Cooking for Seven

Yankee cornbread. Slather it with butter. Pour on the maple syrup. Repeat.

This recipe is the perfect blend of sweet and nearly fluffy, and rustic and flavorful.

This cornbread has the best flavor when you use fresh ground or at least stone ground corn. However, it is still very tasty when you only have yellow cornmeal (as I did).

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Maple Cornbread

Adapted from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup stone ground or yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (8 ounces) whole milk
• 1/4 cup (2 3/4 ounces) maple syrup
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 425° F. Pour 2 tablespoons of the melted butter into an 8 or 9-inch square or round baking pan.

2) In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk the milk, maple syrup, remaining butter, and eggs. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir together just until moistened.

3) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve warm with butter and maple syrup.

Makes 9 servings

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And now for the giveaway!

Here’s what you’ll win:

One lucky person will win two (2) cotton dishcloths, hand knitted by yours truly!

What makes these dishcloths so special?

They are knit with a single strand of crochet thread. That makes for a much tighter knit than regular hand knitted dishcloths. And the scrubbing power is wonderful. They take much longer to knit, but it is worth it.

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How can you win these?

Leave a comment describing to me what you would do with this piece of cornbread. For example: would you drizzle it with honey, spread it with jam, crumble it into a soup, or chuck it out the door?

The Rules:

• Leave a comment as described above before 11 p.m. on Monday, May 18.
• You must leave me with a valid e-mail address.
• Only one comment per person.
• The winner will be chosen at random using random.org.

Good luck!

Edited Tuesday, May 19: The giveaway has ended. Thank you all for participating! The winner will be announced shortly.

We first tried this recipe about five years ago, for a tea party. It was a hit (at least among the female tasters), and it has been our chicken salad of choice ever since.

This recipe is creamy, yet not too greasy; rich, but balanced with fresh vegetables, sweet fruit, and toasted nuts.

It is excellent all on its own, but it makes a special little treat when served on buttered and toasted bread.

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:: Waldorf Chicken Salad ::

Adapted from The New Best Recipe

Ingredients:

Chicken

• 2 large whole, bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (for the best taste) or boneless, skinless chicken breasts (for ease of preparation)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt

Salad

• 2 medium celery ribs, cut into small dice
• 2 medium scallions, white and green parts, minced
• 1 large crisp apple, cored and cut into medium dice
• 6 tablespoons chopped, toasted walnuts
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
• Salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

1) For the chicken: Heat the oven to 400 °F.  Put the breasts in a foil-lined lined baking sheet. Brush with the olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt to taste. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 160° F, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature. If using bone-in skin-on chicken breasts, remove the skin and bones and discard. Shred the meat.

2) For the Salad: Mix the shredded chicken and celery, scallions, apple, walnuts, mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, and parsley together in a large bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve. Can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 day.

Serves 6 as a main course

To make the sandwiches:

• Your favorite bread for toasting, cut into triangles.
• Butter
• Lettuce
• Waldorf Chicken Salad (see above for recipe)
• Chopped green onions, for garnish, optional

1) Toast the bread, either in a toaster or under a broiler. Spread with butter. Allow to cool slightly.

2) Place a piece of lettuce on each triangle. Carefully spoon a portion of chicken salad on top of each. Garnish with green onions. Serve immediately.

Note: The sandwiches can be covered and refrigerated for a short while. The longer they stand, the soggier the toast will become.

And now, for the first of the recipes from our Girl’s Party: Creamy Onion Soup.

As I browsed Tastespotting for soup, I stumbled upon this recipe. The picture looked so appetizing. I was very much tempted to make this recipe from Dutch Girl Cooking, but my sister and I were sold on the first recipe. Perhaps another time I shall make the second.

The number of onions in this recipe kinda scared me. In the end I just couldn’t bring myself to put in eight large sweet onions. I can only guess that the recipe meant eight small-medium onions.

The original recipe was not a pureed soup. For my purpose, I wanted something creamy and smooth. It was very easy to puree with a stick blender.

When we served the leftover soup to Dad, he thought it was excellent. This recipe must be good.

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:: Creamy Sweet Onion Soup ::

Ingredients

8 or 9 small-medium or 4 large sweet onions

1 quart chicken stock

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 gallon (8 cups) whole milk

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cups white cooking wine (optional)

1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

kosher salt and black pepper

3 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Directions:

Melt the butter and olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat.  Peel the onions, halve them, and slice thinly. Add to the melted butter and olive oil. Don’t worry about the amount of onions. Season well with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20-25 minutes, or until the onions begin to brown.

Add the flour and stir to cook, about three minutes. Add the wine, if using, cook, stirring, for another 3-4 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a separate pot, heat the milk until hot. Add the stock to onions. Pout in the milk. Stir well.

Increase the heat to medium high and continue to stir. Grate the cheese. When the soup is starting to bubble and thicken, reduce the heat to medium low. If desired, puree the soup with a stick blender.

Add the grated cheese a handful at a time, stirring well, until the cheese is melted and the soup is creamy. Taste the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the Dijon and the cayenne. Taste again and make any necessary adjustments. Serve hot with croutons.

Serves 8-10

Soup seems so perfect for lunch. Quick and easy, yet very filling. This soup starts by sauteing onions and garlic in olive oil. A few seasonings are thown in and cooked a bit longer. The liquid, lentils and carrots are added, and the whole thing is simmered for about 30 minutes. Can it get any better than that?

We didn’t have any chicken broth or tomato paste. I think the soup would have been much tastier if we had. I still liked the flavors from the garlic and cumin. I’ll have to try it again, with the proper ingredients.

You can find the recipe here.

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When I’m not in the mood to spend hours slaving over lunch, I turn to one of my tried and true recipes. Like this soup. Throw a few things into the pot, bring to a boil, simmer for an hour or so, and puree. Can it get any more simple?

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: : Creamy Split Pea Soup : :

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Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 9 cups water
• 1 package (16 ounces) dried green split peas
• 2 cups cubed peeled sweet potatoes or russet potatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and celery and cook until tender. Stir in the water, peas, potatoes, bay leaf, salt, thyme and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 70-80 minutes or until peas are tender.
Remove from heat. Discard bay leaf. Using an immersing (stick) blender, puree the soup until completely smooth. Or cool slightly and puree in a blender in batches until smooth. Serve garnished with sour cream, yogurt, cheddar cheese, croutons, or nutmeg.

Yield: 10 servings.