Just like Jiffy

As I mentioned before, I always used Jiffy cornbread mix in the US. I tried this recipe and it is JUST LIKE JIFFY! Even once we return to the US I think I'll keep making this and save a few cents!

Jiffy-like Cornbread

(this recipe equals one Jiffy box)

2/3 cup flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

Combine flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well with whisk.

Preheat oven to 400F.  Combine above dry mixture with oil, then egg and milk.  Mix well.

Fill muffin tins 1/2 full.

Bake 15-20 minutes

Makes 6 muffins.

Or, pour batter into a small cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Zucchini Bread

This zucchini bread recipe turned out great! I was running low on nuts, so I just topped it with nuts instead of mixing them into the batter. I only wanted to make one loaf, so I cut the following recipe in half.

Zucchini Bread

(makes 2 loaves)

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 teaspoons cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini with peel

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

What you eat...

In 1825, the French philosopher and gourmand Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” What do you think? Does your food selection reflect who you are?

Chocolate-Raspberry Cakes

These molten chocolate cakes turned out really well! Delicious topped with fresh fruit, powdered sugar, or whipped cream.

Chocolate-Raspberry Cakes

8 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, diced

2 tablespoons seedless raspberry preserves (I used strawberry because that is what we had)

4 large eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325. Butter six 3/4 cup soufflé dishes or custard cups (I used muffin tins and that worked well, too! Since muffin cups are smaller, I buttered about 8 or so). Mix chocolate, butter, and preserves in saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate melts. Remove from heat, cool to lukewarm, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Whisk eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl to blend well, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in chocolate mixture. Divide batter among prepared dishes. Bake cakes until tester inserted into centers comes out with some moist batter still attached, about 20 minutes. Let cool 30 minutes (centers may fall). Serve cakes warm or at room temperature.

Ham and Mushroom Pasta

This is an Everyday Food recipe and turned out great! I added a handful of frozen peas for added color... and we didn't have any ham, so we used some cooked and crumbled bacon. My only complaint is that it says 4 servings but it is really more like 6 servings.

Ham and Mushroom Pasta

12 ounces short pasta (penne, etc.)

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 pound mushrooms, sliced

1 1/2 cup ham pieces (we used less)

2 tablespoons olive oil

grated Pecorino cheese to top (we used Parmesan)

Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water, drain pasta and return to pot. Meanwhile, mix onion, mushroom and oil in a large bowl and then spread onto a baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes at 400 or until mushrooms are browned and onion is tender. In pot, combine pasta, mushrooms, onion, ham, and 1/4 cup pasta water and mix until combined. Serve with grated cheese.

Plum Clafouti

We made this plum clafouti and although I burned the edges, it still turned out pretty well! What a great alternative to traditional cobblers or cakes!

Plum Clafouti

(the following recipe serves 6-8, but you could easily cut it in half, if desired)

butter for baking dish

8-10 ripe plums

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon coarse salt

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Confectioner’s sugar

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Butter a shallow 12x8 inch baking baking dish.

2. Place the plums stems side up on a cutting board. Cut each plum off center so the knife just skims the center pit making two rounded lobes of plum. Cut around the pit with a small sharp knife. Discard the pit and add the flesh to the baking dish. Place the plum lobes cut side up in the prepared baking dish.

3. Whisk the eggs in a bowl until frothy. Gradually whisk in the sugar until well blended. Add the vanilla.

4.In a large bowl combine the flour and salt. In three or four additions gradually whisk in the milk and the cream until the batter is smooth and thick. Whisk in the beaten egg mixture until blended. The batter will be the consistency of a crepe batter.

5.Pour the batter over the plums. Dot the surface with the butter. Bake until puffed and golden and no longer runny in the center, 35 to 45 minutes.

6. Cool slightly before serving. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar and spoon onto dessert plates.

Creamy Baked Pasta

We made this versatile pasta dish for supper last night. It is another Bon Appétit recipe. There are so many variations you could do with the meat, veggies, and herbs. Its another great potluck recipe like the oven risotto.

Creamy Baked Pasta

12 oz rigatoni (we used penne)

1 1/2 cups diced ham (we only used about 2 slices... you could omit it all together for a vegetarian version)

4 plum tomatoes, chopped... we also used chopped cooked asparagus and frozen peas

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 cup fresh mozzarella, chopped/crumbled

1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 cup heavy cream (we used half-and-half)

Preheat oven to 375. Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, but still firm to the bite. Drain. Place in prepared baking dish. Mix in meat, cheese, veggies, and thyme. Pour cream over top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes. After 15 minutes uncover and stir, coating pasta with melted cheese. Bake uncovered another 30 minutes, stirring once in the middle.

Short-cut Chocolate-Honey Mousse

This Bon-Appétit recipe is a simple variation of traditional French mousse. It doesn't contain eggs and can be whipped up in just a few minutes.

The original recipe (as follows) says 8 servings, but I think it would be more like 10 or so depending on the size of serving dishes. I cut the recipe in half and it still came out to about 6 servings. Also, I added graham cracker crumbs to the bottom and top of the mousse for a little added texture.

Short-cut Chocolate-Honey Mousse

2 1/2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream, divided

12 oz (340 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

5 tablespoons honey

optional- 2 heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar for the whipped cream topping (I just can't bear the thought of whipped cream that isn't sweet!)

1) Stir 3/4 cup cream, chocolate, and honey in a heavy medium saucepan over low heat (or double boiler). Whisk together until smooth. Remove from heat and transfer to large bowl to cool, stirring occasionally.

2) Whip 1 1/4 cup cream in large bowl until soft peaks form. Fold 1/2 whipped cream into cooled chocolate, then fold in second half. Divide Mousse among serving dishes/ramekins and place in refrigerator.

3) Whip remaining 1/2 cup cream with powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Spoon cream over mousse. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips, fruit, or other topping if you want. Allow mousse to set in refrigerator for 2 hours before serving.

French Onion Soup

This was DELICIOUS!!

I cut the recipe in half since it was just two of us... you could also make the whole recipe (as follows, 8 servings) and then freeze what you don't eat.

French Onion Soup

6 tablespoons butter

4 pounds onions (about 6), thinly sliced

Salt and pepper

1 cup dry white wine

2 cups beef broth (or 2 cups water mixed with 2 beef bouillon cubes)

8 slices country bread or 16 slices baguette

2 cups Gruyere or Swiss cheese

1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or a little dried thyme)

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt (less if you are using salted butter), 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cook, covered, stirring occasionally for 12-15 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium/low and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally until onions are golden brown, 45 minutes to one hour.

Return heat to medium and add wine and cook about 2 minutes. Increase heat, add beef broth and 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast bread, place on a baking sheet, and top with cheese. Place under broiler until cheese is melted, 1 or 2 minutes.

Place bread into each bowl and pour soup on top. Top with thyme.

Irish Soda Bread

This rustic loaf was really easy to make... it was a Bon Appétit recipe. It is a dense bread, good with a piece of cheese or toasted with a little butter or jam. It freezes well, too!

Irish Soda Bread

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sesame, poppy, or caraway seeds (I used sesame seeds this time)

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

appx. 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425. Lightly flour baking sheet. Mix flour, seeds, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Mix in enough buttermilk to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball. Turn out onto lightly floured work surface and knead just until dough holds together, about 1 minute. Shape into 6 inch diameter round, about 2 inches high. Cut a 1" deep "X" in the top of the dough round, extending almost to the edges. Bake until golden brown, loaf sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, and tester comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer bread to a cooling rack to completely cool.