Belle's Special Cornbread.

As a food blogger I love creating new recipes and sharing them along with some old family favorites. This recipe is part of that "secret" collection I was never quite sure if I wanted to share. I say this because my Gram made it this way, and I confess I prefer cornbread make like this. No flour,and  no sugar, It's sweet enough and firm enough all on it's own. Gram always said cornbread make with flour and sugar was corn-cake not cornbread.

Depending on the texture you want, choose course ground of a finer ground cornmeal.  the more course the cornmeal the crumblier the cornbread will be.

Since Gram was from NW Arkansas, there is a great mill, to get fresh organic cornmeal and other goodies. It's call War Eagle Mill outside Rogers, AR. Look them up sometime.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup organic yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 Tsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 egg.

Directions:

Mix the baking soda into the buttermilk.
In a large bowl mix the buttermilk mixture, cornmeal, oil and salt.
Beat the egg, then add it to the mixture
Preheat oven to 350. In a well seasoned cast iron skillet, add a little oil. Place it on the the stove top on medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the batter. Let it cook on the stove top for 2 or three minutes.This makes a nice crunch crust. Then put it in the oven and bake until a tooth pick tests clean about 20 mins.

Cut in to wedges and serve with melted butter... Yum.

Adams Family Cookbook

Creamy Peach Coffee Cake

2 cups peaches

3 tablespoons craisins

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking sodas

2 tablespoons ground flax seed 

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/4 cup butter

Pinch of salt

1 egg

1/2 cup butter milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/3 cup butterscotch chips

In a sauce pan add the peaches and milk bring to a boil over medium heat. Next add the sugar and the craisins. Simmer for 5 minted. Then turn off the heat. 

In a large bowl add the flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. Cut the butter into small cubes. Use a fork or pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour. It should resemble course crumbs. Add a pinch of salt. 

Beat the egg and buttermilk together. Add all at once to the flour. Add the flax and the cinnamon. Mix well.

In a small bowl. Add 1/4 flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar and  butter. Use a knife or pastry cutter to work the butter in. It should look like peas when complete.  

Grease a 8x8 dish. Add the batter speed to the edges. Add the peaches.

Add the streusel to the top. 

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350. 

Banana Cake

Well it's pot luck time again. At work we seem to do this about once a month. 

I discovered the jalapeño cream corn. For this one I made a banana cake.   

3 mashed bananas

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

 1 1 1/2 baking powder

1/2 cup butter

1 cup butter milk

1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Frosting

In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients.

In a second bowl melt the butter in the microwave for 1 minute. 

Add the buttermilk, vanilla, and eggs to the melted butter. 

Add the dry ingredients to the butter egg mixture. Add the bananas and chocolate chips. 

Mix well. 

Pour into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. 

Frost with your favorite frosting. 

Favorite Pancakes

Ingredients


•1/2 cup all-purpose flour
•1/4 cup whole wheat flour
•1/4 cup soy flour
•2 tablespoons sugar
•1/2 teaspoon baking soda
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 egg
•1 cup buttermilk
•2 tablespoons butter, melted
•Maple syrup

Directions

•In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, buttermilk and butter. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

•Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a greased hot griddle; turn when bubbles form on top. Cook until the second side is golden brown. Serve with syrup. Yield: 8 pancakes

homeade corn chips

Recipe Type: SnackAuthor: Casey BarberPrep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 20 mins Total Time: 30 mins Makes 5-6 dozen crackers.

Ingredients

1 cup Medium-Grind Cornmeal (I like War Eagle Mill, but you have to go to the mill in NW Ark  or order online.)
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1 large Egg
1/4 cup (2 oz.) Buttermilk
1/4 cup (2 oz.) Olive Oil


Instructions

1.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.Whisk the cornmeal, flour, and salt together in a large bowl.

3.Whisk the egg, whey or buttermilk, and oil together in a small bowl, then stir into the dry ingredients to form a moist dough.

4.Cut a sheet of parchment paper and a sheet of waxed paper large enough to cover a standard baking sheet.

5.Turn the dough out onto the sheet of parchment paper and form it into a rough rectangle with your hands. Cover with the sheet of waxed paper and roll into a paper-thin sheet of dough with a rolling pin. If any dough starts to squeeze out from under the waxed paper, gather up the excess, place it back on an exposed corner of the parchment paper, and re-roll until you’ve maximized the space.

6.Peel the waxed paper off the dough and transfer the parchment paper to the baking sheet. Score the dough with a pizza or pastry cutter, marking a grid of 1/2-inch by 1 1/2-inch strips. You don’t have to separate each little cracker; they’ll break apart easily when they’re fully baked.

