Corn Flour as Social Media.

The term “social media” designates sites on the internet (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter to name a few) where people could keep in touch with friends, family, business associates, and even make new found friends.  It is a way to keep up with the latest news on the home front, as well as around this vast world; a way to learn about other cultures and places to explore.  The term “social media” has now become an oxymoron; a rhetorical device that uses a self-contradiction to illustrate a rhetorical point or to reveal a paradox; sometimes used to create some sort of drama.  Don’t understand what I’m referring to?  Think about it, while cooing over the latest baby photos, how many friends and/or family members were horribly bashed, then unfriended and blocked, because they didn’t agree over some political event?   Maybe it was a negative life experience, someone needed to be blamed; easy targets are those people who are nothing more than a name on a computer screen.

Hark, not all is lost on social media; there are havens of sanctuary called “groups”; where folks of like mind can gather, talk, share and not have to put up with the negativity.  One such group I joined is “Navajo and Pueblo Cooking” (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1545140772414467/), administrated by Pauline Haines who runs her own bakery in New Mexico.  The members of this group are mainly Navajo, but anyone can join, so long as they have a love for cooking, and learning about new recipes and techniques.  This group is a good example of what social media should be, but we humans simply love the drama; sorry, not in this group.  Recently I learned about blue cornbread and a video on YouTube from “Navajo in the City” was featured; many gave their own take on the recipe, but overall it was met favorably.  I haven’t played with any Native American recipes lately, so here was my inspiration.

First the recipe:

Blue Cornbread

From Navajo in the City

Ingredients:

1 and ½ cups blue cornmeal (roasted is best)

½ cup white flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

2 eggs

½ cup melted butter

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400F.  The cook used a 9 x 13 baking dish, but didn’t mention if it was pre-greased.  With cornbread, usually a smear of butter or baking spray is used to keep it from sticking to the pan.

Place all the dry ingredients into a large bowl (I sifted them).  Whisk together the wet ingredients in a small bowl, then pour into the dry ingredients; mix as you pour.  Place batter into baking dish, bake for 25 minutes.

However, and you know I do this from reading my articles, doing something different was in my plans.  After creating the batter, I divided it in half; the first half was spooned into a muffin tin with paper liners.  Into the second half of batter I added 1/2 cup of blueberries carefully folded in, so as to not break them.  Into another muffin tin with paper liners this went into; use an ice cream scoop as it gives the perfect portion for muffin batter.  Again, 400F for 25 minutes for 12 muffins, and a toothpick inserted into the center came out perfectly clean.  By the way, many don’t like baking with blueberries as they have a tendency to be too juicy, and their blue color leaks.  Not with this recipe, it’s already blue!

Pink liners get the batter with blueberries included.

Now for the taste testing (it was just hubby and myself), as is, the muffins weren’t anything to write home about, a bit bland, moist and not too crumbly. The cook on the video said she was primarily making the cornbread to create a “stuffing” later on.  However, she also stated this recipe is similar to making blue corn pancakes, just add vanilla. 

Let’s try out some typical muffin fixings: Cream Cheese – No; Butter – Meh; Honey – Yuck; Cactus Jelly – To Die For!  We both tried the cactus jelly combined with each of the other ingredients; while an improvement, the jelly alone was the huge winner.  Another item we both agreed on was the blueberry addition as a nice touch, but next time add more (2 cups for 12 muffins should do the trick).

There you have it, next time you’re on a social media site, and not feeling very social, learn to bake or cook something.  Challenge yourself, not antagonize others.

Mary Cokenour

Karen Rose Smith, Cozy Mystery Author Full of Comfort Cooking.

Facebook, sometimes I have to thank it for helping me establish contact with some amazing people.  I had joined a page called, "Chatting About Cozies", and through it found out about so many authors I didn't know existed.  Now I've told you on here before that I love reading mysteries, and what has been termed, "cozy mystery"; just an average person solving mysteries while going about an average life.  I so want to do this!  I sort of do actually, on my travel blog where I give details about places to visit that aren't in a typical tourist guide, plus photos of course.

