As many of you already know, I am a huge fan of Southern Style corn bread. I’ve featured Southern Style Corn Bread as a side with a number of dishes. I love the fact that Southern Cornbread is cooked up in a cast iron skillet. I’ve even considered the possibility of buying a bunch of small cast iron skillets for a nice presentation when baking Corn Bread for a crowd. Can you imagine? There are your backyard barbecue diners, with giant dinner platters (not plates, but big Texas size platters) with a slab of ribs, some barbecued chicken, and a small skillet of individual Southern Style Corn Bread. Oh and let’s not forget the little bowls of Ranch Beans. Now that’s what I call barbecue.
That said, I wanted to share with you my favorite “Northern” bread. Unlike its Southern counterpart, Northern Corn Bread is more cake-like in constancy, with a sweet, buttery flavor. When it comes to baking up perfect Northern Corn Bread, Kiddo is my baker and it’s awesome every time.
This bread is super easy to make and goes well with a number of dishes – especially chili that is extra-hot. The sweetness of the bread can help to off-set the heat of the chili. It’s also yummy as a side bread for barbecued ribs or chicken when a less gritty bread is desired. My Dad likes to put the left-over corn bread into a big glass of milk – I know, strange. It might be an Okie thing. Dad likes to break up Ritz Crackers in a glass of milk, too. I will confess, I like the Ritz Cracker thing – there’s something about the salty crackers and milk that is comforting, bringing to mind fond childhood memories.
But we aren’t here to talk about Okie eating habits – especially since we are featuring a “Northern” side dish. This particular corn bread is especially sweet. It’s my all-time favorite sweet corn bread recipe, one I’ve relied on for years. And it never fails to please. It’s even been known to convert a few Southerners who swore nothing but true Southern bread would ever do.
Northern Style Sweet Corn Bread
Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cup Flour
2/3 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Yellow Corn Meal
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Wet Ingredients:
2 Large Eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 Cups Milk
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Set aside until ready to use.
Combine dry ingredients in a medium size bowl. Set aside.
In another bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add wet ingredients and whip until well blended.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix until well incorporated. Pour batter into baking pan.
Bake until golden brown, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven, serve warm with plenty of sweet, creamy butter.
Yum!
Once upon a time, back in our “traveling” days, while on vacation I dined on Crème Brûlée every day. Some days it was dessert, other days I ate Crème Brûlée with tropical fruit as a light brunch. (It’s made with eggs, isn’t it? Eggs equals brunch.) I know that brunch is bit of a stretch, but hey I had good reason. We were vacationing in the South Pacific at the time – with its heavy French influence and tropical island delights. The Vanilla Crème Brûlée, made with Tahitian Vanilla Beans – oh my, I’m telling you it was to die for! Such a treat isn’t something to be missed. Now I suppose I could be wrong – perhaps it was the beauty of the islands that made everything taste delightful. Perhaps it was the tropical breeze, the shimmering waters, the sunsets that took your breath away that made island life so wonderful. All I know with any certainty was that one visit to the islands of the South Pacific and they will forever steal your heart away. The warmth of the people, the simple uncluttered existence and unhurried pace. The islands of Tahiti will quite your mind and refresh your spirit. Words cannot describe a Tahitian Vacation. Just be sure to pick your islands wisely – the further from “tourist” destinations the better – unless the tranquility of a pristine blue lagoon shattered by the sound of jet skies is your idea of a good time. If that’s the case, by all means stay at a chain hotel on one of the larger islands – they specialize in American Tourist activities. (Again, a “rant” posting for another day). Today we’re talking about the virtues of Crème Brûlée . . .
Note: White sugar caramelizes best. Brown sugar contains too much moisture to give that golden bubbly crunch expected of Crème Brûlée. Raw sugar is too coarse to properly bubble. If you do not have ultra fine baker’s sugar, regular sugar will do. Run it through a food processor to break down into an ultra fine grain.
Alternate Method: Use a small kitchen blowtorch to caramelize the sugar. Serve immediately and enjoy the crunch of the caramel, and the smooth richness custard with just a hint of Irish Cream.
Have I mentioned that Hubby’s all time favorite meal revolves around meatloaf? Somewhere in all the hoopla of birthdays, I always manage to make his favorite meal. Meatloaf, Au Gratin Potatoes and Green Beans has been a birthday tradition for over thirty years. I could be mistaken, but I think making meatloaf at least once a year may have been a part of our wedding vows. A very important part of our marriage vows for a very good reason. I am NOT a huge fan of meatloaf. Growing up, meatloaf made a regular appearance at our supper table. It was cheap to make, filing and we all ate it – even my picky brother. Mom’s was a very basic meatloaf. Ground beef, chopped onions and tomato paste. Bread and an egg were thrown into the mix to stretch the meat and keep everything bound together. If there were ever a meal I could have done without once I was on my own, it was meatloaf. Then one day I met the love of my life – my soul mate. As fate would have it, his all-time favorite food was meatloaf! And not just any meatloaf – his favorite could be found on a box of Lipton Onion Soup – aka Superior Meatloaf. You had to be kidding . . .
I know there are some very complicated recipes out there with all sorts of wonderful ingredients – let’s face it – meatloaf has evolved. And I would hope so, since the first mention of meatloaf can be traced all the way back to Fifth-century Rome. This loaf of minced meat scraps, stale bread soaked in wine and pine nuts was shaped into a large patty that was baked in an oven. Medieval Europe had a meatloaf of scraps of meat mixed with nuts and fruits. Neither of these resemble the meatloaf of today. The modern meatloaf is an American invention with ancestry that spans the globe. Necessity and the Industrial Revolution gave birth to the American Meatloaf. First was the invention of the mechanical meat grinder by German inventor Karl Drais in 1899, and then the hardships of the Great Depression. Scraps of meat could be ground, mixed with fillers and feed an entire family. With the increased strictures of wartime rationing of the 1940s, meatloaf earned its high-ranking position in the housewife’s culinary artillery. Through hardship and difficult times, the meatloaf was a comfort food. Along comes the 50s and 60s, when meatloaf went from a necessity to a liberated food. Women were encouraged to do more with their blobs of ground meats. Sculptures were born. Seasonings expanded the flavor spectrum and meatloaf was no longer our mother’s dish. Still, I don’t care much for the traditional meatloaf.
There are hundreds of recipes out there claiming to be the best. Hubby likes his meatloaf very straight forward without offbeat ingredients. He does not want to find a hard-boiled egg like a giant eye looking back at him. He wants a big loaf of meat that he can happily bury in a bottle of ketchup. It took a while to convince him to let me to deviate even a little in an attempt to bring more flavor and texture to the basic meatloaf. The meatloaf I serve these days is a compromise of sorts. I don’t mind the simplicity of the meal, and he can cover it in a half a bottle of ketchup.
Place in a meatloaf pan (that’s a loaf pan with holes in the bottom inside another loaf pan. It allows the meat to drain rather than sit in its own grease), and bake for 1 hour or until done.
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