Cornbread Infatuation

Cornbread. Oh, how I love cornbread. If I was a poet I would inscribe my love for cornbread on some ancient parchment in hopes that someone would turn it into a delightful song. If I was an artist I would paint, draw, sculpt the many ways in which cornbread has touched my life. Alas, I can do none of these thing so instead I bake.

Last week we received our copy of Food Network Magazine. I was super excited to find that Ree Drummond (aka the Pioneer Woman who's at the top of my blogging friend list) was featured in her super cool kitchen along with a few recipes for my beloved cornbread. After coveting Ree's counter tops I decided to make my culinary obsession. That night for dinner I made pan-seared herb chicken salad...

This salad is extremely easy to make. Make the chicken however you'd like. Sometime I grill it but this time I made it in the pan because of all the different things I was making at once. Tonight I used a romaine based salad mix but it tastes just as good with baby spinach leave. Add craisins, bacon, walnuts, blue cheese crumbles, and fresh raspberries. I usually top it off with Brianna's Raspberry Vinaigrette but this time I made a fresh citrus dressing with the Good Season's dressing packet. Here is the recipe:

Citrus Salad Dressing/Marinade

1/4 cup orange juice

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup oil (canola and oil are the best)

1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 packet of Good Seasons Italian All Natural Salad Dressing mix

I did not create this recipe. I merely found it on the Good Season's box. But it is very tasty.

And then there is the cornbread. Ahh... cornbread.

This time I made the cornbread in a cast iron skillet. It turned out really amazing and only took 20 minutes. I have yet to taste a fluffier, lighter-textured cornbread. Here it is straight out of the oven:

I dusted it with some sugar on top, which is a little unusual but it's because this time I topped it off with a freshly homemade strawberry jam. Oohh, the strawberry jam was nothing less than phenomenal. Alex and I have been day-dreaming about all the things we could put the jam on in the future.

It was like desert for dinner and yet it wasn't. This might just be my new strawberry shortcake. Or pancake topper. Or crepe filler. Or cupcake filling/frosting. 

Here is the recipe for both the cornbread and the strawberry jam. Both are the brainchild of Alex Guarnaschelli.

Skillet Cornbread with Strawberry Jam

FOR THE CORNBREAD

1 1/4 cups coarsely ground cornmeal

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup whole milk

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE JAM

1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

1 lemon (but I used 2 since they were small)

Juice of half an orange (but I used 1/4 cup of OJ)

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup of sugar

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

Step 1: Make the cornbread: Place a 9 inch cast-iron skillet in the oven ad preheat to 400 degrees. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder ad baking soda in a large bowl. Whisk the milk, buttermilk, eggs ad almost all the melted butter, reserving about 1 tablespoon for brushing the skillet, in a separate bowl. Add the wet to the dry. Mix well.

Step 2: Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and brush the bottom and sides with the reserved melted butter. Pour the batter into the skillet, return to the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 10-15 minutes, then sprinkle lightly with sugar for texture.

Step 3: Meanwhile, make the jam: Cut the strawberries width-wise into 1/4 inch thick slices (the slices should be think enough to bend slightly). using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from 1/3 of the lemon with a light touch, leaving the pith behind; transfer to a large bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice into the bowl. Add the orange juice, salt, sugar and strawberries ad toss. Cover and refrigerate until the cornbread is out of the oven.

Step 4: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the strawberry mixture and cook, stirring, until the juices reduce and thicken slightly, about 10-15 minutes. Slice the cornbread and top off with the strawberry jam. Serve. Eat. Love.

I promise. It is delicious. 

June & July Movies

June and July were slower than average movie months for us. We watched a ton of Blockbuster/Redbox movies but only made it out to the theaters 4 times.

Transformers 3

This was the very first IMAX 3D movie that we have ever seen. It was really incredible. It's hard to believe that almost the entire movie is CG. It's also a huge plus that our IMAX theater is super brand new complete with faux leather seats. I guess it's the largest one in the states. I liked the movie better than the second one but not as much as the first. At the end of the movie, you'll be asking yourself the same question you did at the end of the last one: How in world did Carley (and Mikaela) keep their clothes so incredibly white during all that high-impact action?

Harry Potter 7.2

Yes, Severus, for you it did all end. I loved it nonetheless. I cried. I laughed. I was so sad to see it finally come to an end. I talked about it for a good 3 days straight at work (but that's probably because 90% of the staff is 18 and Harry has been their life). It's a good thing I have all the books and the DVD's so I can read/watch it again and again until my brain has turned to mush. 

