Yummy Buttermilk Muffins

This is a recipe from my new friend Becky. I actually met her years ago, but she and her husband Travis came over for dinner for the first time last night and today she shared this recipe with me so now we're really friends. I don't have a picture, but these would be good any time with any meal. Breakfast, snack, dinner, lunch. Yummy. The recipe in Becky's words:

Yummy Buttermilk Muffins:

I cup sugar

4 tablespoons softened butter

1 egg

(beat first three ingredients together, then add remaining ingredients)

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tsp bk soda

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

Mix all the ingredients, pour into greased muffin tins (fill muffin tins about half-full) and bake at 350 until they look golden.

Probably 20 minutes or so? But I don't actually know how long they cook. Yesterday's muffins were actually a bit overdone.

It makes 1-2 dozen muffins

Steel Cut Oats

We had this for breakfast this morning. So very yummy. I recently read that steel cut oats are only barely more nutritious than rolled oats. They take longer to digest so you get a little bit more of the nutrients and you feel fuller longer. I like the nutty taste and texture of steel cut oats and I love that this recipe uses buttermilk! I usually don't add the extra buttermilk at the end, but I do top it with brown sugar or maple syrup and a little bit more milk to help cool it off.

Here's Alton Brown's recipe...

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 3 cups boiling water
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon low-fat buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

In a large saucepot, melt the butter and add the oats. Stir for 2 minutes to toast. Add the boiling water and reduce heat to a simmer. Keep at a low simmer for 25 minutes, without stirring.

Combine the milk and half of the buttermilk with the oatmeal. Stir gently to combine and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Spoon into a serving bowl and top with remaining buttermilk, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Creamy Parmesan Polenta

I've never gone wrong with a recipe from Ina Garten. I really really like this one. I also really really like polenta. I didn't have creme fraiche, so I used sour cream. To give you an idea of how much this makes, it filled a 9x9 baking dish for me.

This photo is polenta served in a bowl, but I spread mine out in the baking dish, then sliced it like a brownie. After slicing I tried broiling it to get a crispy golden top layer. It worked. It was served this way to me at a dinner party last summer and I loved it.

I think polenta goes well with a hearty meat, so we had ours with steaks :)

Ina Garten's Creamy Parmesan Polenta

4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 tsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone ground
1 TBL kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
1/4 cup creme fraiche
2 TBL unslated butter

Place the chicken stock in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and cook over medium-high heat until the stock comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and very slowly whisk in the cornmeal, whisking constantly, for 10 minutes, until thick. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan thoroughly while you're stirring. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, creme fraiche, and butter. Taste for seasonings and serve with extra parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.

Mustard Chicken Salad

Image courtesy of foodnetwork.com It's really so much better looking than this photo! I should have taken a pic of mine...

I just served this at a baby shower. It was a great make ahead recipe that was surprisingly good. I would usually steer clear from a "broccoli" salad for some reason - tarragon too for that matter - but the blanched broccoli, cut into really small florets was pleasant. And the tarragon was nice too.

I couldn't find tarragon vinegar in time, but the store I was at had a tarragon dijon mustard so I just used white wine vinegar and the tarragon mustard instead of just plain dijon.

Also, since I was scared of tarragon I didn't put in the full 2 TBS fresh tarragon. It seemed to be seasoned well enough. And it turns out I guess I do like tarragon.

Oh also, with roasting the chicken and removing the skin and bone for the salad, I can't help but add the drippings from the pan to the dressing. All that delicious flavor, otherwise known as mostly fat, so you have to make your own choice about that. But it was very tasty.

Mustard Chicken Salad from Ina Garten's latest cookbook that I can't think of the name of...

Ingredients

* 2 whole (4 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
* Good olive oil
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 2 cups broccoli florets
* 1 1/2 cups good mayonnaise
* 2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
* 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
* 3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
* 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon leaves
* 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and dice the chicken in large bite-size pieces.

Meanwhile, add the broccoli florets to a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook for 1 minute, until crisp tender, drain, and place into a bowl of ice water until cool. This will stop the cooking and set the bright green color.

For the dressing, whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustards, 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add enough sauce to the warm chicken to moisten well. Add the tarragon, broccoli, and tomatoes and mix gently to combine. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.