MY First Comfort Food Recipe

Always incorporating food
into our adventures -
Homemade ice cream at the
Knoxville Farmers' Market

I enjoy cooking, serving, and eating food. Heck, I even enjoy incorporating food into my other hobbies - like reading cookbooks or cooking magazines, or you know, writing this very blog. Despite all of that interest, love, and time, I was still disappointed in my relationship with food because something was lacking: an achievement I hadn't quite reached. 

There are lots of things I love to cook and that I make well, but I'd never call them "mine." I've longed for "my" recipes. You know, the ones that when my Baby is grown, he'll call and say "Mom, how do you make your ...?" and I'll pull out a raggedy stained recipe - that I no longer use, because it's pure muscle memory now - to hand off to him. 

I think most people have that kind of food association with the people they love. There's some recipe that will always be associated with, and tasted best when prepared by, your nana, husband, mama, or next-door neighbor. It might be from scratch, semi-homemade, or maybe even take-out they served in just the right way. 

My dad has a gift for cooking outstanding fried chicken. He uses boneless chicken breast tenders for these "Daddy Nuggets." They're best served with rice, gravy, and tiny "baby biscuits" (which are mine ONLY; y'all eat the full-sized ones). Or maybe his best dish is his "Daddy Burgers" (Seeing a pattern here? Only child + Daddy's girl); they're better than any restaurant burger I've ever had. 

Mom makes the best tomato + Velveeta baked pasta (sorry, no affectionate name here. I called it "Barf" as a kid, for looks alone). And her beef stroganoff is humble, simple, and THE BOMB. Despite all logic, Dad's attempts to elevate it with homemade sauce and fresh peppers fall short. 

And J makes the best meatballs. Period. The funny thing is, they're from his Mamaw's recipe, but she has zero recollection of every making them...so they're certainly his now!

But I wanted MY recipes. Things Baby will specifically request, like I do with beef strogranoff: "No, Dad; I want Mama to make it!"

Sunday at The Summit

First, I wanted my own chili recipe. I was raised on - you guessed it - my Dad's chili. Every winter, he'd get out the gigantic pasta pot (now the electric turkey roaster - efficiency, y'all) to make gallons of chili. We'd freeze it and eat homemade chili year-round. Then, I married J who had his own distinct and delicious recipe. And we're members of a church whose core tenants are: 1. The Great Commandment, 2. The Great Commission and 3. January = Chili Cook-Off time. So, I've seen the depth and breadth of the definition of chili. And how attached folks are to their chili. There are hardcore camps: beans vs. no beans, beef vs.turkey vs. veggie vs. venison, spicy vs. mild; and Lord, all the secret ingredients!

The good news is, after much tinkering, I've found MY chili recipe. However, I'm not sharing that with you today. The Cook-Off is this Sunday and I'm not giving these goods away. Who knows, maybe I'll report back with my "prize-winning" recipe. 

Next, I wanted to have a signature comfort food. I know this is a broad category covering all types/courses/flavors of food. I want it to be something Baby and Hubs request when they're sick or had a rough day or just need a reminder of a warm, loving home. And I've found it, perhaps in the most cliche, comforting sick-day food: chicken noodle soup! 

My lil' star face! 

Baby is an adventurous eater and will try anything, but this kid LOVES soup. Maybe it's the fun slurpy    noise or the warmth or his lazy refusal to chew,    but this first time I made this, he cried until I fed it to him, straight from the pot...for breakfast. And I don't blame him, it's delicious. 

Instead of long noodles like Campbell's or egg noodles, this recipe uses the cutest pasta option: stars! The original recipe is designed for "pastina," a generalized name for the smallest pasta shapes. There are a variety of teeny tiny shapes, but I prefer stelline pastina, shaped like itty bitty stars. Using pastina is obviously adorable, but adds great texture to the soup, too. The veggies are all similar tiny cuts which makes for a better mouthfeel. And c'mon, we all need a bowl of whimsy sometimes. (See PRO TIP below.)

I used a hunk of this 5 lb. Grana Padana cheese I won
in a Splendid Table drawing. I've frozen hunks of it for
recipes just like this that need a little fancy cheese. 

The soup is incredibly quick (less than 30 minutes) and easy to prepare (under 10 ingredients), but has deep developed flavors. You saute the trinity (carrots, celery, onions), then add thyme, chicken broth (see PRO TIP below) and the secret ingredient: a 2-inch piece of Parmesan rind. That may sound bizarre, but it adds a great nuttiness and saltiness, making your soup taste like it simmered for hours. If you can't get Parmesan rind, be sure to garnish your bowls with grated Parmesan. But I highly recommend the rind; grocery stores with an actual cheese counter normally sell rind for fairly cheap (and it keeps in the freezer for ages). Or, kill two birds with one stone and splurge on a little wedge and use every inch of the cheese. 