Captain America

This was an Alex pick and since I dragged him to see Harry the week before it only seemed proper to accompany him. Really, I'm not all that interested in the comic book movies but it was still pretty decent. It was really neat to see how Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America were all tied together. Chris Evans has a super amazing body. Wait until all the credits have passed because there is an extra clip at the very end.


Horrible Bosses

Super funny. Not at all appropriate for individuals under the age of 18. The profanity is off the charts but not in the F U kind of way. I really enjoyed watching Jennifer Aniston play a bad girl. My favorite character was probably Dale. The bad guys all get theirs in the end.

Meow Mix

One of the great things about having a dog is that he's a constant feeding experiment. So far I've discovered that he LOVES raw chicken and steak, carrot peelings, white and sweet potatoes, craisins, peanut butter, goldfish crackers, and pizza crust. He does not care for cucumbers, celery, watermelon, lemon wedges, or apple pie filling. This, however, does not make up a significant part of his dietary needs. They are more like snacks, or more accurately, opportunities for us pet owners to entertain ourselves for a few moments. The rest of Davey's mundane food fare consists of Science Diet Large Breed dog food. You know- the expensive stuff. 6 cups a day. A 35 pound bag lasts about 20 days. On super special days, like his birthday or Christmas, I'll buy a super cheap can of Pedigree "Country Stew" and mix it in with the dry stuff. Now watching that is some fun stuff because he knows. As soon as I walk in the house and he sees the can its like watching a heroin addict who's been clean for a week try to get a fix. He whines. He paces. He shakes with excitement. He drools. And when it's finally all mixed together he devours every morsel and then licks the bowl for 10 minutes. Everything in the world is right again and tomorrow's meal of just plain old Science Diet kibble suddenly seems like prison food.

For the most part, Davey is not a picky eater. We use to feed him 3 times a day in much smaller portions when he was a tiny guy but now he prefers to eat in the late evening. He eats at his own pace but that doesn't stop his peculiarities. He ALWAYS removes the first 3 kibbles from his bowl and places them on the carper in almost a triangular pattern. I'm not sure if this is his way of adapting the Italian tradition of placing 3 coffee beans in Sambuca (a Italian Liquor) for good-luck, or maybe its an unknown dog ritual passed on from mother to pup that has continued through the centuries, or if he's offering up some kind of canine tithe. Then he'll only eat half and saves the rest for later, about an hour and a half later. All of it is a little odd, but over the last 2 years I've become use to it.

Okay, so the other day, David really had us worried. We took him running in the morning like we usually do. He had left about a cup of food left over from the day before. When he and Alex got back from their run he drank just a tiny bit of water, the remaining cup of food, and then took a long nap. We both went to work, came home, put out some fresh dog food and water, and continued on with our nightly routine. In the morning we noticed that Davey hadn't touched his food or his water. So now I'm starting to get a little worried. I watch him all day which isn't hard because all he did was sleep. When he was awake I message him down to see if something hurts on him but not a peep. I try to get him to eat ice cubes but he doesn't seem interested. I offer up one of his Salmon treats and that's a big green light but he's not interested in the stuff that he really needs like food and water and its been about 36 hours now. So in my desperation, I walk out to the car, grab a handful of cat food and walk back in side.

Wait a minute, cat food? Yes, I have cat food in the trunk of my car. No, I do not have a cat, officially. I am so very allergic to cats its really not funny. But I like cats. The reason I have cat food in my trunk is because there is a year old, black male stray cat that lives in the storm drain in the parking lot of the restaurant where I work. My co-workers all have different names for the little guy. Some call him Snape, some Midnight, and other call him a slur of profanity because he likes to lounge on their brand new clean cars. Anyway, I call him Kitty Kitty. Honestly, he doesn't care what I call him as long as I feed him. But back to the story...

I walk in the house with a handful of Meow Mix and Heroin Dog greets me at the door. Suddenly he knows. I let him sniff my hand and the drooling and shaking and whining starts immediately. I'm not sure where this comes from since I know for a fact this is the first time that he's ever had cat food. I sprinkle it in his bowl and like magic the mighty appetite has returned. He polished off every morsel of food and slurped down 2 large bowls of water. I breathe a sigh of relief and a dozen thoughts flood my mind. I remember back when my sister was 2 and I caught her eating cat food on the porch.  I think back to when we first brought Davey home and all the "food rules" that we agreed on, which by the way have all been broken including the chocolate rule. And I think of all the exasperated moms that come in my restaurant with picky kids. Maybe I should tell them about Meow Mix too.

