When I asked my mom what she wanted for Mother's Day, she asked me to cook her dinner. I cook dinner every day, so I asked her if she had anything other than the usual Sunday pasta and tomato sauce (my own made-from-scratch recipe).

Nope. She wanted shrimp on the barbie. Sooooo.

I marinated them in some olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, oregano, salt and black pepper for about 20 minutes then skewered them on bamboo skewers and grilled them, three minutes to a side. I also grilled a vine-ripened tomato (cut into fat wedges, drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper and oregano) and steamed some fresh whole green beans and dressed them with the same lemon vinaigrette (made separately) as the marinade. Yum! Mom loved it!

This was done on the wing, not from a recipe. I seldom cook from recipes anymore. Sometimes it doesn't work, but more often than not it turns out well.

Both of those recipes sound delicious! And they've got me to thinking about changing up my usual weekly meals. Especially next year when I have my own place where people won't steal my things. Firstly though i'd like to ask those more experienced cooks among us, now that i'll have a proper kitchen to work in is there any "Must Have" cooking equipment I should look to getting?

What I have at the moment:
3 Saucepans of increasing size
1 Frying Pan+Wooden Stirrer
Knives: 1 Large, 1 Small, 1 Serated/All Rounder
Roasting Tray
Cheese Grater
Spatula
Chopping Board

I think thats it, or atleast that's what I use often enough to remember.

Also...Does anyone have a good ommelette recipe? I only recently discovered I can actually eat eggs and no one in family does, so I have no oppurtunites to learn.

Needed:

Colandar/strainer - absolutely needed at all times

1 set of metal tongs for turning ( - I am still using a pair that came in a baby bottle sterilizer kit someone gave me at a baby shower for my first child - they never wear out!) (turning potatoes/carrots/etc. in a roast; turning meatballs or sausages in a frying pan; turning stuff in a toaster oven etc)

A baster is a good idea, but you can use a ladle if you don't have a baster.



Optional:

Extra spatulas, both metal and the hard plastic alloys - and extra spoons (wooden or hard plastic alloy).

1 good hand mixer for mashing potatoes/squash/yams/pumpkin/etc.

1 blender for sauces.

Whisks. You can use a good long fork, but it doesn't do as good a job.

A wok - even if you don't make chinese food with it, they are really a good thing to use for a quick meal.

It is always good to have two paring knives for cutting fruits and vegetables - one will work, but on some meals you will have to wash it in the middle of prepping a meal to keep from cross-contamination, which may set off your timing slightly.

Another frying pan of less than 10" is always needed for something.

I keep a breadmaker for special occasion dinners, but if you live in the south a good biscuit recipe is just as good.

A Dutch Oven is a godsend if you are making dumplings on your stews or soups. If it is cast iron you can even make them over an open campfire.

I like to keep one syringe just for cooking (to inject flavorful broth, seasoned butter, wine, etc. directly into the meat)

I like to keep two cooking thermometers (one for meat - make sure the center of roasts/turkey/etc. has reached the proper temp before removing from oven) and one for liquids - this one may be called a candy thermometer).

You can make-shift your own double-boiler or steamer if you really get into cooking.


*

An omelet is kind of a free-for-all of your favorite tastes. My favorite omelet has minced onion & green peppers, sliced mushrooms, and grated chedder over the top after it is folded.

My husband likes the same thing, but wants diced ham added to his.

You can give it a Mexican flavor by using just onions and cheese and spooning Salsa over the top after it is folded.

You can make it Italian by dicing (pre-cooked) meatballs or Italian sausage with a touch of marinara and lightly grating fresh Italian cheeses inside, then a sprinkling more of the fresh grated cheeses on top.

My children's favorite omelet: Hashed browned potatoes, whip up the omelet and pour over the top after they are fully cooked. Sprinkle hot sauce (Texas Pete or Louisiana). After folded grate fresh cheddar cheese over the top.

Omelets are wonderful places to experiment with flavors.



*

I loooove omelets! (My husband cooks them better than I do most of the time, though...) All of those sound excellent. My favorite is much like your husbands, with the Mexican flavor addition. I love Mexican style food, especially if it's spicy!