This was originally a meat-less recipe (could be vegetarian, if you swap in veggie broth), but the first time I made it, I tossed in leftover rotisserie chicken - GAME CHANGER. We buy chicken a lot - even the cuts we don't normally prepare for entrees - just to shred for enchiladas, soups, curries, or chicken salad. Grocery stores normally mark down rotisserie chickens in the evening, which we'll occasionally buy, shred and freeze in two-cup servings. Shredded chicken is certainly one of our pantry (freezer) staples and fits this dish so well. Makes it a little more filling, but not heavy, and adds extra texture, too. 

When you're looking for a simple dinner-in-a-hurry that tastes like low-and-slow comfort food, this soup is just right. But be sure to give me credit; it is MINE, after all. 

Fat Kid Friday: Old Fashioned Apple Stack Cake

Before Thanksgiving, I was thinking a lot about family and especially those who aren't with us anymore. I was thinking about how I wanted to make a dish that really meant something to us. And the food memory that kept coming back to me was hearing my grandpa talk about the apple stack cake his mom used to make. And I decided that in honor of his memory (and in part, hers) I'd try to make it.

I found a recipe from a very reliable source, Lynn Rosetto Kasper's The Splendid Table program from American Public Media (airs Saturdays at noon on NPR, streams online) and made the cake for my parents' Thanksgiving dinner.

And it was a hit. Just seeing the tall cake, with gooey layers thrilled my parents and they gushed about how much Grandpa would've loved it.

Dad immediately gave me suggestions on how to make it more like Mamaw Alma's cake: under-cooking the layers and going heavier on the apple butter.

The pictures were shared on Facebook and a work colleague demanded I bring my apple stacks to our employee holiday party. With some tweaks to the recipe (reflected below in shorter cooking times & more butter), I brought a beautiful cake to the party.

And, it turns out almost every Southern family has strong, vivid memories and joyous feelings tied to the apple stack cakes of their childhood. I had two folks actually tell me they'd just had a long discussion about the cakes their mothers used to make and were shocked to see mine. There was a sweet chatter through the whole party of "Who brought this?" and "It reminds me so much of...."

To me, there are two important elements in a successful recipe.

One is that it makes something delicious; and that is certainly true for this cake. The cake layers are essentially giant sugar cookies that are sweet, yet delicately flavored and the apple butter is powerfully flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg. These two elements sandwiched together makes for a beautifully balanced bite. And the texture is just as perfect - soft and crumbly cake with smooth sweetness. It's not a perfectly designed, stunning cake, it's simple and even more simple-looking, but the flavor is out-of-this-world.

The other element of a successful recipe, which is even more important and is the reason we all crave foods from our past (even mom's awful meatloaf), are the food feelings. Where you feel so strongly about a bite that it can take you back in time, to remember every detail of the dish, the United States place mat or the way your hair would always fall onto your plate. I read a book once, called "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" about a girl who suddenly can taste all of the emotions inside of food. It almost drives her mad - being able to taste the tears of her mom as she baked following a fight with her husband, or the frustration of her dad trying to figure out how to cook on his own. But I related to it so well, not from the madness, but the joy of tasting a memory or the feelings of a cook. And this cake does that to people. My co-workers expressed being able to taste me reaching out to my Grandpa and how much I must have loved him and wanted to please him; and they too, were able to go back to someone they loved.

With these two elements met, I have to rule this recipe as a success and encourage you to make it sometime for the people you love.

However, there's an addendum to this post; find the recipe that takes you back and gives you vivid food memories, or that will make new memories for your loved ones.

Old Fashioned Apple Stack Cake

Adapted from The Splendid Table

Ingredients:

1 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

5 1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 t. baking powder

1 1 /2 t baking soda

1 t salt

1 t ground cinnamon

2/3 c buttermilk

2 large eggs

1 t vanilla extract

2 1/2 c+ apple butter (I used Smuckers in a pinch, but apple butter is very easy and inexpensive to make at home, in a crock pot)

Powdered sugar for garnish 

Method:

Preheat oven to 400. Grease/flour the cake pans (see note below). 

Cream the butter, sugars and butter together at medium speed until quite fluffy (3-5 minutes), scraping the bowl occasionally. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside. In a small bowl whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. 

Add a third of the flour mixture to the creamed butter; mix just until combined at medium-low speed. Add half of the buttermilk mixture and mix just to combine. Repeat, adding another third of the flour mixture, then the remaining buttermilk, and the remaining flour mixture. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead four times. Roll into a cylinder about 18 inches long. Cut the cylinder into 6 equal parts; press each part into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You could make the dough disks up to a day in advance. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk to a 10 inch circle. Using a cake pan as a guide, trim the dough into a 9 inch circle, then lay into a greased pan to bake. Repeat with other disc; three at a time, if possible. 

