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Microwave Cornbread!?!

Ingredients List:

  • 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1/2 Cup Cornmeal Flour
  • 2 Tbsp baking powder
  • 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 Cup Milk
  • 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp Olive Oil

Tools:
Wooden Spoon
Whisk
Mixing Bowl
8×8 Baking Dish
Butter, or Cooking Spray

Mix the solids, and whisk the liquids, add the liquids to the solids to and whisk until a batter forms. Don’t want any dry clumps in it. Once it’s well whisked, pour into a glass baking dish, your preference of thickness, but we chose a typical 8×8 baking dish. Microwave (on high, we have a 900-watt) for 3 minutes 30 seconds, and voila. In less than 10 minutes, on the first try, you have some delicious cornbread.

On Sunday I made Chili, and my fiancee made cornbread waffles bowls. While that was good she wanted to have regular cornbread the following day with the left-overs. But, I inadvertently occupied our oven with a banana bread, without thinking about how long it takes to bake and how close dinner was.

Luckily we have a microwave, and a quick “Hey Google” later and I was happy to discover that yes, there are recipes out there. I settled on a simple one that goes as follows

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Ground-Beef Keema Curry

Ingredients List:

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil (not Virgin, not Light)
  • 1 onion, chopped (medium in size, white or yellow)
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp ginger, minced
  • 8 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 3 zucchini, chopped
  • 1 lb. of ground beef
  • 2 Tbsp curry powder, or home-made mix
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
  • 2 tomatoes chopped, or a 32 oz can of hot salsa (tomato, onion, garlic, pepper)
  • 1 cup chicken stock (exclude if using canned tomato)
  • salt to taste
  • cilantro for garnish, chopped







Home-made Curry Powder Mix

  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp Ceylon cinnamon

Quick and easy one-pot meal that can easily be made more complicated for company. Begin by heating your pan to medium, and pouring the oil into the hot pan. Immediately followed by the chopped onion. You can prep everything else after this but the onion should be prepped ahead of putting the oil in the pan. Cook the onion for 5-10 minutes depending on how caramelized you like it, and add the garlic 2 minutes before adding ginger, mushrooms, & zucchini.

After 5 more minutes, push all of the vegetables to the edges, and put the ground beef into the center of the pan. A 90% lean is what I like for this but any ground-beef will be fine. Brown the beef, seasoning with half of the spices, while the other half can be sprinkled on to the ring of vegetables around the beef. Mix everything up and when the meat is about browned to your satisfaction, no more than 5 minutes, add the tomato and sprinkle more seasoning until it smells great to you. What I’ve listed is more of a guideline.

Finally, add the chicken stock and stir so everything is evenly distributed and combined thoroughly. Place a lid on the pan, turn the temperature down to medium-low, and let simmer together for 10 minutes.

Serve over Basmati rice for a more traditional Pakistani-restaurant feel, but we already used zucchini instead of green pea’s so it’s not very traditional. Any rice you have will suffice, I prefer spicy brown rice, which I’ll have to remember to link to later.

Enjoy this quick week-night one-pan meal.

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Thai Iced Tea

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups water
  • 4 organic black tea bags
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 anise stars
  • 1 green cardamom pod , smashed
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 cup half and half (approximately), (some folks also use coconut milk, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk)
  • ice

My fiancée wanted to enjoy some Thai Tea at home, and at first we just bought some bags of flavored tea. It was fine, but missing… something. So, as a loose-leaf tea enthusiast, I suggested trying to make it from scratch.

We stumbled at first, following recipe’s from larger sites that threw everything in but the kitchen sink, but by attempt/recipe three, we found it: an excellent recipe from WhiteonRiceCouple. I gotta hand it to them and give much respect to their Auntie Chung: It’s really really, really really really, outstandingly good. In fact, it hits the mark so well, it will change our take-out-Thai game. Immensely.

As for the instructions, please go to their blog to find that. I only copied the ingredients so I can find it faster in the future. But it’s not complicated: Fill pot with 4.5 cups of water, set it to boil your usual way. Instead of attempting to be enthralled by watching water boil, gather the remaining ingredients. Place the green cardamom pod in a tea filter/bag, and crush it lightly, add the star anise and cloves to the filter. When the water finally starts to boil, turn it down a bit, and toss in the tea bags, and your herb bag. Let that simmer for a few minutes, as you stir in your sugar until it’s melted in. Place the top on, turn the heat off, and wait.

The hardest part is waiting. Let this sit for at least 30 minutes, and up to 2 hours. The additional time will ensure a deeper flavor profile to your tea.

See, easy. But do yourself a favor and follow the real recipe and instructions from WhiteOnRiceCouple. They have some great photos, and the backstory on it is touching. Additionally, there’s an alternative method that uses some prepped stuff. But I like scratch.

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Big Mom’s Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients (makes 2+ pies), Straight from my Big Mom’s mouth:

  • 5 Large Yams
  • 6 Eggs
  • 1 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 1/2 Cup White Sugar
  • 2 Cans of Evaporated Milk
  • 1 1/2 cube butter
  • 1 teaspoon powdered sugar, nutmeg
  • 3-4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves

Modified Ingredients (makes 2 pies, far less sugar):

  • 4 Cups Yams (Peeled, Steamed then Mashed)
  • 6 Large Eggs
  • 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar (packed tight)
  • 2/3 Cup White Sugar
  • 20 oz Evaporated Milk
  • 1 Cube Unsalted Butter
  • 1 teaspoon grated Nutmeg
  • 4 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp pulverized Cloves
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions: Peel your yams, should need about 4 medium sized yams, and chop them up into similar sizes, I like to cut them into discs about 1″ across in the center piece and roughly similar volume sizes after. Steam these bad boys. If you don’t have a steamer, boiling is okay, or bake. If you bake them, leave them in the skin, and let them cool before handling.

While those are cooking, prepare your remaining ingredients. Feel free to mix the spices in a single ramekin or bowl. Divide Evaporated Milk into two separate 10 oz portions, you’ll have some left over for your Tea or Coffee. Lightly beat your eggs and lightly whisk or stir in the white sugar and 1 portion of evaporated milk. Set aside.

When the potatoes are ready drain them in a colander over the sink, and be cautious of the released steam. Once they’ve stopped steaming, return them to the now empty, but still warm, pot. Mash them well, and mix the butter, then the brown sugar in thoroughly. Now, stir in the dry spices (cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves).

Now, stir in the other 10oz portion of evaporated milk When that’s thick and viscous, stir in the egg mixture until it’s all one homogeneous amalgamation.

Let it sit for a bit, while you prep your pie crust in the fashion you deem appropriate. My Big Mom always bought pre-made shells in my life-time. But a delicious butter, buttermilk or lard crust is great with this.