Stove-top Skillet Cornbread

I may be a Dane but I can make a southern style cornbread that will make your mouth sing.
Or just make it want to munch away, on the cornbread.

I had some greens in the freezer a friend had given me.  I tasted them, then I hurried up and threw them in the freezer because I didn't have any cornmeal in the house and they deserved a slice of cornbread alongside.
I bought some self rising cornmeal and then looked at the package of Hush Puppy mix with onion that was sitting on my counter, left over from a cooking gig.
Got one of those, "Hmmm, I wonder what would happen if?" thoughts and mixed up some of the hush puppy mix with the self rising cornmeal.
WOW!!!! WOOHOOO!!!  My mouth sang in joy when it tasted the final cornbread.  The slight onion taste in the cornbread complemented the greens beautifully.  And a slice tasted good with just a dollop of butter on top. 
I don't think I'm going to mess around with any other recipes for Cornbread, ever again.
Here's the recipe.
Oh wait, you want pictures.
I got pictures.

 Cooking away in a small very well seasoned cast iron skillet

here it is, turned out on the plate.

And after I served up the greens.

Yield: 4 servingsAuthor: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

Skillet Cornbread

prep time: 5 MINScook time: 16 MINStotal time: 21 mins

This cornbread cooks right on top of the stove for an oven free cornbread. You don't need to turn the oven on for this, if you don't want to.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup self rising cornmeal
• 1/2 cup Hush Puppy mix with Onion (I used House Autry brand)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. oil or bacon fat

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Oil a small 6 inch cast iron skillet with 1/2 to 1 tsp. oil or with some bacon fat. Heat on top of stove, medium heat. Whisk together all the other ingredients and spoon into pan. Leave on heat for 8 minutes, then check how brown it is on the bottom by lifting up carefully on one side. Using the fork to raise the cornbread, slide a thin spatula underneath the cornbread and pick up. Add an additional 1/2 teaspoon oil to the pan and then very carefully flip the cornbread so that the uncooked portion is in the pan.  (Flipping it like a pancake)  Continue to cook for an additional 8 minutes or so. Remove from pan and cut into quarters to serve.
2. If you double the recipe it cooks very nicely in a larger cast iron pan.  

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Countdowns to 2017- Best Appetizers and Snacks

Everyone's doing it.  Well, maybe not everyone, but a lot of us are doing a round up of our favorite recipes for the year.

This is the Countdown to 2017...

For the next few days, I'll be featuring my best, appetizers, breakfasts, desserts, crockpot, and drum roll please, the most popular reader favorite from the past year.   This year's Countdown is  hosted by Fantastical Sharing, which is a blog by Sarah Ellis, our former leader for the Secret Recipe Club
And then...










January 2nd, the First Monday, I've invited a bunch of bloggers from the former Secret Recipe Club to tell you about their favorite recipe for the past month.  This will be a monthly feature for the first Monday of the month, every month.

Stay tuned, or stay online or keep checking me out...
 
First though.  HAPPY BOXING DAY- Had to get that out of the way before I could share some, just some, of the awesome Appetizers and Snacks I made this year.

And I'm so glad I'm not limited to just one.  Cause I made a few that I want to share.
Here we are with the first entry, from guess where? One of my Secret Recipe Club assignments.
February
I made this Dill Pickle Dip

and...
March
some Tomato Tulips

  In April I made some Whole Shrimp for Fish Friday Foodies  Camarone Entero Mojo (whole Mojo Shrimp) 

In May I made some Mojo Spice Wings

June was Shrimp Tempura

and for July's offering I got first prize for my Carrabelle Crab Cakes in a local contest.  (I'm still so chuffed over that). 

Then came August. And I got an Honorable Mention in a contest for these, Yakisoba Noodle Spring Roll with Shrimp

August was a good month for Appetizers.    I also made these Shrimp Burger Bites which were so good. (Did I mention I'm part of a group who posts fish related dishes on the third Friday of the Month.  It's called Fish Friday Foodies) This was one of the recipes I came up with this year.

 September came along and I shared this recipe for Stuffed Shrimp Pops. It was also a #FishFridayFoodies

We've still got October, November and December to go.
October I made this Curried Carrot Hummus.  It was part of a #ImprovCookingChallenge  I've made it a couple of times since then.  When you make something good, you should repeat it.

November was a Chunky Shrimp and Smoked Salmon Spread.  I made it as part of #FishFridayFoodies challenge.

 And finally...

December where I made these Cranberry Orange Chutney Wings.  Dare I say it?  They were finger licking good. 
There I said it. 

I also made my own Gyoza Wrappers this year.

 along with some Salsa Taquera Roja which I learned how to make thanks to the Secret Recipe Club. I'm going to miss that club.

There's lots more to look at. 
And Happy Boxing Day to all my friends who also celebrate this day.   I'm going to have some Smørrebrød, a glass or two of Aquavit and a beer. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Savoury Garden Dip (aka Garbage Dip)

Tis the season.

