Gluten Free Sun-dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Cornbread

Yes, you read that correctly: gluten free! I must say that I am super proud of this recipe. Despite having a certain food intolerance, I believe that cornbread should always be in someone's regular diet. What's not to love? There's the crumbly-yet-moist texture, and the cozy corn flavor.

When I was little, we would make cornbread from the Jiffy box mix. We always kept two or three boxes on hand in our pantry for cold days, or even bad days. They come out of the oven warm and steaming and gold.

Nowadays, my cornbread making skills are a little more advanced, and the mixes that come in the boxes contain wheat; I'm forced to become more creative.

Gluten Free Sun-Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Cornbread

For this recipe I used cornmeal and a gluten free flour by Bob's Red Mill. 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened

3 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup of milk

1 cup of gluten free flour

2/3 cup cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup of sun dried tomatoes, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine softened butter and sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixture, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add eggs; mix well. Stir in sour cream and milk. Reduce speed to low; add all remaining ingredients. Beat just until mixed.

Pour batter into greased cast-iron skillet (or 8-inch square baking pan). Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm!

Look at that beauty? 

Enjoy!

Scrambled Eggs with Spinach & Parmesan

It may be a bit late in the day for a scrambled egg recipe, but if you're anywhere near the Midwest, you're in need of some good, hot comfort food. The snow is coming down here.

I, for one, have cancelled all of my plans for today and am holed up in my apartment, watching the snow pile up on the cars lining the road. It's relentless! Mother nature is laughing at us. 

So, I'm laughing back by filling my kitchen with hot, delicious food (I currently have banana-nut muffins baking in the oven). Eggs are the classic, go-to comfort foods; they're so easy! You can put pretty much anything in them and the result will be favorable. Well, maybe I shouldn't make such a bold statement. Someone might challenge me with a nasty omelet rendition. Either way, this concoction was too sumptuous to let it sit alone in my head. It must be shared. 

Scrambled Eggs with Spinach & Parmesan
Adapted from bon appetit magazine

2 large eggs
1-2 cups of spinach
Olive oil
2 good pinches of grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)
Salt and pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes

Whisk eggs together in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper; set aside. Heat a glug of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add spinach and stir to coat them in the oil. Toss until they are wilted, about 1 minute.
Add eggs and cook; stirring until just set. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

1 serving

Stay warm!

Rustic Farm Panini

As a child, some of my favorite memories occurred right in our kitchen. It's where my mom would make her simple spaghetti with peas, where my dad would bring in a massive bouquet of flowers that he gathered from our yard, and where my brother and I would usually do our homework in the evening.

I remember cold, rainy October nights in our kitchen; our family's collective energy low, lulled to a slow pace by the steady rain outside. It was nights like these that my mom would make us grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. She would put me in charge of cheese duty (I almost wrote "I would cut the cheese..."), making sure to slice it in the perfect width. I loved watching the cheddar melt and ooze from in between the bread, sizzling when it met the pan. I liked my sandwiches plain- no ham, nothing.

We'd reconvene at our little, round table in silence, preoccupied with eating our sandwiches and sipping our soup. There's something so satisfying about a hot bowl of tomato soup and a warm sandwich. It became our family's comfort food.

The sandwich that I am going to share with you is supposed to evoke those same feelings as I experienced when I was young: ultimate comfort in food form. Save this one for a rainy day, you'll be glad you did.

Rustic Farm Panini

Ingredients:

1 loaf Italian or potato bread
1 package of applewood smoked bacon
2 oz. basil leaves
1 dozen eggs
1 bar creamy Havarti cheese
5 tomatoes on the vine
Olive oil

Heat 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a panini press, or pan, over medium heat. In a separate pan, begin cooking the entire package of bacon. When completed, set aside on a plate and cover with a paper tower.

When bacon is cooked, fry the eggs in a pan. You can cook them how you prefer: sunny-side up, over easy, etc. I prefer my eggs cooked completely so I cooked them over medium.

Meanwhile, layer basil leaves, sliced havarti cheese, and sliced tomatoes onto a slice of bread. Finish by layering a piece of bacon and the fried egg. Cover with another slice of bread and transfer to the panini press. When crispy, flip and heat the other side. When the cheese is visibly melted, remove from heat.

Repeat for as many sandwiches as you need/want!