Hal O'Peno's Cast Iron Cornbread

Cornbread was voted the #1 cast iron classic here at Wasp Foodie. Of course it would be! It's rustic, simple and cooks up beautifully in cast iron cookware.

Check out this recipe. It's easy and the jalapenos can be omitted for a less-spicy-more-bland taste.

You will need:


DRY INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup corn meal
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon or more of salt

WET INGREDIENTS:

2 egg whites
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil (forgot to add to pic above!)

You'll also need 1 to 2 jalapenos and a cast iron skillet.

Preparation:

~ Chop up a jalapeno. I sliced one and only put it on top, but you could add chopped jalapeno to the batter as well. Be sure to remove the seeds.

DON'T TOUCH YOUR EYES, NOSE OR OTHER MUCUS MEMBRANES!

~ Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

~ Grease the skillet. I used Crisco.

Step one: Combine dry ingredients and mix well.



Step two: Add wet ingredients and stir until combined. Don't over do it.



Step three: Pour into cast iron skillet.


Step four: Adorn with jalapenos and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.



Step five: Pull it out of the oven, slice and eat!





MMmmmhhhhhm, butter.

Jess's review:

Perdy darn good. I like that the jalapenos just sit on top- this way people who aren't into heat can pick them off with only a little residual spice and flavor left over. This would go great with some chili or stew... or just plain with butter and a glass of milk!

Royall's review:

"Corn-tronic" says the bread robot. Four stars. The only thing keeping it from a five is having a jalapeno chopped up in the batter.... or maybe TWO more jalapenos chopped up in the batter!

Lazy Sunday Braided Rosemary Bread

Nothing makes me feel accomplished quite like making a loaf of bread... or two! For me, it is a great distraction from doing other work that really needs to be done on the weekend.

Plus, I wanted to use the rosemary I recently bought before my un-green thumb and the Arizona "valley-of-the-sun-with-no-rain-and triple-digit-temps" kills it.

The recipe, Braided Herb Bread, comes from my favorite cookbook, The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook from 1989.

Time: be prepared to spend pretty much the bulk of your Sunday (at least 4 hours)

Ingredients: salt, rosemary leaves, yeast, flour, water, butter, egg

1. Put salt (1 tbsp), rosemary (1 tbsp), yeast (2 packets), and flour (2 1/2 cups) into a kitchenaid bowl.

2. Place water (2 1/2 cups) and butter (1 tbsp) in a saucepan and heat until it reaches around 120 degrees.

3. Mix water and butter into the bowl containing salt, rosemary, yeast and flour at medium speed for a couple minutes.

4. Continue mixing and slowly add 4 1/2 cups of flour. Dough should form into a ball.

5. Place into a greased bowl, cover and let rise for an hour. During this hour, you should probably accomplish something else with your day. Maybe put the laundry away before the cat gets fuzz all over it.


6. After the dough rises, knead it for 10 minutes. Add "workout" to your list of accomplishments for the day.

7. Cut the dough into 6 pieces. You will need three for each loaf of bread.


8. Roll out into ropes and braid together, place on cookie sheet.


9. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes. Watch the Olympics.

10. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and brush loaves with egg.

11. Bake for 30 minutes.

12. Take pride!