Corn Casserole - a new (old) side dish to try

So my sister has been telling me about her new favorite side dish, she says it's like if corn and brownies had a baby. I was (of course) immediately intrigued! Think of it as a gooey, cornbread, with golden, crunchy edges, with a soft and fluffy center.  You on board now too? Good, because you are going to want to make it for your next gathering, or tonight, or even possibly, right now.
 

Corn Casserole - The side dish that will rock your dreams

After a bit of internet research it looks like this is a version of the classic Paula Dean recipe that's been around for ages, it's just new to me. You will need just a few ingredients:

1 can corn (drained)
1 can cream of corn (as is)
1 cup sour cream
1 stick melted butter
1 box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
1 cup of shredded cheddar or combo shredded cheese

Combine the drained corn and the creamed corn

Canned corn and it's much less attractive cousin

After that in 1 cup of sour cream, 1 stick of melted butter, and the box of Jiffy corn bread mix

Stir that around until combined

Add in 1 cup of shredded cheese

Place in a greased 8x8 pan and bake on 400º for 40 min or until golden brown

Bring it out of the oven when it's golden brown with crisp delectable edges.

Who knew savory "corn brownies" would be a thing?

Let this bad boy cool for 5-10 minutes to help set.

Hello my golden brown corn casserole friend...

After that scoop some still warm onto your plate as a delicious side.

It's corn bread... it's corn... it's a soufflé, it's a brownie... you decide!

I couldn't help but love the crispy golden edges... it was my favorite part!

People are going to ask you for the recipe!

There is no bad angle on this thing, it's wall to wall scrumptious

I tried to get a close up on the fork, but the hot steam made it a bit blurry.

So if you want to try a new side (or revive an old classic) bring the hot, savory corn casserole to your next gathering. My sis wasn't sure it tastes as good the next day, I'll have to keep you posted.  I was thinking about heating it up in a cast iron with a little butter tomorrow and let you know.

Yummy!  Enjoy.

Stakehouse Molasses Bread

I've finally found it!  You know that tasty, craveable, slightly sweet, dark, molasses bread that comes with your meal at steakhouses around the country?  Well, I've been trying to make it at home.  I've tried multiple recipes online and haven't been satisfied with the results, until last night. I have finally found one that works great! The bread is beautiful, soft, and flavorful!  It has a great texture and is best served warm from the oven and slathered with butter!

Steakhouse Molasses bread!  Soft, sweet, and hot from the oven.

Let's get started.  This recipe by the way was found at "It's always Autumn"
You will need

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
1 Tablespoon of sugar
1 3/4 cup of wheat flour
1 egg
2 Tablespoons of butter, room temp
2 Tablespoons of molasses
1/4 cup of honey 
2 cups of bread flour (can also use AP flour)
1 Tablespoon natural baking cocoa
1 teaspoon of salt 

Optional:  1 egg for an egg wash, and quick oats for a pretty topping 
Printable recipe found here: Click me!

First put 1 cup of warm water, 1 Tablespoon of dry active yeast, and 1 Tablespoon of sugar into your stand mixer. 

I'll admit, this looks a tad gross.  Like I need a lab coat and a beaker to proceed.

Let it "proof" for 10 minutes, (or sit around until bubbly and foamy).

Ah that's better... I think

Add in 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1 egg, 2 Tablespoons of room temperature butter, 2 Tablespoons of molasses and 1/4 cup of honey.

I finally found a "molasses bread" that actually uses real molasses!

Once combined a little bit, add in 1 cup of the bread flour (we just used regular AP unbleached flour), 1 Tablespoon of baking cocoa power, and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Turn the mixer on low (with the bread paddle).

It's the unsweetened cocoa power that gives this bread it's darker hue, but luckily not a chocolate flavor at all.

Mix the dough together a bit, then add in the last 1/2 cup to 1 cup of flour.  I ended up using the whole remaining 1 cup.  Kneed the dough for 10 min on low, until the dough ball pulls away from the sides. The dough should be soft and elastic. Pull the dough out and roll it into a ball, place in a bowl where it can rise for 60-90 min, covered and in a warm place.

Pretty lil' dough ball

After 90 minutes (we did the full time recommended) we peeked under the tea towel and found it had doubled in size.

Hello big ol' bread lump!

We decided to split the dough in half, to make two long loaves, because my hubby gave me this handy dandy french bread loaf pan, that makes two loaves at the same time (and helps the loaves keep their shape instead of flattening out like they would on a regular cookie sheet).

Just sort of stretched and gently pulled the dough into a long tubular shape

Then your bread needs to rise a 2nd time for an hour. In a non-drafty place.

You really have to be patient to make yummy bread.

After an hour the bread has started to fill out the loaf pan.  Since I wanted this to look and taste like the bread you get at the Blank Angus Restaurant around these parts, I brushed the top of the loaves with an egg wash

action shot

Then sprinkle on some of those quick oats and they will stick to the egg wash.

