Slap Yo Momma Cornbread

It's no secret that I love cornbread.  There's nothing, I mean NOTHING better than a warm slice of sweet cornbread with melted butter on top.  My friends in high school would tease me when that Alan Jackson song ("where I come from, it's cornbread and chicken...") would come on.  Apparently my mom made it a lot, but that's the way it should be!  I love all kinds of cornbread: cheesy cornbread, jalapeno cornbread, whole kernel cornbread...you get the picture.  A few weeks ago, I had a piece of cornbread that was so good, words cannot describe it.  And now I have the secret recipe, and I'm going to share it with you.

Florida's Kitchen is a restaurant in Livingston, if you can call it a restaurant.  It's tucked away in the woods, (you would never find it if you didn't know where to look,) and it doesn't look like your typical restaurant.  A building/trailer combo, with atmosphere consisting of card tables, mismatched folding chairs, uneven floors, and strange angel statues of every shape, size and color.  The food is best described as "soul food":barbecued ribs, brisket, hushpuppies, fried catfish, fresh cooked vegetables, home made cakes and pies, giant glasses of iced tea...you get the picture.  A salad at Florida's has ribs and brisket on it.  This isn't dainty food, and it is so dang good.  The last time Ben and I went there, I ordered "Sly's Bowl", a bowl of pinto beans topped with shredded brisket tips.  (Don't judge, it's delish!)  Of course I ordered cornbread on the side.  Our fast talking waitress asked me if I wanted to try the "cheesy jalapeno crawfish cornbread" instead.  UM, YES!  Guys, it was the best cornbread I've ever had.  EVER.  SOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD!  After the first bite, I thought I heard the soul food angels singing.  (Then I remembed it was just the southern gospel playing on the boom box in the corner!)  I raved to the waitress about it, and she told me she would let the cook know that I liked it, and maybe she would consider adding it to the permanent menu.  My heart broke...the cheesy jalapeno cornbread was just a test recipe!  I vowed to search high and low until I found the recipe, and ladies and gentlemen, I have it.  The actual recipe from Florida's cook herself.  Based on how dang good the food is at Florida's, I'm guessing the cooks don't really share recipes often, so I won't reveal my secret source.  But I never promised I wouldn't share the recipe!  Without further ado, here is the recipe, written exactly how it was given to me, on a tiny scrap of paper.

Crawfish Cornbread

2-3 cans evaporated milk

1 package crawfish, frozen, thawed

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 bell pepper chopped

1 package shredded cheese

3-4 boxes Jiffy Cornbread

1 stick butter

3-4 eggs

jalapenos in the jar, chopped

1/2 can whole kernel corn

Sautee peppers, onion, crawfish, and butter.  Season.  Mix all ingredients.  Bake 350 degrees until done.

Yes, I know, that is the vaguest recipe ever written down.  I plan on cutting this in half some way, probably using two boxes of Jiffy, one can evaporated milk, and two eggs...but don't take my word for it, because I haven't tried it yet!  Use your own judgement.  Now, I'm off to make these yummy delights!  (PS-Florida's used a muffin tin, and I suggest you do too!)



Nobody here but us servantless American cooks...

It's only Tuesday? Man...yesterday was long! Overtime will do that. Today has turned out to be an interesting day. I saw a girl in the break room this morning put 7 pumps of concentrated French Vanilla Coffeemate in her mug, then powdered coffee creamer, then sugar, then Sweet-N-Low, then a few drops of coffee. EWWWW! Then later on one of my earrings fell off and into the toilet. (I flushed it.) I wonder what other interesting things will happen today?

I hope everyone had a great Easter...we did! After church we went home and I cooked allllll afternoon. I decided to finally bust out "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and try a recipe or two. I've been dying to do it ever since I bought it with wedding gift cards a few months ago, but I just haven't had the time! Of course, Ben and I were doing our best Julia Child impersonations all day. "Bon appetite!" To bring over to Missy and Travis' for dinner, I decided to make puree de pommes de terre a l'ail and reinde de saba avec glacage au chocolat. Sounds impressive, huh? Translates to "garlic mashed potatoes" and "chocolate almond cake with chocolate buttercream". The mashed potato recipe actually called for two entire heads of garlic! The slow, laborious cooking of the cloves softens the flavor, so it's not as obsene as it sounds. The potatoes were good, but not good enough to make all the extra effort worth it. I'll probably stick to regular mashed potatoes from now on. However, the garlic sauce that was mixed in would probably be good on something else...maybe chicken? The chocolate cake was really yummy! I did have a few Julia-esque goofs-1)When I was supposed to sift in 1/4 of the flour, I wasn't paying attention and sifted it all in at once. 2)When I tried to remove the cake from the pan, it came out in two chunks. I glued it back together with frosting. 3)I used a 9 inch pan instead of an 8 inch pan and didn't think about adjusting my baking time, so it came out a little dryer than it is supposed to be. None the less, it turned out pretty good, and I will definitely try again! Practice makes perfect!



While I'm blogging about cooking from Julia Child-I have to suggest the movie "Julie and Julia". We Netflixed it a few weeks ago and it was pretty good! And I think I found the original blog the book/movie is based on! Cool!

The Julie/Julia Project.

xoxo!