Bake for 3 minutes, then rotate the pans in the oven, and bake 2-3 more minutes until lightly browned and beginning to pull away from the pan. Remove from the oven and cool the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove the layers and set aside. Continue with the remaining discs. You will probably have enough dough left to knead together a seventh layer. 

Choose your prettiest, smoothest layer for the top and set aside.

Place one layer on your cake plate then top with a little bit more than 1/2 a cup of apple butter; close to 3/4 a cup. Top with another cake layer, more apple butter; repeat. Leave the top layer "undressed" with apple butter.

Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least overnight. Around 36 hours makes for the best softness of the cake; where the apple butter soaks in and makes the texture perfect.

When ready to serve, dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar. Slice into thin slices. 

Fat Kid Friday: Fresh Apple Cake

First, let me apologize for the fact that thus far, all my Fat Kid posts are about baked goods. I'm a baker - I am confident in my ability to make entrees, or whole meals, even - but I adore baking and creating desserts. So, for those of you lacking a sweet tooth, I'm sorry (but for those of you, like J, who can't get enough sugar, you're welcome).

Now, even if you aren't sweet savvy, this is a dessert worth a second look. I've been making this cake (and one other version of it) since I was a tween. My mom wrote the recipe for a church cookbook when I was a little kid and, for some reason, I gave it a try once. And according to my dad, this is my signature dish.

There's a local orchard whose opening we all count down to in the summer. They have great apples, the most phenomenal cider and cider slushies, apple donuts and fritters, and their infamous apple cakes. These apple cakes are beautiful and pretty good; and they better be, because they sell for upwards of $15. However, I've been making and selling these to family friends for years and they all say they're better than The Orchard's.

Fresh Apple Cake - prior to glazing

This cake is richly sweet from the apples, coconut, sugar and sauce. But unlike a more traditional layer cake, with creamy icing that coats the inside of your mouth, this is a sweetness more like a hyped-up fruit-and-nut bread. And technically, if you left off the glaze, it would be very bread-like, but who wants that? Since the glaze is made with brown sugar, it's not cloyingly sweet, but the molasses makes this more of a rich, caramel flavor instead of overpowering sweetness.

With coconut, three whole apples and a cup of pecans, the cake is full of chunks with different textures and flavors; which I love. You can use any number of apples, and if you're blessed enough to live in Western North Carolina in the fall, you have a long list of options. I think honeycrisp apples are pure perfection - best for juice, applesauce, baking, caramel or eating plain - and they are the most shelf-stable (kept in a cool place either a fridge or a cellar, a honeycrisp apple will keep for months). But you can use any firm type, without mealy flesh. If honeycrisp aren't available, I use granny smith apples. They are economical, readily available and flavorful.

Glazed & glossy

As we ease through the hot summer season toward fall, this cake is perfect for any gathering or meal (who needs a special occasion for cake?). It's delicious, inexpensive and easy-to-make - three of the best, and most important qualities for any dish!

Fresh Apple Cake 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 c. white sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 t. vanilla
3 c. self rising flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 c. shredded coconut (optional)
1 c. chopped pecans
3 c. raw apples peeled, chopped
1 stick butter
1 c. evaporated milk
1 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl or stand mixer. Add sifted flour and cinnamon slowly; mix until well combined and scraping the bowl occasionally. Add pecans, apples and coconut, if desired. Spread into a greased and floured deep, large rectangular baking pan (at least a DEEP 9x13"). Bake until a toothpick entered into the center comes out clean, at least 30 minutes. If top browns but middle is still not done, cover with tin foil to not overly brown the top.

Melt better, and add milk, brown sugar and vanilla to a small pot and bring to a quick boil. Pour over cake while still hot. Allow to cool to warm, not hot before serving. Letting it cool allows the glaze to soak into the cake some. It's great served warm, room temperature or cold from the fridge.

Super Bowl 48 Snack-o-rama

I can remember watching the Super Bowl with my parents - dad, mostly - and betting 25 cents since I was five years old. I was only be interested in my bet and the Oscar Meyer weinermobile commercials, but in addition to the commercials and coins, I now almost understand the game, can appreciate the adorableness of the Manning brothers and most importantly, enjoy and prepare delicious game day food with my family.

Tonight, we had a super flavorful spread with old favorites and new, luxurious recipes. As usual, our minds and eyes were bigger than our bellies and we didn't even bother to complete the full menu after the first quarter but it was all delicious.

Jordan and I each contributed a slider. Jordan made his Mamaw's meatballs and sandwiched them on garlic butter toasted sweet Kings Hawaiian rolls with colby cheese squares. These meatballs - which are made with a top-secret recipe that has not yet been declassified for the blog - are hearty but with a sweet, onion sauce.Unlike a traditional meatball sub made with marinara, these sliders are sweet and tender that just make you wanting more. He used to make these into giant, entree-sized meatballs that we'd eat with sides like mashed potatoes or carrots. But we've found they make the perfect sandwich and are incredibly freezer-friendly.

