Cornbread Spoonbread

Do y'all know what spoonbread is?

Well, if you don't, that's okay.  Because it's exactly what it sounds like it is.

This is spoonbread with a twist - a cornbread twist.  Welcome to the south, where life is sweet.  Literally.

You see, this was totally Katie's idea.  She called me because she had made black bean soup, sans the jalapenos.  And she served it with cornbread that she cooked until it was just set.  So it was like spoonbread.  She said it was awesome.  So, being compulsive and all, I had to try it.

The results: even better than I can tell you.

And you'll have to eat at least two pieces to decide if it's cornbread or if it's spoonbread.  You won't be able to decide.  So you'll have to eat another piece.

I made it so I get to cut a middle piece if I want to.

And put butter on it to see if that makes your decision any easier.

Let me know what you decide.

Because if you don't agree that this cornbread/spoonbread is simply delicious, I'll block you from my blog.  And that's all I've got to say about that.

Cornbread Spoonbread


1 stick butter, melted
1 cup sour cream
2 T sugar
8 oz. box corn muffin mix (Jiffy)
5 green onions, sliced thin
8 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
15 oz. cream-style corn
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients.  Pour into a greased 8x8 baking dish.  Bake for 45-50 minutes in a 350 degree oven, until the middle is just set.  You want it to be slightly doughy and sticky in the middle.  Let it sit for about 15 minutes before you cut it into squares and serve with butter.  It may fall apart as you serve it, but that is the nature of spoonbread.  Honey butter would be delicious on this.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Do you have a low-class habit?

Everyone has at least one.  Hopefully no more than two, though.

In case you're not sure whether you do or not (and I'm sure you do), or what they are, here are a few examples of low-class habits:

1. Overhead ceiling light.  Turn on a lamp, thanks.
2. Diet Coke before 11:00 a.m.  Have some coffee, people.
3. Spam.  Real meat doesn't come from a can.
4. Miracle Whip.  'Nuff said.

While you're trying to think of your token low-class habit, I'll share with you one of mine.

Cake mix itself is not low-class.  At least that's what I tell myself.  It's the time of day at which the cake mix is consumed that makes it low class.

Like when you eat it for breakfast.  Like I did a couple of weeks ago.

So I made this cinnamon roll cake for some girlfriends for breakfast.  I had been craving it.  But making a whole cake for yourself (I certainly don't let my children eat sugar like I do) for breakfast, no less, borders on trashy.

So I came up with the perfect solution: I would share this with girlfriends!  I also made Sausage-Cheese Grits to go with it, which bordered on ingenious.

If I do say so myself.

Take the cake mix and beat it with oil, eggs, and sour cream.

It'll be nice and thick.  And very tasty.  I've never been bothered by raw eggs in cake batter or cookie dough.  I'd rather risk salmonella than miss tasting the yummy batter.  Just to let you know where my priorities lie.

Spread all but one cup of the cake in a greased 9x13 glass dish.

And then sprinkle some cinnamon and brown sugar on top.

Cinnamon roll, remember.

And then dollop the remaining cup of batter on top.  Just spread it around as best you can.

Stick it into the oven to bake.  And while it's baking, we need to make the icing.  Because what's a cinnamon roll without icing?

You'll need the usual suspects: powdered sugar, vanilla and milk.

When the cake is done,

spread the icing on the top.

And there you go.  Cake for breakfast.

Cinnamon Roll Cake



Cake:
18.25 oz. box yellow cake mix (Betty Crocker)
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
2/3 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla

Streusel:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 T cinnamon

Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
5 T milk
1 tsp vanilla

For the cake, beat together the cake mix, sour cream, oil and vanilla for 30 seconds.  Turn the mixer on high and beat for another 1 1/2 minutes.  Reserve one cup of the batter.  Pour the rest of the batter in a greased 9x13 baking dish.  Sprinkle the streusel on top.  Spread the remaining one cup of batter on top of the streusel.

Bake 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until it is just baked through.  (Insert a knife or a toothpick to be sure it's done.)

While the cake bakes, whisk together the icing ingredients until smooth.  As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, spread the icing on top.  Let the cake cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Artichoke Chicken

I got my inspiration for this Artichoke Chicken from the Bunny Cookbook (where else???).