And speaking of Louisiana hot sauce (I used to take small swigs of it straight from the bottle. I know, weird...), I have a specific favorite way of using it that I'd like to share, and which I strongly recommend to anyone who likes spicy food even a little bit. I like to put hot sauce and sour cream in my mashed potatoes. It makes them a weird pinkish/orange color, but it tastes incredible! I almost won't eat my mashed potatoes any other way. Seriously, unless you don't like hot food, you must try it at least once! and tell me what you thought of it!

For anyone who doesn't know, the Louisiana Hot Sauce is like 10 times hotter than the Texas Pete. You must have cast iron innerds, Syl !!

Your potato recipe sounds great, I will try it out on my son who loves spicy foods, lol.

Well my shopping list just grew a good bit, thanks for the advice mAlx, i'll see what money I have left over and get those essentials, I also seem to need to get some of this hot sauce as well by the sounds of it, seems like it'll be my new Lee and Perrins.

Advice on knives:

Never buy those cheapo knives you get at the grocery store. They will never maintain their edge and are often of the "never needs sharpening" serrated variety. Those knives are simply terrible, absolute rubbish. There is no such thing as a knife that never needs sharpening, in fact, those knives are lying to you. In fact, because they are all serrated, you never CAN sharpen them. Once the teeth begin to get dented (and they will, fast, if the knife is cheap) that knife is done for.

What I do when knife shopping is go to a nice specialty cooking store or restaurant supply outlet and look at the knives they have there. These are the kind of knives you want to own: simple, honest, and easy to maintain. Go for forged knives whenever you can over stamped knives (you can tell them apart by the forged knives having an actual pommel), because forged knives tend to be crafted from a harder steel. There are four basic knives you will want if you wish to cover all your bases:

- Chef Knife: The signature kitchen knife, with a very large blade. The choice is yours whether you prefer an 8-inch or 10-inch.

- Paring Knife: Essentially looks like a shrunken chef's knife. This is used when you need precision, and come with 3+1/2 inch and 4 inch blades.

- Boning knife: An elongated, slender knife that is usually flexible (though not as flexible as a filet knife). They come in 6 and 8 inch varieties.

- Serrated knife: Not the "never needs sharpening" dreck, though, you want a serrated knife that was designed to be thay way in the first place. Try and buy an offset knife if you can, as can make things a bit more comfortable when cutting bread.

My knives are Dexter-Russel Connoisseur brand, and are made from a wickedly hard steel. This makes it rather hard to sharpen them, but they will hold their edge for a very long time because of that. Excellent knives for the professional kitchen, if I may say so.

The most popular store brands that are reputable are Wusthof and J.A. Henckel's.

I have been eating spicy foods for as long as I can remember, bc my dad was always eating it, since he used to live in New Mexico for a time, before he met my mom...and then I came to be, and...so yeah. I love hot food! However, I cannot handle haberneros. I had a slice of one once--ooh, tasted good, but never again will I eat one like that! It really burns and for a long time!! You just have to let it wear off on its own, too...

My husband knows that if something is too spicy for me, then it's too spicy for him!

Nyah, nyah nyah nyah nyah!

I am a resident New Mexican, and I love habaneros! They make for especially good guacamole.

Well, I can take them in things, as long as they are not overpowering. But alone? Not gonna happen. I like snacking on jalapenos, though.

And for the record, guacamole is awesome!

I'll admit I go for a rather different approach than mALX given that I a/ have the smallest kitchen in the world and b/ move house more than once every 12 months. For example a steady hand and a fork will suffice as a colander with a bit of practice (for rice strain it before it's quite done so it absrobs residual water), a good hand blender will do most of what a worktop one will and is easier to move and store and a bread tin is a lot more versitle, cheaper and easier to store than a bread maker (though getting bread from it is a bit of a faff).

Anyway I guess you're a student so some tips:
Don't buy stuff until you move into the flat, I lived in one which had seven cheesegraters but no forks (I kid you not), the current one doesn't have a microwave but does have a spurious collection of kettles. In short see what's needed before you go shopping.
Get a good knife sharpener, chances are if there is one its rubbish and the flat will come with some rubbish knives which you will end up using now and then
If you get a frying pan (the one in the flat will be ruined, I've never rented a place with a good one) spend money on it. The cheap thin ones just warp and become useless (especially on electric) and the teflon is never as good. One exception to this is ikea ones which are quite well made for the price.
And I agree with TK on knives. If you have the cash get something very good as cheap ones go blunt in no time.

