Bear Cuisine

Tex Mex Corn Bread

This recipe has been in my files for years. I think it came from an old cookbook by a couple of transplated Texans that I first discovered when I lived in Washington, D.C. --It's a Long Way to Guacamole. It's a great side for BBQ or makes a wonderful appetizer at a party.

Jalapeno Corn Bread

(serves 10-12)

1. 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
2. 3 teaspoons baking powder
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 1 cup grated Longhorn cheese
5. 1 cup grated onions
6. 5 large jalapenos, finely chopped
7. 3 eggs, lightly beaten
8. 1/2 cup Mazola oil
9. 1 cup sour cream
10. one 8 1/2 ounces can cream style corn or 3 ears fresh corn, cut and scraped from the cob

Mix together cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Stir in cheese, onions and jalapenos. Add eggs, oil, sour cream and corn; mix well. Grease a 9x13-inch pan and pour in the batter. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes or until a straw comes out clean.

Chicken Piccata

Everyone who cooks looks for ways to stretch ingredients--to get more for your money. One time-honored way to do that is take a piece of meat and pound the hell out of it before you cook it. Chicken Piccata is a delicious way to make a chicken breast go farther. I'm fairly sure that this wasn't the aim of this recipe, but it does the trick anyway. This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home.

CHICKEN PICCATA

(serves 4)

1. 4 split (2 whole chicken breasts)+
   
2. kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
   
3. 1 cup all-purpose flour
   
4. 2 extra-large eggs
   
5. 1 1/2 cups seasoned dried bread crumbs**
   
6. olive oil
   
7. 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
   
8. 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
   
9. 1/2 cup dry white wine
   
10. sliced lemon, for serving
    
11. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for serving
    

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound it out to 1/4-inch thick. sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper on a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the eggs and 1 tablespoon water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, ad then dip in the egg and bread-crumb mixtures.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add 2 chicken breasts and cook for 2 minute on each side until browned. Place them on the sheet pan while you cook the rest of the chicken.Heat more olive oil in the saute pan and cook the second 2 chicken breasts. Place them on the same sheet pan allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. On medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, white wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves. Serve one chicken breast on each plate, spoon on the sauce and serve with sliced lemon and a sprinkling of fresh rosemary.

* the original recipe calls for boneless, skinless breasts. I bone and skin the breasts myself and save the skin and bones for making stock.

** Panko bread crumbs make a particularly crisp coating. These can be found in the oriental section of your grocery store.

Stove Top Biscuits

It was Sunday morning; our oven wasn't working. What to do? James Villas to the rescue with his recipe for biscuits cooked on top of the stove.

OLD-FASHIONED STOVETOP BISCUITS

(makes about 1 dozen biscuits)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/4 cup chilled lard, cut into bits
  
• 1 cup whole milk
  
• 1/4 cup lard for frying
  

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the chilled lard and cut it in with a pastry cutter or rub with your fingertips till the mixture is meal. Add the milk ad mix till the dough is smooth. Pinch off 12 pieces of dough of equal size, form each piece into a ball, and flatten the balls with your hands to about 1/4 inch thick.

2. In a medium-size cast-iron skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the lard over medium-low heat, add half the flattened balls, fry till both sides of the biscuits are browned, about 12 minutes in all, and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining 2 tablespoons lard and the remaining dough balls. Serve hot.

FYI: 1 tablespoon of lard contains 12 mg. of cholesterol versus 33 mg. in the same quantity of butter.

(James Villas. Biscuit Bliss. Boston, MA.:The Harvard Common Press, 2004)

Some of these disappeared before I could get a picture of them.

Thanksgiving Countdown:Day 3

So,today I make the cornbread for the stuffing (or dressing, if you prefer) and the Cranberry Relish. I have many recipes for cornbread, but this is the one I have used for many years for making the stuffing for the Thanksgiving Turkey. My nod to continuing tradition I suppose.

JEANNE OWEN'S CORN BREAD

• 1/2 cup sifted flour
  
• 1 1/2 cups yellow corn meal
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 teaspoon sugar
  
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 3 eggs, well beaten
  
• 1 cup milk
  
• 1/4 cup cream
  
• 1/3 cup melted butter
  

Sift all the dray ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add the eggs and milk and beat with a wooden spoon. Beat in the cream, and lastly the melted butter. Pour into an 8 1/2 x 11-inch well-buttered pan, and bake at 400 degrees approximately 15 to 18 minutes.

(from James Beard's American Cooking.)

CRANBERRY FRUIT CONSERVE

(makes 4 cups)

• 1 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries, cleaned
  
• 1 3/4 cup sugar 
• 1 cup water 
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
  
• Grates zest and juice of 1 orange
  
• Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
  
• 3/4 raisins
  
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
  

Cook the cranberries, sugar, and 1 cup of water in a saucepan over low heat for about 5 minutes, or until the skins pop open. Add the apple, zests and juices and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove from the heat and add the raisins and nuts. Let cool and serve chilled

(from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Parties.)

Chocolate Day

A post about Chocolate Day could go on forever, but I will restrict myself to a single, recently-discovered recipe for Chocolate Muffins. 

CHOCOLATE BREAKFAST MUFFINS

1. 2/3 cup cocoa,Dutch-process or natural
   
2. 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
   
3. 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
   
4. 1 teaspoon baking powder
   
5. 1 teaspoon baking soda
   
6. 3/4 teaspoon salt
   
7. 1 cup chocolate chips
   
8. 2 large eggs
   
9. 1 cup milk
   
10. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    
11. 2 teaspoons vinegar
    
12. 8 tablespoons butter, melted
    

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips. Set aside.

In a large measuring cup or medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter, to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend. There's no need to beat these muffins; just make sure everything is well combined.

Scoop the batter into 12 lightly greased muffin cups. Bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean (watch them closely, as they'll burn around the edges if they bake too long). Remove the muffins from the oven, and after 5 minutes remove them from the pan, allowing them to cool slightly on a wire rack before serving.

(from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion)

These make a most decadent and delicious breakfast treat.