Variations on a Box of Jiffy Mix

My friend Martin has asked for the Corn Bread Recipe.  Providing it is almost an embarrassment. 

I've made lots of corn bread recipes.  I've gotten stone ground from the Mill (which is amazing).  I've used sour cream.  I've tried them all.  And most are good.  Some are fantastic.  But all of them take more time than a box of Jiffy Mix.  And most days, the difference isn't worth the time. 

So... Jiffy Mix.  Follow the directions.  You have a good pan of corn bread.

Add a couple tablespoons of honey and you have a sweet treat.  It is better than shortcake with fresh strawberries and cream or strawberry rhubarb compote.  Dot it with blueberry pie filling before you bake it and you have a wonderful dessert.

Add a can of corn (well drained) or an equivalent amount of blanched fresh kernels or thawed frozen kernels and you can call it a vegetable.

Add a can of creamed corn and a couple extra eggs to the above mixture and you have a quick cheater corn bread pudding.

Add a can of chopped green chilies, drained and a cup of cheddar cheese.

Add a a cup of cheese and as much bacon as survives the frying process.

Cut up the leftovers and toast in the oven for stuffing (or dressing although why they call it dressing when it goes INSIDE the bird always escaped me... or is that the difference.  It is stuffing if it is cooked inside and dressing if it is cooked along side?)

Cut up the leftovers, toast in the oven.  Put in a greased baking dish with leftover ham, veggies, whatever you have in the fridge.  Mix in a bunch of cheese and cover it with a mixture of eggs and milk/cream/half and half.  I usually use about 8 eggs and enough milk/cream to make up to 2 cups.  Blend well.  Toss in salt, pepper, garlic, spices.  Pour over the corn bread mixture.  You want to have enough milk/egg mixture to cover the bread (some floats) and be pretty sloppy in the pan.  It is not a a science.  Go with what you've got. 

 Let stand about 10 minutes.  If it looks really dry add some more milk and an egg.  Bake until set (350 for around an hour but check... your oven and conditions may vary).

Sorry, no pictures.  Just a quick post since the "recipe" is too long to make sense in a Facebook comment. 

Spud 3 Cooks: Tilapia, Green Beans and Potatoes

Spud three made dinner last night and it was fantastic!

I wend looking for something to cook and found tilapia fillets and green beans in the freezer. I went to the computer and searched for "tilapia green beans recipe". The first recipe to pop up was for Breaded Tilapia with Seasoned Potatoes and Garlic Green Beans.

I got busy so when Spud 3 came looking for dinner, I handed him the recipe. It is pretty complicated but he did it.

The startling thing about this recipe is that it 'fries' the breaded fish in foil packets. I was very skeptical but it worked.

A few notes about the recipe.

45 minutes is way too long to bake the fish. Next time we will stop and check after 30 minutes.
Oil the foil all the way around. The fish didn't stick to the bottom of the packet but it did stick to the top where it got flattened too much.

If you like potatoes you will want to increase the amount! They are yummy enough that doubling the recipe is probably a good idea.

Spud 3 has a strange (to me) dislike of frozen vegetables. He loves fresh and canned but not frozen. The recipe calls for fresh or frozen green beans. He insisted on using canned. It worked. Well it worked except for the confusion between teaspoons and tablespoons. The Tablespoon of minced garlic in the beans was a bit much, but it really wasn't as overwhelming as it might have been, particularly when the beans were mixed into the potatoes.

We will definitely be trying this again together and separately.

Grandma's Recipes: Lentil Loaf

From Grandma Waggoner's collection. First the recipe as written.

Serves 10 - 12

1 cup cooked lentils (Well done)
1 cup nuts - pecan, walnut, etc
1 egg well beaten
1 large can of evaporated milk
1/2 cup wesson salad oil
1 1/2 cups crushed corn flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 onion
1/2 teaspoon sugar

bake 45 minutes at 350 in 8" x 8" pan

Translation (in this case as best I can interpret). I'm not sure what sort of dish this is actually supposed to be.

The lentils would be standard issue green lentils. There would likely not have been any baby beluga's or red or other varieties, at least not on a regular basis.

Pecans or walnuts, pretty standard. These would most likely be chopped. They probably would have gone through the pretty red grinder-like chopper my father bought at the five and dime for her Christmas present when he was small. I would probably chop them to be roughly the same size as the lentils.

One egg... I would use a large or an extra large egg.

