Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

I grew up with cornbread and spoon bread as meal staples, usually made from mixes. Some years ago my husband and I discovered this recipe for cornbread that we think is the best we've had.

The only problem is that while it's wonderful warm out of the oven, it doesn't keep-over well to the next day - it gets heavy and dry, and I've never figured out how to fix that. But perhaps it's true of all cornbread.

Anyway, here's the recipe; I cut it from a newspaper or magazine, and can't attribute it; but it was called

Extreme Corn Bread

1 T vegetable shortening (or other method of greasing the pan)

8-1/2 oz. box of Jiffy Corn Bread mix

1 Cup Sour Cream (plus additional for garnish)

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs

8-3/4 oz. can Kernel Corn, drained

8-1/4 oz. can Creamed Corn

Corn Salsa for garnish

Preheat oven to 350. Grease the bottom and sides of a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with the shortening.

In a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed, combine the corn bread mix, sour cream, butter and eggs until blended, about 30 seconds.

Using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the drained corn kernels and creamed corn until well-blended. Pour the mixture into the skillet and bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

It's suggested to serve it with a dollop of sour cream and a spoonful of corn salsa.

Another one we like a lot is this, originally from Gourmet Magazine, Cheddar-Jalapeno Corn sticks:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cheddar-jalapeno-corn-sticks-104644

And here's a traditional Southern spoon bread recipe:

http://southernfood.about.com/od/spoonbreadrecipes/r/bl00927a.htm

-JT

[Hardens Hollow]

I just heard of ‘killed salad’ by a neighbor here. Is it good? Sounds interesting.

[kalee]

I like it. The dressing is a warm vinaigrette of bacon grease, mustard, finely minced onion, brown sugar, salt and pepper.
You can use any kind of lettuce, spinach leaves or a combination. When serving add cooked bacon pieces and sliced hard boiled egg to the salad on the plates.
My grandmother made it, but my mother never did. My mother and her friends were young wives in the early Julia Child era, they didn't cook like their mothers. Southern and Appalachian mountain cooking is under going a revival. You can find cookbooks with the old recipes in them and upscale restaurants are charging high prices for foods that were simple sustenance for our ancestors. Ramps sell for about $12.00 a pound in Wegman’s in the DC area, while my grandparents foraged for them on the their farm.

[kalee]

I would like to see the pictures. I am curious about it. We have a Bradford pear tree that is beautiful when in bloom, but just an ordinary looking tree when it leafs out, so yes, very disappointing after the brief beauty it provides in the Spring.

[Jamestown1630]

I think the Zoji was actually one of the first high-end bread machines (?)

From what I’ve learned reading reviews, Breville is a good product (we’ve been interested in their food processor).

The main thing is to understand how bread machines work, and then read lots of reviews. The most expensive one with all the bells and whistles isn’t necessarily the one you need, at least not at first.

One trade-off with a bread machine, is that the paddle(s) leave the bottom of your loaf with holes. I’ve never minded that, it’s a reasonable tradeoff for the convenience. Some of the newer ones have paddles that collapse when the kneading is done, and the holes or depressions are smaller; so you may want to look for that, and try and learn from reviews how well it actually works.

-JT