We had this savory side dish at a Tom Douglas restaurant, Etta’s Seafood, and it was excellent – if not for New Year’s dieters. We tried the recipe this weekend and it turned out really well, a nice, dressy side dish alternative to stuffing or potatoes.

Tom publishes the recipe in his Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen cookbook, and it’s been reprinted several places on the web, so I’m sharing it here as well.

Etta’s Cornbread Pudding

Cornbread:

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus a little extra for buttering pan
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup medium-ground yellow cornmeal
½ cup grated pepper jack cheese
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons honey

Pudding:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter plus a little more for buttering pan
1 cup thinly sliced onions
¾ cup grated dry jack cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 ¼ cups whipping cream or half-and-half
4 large eggs
¾ to 1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. To prepare the cornbread: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Melt ¼ cup butter and set aside to cool slightly. Butter an 8-inch square pan with a little softened butter and set aside.
 
2. Combine the flour, cornmeal, pepper jack cheese, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a second bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and honey. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Add the melted butter and stir into the mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut into 1-inch cubes.
 
3. To prepare the pudding: Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Put the cornbread cubes in a buttered 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
 
4. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a sauté pan over low heat and cook the onions very slowly until soft and golden brown, at least 20 minutes; stir occasionally. Remove from the heat. Scatter the onions, cheese and herbs over the cornbread. Whisk together the cream, eggs, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl and pour over the cornbread cubes. Let sit for 10 minutes so the cornbread absorbs some of the custard.

Notes: Dry jack cheese resembles parmesan and is nuttier than regular jack; you could also use parmesan or sharp cheddar but the flavor would change. You can make the cornbread and store it in the freezer, covered tightly in plastic wrap, for a few weeks until you are ready to make the pudding. The onions can be caramelized a day ahead and stored, covered, in the refrigerator. The pudding can be baked a day in advance and stored in the refrigerator, covered – we actually liked it better the second day. Before serving, reheat the pudding, covered with aluminum foil, in a preheated 375-degree oven until warmed through.

Michelle K posted this awesome cure for PMS and everything else on her site:

     Bittersweet Brownies

I know many of you have tried them. If you have not – and you like dark chocolate – it’s well worth the kitchen time to make a batch!

I made my favorite ever cheesecake yesterday for our birthday get-together today. I don’t get to make it all that often because not everyone in my family likes dark chocolate – they’re crazy – but mom brought carrot cake for those wimps selective few.

I can’t share the truly awesome leftovers – but I can share the recipe.

Kahlua Fudge Cheesecake

Crust
2 pkg (2/3 box) chocolate graham crackers
3 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp melted butter

Cheesecake
32 oz cream or neufchatel cheese, softened
1 ½ c sugar
½ c cocoa powder
1 ¾ c semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (1 12-oz pkg)
6 tbsp kahlua
6 tbsp cream
5 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla

Ganache topping
1 ¾ c semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (1 12-oz pkg)
6 tbsp kahlua
6 tbsp cream

Crust:
Reduce graham crackers to crumbs using either a food processor or a ziplock back and a rolling pin. Toss with sugar and melted butter, press crumb mixture into bottom and halfway up the sides of a 9″ springform cheesecake pan. Preheat oven to 350. Freeze crust for five minutes, then bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Cheesecake:
Preheat oven to 400. Beat cream cheese, sugar and cocoa powder together until fluffy. Melt chocolate chips in double boiler or in microwave (place in microwave safe dish, alternating heating 20 seconds full power with stirring until completely smooth). Blend in kahlua and cream until smooth, and mix into cream cheese mixture. Mix in eggs one at a time, then vanilla. Pour mixture carefully over crumb crust. Your cheesecake pan will be very full; this is ok, it will not overflow.

Prepare a water bath; this is a lot of trouble but will greatly improve the quality of your finished cheesecake. Place about 8 cups of water on stovetop or in microwave and bring to a boil. Layer 2 x 18″ squares of aluminum foil on the counter – overlapping 12″ squares WILL NOT work – place cheesecake pan in the center, and carefully wrap foil up sides of cheesecake pan. Don’t cover the top, but trim excess away. Place foil wrapped cheesecake pan in center of larger baking pan – a broiler pan will work – and place broiler pan in center rack of oven. Carefully pour boiling water in broiler pan around cheesecake pan, until 1/3 to ½ way up the side of cheesecake pan.

Bake at 400 for ten minutes, then reduce oven to 275. Bake for 90 minutes before checking cheesecake. Cheesecake may bake for up to 2 hours, depending on starting temperature of your cheesecake and actual heat of your oven. Remove from heat when it is set 2/3 of the way to the center but still slightly wobbly in the middle – it will continue to set after removed from heat.

Let cool for a couple hours at room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.

Ganache topping:
Melt chocolate chips in double boiler or in microwave (place in microwave safe dish, alternating heating 20 seconds full power with stirring until completely smooth). Blend in kahlua and cream until smooth. Mixture will be thick; pour & spread over top of cheesecake. Replace in refrigerator for another couple of hours.

Recipe notes:

• I like a tall cheesecake so this recipe has been adapted x .5 – you can reverse that if you prefer a thinner dessert.
• You can vary the proportions of chocolate to cream cheese – subtracting a cup of chocolate chips and adding 8 oz cream cheese – in the cheesecake portion to make a less intensely chocolate cheesecake if you choose. The recipe above is VERY intensely dark chocolate.
• Why a water bath? Cooking in a water bath improves heat transfer and reduces edge overheating & drying out, making a moist, even-textured cheesecake. The steamy oven also helps prevent a cracked top, although the ganache topping conceals that anyway.
• This recipe serves 16 chocoholics.

Ilya and Belsum pointed out this interesting Omnivores’ 100 foodie list that’s making the rounds. It was pretty interesting to skim through – I think of myself as a fairly gourmet eater, but these suggestions point out just how limited my American tastes are. I’ve tried 53 of the 100 – which isn’t even a D grade on the epicurean scale.

One observation on the items: many of the international and ethnic foods are fairly well respected within their culture of origin, e.g. caviar, fried plantain, Kobe beef. Most of the American items on the list, though, were unique to America but total crap, e.g. Hostess pies and McDonald’s Big Macs. Where is the fried chicken, apple pie, rib-eye steak? It makes me wonder about the international perception of American cuisine.

Also, several items on the list were alcoholic beverages. As a teetotaler – it’s a migraine trigger – I crossed those out.

Directions: Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions. Bold all the items you’ve eaten. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

My sister in law raved about a new salad dressing she’d found, feta dill Litehouse dressing. Of course, my small town grocery store didn’t carry it. I improvised and it turned out extremely good. All measurements are approximate, as I’m a pinch-of-this, pinch-of-that kind of cook:

3/4 c plain yogurt
3/4 c mayonnaise (not miracle whip)
3/4 c crumbled feta cheese
1 minced large garlic clove
1 tbsp dried dill weed or 2 tbsp minced fresh dill
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

Mix and let sit 1/2 hr before serving. Works as a dip or salad dressing. I tossed with butter lettuce, cucumbers, red peppers and grape tomatoes; a true Greek salad would include Kalamata olives too.