Look how pretty!  Now it looks like a longer version of the round rolls you share at the restaurant

Bake the bread at 350º for 27-30 min. By the time these are ready to come out of the oven, your house will smell amazing!

Activate smell-o-vision here

You can let the bread cool all the way, or if you're like me and can't resist, cool it just a little and try to cut a slice while it's still warm so it will melt the butter.

Our hopes were high at this point.  It looked great... it smelled great... but would it taste great?

My hubby surprised us with some fancy Kerry Gold Irish butter, he had been saving for just such an occasion. The bread was still warm enough to start slowly melting the butter... YUM.

Steakhouse Molasses Bread, warm from the oven

We served this with some slow cooker loaded baked potato soup and green salad with garlic butter croutons.

Feast your eyes on all that delectable goodness!

I have to thank Autumn for this recipe that turned out fantastic!  It's soft, it's got a great texture, it smells fabulous... AND it tastes amazing.  It's the closest I've ever come to that yummy restaurant bread at home. 

You're gonna want to make this!

This would go great with a number of warm soups you make this fall and winter, but I will admit, it also tasted delicious toasted up in the morning for a hearty little breakfast treat.  So look no further, I've done all the searching for you.  Make this molassess bread and you won't regret it!

Enjoy.

Artichokes in a pressure cooker (Instant-Pot)

Did you know you can make artichokes in a pressure cooker?

So I went and did it.  I went and bought myself an electric pressure cooker. An Instant Pot.  I had heard fanciful (and almost unbelievable) tales from my Sister-in-Law that you could cook chicken breasts from frozen to done in 15 minutes, hot wings in 9 minutes, spaghetti in 6 minutes, baked potatoes in 12 minutes, and I even saw on Pinterest you could make homemade yogurt in a pressure cooker!  

What is the magical pot that breaks all known cooking and food safety rules?!

Say what?? How on earth is that even humanly possible? How does this thing actually work (barring wizardry and unicorn wishes), and what about all those scary explosion stories from the days of yore back in Grandma's kitchen in 1964??

Kaaaa-booooom!

Well the beauty of modern technology, is that they have removed (for the most part) the more dangerous aspects out of using a pressure cooker.  I took mine out of the box (very gingerly, as if I was handling a nuclear bomb) and managed to brave the boiled water test recommended in the instructions. I will confess, I was standing literally 12 feet away and hiding behind an open pantry door, just to make sure my kitchen wouldn't implode. After we safely depressurized, I wanted to take this baby for a test spin on something a bit more tangible... and way more tasty.

I had heard that pressure cookers are fabulous for steaming things, and my thoughts turned to my favorite veggie, artichokes. Normally, it takes about 40 minutes to an hour to steam those big ol' globe artichokes. 

Before learning how to cook these on my own, we had to go to Black Angus to get a plate of artichokes

We've always done the regular stream in a pot method in the past around here (click here for steaming artichokes the regular way), and it has worked just fine, though sometimes it's a crap shoot to get them just right, as in, not too mushy and at the same time tender enough to pull the leaves off for dippin'. Well I've cooked artichokes twice now in my new Instant Pot, and I'm here to tell you that you can have three perfectly cooked globe artichokes in 20 minutes!  No joke!

The first part of prepping the artichokes is the same as if you were going to steam them in a big pot.  Scrub the outsides with some water and a vegetable scrubber to remove any dirt or debris, and trim the stem to one inch.

Next, flip them around and cut off about one inch off the front of the choke. 

Take kitchen scissors and blunt cut across all the tops of all the leaves, to remove the tiny thorn that will for surely impale you skin if you are not careful.

Rub down each artichoke with a half of lemon (and set the squished half of the lemon aside for later). Next, in the bottom of your pressure cooker put:

Two cups of water
The squished lemon halves (sliced up thin)
2 teaspoons of minced garlic (or more to taste)
2 bay leaves

It's not that pretty, but it will add flavor to the steam, and thus the artichokes

Place the metal steam rack on the bottom of the pot, over your water, lemons, garlic and bay leaves.

Hard to believe you can steam something with only an inch or so of water

Place your three globe artichokes stem side up (facing down) - or sideways if they all don't fit along the bottom.  

You can fit three globe artichokes in a 6 quart Instant Pot

Seal the lid of the pot (I love the happy little chimes letting you know you are locked in place).  Make sure the nozzle on the top is set to "Sealing" and not "Venting" and you are ready to go.

Set the Instant Pot to "manual" and select 20 minutes.
That's it.  Just set it and walk away.  I chose to take this time and make some melted garlic butter (our favorite artichoke dipping medium) buy slowly melting a stick of butter in a small pan on the stove top with a spoonful of minced garlic in it. 

It will take a few minutes for the pot to come up to pressure, then a timer will count down the 20 minutes until ready. Once the cooking process is finished, you can quick release the nozzle using an oven mitt (steam will come screaming out in a loud and slightly terrifying way), or you can let it sit in there and naturally de-pressurize on it's own for a few minutes.  After that, carefully open the lid and peek inside.  

