My Mom’s side of the family makes the best cornbread dressing, hands down – at least according to my taste buds. And yes, we say dressing not stuffing, we’re from the South. It’s so interesting how different regions and families have different food traditions for the same dish. I recently discovered that some folks have only seen dressing served mashed/fluffed or in a mound rather than in squares the way my family and nearly everyone in my parents’ hometown serves it.

So what makes our dressing so good? I believe it’s due to the variety of flavors that come from the sage and various herbs in the poultry seasoning. The sweet cornbread base, as well as the moisture from just the right amount of delicious broth are also key. These are all common, basic ingredients in dressing, but there’s still just something special to me about our dressing! 

Perhaps it’s the nostalgia from having that same great consistent taste no matter whether it’s my grandmother’s or great aunt’s dressing, which we devoured several times a day for several days each Thanksgiving and Christmas years ago, or whether it’s from the modern kitchens of my aunts and mother. Overall, I think our memory of how it’s supposed to taste is what allows us to get it right every time.

Despite the culinary tradition our cornbread has in our family, I made the bold move to change it up just a little bit by adding some diced apple and chopped pecans (fall flavors I love). I also made my cornbread base from scratch instead of relying on the ole’ handy Jiffy Mix.

Usually we make our dressing by taste and look alone (no measurements), but as I made my version to share with you, I measured most of the ingredients. Still, you have to rely on your own judgment to get the seasoning just how you like it. That’s the great part about cooking — the flexibility to come up with your own flavor traditions. Enjoy!

Apple-Pecan Cornbread Dressing

1 eight inch square pan of sweet cornbread (recipe below)
3 -4 cups herb-seasoned stuffing mix (regular, not cornbread based)
1 celery stalk, very finely diced
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick) 
3/4 cup diced, peeled apple (about 1/2 large apple)
1 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
1-1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
2-1/2 cups turkey or chicken broth (plus more to drizzle)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Crumble cornbread in a very large bowl. Add stuffing mix, celery, onion, sage, poultry seasoning, diced apple, pecans, salt and pepper; mix well. Add melted butter and broth and mix well again. Taste the dressing mixture for flavor and add additional salt, pepper or poultry seasoning if needed.

Spoon mixture into two lightly greased 8″ square baking pans and smooth evenly. Bake for 45 minutes or until top of dressing is golden brown and an inserted knife comes out clean.

Cornbread

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8″ square baking pan with butter or cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients into dry ingredients and fully combine using a rubber spatula. Pour the batter evenly into the pan and bake for 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Tamika Felder of Tamika and Friends, Inc. shares a guest post for FlavorDiva.com, which was inspired by her organization’s recent Chocolate & Crème fundraiser for their work on cervical cancer awareness. In addition to leading a nonprofit, working in public television, and being a great cook, Tamika recently started a blog with two other cervical cancer survivors to document their quest to train for a triathlon next year.

As I sat there in traffic during my 1.5 hour commute from work, my mind began to drift to all of the work I needed to do in preparation for my non-profit organization’s (Tamika & Friends, Inc.) Chocolate & Crème Affair, which was to be held in D.C. at Sonoma Restaurant and Bar. This fundraiser for cervical cancer awareness featured chocolates and desserts from renowned chocolatiers and bakers in addition to a silent auction. Unfortunately during my drive, my thoughts never got passed the word chocolate!

Instead of thinking about the phone calls I had to make and emails I had to send, I started daydreaming about the cupcakes we would serve and the fondue fountain that would overflow with luscious, decadent white and milk chocolate throughout the evening. As I began salivating, reality kicked in and reminded me that I’m part of a cervical cancer survivor slim down challenge and we are training for a triathlon next year, which meant I would have to pass up the chocolate for now!

After getting home, I still couldn’t shake the chocolate craving that kept creeping into my thoughts. I looked through my pantry and noticed the chocolate chips and walnuts. I saw the bananas sitting on the counter and thought hmmm, I should try the chocolate banana bread recipe I recently came across. Why bananas you might ask? Well in my mind, that helped to outweigh the chocolate and bread elements and make it healthy!

