Jalepeno Cheddar Cornbread

I will be honest. I was not looking forward to this recipe for BB this week. The thought of hot corn bread in the middle of the summer just did not appeal to me at. all. Cornbread goes with soup and chili and things that conjur up images of cold, wintery weather. Its hot and muggy here-how can I possibly incorporate cornbread into that equation?
Turns out the cornbread was awesome and I quickly got over my judgements after tasting these little babies. Then again, I think anything that has 2 sticks of melted butter and 2 cups of heavy cream and cheddar cheese in the batter is going to be a winner one way or the other! These were light and super flakey. The jalepeno gives them a great little kick without being too overbearing. Imagine the biscuits at Red Lobster...now ratchet that up about 10 notches. I decided to make these in muffin tins instead of a sheet pan so that 1)I would not eat the whole pan and 2)They could be easily transported and dispersed to those lucky people who might be to taste these!

Jalepeno Cheddar Cornbread (Muffins)
Recipe Courtesy of Ina Garten

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups milk
3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease the pan
8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar, grated, divided
1/3 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts, plus extra for garnish, 3 scallions
3 tablespoons seeded and minced fresh jalapeno peppers

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don't overmix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated Cheddar, the scallions and jalapenos, and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar and extra chopped scallions. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into large squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Eggs Benny

I have been craving this breakfast dish for several weeks now but sometimes we all don't get up over here during your standard breakfast hours (cough cough). This weekend I decided I could wait no more and we dined like kings and queens! This was actually my first attempt at poaching eggs and I have to say they turned out perfectly. There is something about this dish that makes it the ultimate breakfast of champions. Buttery english muffin, some deli ham or canadian bacon, the egg but the BEST part is the silky hollandaise sauce over the top that puts it over the edge. This will definately be made around here a lot more often now that I have conquered the poached egg. I want to play around with this in the future though.
I can see smoked salmon instead of the ham or a florentine version with spinach. YUM.
Ooh! This is definately something you could do for a brunch or entertaining. The eggs can be poached ahead of time and then put back in simmering water before service.

Lost

Ok, I have a confession to make. I think I am one of the only red blooded 20-45 year old person in the civilized world that has NOT seen Lost. My husband has consistently watched it since day 1 and I resisted. I think the fact that the first episode involved a very graphic plane crash is probably what did it. :) Now that I have had some time to come to terms with the fact that you simply CAN't get away from Lost-I have decided to embrace the Lost. We rented the first season on dvd from Netflix and I have been pretty well hooked since.
I was thinking about my friends on the island today while trying to figure out what to have for dinner. I love the fact that they still show some of the day to day operation of surviving on a freaking island! Scaveging, hunting, making shit up as they go along. I went by their example today and decided I was going to make dinner with stuff we already had here.
NOrmally I would venture off to the store and spend another 15 dollars but I stopped myself. There is no reason for that I say! Well, another reason is that my hair was a mess and Dr Phil was just too good but back to the story!
People, what I made tonight was good and tasty and conserving and all that crap-BUT it was not pretty. I do not have a name for it but I will list the items and let your imagination run wild.

Can of chicken
Cream of chix soup
Cream of mushroom soup
Smoked Sausage
Cheese
Box of squiggly pasta
garlic seasoning
sour cream

Chris said..."Its like the suicide drinks we used to make at Skateland". That pretty much sums it up.

Barefoot Blogger-Parm Chicken

Another Barefood Blogging event for your enjoyment! I actually made this a few weeks ago and saved it for the deadline today. It was very good, although I wish I had made the chicken a little thinner or used chicken cutlets-which I have had little luck finding locally. This is a great week night meal that is fast and fuss-less. I liked the double dipping of the chicken in the egg to create that nice crust on the outside. It was great with salad! Thank you to Megan for a great recipe!
4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Parmesan Chicken
Ina Garten
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil
Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts.

