Fake Ginger

cornbread

Cheesy Corn Dog Muffins

Cheesy Corn Dog Muffins – only 4 ingredients! Cheesy cornbread muffins with sliced hot dogs in the center. Even the pickiest eaters love these!

Cheesy Corn Dog Muffins - only 4 ingredients! Cheesy cornbread muffins with sliced hot dogs in the center. Even the pickiest eaters love these!

I don’t think I ever talked to you guys about how much I love corn dogs. I’d definitely put them on my top 10 list favorite foods list. Maybe in the top 5. I love them so much.

Once, way back when I was an itty bitty college freshman, I had a vegetarian roommate.

For weeks and weeks I craved a Sonic corn dog but refused to get one because I was so worried that she’d be offended by me bringing a corn dog into our room!

So eventually, after weeks of stressing myself out and even consulting my internet friends because I hadn’t made any actual friends who wouldn’t be scared off if I told them about The Great Corn Dog Debate of 2003, I finally got brave enough to get a dang corn dog and then almost fell down our stupid skinny spiral staircase 5 times trying to get to our room because I was so nervous. And then guess what. She wasn’t even there! I was safe to eat my corn dog in peace, burn the the evidence (just kidding) and then I went back to not eating meat in our room.

Gahh, I was weird. Also, why is this one of the only memories I have of living in the dorms?

I’m hoping this story proves that I really love corn dogs. Not that I spend too much time thinking about food.

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Bacon and Pepper Jack Cornbread

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend. Mine went by waaaaaay too fast but I’m lucky that we don’t have preschool today which means that technically I can stay in sweats all day and skip makeup. So yay!

I feel like I did nothing all weekend. Like, I even skipped yesterday’s post because I was feeling so lazy. Plus we were about halfway through the zoo on Saturday before I realized I didn’t have anything made and photographed and at that point, it was a lost cause.

Yesterday I bribed my children with gumballs to get them to go thrifting with me. We found one beautimous green Pyrex but here’s the problem. Now, I need the lid that came with it. Which is going to cost me at least $16 on Ebay after shipping. So, a $4 dish with a $16 lid. Makes perfect sense.

Then I watched all 7 episodes of Graceland on my DVR. It’s one of those shows that I literally say “Ugggghhhh” when I realize it’s the only thing I have left but after about 20 minutes of the first episode, I am INTO IT and can’t walk away until I watch every episode.

During my Agent Briggs (let’s be real, he’s the only reason most of us are watching Graceland) marathon yesterday, I had a crazy craving for cornbread. I’m telling you, the carb craving is real lately.

So I made this awesome Bacon and Pepper Jack Cornbread. Typically I go for a sweet cornbread with nothing added in but this one was exactly what I was craving. It’s spicy from the pepper jack and just a little sweet from the honey. And bacon makes everything better!

Of course, you have to smear it with butter and put more honey on top! That’s the only way to eat cornbread.

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Southwestern Cornbread Salad

Southwestern Cornbread Salad – layers of lettuce, black beans, corn, tomatoes, red onion, cheese, and cornbread in a zesty dressing! Perfect for barbecues!

Southwestern Cornbread Salad - layers of lettuce, black beans, corn, tomatoes, red onion, cheese, and cornbread in a zesty dressing! Perfect for barbecues!

This is one of my alltime favorite summer barbecue side dishes. It has so many layers of different colors, flavors, and textures and honestly, I just love anything that involves cornbread. 

It’s perfect for Memorial Day, 4th of July, or just any backyard barbecue! I get asked for the recipe every single time I take it somewhere.

And I love that the only real cooking you have to do for it is baking the cornbread. Once that’s done, all you have to do is chop veggies and assemble the salad!

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Parmesan and Black Pepper Cornbread Biscotti

When I set out to make Hoppin’ John for New Years Day (which turned out fabulously by the way – even my husband loved it!) I knew I needed some cornbread to go with it but wanted to make it more interesting than regular cornbread. This cornbread biscotti was just what I was looking for.

Biscotti is typically a sweet cookie that’s baked twice to get that crunch that we all know and love. This version uses cornmeal to give it that cornbread taste, and includes Parmesan and black pepper. It’s so delicious and the crunch was perfect with my soup-like Hoppin’ John. The best part of the meal was soaking up the last of the liquid with the biscotti!