For gatherings, for parties and lots and lots of good food.    I know my calendar is filling up rapidly with parties and get-togethers, and while I've got a few ideas of things to make and bring, I'm always up for new ideas.

Then as I was cleaning up my desk the other day, a piece of paper came to light, with a recipe on it.

Gee, what a surprise!

Actually, I was trying to get some stuff organized and found a couple of recipes I'd tucked away, and forgotten about.

This was one of them.  It had actually been brought to one of the first Tapas Nights we hosted, and was devoured.   Really, it was that good.    And when I asked the name was told that it had been named Garbage Dip.  

I'm sorry, but Garbage Dip just doesn't cut it here.

So I renamed it Savoury Garden Dip, but I'm open to other suggestions for the name.

And best of all, it's downright easy and really yummy.     You can also make it with low fat sour cream, not all that bad for you.

I serve it with potato chips, but you can also serve it with veggies or ...

And cause it's close to Christmas, I had to fancy it up a little.
 Or at least fancy the presentation up a little.

There is just on problem with this dip.  It's hard to stop 'sampling' it.
But I did leave enough to share.
sorta

yield: 1 pintAuthor: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking - A recipe shared by a friend and adaptedprint recipe

Savoury Garden Dip

prep time: 10 MINScook time: total time: 10 mins

This savoury dip is quick and easy to put together, and tastes wonderful. This is a nice light change from many commercial dips, and gets along well with not only potato chips but also vegetables

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pint Sour Cream (can use low fat here as well)
• 1 Ripe Tomato, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 package ranch dressing
• 1 clove garlic minced or 1/2 tsp. garlic salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix all ingredients together and place in fridge for a couple of hours. Serve with Potato Chips or fresh vegetables. This can also be used as a spread for sandwiches or on a burger.

Created using The Recipes Generator

Deep Fried Turkey

Just after Thanksgiving I was talking with a friend about turkeys, and he mentioned that at Thanksgiving he, and another couple of guys were manning a couple of pots of oil and deep frying turkeys.  I think he said they actually cooked 12-14 turkeys that day.

My mouth started watering.  It usually does that at the mention of deep fried turkeys.   I'd only had the occasion to try one once before, and as memory served, it was moist and tender and delicious.

Norm mentioned that he would be frying turkeys again on Christmas day and if we wanted to, we could bring a bird or a turkey breast over and he would fry it for us.

We wanted to.

I had a turkey breast in the freezer and I made sure I had room for it in the fridge so it could defrost in plenty of time.

So Christmas morning we brought it over to him, and waited while another turkey fried.  And when he pulled it out of the fryer, it was golden brown and looked so totally luscious. 

I had to wipe the drool off my chin.
Just kidding.  I knew my turkey was next.
So here are the pictures of the adventure.  Since I've never actually fried one myself, I let the master season and prep it. 
And fry it as well.
You need to make sure that the oil is the right temperature.  I believe it was at 350 degrees.

Then comes the prep.  Seasoning is key.  I'd brought a wimpy little container of poultry seasoning, but was told that Lemon Pepper was the way to go.

Making sure that every bit of the surface is seasoned, next up, placing the breast on a holder.

Ready for the oil bath.

Next step, lowering it into the oil, slowly.

After that we wait, and visit for a little while.   This 7 pound breast took just 33 minutes to cook. 

As Norm pulled it out, my heart stopped for just a second. 

And then my mouth took over and started watering.   It would have been rude to grab the breast and run at this point, but I was tempted.  However we waited and visited a little more as Norm fried another turkey breast.

Then we grabbed ours and left.
You may have noticed that my breast was a little dark, but that's because it was seasoned differently from the next breast that was cooked.
And when we got home, I promptly sliced into the breast and loaded up our plates with some of the moistest, tenderest, flavorful turkey I've ever had.  EVER!!! 

That turkey breast is now a dim, savoury memory, but one I can bring out and think about any time I want.

And Norm, we'll be back...

Any time you want to get the fryer going, we'll be there.

Pork Tenderloin in the Crockpot

While visiting family I got to try a few 'new to me' dishes, and of course I took pictures along with just plain enjoying being with family and visiting and visiting and eating and ...

I got this recipe from my sister, and she got it off of Facebook.   And of course being the great cook she is, she made a few changes to it.  Not many, but a couple.  She tweaked it in other words.
 
She used a pork loin rather than a tenderloin, and I would do the same.   And since she didn't have any dried onions, she used some onion powder, as well as fresh garlic.

The flavour on this was great, and is something I'm going to be making for myself sometime as well.

But since I haven't gotten around to it yet, and I did take pictures, and eat some it, I felt like I could tell you all about it.  


Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin

2 pound Pork Tenderloin
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 TBS Yellow Mustard
2-3 TBS maple syrup
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS Diced dried onions
1 1/2 TSP Garlic Salt or Powder
Mix ingredients above. Pour over Tenderloin in the crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours.

