Homemade Corn "nuts"

Sometimes I wonder how I could possibly be more weird. Don't answer that. I don't want to know. I do know however, that for the last week or so I've been truly, madly, deeply in love with these homemade corn nuts and cranking them out by the crate full. Thankfully...they are all organic and awesome. I'd be worried otherwise. So how do I make these little corn nuggets of love at home? Well...we start with this...a method I discovered several years ago for getting popcorn to make all "old maids" (It's Good to Be an Old Maid... ). My grandma used to call the popcorn at the bottom of the bowl that "almost" popped but was still super crispy and yummy an "old maid." I'm not sure why. Those where my favorite little pieces of corn. We'd fight over them. Really. So this corn nut method is very similar. Only today we use this corn...

You will need: Hard Organic Yellow Corn, water, a clean towel, Vegetable Oil, and a  Stainless Steel Popcorn Popper 

Step 1: Cover corn in water 24 hours.

Step 2:  Drain and towel dry.

Step  3: Cook on the stove. 
 I use this Stainless Steel Popcorn Popper

which is awesome to make fresh, classic style popcorn right on your stove at home. I love how strong it is. This bad boy is going to last forever. Much more so than the aluminum models. Stainless steel clad aluminum bottom disperses heat quickly & evenly without aluminum contacting the popcorn. It also has a large 6 Quart capacity...so on popcorn night, it's enough for the whole family. The popper has stay cool wooden handles and a vented lid for dry popcorn and optimum temperature. The hinged lid provides easy loading & dispensing. Pin and Clamp lid removal for quick and easy cleaning. Rotary paddle keeps popcorn moving. Also great for glazed almonds & nuts. However, I've found it most useful for making the homemade corn nuts.

Cooking Directions: I add 1/3 cup of olive oil to every one cup of towel dried corn (that was soaked 24 hours in water).
I usually only cook 2 cups at a time max. Just to be sure it cooks crisp.

Close the lid and rotate the handle for 3-5 minutes until very crisp. Drain on a paper towel. Season as desired. Personally we adore my Chef Tess All Purpose Seasoning generously sprinkled over the nuts. I may be a little biased though.

Waaaawhooo! There you go! An awesome way to use some corn. Gluten free and homemade. 

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Blue Cheese, Bacon and Dill Cornbread Muffins

Can I just say I love cornbread ? I do. I wish I could eat it everyday. These cornbread muffins we had with some lovely French Onion Chowder and Cheese... It was a perfect fit. In case you didn't get the first two hints...the recipe for these is here : cornbread . For muffins, use a half recipe. So...one cup flour instead of two...

Instead of sour milk or buttermilk, I used 1 cup prepared dill dip. Sue me.

I stopped myself from smearing this all over my face, despite the natural beauty it would have enhanced. That lactic acid alone is worth gobbing on your face...it's the clumps of onion I'm not so sure about. I mean really, what if a chunk got caught in my ear canal. That would defeat the whole purpose of the beauty scrub, right? Wait, why would anything get caught in my ear canal if I'm rubbing it on my face?! That was totally random.

Then I added 1/2 cup cooked crumbled bacon and 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese.

Why is it when I say or type bacon, I oink out loud. I also snort when I laugh sometimes. Which has nothing to do with muffins...

Mix just until combined, like the cornbread recipe states. Scoop into 12 muffin cups, lined with cupcake papers if you'd like. Bake 425 degrees, 12-15 minutes. Remove from pan. Put them in a lovely basket lined with a crisp clean kitchen towel...not one your kids have used to wash the turtle.

If you are not a cutsie chick or guy then just eat them standing up in the kitchen slathered in drippy butter. I do mean slather the muffins, not yourself. I see how that first sentence could be totally misunderstood.

I'm not checking to see if you present them in a decorative manner. Do what you want!

Dig in.

Scratch Cornbread

I have students all at different skill levels. So, I felt I needed to give instructions for making a nice cornbread. A lot of recipes call for this method of mixing called the muffin method. It is basically combining the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls. In culinary school the instructor said "you always pour the WET over the DRY". Always. So that is the rule I follow.

Muffin Method is a basic skill, and one I think everyone should have. Ever since public schools started taking Home Economics off the curriculum, it isn't surprising that a lot of folks don't have even basic cooking skills. Not everyone had a mom like mine who has a bachelors degree in Home Economics education. Most of the young mothers I teach are anxious to try new recipes and improve their cooking skills. So if you are one of the beginners, here's the play by play on homemade cornbread...

Cornbread from scratch is nice for a few reasons. One, it is cheaper than heck. What do I mean By cheap? It may not seem so cheap at first since you need to have flour and cornmeal on hand, but in the long run, the 3-5 dollars it takes to stock your cupboard with them is cheaper. I made this huge batch of cornbread for around 25 cents. The little blue boxes on sale are sometimes 25 cents, but don't make even near the amount of cornbread as this recipe does! Second, I can control the ingredients so I know there isn't any added chemicals. Third, It doubles for dinner or breakfast.

