Perfect Sweet Cornbread

I don't know about you, but I think that people have a reallllyyyyy weird thing with cornbread.  I lived in Texas for a while, and it seems that the South as a whole would be shocked and appalled at a sweet cornbread.  Their cornbread is crumbly and savory.  Hey, I like that too ... but there's something about cornbread that's moist with just a touch of sugar that gets me excited.

That's the saddest realization I've ever come to on this blog.

Anyway .. say what you will, this cornbread is really delicious.  Put away your Jiffy mix, and get out the butter and honey.

You'll need.... (this is for a TON of cornbread, like a 9x13 pan full)

1 cup of yellow cornmeal

3 cups of all purpose flour

1 1/3 cups of sugar

2 Tablespoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

3/4 cups of vegetable oil

1/3 cup of melted butter

2 tablespoons of honey

4 eggs, beaten (be gentle)

2 1/2 cups of whole milk

Optional: some diced pickled jalapenos or a can of green chilies would be great in this.  You can also add some cheddar or Monterrey jack cheese ... lots of tasty options.  

Alrighty, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.  

In a large mixing bowl, put in your flour, salt, sugar, cornmeal, and baking powder.  

Mix until just combined.

In a separate bowl, add your eggs, vegetable oil, melted butter, honey, and milk.  Whisk together. 

Add the egg mixture to your batter, and stir until just combined.

That's it for the batter!  At this point I would add in any cheese or peppers if you want to spruce this recipe up a bit.  I didn't think about it until later... it was still delicious on it's own!

Add the batter to your greased baking dish.

Bake for 45 minutes until it starts to turn golden and shows a few cracks on the top.

Let it cool for a bit, then slice it up and serve warm with some melted butter and honey.  Ohhhh man.  I ended up serving this with my chicken tortilla soup ... keep an eye out for my next post for that recipe!

Hope you enjoy, even if you like the crumbly stuff.

Courtzilla

Huevos Rancheros

I don't know about you, but one of my favorite styles of food is Mexican. Simple ingredients, inexpensive, simple preparation, BIG HUGE flavor. Does it get any better?

One thing that's always weirded me out a bit was huevos racheros. Ranch eggs? Basically an egg taco? Whatttt? Then, I tried making it. Holy cow. It's super tasty! It's a fast breakfast/lunch/dinner too, and nice and light. Basically....I just got done eating it and I think I want 4 more.


Here's what you'll need (for one serving):
- 2 eggs
- 2 corn tortillas
- 1/4 cup cheddar cheese
- tbsp of chopped cilantro
- 4 tbsp of your favorite salsa
- 1/2 lime
- salt, pepper
- dollop of sour cream
- re-fried beans (optional)

First, you'll want to get all your ingredients ready to go - the cooking process takes like 5 minutes. Heat up your pan. Chop up the cilantro, grate your cheese, cut a lime in half, get everything in a little assembly line.


Ok, spray some cooking spray on your skillet, and throw in your tortillas. This will crisp them up a bit, and warm them up too.


When those have heated, I just put a thin layer of re-fried beans on the tortilla and nuke it for 30 seconds at the end. Totally optional, I just like the creamy texture.


Looks like dog shit, tastes dddeeeelicious.

Ok, now spray the pan again, and crack a couple of eggs in the pan.


I broke a yolk. CRAP. Courtzilla, strikes again.

Once the bottom sets up, flip it over, and put some cheese and salsa on top of the eggs.


Throw a cover on top of the pan. This will melt the cheese without over cooking the eggs. At this point I take the pan off the heat and just let it sit for about a minute.



Ohhhhh yeahhhhhh.



Throw it on your tortilla, put a dollop of sour cream, a squirt of lime, and some cilantro on top and you are solid.


Andddd... dig in.



UGHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Excuse me, I need to make some more.

Enjoy!

<3 Courtzilla