I love wings and in recent months have had an insatiable hunger for bleu cheese and my buffalo'd chicken panini was a great take on the bar classic of wings and dressing. This was a quick dish that would be great for any game day or weeknight dinner and could be made with leftover chicken (a single $5 rotisserie chicken can provide a number of meal options if you plan your week carefully). Also, you can take this dish to several levels of diy. Originally, I would buy a refrigerated bread dough (like Pillsbury's French crusty loaf), cut it into eight chunks and roll them into flat rectangles, I would then grill them on my Cuisinart grill/griddle which results in a great, crusty, crunchy panini. However, to save time and to tone down the spiciness of the buffalo sauce, I opted for Kings Hawaiian mini sub rolls. This sandwich brings the best flavors of buffalo wings but it a whole lot less messy - and you don't have to eat a dozen to be satisfied. Recipe below!

Dad made crowd pleasing mini pigs in a blanket - no Southern party is complete without lil' smokies or crescent dough - and improvised turkey and Italian cheese pinwheels (more crescent dough); a delicious layered salad - another timeless Southern potluck dish (recipe below)- and for a healthy respite, some crudite and a creamy riff on guacamole. 

He also surprised us with a decadent lobster mac 'n' cheese. We're all mac lovers and none of us frequently eats lobster (we are six to nine hours from an ocean) so this was a real treat. Dad said it best, by saying "it's no longer macaroni and cheese." It was undeniably delicious but didn't resemble the childhood favorite, but was do deeply infused with crustacean it had become a new dish entirely. We've enjoyed it and checked it off of our food bucket lists. 

Lobstah Mac in the small dish; Mom demanded her own crustacean-free dish, too

And Jordan finished off our smorgasbord with his super easy and even more delicious dessert that I simply call " Oreo fluff." Fluff is a layered whipped cream and chocolate wafer cookie dessert with only 3-4 ingredients but tastes as good as any homemade cake or pie. This is a great dish to have your kids help with, to make in bulk for potlucks or in ramekins for individual servings. Every time we take it to church, our fellow parishioners all but lick the bowl! Recipe below!

Maybe next year we'll try the Mario Batali strategy - making two themed dishes per team and alternating them during each quarter, then he serves a dessert he prepared based upon his guess of which team would win. This spaces out the snacks and adds a little more order to the food fest - but then again, it's not a Super Bowl party without copious quantities of classic "unaffiliated" tailgating food. Whatever the plan - we'll report to you here at Endlessly Delicious Life.

Preliminary conclusion (11:34 left in the 4th quarter): Check out the trio of recipes below - and I promise that they're more dynamic than tonight's game. Well, actually, they are runaway successes too. Obviously, I put my quarter on Seattle.

Buffalo'd Chicken Panini

Ingredients: 

2 c cooked shredded chicken (I boiled mine in salted water for 45 minutes)
1/2 c mild to medium buffalo sauce (add melted butter as needed to tone down, I added around 2 T)
4 buns or rolls (or grilled dough method from above)
1/4 small red onion, sliced
1/3 c bleu cheese crumbles

Method:

Heat buffalo sauce (and butter, if added) on low until hot. Stir in chicken, heat until hot.

Spoon chicken mixture onto buns, layer red onions and sprinkle with cheese.

Press on a hot grill until heated through and cheese is melted. Serve with extra ranch or bleu cheese dressing if desired.

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"Seven" Layer Salad - (technically, the toppings - cheeses/bacon - count as one item)

Ingredients*: *in "layer" quantities - they depend upon your bowl size

shredded iceberg lettuce
peeled, sliced cucumber
thinly sliced sweet onion (ex: Vidalia)
chopped boiled ham (or ham lunchmeat)
frozen baby peas
mayonnaise
grated Parmesan cheese
crumbled bacon
shredded cheddar cheese

Method:

Simple - layer the items (lettuce first) in your dish. Use a clear, deep bowl for a beautiful presentation.

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Oreo Fluff

Ingredients:

1 - 1 1/2 packs of chocolate wafer cookies (you can use double stuff, vanilla or chocolate cream), crumbled
32 oz. whipped cream, thawed
approx. 1/2 c milk
chocolate syrup (optional)

Method:

Cove the bottom of your dish with a layer of crumbled cookies - the thicker your cookie layer the more cake-like consistency you'll have. Carefully pour just enough milk on the cookies to dampen them slightly. For chocolate lovers - add a drizzle of chocolate syrup on top. Next, layer whipped cream. Repeat to finish with cookie crumbles on top. Chill at least a few hours. The longer you leave it in the fridge the softer it becomes - it just gets better!

Cookie Swap Part 2: Four-ingredient gluten-free peanut butter cookies

Getting ready for tomorrow's cookie swap at my Grandma's I've been making last week's linzer cookies and my mom's standby peanut butter cookies and fudge sandwiches.