How simple is that?  And it was over the top good.   

See how pretty?   And it sliced so nicely as well.  And guess what?  I just bought a nice big loin, and I think part of it is earmarked for this recipe.  And I've got all the rest of the ingredients as well. 

I should add that the potatoes were freshly dug just before the dinner from my sisters garden and the cherry tomatoes, well, they were fresh picked as well.    Next year, I'm planting potatoes.

Simple, and yet such a flavourful meal.   Sigh, I miss my family, but at least I got to visit with them for awhile.

Fresh Apple Cake with Caramel Frosting

It's been a long time since I've cooked from a recipe a friend has given me, but I did just that last week, or was that earlier this week?

Hmmm

Time tends to get away from me sometimes.

Jon has been asking me to make an Apple cake with him for about a year now, but our schedules never seemed to mesh, so he sent me the recipe a couple of weeks ago and asked me to go ahead and make it for Boat Club.

So I did.

And here's his recipe as written.   I did modify it a tad, but my notes as to what I did differently are at the bottom. 

Fresh Apple Cake Recipe

11/2 stick margarine
1 stick butter
2 cup sugar
3 well beaten eggs
3 or 4 cups peeled and chopped fresh apples
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 tsp. soda

Grease and flour 4 pans.  Cream butter, margarine and sugar.  Add extracts. Add eggs.  Add apples.  Combine flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and soda and sift 3 times. (I actually only sift it once).  Add to butter/apple mixture.  Bake@25 minutes@350.

Memom's Caramel Icing
2 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
5 tbsp milk or cream (but I remember her recipe at home called for evaporated milk)
1/2 tsp. baking powder (make sure there NO LUMPS or you will have bitter spots in the icing)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Bring brown sugar, butter and milk/cream to a boil slowly.  After it starts to boil, do NOT stir.  Cook 2 minutes, NO MORE.  Remove from heat & let stand until it no longer boils.  Add baking powder and vanilla.  Beat until stiff enough to pour on cake.  Can add confectioners sugar if you need a little more.

***My Recipe***

2 sticks butter
2 scant cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups peeled and diced apples
1 tsp. lemon extract (I used my own home-made extract, I'll post the recipe for that later on)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 scant teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (well worth keeping a couple on hand and using your microplane to grate them fresh when needed.  I find Nutmeg can hijack a recipe very quickly, so I use just a little less, especially when freshly grated).
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 cups sifted White Lily Flour (or use 1/2 cake flour and 1/2 all purpose flour)
1 tsp. baking soda

Cream the butter and sugar in your stand mixer until the mixture is white in color. 

You're trying to get the sugar dissolved into the butter.  By creaming it, you actually make the whole cake lighter in texture and I think it tastes better.   While it was creaming I greased and floured 3 cake pans, and then peeled and chopped the apples and placed them in a acidulated water bath.  ( which is just a fancy way of saying I squeezed a half lemon into some water). 

This keeps the apples from browning or oxidizing in the air.
Didn't know you were getting a science lesson, did you?

Although, I won't peel the apples when I make this again, as I think the peels are good for you.  

 Turn oven on, and heat to 350 degrees. 
After the butter and sugar have been creamed, add one egg to the mixer bowl and mix well,  after the first egg has been incorporated, add the second and then the third egg, letting the mixer incorporate each egg for a minute or so.   Then add the extracts.  I added a little lemon zest here as well, mainly cause my lemon extract wasn't quite ready, but I think it helped the flavour.

Drain the apple dices and then add them to the batter, just mixing them in a little.
Sift the flour, spices and baking soda on top of the apple batter and mix together.

Spoon one third of the batter into each pan and smooth the top a little.

Bake for 25 minutes and then check to make sure they are cooked all the way through.  I found that they were pulling away from the sides just a little bit and looked and smelled so good when I got them out.

After baking, place on rack to cool for about 10 minutes and then loosen the sides and take out of pans.

I then made the Caramel Icing according to the recipe and instructions, but for some reason I had it 'seize' up on me, and I think I know I did wrong.  So, follow the instructions.

After you've beaten up the icing, let it sit for a minute while you get a nice cake plate out.  Place the first cake layer on the platter and spoon a quarter of the icing over it, smoothing it out a little,

place the next layer on top,

and add another quarter of the icing, and smooth that out.   Finish off with last cake and pour the rest of the icing over it,

letting it drip down the sides.

Smooth it out a little if necessary.    When i make this again, I will actually pour the icing over top of the cakes while they are still warm.  (Or make a 7 Minute Frosting and then spoon a little caramel sauce over that.)
Set aside and let it set up, then cut and eat it .

  And here's all that was left after Boat Club.

I will say that the cakes themselves were good, I didn't care for the caramel icing, it was too sweet for my taste, but I just scraped it off and ate the rest. 

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