Easy Savoury or Sweet Cornbread

Easy Savoury or Sweet Cornbread 

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup half-and-half

2 large eggs, beaten

1/4 cup melted butter, or shortening

1/4 cup honey, optional

1/4 cup sugar, optional

Steps to Make It

Preheat oven to 400 F. Prepare a 9 x 9-inch baking dish or pan with cooking spray or butter and flour.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl or measuring cup, combine the half and half, eggs, melted butter, and honey and sugar if using.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix just until the flour is moistened, no more than 10 to 15 seconds. The batter should be visibly lumpy; do not overmix.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake the cornbread immediately.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the edge of the bread starts to pull away from the pan.

Cool for about 10 minutes, then remove ​it from the pan. Let it cool for 5 more minutes on a rack, and serve as soon as possible.

Enjoy!

Stroganoff With Ground Beef

 Stroganoff with ground beef

1 lb. ground beef, I use 85% lean

Salt/Pepper, to taste

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tablespoons butter

3 Tablespoons flour

2 ½ cups beef broth

¾ cup sour cream, close to room temperature

1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce, can sub low sodium soy sauce

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 cup frozen peas

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

8 oz. egg noodles, uncooked

Parsley, to garnish

Instructions

Prep Work:

Measure out ingredients prior to beginning. (This is called “mise en place”)

Place the sour cream near the stove while you cook. It will melt better into the sauce if it's closer to room temperature.

If possible, shred the cheese from a block (it melts much better than from a bag).

Preheat oven to 375°.

Proceed with Stroganoff

Cook and crumble the ground beef on medium-high for 2 minutes. Add the onions and cook until the ground beef is cooked through, about 3 more minutes.

Drain any grease, then add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Stir in the butter until melted. Sprinkle on the flour and mix to incorporate. Cook for 2 minutes or until you can no longer smell flour.

Add the beef broth in splashes, stirring continuously. Don't add too much at once. Use a silicone spatula to clean the "fond" from the pan, this will give the sauce plenty of flavor.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Add in the sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, frozen peas, and *half* of the cheese. If the sour cream doesn't melt well right away, it will eventually incorporate into the sauce, stirring will help.

Let the sauce simmer on low while you boil the pasta for 1 minute less than al dente (refer to package for time). Drain and add the pasta to the sauce. Stir to combine.

If your skillet is not oven safe, transfer it to a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch casserole dish.

Top with remaining cheese. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve!

Note: To cook fully on the stovetop, boil noodles for full amount of time, add to the sauce, top with cheese, and cover the pot until the cheese is melted.

Tadka Urad Dal

 Tadka Urad Dal

• 1 cup urad dal washed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 Tbsp ginger finely chopped
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp mango powder amchoor

Seasoning

• 3 Tbsp ghee clarified butter
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds jeera
• 1/8 tsp asafetida hing
• 1 green chili sliced
• 1 Tbsp ginger thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp red pepper adjust to taste
• 4 pieces lemon for garnishing

INSTRUCTIONS

 

• Wash and soak urad dal for at least 20 minutes. Dal will be double in volume after soaking. Drain the water.
• Put dal with 2 cups water into a pressure cooker and add salt, turmeric, and ginger. Close the cover and cook on medium high heat.
• When the pressure cooker starts to steam, turn the heat down to low and cook for five minutes.
• Turn off the heat and wait until all the steam has escaped before opening the pressure cooker. Dal should be soft. If needed add more water, dal should be not very mushy you should be able to see the grains. You should be able to scoop the dal with roti. Dal will thicken as it sits after cooking. So leave it more liquid than you want it to be.
• Add garam masala, and mango powder mix it well.

Seasoning

• Heat ghee in a small saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the ghee; if it cracks immediately, the oil is ready. Add the cumin seeds. When they begin to crack, add the asafetida, ginger, and green chilies. Stir for a few seconds. Add red chili powder and 1 tablespoon of water to prevent the spices from burning. Pour spiced chaunk over hot dal, before serving.

No Yeast No Rolling. Garlic Flatbread

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXo5xppfbkk&t=185s

Ready In 5 Minutes! No Yeast No Rolling. Garlic Flatbread Make With Liquid Dough

Helly's Simple Recipe

270 ml water

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp white sugar

1 Tbsp melted butter

Mix well

150 gr all purpose 

add 10 gr parsley or gr onion chopped

2 cloves crushed garlic

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper optional

mix

medium to low heat 

pan with some oil

Meatloaf Trials

 Pat's Meatloaf with Oatmeal from 1940's
1 lb ground beef

1 cup Oatmeal Quick oat type

1 medium onion chopped

1 egg beaten slightly

1 cup water or milk

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

Notes: 1 lb ground beef = 2 cups

Beef seasoning liquid

Bulk Barn Beef seasoning cube - use 1  cube with 2 cups water.

Microwave 1 cube in 1/2 cup water to dissolve cube

Add water to make 2 cups total

TVP to make 1 cup of TVP = 1 lb TVP

 2/3 cup TVP plus 2/3 cup Beef Seasoning water+ 2/3 Tbsp oil= 1 cup TVP or 1 lb 

made 4 variations

TVP was a bit watery - so added some potato starch and a Tbsp of dry TVP

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes then check after

Grapefruit Avocado Salad

Grapefruit Avocado Salad

PREP TIME

20 mins

TOTAL TIME

20 mins

SERVINGS

4 servings

The vinaigrette recipe makes more dressing than you will need for the amount of avocado and grapefruit. Just refrigerate the extra in a jar and save to dress another salad!

Ingredients

2 avocados, peeled and sliced

2 grapefruits, peeled, segmented, seeds removed (see method below for how to "supreme" a grapefruit)

Lettuce

Citrus vinaigrette:

1/2 shallot, minced (1 tablespoon)

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons lime zest

3 tablespoons lime juice

1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Method

In a small bowl, mix the vinaigrette ingredients

Prep the grapefruit segments:

To supreme the grapefruit, first slice off a half-inch or more from the stem end and the blossom end of the fruit, enough to easily expose the fruit. Use a sharp knife. Then use the knife to cut away the peel from the grapefruit, following the contours of the fruit. Keep cutting away the peel until the grapefruit is completely peeled.

Use the knife to cut alongside the membranes that separate the grapefruit segments.

Remove the segments by either cutting the segments away from the membranes, or by gently pulling the segment out after you've made a cut alongside one of the membranes.

Continue to work around the grapefruit until you've cut out or removed all of the segments, without their connective membranes.

Peel and slice the avocados

Assemble salad:

Arrange slices of avocados and grapefruit segments on a plate on a bed of a few lettuce leaves. Spoon dressing over the salad.