Corn Bread

The "sloppy jane" recipe made too much for two and I was out of Jiffy Cornbread so I had to search for a corn bread recipe. This one came out of the Pillsbury All Purpose Cookbook for today's cooks.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil or melted shortening
1 egg, slightly beaten

Heat oven to 425. Grease 8 or 9-inch square pan. In medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in remaining ingredients beating by hand just until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 425 for 18 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

I didn't use a square pan, instead I used a muffin top pan my wonderful mother-in-law gave me.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

I first ate this recipe when my sister in law made them on a visit we had to Missouri. Hers were light and fluffy and so much better than the canned Pillsbury version that I typically feed to all my guests. I remember asking her to send this recipe to me.

Sunday I found an email she had sent me in 2005 with the Cinnamon Roll recipe and decided that it was time I tried it.

At 40 it was the first time I had ever actually made any type of bread product with yeast!!!

2 packages of yeast
2/3 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup soft margarine
2 tablespoons shortening
2 eggs
6 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of cinnamon

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add warm milk, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, margarine, shortening, eggs & 3 cups flour. Mix together well. Stir in remaining 3 cups of flour. Turn onto floured counter top and knead until smooth and elastic ( about 5 to 10 minutes). Cover and let rest 20 minutes. Roll into 12 x 20 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 to 3 tablespoons margarine. Mix cinnamon with remaining 1/2 cup sugar and sprinkle across dough. Roll it up. Cut in 1 inch slices. Place in greased pans cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 to 24 hours. When you are ready to cook them take out of refrigerator and let rise 30 to 45 minutes. Then bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Mine were good but not as fluffy as my sister in laws. I will try this recipe again that is for sure.

Things I learned:

Not to use so much flour on the counter top for rolling. When I rolled the dough up the edges were just too floury. I tried to wipe a lot of it off but I couldn't do it completely. I wonder if I used some butter on the outside edges of the dough before cooking?? I'll try it and let you know.

Oatmeal Apple Muffins

This recipe came from USA Weekend that comes in the Sunday Paper or it did in the Detroit Paper. We have moved and not are in the Tampa area and I really miss getting this every Sunday. The USA Weekend had some of the best recipes.

1 Egg
3/4 Cup fat-free half and half
3 Tbs. canola or olive oil
1/3 cup Splenda or sugar
1 Medium apple, peeled and chopped
3/4 Cup Dried cranberries or raisins
1/2 Cup Walnut pieces
1 Cup Whole-Wheat Flour
1 Cup Quick-Cooking Oats
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 Tb. Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Nutmeg
2 Tsps. Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, beat together egg, half and half, oil and splenda (or sugar). In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Fold egg mixture into dry mixture, just to moisten.

Fill non-stick muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes.

Makes 12 - per muffin- 173 calories, 4g protein, 23 g carbohydrates, 8g fat (1 g saturated), 20mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 192 mg sodium.

Hush Dem Puppies

As I told you yesterday my husband spent the majority of the day cooking a wonderful brisket. It was not just a brisket flat it was a whole brisket, so for just the two of us it was way too much. Leftovers for the rest of the week.

My trick about leftovers is always cook one new thing each time you serve your leftover.

Hush Puppies are not just for fish in my book. They go great with any type of BBQ.

So I headed to my husband's barbecue cookbooks and found John Willingham's World Champion Bar-B-Q recipes and tales , and chose "Hush Dem Puppies" for my new side item.

4 cups yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon a Mild BBQ Seasoning ( I actually used two to add more tang)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 medium onion, finely diced
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for the frying
1 1/4 cups water
1 red bell pepper, chopped (optional)

In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, seasoning mix, flour, and sugar. Stir in the onion, eggs, garlic powder, and the 3/4 cup of oil. Mix well and then stir in the water. Add the red pepper if desired.

Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer or deep skillet to 350 degrees. Scoop the dough by tablespoonfuls and drop them into the hot oil. Fry each hush pup for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat until all the dough is cooked. Serve them hot.

Things I learned:
1. Use a deep-fat fryer, I used a saucepan and it didn't work out well.
2. Don't over cook them. The first batch didn't get golden brown like I thought they should and I kept them on for way to long. They were a bit hard and dry.
3. The BBQ seasoning I used was low in salt and I think I should have added a bit extra to the dry mixture.

Stay tuned to see what other new side items I come up with this week.