I have a confession.......I am addicted to cornbread!! I just love it. I love that it's sweet yet salty and moist and I love to spread butter on it when it's still steaming........excuse me for just a.......................................
Sorry about that....I'm back now.....I hope you can forgive me...but as I was typing I kept looking at the picture, then I glanced over on my counter...and well....there is this big piled high plate of cornbread...and I had to eat another piece. ;) But I'm all good now....I'm here for the rest of the post...I promise!!
So due to the fact that I do LOVE cornbread, I am always down to try a way to make it. This is definitely a keeper, and I recommend that you all try it, BECAUSE I SAID SO......THAT'S WHY!!! Oh...sorry....all of a sudden I could just hear one of my kids asking....."Wwwwwwhhhhhhhyyyyyyy" in that whiny sorta voice....moms out there you know the one!! ;)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar, scant
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups cream style corn
- 1/2 cup (small can) crushed pineapple, drained well and squeezed
- 1 cup shredded jack or mild cheddar cheese
- 1 small can green chile's
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 9″ square baking dish.
Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and set aside. In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. (The mixture may appear curdled at some point, and that is OK.) Add the corn, pineapple, cheese, green chile's and mix to blend. On low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until blended.
Bake until a tester is clean and the cornbread is golden brown on top, about 40 min. Serve warm.
Pssshhh.......why anybody buys pancake mix in a box or bag is beyond me!!! It is so easy and painless to make your own pancake batter and the taste.....well there is just no comparison!! Then....toss in some blueberries....and.....hello....breakfast is ready!! But...you cant have pancakes without bacon....and sausage. Then, this morning I found myself cutting up fresh fruit too....but breakfast was AMAZING!!!
I live in a fairly small city, the population is like 80k so it not tiny by any means but it's not a San Francisco or LA. So, we don't have a ton of variety for grocery shopping!! I wish we had a Whole Foods store because that would be awesome. There was a point in time when I wished we had a Trader Joe's and we finally got one of those, so maybe if I wish hard enough, I will get that wish too. But sometimes, even in small towns, you find a gem of a store, and we do have one of those in Moore's Flour Mill in downtown Redding. This place is U-STINKING-MAZING!! Their prices are phenomenal, everything is milled on site and very fresh and their customer service is OUTSTANDING. They have spices, pasta, and every kind of flour and grain you can think of!! I LOVE that place!! I just had to give them a little shout out, because that's where I got my buckwheat flour and oat flour from that I used in this recipe. (Among lots of other things too!)
Tattoo Man said that the blueberry buckwheat pancakes were super good, and if I can please Tattoo Man with my cooking it makes me a happy Mrs. Tattoo Man!!! ;) Even the teens were happy and my youngest always tells me he doesn't like anything with a wheat taste to it......I love tricking him!! ;)
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!!
Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat flour (or ap flour if you don't have oat or 1 cup ww flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk or almond milk (I used almond milk)
3/4 cup fat free milk
1 T honey (I used xylitol)
2 eggs
2 T canola oil, butter or coconut oil
1 cup of blueberries
In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients with a whisk and set aside. In another bowl, whisk all the remaining iingredients except for blueberries. Now pour wet ingredients into dry and whisk until combined. Let stand 5 minutes, then stir in blueberries. Heat a large griddle or skillet and pour about a 1/4 cup of batter onto greased griddle and cook pancake about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Serve hot with butter and syrup.
*Doing a happy dance* Isn't this gorgeous????? I just love the colors!! I had some leftover chicken from last night (see previous recipe) and I had seen a recipe that was a nectarine chicken salad, but it called for mayonnaise and mixing it all together and that just didn't sound appealing to me today. Soooooo.....I decided to go with the concept, but make it my own. Here is what I came up with and the citrus vinaigrette was a bright added touch!!
Now, tattoo man being my food critic, said he didn't love the celery. He thought I should have used carrots instead. But...me....I thought the celery was great!! So....you can take it or leave it.....the real stars of this salad are the fruit, chicken and dressing as far as I'm concerned!!
Serves 2
1 1/2 cups of diced cooked chicken (I used leftovers, but you can cook 2 boneless skinless breasts)
1 nectarine, cut into 1" pieces
4 cups romaine lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces
2 T sliced red onion
1 celery stalk, diced
1/4 cup almonds, chopped or sliced
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
First place lettuce in a bowl, then top with chicken, onion, nectarine, raspberries, celery and almonds. Pour vinaigrette over top and serve!!
Vinaigrette
2 oranges juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp dried herbs from pantry (anything that sounds good)
1/2 tsp salt
1 clove grated garlic
2 tsp honey
Put all ingredients in a container that has a good sealing lid and shake the snot out of it.
So tattoo man told me the other day that he had thought of a recipe to try but then forgot what it was.......um.....that is sooooo hot!! And can I just say how wonderful it is that he is sooooo supportive and cooperative with me over this blog and the time I spend coming up with recipes and preparing them and photographing them!! I just love him!! So.....I shared with him what I do when I come up with a recipe idea....I email it to myself so I will remember it!!