One thing which doesn't seem to have some up is scales, depending on how experienced you are they can be nessesary.

Cheers Olen, you make a good point about waiting to see what I need, there are 4 other people moving in including one girl who's been living on her own for about 5 years so theres a good chance she'll have a lot of the stuff i'll need.

In other news made my first Omellette today and don't have any burn marks. It came out alright, I didn't go too adventurous with stuff in it since it was my first, but definately something i'd do again.

Sounds like you’re in pretty good shape already. I’d add a couple of mixing bowls that can be stored stacked together, and a set of measuring spoons/cups. I’m guessing the girl who’s been out on her own might have these.

Congrats on your first not burned omelet! I’d say cook your fillings together in the pan (peppers, mushrooms, and onions ), then add the eggs, then cheese. The folded omelets are pretty, but I think they’re tastier with the ingredients mixed into the eggs.

I love Louisiana Hot Sauce. I put it on hash browns. Now I have an idea for dinner.

Congrats on your first omelet !!! WOO HOO !!!!

Need a spicy solution for your next time cooking chicken? Try THIS!

- Chicken drippings from one chicken breast
- White Wine: 1/3 cup
- Garlic: 1 Clove
- Fennel Seed: 1 Tsp
- Orange Juice: 1/3 Cup
- Vanilla: 1/2 Tsp
- Nutmeg: 1/2 Tsp
- Turmeric: 1/2 Tsp
- Chicken Stock: 2/3 Cup
- Rosemary: 1/2 Tsp fresh
- S&P: To Taste

1. Deglaze pane w/ white wine, add garlic, fennel. Reduce Au Sec.

2. Add OJ, vanilla, and remaining dry spices. Simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Add chicken stock, reduce & thicken.

4. Add rosemary and season w/ S&P.

If you think chicken is boring, this will give it some definite zing!

Father’s Day Menu: porterhouse steaks from the grill, roast asparagus, corn on the cob, and (sigh) Tater Tots. For dessert, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I’m not sure I’ll ever want to eat again. But I’m confident I can finish the wine.

Chicken!

O got some nice H-Cups-o-poultry in my fridge now along with some nice and fresh white corn, and I was wondering if anyone might have any interesting ideas as to what to do with those?

Impress me!

Er...these H-Cups...are they...BBB?

My husband's childhood friend gave me a really yummy and simple recipe for cookies that are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The best thing about them, though, is that they require almost no work whatsoever, so they're perfect for a busy schedule!



Cake Mix Cookies

1 box cake mix (any flavor)
1 large egg
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup water

Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl, then drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto a cookiesheet. Bake at 350 (F) for 8-9 minutes. Let cool and enjoy.



******

And speaking of food--about once a week, when we go grocery shopping, my husband and I have been going to the Auntie Anne's pretzel shop located in our local Walmart for a couple months or so now. I had never even had a pretzel from there until then, and I have to say they are highly recommended!

GAAAAAH !!! Don't buy your meat from Walmart - EVER !!! It is NOT even 100% meat, it has between 6-12% tenderizers !! This is because it is the lowest level USDA Select quality meat or below (!!), down to one level above dog food meat.

Most grocery stores sell USDA Choice meat, the crappy stores sell USDA Select - Walmart goes below even this, there meat is just barely approved for human consumption.

Anyone don't believe me ... pick up any package of Walmart "fresh" meat and read the label. Please Note: Walmart also owns "Sam's Clubs" - so check the labels on their meat before buying as well.

I prefer USDA Prime quality meat, but usually have to settle for USDA Choice - that is the lowest quality meat anyone should eat. If any store goes below that - shop somewhere else.

Rant over.

Oh, don't worry--we never buy our meat from Walmart! We split our shopping between a couple different stores, and we always buy our meat from the local grocer. Thank you, though--and definitely, everyone else keep that in mind too!

WHEW !!! (wipes brow). I have warned absolutely everyone about them, and Taco Bell too - although no one wants to hear about Taco Bell doing it, lol.

As a resident New Mexican, it shames me that Taco Bell is such a popular brand in the Southwest.

Why in Oblivion does everyone in my city eat out there? This is New Mexico! Shouldn't this stuff come to you natural? Mexico is only 300 feet* thataway! -->

*exaggeration

I really wish I could meet someone who could make it naturally - and with real meat !!

