Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Sour Cream

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Cleo Coyle's Cornbread with a Twist + Book and Tote #Giveaway News

On most mornings, my writer's work table
doubles as my breakfast table!

Here in New York, the beloved toasted corn muffin, slathered with butter, has been a classic morning nosh at diners and delis for decades. Maybe that's why I prefer to eat my cornbread as a breakfast food or an afternoon coffee-break cake.

I know many of you don't see it that way. For you, cornbread is strictly a dinner item, served as a savory side with ribs or chicken. You might add corn kernels or chopped jalapeños to your batter but never sugar.

To you I say, keep an open mind... :)

☕ A Recipe Note from Cleo

Cleo Coyle has a partner in

crime-writing—her husband.

Learn about their books

by clicking here and here.

If you’re no fan of dry, grainy cornbread, this may be the recipe for you, with or without the sugar. The crumb is tender and tasty (more cake-like). The sour cream is my secret, along with my (subjectively favorite) ratio of flour to cornmeal.

I sometimes cut calories by using low fat milk and reduced fat sour cream; and I sometimes increase the fiber and nutrition by using white whole wheat flour (more on that below).

This sweet cornbread is delicious plain, slathered with butter, or even drizzled with orange blossom honey. And speaking of a slight note of citrus, that's one twist I enjoy giving to my breakfast corn bread.

With a bounty of beautiful oranges cheering up our winter produce aisles, I like to add a little orange zest to my morning cornbread at this time of year. The light orange fragrance in the warm, sweet bread starts off my winter day just right. If you’re not a fan of oranges, leave it out. But it you are, you may enjoy it as much as I do.

BY THE WAY...

This is a peak time for California and Florida oranges. They're a great source of vitamins and with winter taxing our systems, they’re also a good immune booster. So enjoy some oranges with your cornbread and coffee!

My note on "white whole wheat" flour…

This lighter type of whole wheat flour gives you the fiber and nutritional benefits of whole grain but with a taste and texture closer to white flour. You can substitute "white whole wheat flour" for all-purpose flour at a 1:1 ratio. While this won’t work in an angel food cake or puff pastry, you can get good results using it in cookies, muffins, brownies, quick breads, and yeast breads. Learn more from King Arthur flour by clicking here.

☕

To download a free PDF of
this recipe that you can
print, save, or share, click here.

Click for the free recipe PDF

Cleo Coyle's
Cornbread with a Twist

Makes one 8- or 9-inch square pan of cornbread
(This recipe will also work in a 7 x 11-inch pan.)

Ingredients

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk (whole, 2%, or skim)

1/2 cup sour cream (regular or low fat)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola (or vegetable) oil
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour (for more fiber and nutrition I often use
“white whole wheat flour,” more info on this above)

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

(optional) 1 tablespoon orange zest (grated orange peel, no white pith)

CLEO NOTE: If you've never "zested" an orange, lemon or lime, Chef Gordon Ramsay will show you how in the video below...

If you don't see a video below, click here to watch it.

CLEO NOTE CONTINUED...

Although I have a boxed grater like Chef Ramsay's, I find a microplane grater/zester makes zesting citrus fruits even easier and well worth the small investment. To see the microplane tool (and/or purchase one for yourself), click here.

To see an example of a microplane grater used in a recipe, jump to my Lime Meltaway Cookies post by clicking here or on the photo below...

Cleo Coyle's
Cornbread with a Twist

(See Ingredients above)

Directions:

One bowl mixing method: First preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. In a mixing bowl, whisk together egg, milk, sour cream, sugar, salt, and oil.

When the mixture is well blended and the sour cream smoothly incorporated, measure in the flour and cornmeal. Evenly sprinkle over the baking powder and soda. If using, add orange zest now.

Switching to a spoon or spatula, mix to create a lumpy batter. Do not over-mix or you’ll develop the gluten in the flour and your cornbread will be tough instead of tender.

Prep an 8- or 9-inch square pan by coating with
non-stick spray (or buttering and dusting with flour).

Pour batter into pan and

spread into an even layer.

Bake in preheated oven
for about 25 minutes.

When a toothpick inserted in the center

comes out clean, remove from oven.

Cool, cut, and...

Eat (and read) with joy!

~ Cleo Coyle

New York Times bestselling author
of The Coffeehouse Mysteries &
Haunted Bookshop Mysteries

This is us >> Alice and Marc.

Together we write as Cleo Coyle.

