The Joys of Jiffy

Sometimes, you just need carbs.

Oh, I know we may claim to be over the KILLALLTHECARBS fad of the late '90s/early 2000's, but you and I both know that there is still a hefty side of guilt served up with every portion of carb-heavy food we nosh on.

Well, last night I was faced with the Working Mommy's Dilemma. After an eternity in the office, a killer commute home, and two little boys who thought "sleep" was more of a suggestion than a requirement, I found myself head-tilting at the clock on the oven as it blinked "9:27". My stomach growled. Man-Mate's stomach growled.

... and I was out of ideas.
A FIRST!!!

Luckily, I always (and I do, truly, mean always) keep boxes - plural - of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix in my pantry.

Oh, the joy...

Just seeing its cute, Americana packaging made me smile... and made my stomach growl, again, prompting me to hurry it up, already! as into the refrigerator I peered. Below is the resulting recipe - I hope you'll try it the next time you have an exhaustion/carb attack!

Smokey Cheddar & Cracked Pepper Corn Muffins

Ingredients

Two (2) packages of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix
Two (2) eggs
2/3 cup  - milk
1/2 TS - liquid smoke
1 1/2 cup - sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Black pepper grinder (no measurement here, do it to taste)
Kosher salt, to taste

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 F.
• Grease or paper-line a 12-count muffin tin
• In a medium mixing bowl, add the corn muffin mix, eggs, milk, liquid smoke, and 1/2 cup of cheese
• Stir to combine
• **Don't over-mix - you don't want glue. Some lumps are okay.
• Let the dough rest 3 - 4 minutes, then stir one more time
• Spoon in the dough to about halfway in each muffin cup
• Sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese equally over each portion
• Grind black pepper over each portion, to taste
• **I like to, you know, actually taste the black pepper, so I set it to a medium-grind and do about 3-4 turns per portion... probably coming out to 1/4 tsp. 
• Spoon remaining dough over each portion
• Sprinkle each with a pinch of kosher salt
• Bake at 400 F for 15 - 18 minutes, or until golden brown

Mid-Spring Spice-n-Rice

Between the fickle, on-again-off-again Seattle spring weather and a baby who, at 38 weeks, seems disinclined to acquiesce to any requests to leave the womb, I figured it was time for a little spice. Who knows? Maybe it would send some cosmic spark out into the world (and, in turn, my uterus) and start a little warmth.

The menu last night consisted of things that weren't necessarily seasonal - as is still my goal of this here blog-o-food - but, as I was thinking about it, the ingredients weren't entirely anti-seasonal, either. I think it was more of a "staple" dinner; things that we usually have in our pantries and refrigerators anyway, so why not use them up?

Mid-Spring Spice-n-Rice menu
Spicy Citrus Meatballs, Rice, and C&C Honey Cornbread

Spicy Citrus Meatballs
Ingredients
1 family-sized package of frozen meatballs
1 1/2 cup Johnny's Jamaican Me Crazy marinade
1 cup orange juice
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
3 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs cinnamon sugar

Directions
Place frozen meatballs in a 2 - 3 qt, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat.
Add marinade, orange juice, and ketchup and cover for 10 minutes allowing the sauce to come to a boil.
Stir gently, and add brown sugar before turning the heat down to medium-low, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Add cinnamon sugar, stir, and serve

Rice
Ingredients/Directions
Prepare rice as you typically would. For a family of four adults and one toddler - and planning on leftovers to make rice pudding with the next day - I use at least two cups of rice, four cups of water, and 2 tsp salt. I've found that Jasmine rice is the best all-around rice, but Basmati is also great! Bring the rice and water to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring regularly. When it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, cover, and let stand for 18 - 22 minutes. Fluff with a fork, and serve.

C&C Honey Cornbread
Ingredients
1 box Krusteaz Natural Honey Cornbread mix (any honey cornbread mix will work)
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbs fresh cracked pepper
2 tsp salt
1 chipotle bouillon cube (find these in the ethnic food aisle)


Directions
Follow the directions on the box for preheating (400 degrees F.) and adding the first four ingredients
Evenly scatter the shredded cheese and stir into the batter before adding pepper and salt
Crush the chipotle bouillon cube in your hand, and mix into the batter
Follow the directions on the box for baking, depending on the pan/muffin tins you decide to use, let cool for 5 minutes, and serve.
(I buttered an 8x8 metal pan, which I've dubbed "The Cornbread Pan" since I've only ever used it for such, and baked the mix for 27 minutes.)


