Stellar Blueberry Muffins, so I am told!

Stellar Blueberry Muffins (so I am told)

Muffins, smell ‘em bakin’?  Oh, the anticipation of the tender crumb, tasty blueberries with the melted butter all a-meltin’ in your mouth makes a holiday breakfast all the more like a holiday!

I have been makin’ this recipe from the 1936 Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook for over  thirty years.   

This was my husband's grandmother's
cookbook and includes
handwritten recipes on the inside cover
 from her, his mom and now me.

Made ‘em once for County Fair blue ribbon winner, Joanie Rudnitzki, who commented, “Mine won first place at the fair and yours are better!”  Now that is a compliment from fellow baker if I ever got one.  Thanks, Joanie!

Here is the recipe and some photos of New Year’s Eve Morning’s results from the oven:

Sift together:

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Add:

1/4 cup butter or shortening ( I cut this into the dry ingredients)

1 egg slightly beaten

1 cup milk

Fold gently ONLY until ingredients are wet.

Fill greased muffin tin cups 2/3 full.  Place in preheated oven at 400 °F  for  20 to 25 minutes. Yields 12 medium sized muffins.

*I double this recipe to make LARGE muffins in my LARGE 6 count muffin tin seen in photos. Oh yes, these were shared and enjoyed around the neighborhood.

I like my extra large muffin tin
 especially for impressive
Blueberry Muffins!
They are HUGE!

Rosemary Garlic Potato Bread from BBA pg 219

Rosemary Garlic Potato Bread recipe from BBA  doubles nicely.  I made 24 petite rolls and two large elongated loaves.  The slice had a nice crunch from the knife, the crust line around the slice was a beautiful quarter inch deep.  The crumb was tender, not too airy allowing for great sandwich building.  

Here is the smoked turkey, tomato, goat, cheese sandwich we enjoyed with a fiery green chile black bean soup.  (Yes, those are homemade bread and butter pickles smiling out at ‘cha!)  No left overs, folks; all gone!

I respect copyright of other bakers therefore have not included Peter Rheinhart’s recipe for this bread.  If interested, check out his book from your library or bookstore.  See this recipe and technique on page 219.  I also recommend www.thefreshloaf.com for chatter on all kinds of breads, recipes, techniques.  Participants chime in from all over the globe and are happy to help with questions, finding lost recipes, correcting various oooooppps in process and heaping praise on successes!  Enjoy something savory and tasty today!

Parker House Rolls, My Grandmother's Recipe

And in her handwriting from 1963.  This is the only page saved from a gardening book she kept with her cookbooks. Notice the bookworm hole in the corner.  I loved this book and was saddened to learn it was gone.  But I do hav and treasure this handwritten recipe~  No one has penmanship like this anymore.  Sad!  I collect hand written recipes.  Some are great becasue the dish is tasty nad others are good becasue the penmanship is fabulous.  The are fun to flip through.  Pne day, (soon) I will make a framed arrangement.  Meantime, I try tomake a good collectiof for my nephews, Riley and Davis.  They love to eat and will adventure into the culinary realm one of these days.

Because it is hard to read:
Parker House Rolls, Nettie Delores Stotts
1 cup scalded milk     2 Tbsp. shortening
2 Tbsp. sugar              1 tsp. salt
1 pkg yeast            1/4 c. luke warm water
1 well beaten egg    2  1/2 c flour
Combine milk shortening and salt.  Cool to warm. Add yeast in warm water, add egg, gradually stir iin flout to form soft dough.  Beat vigorously, cover and let rise in warm place till doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.  Turn out on floured surface and make into rolls.  Bake in hot oven, 400 degrees about 15 minutes.  Makes three dozen.

Now, like many grandmothers, hse thought many kitchen tasks were intuitive!  Here I will add details for "Turn out ... make into rolls..."  that I needed.  Punch down dough and turn out.
Nettie kept a pastry cloth in a plastic bag and her rolling pin had a cloth cover on it as well.  She swore this kept any dough or pastry from sticking. I watched hours upon hours and never saw her fight a dough.  No, my mat and pin are not wrapped!  Some kids won't learn.  And yes, I fight with stuck doughs on many occassions!  Back on task here, rol dough 1/2 inch thick and cut with 3 in iscuit cutter.  Brush each circle with melted butter and fold in half.  Place each half circle in a 13 X 9  buttered pan.  Allow to rise about 45 minutes and bake.

