Meal three: Did you cook? Smells like burn.

A little picture book for you: Wednesday's cornbread.
The batter prep. Have you noticed that I collect red kitchen stuff yet?
Pouring the batter into the hot oil made a very satisfying crackle. Check out the bubbles on the left!
Hot out the oven:

Seriously, could you have resisted this close-up?

And, finally, beans n' cornbread!


Last night, Ryan was at his art class so I had some time to do goofy things around the house, like re-season my cast iron skillet. I say re-season because I washed it wrong the very first day I had it--which necessitated a re-seasoning of a pre-seasoned skillet (thanks Martha Stewart) that had only been used once before (for some killer tortillas).

But, when Ryan got home late and asked me if I'd been cooking, he meant that our apartment smelled a little funny. And it did smell a little like burning vegetable oil. Hmm.

Point being, my skillet was ready for my next meal. I'd been wanting to try homemade iron skillet cornbread for a while, and the two ears of corn and local honey in the Greenling box were the perfect addition to a basic recipe. I adapted my own version from a fellow Texan's website (http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/).

Here you go:
Preheat to 450 and once the oven's ready, drop 2 tbls vegetable shortening into the cast iron skillet and put that in the oven. This heats up the oil and prepares the skillet. And it's gonna give you some nice crispy edges.

Mix these dry ingredients...
2 cups white cornmeal (yellow is fine, but all I had was white)
1/2 flour
a pinch salt
1 tsp baking soda

And mix these ingerdients...
2 cups buttermilk OR 2 tbls apple cider vinegar + 2 cups milk (this is a sub for buttermilk that works great)
1 egg
2 tbsl honey (I don't care if they say Texans don't like sweet cornbread, I DO!)
fresh corn kernels--i used 2 ears

And then mix it all together.
Pull the hot skillet and oil out of the oven, and CAREFULLY pour the batter in. It splattered--which I was not prepared for--but all was good. Pop that baby in the oven and bake it until it's nice and firm and golden brown on top. Took about 25 mins for me.

I had Ryan stop by one of our favorite Tex-Mex places on the way home and pick up 2 pints of borracho beans (they make the best). We put the cornbread in bowls and poured the beans on top. Voila! A scrumptious Tex-Mex lunch.

Tonight's fish taco night, so no more cooking until tomorrow... I think I'll do something with the leeks and potatoes and green beans. We'll see.