pour themselves a glass of wine and crack open the cookbook. This dish quickly became a family favorite, one that I requested for my birthday dinner year after year. It was also the meal I requested as my "last meal," made the night before I moved to Omaha for college.

Pasta Primavera, taken from Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook


Ingredients:
For the Seasoning Mix:
2 1/2 teaspoons dried sweet basil leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
3/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced carrots, cut on the diagonal
2 cups sliced zucchini
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
1 cup asparagus tips or 3/4 cup snow peas--I prefer asparagus but usually buy whatever looks more fresh in the store
1 cup chopped green onions
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup prosciutto, cut into thin strips
2 cups cauliflower florets
1 pound of spaghetti

Kitchen Supplies:
Large skillet pan
Pasta pan

Combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl (Makes approximately 2 tablespoons plus 3/4 teaspoon). Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. When oil is very hot, add prosciutto, cauliflower, mushrooms, carrots and zucchini. Add the butter and as it melts, stir in the garlic and all of the seasoning mix. Next, stir in the asparagus tips or snow peas and green onions. Stir well and cook until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about four to five minutes. Stir in the cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until sauce has a thickened a bit, about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package. Drain and add hot pasta to the skillet. Toss well and serve with hot bread.

I've noticed that my recipe blog posts have been filled with lots of stories along with the usual recipes this week. To me, a recipe is just another keepsake, like scrapbooks or photo albums, that can take you back to a specific time and place or a feeling you had. The smells and tastes in familiar foods always trigger some sort of memory for me, some of which I've shared here! In fact, I think cooking (and eating) has quickly become my favorite way to reminisce.  I hope you try some of these recipes and make new food memories with your family! 

Happy cooking and happy memories everyone!

So, about those weekend plans...

Woods, "helping" put away groceries yesterday afternoon

I accomplished about half of what I had set out to do this weekend.

I had a great time at Clever Betty's craft show and got a very cute business card case from her to hold all of my cards: debit, credit, gift and otherwise (like this one but with different colors)!

I made some fresh white bread and read some of my new book.

I did not recover the chairs in our dining room, nor did I go on a bike ride.

Instead, J and I shared a spot of tea with some good friends yesterday at the London Tea Room, one of my favorite places here in the Lou.

I made my grandpa's gazpacho (on his birthday no less!) for lunches this week. In fact, I have a bowl of it waiting for me as soon as I finish this post--yum!

We also spent 3 1/2 hours baking, cooking and cleaning up after our Sunday night dinner feast. It was fun but I was exhausted and in bed by 9:30 last night!

How was your weekend, friends? Hopefully a little more successful than mine!