8 May 2020 Chili con carne and Cornbread

1 pound ground beef and
1 pound ground lamb or 1 pound pork or 1 pound veal  (each will give a different flavor, obviously 😀)
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes  whirred up in the blender with 1 can (8oz )tomato sauce
2 or 3 T ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
Add beef broth
1 can pinto beans or black beans

Brown meats, drain grease, add tomatoes and spices  to a covered skillet for about an hour.  Stir in beans and cook for another five-ten minutes until hot.

Serve with cornbread.


gluten free Cornbread

1 cup coarse cornmeal
1/2 cup gluten free flour or Bob's Red Mill Paleo Baking Flour (my favorite go-to)
1 scant Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon brown sugar or honey if you must have sweetening
2 eggs, beaten
2/3-3/4 cup Milk
1 Tablespoon butter

Put six inch cast iron skillet in oven and heat oven to 400F.

Stir together dry ingredients.  Add beaten eggs and stir briefly (about 5-6 times).  Stir in milk, just until all the dry ingredients are mixed into a slurry (about 20 times).*

Take the skillet out of the oven and melt the butter in the hot pan.  Swirl the butter around to coat the bottom and sides of the pan.  Pour the batter in and return the skillet to the oven.  

Bake for 15 minutes.  Use a toothpick or other tester to make sure the cornbread is cooked through.



*Baking powder will start to form gas for leavening as soon as it gets wet.  Over-stirring will cause the gas to escape making your cornbread flat.

6 May 2020 Banana Fritters

There are recipes you try, and you go... ok.  that was a thing.  and you never try them again. Then there's the other kind.

This one is the other kind.

This recipe originally came from the Pearl S. Buck Oriental Cookbook, but it's been adjusted over time. I use a minimum of 1/2 banana for each person and 1/2 banana more, rounded up to make even numbers of bananas. Unless of course the bananas are smaller or larger than usual, or I feel like more bananas (usually), or...

The rest of the ingredients are based on "how many bananas?"

2 T flour per banana,  all purpose wheat, or Paleo flour, or half oat flour/half almond for gluten free
1 tsp sugar per banana
a sprinkling of cinnamon or nutmeg.
1-2 T butter

Mash the bananas together coarsely, then stir in dry ingredients.* 

Heat a cast iron skillet**, and melt  butter. Drop spoonfuls of mix into the skillet (I like approximately 1 T at a time, but more is fine.) Brown on one side, flip and brown the other. 

Serve as is, or if you want to be fancy, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

*Bananas do vary in size.  You want your batter to be not gooey and not stiff.  If it is really gooey, add another T flour/tsp sugar at a time, to get it just past the gooey stage.

**You can use a non-stick skillet, I have done so successfully, but I find that the banana batter cooks better  on a well-seasoned cast-iron.  It doesn't tend to peel the surface off the fritter when you flip it when using cast-iron.

5 May 2020 Sourdough waffles

If you want waffles for breakfast, start the night before with

STEP 1:

1 cup sourdough starter
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup warm water

Measure out 1 cup sourdough starter from your supply.  Stir together (4-5 minutes) with flour and water.  Cover bowl and let proof for 8-12 hours.  It will be ready when it is foamy and full of large bubbles.  It can be used any time after this for about four hours - it may move on into many tiny bubbles, which is an ideal state.

Return 1 cup of sourdough starter to your supply.  You should have about 1-1/2 cups batter.


STEP 2:

2 eggs
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup milk

Separate your eggs.  Beat egg yolks lightly and stir into batter.
Stir in sugar and salt.
Stir in melted butter and milk.
Whip egg whites until they form soft peaks.  Fold into batter gently.

Heat waffle iron.  I use about 1/2 cup batter per approx six inch waffle.  You want enough to cover about 2/3 the iron surface before closing the lid - it will spread out to fill the caps, and you don't want enough to squish out and run down the sides.

Bake until golden brown.  This is a waffle that goes well with sweet or savory toppings.