This is more crumbly than most biscotti, but cornbread is more crumbly than regular bread so it makes sense. Adjust the black pepper to your tastes – I used the full 2 teaspoons and it was pretty spicy. No complaints from my household though!

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Parmesan and Black Pepper Cornbread Biscotti
adapted from Southern Living
Ingredients
  • 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 – 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
  • 3/4 cup Parmesan divided
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup butter melted and cooled slightly
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 3 eggs divided
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Whisk together all-purpose flour, yellow cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and black pepper to remove any lumps. Stir in 1/2 cup of Parmesan; set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine vegetable oil, butter, buttermilk, and 2 of the eggs. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir just until everything is moistened.
  4. Spread dough onto prepared baking sheet and pat into a 12″ x 4″ rectangle. Beat remaining egg and brush it over the dough with a pastry brush. Sprinkle with the reserved Parmesan.
  5. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack. Lower oven to 300F while it cools.
  6. Gently slide the loaf onto a cooling rack (with the parchment). Use a serrated knife to slice into 1/2″ thick slices. Place slices, cut side down, onto the baking sheet lined with a new piece of parchment.
  7. Bake for 15 minutes; flip biscotti and bake for another 15 – 20 minutes or until the biscotti is golden and crisp. Let cool before serving. Best served warm.

 

Cornbread, Bacon, Leek, and Pecan Dressing

Other than the green beans, dressing is my favorite part of Thanksgiving. I’d tell you that you can also find me standing in front of the fridge chowing down on dressing for breakfast the next morning but that would be a lie. Because I eat the entire container of leftovers on Thanksgiving night. Just so I don’t have to share. ‘Tis true. Shameful, but true.

I made this dressing recipe because it calls for many of my favorite ingredients: cornbread, bacon, leeks, and pecans. With that combination of ingredients, how can it be anything but delicious? It’s also very simple to prepare – I would bake the cornbread the day before Thanksgiving (I used Jiffy mix, btw) and then all you have to do is saute the bacon & leeks and mix everything together on the big day.

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Cornbread, Bacon, Leek, and Pecan Dressing
Ingredients
  • 2 cups pecans
  • 2 cornbreads rounds, squares, or loaves, 8 inches each, coarsely broken into 2-inch pieces (16 cups)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces, plus more for dish
  • 8 slices smoked bacon chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 4 leeks white and pale-green parts only, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces, rinsed well
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
  • 4 large eggs lightly beaten
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spread pecans on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven for 7 minutes. Let cool slightly; coarsely chop. Mix together pecans and cornbread in a large bowl.
  2. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Cook bacon in a large high-sided skillet over medium-high heat until almost crisp, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; add leeks. Cook until leeks are tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in thyme and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt; season with pepper. Transfer to a large bowl.
  3. Return skillet to medium-high heat, and add stock; bring to a simmer, scraping up brown bits and stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Add to bowl with bacon-leek mixture. Stir in eggs. Gently mix in cornbread mixture. (Do not overmix.) Transfer to baking dish. Dot top with butter. Bake until golden brown, about 35 minutes.

Baked Hushpuppies

On the rare occasion that we go out for seafood, the hushpuppies are the first thing gone from mine and my husband’s plates. We love them! And what’s not to love about a fried piece of dough with onion and spices?! I’m not one for frying things at home though so I never considered making them until I found a recipe for a baked version.

These were very good although not really hushpuppy-like. They were more like cornbread muffins but I also have a deep love for cornbread so I’m not complaining. I made them two days in a row if that says anything. ;) They were excellent with fish and are a good alternative to the fried ones.

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Baked Hushpuppies
Ingredients
  • 2/3 cup cornmeal
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
  • Pinch black pepper
  • 1/2 cup green onion finely diced
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 2 eggs beaten
  • 2 tablespoon butter melted
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan.
  2. Combine all of the dry ingredients. Separately, combine the green onion, milk, eggs and butter. Fold the milk mixture into the flour mixture until just blended.
  3. Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into each cup, then bake for 10 minutes or until the hush puppies are set and golden around the edges.