Dawg Days

Its been pretty warm here the last couple days. Standing at the hot ass grill is not something that gets me excited-not to mention I started a small fire in the grill the other day with some rib eye steaks! My husband had the nerve of asking me if I used something FLAMMABLE in the marinade! Huh!? Yes dear, I commonly use flammable liquids to marinate our food in-isn't that what you guys do? Let me know.
Anyway, it was super hot today and we were all laying around watching Lost marathons on dvd and getting ready for the big PBS Auction where yours truly has an item up for bid! I bought some gnocchi last week at costco and decided to whip that up. I made a simple brown butter and balsamic sauce for it. This was our first taste of gnocchi and I think we gave it a B this time around. The texture is divine-little soft pillows of potato that are very soul soothing. If I make this again I might make a white sauce and add some peas or some prociutto. It needed something...blue cheese? It was very filling. I made one cup of the gnocchi for both of us and we had a hard time finishing it. I gave a peice to the dog and this was her reaction shortly after...


Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter Sauce

6 T unsalted butter
salt
pepper
parm cheese
toasted walnuts
2 T balsamic vinegar

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. When foam subsides, cook butter until it turns a light brown. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Add balsamic, salt and pepper.
In the meantime, cook gnocchi in boiling salted water. When gnocchi float to the top they are done-about 3 minutes. Drain and pour some of the sauce over individual servings of gnocchi and garnish with parm cheese and toasted walnuts.

Ting Town BBQ! and my issues with buns :)

I have this hang up with hamburger buns. I am tired of buying a package, using two or three for burgers etc and then having to throw them out. My husband gives me strange looks when I hand him his work lunch and his turkey and cheese is on a wonder bread bun. This may be weird, but when I buy buns now I find myself making a conscious decision to plan my weekly menu around them! We had some on Sunday when we grilled, lunches for the hubs, pork burgers and now this little gem! Yes, I know I can freeze them-but I am on a mission! Next week-no recipes with buns-I promise! On to the recipe!
After what seemed like a solid week of planning, making and executing meals for other people-I was looking for something easy. I had been saving this recipe from Cast Sugar for a while and tonight was perfect. This was really yummy and tender. I bought a 2 ish pound rump roast so I halved this. I used a home made bbq sauce that my step dad makes along with the other ingredients. This was no beef on bun from my middle school days-this was fantastic!
To make it a little more bbq-esk, I whipped up a quick cole slaw. I loved the hot/cold combo. thanks Nemmie!

Ingredients:
3 stalks celery, sliced thin
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. ketchup
1 c. barbeque sauce
1 Tbsp. prepared yellow mustard
1 c. beer
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
4 lbs. boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed of fat
16 hamburger buns, split


To make the sauce, combine the celery, onion, garlic, ketchup, barbeque sauce, mustard, beer, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, chili powder, salt, and pepper in a bowl; stir until well blended.


Place the chuck roast in a slow cooker. Pour the sauce evenly over the meat. Cover and cook the roast on HIGH for 3 hours. Reduce heat to LOW, and continue cooking until very tender, about 4 hours more.


About 1/2 hour before serving, remove the chuck roast from the slow cooker and shred the meat with a large fork. Return the meat to the slow cooker, and cook uncovered so the sauce thickens, on LOW for 20 minutes.

First breakfast catering event!

I am a member of a great group of peeps called BNI. Its a business networking group that I meet with every week and we exchange leads with each other! Its like having 16+ salespeople working for you all the time. This group gives me a huge boost on Tuesdays and I always leave there motivated and excited to see my business take off. If you have one of these groups in your area and you sell a product or service I would highly recommend looking into it.

mmmmm pastries...
Another member of my BNI group was kind enough to hook me up with his boss to cater some special treats for a group of Farmers Insurance agents. After talking to Tom, we decided a continental breakfast would be perfect. They could graze the buffet before, during and after the meeting and the price point was where he wanted to be. Here are a few pics...we had orange juice, apple juice, a selection of pastries and sweet breads, bagels (toasted if they wanted) and cream cheese and a gorgeous fruit tray. I think they were very happy with it and they gave me some props at the meeting and passed out some cards-which I LOVE. If you are in the area and need some food for your office catered-give me a shout!