What are you baking this weekend ?

Leave out the sugar and I'd eat it. I'm about sugar in cornbread like Cowboy is with beans in chili.

Bonus: Cornbread Salad....

Thanks Jo Ann - I may make this for the NiagaraCOOL picnic in June.

If you will be making this, Howie, the ingredients given should be added to about 4 C crumbled cornbread. When I have a barbeque gathering another salad I will serve along side for contrast and more wow factor is the following. Got it out of a magazine some years ago and was stunned by the flavors. I hardly ever make barbeque without it in the summer months when the fruits are at their peak.

Watermelon Salad

1/4 C fresh lime juice
2 Tbsps brown sugar
3 C chopped, seeded watermelon
1 C chopped, seeded honeydew melon
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
1/2 C thinly sliced red onion
1/4 C chopped fresh mint
2 Tbsps slivered crystalized ginger
1-2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and chopped

Dissolve sugar in lime juice in a large bowl. Add watermelon and all remainin gingredients; toss gently. Season with salt and pepper. Can be prepared up to 2 hrs ahead of serving. Of course, the longer it sits the more water it releases -- so, I consider it a mix and serve salad, but with 1 hour of lead time to marry the flavors.

Note: I don't follow the recommended measures for this recipe. I add what feels right and what I have a taste for, and enough to feed the size of the crowd. This one is easy to do in that way and suffers nothing by sliding up and down the ingredients scale.

Enjoy!

Leave out the sugar and I'd eat it. I'm about sugar in cornbread like Cowboy is with beans in chili.

You are right of course, Robert. I leave out the sugar depending on what I want to do with the bread. As a plain cornbread with everyday meals, I add a little sugar. Unless I'm making herbed corn bread -- no sugar. (I find that the sugar interferes with the smokiness of the herbs.) If cornbread for dressing -- no sugar, no oil (I find that with the addition of the other ingredients I don't need the oil; and the sugar becomes really pronounced, no matter how little). I go back and forth on this and each version pleases different people differently.

Jo Ann, I made your cornbread recipe this morning, and it worked a treat, thank you. I baked it in a pie dish, and it was sooo quick to mix up. I had to sub for the buttermilk (I find skim milk and greek yoghurt work very well as a replacement), and I only added 1 Tbsp of sugar. I also used grapeseed oil in the pan (so it wouldn't smoke in the oven), and olive oil in the mix. I owe you one, my husband loves cornbread, and I've never been able to make it well before.

The guys in the chatroom were not happy when I told them it was delicious with Vegemite.



Celia

Jo Ann, I made your cornbread recipe this morning, and it worked a treat, thank you. I baked it in a pie dish, and it was sooo quick to mix up. I had to sub for the buttermilk (I find skim milk and greek yoghurt work very well as a replacement), and I only added 1 Tbsp of sugar. I also used grapeseed oil in the pan (so it wouldn't smoke in the oven), and olive oil in the mix. I owe you one, my husband loves cornbread, and I've never been able to make it well before.

The guys in the chatroom were not happy when I told them it was delicious with Vegemite.



Celia

You just go, girl -- Vegemite and all!!!

Leave out the sugar and I'd eat it. I'm about sugar in cornbread like Cowboy is with beans in chili.

It seems we agree on two counts. I can't stand sweet cornbread. It doesn't make good Cracklin', either. But Jo Ann's recipe only uses 1 or 2 Tbsp. so I'm not offended. I sometimes will put just a little in if the cornmeal seems bitter; never more than 2 Tbsp.

rwj

I baked a couple of spuds. I had no time for bread. Soon, though.

Mine was chocolate-chocolate chip muffins and got the pie dough ready for a peach pie tonight. Found some fresh peaches at of all places Wally World that smelled absolutely to die for. Trying that new vodka pie dough from a magazine.

Jim

Nothing. Oven's broken.

-Paul W.

Today, we made fougasse...

fougasse.jpg

Nothing. Oven's broken.

-Paul W.

Bummer, Paul..

Celia

Can you overnight me a couple of those?

Corn Bread (all ingredients are approximate)

1 C flour
2 C yellow corn meal
1 - 2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp melted butter (or cooking oil)
1 large egg
1 C buttermilk
1/2 C milk
1 Tbsp oil (for baking pan)

Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Add 1 Tbsp oil to an aluminum or Pyrex pan (8" x 8" square, or 9" pie pan) and place in hot oven to heat oil while preparing mix. In a mixing bowl add dry ingredients and stir to mix well. In a separate bowl, beat egg together with butter (or oil) and milk. Add to the dry ingredients. (May need to add a little more liquid -- this is hard for me to gauge. But the batter should be slightly stiffer than cake batter.) Once oil is hot (but not smoking) add batter to the pan (on impact, edges will slightly fry and curl up around batter). Put in oven and bake about 20-25 minutes. Serve hot.

