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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Weekend Cooking: cornbread, red curry noodles, coffee cake

This week saw me try several new recipes in addition to our old favorites. I made the cornbread out of Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese, Bobby Flay's Coconut Red Curry Noodles (as seen on Worst Cooks in America) and this coffee cake.


First, the cornbread. We were having cowboy beans for dinner one night and when I went to mix up the cornbread I discovred we did not have any mix. I usually use Jiffy cornbread mix because it's quick and reliable and CHEAP. I had just read the chapter  about bread, so I opened to the recipe and gave it a shot. It took slightly longer to mix up that the Jiffy mix, but produced a much larger loaf of cornbread. It was very light and fluffy, sweet, and it toasted well the next day at lunch. Reese says cornbread is something to make, not buy, and I have to agree with her. She says making it this way costs about 4 cents more per slice (unless you leave the book in the kitchen where it gets ruined and you have to buy the library a new copy. Then it probably costs more than that.)


Yesterday was Friday and since it's Lent that means meatless. (Or fish, but ew.) Mike and I both really enjoy Worst Cooks in America, and last Sunday they made Asian noodles. We decided that this Friday we'd give Bobby Flay's Coconut Red Curry Sauce and Noodles a try. This one was hit or miss. The boys didn't like it at all. The Princess ate the noodles and some carrots. Mike and I liked the sauce, but wished for a bit more curry, more cabbage, less ginger. Mike thinks it needs beef instead of tofu. I stupidly added cilantro, which I hate, and it ruined the whole dish for me. It was, for us, an expensive meal, but we do have leftover ingredients to try again some time with the modifications.


This morning I had a wild hair and decided to make coffee cake instead of eggs. I did a google search and landed on this recipe at Allrecipes.com and since it had good reviews and I had all the ingredients, I went with it.  I did not take the time to compare and I only looked at one or two comments. This one was terrific. You do have to cut butter in twice, which is a pita with a fork, and I was having doubts, but it turned out really good. If you make it in a 9x13 pan, as she does, it seems that it won't spread all the way out, but it does and turns out terrific. It's not super tall, but you could do it in a 9x9 and cook a bit longer if you wanted. One of the few reviews I did read said that the topping would melt into the cake, so I waited until about half way through the cooking time to add that. I'll be pinning this one.
What new things did you try this week? What would you have done differently for the noodles? Are you a cilantro lover or hater?

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend.

22 comments:

  1. I had my hopes up when I read about the red curry noodles..but then I love cilantro.

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  2. So will you make cornbread at home from now on? I always do. I know Jiffy mix is cheap but have you read the ingredients list?

    I am a ginger lover, yet I still typically reduce the amount of ginger called for in recipes. It can be over powering. I am also a cilantro lover... I sometimes put leaves right in my salads. I always serve the cilantro on the side, though, and sprinkle it on my own plate because I know a lot of people don't like it.

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  3. I tried this Moroccan chicken recipe in my slow cooker this week. It is not going to be repeated. It wasn't awful, just not really my thing -- too tomato-y.

    I do like cilantro but not in large quantities.

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  4. That was an hysterical little "aside" about leaving the library book in the kitchen. I saw a little of myself in that one. :). Hey! You are on Pinterest!!! I asked to be on there a long time ago and never heard back. Is it me? Is it something I said? How does that work (am I getting too off topic? It may have been this type of ADDish behavior that made me a Pinterest reject in the first place...)

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    1. Libby, send me an email at bookslistslifeatgmail.com and I'll send you an invite. I can't reply to you directly!

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    2. Wow! Thanks! I really love Pinterest!! I think I will go click on all your ads and read them!!! :)

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  5. My sister-in-law makes the best coffee cake; everyone asks her to make it for them for their birthday. And my husband hates cilantro!

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  6. I use Jiffy, too, so good to know making it is just as easy, I'm not the greatest baker. The coffee cake sounds good!

    I like cilantro but not too much. My kids think it tastes like soap.

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  7. I love cilantro, but the coconut red curry sauce and noodles may not have been a hit at my house either. Love how you tried so many new recipes this week!

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  8. Cornbread is one of the things I always make from scratch -- it really seems just as easy. Bummer on the noodles. I'm cilantro fan, but it doesn't seem like it's worth the bother. The coffee cake sounds awesome, tho.

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    1. It really wasn't any harder, I don't know why I thought it would be.

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  9. You had a very productive week, trying out all these new recipes :) I've never made (or had?) cornbread before. Not sure whether it's a Dutch (or European) thing. But it sounds good so I'll give it a go one fo these days. Same goes for coffee cake.
    Too bad your choice for Lent was such a disappointment :( I hope a reshuffling of ingredients in other recipes will save the day (and some of the costs)!

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    1. I think the only ingredient we didn't like was the cilantro, it just needs some refining.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  10. You're on a cooking roll. Knowing that Make the Bread, Buy the Butter has recipes makes me even more excited about it.

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  11. Those sounds like some great kitchen adventures. I'm also a big believer in making cornbread from scratch. It's not as hard as it seems like it would be until you do it.

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    1. I was pleased with both the ease and the taste!

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  12. Now you've got me craving cornbread. Last time I made it I used Maya Angelou's recipe. Of course I had to read her poetry while eating it :).

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    1. I didn't realize you could find her recipes anywhere. I might have to google.

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  13. If you get the Food Network it's on Sunday nights, but I think you can also watch episodes online.

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  14. I so so so want that book!! But Scott actually made butter tonight! Just bought a think of whipping cream and let'er whirl in the food processor. Tastes great.

    Cornbread. Mmmm. :)

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