That is what I did the other night when I was laying in bed and thought of this one. How bad could mushrooms be that are stuffed with caramelized onions, bacon and potatoes??? Um.....not bad at all!! So....here is my recipe....now mind you I was just putting stuff in the pan so I will try to give you the best measurements I can!! Ready....set....COOK!!!!
2 potatoes, cooked (I just put mine in the micro and zap them for like 8 minutes)
1 medium onion, sliced in thin rounds
2 cloves garlic, grated on micro plane
5 slices of bacon, chopped into pieces
1/2 cup milk or heavy cream
1/2 tsp season salt (more or less depending on taste)
10 mushrooms, stems removed
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan
In a large frying pan fry bacon and onions until onions are golden brown and caramelized. Then add all the remaining ingredients except mushrooms and cheddar cheese. Mash and mix completely. Using a spoon, scoop heaping amounts of the potato mixture into each mushrooms. Top with grated cheese, dividing the half cup evenly among the potatoes. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes.
What can I say about this chicken.....except.....VERY GOOD!!! It's something different to do to chicken and it has a great flavor!! I was delighted as well that tattoo man enjoyed it very much and said it is a keeper to make again!! I love pesto.....but this one is lighter and brighter with the cilantro vs. the basil!! Try it....you will like it!!
You know what's funny that I thought of while typing this??? People either love or hate cilantro.....there seems to be no in between......weird....who hates cilantro???? Not me!!
1 cup raw unsalted pistachios (I actually used half pistachio's and half cashews)
2 cups (packed) fresh cilantro leaves
1 T fresh lemon juice plus juice of half of a lemon
3 garlic clove, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
4 large chicken breast halves with skin and ribs attached or 1 whole chicken cut up or 8 thighs
Preheat oven to 400°F. Toast nuts on baking sheet until golden, about 7 minutes. Transfer to processor. Maintain oven temperature. Add cilantro leaves, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, garlic, cardamom, and 3/4 teaspoon salt to processor. Using on/off turns, process until coarse paste forms. With machine running, gradually add 1/2 cup olive oil. Season with pepper.
Using fingers, gently loosen skin from 1 side of each chicken breast, forming pocket. Spread 1 tablespoon pesto evenly under skin of each. Then rub the pesto all over the tops of all the chicken. Sprinkle chicken generously with salt and pepper.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin side down. Cook until skin is dark golden, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken over and transfer skillet to oven. Roast chicken until cooked through, about 25 minutes.
Remove chicken from oven and drizzle remaining half of lemon juice over all chicken. Serve
Please note....the title of this blog post is 'Biscuits and "Homemade" Gravy' not just gravy. If you use package gravy or heaven forbid....canned gravy *gagging* there should be some law passed against that. You know what.....that's what I will do with all my spare time....I will get a law passed against the inhumane unethical use of unnatural canned and packaged gravies!! Who's with me???? I will be sending out a petition the moment I'm done with this posting, so be sure to check your inbox!!!
I also made homemade biscuits. It really doesn't take long and the extra effort you put in for the homemade versions will definitely pay off in flavor!! Give it a try!! You can do it!! I also served scrangled eggs with these cuz I love to dip my eggs in gravy!! =)
Biscuits
2 cups flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 stick butter
1 cup butter milk
In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, soda, powder, and salt. Next using a pastry blender, incorporate butter into flour mixture until butter is the size of peas or smaller. Add buttermilk until all flour is moistened. Turn on to floured surface and flour top of dough as well. Either roll out with rolling pin or flatten with hands, until 3/4" thick. Either cut into squares or cut with round biscuit cutter. Makes 8-12 depending on size and thickness. Bake in 450 oven for 12-16 minutes.
Homemade Gravy
1 lb ground sausage
3 T flour
2 cups, milk or heavy cream or combo of both
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt (more or less depending on taste)
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
Cook sausage until cooked through. Drain drippings reserving 3 T only. Place drippings back in pan with sausage and add flour. Stir for approx 2 minutes to cook out the flour taste. Add milk, pepper, salt and nutmeg. Bring to boil and stir often until it is thickened. Pour over hot biscuits.
Oh my.....what can I say about these cookies....except.....super fabulously delicious!! They are kind of a strange variety of ingredients, but work so well together. AND.....if chocolate and cherries don't go together...than I don't know what does!!
I think these would make great Valentine cookies because of their colors!! I thought about just mixing chocolate chips in the dough to make a more even flow of chocolate throughout the cookie, but the kisses just look sooooo cute on them. Tattoo man and teen #2 both LOVE maraschino cherries so I made these special for them. If I let them they would eat a whole jar in one sitting.
1 c. butter or margarine, softened
1 c. confectioners' sugar
2 tsp. maraschino cherry juice
1/2 tsp. almond extract
A few drops of red food coloring (I actually didn't use any, I like the color they were naturally)
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. maraschino cherries, well drained and chopped
48 milk chocolate Hershey kisses, unwrapped
Combine the first 5 ingredients; blend well. Stir in flour and salt; add cherries and mix well. Form dough into 1" balls (you can refrigerate the dough if it seems to sticky to roll) and place 2" apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake @ 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven and immediately top each cookie with a Hershey kiss, pressing lightly. Remove from cookie sheets to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 4 dozen.
