Yes, it's true! A couple poppy seed muffins can cause a positive drug test for opiates. So if you're being tested tomorrow, never mind, but the rest of you are encouraged to try this poppy seed muffin I'm testing for the cookbook, and let me know what you think. I think I have the formula down, and I really love the taste and texture of this easy recipe. Enjoy!
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins Makes 12
2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 stick (1/2-cup) unsalted butter, softened 1 cup white granulated sugar finely grated zest from 2 lemons 2 large eggs 2 tablespoon lemon juice 1 cup sour cream 2 tablespoons poppy seeds For the glaze: 1 tablespoon lemon juice 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl, and reserve until needed.
In a mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest, until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly before adding the next. Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the lemon juice, and 1/2 of the sour cream until combined.
Add half of the remaining flour mixture, and stir until combined. Stir in the remaining sour cream. Stir in the rest of the flour mixture, and then the poppy seeds.
Line a 12-muffin tin with paper baking cups. Fill each to the top with batter. Bake about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. While the muffins are baking, mix the lemon juice and powdered sugar together for form a thin glaze.
Remove the muffins from the oven when ready, and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Brush the lemon glaze evenly over the top of each muffin. This is not intended to be a frosting, but just a very light glaze to give the tops a little shine and extra kiss of lemon flavor.
When cool enough to handle, remove muffins from the tins and cool completely on a rack before serving.
Even though I've always found the name, "smothered pork chops," a little unsettling, it's one of my favorite southern recipes. A beautiful combination of dark, rich onion gravy covering pan-fried pork chops.
While the name may have some other more nefarious connotations, it really is quite appropriate. I mean, what else woud we use? "Covered pork chops," doesn't work. Swamped? Enveloped? Gravyfied? No, smothered pork chops is exactly what these are.
The secret to this very simple recipe is to take your time and really brown the onions well. Short of being totally black, you really can’t cook them too dark. This will give your gravy its deep, rich taste, and just as importantly, its mouth-watering color.
These are definitely going in the cookbook, so as always, if you give them a try, please let me know what you thought. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 4 large pork chops, about 1 inch thick 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 tablespoon butter 1 large yellow onion, sliced 4 cloves garlic, finely minced 1 rounded tablespoon flour 1 1/2 cup chicken broth 1/4 cup buttermilk 1/4 cup water 4 cups cooked rice, optional
Wow, what a crazy busy week this was! I tested and photographed 10 recipes for the cookbook, including the succotash recipe immortalized in the last video. The photo below is from the smothered pork chop recipe I did today, and I also had the video camera rolling, so stay tuned for that very delicious plate of pig soon. Have a great weekend!
UPDATE: I just posted the written recipe for this Smothered Pork Chops Recipe on my American Foods site. Enjoy!
When most of you hear the word, "succotash," you probably don't think of a delicious vegetable side dish, you probably think of Warner Brother's Sylvester the cat's catchphrase, "Sufferin' succotash!" But succotash really is a great, and very underrated recipe.
As I say in the video, this may be America's oldest vegetable recipe, coming from the Narragansett Indian word, "msÃckquatash," which according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary means "boiled corn kernels."
You can see from the photo, this is much more than that, combining an array of vegetables including corn, beans, and squash. These three ingredients were such an important source of nutrition for the Native American's they were referred to as "The Three Sisters."
The way they cultivated these three plants together was sheer genius. The corn's stalks were perfect for the climbing vines of the bean plants. In turn, the bean's roots captured nitrogen from the air, enriching the soil, producing larger crops. But it was the third sister that really made the system so brilliant.
Squash sends out long, winding vines with large leaves that stay close to the ground. This acts as an edible ground cover, which not only kept the weeds away, but also provided shade for the corn's shallow roots. It also kept the ground moist, which helped the beans grow, which helped the corn grow higher, which made for longer bean vines/yields, etc., and so on. Who knew succotash could be so fascinating?!
Anyway, I hope you give this easy and nutritious vegetable side dish recipe a try. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 tablespoons butter 1/2 yellow onion, diced 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 jalapeno or other small hot chili pepper, sliced 1/2 red bell pepper, diced 1/2 cup diced tomatoes 4 oz green beans, cut in 1/2-inch pieces 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn 1 cup frozen baby lima beans, thawed 2 green zucchini, cubed 1/2 tsp ground cumin pinch of cayenne salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution is a new show that debuts Friday, March 26 on ABC. The series will center on Oliver's ongoing crusade to change the way modern society thinks about food and cooking, especially when it comes to children and school lunches. As someone whose blog is dedicated to encouraging people to cook more fresh foods at home, I'm very excited by this project, and hope it lives up to all the hype.
To get you in the proper revolutionary state of mind, check out this TED lecture Oliver did recently. I've always been a big fan of Jamie Oliver's cooking style, and I think it's great for someone like him to use his celebrity to take on a system so horribly broken. Enjoy!
I know Easter is still a ways off, but I wanted to make sure you had plenty of time to build your own Rube Goldberg machine so you can smash some of those Cadbury Creme Eggs you'll be getting in your basket. To get more info about this incredible clip, here is the original Youtube page. Enjoy!
There are three things all real Texans love: high school football, executing people, and the King Ranch casserole. From what I hear, it's impossible to go to any sort of potluck and not see one of these.
I love posting about these regional culinary favorites, especially when no one knows for sure where the name came from. It allows me to put forth my own, often ridiculous, theory. There is indeed a King Ranch in Texas – they say it's one of the most famous ranches in the world, but as far as claiming credit for inventing this casserole goes, they're not interested. You can't really blame them…a legendary cattle ranch the birthplace of a famous chicken recipe? I don't think so.
Here's what I bet happened. You don’t build a cattle ranch without making a few enemies along the way. To get revenge, someone invented this dish and called it the King Ranch casserole just to annoy them. It was a brilliant plan. Without firing a shot, or bloodying a knuckle, they inflicted the ultimate cattleman humiliation.
Regarding this recipe, I have a few things to explain. I'm testing it for the cookbook, and so I wanted to stay true to the original formula, which explains the cans of soup. Also, as you'll hear me say in the video, I tried to add an extra layer of tortilla on the bottom, which was a mistake. It threw off the meat to grain to condensed soup ratio. Two layers are plenty; so if you make it, take note.
Lastly, since condensed soup is dangerously high in sodium, I didn't add any, but after sampling I decided that it did need some after all. Best to taste the sauce mixture and decide for yourself. Enjoy!
Meat from one cooked chicken 10 corn tortillas 1 white onion, diced 1 red bell pepper, diced 1 green bell pepper, diced 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 8 oz cheddar cheese, grated 1 can of cream of mushroom soup 1 can of cream of chicken soup 1 cup of chicken broth 1 can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes with green chilies 2 tablespoons sour cream 2 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon chipotle 1 teaspoon salt, maybe