For breakfast, try it drizzled in honey or maple syrup.

For dinner, try it with beans or stew.

On to the Muffin Method...

Corn Bread (recipe from Aunt Jemima's cornmeal bag)

Turn on your oven to 425 degrees.

Get two different bowls.

Combine dry ingredients [do this in a large bowl, 2 quart works great]:
2 cup corn meal
2 cup flour (I prefer white wheat flour) (Do I need to show how to measure flour?)
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar

Combine wet ingredients [This bowl can be smaller, like a large cereal bowl]:
2 egg, beaten (may use 1/2 cup egg beaters or whites for no chol.)
2 cup sour milk or buttermilk (yes you can use regular milk or water instead)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Pour liquid all at once into the dry ingredients.
Blend with no more than 25 strokes so you will have a tender loaf. The mixture will be combined but not smooth. Also, be sure to scrape all the way to the bottom of the bowl. This is best done by hand instead of a machine.

Pour batter into a 9 by 13 inch pan. I use a stoneware pan. I love a crispy crust on the bottom of my cornbread. Bake 25-30 minutes.

Test doneness by inserting a skewer or cake tester. If it comes out without batter on it, then the bread is done. If not, put back in the oven for 5 or 6 minutes.

Look at my nice crispy crust...

Serve warm with beans or a little butter and honey. It's excellent with blueberry sauce believe it or not. I hope this helps!

It's Good to Be an Old Maid...

Seriously, I love a good Ol' Maid!!

My granny used to always get after us..."Stop fighting over the Old Maids...you kids are crazy!!"

I don't know... I just don't know how those crispy little nibblets of popcorn could taste any better on the bottom of the bowl. Know the ones I mean? The ones that have popped slightly and are all crunchy and popcorny. (Is popcorny a word?) Well, they are my favorite. So much so that a few years back I decided I wanted to make them the main snack instead of residuals to the fluffy stuff. Mind you, I make the fluffy stuff, but I do love a good ol' crispy treat. They are loaded with fiber and down home goodness too. Just the thing on a movie night instead of processed microwave stuff. Though I do sometimes indulge in the micro-cooked too.

Have you ever seen so many ol' cuties together?

These are really hard to make...kidding. Actually they are so easy it seems insane to me that more people don't make them! I think if more folks knew the secret, it would be a staple!

So here's the secret, ready? Soak the popcorn first. 6-8 hours. 2 cups covered in water.

Just about an inch over it's head...

Drain it after 6-8 hours and pat dry with a towel.

Put popcorn in a covered popper or pan with a lid.

I use one of these whirlie popper gizmos.

It whirls the popcorn so I don't have to keep moving the pot over the burner to move the popcorn.


I put the kernels in the pot with 1T oil.
Get the pan good and hot.

Cook on Medium high.

They will start to pop something awful!!... Crazy sound too. Like my boys playing "army" chucking hot wheels as hand grenades and hitting the walls. EEK.

But the sound is worth the resulting pot of love...

Season however you want. We have done ranch seasoning, cheese powder, Parmesan and garlic, sea salt and pepper...if you put 2T sugar in the pot at the end of cooking, it will be like kettle corn nibbles. I have even gone so far as to stir in a little melted white chocolate. Ouch. Try them. You can thank me later.

Creamy Southwest Polenta on Roasted Vegetables

Magic Merlin helped me with dinner tonight. I, the fairy princess chef, was in need of some new magic. I hit the computer and found a very cool blog called The Merlin Menu . There was a gorgeous picture of some creamy polenta. It looked freakishly easy and delicious. Merlin said it would go with anything, the perfect side dish. I started thinking about my vegetarian hubby and decided it would make a great main dish too. Heck, it can go with vegetables! The Arizona desert looked especially pretty today so I went with Southwest. What resulted was a combination of Merlin's magic, and my own. Here's what I used:

Creamy Polenta:
4 cups water (I used vegetable stock since it was for dinner)
1 cup polenta (it's cornmeal folks. I used a fine ground but the medium grind is awesome!)
1-2 T butter (I used the light stuff)
8 oz cream cheese (I used 4 oz, light with jalapeno and garlic)
Salt and pepper

Roasted veggies:
4 cups corn, fresh (frozen will work in a pinch)
2T garlic infused oil, 1 T for corn, 1T for bell pepper and onion
2 medium bell peppers, chopped
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
cumin, coriander,ancho chile powder, fresh cracked pepper

Melt butter into boiling water.

