Cornbread Dressing

And a family/internet recipe for a traditional cornbread dressing. Turned out very yummy, if do say so myself.

• 2 C flour
• 2 C cornmeal
• 2 T baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 4 eggs
• 2 C milk or water
• 1/2 C oil

• 1/4 - 1/2 C butter (1/2 - 1 stick)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 t dried thyme
• 1/4 t dried basil
• 1/2 t dried oregano
• 1 T dried sage
• 1-2 t salt,
• 1/2-1 t ground black pepper
• 3-4 C chicken broth

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1-2 C milk
• 2-3 eggs, boiled & chopped

1. Stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, & salt.
2. In separate bowl beat eggs, milk & oil together.
3. Add to flour mixture.
4. Stir just until smooth.
5. Bake at 200* for 30-35 mins.
6. Allow to cool.

7. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and saute onion, celery, green pepper and garlic.
8. When onions are tender stir in thyme, basil, oregano, sage, salt, pepper, cayenne and broth.
9. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat.
10. Preheat oven to 350*.
11. Grease deep-sided 9x13” pan or 9x13” and 8x8’ pans.
12. Crumble cornbread into large bowl.
13. Pour broth mixture, beaten eggs, milk and chopped boiled eggs over cornbread crumbs.
14. Mix well.
15. Place in prepared dishes.
16. Bake (at 350*) for 30 mins.

- I usually bake the cornbread the day before.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grandmas-Corn-Bread-Dressing/Detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cornbread-Stuffing-Southern-Style/Detail.aspx

Giblet Gravy

Belatedly posting my two new holiday successes from this past season (I made them both Thanksgiving [with help/tutoring from Mom] and Christmas [on my own!]).

• giblets from a turkey
o or chicken livers
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cube chicken bouillon
• 1 stalk celery, halved
• 1/4 yellow onion
o or 1 T dried onions
• 1 quart water

• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
o or equivalent water + bullion
• 4 hard-cooked eggs
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup milk


1. In a 2 quart saucepan, simmer the giblets, salt, pepper, bouillon, celery and onion in 1 quart of water for 40 to 50 minutes.
2. Discard gizzard, if using.
3. Chop liver and neck meat, if using, and return to pan.
4. Add chicken broth or if you have a turkey, use drippings (about 1 1/2 cups and 1 can of chicken broth).
5. Chop eggs and add to broth.
6. Mix cornstarch and milk together and slowly add to broth.
7. Stir well until thickened.
8. Reduce heat to low.
9. Heat through.

- I usually make the broth (steps 1-2) the night before.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Giblet-Gravy-I/Detail.aspx

Monkey Bread (Bread Machine)

Inspired by my IRL df GfG, I decided to make Monkey Bread for Thanksgiving breakfast.

Again, I fished around to combine several recipes to suit my needs (read: whims). I started here (where GfG got the idea), looked here, and here, as well. Oh, did I mention that I wanted to do the dough in the bread machine? (Well, I guess I did. In the title. But anyway . . .) No whackable cans of dough to be found here. No biggie. I let me trusty bread machine do the work, and it was just about as simple as whacking the can on the counter, if not quite as satisfying.

When all was said and done, it was a hit. Houston, we have a tradition.

• 1 C wheat flour
• 2 C white flour
• 1/4 C powdered milk
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1 C water
• 1 egg
• 1 T butter, softened
• 1 t salt
• 1 t cinnamon
• 2 1/2 t yeast

• 1 C sugar
• 2-3 t cinnamon

• 1 C butter (2 sticks)
• 1/2 C brown sugar

1. Place first group of ingredients in bread machine.
2. Set for dough cycle.
3. Stir together sugar and cinnamon.
4. Place in ziplock bag.
5. Divide finished dough into 20 pieces.
6. Drop into ziplock bag.
7. Shake to coat.
8. Place in bundt pan or deep dish baker.
9. Melt butter and brown sugar together.
10. Pour over dough pieces.
11. Bake at 375* for 25-35 mins or refrigerate and bake in the morning.
12. Allow to cool for 15 mins. before inverting onto plate.

Crustless Quiche

Even though I can now make pie crusts, I still like this simple way to throw together a quiche without worrying about a crust.

from Karen M

• 1 C veggies
o sliced mushrooms
o spinach, torn or chopped
o green onions, chopped
o okra, sliced
o carrot, grated
o cauliflower, chopped
o zucchini, sliced
o tomato, chopped

• 1 C protein
o hot dogs, sliced
o tuna, flaked
o sardines, flaked after removing spine and scales
o chicken, shredded
o ground beef or turkey, browned

• 1 C cheese
o mozzarella
o Monterey jack
o cheddar
o Parmesan

• 4-5 eggs
• 2 C light cream or milk
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• 1/3 C flour
• 1 T oil

1. Layer veggies and protein in greased pie plate.
2. Top with cheese.
3. Beat eggs with remaining ingredients.
4. Pour over ingredients in pie plate.
5. Bake at 375* F for 40-45 minutes, until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
6. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Easy Oil Pie Crust

I have a deep, dark secret: I have not ever successfully made a rolled pie crust. There, I said it. I feel better.