Chocolate Wasted

Alex and I went to Harry Potter 7.2 yesterday at the new IMAX theater down the street from our home. I was a little leery about seeing it in super 3D. I'm not totally convinced yet that every 3D movie is worth seeing in 3D. Several co-workers insisted that not only must I see it in 3D but also on an immensely humongous IMAX screen. Let me say, that it was well worth it. There will be no spoilers from me this time. I will only say that I laughed a few times, cried a little more, and was blown away by the 3D effects.

After the movie we headed off to dinner and then home for some dessert. Our desserts are always changing. Sometimes we have lemon and grape granita. I'll probably be making some watermelon granita this week. Sometimes its strawberry shortcake or mousse or a half dozen other things that might strike our fancy. Last night we had a deep desire to get "wasted" on chocolate.

It's pretty simple to do. First, you make a batch of fresh chocolate brownies. Let them rest for maybe 5 minutes. You'll want them nice and hot. Then you scoop out big scoop of chocolate ice cream. We choose Bryer's this time, but there are some nice fancy, rich chocolate ice creams that are just as wonderful. Then, you top off the ice cream with some chocolate covered pretzels and Hershey's chocolate syrup. It's a wonderful chocolaty gooey crunchy divine treat. So divine that I ate some more for breakfast this morning. There has got to be some perks for being an adult, right?

Well, here it is. "Chocolate Wasted". Heavenly for dessert. Glorious for breakfast.

Trolls

My brother, Tommy, sent this to me yesterday and I couldn't help but publish it. He has the happy talent of telling imaginative stories. I did a slight edit on one or two incorrectly spelled words but the rest is all him.

Enjoy!

MY MIND WANDERS...by Tommy A. Harris

    "You see those trees moving over there boy?"

    "Yeah!" he states slightly.

    "You know what it is? It's an army of trolls rolling through. They're marching following the storm..."

The view spread in front of us was that of an encroaching thunderstorm. To the west the light was punching through but quickly edging it out to the north was the dark rolling clouds that spat lightening every forty or fifty seconds...

    "Those are trolls moving the trees over there?! What are they doing that for?" he asked more interested.

    "Well, trolls are large and angry and clumsy with reeeaaally bad tempers and fat hungry stomachs. Seeing as they are following a storm, with all that rain the ground gets pretty slippery and the trolls crash into the tree, sometimes even breaking its limbs off or splitting it in two. I've heard of trolls getting so angry they pull trees up and throw them into the storms..."

The trees from the balcony were swaying back and forth at a good pace. I thought for a second I could see the trolls passing! It made me smile so I let out a quick gasp. The storm was making some noise, I think the wind was letting out a ghoulish sound with loud knockings and heavy thuds from the forest getting rattled.

    "Did you SEE That!!!" I yelped. "I swear I saw one!"

    "Where is it? Can I get up in my chair? I can't see them too good!"

    "You better! Climb up here." I quickly assured him. "You don't always get the chance to see a troll. The higher the better!

    "What are they doing?"

With a second chance to elaborate on the habits of trolls, I dove all in!

    "Trolls can only move during storms. Did you know that? They hide from the sun. A troll has really thick and rough skin but it hurts when they get in the sun. It's like the troll gets a bad sunburn right away. That's why they live under bridges, to hide from the sun. Another reason they stumble behind the storm is the rain keeps them all slippery and it's nearly impossible to cut their skin on branches or sharp stones or even swords..."

At this point I can see him to my side looking down the bay towards the bridge that crosses the laguna to the island which just happens to be blocking our view of the ocean. I just wait for his next question chuckling inside.

    "There aren't any trolls under our bridge!" he almost asks me.

    "Well there might be now. They move during the storms to stay out of the sun but if the sun comes out right now, I bet they all scatter into the trees on the river or under the docks and probably under that bridge... It will be a real pain to get rid of them then!"

    "Why can't we get rid them? Can't you just make 'em leave?"

    "I don't speak troll. And I'm not fighting something that will pull up a tree just to lay in some mud! You just have to stay away from the bridge and wait for the next storm so they can leave. I don't think we'll get any trolls this storm though, they seem to be moving that way.

I point away towards the riverside woods. He asks a couple of questions that I don't answer and says hes going to tell his mom he saw trolls. Lightening strikes behind the clouds...

    "Did you just SEE that pheonix?! I say as a new smile grows across my face...