Freeper Kitchen: Family Secrets

[carlo3b]

Here's a keeper.. :)

Honey Golden Cornbread

This could be a real challenge to the famous Marie Callender national restaurant cornbread recipe.. My family asks for my navy bean soup so I will make this cornbread recipe, with honey butter.. enjoy!

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1-1/4 cups whole milk
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/3 cup sugar


Preheat oven to 400°F.
1) Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.
2) Add the milk, shortening and egg and mix only until all the ingredients are well combined.
3) Pour the batter into a greased 8x8-inch pan.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
Let the cornbread cool slightly before slicing it with a sharp knife into 9 pieces.

Special Honey butter

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup honey


For the honey butter, use a mixer on high speed to whip the butter and honey together until smooth and fluffy.

[BloomNTn]

Everyone has given you some great exlainations of what a roux is. It is the basis of most Cajun dishes. You need to make it in a very heavy pot and stir continuously. It takes a while. I like a dark roux, so it takes me about 30 minutes of careful stirring over a med to low heat because it burns easily. If you are interested in Cajun cooking, I suggest starting off with a ready made roux.
http://www.louisianagifts.net/louisiana-gifts-340.html

[HungarianGypsy]

Maybe I'll try this with navy bean soup or with that zucchini potato soup recipe above. I have had some difficulty with cornbread lately. Last September I went to my neighbor's house for supper. Her aunt made cake-like corn bread that was soft and --oh-- so sweet. Since then no matter how many variations I do (including adding the extra sugar she did), my cornbread always seems flat and far from sweet.

[No2much3]

I'm glad you started the thread !!

I had a hit 4th of July weekend with a grilling recipe that is so easy.

Bar-b-que Buffalo Shrimp

I used 15 count shrimp with the shell on.

1lb. Shrimp (deveined)
2 cloves of garlic, minced fine
3 fl. oz. cheap hot sauce (Goya)

I mixed it all together in a large zip-lock bag and let it marinade for 45 min. (the time it took to drive to the party).

Grill 3-5 minutes per side and serve with cold beer or white wine.

** If using smaller shrimp don't marinade and cook with the shell off in a frypan with 1/2 stick of melted butter.

[hattend]

Mom's Cuban Chicken and Rice

Small Chicken (2-3 pounds) or 4-6 chicken breasts
Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit Juice (twice as much as Orange Juice)
Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice (2 limes)
Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice (2 lemons)
8-10 cloves of garlic
Salt and Pepper
White Rice

Squeeze juices (you can use frozen/carton/can juice but it's not as good as fresh)
Make twice as much Grapefruit juice as Orange juice and you're looking for about 2 quarts.
Add Lemon/lime juice to taste. You're looking to get a sour orange taste (original Cuban recipe used sour oranges which are hard to find in the states)

Smash garlic gloves and add to juice mixture...let set an hour or so.

Prepare Chicken with salt and pepper rub

Use a roasting pan in an oven at 450 degrees. Place chicken on breast. When chicken is halfway done (20 minutes or so), flip to back and pour all the juice mix over the chicken and continue cooking til done. If using chicken breasts, flip when halfway done.

Prepare rice.

Serve chicken on bed of rice and add cooked juices. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sorry for the vague instructions. I got this recipe from watching my mom cook it when I was a kid. I have made it many times and it tasted like "mom's". I figure people know how to cook chicken. LOL!!

Enjoy!

[hattend]

Where's the navy bean soup recipe? Was it in the FReeper cookbook? (Don't have it handy, here)

[SAJ]

Wonderful discussion of roux, very informative, and many thanks!

One teeny thought to offer -- low-fat diet, what's the problem w/a roux? Just use a nice virgin olive oil instead of butter, bacon oil (ok, ok, bacon fat...same thing, g!), fatback, or whatever, right?

As you've said, one should likely bring the olive oil up to temp first, then stir in the flour for best results.

How thick, how thin -- matter of the cook's taste, no? Too thin, add a little more flour, or even better, a little arrowroot -- nice neutral taste and will shorten the cooking time if you want a dark roux.

This thought courtesy of my late friend, Louis d'Auberge Messarveaux (hope I spelt that correctly, Mr. M., and G-d rest you!), who taught me what I know (cough, that little bit...) about making fine Creole and Cajun dishes, back in the 1980s.

[carlo3b]

You betcha this and the cornbread are a couple of the many great recipes found our CLINTON LEGACY COOKBOOK.. :)
BTW, we still have a few cookbooks available for great gifts.. LOL

U S Senate Bean Soup

    * 1 pound dried navy beans or great northern beans, washed and drained
    * 2 medium smoked ham hocks
    * 3 medium potatoes, cooked and mashed
    * 2 medium onions, chopped
    * 1 cup chopped celery
    * 2 large cloves garlic, minced
    * salt and pepper

1) Cover beans with water and bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour.
2) Drain bean liquid into a bowl; measure and add enough water or broth to make 5 quarts; pour back into beans. Bring beans to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 2 hours, or until beans are very tender.
3) Add ham hocks, potatoes, onions, celery and garlic, and continue to simmer for another hour.
Remove ham hocks and cut up meat; return to soup.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Makes about 2 gallons or 8 quarts.

[carlo3b]

The secret to baking moist cake is not over beating the batter, and having fresh ingredients.. This quickie recipe is a lot easier to get good results..

Cornbread This recipe.is from the Chef Carlo cooks Kids.. Cookbook,  that we were working on.. it's almost like cake, and so easy.

• 1  box Jiffy cornbread mix
• 1  box Jiffy yellow cake mix
• 1/3  cup milk
• 1/2  cup water
• 2  eggs
• 1/4 cup corn oil

Preheat oven at 400
1) Mix all ingredients.
2) Pour batter into greased& floured 8x8 pan.
3) Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes, then lower oven to 350 degrees and bake for another 20-25 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean and top is lightly browned.

[carlo3b]

Whoa.. Mom's Cuban Chicken and Rice .. sound yummmmmmmy.. sounds like a dinner to try this week, .. thanks.. :)

[hattend]

WooHoo! Thanks for #68 and #69. I see Navy Bean soup in the near future. My dad's NB soup was AWESOME but unfortunately I didn't get it from him before he passed. Yours sounds familiar though.

[SnarlinCubBear]

If you have a ping list, please add me.

[girlscout]

Yummy. Recipes at home, mind fog ping.

[girlscout]

please add me to your ping list. THANKS!

[proudofthesouth]

I remember Fizzies! Loved them as a kid.

[caseinpoint]

I grew up with fried bread dough. Every Saturday my mom would make a huge batch of bread dough, enough for four loaves of bread, a pan of cinnamon rolls and fried bread, which we called scones. You let the dough raise the second time, break off a fist-sized portion and stretch it to about 4 or 5 inches diameter. These are deep fat fried like doughnuts. Flip them when they are golden brown and serve hot with butter and honey. Messy and totally decadent. Haven't had them in a long time although I still make bread and cinnamon rolls on occasion. I don't hand mix the dough like my mom, however. Too lazy.