"I'll have a burrito supreme please ... "


Then head due east to either Cuba or Miami, take your pick ... for Moros con Plátanos - Uh oh, now I won't be able to stop craving it till I get some !!! ARGH !!! I see me making a trip to Miami now, lol.

My favorite place for Mexican food in our area is a restaurant called La Tolteca. I'm absolutely addicted to Pollo al Chipotle. It's to die for!

"Tastes like chicken ... "

I make a mean chilli

there's is no set recipe, since I need to be a certain mood to make it.



also, stew.

Anyway, I like simple foods.

Ah, no... The chicken they use is real chicken. Of course, I don't doubt they buy chickens that have been fed growth-hormones...

"Tastes like a BIG chicken ... "

S'jirra's Famous Potato Bread!

Formula (this is what Bakers call recipes):

Three amounts are given, the first is the weight in imperial measurements, the second is the approximate volume equivalent, and the third is the baker's percent.

Biga: 7oz | 1+1/4 Cups | 50%
Bread Flour: 14oz | 3 Cups + 2 Tbsp | 100%
Salt: 0.4oz | 1+1/2 tsp | 2.7%
Coarse ground Black Pepper: 0.03oz | 1/4 tsp | 0.21%
Instant Yeast: 0.14oz | 1+1/4 tsp | 1%
Mashed Potatoes: 6oz | 1 Cup | 42.9%
Olive Oil: 0.5oz | 1 Tbsp | 3.6%
Fresh Rosemary: 0.25oz | 2 Tbsp | 1.8%
Water: 7oz | 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp | 53.6%
Garlic: 1oz | 4 Tbsp | 7.1%
Cornmeal: For dusting
Olive Oil: For brushing



1. Cook and mash potatoes, or use leftovers if you have them available. Roast and chop garlic (you can also saute it if you wish, but don't burn it). Chop rosemary.

2. One hour before baking, remove biga from refrigerator, cut into smaller pieces, and let sit for one hour to take off the chill.

3. Stir together flour, salt, pepper, and yeast in a 4qt bowl. Add biga, potatoes, oil, rosemary, and water.

4. Mix with spatula until dough begins to form (skip if using mixer).

5. Transfer to counter, knead by hand until dough is smooth and you can easily see gluten strands by stretching the dough thin and holding it up to a light source. You can also use a mixer if you have a dough hook available. This will take about 8 to 10 minutes (6 to 8 on the mixer). The dough will feel firm, but tacky, and very slightly sticky.

6. Flatten dough, place garlic on top, and knead in for an additional minute. Add flour if needed to keep dough from getting too sticky.

7. Transfer dough to lightly oiled bowl, cover, and ferment until doubled in size (about 2 hours).

8. Degas dough, remove from bowl, cut into two portions, and form into round balls.

9. Line a sheet pan with parchment, dust with cornmeal, and place formed loaves on the sheet pan.

10. Cover the loaves and proof at room temperature until almost doubled in size (about 1 hour). Preheat the oven to 400*F when you get here.

11. When finished proofing, bake loaves for 35 to 40 minutes. Rotate pan 180* horizontally when halfway done. If bread begins to turn too dark a brown for your taste, cover it with parchment. Internal temperature should read 190 to 195*F when bread exits oven. Crust will be very hard at first, and bread will sound hollow if thumped on the bottom lightly.

12. Transfer loaves to cooling rack and let sit for at least 1 hour before consuming.

If you're craving for cake but don't want something too rich, try this beautiful cake with special frosting that compliments it perfectly

FOR THE CAKE

250ml Guinness
250g unsalted butter
75g cocoa
400g caster sugar
1 x 142ml pot sour cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
275g plain flour
2 1/2teaspoons bicarbonate of soda


FOR THE TOPPING:

300g Philadelphia cream cheese
150g icing sugar
125ml double or whipping cream
METHOD Serves: Makes about 12 slices
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C, and butter and line a 23cm springform tin.

Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter - in spoons or slices - and heat until the butter's melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and bicarb.

Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.

When the cake's cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on with the icing. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar and then beat them both together. Or do this in a processor, putting the unsieved icing sugar in first and blitz to remove lumps before adding the cheese.

Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.

Make your own eclairs!