Anyway, one author I discovered was Karen Rose Smith; I learned about her books and bought all the "Caprice De Luca" ones; a bonus, besides a good mystery, are the recipes included.  One day I received a friend request from Karen and gladly accepted; at the same time I became a little sad.  Karen lives in Hanover, PA; I used to live in Lancaster, PA; basically about an hour away from each other.  She and I have so much in common, and I have the feeling that if we'd met when I was in PA, we possibly would have become good friends in person, not just on Facebook.  Such is life, at least we finally met, in a fashion.

Once in a while Karen will post a recipe she's developed for the Caprice series, and one of these was from her newest, "Gilt by Association".  I decided I wanted to try it out, and write about it on this food blog.  However, I went one step further; from her recipe, I was able to develop one of my own, so thank you Karen for the inspiration.  Hint...maybe Caprice would like to make these in one of her stories one day?

Here goes, first will be "Caprice's Cran-Orange, White-Choco Cookies" which are light, airy, crispy and so delectable.  I told Karen that these were like a little piece of heaven.  Then will come my recipe for "Mary's Very Cherry Cocoa-Chip Cookies", again light, airy and crispy, but with a cocoa-cherry flavor and semi-sweet chips.  Now these I described to Karen as being a devilish style of cookie, while Caprice's were more angelic.  Now who doesn't enjoy a little heaven vs. hell in their baking?

Caprice's Cran-Orange, White-Choco Cookies

(Gilt by Association)

1/2 cup margarine (softened)

1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 tablespoon grated orange peel  (I use one tablespoon fresh--   about 2 navel oranges grated--and 1 tablespoon dried.    Adjust for your taste!)
1/2 cup Rice Krispies®
1 cup dried cranberries (I use Ocean Spray Craisins®)
1 cup white chocolate chips

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 375̊

Mix softened margarine and butter.  Cream with sugar.  Add eggs and mix well.  Add baking powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla.  Mix in.  Add flour 1/2 cup at a time.  Mix in orange peel.  Stir in Rice Krispies®, dried cranberries, and white chocolate chips.

 

Cream butter, margarine, sugar

Add Eggs

Add flour 1/2 cup at a time

Smooth Batter

Add Rice Krispies, Craisins, White Chocolate Chips

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drop by rounded tablespoonful onto lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake about 12-13 minutes until golden brown and set. 

Ready to Bake

After Baking

Cooling on Baking Rack

Makes 3 dozen.

Karen Rose Smith

(2015)

Now comes my new recipe...

Mary’s Very Cherry Cocoa-Chip Cookies

(Inspired by Karen Rose Smith, author of “Gilt by Association”, and her recipe, “Caprice’s Cran-Orange White-Choco Cookies”)

 Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine (softened)
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp.  baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. unsweetened Dutch cocoa
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
1/2 cup Cocoa Krispies®
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

 Preparation:

 Preheat oven to 375̊

 Mix softened margarine and butter; cream with sugar.  Add eggs, mix well.  Add baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; mix in.  Add flour 1/2 cup at a time.  Stir in Cocoa Krispies®, dried cherries, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Cream butter, margarine, sugar

Add powder, soda, salt, cocoa powder

Smooth Batter

Add Cocoa Krispies, Dried Cherries, Semi-Sweet Chips

 

Drop by rounded tablespoonful onto lightly greased cookie sheet, or Airbake sheets.  Bake about 12-13 minutes until golden brown and set. 

Ready to Bake

After Baking

Cooling on Baking Rack

 

Makes 3 dozen.

Mary Cokenour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now on a side note, I love giving out new creations to my favorite guinea pigs; unbiased opinions are a great help.  Everyone loved both of these cookies, but the overall winner was my "Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies" which I had made on the same day.   So Karen, you might want to try out this recipe too.  *wink*  It will be posted on another day soon.

 

Mary Cokenour

 

 

 

 

 



Slowed Cooked and Smoky Pepper Steak

Usually when I make Pepper Steak, I use a skillet or a Wok; the dish cooks quickly on the stovetop. One problem, sometimes the strips of meat are not tender enough; the quick cooking sealed in juice and flavor, but the meat did not tenderize. I do not marinade the meat overnight, so if the cut is not tender in the first place, well there you go.

