Bill Bennett's oyster thing

Several years ago, I had a brother-in-law who made the most divine oyster dish at Thanksgiving and Christmas family gatherings. Sadly, the family had an internicene feud and no one speaks to each other anymore. The glue that held the family together, my gracious, beautiful Southern lady mother in law, died a few years back. Said brother-in-law showed his true stripes upon her death, robbing the rest of the family of their inheritance by hook and crook (and lots of legal fees).



He always maintained that his secret oyster recipe would never be shared as it had passed down from his mother to him. Unbeknownst to him, my sweet mother-in-law shared it with me. I don't think she really liked him very much! Anyway, it is my true pleasure to share this with everyone.



As I stated in an earlier post, many of my recipes bear the name of the person from whom I received them. Even though I received this from my dear mother-in-law, I still enjoy the dig at my erstwhile brother-in-law by attaching his name to this post.
Please enjoy!



Bill Bennett's Oyster Thing



1 stick butter

1/2 cup flour

1/2 t. paprika, salt and pepper

dash of red pepper

1 medium onion finely chopped

1/2 green pepper finely chopped

1 t/ garlic

1T lemon juice

1 T. worcestershire sauce
1 qt. oysters (buy select-style, not jumbo)
1/2 c. saltine crumbs

Make a very dark roux from flour and butter stirring constantly (this takes about 30 minutes but is well worth is and made tolerable if one has a stool on which to perch while stirring). Add seasonings and stir for 3 minutes. Add onion, pepper and garlic and cook for 5 more minutes.

In a separate pan, heat oysters in their own juice until the edges curl. Add to roux and pour into a greased casserole dish. Top with saltine crumbs. Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes.

Iris Ellis' Cornbread Dressing

First of all, many of my recipes are written and remembered by the person who gave them to me. None of you were probably privileged enough to know the kind, gentle lady for whom this recipe is named and sadly, she left this earth several years ago, followed within a few short years by her daughter who was one of my best friends.



During college, we couldn't wait for Thanksgiving and for Loraine to go home and bring back some of Iris' dressing. Here in the south, we don't stuff turkeys; that's for Northerners and those not lucky enough to be born here. We make our dressing in a separate pan and it always starts with day-old cornbread. Many of my friends' mothers made dressing, but none as well as Iris. She would always make an extra pan for Loraine and we would freeze it and take it out in the summer as a celebratory meal.



When Loraine died, I no longer had her at my disposal to remember Iris' recipe for me. Her daddy came to my rescue the first Thanksgiving after her death. I frantically emailed him for the secret recipe and he gladly shared. I will post EXACTLY as it was given to me (with accurate measurements in parentheses). Every Thanksgiving, I have a couple of friends who still call me for this recipe and I gladly share, remembering with much love the two women who made this recipe possible.

Iris Ellis' Cornbread Dressing

Day old cornbread
(1 pan - I use an old cast-iron skillet and make homemade cornbread. Whatever you do, DO NOT use Jiffy cornbread mix as it is too sweet)
3 or 4 biscuits (again, I make my own but it acceptable to use biscuits from Bojangles or the like)
A couple of pieces of toast

Crumble all these together (I will sometimes put them in the food processor for a finer crumb)

Saute and onion and some celery in butter (chop one onion finely and a stalk of celery)
Beat 2 eggs with a little bit of milk (I use a couple of tablespoons)
Add above to bread mixture

Add sage, salt and pepper to taste (I use a good amount of sage - 1 t. and 1 t. of salt)

Add two cans of chicken broth

Dot with butter and bake at 350 til done (this takes about 30 minutes)

Banana Pudding, Southern style

Since we are snowed in here in Asheville, NC, I have been doing a lot of cooking. I also have lots of time on my hands because we can hardly get out of our driveway! Last night, I made my husband (and my daddy's) favorite dessert: Banana Pudding. I remember my daddy's mother making it and watching her slowly stir the pudding on the stove. How that combination of vanilla pudding, bananas and "Nilla" wafers combine to make such a heavenly taste is magical. I've made this recipe dozens of times and it really is best served warm, about 15 minutes out of the oven. However, my son often eats it for breakfast the next day IF there is any leftover. Banana pudding is often deemed a plebian dessert but there's no better comfort dessert anywhere!

Banana Pudding
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup all purpose flour
dash salt
3 eggs, separated
2 cups milk (I always use fat free as this is all I buy but grandma used whole which is much richer)
1 t. vanilla extract
1 T butter
45 vanilla wafers, divided
5 ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 cups), sliced

Mix 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt in a heavy pot on the stove (you can use a double boiler if you like). Add egg yolks and milk. Cook, stirring constantly until mixture is of pudding consistency (about 8-10 minutes). Off heat, add vanilla and butter.