Even though I didn’t deny my chocolaty-baked-goods craving, I followed my indulgence with a walk around the block. Chocolate chip banana bread might not fully qualify as the most nutritious of foods, but it’s still a good treat in moderation, so enjoy. Just be sure to step it up in the gym or around the block afterwards!

Chocolate Banana Nut Bread
Here’s Tesia’s take on the recipe adapted from the AllRecipes.com version by Tracie P.

1-1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 cup natural cane sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 over ripe bananas, well mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole plain yogurt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the butter, yogurt, vanilla, and eggs. Then mix in the mashed bananas. In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture with a spatula until just combined. Next, fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Pour batter into floured loaf pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of bread comes out clean. Allow bread to cool for at least 20 minutes before removing it from the pan, then let bread cool completely before serving.

This past weekend I experimented with whole grain baking thanks to inspiration I received from the cookbook Super Natural Cooking by blogger Heidi Swanson. I picked up the book during a recent weekend excursion to New York’s Hudson Valley. Driving about 1 1/2 hours outside of NYC with my foodie friend, Norah Burton, we visited the quaint towns of Hyde Park (home to the Culinary Institute of America), Rhinebeck and Red Hook among a few others.

In addition to taking a self-guided tour of CIA, looking for area farmers’ markets and interesting shops, and stumbling upon a couple of great restaurants, we visited Greig Farm in Red Hook. This small farm was full of ripe, u-pick blueberries.

Although the weather made it a bit too hot for us to pick that afternoon, we went out into the fields to taste a few berries and take photos before driving a short distance down the road to the farm’s store, Gigi Market. That’s where I stumbled upon Heidi’s book, which is all about cooking with whole, natural ingredients, including a wide variety of whole grains.

Wanting to share a recipe with you not from the book, but inspired by the cookbook and my trip to Greig Farm, I came up with my version of blueberry muffins that are delicious and provide you with the good nutrition that whole grains offer.

Often times, people think whole grains mean a dry and flavorless baked good, but with techniques that often include blending different types of flours or adding certain ingredients such as yogurt, whole grain baking can result in tasty textures and flavors that are higher in protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals than regular all-purpose flour.

My blueberry muffins recipe calls for whole-wheat pastry flour, which is milled from soft wheat. It helps give muffins and quick breads a more tender texture than you would get from using regular whole-wheat flour. Some recipes call for part whole-wheat pastry flour and part all-purpose flour, but I decided to go all the way and use all whole grain flour. The yogurt helps to make the muffins moist and tender.

If you never or rarely bake with whole grain flour, give this recipe a try. It just may entice you to experiment a little more with whole grain baking. Thanks to Heidi Swanson’s cookbook, I’m already looking forward to working more with whole grains in my kitchen.

Whole Grain Blueberry Muffins
Makes 14 muffins

2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup of natural cane sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup whole, plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1-1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons whole milk
1-1/2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, fully whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. In another bowl, fully mix together melted butter, yogurt and almond extract. Then, add eggs and briskly stir to combine.

Create a well in the flour mixture and add the butter, yogurt and egg mixture stirring together briskly with a rubber spatula. Be sure to incorporate all of the flour until just combined (do not over mix). Then fold the whole milk and blueberries into the batter.

Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper muffin liners and fill them to the top with the batter. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. When muffins are done, they will begin to brown on top.

Remove muffins from oven and allow them to cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring them to a baking rack to cool a few minutes more. Serve muffins warm (tastiest) or at room temperature.

I’ve taken a loss several times before when trying to make french toast that looks like the french toast I’ve had in a few good restaurants. I finally achieved beautiful slices of this breakfast dish, just the way I like, once I realized that it’s about the bread. Of course you have to get the basics for the dip right too – milk, egg, a little sweetness and spices.

Just like the papa al pomodoro recipe I featured earlier this month, french toast is a recipe for making use of day old (stale) bread. An ingenious recipe for not letting good food go to waste.

In order to get that classic french toast look and texture, use brioche or challah bread. I prefer brioche, but challah works fine as well. Brioche is a rich, yet airy french bread made with butter and eggs. Challah is a kosher bread often a part of Jewish holiday meals. It doesn’t include butter, which is what makes it kosher (butter and eggs can’t mix – or so I read). Brioche is sometimes braided, but not always, but from what I’ve seen in the bakery, challah is always braided.