Friend us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
Visit our online coffeehouse here.

Just Released!

Our NEW Coffeehouse Mystery!

Learn more or buy at:

Amazon * B&N

Indie * BAM

👇

Click the image above for our free, illustrated guide
to the recipes found in our new Coffeehouse Mystery:
Brewed Awakening.

CLEO JUST SENT OUT HER

NEW YEAR'S NEWSLETTER.
WITH TASTY RECIPES AND

A FUN GIVEAWAY...

TO SUBSCRIBE:

New Updated Version!

The Coffeehouse Mysteries are bestselling
works of amateur sleuth fiction set in a landmark

Greenwich Village coffeehouse, and each of the
18 titles includes the added bonus of recipes.

Click for Cleo's Free Checklist of
Coffeehouse Books in Order

GIVEAWAY NEWS!

Don't miss Cleo's Book & Tote
Giveaway in her New Year's
Newsletter

CLICK HERE to sign up and you'll
receive a link to Cleo's newsletter
in an auto-reply. Info on this
giveaway is in the newsletter.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
TO CLEO'S NEWSLETTER AND
ENTER HER GIVEAWAY...

Good luck! ~ Cleo

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Easiest Summer Salad Ever and Results of Favorite Cookout Foods Poll from Cleo Coyle

Cleo Coyle has a partner in

crime-writing—her husband.

Learn about their books

by clicking here and here.

Have you ever wondered where the phrase "cool as a cucumber" came from?

The inside of a cucumber is 20 degrees cooler than the outside. Too bad we can't claim the same advantage on these sweltering summer days! Marc and I do the next best thing, we eat them like crazy.

Crunchy, cold cukes are supremely satisfying in summer. Their B vitamins make them a great pick-me-up food. They're also hydrating. And staying properly hydrated is a real health concern these days, not only in summer but year-round.

Apparently, the Roman Emperor Tiberius insisted on cucumbers daily during summer and winter. The Romans used greenhouses to provide it for him every day of the year. Below you'll find one of our favorite ways to put it on the table...

Cleo Coyle's
Cool as a Cucumber
Summer Salad

If you like buttermilk Ranch dressing but never have buttermilk on hand and don't want to use bottled dressing, try this super-fast creamy, cool, and crunchy salad. It pairs beautifully with grilled meats and fish, making it a fantastic salad for summer cookouts. And speaking of cookouts, scroll down for the results of my Cookout Foods Poll that many of you took last week. May you eat with the joy of summer!

~ Cleo

Yield: About 4 servings

Ingredients

2 medium to large chilled cucumbers
1 small red onion (or 1/2 a medium to large red onion)
3 (or so) tablespoons cold sour cream (*see my note)
Fresh dill
Salt and pepper (to your taste)

* CLEO NOTE: You can substitute crema Mexicana or creme fraiche for this recipe, but do not use yogurt, which is too tangy. The sour cream provides a sweeter, creamier flavor that (combined with the dill) mimics a lovely buttermilk Ranch dressing, but without the fuss of lots of ingredients, including buying buttermilk, which some folks have told me they have trouble finding these days. I hope you enjoy it!

Directions: You can either peel the skin from the cucumbers or keep the skins on for extra fiber. (See a great use for cucumber skin in my tips below.) Cut the cucumbers into thin slices. Cut the red onion into thin slices. Toss both well with sour cream and the fresh dill. Salt and pepper to taste. White pepper (used sparingly) makes a pretty presentation. Garnish with a bit more fresh dill.

CLEO'S COOL

CUCUMBER TIPS!

* SUNBURN SOOTHER

Use the skin of a cucumber to sooth your sunburn or skin irritations, the same way you would use aloe for sunburn.

Cleo and her (home office)
Cucumber Spa

* EASY, SOOTHING SPA TREATMENT - Place a slice over each eye. The cool feel of it is incredibly soothing, the scent is lovely, and the anti-inflammatory properties help reduce puffiness.

* HANGOVER CURE - Because cucumbers have B vitamins and electrolytes, they can restore the nutrients you need during sleep. So if you've had a few too many cocktails, eat cucumbers before going to bed. By morning, the intensity of any hangover headache will be reduced.

Mr. Fellows appreciates

the Hangover Cure.

* HEALTH BENEFITS: The fiber in cucumbers helps us eliminate toxins from our bodies. They relieve bad breath, help fight some forms of cancer, promote joint health, and reduce cholesterol. The potassium and magnesium also help regulate blood pressure, and cucumber juice has been found to be beneficial for diabetic patients (it contains a hormone needed by cells of the pancreas for producing insulin). Read more here.

