Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics Food, Drink and Cooking What are you making/having for dinner tonight?

Yummy, Greger!

Me too, Joe. I'll be trying that soon too...soaking in salt water.
Just to be clear, I cook my beans with all seasonings except salt...onions, garlic, cumin, etc.

Thanks for that info too, PIA, about the benefits of soaking.

Here's a good recipe:

* 2 s Tbsp vegetable oil
* 1 cup yellow cornmeal
* 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 tsps baking powder
* 1/4 tsp baking soda
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1 large egg

Instructions

Heat oil in an 8" cast iron skillet or muffin pans in a 450 F. oven for 5 min. Combine cornmeal and next 4 ingredients in a medium bowl; make a well in the center of the mixture. Stir together buttermilk and egg; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Pour into the hot skillet. Bake at 450 F. for 20 min. or until golden. Yield - 6 - 8 servings

Cracklins are fried pork rinds-they are also called chicharrones out this way. I add them at the verylast before pouring the batter into the pan or muffin cups.

A nice variation instead of the cracklins are to add 1/2 cup cut fresh corn, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese and 1 diced jalapeno to the batter. Great with chili.

Greger, may I please invite myself over for dinner some evening?

Your friend,

EmmaG

Why certainly, my dear, just give me a little notice so I can plan the menu.

Tonight was Barbecued Eel (Unagi Kabayaki), with Jackfruit and carrot slices served over a bed of Jasmine rice. The eel wont be going onto the regular menu. I do SO wish I had bought that pretty little Red Snapper that first caught my eye. It's just that the tank of live eels was so intriguing...

You euthanized the eel first?

Not me, cowboy! Those nice Chinese fellows behind the counter nets 'em, heads 'em, 'splits 'em and guts 'em.

Now, I hate to admit this, but yesterday a 15 year old girl who couldn't cook her way out of a wet paper bag taught me something about cooking. S&B Curry Mix
It's Japanese style curry, it's available in Publix and I just cooked some for lunch: Sauteed some onions, carrots and celery, added beef broth and a cube of the curry mix then a little bit of Coconut milk and more broth til I got the consistency I wanted. It was excellent and took only minutes to prepare. I bought the "Medium Hot" and there was no burn at all so you'd hafta be mighty wimpy to buy the mild.

The butter beans and ham hocks dinner turned out great. I didn't even have any leftovers. I steamed and then sauteed the collard greens with some bacon and shallots-they were a hit with my husband, who usually wouldn't touch something new.

Tonight, we are having pecan-crusted halibut with a light champagne-butter sauce, wild rice and grilled asparagus. My dietitian made me promise to eat fish once a week. I usually do not like fish. But this recipe is one that I had in Seattle at a friend's house, and I loved it!

Thanks about the cornbread recipe, Scout. Cornbread is a southern thing but even we make it different nowadays. I've always wondered about cracklins which was never anything I knew about from first hand. I figured they were the crispies from frying bacon,ham, etc.
I make corn bread with a cast iron skillet that has been heated in the oven to very hot. I don't do eggs though. Self rising cornmeal, lots of buttermilk, and oil is about it.
It comes out not cakey but crispy. It's very popular with my group.

"Not cakey but crispy" is perfect cornbread, Jiffy brand cornbread mix is the very antithesis of what cornbread should be. Perfection in cornbread should be able to be taken out of the skillet and tossed around like a Frisbee, hard and crispy on the outside, soft and chewy in the middle. I never really perfected a cornbread recipe. Cracklin's! OOOYAH! haven't had em in years. The ones my Auld Granny used to make weren't at all like those nice soft chicharones they were pig skin cut up small and roasted. Some were chewy some were crunchy and some were hard as rocks, you had to work on 'em a long time, like a dog with a bone. They take cornbread to another level.
Speaking of hot oily skillets, does anybody make Popovers or Yorkshire Pudding? Ideally beef fat is used for Yorkies.

You tell it, girlfriend. Just the way I like it. It reminds me of "Leona" by Wet Willie, an ode to Southern cookin'.