Perfectly steamed artichokes in the pressure cooker

You'll have yourself a dandy little set of globe artichokes, ready for devouring. I always take a knife and stick it down the center stem to check for doneness.  If it glides in with little resistance, you are cooked all the way through.

All that is left to do now is to cut the artichokes in half, clean out the choke (purple thistle-y parts with a spoon) and bring on the warm garlic butter! 

While they are still warm bring them to a cutting board face down, and with tongs, cut down the middle of the stem, slicing them completely in half.

In the center you will find a purple section of leaves (what would have become the flower) that you will need to scoop out.  Because everything is so soft, it comes out pretty easily. Just take a big spoon and gently cut out the center part and remove so they look like the two on the left.

Picture from Cooking's Good blog - The one on the far right still needs the center purple and thistle part removed

Preparing them this way is genius I tell you, because now you have an edible bowl where you can pour in a slathering spoonful of garlic butter and as you pull the leaves off, each bite will have a bit of butter on it.  If you have never eaten an artichoke before, simply pull off the leaves and scrape the lower half of the leaf in your mouth, pulling off all the "meat". It is DIVINE!

Don't forget to add on a couple of turns of sea salt over the finished chokes

They are great as an appetizer, on their own as a meal, or a side to steak, chicken, etc.

Also after you have pulled off all the leaves you are left with the very best part, the heart of the artichoke.  Be sure to saver these. I tend to cut them up like a cherished steak and pour over the remaining garlic butter and quietly savor each bite. I could almost go vegetarian if I could have these every night.  They are so satisfying! These have GOT to be my all time favorite green vegetable.  So don't be afraid to try this alien-esque type orb, as it could easily turn out to be your go to veggie - and DON'T be afraid to try a pressure cooker, they can shave tons of time off your crazy busy schedule while giving you quicker, easier, meal options. Stay tune for more experiments with my new Instant Pot. Enjoy!


 

How to Cut a Watermelon

A few years back I threw my parents a surprise 40th wedding anniversary luau.  It was a huge undertaking to plan, and though we didn't have a ton of money for a full luau dinner, we still wanted to make it extra special.  We timed the event as an after dinner party, and opted for mixed nuts, big ol' fruit platters, and three types of desserts.  We got pretty lucky in the fact that a lady that used to be a professional caterer was the one who volunteered to help me in the kitchen and cut up the massive amounts of fruit for the platters.  I learned a thing or two that day that I thought I'd pass along to you. The best part is, this really stretches how many people you can feed with just one watermelon.  First, find yourself a watermelon.

Before learning this tip, I would have just cut this bad boy up into wedges and it might have fed only 8-10 people.  Now it will fill a whole fruit tray or large party bowl with little to no waste.  Some good tools to have here is a plastic cutting board with a ridge (to catch the juice) and a very sharp knife.  Take your knife and cut the end off the watermelon

Turn it around and cut off the other end.

 
Because a watermelon is notriously round and somewhat slippery, cutting the ends off will allow you to stand it up on its end (the tall way) for a more stable cutting surface.  Following the curve of the melon, glide the sharp knife down the side of the melon, removing a thin layer of rind.

You should get a nice long piece of rind that falls off

Continue around, slicing off one strip of rind at a time.  The trick is you want to cut far enough in to remove most of the white layer, without taking off too much of the red part.

By the time you work all the way around, most of the white part should be removed.  If there are "strips" left behind, gently shave them with the knife until you can only see red.

 
Flip the watermelon over, stand it up on it's other end, and remove and remaining rind and white sections.

 
After that you will have something akin to a juicy football

 
Cut the "football" in half, longways, right down the middle

 
Now, working with one half at a time, lay the first section of watermelon with the flat side down.

 
Cut this section in half again, down the middle, lengthwise

Make some similar cuts about 1.5 inches apart

If you want large slices for a big platter you can thinly slice from this moment and have some fairly large pieces.  I tend to chop this up further for smaller pieces.  Matter of fact I will get a watermelon home, chop it up like this, put it in a big bowl, and the whole family will snack off it for days.  The above pieces are still pretty tall, so I will tip them over and cut them in half as well.

Each piece is usually about 1.5 x 1.5 inches square and I will slice them about 1/4 of an inch thick.
 

Keep slicing each section this way, and soon you will have half of a large bowl filled up. 
 

Now it's time for the other half of the watermelon.  Repeat the above steps.  Sometimes if my long "bricks" of watermelon are about the same size, I can cut them up two at a time.

 
Soon after you will have a heaping large bowl full of perfectly sliced watermelon to take to a party, serve to family and friends, take to your next picnic, or do what we do, store it in the fridge and snack off of it for days.

As soon as that juicy watermelon smell fills the air... the little ones will start to appear out of nowhere...

 
I hope you've enjoyed this way of cutting watermelon.  Before that big luau party I had never thought to do it this way, but it's the only way I do it now.  By the way, we cut almost all the fruit for the party this way.  It worked all the way from pokey pineapples to little fury kiwis.  This really did help stretch our food budget out as well.  Enjoy!