Spread small amount of custard in the bottom of a 1 1/2 qt. casserole; cover with a layer of wafers and a layer of sliced bananas. Pour about 1/3 of the custard over the bananas. Continue to layer in that order, making a total three layers of each and ending with custard.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, gradually adding remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Beat until stiff but not dry. Spoon on top of custard, making sure to seal edges.
Bake at 350 until browned, about 10-15 minutes.

Quick Thai Green Curry

This is one of my "go-t0" meals that my family begs for at least weekly, although I don't make it that often. I love thai green curry and spent inordinate amounts of time eating it at Basil in Charleston, SC. Since moving to Asheville, NC, the best thai curry I've ever eaten is served at a litte restaurant inside an Exxon station - Little Bee Thai.

I discovered this recipe quite by accident several years ago while trolling the internet for a "Basil" taste alike. I always add the higher amount of curry but your can adapt to your taste buds. I also add a vegetable to stretch the dish and have used eggplant, snow peas and broccoli. Again, your preference. Serve over steamed jasmine rice.

As for the meat, the original recipe calls for chicken (which I bake in the oven, along with whatever vegetable is added to the dish) but I have also used shrimp. I suppose one could use tofu and vegetable broth to make this a vegetartian meal. The recipe is extremely adaptable. Let me know what YOU do to make it your own!

1 T. vegetable oil
2 minced shallots (I've used onions when I didn't have shallots)
1-inch piece gingerroot, minced
1-2 T. green curry paste (usually found on the Asian aisle in most grocery stores)
1 14 1/2 oz can chicken broth (or use your own stock if you have it)
1 can coconut milk (NOT coco-lopez) - you can use lite coconut milk to save calories
1 can sliced, drained bamboo shoots
1/4 t. salt
2 c. sliced cooked chicken, beef, pork, tofu or shrimp
1 c. vegetable of your choice.

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over med. high heat; add shallots and ginger. Stir fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce heat heat to medium; stir in curry paste. Stir in chicken broth; cook until broth is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Stir in chicken, vegetable, coconut milk, bamboo shoots and salt. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer five minutes. Sitr in fresh basil before serving if desired.
Serve in bowls over steamed jasmine rice with lime wedges on the side if desired.

The Cake Slice Bakers - Cranberry Cake

Finally, a recipe from this cookbook that was outstanding! The tanginess of the cranberry was offset perfectly by the sweet streusel-like topping. We devoured this cake so quicky I never had time to take any pictures. Below is the recipe:


1 cup sliced almonds
2 T. melted butter
2 T. packed light brown sugar
2 c. all purpose flour (I use King Arthur)
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. sale
3 large eggs
2 c. sugar
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sitcks) butter, melted and cooled
1 t. vanilla extract
1 bag (12 oz) fresh cranberries

Make the Streusel:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 10-inch springform pan.
Combine almonds, butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl . Work the mixture between your fingers to form large crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the Cake
Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
Combine eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat until light and increased in volume, about 5 minuntes. With mixer on low, add the butter in a slow stream. Increase speed and mix on medium for another two minutes.
Fold in flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time. Stir in cranberries.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and top with streusel. Bake until golden, about 1 hour. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Unmold from pan and cool completely.

Cinnamon Pudding Cake

I was so looking forward to making this month's Cinnamon Pudding Cake. The weather is lovely here in the Appalachian mountains. Temperatures are in the low 60's in the daytime and near freezing at night so we have had a spectacular autumn.

Cinnamon Pudding Cake seemed perfect for a cool fall night and I lined up my ingredients in antipation of making a delicious dessert for my family. After combing through suggestions from others on this blog, I made some minor adjustments (added more water and sugar to the pudding and also added an egg) to the recipe (posted below).

The cake went together beautifully. I carefully buttered the pan figuring that a pudding topping would make a sticky mess (boy was I right about that). After creaming the butter and sugar, I added an egg and combined the dry and wet ingredients in the usual cake manner (beginning and ending with dry).

I was quite skeptical about pouring the pudding atop the batter but forged ahead recklessly. The recipe said the pan would be very full but mine was not. I baked the cake in a 350 oven for 40 minutes, checking after 30 and 35 minutes to test for doneness.

After letting the cake cool (albeit maybe too long; probably about 30 minutes instead of 15 because I lost track of time), the moment had come for the unmolding. Yuck! I had a cake completely stuck to the pan and the topping was a gelatinous mess that I managed to scrape out and sort of glop onto the cake.