Eclairs are composed of three components: the shell is made from a dough called Pate au Choux, which is a dough specifically for eclairs. The filling is Pastry Cream, and the icing on top is called Ganache.

Yield: About 8 to 10 eclairs.

Pate au Choux:

Water/Milk: 8oz
Butter: 4oz
---
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Flour (AP): 6oz
---
Eggs: 10oz

1. Bring your liquid to a boil on the stovetop. Sift flour and salt to mix and remove lumps. Preheat oven to 375*F
2. When liquid begins boiling, add butter, and let melt fully.
3. Add flour and salt after butter has melted, stir until the paste pulls away from the sides of the pot easily.
4. Remove dough from pot and place into mixer. Mix for about 2 minutes as is to remove excess heat.
5. Gradually add in eggs about a quarter at a time. Allow previous eggs to incorporate fully before adding more. Continue until batter is pipeable (will be pasty, not quite doughy, yet not quite batter-y). You may not need to add all the eggs to achieve this.
6. Using an open-star or closed-star tip, pipe the mix onto ungreased parchment-lined sheet pan. Bake for approximately one hour.
7. Allow to cool before filling.

Pastry Cream:

Milk: 2 lb (one quart)
Sugar 1: 4oz
---
Egg Yolks: 3oz (about 5)
Corn Starch: 2+1/4oz
Whole eggs: 4oz (about 2)
Sugar 2: 4oz
---
Butter: 2oz
Vanilla Extract: 1 T

1. Dissolve sugar 1 into milk. sift corn starch and sugar 2 together. Whisk egg product together, and add sugar + corn starch, whisk until smooth.
2. Bring milk to boil in a saucepan on the stovetop.
3. Remove milk from heat, slowly add in half the hot milk to your egg mix, whisking constantly. Once half the milk is in the eggs, pour the bowl's entire contents back into the saucepan and whisk together.
4. Return pot to heat and whisk until cream thickens. It should look like yogurt and cling to the whisk if you scoop it out. Whisk constantly to avoid lumps forming.
5. Immediately transfer cream to a cold metal bowl in ice bath (strain it if lumps formed). Continue whisking in the ice bath to help dissipate the heat.
6. Once cooled sufficiently, transfer to refrigerator and chill until below 40*F before use.

Ganache:

Heavy Cream: 9oz
Chocolate (semi-sweet): 9oz
---
Butter: 1+1/2oz
Vanilla Extract: 1 tsp

1. Bring cream to boil on stovetop.
2. When cream boils, pour over chopped chocolate and slowly stir with spatula until chocolate is fully melted.
3. Add butter and vanilla, stir until butter is melted.
4. Use immediately, reheat over double-boiler if needed, but don't do this too often or ganache will become grainy.

Using those three components, here's how to make the eclairs:

1. Cut baked eclair shells in half horizontally, giving you a top half and bottom half. Or poke holes on either side of the shell if you wish to pipe your filling.
2a. If cut, spoon pastry cream into bottom half, dip top half into ganache. Sandwich on top of each other and garnish with shaved chocolate if desired.
2b. If piping, use your pastry injector tip (very long with slanted opening similar to a hypodermic needle) and pipe half from one side, and half on the other. When you see filling being pushed out, stop, the shell is full. Dip in ganache, then garnish with shaved chocolate if desired.

Here’s something for those occasions when only carcinogens and saturated fats will do. I’ve found that if I serve this in January and February after folks have gone public with their New Year’s resolutions, they’ll still devour it, but they grumble a lot.

Hot Bacon Swiss Dip

½ cup mayonnaise
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 teaspoon chopped scallion
8-10 pieces of bacon, chopped

Mix.

Heat at 325 degrees F until bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Serve with crackers.

That sounds rather nice... it would probably do me for about three weeks though.

A question this time: what is cornbread and how do you make it? I'm allergic to gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats) but if it's made from maize then it would be ok, or might take having the plain flour replaced with a substitute better than normal bread. It was a thought anyway.

Seeing as this is a recipe thread my speciality healthy breakfast which really shouldn't be:

Tattie scone - the easy way
instant mashed potato
flour
salt

Make up the instant mashed potato with boiling water as usual but make it a bit dry. You can use mashed potatoes (with other left-over root veggies added if desired) from the previous night which have been left out and dried a bit too but instant is just as good.