If you're in a pinch for time and don't want to spend a lot of money on dried fruits, chips and oats try this four-ingredient recipe. It's quick, easy, and gluten-free. I have two family members with celiac disease (gluten intolerance) and this recipe is great for them without sacrificing any flavor.

Like most peanut butter cookies, these are dry not gooey and with the optional fudge filling make for a great sandwich. And of course, who doesn't love the classic combo of peanut butter and chocolate? From my unprofessional research into the vast universe of pre-made icings, most canned frostings are also gluten-free.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for your own cookie swaps or other special occasions - I actually made these in lieu of a cake for Jordan's birthday two years ago, and yes, I do think they played a special part in our love story. Take that, engagement chicken.

Peanut Butter (Fudge Sandwich) Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c peanut butter 

1 c granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 container chocolate icing of your choice (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix peanut butter, sugar, egg and vanilla with a hand mixer. Scoop dough into tiny balls and place on a cookie sheet. Use a fork dipped into sugar to press an x into each cookie. Bake for 8 minutes. The cookies will seem underdone, but as long as the edges are lightly golden brown, they're done. They'll seem very soft, but will cool to the perfect texture. 

After they've cooled spread approximately 1 T icing between two cookies. If you're really trying to impress - swap the icing for only the best spreadable condiment ever, Nutella!

Note: These are great served at room temperature, but even better eaten from the fridge or after a few hours in the freezer. 

"Family ate beans, I made Ramen" - My Cultural Connection to Cornbread

I read several blogs and visit online news sites regularly, but for my foodie fix I go to NPR's The Salt. This food portion of NPR's website collects all the food-related content from regular on-air shows like Morning Edition  and All Things Considered and also features like my favorite weekly post "Sandwich Monday."

Yesterday, at work, I made a Salt-heavy playlist including the "Found Recipes" series and random stories about the "dairy cliff," prohibition, high school lunches and this gem, which is a food-themed edition of The Race Card Project (listen here).

The Race Card Project asks participants to write six words that explain or are integral to their racial identity. They've showcased a variety of people whose experiences cover a vast spectrum of emotions and experiences. All of their short sentences are charged with emotion and give listeners (and readers) a visceral experience (such as "Black babies cost less to adopt." Whoa.)

This episode features a card by Melanie Vanderlipe Remil with the words "I ate pasta, family ate rice." Remil explained that as a child, she shunned her Filipino roots and refused to eat rice with every meal like her family. She recalled her mother rushing home from work to prepare dinner, but always making her a box of Pasta Roni. Her parents are immigrants and they wanted their children to fit in with American culture as much as the kids themselves did - so her mom went along with making multiple sides. But when she went to college, Remil took a Filipino American Contemporary Issues course and realized how valuable her culture was and how much she appreciated her family, it's traditions and food.

So, to preserve her history, she asked her grandmother to teach her how to cook traditional Filipino food. She's taking on the role of family food historian by teaching younger generations how to make traditional holiday dishes, and reminding them that our closest ties to our cultures are our foods (research shows that these are the cultural links that we are most likely to maintain).

My racial identity isn't tied to a menu, nor do I have any knowledge of what it's like to be a first generation American, but I certainly relate to Remil. My family has deep Southern roots and that food is a huge part of my identity.

Our area's regional cuisine consists of very simple and inexpensive food that will keep you full and can be made in such portions to feed a huge family or feed a few for several meals for next-to-nothing. The menu harkens back to when these mountains were much more impenetrable and you had to make do with that you had before traveling to town for only staples like flour, sugar and lard; the rest of your ingredients came from your own backyard.

As a child, I loathed many such foods. My parents loved to have soup beans (pinto beans cooked down with pork) and cornbread and a glass of milk with cornbread crumbled up inside. I had no desire to eat chicken livers or liver mush sandwiches (exactly what it sounds like) and wild game was out of the question. My mother has always been true to roots so, unlike Remil's mother, there were rarely alternatives made ahead - so this is how I learned to make Ramen.

But I too had an awakenening in college. I moved to the Triad area of NC where the barbeque was completely different, you're more likely to get corn pone than cakes of corn bread, and our college's cafeteria menu was designed by Sysco Foods - which has little to do with local ingredients or flavors. Although this wasn't a drastic change, I realized I missed home cooking and the food that only comes from my family.

I was going to school with hipsters and new-age hippies who thought pressure canning and gardening were new, trendy hobbies from the green movement. They'd never raised pigs and canned their own pork tenderloin, or grown their own green beans, or seen how molasses is made. But those are things I have done or know - they're part of my identity as a Southern woman. And so, like Remil, I'm trying to maintain my culture and my family's traditions to food. I've shared many of our family recipes and food traditions with Jordan already and they're dishes I know we'll continue to enjoy as a family.