These types of breads tend to allow for better absorption of the milk and egg mixture for french toast, and they’re the type of bread often used in restaurants so using them at home gives you a familiar look. Give it a try this weekend! Have you used other types of bread for making french toast?  

Classic French Toast
Serves 2 – 4

4 slices of brioche or challah bread
1 cup of milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons maple syrup plus more for serving
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Generous sprinkle of cinnamon
Generous pinch of salt
2 tablespoons butter

In a wide shallow bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Slice bread into one inch thick slices. One at a time, place the bread in the bowl with the milk and egg mixture for about 30 seconds, then flip to soak the other side for another 15 – 30 seconds. Set soaked bread aside.

Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Melt one tablespoon of butter and then put two of the soaked bread slices into the skillet (all four slices if they fit easily). Cook on one side for about four minutes. Then flip and cook on the other side for another 4 minutes (re-flip if necessary to get a nice golden brown color).

Set the two cooked slices aside, melt the other tablespoon of butter and cook the remaining two soaked slices as described above. Once cooked, cut the slices on a diagonal and serve with maple syrup and fresh fruit. 

Cookbook Review: During the last several weeks I hope you’ve had a joyful holiday season as well as time to try out some of the recipes I suggested from my last cookbook review on The Get ‘Em Girls Guide to the Power of Cuisine. Since then, I’ve picked up another cookbook by one of my favorite Food Network personalities – Ina Garten of Barefoot Contessa.

I love watching Barefoot Contessa because Ina Garten’s food always seems simple, yet elegant and stylish. Also, I love her story of how she worked at the White House Office of Management and Budget, but then left to purchase a specialty food shop called Barefoot Contessa in the Hamptons. Over twenty years later she has built and sold a successful food store, written multiple cookbooks, and has her own cooking show and a line of food products.

Ina’s latest of six cookbooks, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, is a gorgeous 272-page hardback full of recipes for cocktail hour, soups, lunch, dinner, vegetables, dessert, and breakfast. As Ina describes it, the cookbook is about “taking ordinary ingredients and cooking them – or pairing them – in a way that “unlocks” their true flavors.” The photography in the books is beautiful and inspiring, and most of the recipes have an accompanying photo.

One of the best aspects about this cookbook that I like is Ina’s informative and motivating introduction on cooking seasonally and cooking for flavor, along with her lists of tips on cooking and entertaining at the beginning of each chapter. For example, she share’s 10 No-Cook Things to Serve with Drinks, How to Arrange Flowers Like a Pro, and 10 Things Not to Serve at a Dinner Party.

Now while the book is called Back to Basics, some of the recipes are easy or simple to make and others require a little more time and patience, however, the rewards of an extremely flavorful dish await you. I tried several of the recipes and I’m looking forwarded to trying many more, including the Tuscan lemon chicken, baked shrimp scampi, mustard-roasted fish, wild mushroom risotto, French chocolate bark, and honey vanilla pound cake just to name a few. For those of you who eat red meat (in moderation of course), Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics also has recipes for an elegant pot roast and Niman Ranch burgers.

One of the recipes that I tried from the cookbook was chicken bouillabaisse, a stew of chicken, potatoes and French flavors including white wine and Pernod – a star anise flavored liquor. I also made Ina’s parmesan thyme crackers, which were delicious and would be great to serve as an appetizer or cocktail party hors d’ oeuvre. Other recipes I tested from the cookbook included roasted shrimp, maple-roasted butternut squash, county French omelets, roasted parsnips and carrots, and buttermilk cheddar biscuits.

The buttermilk cheddar biscuits were wonderful and are pretty easy to make as long as you have a stand mixer or food processor (which you should if you cook regularly, as I hope you do). Her recipe calls for making the biscuits using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Since, I’m still waiting to retire my hand-me-down mixer and purchase a new one with a paddle attachment, I tried out the recipe using my food processor and it worked like a charm (follow similar steps in a food processor recipe for scones or biscuits).

Ina includes this recipe in her chapter on breakfast, but I think the biscuits also go well with dishes for dinner or lunch such as soups and salads. Be sure to use quality ingredients such as organic dairy and unbleached all-purpose flour.

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits
By Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

Click here for the recipe.