But the thing is, I have an issue with this every time I make it.  The original recipe calls for mushrooms and artichokes.  I love both of these things.

But my husband hates artichokes.  I mean, he despises them.  So when I make this for him, I either leave out the artichokes entirely (in which case I can't really call this Artichoke Chicken now, can I?) or I leave them quartered so he can pick them out easily.

And if I make this for my mom, I leave out the mushrooms.  She's not into fungus.

So I came up with my own take on this dish.  The artichokes are in.  Mushrooms are out.  I'll put mushrooms in another dish for another day.

For all of you artichoke lovers out there, this is for you.  It's pretty much deconstructed artichoke-spinach dip, since I serve it with sauteed spinach on the side.

Who doesn't want to eat artichoke dip and call it dinner?

The spinach is only there to assuage my guilt for eating a rich and fattening chicken dish with pasta for dinner.

Start with these things:

Chop the green onions and garlic and saute them in a little bit of butter for just a minute.

And chop the artichokes quarters into thirds.

Just mix everything together...

And pour it into a greased baking dish.

This is ridiculous.  But just bake it.  Or not.  You could pretty much put this on anything and you would love it.  I can say this because I know.

And there you have it.  Dinner.  Or dip.  Whatever you want to call it, it's awesome.

Serve it over orzo to catch all of the sauce.

And put sauteed spinach on the side.  You need some green stuff on your plate.  Plus the flavors are so good together.

Artichoke Chicken
Inspired by Creating a Stir


6 green onions (about 1 small bunch), sliced thin
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 T butter
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (about 2-3 cups chopped chicken)
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
15 oz. can quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped into thirds
Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup chicken stock or white wine
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or Fontina cheese
Cooked orzo pasta, for serving
Sauteed Spinach, for serving

Heat the butter in a skillet and saute the garlic and green onions over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the chicken, mayonnaise, sour cream, artichoke hearts, lemon juice, chicken stock (or white wine), 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, mozzarella (or Fontina), and the sauteed green onion/garlic mixture.

Pour the mixture into a greased 8x8 casserole dish and bake on 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until bubbly.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese on the top and bake for another 5 minutes until the cheese melts.

Serve with the orzo and sauteed spinach.

Sauteed Spinach

I'm an up-front kind of person, so I'm going to be honest with you.

I am posting this recipe with an ulterior motive.

Tomorrow's recipe is killer.

First of all, it's Monday.  And I have to start the week with a healthy recipe, otherwise my whole week is shot and I have to run 30 miles the following week to undo the bad things I ate.

Second, I really want to show you the artichoke chicken I made last week and served with this sauteed spinach.  But, as we've already discussed, if I start the week with cheese, mayonnaise and sour cream, I'm a goner.

And I would probably eat chocolate chip cookies for breakfast on Tuesday morning if that happened.

So!  Here we go.  Sauteed spinach.  I'm going to try to be as excited about this recipe as I am about tomorrow's over-the-top offering.

You'll need a 5-gallon bucket packed full of baby spinach leaves to equal enough servings for four people.

Is there anything in spinach besides water?

So start with a little butter, a little olive oil, and some grated garlic in a skillet.

Cram the spinach leaves in the skillet.

And put the lid on.

In just a minute, you'll have virtually nothing left!  It's like a magic trick.

See?  Twenty ounces of spinach cooked down to barely enough to feed 3 people.  Weird.  But good.

Serve it with artichoke chicken.  Or anything else creamy and decadent, since the spinach really cuts through richness.

Sauteed Spinach
Inspired by Ina Garten


1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp butter
3 garlic cloves, grated
2 10-oz. packages of fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Juice of one lemon

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet (you'll need one with a lid that fits) and saute the grated garlic for about 30 seconds.  Add the spinach leaves and use tongs to toss the spinach in the oil.  Cover and cook for about 1 minute, until the spinach wilts.  Remove the lid, add the salt, pepper, and lemon juice, and toss with tongs until the spinach is completely wilted.  Serve immediately.

Bucket List & Food Festival

I have a few things on my bucket list.

For example, I'm going to have my own chickens someday.

You can laugh if you want.  I'll still bring you farm-fresh eggs.

