Cornbread Muffins - YUM!!

As Hurricane Sandy edged into the Ohio Valley bringing with her cold air and rain, it was the PERFECT evening to stay huddled inside with a bowl of hot soup and watch TV.  Before I go any further, would you please take a moment and remember our friends on the East Coast who have had their lives dramatically changed by this Superstorm.  If you pray, please say a prayer for them as I think they are going to need a lot of prayers.  My son is stationed on East Coast and Thank God he is OK!

I found a recipe for Swedish Split Pea Soup - hmmm never REALLY thought of Split Pea Soup as being Swedish but what do I know??  BUT, this is not about the soup!!  Normally, I would make grilled cheese sandwiches to "compliment" the soup.  But I wasn't in the "grilled cheese" mood!  You know what I mean!!  Then I remembered the cookbook I bought just last week  - The Complete Magnolia Bakery by Allysa Torey and Jennifer Appel (I am not promoting this book nor do I get any compensation for mentioning this book!).  The very first recipe in the book is called Corn Muffins.  I think the title is misleading because when I first saw that, I assumed that it meant Corn like corn on the cob - HA! silly me!  Well, duh - corn meal like cornbread.  So that is why I titled this Cornbread Muffins!!

OK, so now that we got that straight onto the ACTUAL recipe!!

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 T baking powder
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease well 9 cups of a 12 cup muffin tin (I put in cupcake liners - BIG mistake - they stuck to the muffin!! DO NOT USE CUPCAKE LINERS!!)
In a larger bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, making a well in the center.

Mix the liquid ingredients separately.

And add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients until just combined, being careful not to over mix.  The batter will be very lumpy.

Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full.  Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until lightly golden or a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out with moist crumbs attached.  Do not overbake!

These were a defnitely winner!  My husband ate 2 when he came home from work!! 

Enjoy!!

Black-Eyed Pea Gumbo

I just love this Fall weather!!  And I love making soups!  Fall and soups are just meant to be together!  There are SO many wonderful soups out there!!  This recipe was given to me by one of my husband's co-wokers.  It is so easy AND it is delicious!!  PLUS it makes a huge pot of soup that you can freeze a batch for next week or next month. 

Ingredients

1 T olive oil
1 medium size onion, chopped
1 medium size green bell pepper chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup brown rice (uncooked)
4 (15) cans black-eyed peas with liquid
1 (10) ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles (I used mild - your choice)
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onions, peppers and celery.  Cook until tender.

Pour in the chicken broth.  Mix in rice, black-eyed peas with liquid, diced tomatoes with green chilies, diced tomatoes and chopped garlic.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes until rice is tender. 

Add water if soup gets too thick.

Perfect with French Bread or a grilled cheese sandwich.  Great for those cool or chilly Fall evenings!!  Life doesn't get any better than this!

Enjoy!

Homemade Yogurt - Revisted

A new experiment - well, sort of, BUT today I am going to attempt (drum roll, please) to make yogurt using store bought milk.  OK, I know that sounds rather boring but this can be really big if you are a yogurt fan like I am and a container of Greek yogurt at Walmart costs $1 a container - that gets expensive!! 

So here is what you need and it is SO easy!!!  1 quart of whole milk and 1 container of yogurt.  Make sure the label on the yogurt says that it contains live and active yogurt cultures - otherwise this is not going to work!!  I have had a lot of success with Chobani yogurts.  I use either the plain or the vanilla.  Don't choose any of the "flavored" ones like black cherry, blueberry, etc.  - plain or vanilla will work just fine.

First, pour the milk in a sauce pan and heat to 185 degrees.  Then cool to 115 degrees.  I know that sounds kind of stupid, but trust me this is an important step.

Now I will pour the milk into a pyrex casserolle dish and add 2 tablespoons of the Chobani yogurt.  Mix thoroughly.  I always use a whisk - that works really well for me.  Cover the bowl with the glass top that comes with the casserolle dish.

The important thing with making yogurt is that you need to keep it at a constant temperature.  This is where my proofing box REALLY comes in handy.  Here is a link to that proofing box:

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1165951741735856006#editor/target=post;postID=6222357938742825808

Keep the yogurt in the proofing box for about 6 to 8 hours until the milk/yogurt has thicken.  Now but the casserolle dish in the refrigerator for another 6 to 8 hours. 

I like the Greek style yogurt.  If you don't, you can now add fruit, jam, honey, etc. to the yogurt and ENJOY!  Otherwise, line a colander with two layers of cheesecloth.  Place the colander over a larger bowl so that it will collect the whey from the yogurt.  Spoon the yogurt into the colander with the cheesecloth and let this drain in your refrigerator for another 6 hours.  NOW you have Greek yogurt  - YUM!  You can add fruit, jam, granola, honey or whatever you like.  ENJOY!!!

The Best Potato Soup Ever Made!

OK, let me rephrase that - the best potato soup I have ever made. Now that sounds better!!   Doesn't sound so "lofty."

The good thing about making homemade soups that you get a whole meal in a bowl - you have your veggies and usually your meats (ham, chicken or ground beef). And the great thing is that it usually makes a HUGE pot that you have enough for the next night or you can freeze it for later on!!

Autumn is my favorite time of year.  Love the crisp, cool air - the sound of the leaves crunch as you walk through them, the beautiiful Fall colors - hot chocolate with marshmallows and all the wonderful "warm" foods available this time of year - chili, all the delicious soups - just makes you feel warm and cozy all over!!

I found this recipe on the About.com website and I tweaked it just a bit. It is so easy to make and so good!!

Potato Soup with Ham

Ingredients
2 cups red potatoes (or new potatoes) - peeled and chopped into small bite size pieces
3 T butter (I used unsalted)
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cups milk
3 T all-purpose flour
black pepper
1 cup cooked and cubed ham (I bought the pre-packaged ham in the store)
4 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions
Cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender. Reserve 1 cup of the potato water. Drain the potatoes.

Melt the butter in a stock pot over medium heat. Add onions - cook and stirring frequently. Stir in flour and pepper. Add in potato water, milk, and potatoes. Mix well. Add ham. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the pot from heat. Add cheese.

Season as you like.  If you would like a little more spice, add a dash of cayenne pepper.

Great with a big hunk of french bread or a grilled cheese sandwich.  Life just doesn't get any better than this!!

Enjoy!!