Start-to-finish, this dinner took 35 minutes and, even better (!), will provide dessert for tonight in the form of rice pudding. Sometimes, it pays not to plan!

Christmas Tree Soup

The only thing I love more than participating in a holiday tradition is creating a new one - whether intentionally, or completely by accident. Last night was probably one of the best "accidental tradition creations" I've ever had!

While my mother-in-law and husband were out looking for a Christmas tree (in lovely Seattle-rain fashion), I dove head-first into my first pureed soup, with all the vegetables coming from our weekly farm share! It was a little daunting, I admit, when I was trying to figure out what I wanted the main flavor to be; Did I want to go exotic? Spicy? Ginger-y? Sweet? Did I want to do as my father-in-law not-so-subtly hinted at and add meat and, if so, what kind? What do I serve with it? Should I leave any texture to the soup and, if so, how much and with what? Will the food processor do a good enough job, or will this come out looking like semi-solid baby food?

As it turns out, I needn't have worried. The mix of vegetables in and of themselves were amazing, and lent a lot of flavor to the soup just by roasting them... and the vegetable stock and wine that I used were perfect. *sigh*

So, here's the final recipe that I came up with while my husband showed our almost two year old son what struggling with Christmas trees looks like:

Ingredients
1 acorn squash
6 medium carrots, peeled
1 large turnip, peeled
1 medium beet, peeled
1 small head of garlic, peeled
Canola oil
Salt and pepper
2 Tbs butter
1 large yellow onion
2 Tbs salt
2 tsp dried ginger
1 Tbs dried sage
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp nutmeg
pinch of red pepper flake
1 tsp chipotle hot sauce
1/2 cup red wine
3 cups of vegetable stock
2 red potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup of heavy cream

Method
Preheat the oven to 415 degrees
Chop the squash, carrots, turnips and beet into roughly the same size chunks, and place on a cookie sheet along with the peeled garlic (leaving the cloves whole).
Drizzle with the Canola oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
Roast in the oven for 10 minutes (if you have a "speed back" option, 15 - 20 if you don't).
Meanwhile, finely chop the onion and saute in the butter on medium high in a medium, heavy-bottomed soup pot, adding the spices once the onion has begun to soften.
Take the vegetables out of the oven, and turn them over for even roasting.
Turn the heat on the spiced onions down to medium-low, and sweat for 5 minutes.
Add the wine and chicken stock to the onions, stirring quickly to get the browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
Chop the potatoes into roughly 1'' pieces, and add to the pot, increasing the heat to high. Boil for 5 - 10 minutes, or until mostly tender.
Remove the vegetables from the oven, and place in the food processor and pulse until they all are mixed together fairly well, then add the potatoes and some of the onions from the pot. (It's okay if some of the liquid from the pot gets in to the vegetables.) Pulse together well, until a fairly smooth texture is achieved; you may need to scrape the sides of the processor bowl on occasion.
Carefully add the pureed vegetables to the liquid in the pot, and stir to combine with the liquid.
Once combined, add the heavy cream and taste for seasoning.
Serve while hot!

Serving Suggestions
I made cornbread muffins, which were excellent alongside this soup. You could really serve any kind of bread, although sourdough might be a bit heavy.

Homemade Tartar Sauce... for frozen fish sticks.

An original recipe, this was born when I finally acknowledged that the frozen fish sticks and tater tots that I was making for dinner weren't my most original meal items.

Ingredients:

~ 1 1/2 cup Mayonnaise (use mayo, not "whipped dressing" or Miracle Whip)
~ 1/4 cup sweet relish
~ 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
~ 1 tablespoon soy sauce
~ 1 teaspoon each pepper, dill, and lemon pepper
~ 1/2 teaspoon finely minced/grated garlic

Directions:

Stir everything together. Store in the fridge for an hour before serving to let the flavor set. (I've used it immediately, and it's still AWESOME!)