Add the polenta cornmeal. Stir constantly over medium-low heat 20-30 minutes (I used the finer grain and it took only 15 minutes).

The polenta was cooking pretty well. , I added the cream cheese. Once the cheese was incorporated, I transferred the thick pottage onto a lightly oiled sheet pan with a 1 inch lip. Spread it out and put it in the fridge until dinner time. Now Merlin served his creamy,right from the pot. He gave great ideas on re-heating it too. I know my hubby will eat it either way and that my kids would probably like it in a shape. So I did the sheet pan and then fry method...that is, I ate a bowl from the pot, put the rest on a sheet pan and smiled uncontrollably. This was gonna be AWESOME!!

I chopped. Mixed bell pepper and onion, saute in a large skillet on super hot heat for the fajita effect, though next time I will probably just roast them with the corn. I then added some ancho chile powder and some oregano...and as always salt and fresh cracked pepper.

The corn, cut off the cob and mix in a bowl with the oil and 1-2 tsp cumin, fresh cracked pepper, and salt. Place on a cookie sheet with an edge so it doesn't fall off and put on the top rack in your oven with the heat set on "broil". Leave it there 3-4 minutes, checking often so it doesn't burn.

To crisp up the polenta:

I cut the chilled in squares and then lightly fried it in a little garlic infused olive oil.
Then stacked it on the cooked veggies. Plum sauce was pretty easy. A couple of tablespoons of plum jam, heated then drizzled.

Look at it sparkle in the sunlight. Ahh dinner on the patio.

The final test...will the kids eat it. Yup... grin. Note to self, talk to Little Man about doing a great job on eating those veggies...and a little reminder to chew finger nails less...

Oh yea, and Ronit can eat this! It's gluten free and yummo!

Lehavah Ooo-La-la Cornmeal Anise Cookies with Orange Icing

Jimmy Crack Corn and I don't care..

What kind of attitude is that?

This is a corny post. Brace yourself.

My friend Ronit Lehavah came to visit last weekend. I had not seen her in years... After the girlie squealing died down...which was a while, we chatted. Oh it was heaven on earth. Her mom came too and we found we both have a great passion for cooking--ooo I love kindred cooking souls!! Drooling over old school cookbooks. It wasn't pretty to see the drool, but fun. I am sure we will hear more from Linda in the future. Love love darling!!

Okay so back to the Ronit subject. Ronit has some very unique dietary needs. Ones that effect many, but that seem especially challenging for me now, because she is my dear friend and her pain is mine. How's that for enmeshment? At any rate, here is what we know so far...no gluten. That's one I can usually handle, but add to that...no rice, no potato...EEEK!! The only starches she can have are tapioca, corn, and buckwheat. That's it folks. So I have decided to add some recipes that will henceforth be known as "Lehavah Ooo-la-la"

So let's get Crackin'. Ronit needs some REAL food. Well, maybe a treat. Cornmeal cookies are my answer to the craving for sugar cookies. Sorry my "no sugar" friends. This one has some. I didn't take the time to try it with honey but try using 1/2 cup honey to replace the sugar and one less egg. It should be fine.

Wouldn't you know that I was plum out of cornmeal when I decided to do this recipe but we did have popcorn. So it went into the mill. You can just use regular cornmeal if you don't want to put your kids to work.

I really liked seeing my son pump the crank and show me his pecks. Quite funny.

Get your stuff together:

2 1/2 cups cornmeal

1/2 cup soy flour (Ronit can have soy! Yea!!)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened (you can use the Heart healthy stuff too)

1 tsp anise extract (or 2 tsp seeds...Ronit can't have seeds)

2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg replacement)

frosting:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 T water (more or less depending on how thick you like your icing)

2 tsp orange zest

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees (or open the flaps of your solar oven and point it toward the sun). Combine the cornmeal, soy flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and butter until they look like this...

Now, here's a trick...if I can share one. Take this mixture and put it in a quart size storage bag. Write "Add 2 eggs, mix well, put on greased cookie sheet, flatten and bake 8-10 minutes." .Repeat the measuring and mixing process as many times as you want, and you have cookie mix, ready to turn into cookies at a moment's notice. If you use butter, store the mix in the freezer. Really, we don't want rancid tasting puke mix. Right? Note to self: make super luscious cookie mix for when Ronit visits again...

Okay, now if you intend to bake the cookies now...and really, why wait? Add your eggs and anise extract (you can use almond or vanilla if you prefer)

Mix them really well. It's gonna be crazy tight.

Put little Tablespoon balls on an oiled cookie sheet and flatten with your hand.
Bake 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes...until they are all golden and toasted. MMM.

Cool slightly on the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack. When cool completely, combine the ingredients for the frosting and spread on the cookies...

They are crispy and yummy. Plus, look how cool the frosting looks. Love you Ronit!!