There are traditional dishes I've always loved - like fried chicken, cube steak and gravy and biscuits - but have never made, and there are foods that I've come to appreciate and want to learn how to make "just like momma (and daddy and grandma and mamaw) used to make" - like cornbread. And learning these recipes is a major goal of mine.

Recently, I conquered my first cake of corn bread and from it made my very own cornbread salad (a staple of Southern potlucks). My grandma always says that cornbread sticking to the pan "is enough to make a preacher cuss"- and she'd know, she married one - and that alone made me fearful that this would not be easy. Furthermore, both of my parents make cornbread without a recipe and without actually measuring anything. They randomly pour unknown quantities of ingredients in a bowl, give it a quick stir and throw it in an ancient cast iron pan to bake for an indeterminate amount of time. My brain doesn't work like that and I actually called both of them and they "made up" a recipe for me to use to make my first cakes - and they turned out to be beautiful and delicious!

Here are a few quick cornbread tips I'd like to share with you:

• Traditional Southern cornbread is not sweet. This is a Northern invention (read: bastardization). Sweet cornbread (a la Jiffy mix or Boston Market) can be delicious, but I don't find it to be nearly as versatile as corn meal-, not sugar-flavored cornbread.
• Make sure you use a well-seasoned cast iron pan. These are like gold in the South and every girl has one in her hope chest. Also, do not scrub or use dish soap on cast iron - gently wipe it out with a wet cloth - they don't call it seasoning for nothing!
• My dad is of the school that you don't need to pre-heat your pan or melt lard into it. The cool pan with vegetable oil worked just fine.
• And when you flip it out and it doesn't stick, take a second to run your hand across that smooth underside - it's such a satisfying feeling of achievement!

Finally, here are the recipes for both the cornbread base and salad.

Traditional Cornbread

Ingredients:

2 c cornmeal (I used white)
3/4 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp (plus a smidge) white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 c milk (water will work in a pinch, too)


Method:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a bowl, mix together ingredients. Pour 2-3 Tbs. vegetable oil into cast iron skillet (this recipe will make one "standard" sized cake, I made one medium and one small); swirl to coat bottom. Pour mixture into pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool for a few minutes and run a knife around the edge before flipping out onto plate.



Cornbread Salad

Ingredients:

1 cake cornbread, cooled
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 tomato, de-seeded and diced
1 small bottle Italian salad dressing
1 can corn, drained
2 c. shredded cheddar (or any flavor) cheese

Method:

Crumble the cornbread into a large bowl. Crumble it as thoroughly as you'd like; I enjoy mine fairly finely crumbled with a few "chunks."  Pour 1/3 of the cornbread into another bowl. Drizzle 1/3 of the dressing over the cornbread (start out with less, to get desired texture - I like mine to just be damp throughout). Layer vegetables and cheese on top. Repeat.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least three hours. The longer you let it set, the deeper the flavors will become. This is a great make-ahead dish and can be served for days on end. Also, it is very customizable - you could use ranch dressing; add cucumbers, pimentos or black-eyed peas; or make it with Mexican cornbread etc.



                  

The Spread

Our Thanksgiving trifecta went off without a hitch yesterday - we were able to see our families and ate very well, two things which we are very grateful for every day.

I shared some of the Thanksgiving recipes we'd be preparing and I promised to include results! So here they are. All of our dishes turned out to be delicious and affordable. And we all know that even our most natural, signature dishes can be come nightmarish when paired with the stress of the holidays, but we had our schedule mapped out so well that prep was a breeze and we weren't frantic and aggravated - which is a blessing within itself. Take a look at our beautiful dishes and you can refer back to the recipes here.

My dad signed on to make the dressing, smoked turkey and desserts. He'd asked us what we wanted for dessert and we just let him choose. He made two delicious pies - one a total surprise for me!  One was a salted chocolate bourbon pecan pie. The filling was incredibly rich with sweetness and only the slightest hint of bourbon or saltiness. It was delicious but far too sweet for me and mom, dad and Jordan are going to "take care" of this pie; I'll just pick off the pecans. But then he surprised me by using the remainder of his pie crust recipe to make me an all-meringue pie! I love meringue, especially when it's "this high" on top of a good custard, but I usually peel the meringue off to eat the custard and save the fluffy goodness for last. This pie was heavenly! Sweet and airy with a very simple crust that highlighted the meringue's flavor that much more. I will not be sharing this pie. Try me.

Jordan's Mock Apple Pie - No one believed that it was made out of Ritz crackers!

 All of the veggies we made for dinner with my parents
- clockwise from left: roasted cauliflower, glazed carrots and twice-baked sweet potatoes

Smoky roasted cauliflower with paprika, garlic and parsley

Twice-baked red and white sweet potatoes stuffed with pecans and apples

Beautiful, rustic and insanely rich pie courtesy of my dad.

Mine!  

