Every week we go to the library to scavenge music to upload. Michael looks for new videos and I browse the enormous cook book section. I'm always looking for some way to spice up our gluten free lives. Sometimes I only find a handful of recipes in any given book that I can make for us with the combination of our allergies and personal tastes so it is never beneficial for me to own these cook books. The library is a wonderful thing!
So this week I came across this book:
The Book Lover's Cookbook by Wenger and Jensen
What could be better? Literature laced cook book? Recipes inspired by the great writers of the world? I love this idea because we all have read novels where food plays an important role in the main characters life as it does our own. As humans we gather to eat in our homes, we gather in parks to eat, we go out to eat. Nurturing each other is essential to our happiness so why should it be any different for characters in novels?
I can't guarantee that I will be making the recipes I post from this book, but chances are I will give them a try in the long run. I'm just saying I can't attest to how good or bad it turns out at this time. Let's wing it together!
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
"They built a fire against the side of a great log twenty or thirty steps within the sombre depths of the forest, and then cooked some bacon in the frying-pan for supper, and used up half of the corn "pone" stock they had brought. It seemed glorious sport to be feasting in that wild, free way in the virgin forest of an unexplored and uninhabited island, far from the haunts of men, and they said they never would return to civilization. The climbing fire lit up their faces and threw its ruddy glare upon the pillared tree-trunks of their forest temple, and upon the varnished foliage and festooning vines.
When the last crisp slice of bacon was gone, and the last allowance of corn pone devoured, the boys stretched themselves out on the grass, filled with contentment. They could have found a cooler place, but they would not deny themselves such a romantic feature as the roasting campfire."
Traditional Southern Crackling Corn Bread
1 lb country style bacon or pork rind, cut 1/3 inch thick
1.5 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 T sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1.25 cps milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 T unsalted butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a 10 inch cast iron skillet, cook the bacon or port rind over moderate heat until crisp, about 7 minutes. Drain on paper towels; chop when cool. Reserve 2 T of drippings.
Wipe out the skillet and set it over low heat. Add the drippings and swirl to coat the pan. In a medium bowl, combine the cornmeal with the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, combine the milk and eggs and add to the cornmeal mixture along with the butter; stir just until the cornmeal is moistened. Fold in the bacon and pour the batter into the warm skillet. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve warm
