Cast Iron Cornbread

Although Andy got to "break-in" our new Cast Iron Skillet, I knew I had to use it soon after.  I don't know what it is, but when we get new things for our kitchen or home, I just have that itch to use them immediately!  I've held out since Christmas, so I mean, I've waited long enough.

Cornbread is one of those things that goes great with comforting meals.  In our case, we had some black eyed pea "stew".  But you know, most people have cornbread with chili and things like that.  Me... I like to eat it by itself.  What more do you want?  It's sweet, yellow, crumbly cornbread.  With a nice pat of butter.  Simple heaven, I tell you.

Ingredients:

1 cup white cornmeal (you can use yellow too, but this is what I had on hand)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon sugar

Grease a 10-12 inch round cast iron skillet and place in oven.  Preheat oven to 400 F.

Combine cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. 

In a separate medium bowl, combine milk, egg, olive oil, and honey. 

Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients and mix well.

Carefully remove the cast iron skillet from the oven and pour in batter.  Return skillet to oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until cornbread is golden brown.

Cool slightly and slice into wedges.  Top with butter and enjoy sweet cornbread bliss!

I don't like an overly sweet cornbread, and I also don't like an overly dry and plain cornbread.  This was pretty close to perfect!  If you like it on the sweeter side, feel free to adjust the honey and sugar accordingly.  Like I said, this pairs perfectly with some beans or chili, but is just as great on it's own with some butter or extra honey! 

Hope you all enjoy your weekend... I'm off to make that pear-caramel ice cream and do a few other errands... Monday will be here before you know it, but I'm going to enjoy this 3 day weekend as much as possible!  Enjoy your weekend guys!

Lemon-Shallot Chicken Breasts

So I have to give credit where credit is due.  Andy made this.  And it was excellent.  I'm not saying that Andy is challenged in the culinary department (he makes "man" meals).  He's actually pretty good.  But our styles are very different sometimes.

We have this system.  A system where we trade off weeks to cook.  Whoever's week it is to cook, also pays for the groceries.  A simple system, that results in good food all around. 

This is my week to cook.  But unfortunately, I've had some late shifts this week.  Well. Two.  If you count today, so really not that bad.  But it makes it difficult to sit down and cook a meal when I don't get home until 10 or 11.  So that's where Andy comes into play.  I set him down the night's recipe and he must follow it.  Of course, I'm frantically calling him to make sure he's doing it right - he still thinks margarine = butter.  So, I have all the right in the world to keep calling him, in my opinion.  Hehe.  It's all out of love, trust me.

And he was definitely good at following the directions on this one.  The chicken came out moist and delicious.  I almost feared using chicken breasts because I hate how dry they come out most of the time, but this was different.  Maybe I couldn't have cooked it better myself (but we won't let Andy know that for fear his ego will get larger than it already is).  Anyway, this is a must try!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Ina Garten's 'How Easy Is That'

2 chicken breasts
salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 up Madeira wine
juice from 1 lemon
1 shallot, minced
3 tablespoons heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat your oven to 425 F.

Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides.

Heat a large cast iron skillet (I'm jealous because Andy was the first to use our newly acquired cast iron that I received for Christmas) under medium high heat.  Add oil and heat until shimmering. 

Place chicken breasts, skin side down, into skillet and cook for about 5-6 minutes (if you use boneless chicken breasts, decrease the cooking time by a minute or two), or until skin is golden brown.

Flip breasts over and bake in over for about 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

While the chicken is roasting, heat a small saute pan under medium high heat.  Add madeira wine, lemon juice, and shallots.  Cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until only a couple tablespoons of liquid remain.  Stir in heavy cream.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Bring the mixture to a boil and then remove from heat.

Stir in butter until it is fully melted.  You want to do this slowly so the sauce does not "break".  Season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Plate the chicken and top with lemon-shallot sauce. 

Andy also served this with some homemade mac and cheese (he really does make some good mac!) and a homemade dinner roll. 

This was definitely delicious and quick for a weeknight meal, that's for sure!  Enjoy guys!