7.Bake for 18-20 minutes. Transfer the parchment paper to a cooling rack and break the crackers apart as soon as they’re cool enough to touch. Cool completely before serving .

Coca Cola Cake

Cake:


2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups small marshmallows
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup Coca-Cola®
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons Coca-Cola
1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, sift sugar and flour. Add marsh- mallows. In
saucepan, mix butter, oil, cocoa, and Coca-Cola. Bring to a boil and pour over dry
ingredients; blend well. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk just before adding to
batter along with eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well. Pour into a well-greased 9-
by-13-inch pan and bake 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and frost
immediately.

To make frosting, combine butter, cocoa and Coca-Cola in a saucepan. Bring to a
boil and pour over confectioners' sugar, blending well. Add vanilla extract and
pecans. Spread over hot cake. When cool, cut into squares and serve.



*The cake recipe was contributed by Lee Avery Catts to "Atlanta Cooknotes"

published by The Junior League of Atlanta.

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

• 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions

• In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, water, broth and garlic. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
• Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat buttermilk until warm. Drain potatoes and garlic; mash with buttermilk. Stir in the onions, salt and pepper. Yield: 6 servings.

Italian Wedding Cake

Tell me am I a little off because I like to read cookbooks. At one point I had a whole kitchen cabinet devoted to cook books, diet books, and magazines related to food.

Unfortunately, when I moved to Kansas, I had to cut down. I kept my favorites. I still surf the web looking for ideas. What am I looking for? Recipes that are inexpensive, but taste that way, anything chocolate, and twits on my favorite comfort foods, and dishes I’ve tried in restaurants that I think I can redo at home.

And on that note, years ago, so coworkers and I were having dinner and a local Italian restaurant (yes, it was a chain) in Little Rock, OK North Little Rock, (known better for bar b.q. and soul food, but that is for another post). We had a really good dinner and followed with dessert of course,

They serve this cake; they called it “Italian Wedding Cake”. Well this cake is a white cake with a coconut frosting. The cake itself was moist and had a nutty flavor, without being overly crunchy. The frosting was light and sweet. It didn’t over power the cake like some can.

I have been looking for this cake again. Years have gone by. The chain restaurant that I originally had the cake has yet to feature it again. Boo hiss.

But, as I was digging though my box of books, I found a small, spiral bound cookbook. And as flipped though the pages, it’s called Arkansas favorites. It was published back when Bill was the governor, there was a recipe for Italian Wedding Cake,

It just needs to be changed a little, and it will be that cake from all those years ago.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I give you Italian Wedding Cake.

CAKE
1Cup Butter Milk
1 tsp baking soda
5 eggs separated
2 cups of sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 can coconut (3 1/2 oz.)
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 stick butter
1/2 cup shortening
2 Cups Flour

ICING
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick butter
1 box powdered sugar, sifted

DIRECTIONS
combine soda, and milk. cream sugar, butter and shortening. Add egg yolks one at a time, beat well. Add milk and flour alternately. Stir sin vanilla . Beat egg whites until stiff: fold int mixture. Stir in nuts and coconut. Bake in three 9" round cake pans for 30 minutes.

For the icing cream the cheese and butter  and add the powdered sugar a little at a time. 

BISCUITS AND GRAVY

Ingredients for the biscuits:

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 4 teaspoons baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon baking soda

• pinch of salt
• 3 oz. cold butter, diced
• 8 oz buttermilk

Directions

Combine and sift the dry ingredients. Gently knead in the butter. Add the buttermilk and knead on a floured board just enough to bring the dough together.

It is vital that you knead gently and no more than is necessary or you will develop the gluten in the flour and make the biscuits tough. Good biscuits are as much a function of technique as ingredients.

Form a flat mass with the dough and cut out biscuits with a biscuit cutter. Don’t make them too high or the outside could become over browned by the time the inside is cooked.

Place them on parchment paper on a sheet tray and then into a preheated 400-degree oven.

Start the gravy immediately. It should be done close to the same time as the biscuits, which is when they are golden in color.


Ingredients for the gravy:

• ½ pound ground breakfast sausage.
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3 cups cold milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Sauté the sausage until it is cooked and has released as much of its fat as possible. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and do NOT drain the grease. You’ll need it to make the roux. 

You should have about 2 tablespoons of rendered pork fat. Add the butter and melt it. Then add the flour a little at a time over medium heat, constantly whisking. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Now start adding the cold milk a little at a time, whisking incessantly. Toward the end of the milk add the sausage back in. When you reach the desired consistency add salt and pepper to taste.

Cut the biscuits in half, pour the gravy over them.