The cake itself was as dry as toast and the topping so sparse that it couldn't make up for the dryness. I ended up throwing the whole mess out, which is unusual for me since I will almost always eat something sweet.

I have made other cakes from this cookbook and have been successful with three so far: The Apple and Cheddar Cheese Cake; Chocolate Caramel Banana Upside Down Cake; and Chocolate Gingerbread which we had for dessert tonight.

Here's the recipe for Cinnamon Pudding Cake

For the caramel topping

1 cup plus 2 T packet light brown sugar

3/4 cup water

1 T unsalted butter

For the cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 t baking poder

2 1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

2 T unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup whole milk

1 t vanilla extract

Make the topping

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray (spray VERY liberally)

Combine the brown sugar, water, butter and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. Set aside to cool.

Make the cake

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 2 minutes (I added an egg after this step)

Add the dry ingredients and the milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Scrape batter into prepared pan. Pour the topping over the batter (the pan should be very full but mine was not). Bake until set 40-45 minutes.

Cool cake in pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a large rimmed platter. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake

Autumn has arrived to my part of the country and what better time to make this pumpkin chocolate chip loaf cake than October. Pumpkins are abundant here but, despite that, I took the easy route and used canned pumpkin for this recipe.

The recipe consists of the usual cake ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. ground cloves
pinch nutmeg

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 t. vanilla extract
1/3 cup mil
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Coat the inside of a 9x5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and dust with flour.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices in a medium bow.

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add pumpkin puree and vanilla. Stir in milk.

Turn mixer to low and add flour mixture about 1/2 cup at a time. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Transfer batter to prepared pan and bake until it is firm to the touch and a tester inserted comes out clean - about 1 hour. Let cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes then inverst onto a wire rack to cool completely.

The finished product was not as I expected. For starters, my oven must not be properly calibrated for, though it was set at 350, after an hour and 10 minutes, the top of the cake began to brown and the middle was still gooey. Upon removal from the oven, the middle immediately collapsed into a heap. My family and I (a husband and a 13 year old son) weren't too thrilled with this cake, at least not as a dessert. My husband has proclaimed it an excellent breakfast bread, I guess because of the shape. This is not one I will make again. Looking forward to next month and happy baking to all! Jill

Apple Pie in a Jar

Thanks to Kelsey of The Napping Chef for the idea of pie in a jar. In a recent post, she reveled in the making of blueberry pie in a jar. Since I live in western North Carolina, and we have a fairly large share of the apple market on the East coast, I altered the recipe to make apple pie in a jar.

The ingredients were simple: peeled, sliced apples; sugar; thickener; spices. The trick was in getting the proportions correct. I tried several thickeners and liked corn starch best, eliminating pectin (awful) and tapioca (just ok). After some tinkering, I settled on the following:

Apple Pie in a Jar

4 cups sugar

1 cup corn starch

1 t. salt

2 t. cinnamon

nutmeg and cardamon to taste (personal preference rules here)

10 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Fill STERILIZED jars with peeled, chopped apples. Fill jars with sugar/spice mixture. You may have to insert a knife into the apples in order to fill the jars with liquid. Clean rims before closing. Process in a hot water bath for 30 minutes. To ascertain that jars are sealed, press down on the lid. If it does NOT pop back up, you're done!

My neighborhood is rife with old, unsprayed apple trees and the neighbors have been very generous to share. My friend has peeled all the apples, making my work much easier. We are going to sell them at the local High School's craft fair as a fundraiser for our children's band trip. I think they will make excellent Christmas gifts!

Opening Salvo

Good morning! In an effort to join a cake baking group, I am attempting to start my own blog. The name was suggested by my Beatles loving teenager and I thought it was quite clever of him. Since it was his idea, I give all credit to him in this, my very first post. Thank you Andrew.

Well there, that's out of the way. Now, a little bit about me. I am a Southern gal who loves to cook and especially bake. I had two grandmothers who taught me most everything I know about baking. Now I just use their basic recipes and add my own twist on things. This becomes quite problematic when the ADD in me forgets to write down the variations I make to the recipe. When it's the best cake I've baked in a long time, I'm not happy with myself.

Another friend, now gone from this world, taught me how to cook Southern style. Since this was years ago, we weren't so worried about fat and calories. Again, I've learned how to modify her basic ingredients to fit a healthier lifestyle. Many thanks Loraine.

Mostly I plan to cook fabulous food and share it with anyone out there who also loves to cook. Jill