What's for Sides? Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread

This weekend, fall was in the air.  It was the perfect time for chili and cornbread!  My friend Greg got out his awesome chili recipe (which I will be posting here later) and I looked around for a few cornbread recipes.  I found this one that I adapted.  It was orginally supposed to be for corn sticks, cooked in a cast iron mold.  I know I have just about every kitchen/cooking gadget known to man, but shockingly, I do not own cast iron corn stick molds.  So...I adapted the recipe and it came out REALLY good.  The recipe had just a hint of the jalapeno flavor without being too hot.  If you want more heat...add more jalapeno!  You could even add crisp, crumbled bacon to this and it would be awesome!  This is a simple recipe sure to please. Try it and enjoy!

Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread
Serves 6

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely minced
3 scallions, diced (white and green parts)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBSP butter or spread (I use Brummel & Brown)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal (not self-rising)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425. In a small skillet, heat the butter until hot.  Add jalapeno, onion and garlic.  Saute 1-2 minutes until fragrant and they begin to soften.  Remove from heat and let cool a bit.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking soda and baking powder.  Mix together and form a well in the middle.

In a small bowl combine egg and buttermilk.  Beat until combined.  Pour into well of dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined and a sticky dough is formed.  Add in pepper mixture and cheese.  Combine well.

Coat a 9x9 glass dish with cooking spray and add the dough mixture to it.  Cook for 20 minutes until bread is just starting to brown.  Serve hot with butter!

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What's for Sides? Spanish Rice!

**First of all, I must start by correcting an error in my last post.  Teriyaki is Japanese, not Chinese, as one of my dear Foodie Gurus pointed out.  She is, of course, correct, so if you are using it in a Japanese-style dish it is Teriyaki Sauce.  If you are using it for a Chinese-style dish, we'll call it Stir-fry Sauce!  There...that settles that!  :)

Tonight I was in a rice mood.  Not sure why but as I was thinking about what kind of rice, a dish came back to me that sounded good.  My roomate in college's mom used to make a version of Spanish rice and she would bring a huge batch of it down with her any time she would visit.  We would devour it like vultures (pretty much went for anything that didn't come from the cafeteria).  What was interesting about it is that it has green olives in it.  I didn't think I would like it, but it gives it a unique flavor. 

Now this rice, to me, tastes very Creole-esque.  But I guess Creole cooking is partially influenced by the Spanish. The saffron gives it more of a Spanish flair, along with the spanish olives.  If you don't have saffron, you can omit it.  If you do, maybe use the Mahatma Yellow Saffron rice in the store (just adjust the liquid to what it calls for on the packet).  If you hate olives (a lot of people I know, do), then you can omit those as well, but I do think they give this dish a little something extra.

I served this along marinated chicken and veggie shish-kabobs, but you could do just regular grilled chicken.  The rice tastes great with the chicken kind of mixed in.  I hope you enjoy!

Spanish Rice
Serves 4


2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 onion, finely diced
1/2 green bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 cups arborio rice (or white rice...adjust fluid accordingly)
3 cups chicken broth
1 large pinch saffron
1 can diced tomato, with juice
1/3 cup sliced Spanish olives
salt and pepper to taste

In large pot, heat olive oil.  Add onion, peppers and celery and saute until they begin to soften, about 3-4 minutes.  Add garlic and heat for one minute more.  Add chili powder and stir to combine.  Add rice and cook for one minute more.  Add in 2.5 cups broth and stir.  Add in saffron. Simmer, covered, on low for about 10 minutes, stirring every several minutes. Add in tomatoes and juice and return cover.  Cook another 10 minutes or until rice is fluffy and has absorbed the liquid.  If more liquid is needed, add it.  Add in olives and stir.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve and enjoy!

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What's for Sides? Spencer's Salsa!

Our friend Spencer makes the best salsa.  Whenever we have get-togethers, someone always asks her to make it.  I got the recipe from her a while back and ever since, I have not purchased any store-bought salsa.  Her recipe is so easy and so yummy!  It takes like, 5 minutes to make...less time than walking down the salsa aisle in the store. You definitely have to try it.  You will be a convert, too!

Tonight we had Taco Night and, of course, Spencer's salsa made an appearance.  I also found something new and tasty in the store.  I discovered this Frontera taco sauce (and no, I'm not getting paid to advertise this...I wish!). It is a sauce packet in the Mexican Aisle...the one I got was the Taco Skillet with Red Chile and Cumin.  I just added it to some lean ground beef (you can use turkey) and onion that I browned and simmered it for about 10 minutes.  Really good!  There is a whole line of these sauces (although my local store only had 2). It really was flavorful and made the tacos special. Give it a try and enjoy!


Spencer's Salsa

1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2-1 jalapeno, seeded
1 large handful fresh cilantro
1/2 medium onion
1 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes, drained
1 14-oz can tomatoes and green chilies (like Rotel), drained (use desired heat level)
juice of 1/2 lime
pinch of kosher salt
grind of black pepper

In a food processor, add garlic, jalapeno and cilantro and process until finely minced.  Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until desired consistency is reached.  Enjoy!

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What's for Sides? Nan's Delicious Artichokes!

We have lots of parties...it's what we like to do! A lot of the time we do kind of a pot-luck thing, where all of our friends bring food over and/or we cook together.  But sometimes we have parties that we do all the cooking.  At one of those parties, our annual Mardi Gras fete, my friend Nan came and brought me a little hostess gift.  She knows my love of food, so she brought a hand-written card of one of her favorite recipes, with some of the ingredients that go in it. It was such a cute idea and the recipe sounded great.  I FINALLY got around to making her dish last night, and wish I hadn't waited so long.  There's a reason she calls them her "delicious artichokes".  This was easy and really good!  All the flavors go perfectly together.  It's great as a side dish, and Sully and I thought it would be awesome as a stuffing for chicken, as well (just dice the artichokes up smaller).  Give it a try.  And next time you go to a party, try Nan's idea for a hostess gift...your friends will be grateful!  Enjoy!


Nan's Delicious Artichokes
Serves 4-6

• 4 TBSP olive oil, divided
• 4 anchovy fillets (don't be afraid, when cooked here, they taste nutty, not at all fishy!)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 TBSP capers
• 4 oz fresh bread crumbs (take the extra time to throw some old bread in the food processor, it's worth it)
• 3 TBSP toasted pine nuts (throw them in the toaster oven for a few minutes...be sure not to burn!)
• 2 pkgs frozen artichoke hearts, thawed (or 3 pkgs of the fresh pack ones in the produce section at stores like the Fresh Market)
• 3 TBSP fresh parsley, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat 3 TBSP olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium low heat and add anchovies.  Saute until anchovies melt into oil.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the red pepper flakes, capers and breadcrumbs.  Stir and keep on heat until bread is toasted, crispy and golden brown. Add pine nuts, salt, and pepper (be careful, anchovies are salty, so taste before you add more salt). Pour mixture into bowl and set aside.  Add additional TBSP oil and saute artichokes until they take on a bit of color and are tender.  Add reserved breadcrumb mixture and the parsley.  If you want, sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese. Serve!

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