Thankful for Bountiful Thanksgiving Meals

I am only child; Jordan is the eldest of six from two blended families.

My families usually had two to three Thanksgiving gatherings spread out over a two week period. Once I started jonesing for turkey and dressing (Southerners DO NOT eat or make "stuffing") there was another family meal right around the corner - dad's family, mom's family and then just us three.

With the uniting of our families, I now have three meals in one single nothing-but-stretchy-pants day. Last year we tried spreading it out as much as we could, but in 2013 we're going back-to-back with Jordan's families and mine. And it's going to be delicious!

We are cooking for two of the three meals; for lunch at Mamaw J's, Jordan is bringing his new favorite sneaky dessert, mock apple pie (recipe below - seriously tastes like magnificent apple pie but is made of Ritz crackers!) and at our late evening meal at home with my parents, I'm making twice baked sweet potatoes (recipe below) and roasted cauliflower (recipe below) and Jordan's making his glazed carrots. (I'll post an update tomorrow with pictures, too!)

I anticipate traditional food at Jordan's Mamaw's and Paw's celebrations, but we're going to be deconstructing our traditional sweet potatoes, turkey and gravy meal with my parents and experimenting a little. My dad is going to smoke some parts of the turkey - either just a breast or the whole damned thing, I'm trying a new sweet potato dish instead of casserole with streusel and opting for the cauliflower instead of green beans (not in a casserole, bleh!).

I'm really excited for this meal that is a departure from our normal Thanksgiving fare, but there are some foods that just scream Thanksgiving and I certainly hope we get tomorrow.

Jordan and I are both in the pro-cranberry sauce camp. I love it - fresh, out of the can with or without whole berries - I could eat it by itself. I actually have a serious weakness for turkey and cranberry combinations; twice in the last year we've tried a new restaurant and I picked out what I wanted, saw that they offered a hot turkey/cran sandwich and  jumped ship on my earlier choice.

We are also lovers of pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie has apparently become the most sought after flavor starting September 1, and I actually foundered Jordan on pumpkin-filled things (including ravioli, alfredo sauce, muffins and cakes) this fall; but we both can't get enough of the pie! And another sign of our true love, Jordan gives me the crust from his pie slices - so romantic!

And I need dressing. Again, not stuffing - who wants to eat bread out of a bird orifice? Our recipe has been tinkered with for so long, I hardly remember it's original version that my Aunt Debra made at least ten years ago. Like so many of our family recipes, nothing is measured and you can add more or less ingredients depending on what's in your pantry. It's basis is cornbread and stale French bread, browned sausage, sage, thyme, chicken broth, diced apples and pecans. Some years we add pears or craisins, but it turns out wonderful every time. I'd probably be happy with a plate of dressing and cranberry sauce.

I've finished my grocery shopping, cleaned the house, laundered the place mats and napkins and will be starting my prep shortly. I always look forward to Thanksgiving - it's a legitimate foodie holiday - and the wonderful self-awareness and gratefulness it brings with it. I am grateful that I have a wonderful family and future husband to spend my holidays (and every day) with; that we are comfortably employed and can afford to take the time to be together, to buy ingredients and cook meals; and that we are in good health to visit with each other. I am grateful for you, readers, and hope that you have a wonderful holiday and a delicious meal with those you love.

And here are the wonderful recipes you were waiting for:

Mock Apple Pie: This recipe originated in the Great Depression when apples were too expensive and in short supply; it tastes eerily like apple pie and is a wonderful, warm seasonal dish that epitomizes Fall. My dad used to make this when I was a kid; I told Jordan about it and he didn't believe that such a thing could exist - now he's hooked on them!

Ingredients: (10 slices)

2 unbaked pie crusts (you're welcome to make your own, too)
36 original Ritz crackers (don't go generic, and don't make the mistake of picking up the flavored ones), coarsely broken (about 1-3/4 cups crumbs)
1-3/4 c water
2 c sugar
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 T lemon juice (2T is in the recipe but this makes it too lemony for us)
zest of 1 lemon
2 T margarine or butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 425.

Roll out pastry into a 9-inch pie plate. Place cracker crumbs in prepared crust, set aside.

Heat water, sugar and cream of tartar to a boil in saucepan over high heat. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add lemon juice and zest; cool. Pour syrup over cracker crumbs. Dot with marg/butter, sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll out second pastry; place over pie - trim, seal and flute edges. Slit top crust for steam.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden. Cool completely -This step is critical. Without proper cooling, the filling will not set up properly and will be very runny. It is delicious served slightly reheated with vanilla ice cream melting on top.

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Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes-  To me, this is a great alternative to sweet potato casserole and gives each person their own dressed-up sweet potato. This is also a good make-ahead dish where you do the initial baking, make the filling and either leave them separate and assemble and reheat later or pre-assemble and warm later.

