Spoon Bread, Corn Bread, and a Penny.

This recipe has been on my "to try" list for a while.



It's part corn bread and part corn souffle. I really liked this recipe, but might add a touch more sugar and a little more salt next time.

Perfect with barbeque chicken, green beans, and cheesy baked potatoes!

And Corn Bread... hot out of the oven...

Delicious served plain...

And fabulous with melted butter and honey!!!

I love this recipe!

And this is Penny.

She is so cute! It's just ridiculous!

My sister and her family got her a couple of weeks ago and brought her over for a visit.

There are no words!!!

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Spider Spoon Bread - Down Home Cooking, Reader's Digest

1 cup white or yellow corn meal

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 T. sugar

1 tsp. salt

4 cups low-fat milk (2 %)

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 large egg yolks

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup corn kernels

5 large egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 12 inch cast iron skillet; heat in the oven.

2. Onto a piece of wax paper, mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, and slat. In a medium-size saucepan, bring the milk and butter to a boil over moderate heat. Add the dry ingredients in a steady stream, whisking constantly. remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl to cool.

3. In a small bowl, with an electric mixer set on high, beat the egg yolks with the baking powder until thick and light yellow. Stir into the cornmeal mixture with the corn.

4. In a clean medium-size bowl, with clean beaters and the mixer set on high, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into the cornmeal mixture, then spoon into the hot skillet. Bake for 25 minutes or until puffy. Serve immediately, right from the skillet.

Cornbread- (given by a friend, not sure of the original source)

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 T. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter, cut into 8 pieces

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

In a large bowl, mix together first 6 ingredients, cutting in the butter until it resembles coarse meal. Beat together the sour cream, milk and egg until blended. Pour this mixture into the large bowl and stir until dry ingredients are moistened and mixture is blended, about 30-60 seconds. Do not overbeat.

Spread batter evenly into a greased 8 inch square baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Gingerbread!

Christmas is on its way!

Just like a fresh snow ; )

Yes, there is gingerbread under that sugar!

This recipe is from King Arthur Flour and it was very good, but not great. The search is still on for an awesome recipe, does anyone have one?



With winter in Phoenix comes green green grass!

This was one of the warm days before the chill moved in, so nice!!!

I feel like the blog has been a little neglected. We recently moved into a two story house and the computer is all the way upstairs ;) It was easier when I had a few spare moments, now I have to go to the computer with purpose.

I'll get it figured out : ) 



Hee hee.   : )

Sweet Potato Spice Cake and the First Day of Fall!

Happy Fall!!!

"It's the  m o s t  wonderful  t i m e  of the  y e a r ..."

While at the store this morning, I found my favorite magazine of the year sitting on the shelf.

I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!

I had to make a spice cake to kick off the season right : )

This is a moist sweet potato spice cake with an orange juice, orange zest, and an orange liqueur glaze.

Ahh... Fall, you have at last arrived.

Sweet Potato Spice Cake - Emeril Legasse

Ingredients-

•1 teaspoon unsalted butter at room temperature, plus 1/2 pound (2 sticks)
•1 cup packed light brown sugar
•1 cup granulated sugar
•2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds raw sweet potatoes)
•4 large eggs
•3 cups all-purpose flour
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1 teaspoon baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
•1 teaspoon ground ginger
•1/2 teaspoon allspice
•1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
•1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
•2 tablespoons fresh orange juice, or slightly more as needed

•1 teaspoon grated orange zest

( I added orange liqueur to the glaze )

Directions-

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 12-cup bundt pan with 1 teaspoon of the butter and set aside.
In a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Add the sweet potatoes and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat after each addition.
Into a bowl, sift together the flour, soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg. Add to the sweet potato mixture a third at a time. Fold in the nuts and vanilla. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
While the cake is resting in the pan, in a bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, orange juice, and orange zest. Stir well to combine and make a tight glaze, adding more orange juice 1/2 teaspoon at a time to achieve a pourable consistency.
Turn out onto a wire rack. While the cake is still warm, drizzle the orange-sugar glaze to evenly coat. Cool completely before cutting.

Fresh Bread and Some Arizona.

Oh Bread!

Some say, "Man can't live on bread alone"... but this wo-man can! 

Warm bread, fresh out of the oven... I could eat it all day long...

And with butter... even better!

We stumbled upon this bakery on our way to pick up my husband's new bike...

he got a motorcycle, and I got two loaves of bread. Everybody was pretty happy in the end.

Safety first! 

Since our errand sent us to the boonies we decided to hang out there for a little while. It was a stormy day at the lake, my favorite.

As we pulled up my family just happened to be finishing up a day of skiing! It was meant to be. So we all had lunch at the little marina restaurant.

It turned out to be a great day.

'Til next week.  : )

Mamma Mia!

