My Dad's cornbread recipe

Recently I found a recipe that my father had typed on his old Royal typewriter for cornbread. The last line at the bottom of the page says "From Parker's Kitchen".

I have made it several times and loved the rustic texture and savory flavors. It is very simple to make.

Here is the recipe:
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup plus 1 tsp plain flour (I use King Arthur All Purpose)
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 whole spring onions, chopped including the green tops
1/4 tsp rosemary finely minced
1 large egg
2/3 cup buttermilk


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Sift the dry ingredients together (cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, & baking soda).

Dice the onions and rosemary.

Add the rosemary, onions, buttermilk and egg to the bowl and mix thoroughly.

I found I needed to add a couple more teaspoons of buttermilk to get the consistency I wanted.

Generously oil an 8 inch cast iron skillet and pour in the batter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes until golden brown.

If you double this recipe it will make 12 corn muffins. I used a 1 3/4 inch diameter ice cream scoop to measure out the batter into each section. Just generously grease the muffin pan, including the top around each muffin so that the baked muffins will slide out easily.

You could make this ahead of time, mixing the dry ingredients and have the rosemary and onions chopped and ready to add. Once you add the egg and buttermilk, you need to be ready to put it in the oven.

Finding this recipe brought back lots of memories of my Dad.

I'll bet he made it to serve with the oysters he loved to roast on the grill. Thanks Dad!

Live animal cams on Journey North

On a previous post I mentioned the website Journey North. It has the most fabulous activities and information. The most recent email from them mentions that it is the season where the seal pups are born. Since sunrise is late and sunset is early, they have recorded video clips to share when it is dark. This location is an island off the coast of Maine.

Live seal cam on Journey North

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

A winter salad, think cranberry and orange!

Sometimes the inspiration for a salad lies in the ingredients for the dressing. In this case is it flavored olive oil and balsamic vinegar from Midtown Olive Press. I love this store because you can sample the olive oils and vinegars. I also like the fact that you can refill your empty, clean Midtown bottles in effect recycling them.

I was out of my favorite white balsamic vinegar (Honey Ginger) and went to the Midtown Olive Press location in Greensboro at Friendly Center. I tried the Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar and WOW, what a wonderful flavor. It pairs well with the Blood Orange Olive Oil which I also used when making the focaccia a few weeks ago.

The beautiful thing about this olive oil and vinegar is that you don't even have to 'make' a vinaigrette. Just sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the salad, Splash the oil and vinegar on the salad and you are done! No need for mustard or anything else.

Now what do I put in this salad? Beautiful mixed greens from the Greensboro Farmer's market, carrots, dried cranberries, sections from a clementine (they don't have seeds), and chopped walnuts.

Put the olive oil and vinegar in a bowl.

Add the slices of carrots and let them enjoy the flavors for a few minutes.

Peel the clementines, I used 4 for a salad for 3 people, add the chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, carrots and dressing to the greens in a large bowl and toss. I like to put this together immediately before taking it to the table so that the greens don't wilt.

The sweetness of the oranges, tart flavor of the cranberries and crunch of the walnuts and carrots made a delicious combination. The Blood Orange Olive Oil / Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar combination was a perfect pairing for this salad. 

Not even one morsel was left!

Yummy!

Vegetable soup--no tomatoes this time!

Let's see, in the fridge I have 1/2 of a fennel bulb, leeks, carrots & broccoli.

There is also some of the 4 hour roux and turkey stock left over from Thanksgiving. Add some red new potatoes, garlic and onions and it looks like we have the makings of a soup!

First, dice the onions, fennel, leeks, carrots and garlic. 

Saute these vegetables in 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. 

Once they are tender, add the minced garlic. 

Season with 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. I also added 1 teaspoon of Southern Spain Pinchito Spice and a pinch of Crushed Aleppo Chiles from Savory. Savory Spice Shop is at Friendly Center and is a fun place to explore new ways to season food. You can taste the spices and buy small amounts of their spice mixtures to try.

Cook the vegetable mixture about 2 minutes after adding the garlic. Then add the diced new potatoes.

I just happened to have the red ones, didn't peel them, just cut them up in 1/2 inch cubes. Cook the potatoes for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally and lower the heat to keep everything from burning.

I chopped the broccoli and cooked it in the microwave covered with saran wrap for 7 minutes.

Then add to the vegetable mixture. Cooking the broccoli in the microwave ensures that it will be tender.

Then I mixed about 2 tablespoons of Jon's 4 hour roux (equal amounts of butter and flour cooked over low heat for about 4 hours, stirring periodically) with about 3 tablespoons of the left over turkey stock and heated it in the microwave to get a smooth consistency. Add this to the vegetable mixture. The roux has already been cooked sufficiently to remove any flour taste so once it in incorporated add about 2 cups of the turkey stock. This stock was not a liquid in the fridge, it had been cooked down to the point where it changed into a gelatin when refrigerated. It quickly liquified in the hot pan when mixed with the vegetables. Cover the pan and let the soup simmer until the potatoes are tender. Add more liquid as needed.

Take about 3 cups of the vegetables and some liquid and put in the blender or food processor (the blender gives you a very smooth mixture) and process until completely smooth. Then add this back to the pan. Add about 1/2 cup of cream and 1 cup of shredded white cheddar cheese and warm through allowing the cheese to melt.