Recently I purchased a three pound package of sliced round steak and intended on making Pepper Steak.  While browsing through the newsfeed on my Facebook page though, I came across a recipe for "Hoisin Beef Stew"; regular stew ingredients: beef cubes, potatoes, celery, carrots, mushrooms; but instead of a broth as the cooking medium, the recipe called for Hoisin Sauce.  Interesting concept I thought, maybe next time I make stew I'll try the recipe out.  Then it hit me, I've never done up Pepper Steak in the slow cooker, so here was a chance to try out this method and play with the Hoisin Sauce as a cooking medium.  I love Hoisin Sauce by the way; the flavor is just so above using plain soy or teriyaki sauces, and you barely need to add any other seasoning to it.  Besides adding it to recipes, it works as an excellent glaze or barbecue sauce all on its own; so yummy on ribs or brisket.  Besides beef, chicken or pork, Hoisin can be used on wild game such as Elk and Deer; it cuts the gaminess of the deer meat, and only enhances the elk meat to a whole new level.

The meal I made took eight hours to cook in the crock pot before the meat was fall apart in the mouth tender; the peppers, onions and mushrooms were perfectly cooked.  Yes, I added mushrooms to this dish, mainly because I had a pound of fresh sliced mushrooms on hand and didn't want them to go to waste.  I am so glad I made that choice!  The flour I added in at the start helped the Hoisin sauce and any juices from the other ingredients to create a medium thick sauce that went well on a brown and wild rice mixture I made for a side dish.  If you've jumped onto the gluten free fad bandwagon, you can use rice flour instead of regular white flour.  Overall, this recipe came out pretty well, and I would make it again; maybe add in garlic, or some julienned carrot.

Now remember, if you try this recipe out and you think the Hoisin sauce is not enough in the seasoning genre; add sparingly and keep tasting, you don't want to lose the overall flavor of the Hoisin and you can always add, but not take out.  If you add any hot seasoning such as dried chile peppers, remember, the longer it cooks, the hotter it gets.

Hoisin Pepper Steak

Ingredients:

3 lbs. round steak, cut into 1/4 inch thick strips

1/4 cup flour
1 each large green, yellow and red bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch strips
1 large onion, cut into 1/4 inch strips
2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
2 cups Hoisin sauce

Preparation:

Spray interior of a 6 quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray; set on low.  Place meat inside and sprinkle flour over top.  Layer bell peppers, onion and mushrooms; pour Hoisin sauce evenly over all.  Cover and let cook 6-8 hours; until meat is tender.  Serve over rice, noodles or potatoes.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Bruschetta Without the Bread.

Whenever Bruschetta is on a menu, it is usually listed under "Appetizers"; an Italian antipasto made with grilled bread as the base ingredient. Recently I received an eggplant and figured I would make the same old, same old eggplant parmigiana; Roy and I don't like eggplant, so this dish usually goes to his mom. Then I saw a recipe on Facebook that used eggplant as the top and bottom of a sandwich type appetizer/main course item with spaghetti and sauce as the filling. While the photo looked pretty, I truly didn't see the point of it; but it did get my mind going into a creative direction.

To the refrigerator I went to look for ingredients that would work with the eggplant; Roma tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, but then I spied the chicken cutlets I had defrosted for another recipe.  Suddenly the picture of the recipe I was to make came into my mind like little photos, and I was off!  The eggplant would be the base ingredient, just as bread was for bruschetta; olive oil, garlic, , Italian herbs, tomatoes and cheese were a given.  The chicken, however, would give the entire dish a new dimension in flavor and texture; this would be one of those recipes that could be an appetizer or a main meal.

Enough chit chat and lets get to cooking...

Eggplant-Chicken Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1 medium sized eggplant cut into 12 (1/4" thick) slices

3 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
4 Tbsp olive oil, divided in half
1 Tbsp Italian herbal mix
6 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1/4" thick, cut to equal or slightly larger size than eggplant slices)
6 slices Roma tomatoes
6 slices mozzarella cheese
3 tsp grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

 

 

 

Line a platter or baking sheet with paper towels; lay out eggplant slices, sprinkle with salt and cover with additional paper towels.  Wait a minimum of one hour before pressing the paper towels onto the eggplant to remove excess water that has been drawn out by the salt. 

 

 

 

 

 

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil, medium-high heat, in a large skillet; place eggplant into skillet, brown one side, turn to brown other side and sprinkle garlic powder over first browned side.  Remove to paper towels.