We'll see who's laughing then.

The Food Network Wine & Food Festival has also been on my bucket list.

I went with my two favorite girls.

My wonderful mom!

Me 'n my Katie

Oh look!  We met Alex Guarneschelli.  I like to think that we would be friends.

The Food Festival exceeded my expectations.

I did not expect to like Alton Brown.  I loved him.  He was hilarious.

He's from the South and there's just some things that only Southerners understand.

We understood.

And we were the only three people in the audience that did understand his humor.

Bobby Flay was... well, he was Bobby Flay.  He was nothing short of fabulous, of course.  What would you expect?

He made paella as easily as some people pour a bowl of cereal all while explaining what he was doing, why he was doing it, and taking random questions from the audience.

We sat behind his mom.  She is a proud mom.  Who can blame her?  And she is adorable.  And she loves to be on camera.  Bobby said she comes to these events to get her "face time" in.  So she introduced us...

And then Bobby (we're on a first-name basis) asked us where he should eat in Lexington, since he comes there all the time to run his horses at Keeneland and everything.

And I refrained from saying "just give me a call and we can meet at Malone's" and instead I just casually mentioned that he might want to try Ramsey's.

I was cool. Not.

Oh, and then Katie and I met Bobby and Jamie Deen for at least the third time.

I joked that we had stalked them from Savannah all the way to New York.

And Bobby said, "Well, I've been stalked a lot more than that."

Um, awkward.  I was just kidding, Bobby.  I hope he knows that.  I'll just reiterate it the next time I see him.

So long, New York.  Keep on doing what you do (name that show) and we'll come again someday.

Walnut-Raisin Cream Cheese

When we were in New York, we ate bagels for breakfast one morning, as does any good tourist visiting the Big Apple.

I guess I wasn't feeling like taking a culinary adventure that morning or something.  Because I got plain cream cheese on my bagel.  I've regretted my decision ever since.

But I tasted Katie's bagel smeared with walnut raisin cream cheese.  And then I was jealous of her bagel.

Does that ever happen to you?

So, ever since, I have been trying to figure out how they made this amazing schmear.  And this recipe is as close as I could come.  And the weird thing is that I don't even love walnuts.  Or raisins.  But the combination with cream cheese and brown sugar is simply divine.

You can spread it on bagels.  But since we can't get "real" bagels (according to New Yorkers) anywhere but New York, I spread it on my pumpkin bread.

Wow.  NYC don't got nothin' on us Kentuckians.

Raisin-Walnut Cream Cheese


8 oz. block cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 T butter, softened
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (toast in a dry skillet for about 5 minutes over medium heat, tossing often)
2 T packed brown sugar

Mix ingredients together.  Store in the refrigerator.

Pumpkin Bread

Remember a couple of years ago when we had a pumpkin shortage?  I remember hearing about it on the news and I dismissed it as alarmist reporting.



And then I had a craving for pumpkin bread.  And I found out that the reports were true when I went to the grocery to get canned pumpkin.  Pumpkin was nowhere to be found.

And I saw some pumpkins rotting in flooded fields and I finally admitted to myself that maybe the news reports had some truth in them.




Last fall, I refused to allow that to happen again.  So I stocked up on cans of pumpkin.  Good thing it lasts a long time, because I still have several cans in the pantry.  And I made my first loaf of pumpkin bread the other day.

It was so moist and flavorful and simply delicious.  Gracious, people.  Make this immediately.

The girls absolutely loved it.  Even though Big Sis called it cornbread.

So go make this before we have another pumpkin shortage.  And put a few cans away for next year, too.  Because fall without pumpkin bread is just...wrong.

And pumpkin bread without butter or cream cheese isn't right, either.

So tomorrow I'll show you how I made this Walnut-Raisin Cream Cheese.

Pumpkin Bread

1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
15 oz. can pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Cream cheese or butter, for serving

Mix the oil and the next 4 ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix until just moistened.  Do not overmix the batter.

Pour batter into a large greased loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes on 350 degrees.  The bread is done when a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean or with just a few crumbs clinging to it.  Let the bread rest in the pan for 15 minutes before you run a knife around the outsides and remove the loaf.  Finish cooling on a plate or a dishtowel before slicing and serving.