The large can of evaporated milk could be tricky. She seems to be pretty clear that she is using the unsweetened evaporated milk rather than the sweetened condensed version. This makes sense as the unsweetened version is more common in the German tradition. The tricky part is the size of the can. It is most likely that she would have been using the standard large 14 ounce can of milk. Today the can size is 12 ounces. Opening another can of condensed milk leaves plenty of leftovers in an odd quantity. If you have another recipe where you can use it great. If not there are a couple of things I would try. First, I'd mix the ingredients as written to see if it is too dry. If it needed more liquid, I might try adding another egg. A large egg is close to 2 ounces of liquid and might be sufficient to compensate for the difference in can size. Extra milk or fewer cornflakes might also be ways to address the problem.

Wesson oil. Grandma was pretty brand specific. This may have been due to some unique difference between brands available. Wesson oil was originally processed from cotton seed. However, it seems pretty likely that it would have been vegetable oil by the time Grandma was making her lentil cake. I am pretty sure that any good quality vegetable oil will work. Given the amount of oil used, I would stick to a quality oil because it could have an effect on the flavor of the final product.

Corn Flakes. Same old same old. Use what is on your shelf. I wouldn't try using frosted flakes unless you leave out the onion.

Salt and sugar. Salt and sugar are added in tiny amounts. I imagine the lentils can take a bit more salt. I am not sure of the value of a half tsp of sugar. There isn't any mention of yeast so it wouldn't be needed for that purpose. It could be mis-written and she is really using a half cup. However, with the addition of onion, I don't think more sugar is needed.

One onion. Up to this point the ingredients were going together in my head in the form of a dense dessert cake. Now, not so much. Strong yellow onions would have been more readily available (from the garden!). I would chop the onion, as with the nuts, to the same size as the lentils. I think the onion would soften up pretty well during the suggested baking time. It might be worthwhile to saute them in a bit of oil first. I can't fit onion into my impression of this dish so I am torn about what to suggest. I think I would try adding them raw the first time. They would add a different texture to it that way. But, if they ended up too strong, I would saute the next time. Given what I remember about the size of my Grandmother's kitchen, I think she would have put them in raw to save on dishes and space if nothing else.

The 8x8 inch size for the pan suggests a glass baking dish. She most likely used Pyrex. It might be wise to oil or use cooking spray on it before adding the lentil mixture. Bake at the suggested temperature and time but watch it. I have no information about texture or moisture. It will need to bake long enough for the eggs to set but it won't have to bake longer. Be wary of baking so long that the lentils dry out.

If you try it, let me know what you think. I'll do the same and let you know.

Grandma Recker's Baked Corn

This is a dish I remember from family gatherings as a child. Grandma Recker was my great grandmother and I have no real memory of her. But we still attend Recker Reunions every couple years. Perhaps I will have to make this to take to the next one.

Again, this recipe is a copy of a typed recipe card. It has a note in mom's handwriting on the side with the recipe for the medium white sauce which follows.

Baked Corn

2 c corn, drained
2 eggs
1 c medium white sauce
1 tsp sugar
salt
3 or 4 crackers broken in to pieces

Buttered crumbs on top.

Bake 425 about 30 minutes.

Medium White Sauce

1 c milk
2 Tbs flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbs oleo

Translation...

Most likely the white sauce is made as a standard white sauce. Melt the oleo (currently known as margarine or use butter) in a skillet. Stir in the flour and cook a few minutes. Turn off the heat. Slowly stir in the milk. I mean slowly. A few tablespoons at a time until it gets thin enough to stop causing lumps. Add the salt. Cook it down until it becomes relatively thick. I am going to have to try this. Regulation white sauce is pretty thin. I don't think that thin sauce will cook down into the thick custard I recall.

I am guessing that you make the white sauce first and allow it to cool enough so that it won't cook the eggs. Then beat the eggs, sugar, salt and white sauce together.

Stir in the crackers. I believe the crackers serve as a thickener. I doubt you worry much about keeping the structural integrity of the cracker. The most likely cracker to have around would have been saltines. I know that my grandmother always had Keebler Club crackers. They are slightly sweeter and most likely what she used when she made this. Stir in the corn.

Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish. Mom always made this in a pyrex clear glass round baking dish. It was probably the flameware version about 8 inches in diameter and 2 or 3 inches deep.

Top with buttered crumbs. These would likely be fresh bread crumbs made from stale bread. I can't picture mom making them. I am guessing she let the bread dry slightly and then grated it on the box grater. They would then be mixed with melted butter or oleo. Again, I will have to experiment with the proportions and get back to you on it. I know that the crumbs were very buttery and became crisp and brown on the top of the dish.

Bake at 425 degrees F for about 30 minutes. I know this dish is custard-like so I would suggest baking until the crumbs are golden and the eggs are set.