Jo Ann, I turned the leftover cornbread into Cornbread Stuffing last night, to go with our roast lamb. Never having had cornbread stuffing before, I had no idea how to make it, but I found this nice video recipe online at eHow. Wasn't sure what poultry seasoning is, but thought it might be like chicken stock, so that's what I used. Turned out great, just baked in a dish. I think I like the cornbread even better all crisp and flavoured like that !

Jo Ann, I turned the leftover cornbread into Cornbread Stuffing last night, to go with our roast lamb. Never having had cornbread stuffing before, I had no idea how to make it, but I found this nice video recipe online at eHow. Wasn't sure what poultry seasoning is, but thought it might be like chicken stock, so that's what I used. Turned out great, just baked in a dish. I think I like the cornbread even better all crisp and flavoured like that !

Good for you, Celia. I'm so glad you are getting up close and personal with one of our southern staples.

Poultry seasoning is the stuffing equivalent of Italian seasoning. It is a melange of herbs that you can better control if you mix your own. Actually, to get a good stuffing, all you have to do is either start with the herbed cornbread recipe I provided, or start with left over cornbread and include the herbs of your choice, in the quantity you like. Sage is always included. My favorite herb is thyme, which I always include, a moderate amount of rosemary is a good addition, as well as celery seed. Cornbread dressing worth its seasoning includes the following: chopped onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic (sauted in a good quantity of butter until tender), I add chopped mushrooms (for moisture), beaten egg(s), chicken stock and/or a bit of white wine (and my family has gotten used to a bit of sage flavored sausage -- sauted and drained), salt and pepper to taste, if needed. (Mixture should be loose, but not runny.) Add to a greased pan and bake in a 375 degree oven until stuffing has set and is slightly brown on top and around the edges. When you dip into it, it should be moist, but hold its shape like a cannel. Not only is it great with poultry, also a hit when you cut a pocket into a pork chop and insert the stuffing, laying the chops on top of the remaining stuffing and baking together. Serve with a drizzle of good gravy. Yum!

Thanks Jo Ann ! Explains why my version came out salty if I was using chicken stock in place of herb seasoning. But what's a cannel ? DId you mean to type camel ?

I most probably didn't spell it correctly, but a cannelle is the way something soft (like ice cream) is scooped with two spoons and shaped into sort of an egg shape. It has to have a great deal of moisture, but be solid enough to hold this delicate shape. I'm trying to get you to consider the process and texture.

Ah, I'm a pleb, sorry. Know exactly what you mean, just didn't know what it was called...ta. Camel was funnier, though.

Celia

I most probably didn't spell it correctly, but a cannelle is the way something soft (like ice cream) is scooped with two spoons and shaped into sort of an egg shape. It has to have a great deal of moisture, but be solid enough to hold this delicate shape. I'm trying to get you to consider the process and texture.

Quenelle.

rwj

Nice to see there are a lot of pizza makers on the forum. That is what I am baking this weekend as well.

I most probably didn't spell it correctly, but a cannelle is the way something soft (like ice cream) is scooped with two spoons and shaped into sort of an egg shape. It has to have a great deal of moisture, but be solid enough to hold this delicate shape. I'm trying to get you to consider the process and texture.

Quenelle.

rwj

Thx, Robert.

De rien.

rwj

Going to cassoulet night at my pal Nilo's tomorrow evening. That means the only other things that get put into my body this weekend are lots of alcohol and a cardiac catheter.

Mike,

How did cassoulet night go? Would you be willing to post a recipe?

I rememeber Nilo from our tour of the Sonoma RRV. Great guy.

Is that Wisconsin Dave? Wow, great to "see" you!

Going to cassoulet night at my pal Nilo's tomorrow evening. That means the only other things that get put into my body this weekend are lots of alcohol and a cardiac catheter.

Mike,

How did cassoulet night go? Would you be willing to post a recipe?

I rememeber Nilo from our tour of the Sonoma RRV. Great guy.

I need an emoticon of a fat little smiley-guy, laying on the ground with his tongue lolling out. It was excellent, as always. There's a "before" picture at the WLP site and a matching "after" picture. What I never seem to remember is how this stuff expands in your stomach. I was in significant pain by the end of the evening, but it was worth it. (Probably didn't help that the cassoulet was sandwiched between courses of duck rillette and goat cheese ice cream.)

I posted his recipe back at the old FLDG site. Unfortunately, I can't seem to access it for a link. I'll rummage around and see if I can find it to post here.

EDIT: I was able to get the link at the FLDG - it's http://www.wineloverspage.com/user_submitted/recipes/299.html.
Only change this year involved the use of wild ducks rather than store-bought. I don't think it made a big difference, other than eating carefully to avoid shot.