Add about 1/2 - 2/3 (depending on wetness) of the volume of potato of flour to the potato and stir into a dough. Add salt to taste and herbs or pepper if desired.

Heat a frying pan on a high heat and drop in a small knob of butter (less than you'd put on toast). Roll golf-ball sized lumps of dough between your hands (it shouldn't be sticky) and flatten them to about 1/4" thickness. Fry them in the butter. You can add more when turning them if you like them greasy.

Once browned on each side serve them with poached egg or if you want to leave the realms of healthy a full fry up. In the latter case frying them in the bacon fat makes them delicious and they pick up the little burnt bits too.

It sounds like a faff but it can be finished in about five minutes while you make coffee/ lunch etc.

My parents are visiting soon, and I'm going to try to get hold of my dads recipe for his delicious scotch broth. If you've never had homemade Scotch broth, I seriously reccomend you do!

Olen, I assume you're using gluten-free flour in your scone recipe?

This is cornbread, Southern style (Southern US, that is).

I also found a gluten-free cornbread recipe, but it seems rather complicated. I'm not sure why you can't take Paula Deen's Southern cornbread recipe and substitute gluten-free flour instead of all-purpose flour.

Then there's the Cheyenne batter bread recipe I found years ago when living in Minnesota. Not sweet at all - rather a more savory bread. It was delicious, but different from what I expected. Here it is:

1 quart milk or water
2 cups yellow or white cornmeal
3 eggs, separated
4 TBS melted butter
1.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp pepper

In large saucepan, bring milk to boil over medium heat. Gradually stir in cornmeal. Cook, stirring for a few minutes until thickened. (Sounds like polenta, doesn't it?) Beat in egg yolks, butter and seasonings. In separate bowl, beat egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks. Fold whites into corn mixture, pour into 2 quart baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees (Farenheit) 20 - 30 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown. Cut into squares and serve at room temp. Makes six servings.

Well I made the first recipe (the gluten free recipe needed all sorts of weird ingrediants and the other requires beating egg whites which takes ages with a fork) substituting in a GF flour blend. It worked, well I think it did, I've never had the real thing but it was yellow and bready and edible.

I have a few questions though - how do you eat it? I had a big lump (maybe 2"x2"x4") with a rasher of bacon and it was tasty, but is that normal. It's sort of sweet so that got me thinking it might be meant to go more with ice cream or something? Also how long does it keep (obvioulsy there's one way to find out but if it keeps very well/badly I'll plan what I eat when around that).

Sounds like you made cornbread.

In our house we eat it with jam for breakfast, with all kinds of chili (some crumble it into the bowl and ladle the chili on top), and with strawberries and milk any time we can get strawberries. A square of cornbread can substitute for a dinner roll.

Sorry, I can’t say how it keeps. It always just gets eaten.

Cornbread seldom last more than a few days in my house.

But it can be refrigerated for a few days. Freezing? I'm not sure, but it may be a week or so. Freezing might alter the texture, though.

Good cornbread is moist, crumbly, almost like a muffin. As a matter of fact, as far as I'm concerned the only difference between cornbread and corn muffins (other than the shape) is that muffins are sweeter (because of added sugar).

Congratulations! You've just discovered why corn is so vital as a sweetener in processed foods. It is naturally very sweet.

I love to eat it warm with butter. The best thing about cornbread is that it is almost as versatile as bread. Have it with jam as Grits suggested, or with butter (or both). Have it warm or room temperature or cold. Crumble it over chili or other spicy foods (that sweetness of the corn complements peppery foods very well). Experiment! Go with what you like. There are no hard and fast rules about consuming cornbread. I have never heard of eating it with ice cream, but there is no reason why you can't try that either.

My absolute favorite dessert - with the Bavarian cream in the center !!

This is not so much a recipe as an adventure with oats inspired by Ruben cooking skirlie and sausage in Olen’s story Shades of Ending (page 4). I have never heard of fried oatmeal, and I didn’t have sausage, lard, or peppers, but I did have olive oil and a sweet potato. And I was hungry.

I sliced the sweet potato into matchsticks so that it would cook quickly in the pan, then I fired up the skillet and cut the onion into those little crescents, I think it’s called julienne. Dumped them in on top of some olive oil and went to check my email.

