Monday, December 28, 2009

The Sacred Family Recipe...

My family has a secret family recipe. I've always been very proud of this fact. My whole entire life we've only come across one other family who made the same dish. However, even though it's special and unique to our clan, we've never really managed to keep it secret. It's just too good, we have to share it! So, now that I'm officially sharing it with the world wide web, I expect to find many more families who make it. ; )



Scouse (like mouse!)

Day old cornbread
Milk
Electric Skillet

(very complicated, you can see...)

Take your day old cornbread (or, if you're making it just for this meal as I often do, take your fresh cornbread) and crumble it up nicely into an electric skillet. We always use electric skillets because they provide the most even heat and...well, it's just how it's done. Tradition you see. Crumble enough cornbread to evenly fill the skillet. Now pour milk over the top of the cornbread, just enough to moisten and cover it all.


Mmmm...

Now cook the mixture...



(Look at those flavor waves!)



stirring frequently to keep the bottom from burning...





Keep cooking it...




See, it's starting to come together? We want to cook all that milk out and bring it to a nice, creamy, sticky consistency. Sticks to your ribs that way, see?


Hm, now we're talking. See how it came away from the sides and started sticking to itself?


Perfect.


Now dish it out. Don't be skimpy. But, you will be surprised how filling this is. Like I said, sticks to your ribs.


Now you can top your yummy, delicious, scrumptious Scouse with your favorite toppings. I believe the only true and faithful way to eat it is with lots of butter and honey.


My dad thinks it's great with salt and pepper. My mom loves jams and jellies. Some have even been known to use syrup. Personally, I think that's sacrilege, but that's just me.
This simple beauty is perfect for breakfast, lunch, or supper.
Serve it up with some crispy bacon or sausage, eggs, or any other breakfast foods.
Bon appetit!


Sunday, December 13, 2009

When dreams come true

Normally I don’t act on any dreams I have. Mostly because they involve craziness that I definitely don’t need to add to my life. Like pieces of the ceiling falling down on me while I am inexplicably immobile below. Or dreams of babies getting swirlies. (I know…I really have no idea. )
But the other day I woke up thinking about apples and sweet potatoes and how good they would be together. Fried. With butter and brown sugar and definitely cinnamon. So I got up planning on making those that day, and it didn’t even hit me as slightly odd until halfway through the day when I realized…I must have dreamed that. I certainly am not coherent enough in the mornings to consciously plan a brand new recipe. I barely do that successfully when I’m wide awake with a Dr Pepper in me. But at this point I was completely sold on the idea, so I made them anyway. Who says inspiration can’t strike during REM? I mean, think about it, maybe our most brilliant moments actually occur while we are deeply asleep, and we’re just never aware of them? It could happen. Anyway. I tried it, and I was so pleasantly delighted with what I ended up with! I loved the tart-sweetness of the apples and the starchy-sweetness of the sweet potatoes. The different textures blended wonderfully too. Soft and tender apple with the (again) starchy firmness of the potato. And of course, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon taste good with anything. Who knew dreams came true!!



Sweet Fried Apples and Taters

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 pink lady apples, cored and cubed (not peeled)
1 stick of butter
½ cup of brown sugar
Cinnamon

Melt 4 tbs of butter over medium heat in a skillet. Add cubed sweet potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes start to become tender, about ten minutes. Add the cubed apples and cook until both potatoes and apples are nice and tender, but not mushy, about another ten minutes. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon and stir to combine. In a separate small pan (or just in a bowl in the microwave) melt together the other four tbs of butter and brown sugar. Once melted together, stir into skillet. Allow it to melt and simmer for a few more minutes, until the sauce reaches a nice consistency. Serve warm and delicious.
Note: This would be great on the grill! Just combine all ingredients in a foil packet and grill until tender. You could probably cut back on the butter just a tad, since it’s all getting cooked together at once.