 

Put remaining oil into skillet plus herbal mix; place chicken into skillet and brown both sides; remove to paper towels.  Preheat oven to 375F; line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

 

Build a stack: eggplant slice, chicken piece, tomato slice, cheese slice, eggplant slice.  When all stacks are made, place on the baking sheet and top with 1/2 tsp of grated cheese.  Bake in oven for 5 to 7 minutes to allow mozzarella cheese to melt.

 

Makes 6 servings for an appetizer; Makes 3 servings for a meal.

Mary Cokenour

No Rehab for Brownie Brittle Addiction.

Sheila G's Brownie Brittle

Website: http://browniebrittle.com/

Hello, my name is Mary and I am addicted to Brownie Brittle.  It all started when I saw an advertisement on Facebook; yes, that evil Facebook drew me to this villainous snack.  I tried finding it at the local City Market locations, even at Walmart, but no luck.  Then I happened to be at Sam's Club in Farmington, New Mexico and there is was in the snack aisle; large bags of Brownie Brittle (Chocolate Chip) and I purchased two.  I am a sad case, as I was going to give the second bag to someone else to try, but I kept it; yes, I kept it and ate it all myself.











Brownie Brittle, how can I describe this delectable snack?  Imagine a rich, deep chocolate brownie, sliced into 1/8 inch thickness.   Then baked to a light, airy crispness that can be enjoyed by crunching onto it, or letting it just melt into chocolaty goodness.  The crispy squares are 4 inch by 4 inch; 6 of them are only 21 grams of carbohydrate and 4 grams of fat.  No, I wouldn't push these as nutritious, but they are so wonderfully good, who cares!  As to the amount to eat, I have to admit, as addicted as I am, that two goes a long way in satisfaction.  Brownie Brittle is very delicate, so can break apart, or crumble easily; makes a great topping for pudding or ice cream.  I don't know who Sheila G. Mains is, but I would hug her till she popped for creating Brownie Brittle.

Just yesterday I stopped at Safeway in Cortez, Colorado and in their baked goods aisle I found....Brownie Brittle!  Smaller sized bags than the ones at Sam's Club, but in different flavors such as Salted Caramel and Toffee Crunch.  I love this addiction!!!

Redemption; I purchased extra to give to that friend.  I may be a Brownie Brittle addict, but I still have a conscience.  Become addicted too, it's so good.

Mary Cokenour

Coffeebark is Energizing Sweetness.

Coffeebark

332 Summit Avenue
Center City, MN

(651) 335-0189

Website: http://www.coffeebark.com/index.html

While on Facebook, an advertisement came up on the sidebar for Coffeebark and I was curious. I clicked on the page and was presented with details about a candy which contained three classic food groups, ok, flavors: chocolate, toffee and coffee. Now I was even more curious and I tried ordering a sample through the link available. I know it was me, but I had some difficulty getting the ordering done through Facebook, so I went to Coffeebark's homepage instead.

Besides the sample size, you can also order 1/4 lb, 1/2 lb, 1 lb or bulk sizes of the regular or decaf. I decided to order the "Why Not" or 1/4 lb bags of both; wanted to give it a good try and let others take a nibble too.

After opening my Priority Mail box, I put the packages to my face and inhaled; oh my, the coffee scent was enticing. Opening the packages, the scent becomes more intense, sort of like when you open that vacuum sealed package of fresh, roasted coffee and get that first whiff.   The crushed coffee layer on the decaf is slightly lighter in color and less bitter than the regular, but that is where the differences ends.  The toffee is nicely sweet and balances with the bitterness of the coffee; the chocolate keeps the layers together.  Actually the chocolate gets a bit lost between the flavors of the toffee and coffee, but as you're eating the candy, you simply don't care.

Here's the warning, if strong coffee effects you, eat the regular Coffeebark sparingly, or stick to the decaf.  I did get a slight headache after eating the regular Coffeebark, but I knew I would, since that happens when I eat regular chocolate covered coffee beans.   That's the breaks when trying out products, but I've no regrets on this one.

Basically, if you enjoy coffee or just want to try a new type of candy treat, then go to Coffeebark's website and order a sample; you'll be back for more.

Mary Cokenour