And now...

CLEO's
SUMMER COOKOUTS

POLL RESULTS!

As our blog follower "Jen" put it in the comments last week, "Nothing beats summer BBQs!!!" Many of you had the same happy reactions to my poll.

You can see the original blog post and poll by clicking here. Now here are the final results of your voting...

What 4 items are a MUST

for your summer cookouts?

Out of over 500 votes cast,

you chose the following Top 4 foods...

#1 Burgers (beef, lamb, turkey, or veggie)

#2 Sweet Corn on the Cob

#3 Potato Salad

#4 Watermelon

And here is how you ranked

the other foods in the poll...

(#5) Hot Dogs (#6) Steak (#7) BBQ Baked Beans

(#8) Chicken (#9) Ribs (#10) Beer

and finally (#11) S'mores

* * *

Your "other" suggestions
for cookout foods included...

BRATS - Anne Lovell, Elaine Klingbiel, Deborah, and B.E. Sanderson all mentioned bratwursts.

And Deborah added: “…here in Ohio, we are big on grilling bratwurst. Hey, at least I didn't go with goetta - no one outside this area even knows what that is. :)”

TURKEY BRISKET IN THE SMOKER - Stephanie Jones said: “I like turkey or brisket in the smoker for the day, and those amazing aromas that trigger hunger. Also, a fruit skewer of whatever is in season…”

BRISKET AND PORK LOINS - Kitty said: "We love to put them on the back of the pit and let them smoke.”

Donna E had a great suggestion: “…one of our favorite grilled meals at home is chicken marinated in Italian dressing & then grilled.”

Grandma Cootie has a favorite, too: “…can't leave out my son's wonderful special baked potatoes. Slices and seasons them, cooks up a little crisp bacon to add while serving - yum. Everything is better on the grill.”

Helena Georgette likes to cook more than one meal on her grill. “My Santa Maria Tri Tip & Santa Maria Beans are very good for summer grilling.”

Joyce Tremel said: “…If I'd have had a fifth choice it might have been ham barbecues with Isaly's Chipped Ham.”

Cynthia E. Blain – “…we do love lobster steamed in a pot ON the grill along with plenty of steamer clams from Maine or Cape Cod and many times we do a Clam Boil with the potatoes, onions, Portuguese sausage or Kielbasa, along with the clams. Nothing like a real New England Clam Boil. We also make homemade clam chowder and clam fritters to go along with almost every cookout/BBQ….” (Wow! Count me in, Cynthia! - Cleo)

* * *

And many of you

shared lovely memories...

Dotty Kelley – “When I was a kid we used to summer on Cape Cod. There was a great farm stand on the way that sold the sweetest sweet corn ever. We always stopped there and bought dozens of ears for our first cookout. Great memories of family fun and summer grilling.”

PlumGaga – “…I'm a corn snob, so in an ideal world, the water would be put on to boil before the corn was picked from the garden. These days I reluctantly settle for the freshest from the farm stand.”

Ronna Lord - “…the potato salad is a definite must. It's my mom's recipe from years ago and everyone loves it and the memory of mom/Grammy/great Grammy!”

AnnMarie Green – “4th of July was like a big family reunion when I was growing up. It was the best picnic ever…and for dessert a cup of coffee with a plate full of cakes and cookies!”

Debra Carmichael – “We love grilling out…My husband is retired Army and even stationed in Alaska we cooked out in the winter.”

Carol Summers-Kolber –

“My favorite cookout was the summer before my husband passed away. All the family was there and some of my adult kid's in-laws too. We cracked open a bottle of wine that my granddaughter had corked in her summer apprenticeship to a vineyard and toasted each other. My son-in-law did the grilling and we all contributed the side dishes. We ate outside under the huge maple tree in the backyard while various family pets chased each other and the younger kids around the yard. We all knew my husband did not have much time left because of his illness and it remains one of the best days of summer past.”

Thank you, Carol, and all of you for
sharing such beautiful memories!

XOXO ~ Cleo

* * *

Finally, the most

important ingredient of all...

ANN*H – “The only thing I would add to this list is family and fun : )”

Connie Stein – “plus…swimming pool and family and friends…”

Diane Snow – “The most important ingredient is ‘Family and Friends’ (including the 4 leg variety)!”