Making soup isn't hard. Onions, carrots, sometimes celery and garlic are a good beginning for most soups. Season the soup with salt and pepper and experiment with some of the other flavors in the spice rack. Add the seasonings before you add the roux and stock. (If you use a commercial stock instead of home made, you will probably need to add less salt when seasoning the vegetables at the beginning.) Let the spices cook and release their flavors. Then add stock, tomatoes or whatever else you want to try.

And to think that I was originally planning 

just a leek and potato soup! 

It was good enough to freeze the left overs!

Two tips to add great flavor!

Food preparation for Thanksgiving is always an adventure and this year two things really vaulted the flavor of the gravy to a new level.

First we found a half gallon of turkey stock in the freezer that was made from last Thanksgiving's turkey carcass. After we finished the feast last year, I took the carcass and put it into a big pot and filled it almost to the top with water. This picture is of the 2013 turkey carcass cooking down to make next years's stock.

I heated the contents to a boil and then lowered it to a simmer and let it go all day. The result was a 64 ounces of turkey stock that I strained and froze. Jonathan put this turkey stock into a large pot and simmered it all afternoon, skimming the impurities that accumulate on the surface every hour or so. The result was about a pint of pure turkey flavor, which congealed into a gelatin over night. This concentrate evoked all of the flavor of the smoked turkey from 2012. We used this to make the gravy which allowed us to make the gravy even before the turkeys from 2013 were ready to take off of the grill where they were cooking all day outside.

The second flavor enhancement was the roux which was also made the day before Thanksgiving. Jonathan combined equal parts of flour and unsalted butter in a heavy bottomed pan and gently cooked this over low heat for 4 hours, periodically stirring it and checking the color that was developing.

Usually a roux is cooked just long enough to remove the flour taste, or longer to create a darker roux for some creole dishes. The aroma of this four hour roux reminded me of caramel. It was also added to the gravy this year.

Finally when beginning this year's gravy, Jonathan sauteed in butter the turkey liver, heart and gizzard which had been minced very finely. He also added minced shiitake mushrooms that were left over from his mushroom soup. Once these ingredients were cooked, the reduced stock, now a gelatin, could be added. The gelatin was warmed and a small amount was added to some of the roux to change it to a sauce like consistency and the roux was added to the giblet/mushroom mixture. Cream was added and this year's gravy was done. Normally when making a gravy one begins with the roux. Since the roux was already made, sauteing the giblets and mushrooms was the beginning.

Two turkeys were stuffed with an apple sausage suffing (also contains mushrooms, celery, onions, bacon, sourdough bread, cornbread, thyme and sage) and placed on the grill for 5 hours.

When they are done, they are a deep brown. 

Collards seasoned with salt pork, beer, cider vinegar cook inside. It is a challenge to put the lid on top of the pot with all of the collards inside. Even had to tip the beer to get it poured into the pot. As soon as the bottle was empty, the top was put on the pot and the collards cooked for about 4 hours. Even people who never liked collards love these!

Turkey day is done now and the next task will be cooking down this year's carcass to make the savory beginning for next year's gravy!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Brining the bird - an artful combination of spices and herbs!

This morning Jonathan, my youngest, is in command of the kitchen creating a combination of roasted herbs and spices to use in brining the turkeys. Yes, that is right, plural, turkeys.

Rosemary and bay are picked from the garden, the rest is in the spice cabinet. First he dry toasted the spices separately in a skillet on top of the stove. In the picture below beginning from the top left corner going clockwise are: whole cloves, black and szechwan peppercorns, whole fennel seed and star anise, mustard seeds, fresh bay and rosemary (not toasted) and coriander. Then he ground them using a mortar and pestle. He ground dry sage leaves with the toasted seeds in the mortar and pestle to release the oils in the sage.

In a large stock pot bring 3 gallons of water to a boil and then turn the heat off and add one box (3 lbs.) of Kosher salt and 1 pound of sugar.

Add the spices and herbs, including the bay leaves and rosemary, stir and add 1/2 bag of ice to cool the brine and a bottle of dry white wine. Then add the brine to the turkeys who are waiting patiently in the cooler, top it off with ice and cover to brine from Tuesday morning till Wednesday night. Add ice as needed.

We have been brining turkeys for years and are convinced it makes a difference in the taste of the birds. The turkeys will be stuffed and cooked on the grill on Thursday. They will be roasted and smoked and will be golden brown and succulent beyond belief!

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Play with your food! Chicken Pot Pie!

Roast chicken was on the menu this week and of course there were leftovers. Aside from making chicken noodle soup with the leftover carcass, for stock, and the meat, my next favorite leftover from a chicken is to make a chicken pot pie.

Saute some onion, carrot and celery in a little olive oil and butter, till tender, seasoning with salt and pepper while these are cooking. If your stock isn't low sodium, go easy on the salt. Add some flour and cook about 3 minutes to get rid of the flour taste. Then add stock and make a thick sauce. Add some frozen peas that were defrosted quickly under tap water and the cooked chicken and you have the inside of the pie.

Playing with food consisted of decorating the crust. I purchased decorative leaf pastry cutters to make Rose Levy's Designer Apple Pie and decided to decorate the crust with leaves. I used the large leaves around the outside and the medium and small ones in the middle. This was so much fun. Just 'glue' the leaves on with an egg wash after brushing the whole top crust with egg wash.

After baking, the crust is golden and delicious, and the pie isn't bad either!

Who says a chicken pie can't be as pretty as an apple pie!