Fall Flavors

Ah, fall finally comes to Florida with temps in the 50's.  I won't dig out the old Wisconsin fleece but I have cooked up a pot of beans, small red beans.  And with these I made a warm, spicy soup to warm all the way to the toes of the Combsman.  Yes, it is sad, he gets cold in Florida.  How can that be after twelve years in Wisconsin shoveling snow and ice?
Wash the beans in cold water, put in a pot and cover with two inches of water.

Bring to a boil.   Boil gently for five minutes.  Turn off the heat and rest an hour.  At hour's end pour off the bean water and refresh.  Return to a lose fire for a long simmer of about two and a half hours.  Add water or chicken broth to keep the beans cooking.  After an hour and a half, add chopped onions, peppers, chilies, cumin, garlic, lime, chopped tomatoes, and a dash or two of oregano. Simmer the remaining time.  Once the beans are tender and the sauce is thickening, I take three cups from the pot into the blender.  With a flip of the button and a few seconds of whirl action the puree is ready to return to the soup pot.  Add chunks of chicken or pork (previously cooked) sausage  if you like.  I had previously smoked some spiced pork.  That was a great flavor enhancer.  I am not big on using prepared store bought foods.  However, this Green Enchiladas Sauce is a great pantry item.  I add it to my soups and stews.  I use it in my cornbread batter.  You know, I should do an entire post of its versatile uses.  And yes, I put a large can of GES into the bean soup.  Up the YUM factor!  I served this with warm bread and a sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese on top.  You can garnish with sour cream, Greek yogurt, guacamole; use your palette pleaser.

The remaining soup freezes well.  Makes for a great combo with a steaming bowl of rice with fresh tortillas.  Or return it to low heat and simmer till thick and use as a burrito filling.

Vietnamese Calamari Salad

This cookbook has some of the very dishes we enjoyed while traveling through Vietnam.

 As you can see here, I have been making this one for awhile now.  And yes, I make notations in my cookbooks.  when all is said and done, my cookbooks will be the better journal of important events in my life.  I love reading previous notations and when I loan a book, I encourage friends to jot along as well.

I found a 2.5 lb package of squid at my local grocery.  I let it thaw and come to room temperature.  I used my kitchen shears to snip the small tube bodies into rings. This made 4 cups of squid for the salad. Put on 6-8 cups of water to come to a boil.  Your pasta put with strainer section is perfect for this.  Prepare a large bow of ice water for dunking cooked squid to stop the cooking process. I made the dressing before blanching the squid rings.
Dressing:
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 c rice wine
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, finally chopped
2 tablespoons crushed peanuts
1/4 cup fish sauce
Combine all ingredients well. Let sit.

For the dressing

Back to the squid rings.  Place the squid rings in the boiling water for 60-90 seconds. SECONDS is correct.  Remove, drain hot water and immediately dump squid rings into the ice water being sure to submerge all pieces.

Pretty blanched squid rings

Dressing going onto the squid rings.

When thoroughly cooled transfer squid to bowl with dressing and toss thoroughly.








Serve on a bed of crisp greens with a side a bowl of soup or serve with crackers or a favorite bread or as here, with a hot tea.  Enjoy.

This salad keeps well in the fridge for three days but it never lasts that long in my house.

Fried Green Tomatoes in Blue Cornmeal

Cut the tomatoes a bit thicker than a quarter inch. Dredge in milk, then seasoned blue cornmeal.  Repeat.  

In a large skillet with half cup hot oil, fry the slices of tomato with plenty of room until a toasted brown color is achieved.

 Flip slices over and brown.  This smells wonderful.  The toasted cornmeal, the tart tomatoes, mm-mm.
Drain on paper towel  This is a great snack with a slab of your favorite cheese, an accompaniment to a roasted meat dinner with black-eyed peas or as you see here, a salad.

This is a Vietnamese Calamari salad atop a bit of fried rice.  True it is out of the ordinary in combination!  Tasty!  Tasty!

Add a little blue cornmeal to your preparation of favorites for a change and surprise of great taste and texture.  I am happy to find  Blue Cornmeal by Bob's Red Mill now at my local grocery.

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