Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Fiesta cornbread

Cornbread is about the only bread that I have successfully made taste good when I cook it. Also, it is probably the least labor and tool intensive of any bread I have made. Therefore, I have many cornbread variations, both savory and sweet. This savory version is cheesy and peppery and fun and the most delicious thing you will ever eat. EVER!


Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
1/4 c chopped anaheim pepper
1/4 c chopped onion
1 tbsp chopped pimento
Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg
2/3 c milk
1/2 c roasted corn
1 c shredded cheese

Preheat the oven to 400.

Melt the butter in a small pan and saute the pepper, onion and pimento until softened. It seems like a lot of butter, but there is a creaminess that you want to achieve in the final product and this is an aid. In a medium bowl, combine the Jiffy mix, egg and milk (I use about twice the milk called for in the original Jiffy recipe because the other ingredients suck up the moisture). Add the pepper mixture and corn to the bowl and combine. Then add the cheese and combine.



Grease a loaf pan, and then pour the mixture in the pan, and pop in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Test with a toothpick, make sure it comes out clean.



Enjoy with pretty much anything! Soup, enchiladas, pork roast, or just eat the whole pan with a spoon secretly while hiding from your family... IT IS THAT GOOD! It's like the inverse of a fruit pie, but better! Hang on... I gotta go eat some more... YYYYUUUUMMMMMMM!


Sunday, April 27, 2014

Preserved Meyer Lemons

I picked up a bag of Meyer lemons the other day at the grocery store because they looked absolutely beautiful and I couldn't pass them up. I had never eaten one raw, and I highly recommend it... if you enjoy lemons otherwise. I love eating wedges of lemon and these are just a little sweeter version. My bag had about 7 of them so I wanted to find a couple other uses then just eating them straight. I did some Googling and found some articles on preserving lemons and how easy it was, so I decided to give it a shot.



Get yourself a jar that seals well, some kosher salt and your lemons. Cut a bit off each end of the lemon and then quarter them. Put a little salt in the bottom of the jar and cover the wedges in the salt as well. Cram those suckers in there, so much so that some of the juice squeezes out. Make sure that when the jar is full that there is enough juice to cover all the lemons, and add more juice if not.



Seal it up and label the date you crammed them, because now you have to wait 3 whole weeks to use them! Leave them on the counter for a couple days and then put them in the fridge for the rest of the 3 weeks. Flip the jar upside down every once in a while.

I read several places that you are supposed to discard the flesh and then only use the rind once they are preserved, but I say, hey, need salt and lemons in a recipe, use that part. After those 3 weeks, lemon it up to your hearts content! I used some to make a fish tagine that was... interesting, though I don't think the interestingness was the fault of the lemons.