A while back, a friend and I made a deal: I make the cheesecakes, she makes the pies. She moved. I'm up a creek.

Oh, and often my mom comes for Thanksgiving and makes the pies. She doesn't really enjoy making pies, though (she's adopted Mrs. Smith as a member of the family, so she can claim "old family recipe").

At one point, I got desperate and tried the oil pie crust recipe in Better Homes & Gardens. It flopped.

This year, though, I got desperater (yeah, I know). I looked at the BH&G recipe again. And I went to my source of all sources (well, for recipes: allrecipes.com), as well. As I am wont to do, I took a little from each, and I love the result.

Woo hoo! I can make pies! :-P

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1T sugar
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 T milk

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place all ingredients in 9 inch pie pan.
a. Or place in medium bowl.
3. Stir together with fork.
4. Pat mixture into bottom and up the sides of the pan.
5. Poke holes in bottom and side of crust.
6. If your recipe calls for a pre-baked crust, bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light brown.
7. Use as directed in favorite pie recipe.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Pie-Crust/Detail.aspx

Banana Bread (GFCF, eggless, soaked, bread machine)

My friend's banana bread recipe adapted for whole wheat, soaked grains and GFCF & eggless. Pretty sure that counts as a new recipe. :-P

The fun part is that I ground 90% of the flours in my coffee grinder. I've been wanting a grain grinder "someday" for a long time but had contented myself to the white wheat flour that we can get here for the time being, since I don't have access (that I know of) to wheat berries, anyway.

Many GFCF flours, though, are made from things I actually do have access to, like brown rice, chick peas and coconut. I started thinking more seriously about getting a grinder when I realized that. Then, I started wondering whether my extra coffee grinder that I use for things like flax seed and powdering sugar would work to grind those things. I reasoned that they really weren't that much "harder" than coffee beans.

Sure enough, I was able to grind an entire bag of brown rice, plenty of coconut and some chickpeas. The chick peas are the most difficult of the bunch. They make a *ton* of noise bouncing around in the grinder before they start breaking down. I was concerned that they would break the plastic in the process (I've something similar happen with ice in a glass blender), and, sure enough, there's a tiny crack that I think may have been made by the chick peas. So, this is probably not a long-term solution, since the grains were not exactly as fine as I'd like them to be, and my coffee grinder might not hold up, but it's really nice to be able to save some money and have GFCF flours available more readily in the meantime.

I've got my eye on a Vita-Mix as my "someday" grinder/blender. We'll see when that someday comes.

• 1/2 C brown rice flour
• 1/2 C tapioca flour/powder/starch
• 1/2 C coconut flour (ground coconut)
• 1/2 C chickpea flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 C white sugar
• 3 T vegetable oil
• 2 T flax seed, ground + 6T water, whisked
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• 2 bananas, peeled and halved lengthwise
o or 3 small bananas, peeled and halved

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine.
2. Select the Dough setting, and press Start.
3. Mix the bread for 3 to 5 minutes until the bananas are mashed and all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
4. If necessary, use a spatula to push the dough from the sides of pan and scrape bottom of pan to ensure all flour is incorporated..
5. When 3 to 5 minutes have passed on the clock display, press Stop, turn off or unplug machine.
6. Smooth out the top of the loaf with the rubber spatula.
7. Select the Bake setting, set timer for an additional 7 hours and press Start. (The Bake cycle time may vary with machines, but should be about 50 minutes.)
8. To test the bread for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center top. If the bread is done, the toothpick will come out clean. If not, reset the machine on Bake and continue to bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
9. Remove the pan from the machine, but allow the bread to remain in the pan for 10 minutes.
10. Remove the bread to cool completely on a wire rack.

Soaked Whole Wheat Pancakes

When I originally posted my version of NoSpendMonth's pancake recipe (back in January), I promised that I'd play around with soaking the grains and replacing some of the fat with applesauce. So it took me a while. :-P

Here it is, though. We had these this morning for breakfast, and they were really good. Lighter than usual and more of a buttermilk taste, which I liked (not sour, just rich). I've got a stock of applesauce in the freezer, which made that modification simple (need to post my applesauce "recipe" soon; it's more of a "process" than a "recipe," but it's so simple that I want to share it).

• 4 C wheat flour
• 1 C oats
• 5 C milk
• 5 T vinegar
• 1 C butter, melted (2 sticks)
o or 1/2 C butter, melted + 1/2 C applesauce

• 3 T baking powder
• 3 t salt
• 3 eggs

DIRECTIONS
1. The night/7-10 hours before the meal, in a medium bowl, whisk together milk and vinegar. Leave to sit for 5 min.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together flour and oats.
3. Mix butter (and applesauce, if using) into milk mixture.
4. Stir milk mixture into dry mixture.
5. Cover and leave out 7-10 hours.
6. Stir baking powder and salt into flour mixture.
7. Whisk eggs in separate bowl and stir into flour mixture.
8. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat (if non-stick, oil is not necessary).
9. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.
10. Brown on both sides and serve hot