Recipe Update


A couple of posts ago I discussed some recipes I was trying so I thought I would update.

Brownies -- the recipe I tried with three different chocolates was just too chewy -- in fact, it didn't taste done even though I cooked it longer than it called for.  So, I finally tried the one bowl recipe on the inside of the Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate Box and that is exactly what I was looking for.  After taste testing it was about as close to a box mix as I think I will get so it is going to be my go-to brownie recipe.

Cornbread -- I haven't made this recipe again but will this week.  I had tweaked the original recipe myself so I am going back to the original recipe only I am going to cut the sugar in half.  I will revisit when I have done that.

Squash Salad -- I recently read the book French Women Don't Get Facelifts and was surprised that there were some recipes included.  One caught my eye and I tried it yesterday.  It is a squash salad and it was surprisingly good -- I wasn't sure what to expect.  The ingredients are yellow squash, thinly sliced , zucchini sliced into thin ribbons and cherry tomatoes.  A light dressing of olive oil, sherry vinegar and lemon juice is added along with chopped fresh mint and feta cheese.  I had to change the recipe in a bit because I didn't have the correct ingredients.  I substituted lime juice for the lemon juice because I was out of lemon juice.  I also substituted white wine vinegar for the sherry vinegar and I had to chop up a tomato as I forgot to buy cherry tomatoes.  I don't think the tomatoes made a big difference but I am not sure about the lime juice and the different vinegar.  With all that changing, though, it was really good.  I had never thought about a squash salad but it will become part of my regular rotation.

For anybody who thinks I have taken all leave of my senses in my old age let me explain.  I am trying to get all the toxins and negative things out of my diet and my house so I have resorted to scratch cooking which is actually proving to be more fun that I thought it would be.  I am not a stranger to the concept but we have gotten to the point that we are either eating out or take-out or convenience foods and I am trying to change that.  I used to spend my time quilting or cross stitching or internet surfing -- now I find I am spending my time cooking.  I have been dabbling in the creation of a greener life and also becoming more minimalist in our lifestyle and I like the idea of buying raw ingredients and putting them together to actually make something rather than just opening a box or a can and worrying about the ingredients that I can't pronounce or what is lining the can.  After a weekend pantry overhaul, I am standing back looking at my lovely, retro glass jars full of flours, sugars and cornmeal -- my turntables with my baking supplies organized where I can actually find something and all my bottles there in one place -- and it is peaceful.  It is somehow relaxing and reassuring to know that I can actually create what I want from these simple ingredients and don't have to rely on a box of something that I might or might not have.  I know that sounds really crazy but it takes me back to what I consider a better time -- my youth -- when everybody lived this way.  It makes me happy.

So, now that I have found the perfect brownie recipe and the perfect cornbread recipe I am off to find the perfect biscuit recipe.  I grew up eating biscuits made from Pioneer Biscuit Mix -- local to San Antonio -- and it makes lovely biscuits.  My goal is to find a recipe to make equally as good biscuits as those from scratch.  I will review when I do.