Came back to find a nice brown color , dumped in some steel cut oats, and this time I stuck around to keep it moving in the pan. It got dry and toasty in a hurry. I added some stock, but not enough to make it too porridge looking. Next time I will use a little more stock. I used salt, turmeric, cumin, and a dash of white pepper because I thought it would be tasty. It was.

Next I’ll try it with spinach, garlic, and mushrooms. I already have a plan for swiss chard and spring onions when the farmers market opens. Can’t wait.


Oh! I did not take a picture, because it looked like something the cat does when it has an intestinal parasite. But close your eyes, it’s delicious!

There goes the can of chicken noodle soup I just made for lunch! GAAAAAK !!!

Sounds good Grits. Not quite the authentic recipe but if it tastes good who cares (my classic line when I try to make American food).

A more traditional method goes:

1 onion chopped fairly small
A couple of handfuls of oatmeal
A tablesppon (at least! two or more is common) of lard
Salt
Black pepper

Fry the onion in the fat. Once done add oatmeal slowly until it absorbs all the fat, add a little more. Fry for a short time. Serve. Get indigestion. Die of heart disease.

If the final step doesn't happen there's always deep fried marsbar. It's self explainitory - take your favourite sweet bar (mars and snickers work best) dip it in thick batter to seal (or your fat gets nasty). Deep fry, hard fat gives the best result. Serve with chips. And yes, this is a genuine Scottish food. Along with deep fried: pizza (battered or not), haggis pudding, white pudding (oatmeal, onions, pepper and lard), black pudding (white pudding with added blood), red pudding (you really don't want to know), mince pie (this is unusually greasy...) and just about anything else. There might be a reason life expectancy here isn't as good as in the rest of Europe...

On a healthier note something which is really easy and worked quite well.

Sweet potato gnocchi:
Sweet potato
Flour
Salt

Boil the sweet potato until tender. Drain and mash. Add flour (no water) to make a dough, avoid adding too muchflour or they end up heavy. Make into balls about 3/4 " across and squeeze either side (end up the shape of a red blood cell). Drop into quickly boiling water. When they float they're done. It's best to drop them in as you make then then fish all the floating ones out every minute or so, if you strain them normally they fall to bits. Serve with pasta sauce or pesto and roasted veggies.

Free sweet rolls!

Home baked, completely from scratch. These aren't Pillsbury.

Mmmmmmm !!!!!

Yummy!

Absolutely essential to the Sweetroll Negotiations!

Yum!! Just the thing with my morning kahve.

Two things.

One, rice. I hate cooking rice because there has to be just the right amount of water and it always boils over so you have to watch it. The kind I make takes 50 minutes, so that is not fun. So I decided to cook it like pasta in more water than necessary, then drain it. Problem is the rice goes through the colander, and the strainer won’t sit up in the sink. So here’s my rice draining rig. Strainer balanced on colander. Yay.



Two, haute ecole rider’s Cloud Ruler Temple Beef Stew. Here’s the picture. It is SO good! I made it for the family, then made it again the next week for supper club. It’s that delicious!!




It's cold here in Grits world tonight. I could use a bowl of stew (and a roaring fire) right now!

How clever on the rice! And the stew looks absolutely perfect for the cold weather. Yum, and thanks for sharing!

If the water is boiling over after you have added the rice and dropped the temp of your burner, then your stove burner is getting too hot/not cooling down quickly enough. (The burner is taking too long to cool down).

If you are bringing your water to a boil using the "high heat" setting, that is the cause. For rice, bring the water to a boil using a medium setting (medium high at the very most, I just use medium).


I use 2 cups water + 1/2 stick butter (not margerine) for every 1 cup of rice. Salt the water and add the butter, bring water to boil at medium heat.

Add rice. When the water returns to a boil stir it ONCE with a fork, drop the burner to low, cover the pan with a lid - and DO NOT REMOVE THE LID FOR 17 MINUTES! Then lift lid and fluff rice. If it is done, remove from heat. Rice needs to steam open, that makes a perfect pot of rice every time.

Also, the pot you use for cooking rice should be deepsided, and the right size for the job. Too small a pan will boil over and absorb the heat too much (be harder to cool down for steaming). Too large a pan and the rice will spread out and not steam at all.


** PS - the stew looks great, would you butter my roll for me? Lol.