Itza pizza fresh out of the oven!

Everybody helped toss the pies, it was gettin' crazy. I dropped mine in the sauce bowl... so I kneaded it some more and we had tomato pizza dough ; )

We had so much fun!

This one turned out round, and I have no idea how.

He's a pro.

We had a lot of toppings... mozzarella, goat cheese, kalamata olives, spinach, artichoke hearts, basil, tomatoes, chicken and pancetta.

This recipe is from Saveur magazine and it's a keeper. The hotter you can get your oven the better. The article instructed to put your pizza stone in the oven at 500 degrees for a full hour before putting the pizzas in. Also brush the crust with olive oil and sprinkle with salt before baking.

Magnifico!

For dessert we had chocolate chip cookies from Phoebe's french grandmother's recipe...neh-slay         

 toll-how-ze... otherwise known at Nestle Tollhouse.

Does anyone remember the episode of "Friends" when Monica spends days trying to figure out Phoebe's grandmother's chocolate chip cookie recipe? She discovers it was Nestle Tollhouse all along. So funny.

Below is the recipe for the squash blossom pizza on the cover, as well as a great pizza sauce.

Buon Appetito!

From Saveur, March 2010

This recipe, inspired by Pizzeria Mozza, yields a crisp, chewy crust.

For the dough:

9 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus
more for drizzling
1 tbsp. active dry yeast
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more
to taste
6 cups flour

(For the squash blossom toppings:)
2 cups pizza sauce
60 squash blossoms, stemmed
1 lb. burrata

MAKE THE DOUGH:
 In a bowl, combine 1 tbsp. oil, yeast, sugar, salt, and 2 cups 115˚ water; let sit until foamy, 10–12 minutes. Stir in flour to make a dough. Transfer dough to a floured surface; knead until smooth, 8–10 minutes. Quarter dough; roll each portion into a ball. Put balls on a floured baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap; let sit in a warm place until soft and tripled in size, 2–3 hours.

Preheat oven and pizza stone for one hour before baking at 500 degrees (broil).

MAKE THE SAUCE:
For many of their pizzas, the cooks at Pizzeria Mozza use an uncooked sauce of puréed canned tomatoes. It has a brighter tomato flavor and a more vivid color than the sweet, thick, long-simmered sauces commonly found on American pizzas. To make the sauce, put one 28-oz. can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes into the bowl of a food processor, along with 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tsp. dried basil, 2 minced cloves garlic, and half a grated medium onion. Purée and season with salt and pepper.

SHAPE THE DOUGH:
Dust a 16 1⁄4" x 12 1⁄4" sheet of parchment paper with flour and lightly flour your hands. Place a ball of dough (see Squash Blossom Pizza) in the center and use your fingertips to press, pat, and stretch the dough into a 10" circle, leaving a 1" rim of thicker dough. Once you become more comfortable with the dough, try this technique: make two fists and rest the flattened dough on your knuckles; lightly bounce the dough on your fists, allowing the weight of the dough to stretch it gently. If you like, make an extra batch of dough to use just for practice, until you've found a technique that works for you.


LET THE DOUGH REST:
To make a fluffier, chewier crust, leave the shaped dough on the parchment paper, covered with a tea towel, and let it rise for 15 minutes.

TOP AND COOK:

Uncover the dough and top with the sauce and other desired ingredients. When you're ready to bake, just leave the pizza on the parchment paper, lift it by gripping the paper at opposite corners, and lay it carefully atop the preheated pizza stone; this eliminates the need for a pizza peel, the paddle-like tool used for getting pies in and out of hot ovens at restaurants. The paper will turn dark but will not burn in a 500º oven and is thin enough not to interfere with the browning of the crust. When the pizza is done, use a metal spatula to slide the pizza onto a plate or a cutting board.

Squash Blossom Variation: Prepare the dough and follow the recipe below.

 Place a pizza stone on a rack in lower third of oven. Heat oven to 500˚ for 1 hour. Transfer 1 dough ball to a floured 16 1⁄2" x 12 1⁄4" piece parchment paper. Working from center, gently flatten dough with fingertips, leaving edges thicker than middle. Stretch dough to a 10" diameter. Cover dough with a tea towel; let rest for 15 minutes. Brush edges with 2 tbsp. oil. Season dough with salt. Spread 1⁄2 cup pizza sauce over dough, leaving a 1" border. (Arrange 15 squash blossoms over sauce in concentric circles. Transfer pizza (on paper) to stone; bake until golden brown, 10–14 minutes. Remove pizza with a spatula. Top with spoonfuls of burrata; drizzle with olive oil.) Repeat to make 4 pizzas.

Rosemary Brown Butter Soda Bread!