Ingredients (for 6):

6 medium sweet potatoes (8 oz. each)
1/2 c butter, cubed (this can easily be lessened, it's about the flavor and texture you want- start with 1/4 and go from there)
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1 medium apple chopped (I used a peeled honeycrisp - which are undoubtedly the best apples ever - but it's up to you)
1/4 c chopped pecans

Method:

Preheat oven to 400. Scrub and pierce potatoes with a fork. Place on a foil lined baking pan. Bake 45-60 minutes or until tender - check at 45 min.

When cool, cut a thin slice from the top of each potato, discard. Scoot out pulp, leaving 1/4" shell, transfer pulp to medium bowl. Mash with butter and sugar, stir in apples and pecans.

Spoon into potato shells. Return to baking pan. Bake 15-20 min. or until heated through.

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Roasted Cauliflower: This dish is incredibly simple and is a wonderful side. It has quickly become a last-minute side and I can mix the ingredients in my sleep and with only two real steps, it's just as easy to finish.

Ingredients: (for 4 large servings)

1 large head of cauliflower, broken into florets
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. smoked paprika
3/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley (or 1 Tbsp. dried)

Method:

Preheat oven to 450.

Place cauliflower in large bowl. Mix oil and spices in small bowl. Drizzle over cauliflower; toss to coat. Transfer to large baking pan.

Bake uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, stir. Return to oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until cauliflower is tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.


CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE FINAL PRODUCTS!

Downhome recipes from The Dessert Queen

Today was our church's eighth birthday party and we celebrated with a "country hoedown"-themed party. There was tons barbeque, fried chicken, sweet tea, fresh corn and NC apples.

Knowing that it was going to be a fellowship lunch based on good, Southern cooking I decided to make one classic family recipe and one new recipe with deep country roots that I knew would be a crowd pleaser. Both of these recipes were very inexpensive, easy to prepare and they are both very good make-ahead dishes. I made my mom's macaroni salad and a banana pudding poke cake I saw on Pinterest.

Normally, my goal with church fellowships is to make something quick, affordable and delicious; so delicious in fact, that parishioners eat it all and we don't have to bring any home with us. However, with mom's macaroni salad recipe, I was silently hoping they wouldn't love it too much and I could have leftovers. Thankfully, there was a bounty of salads today - potato, quinoa/cornbread, black eyed pea and lima bean and regular veggie salads - so there's just enough for us to have with dinner.

Here's mom's idiot-proof recipe for delectable macaroni salad:

Ingredients:

1 box elbow macaroni (you can technically use any small pasta, but I like the elbows best)
1 small can evaporated milk (NOT SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK)
1 small jar pimentos, drained
1/2 of a small green pepper, finely diced
1/2 of a small white onion, finely diced
1 c mayonnaise (good Southern families only use Duke's)
3 T sugar
1 T white vinegar

Method:

Prepare macaroni according to package instructions (try for al dente, so as not to be too soft). Drain and cool 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix all other ingredients in another bowl. Pour "sauce" over macaroni, stir. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be made ahead up to 2+ days (I think it only gets better with time).

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I also signed up to bring a dessert. I scrounged through my Pinterest board "Recipes: To Try" and decided this was the perfect occasion for a banana pudding poke cake. This recipe was so simple, it didn't even include instructions, but rather a six-step infographic. All of the components of this cake are delicious alone and since it is a play on a Southern staple I assumed it would be equally tasty.

When we arrived at the hoedown, my dessert was whisked off and labeled for judging. Apparently we were having a dessert contest, just like you'd see at the fair.

I am proud to announce that I was the winner of the cake category and the best-in-show award, so you can now address me as Dessert Queen. There were four judges who tried over a dozen entries, so I'd say that is a pretty good testament to the flavor of this cake.

Here is the recipe for banana pudding poke cake:

Ingredients:

1 box moist yellow cake mix
ingredients listed on mix to make cake (mine were 3 eggs, 1/2 c oil, 1 c water)
2 boxes instant banana pudding
ingredients to make pudding pouches (mine needed 4 c milk)
1 container whipped cream, thawed
1/2 box Nilla wafers, crushed

Method:

Prepare cake according to box instructions. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Using a wooden spoon (or small, clean finger) poke holes in the cake about 2 inches apart (if your holes are too close the cake will collapse when cut).

Whisk pudding packets with milk and allow to stand for 2 minutes. Pour pudding over cake; spreading evenly. Place in refrigerator to cool completely (I did this the afternoon before our event and it got nice and soft, I think any more than 24 hours and it might get too mushy, but less time would be fine too your cake will be more firm).

Spread whipped cream over the pudding layer and top with wafer crumbles. Serve cold.

Note: this cake can be customized to so many other flavors - using a white cake, chocolate pudding, and Oreo crumbles etc.

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I am super pleased with these two recipes and of course, my new title. And yes, I have laminated my ribbons and hung them on the fridge.

Sincerely yours,

The Dessert Queen