Mmmmm... Bread is my weakness! I can resist a piece of cake when I have to... but hot bread, fresh out of the oven... impossible! I have so much fun browsing food blogs and found this recipe from Bon Appetit posted by CaviarandCodfish.com. There are thousands of recipes at your fingertips, with beautiful pictures and helpful tips.
So many wonderful recipes, so little time!

Have it with butter...

Or have it with beer!

This is a great last minute bread. The recipe uses baking soda and baking powder as the rising agent, instead of yeast. This cuts out the rising time that most breads require. All you need is a large bowl and a fork to mix the dough! The flavor of the bread is enhanced with browned butter, and coarse salt and pepper sprinkled over the top.
Enjoy!

Rosemary Brown Butter Soda Bread

from Bon Appétit, February 2006
(Makes 2 loaves)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper plus additional for topping
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1 egg white, beaten to blend

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Stir butter in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until melted and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir flour, oats, sugar, rosemary, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper in large bowl to blend. Pour buttermilk and melted browned butter over flour mixture; stir with fork until flour mixture is moistened.

Turn dough out onto floured work surface. Knead gently until dough comes together, about 7 turns. Divide in half. Shape each half into ball; flatten each into 6-inch round. Place rounds on ungreased baking sheet, spacing 5 inches apart. Brush tops with beaten egg white. Sprinkle lightly with ground black pepper. Using small sharp knife, cut 1/2-inch-deep X in top of each dough round.

Bake breads until deep golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool breads on rack at least 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Baker’s Wisdom:
You’ll get the most tender soda bread by kneading the dough gently and briefly, just until it comes together, so the gluten is minimally developed.

Zeppole!

Zeppole are like little Italian donuts, but a little lighter and fluffier. This recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis. To say they all didn't turn out beautiful...

is...

an UNDERSTATEMENT! These were the first ones to make it out of the pot, and aren't they beauties?! :)

This recipe just didn't seem to work out the way it was written, so I lowered the temperature of the oil and added flour... let's just forget this ever happened and go back to the pretty ones...

 much better! The zeppole are fried in a pot of very hot oil...

which makes me a little nervous! But I was prepared and luckily the fire extinguisher was not necessary.

There they are getting nice and toasty. Once I removed the zeppole from the oil I tossed them in orange sugar which goes very well with dark chocolate.

All you need to do is put orange zest and sugar in a food processor and blend. You can do this with lemon, lime, or you could get really fancy with vanilla bean and lavender. You can add these mixes to cookies or a cup of tea too.

And there you have 'em!

Ingredients-
Orange Zeppole
1 stick of butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 T. orange zest
vegetable oil for frying

Orange Sugar
1 T. orange zest
1/2 cup sugar

Chocolate Sauce
3/4 cup cream
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions- ( I had better success by adding a little more flour. The less flour you add the lighter they will be. I also kept the temperature at 300 degrees so that they did not burn too quickly. )

In a medium saucepan combine the butter, salt, sugar, and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the flour. Return the pan to low heat and stir continuously until the mixture forms a ball, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed, add eggs, 1 at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Add the orange zest and beat until smooth. Set aside.

For the organge sugar- place the orange zest and sugar in a food processor. Pulse the machine until the mixture is blended. Put the sugar in a small bowl.

Pour enough oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees. (Too hot from my experience.)

Using a small ice-cream scoop or 2 small spoons, carefully drop about a tablespoon of the dough into the hot oil. Turn the zeppole once or twice, cooking until golden and puffed up, about 5 minutes. Transfer the cooked zeppole to the dish with the Orange Sugar. Roll to coat in the sugar. Continue frying the remaining dough.

For the Chocolate Sauce- Heat the cream in a small saucepan until hot but not boiling. Pour cream over the chocolate and stir until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the Chocolate Sauce into a dipping dish. Serve alongside the zeppole.

A Perfect Little Breakfast.

Ooooh... this hits the spot for me! A warm scone, some sweet and tangy lemon curd, and a hot cup of coffee.


I doubled the recipe so that they last us a little longer. They're great for Dom to take to work and Sam's a fan too :)

This recipe is from Cooking Light. The scones are lighter in calories, but also lighter in texture which I actually prefer. One difference is the substitution of 2 % milk for heavy cream. I usually don't shape them as traditional scones. I just drop them on the baking sheet and bake as is. I like the rustic look it gives them and it also saves a lot of time and effort!

Blueberry Scones- Cooking Light

1/2 cup 2 % milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 lg egg

2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 oz.)

1 T. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 T. chilled butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted (optional)

1 lg egg white, lightly beaten

2 T. sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Gently fold in blueberries and pecans. Add milk mixture, stirring just until moist (dough will be sticky.)

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface; pat dough into an 8-inch circle. Cut dough into 10 wedges, and place the dough wedges on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Brush egg white over dough wedges; sprinkle with 2 T. sugar. Bake scones at 375 degrees for 18 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.