La Cocina de Leslie: quick breads

This recipe/post might look a little familiar to you. It was originally posted with my recipe for Cocido Rojo (Mexican Beef Soup) back in the early days of this blog. I love cornbread (I make it at least twice a month) and have such great memories associated with it that I felt it deserved to have it's very own post. I hope you don't mind.

My first and fondest memory of cornbread dates back many years ago when I was about 7 or 8 years old, when my dad and I lived with my great-grandmother Pearl in Amarillo, Texas. I don't remember much about my great-grandmother, but what I do remember is that she loved to watch her stories (The Young & The Restless) and that she was an amazing cook. She made absolutely everything completely from scratch. The two foods that stick out most in my mind are her Peach Cobbler (a recipe I'm still trying to duplicate) and her buttery melt-in-your-mouth cornbread. I remember that she always used to bake cornbread on the same day she'd cook a pot of pinto beans. For dinner she'd serve a slice of buttered cornbread in a bowl, then she'd ladle some of her freshly cooked pinto beans and broth over the cornbread. Such a simple meal, but it was one of my favorite meals EVER!

25 February 2014

Masa Harina Cornbread

I like to wake up late on Sunday mornings and enjoy a long, leisurely breakfast. Now that the weather has cooled, I love to have something baking in the oven to help warm the house. Oven-baked goodies are much better than any old heater! And in honor of my love of Sunday breakfast, I am adding a new feature. Every Saturday, I will post a delicious breakfast recipe that I hope you will share (and enjoy) with your family.

A couple of months ago, I mentioned that I bought 6 pounds of sweet potatoes. I used a few of the camotes (sweet potatoes) to make Sweet Potato fries and other savory dishes. I steamed the rest of the camotes, scooped out the flesh and froze it in 1 cup portions.

I still have a couple of baggies of Sweet Potato puree set aside for making pie. But most of it has been used to make Sweet Potato Biscuits. They are so good! (Sigh!) Sweet Potato Biscuits are quickly becomming a family favorite.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup sweet potato puree
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup milk

Directions:
In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potato puree, brown sugar and melted butter until well combined..

Stir in the milk.

Add the flour mixture to the sweet potato mixture. Mix together until no flour is visible.

Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead for 2 minutes. (Look at the yummy bits of sweet potato peeking through!)

Lightly dust rolling pin with flour. Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out desired shape with a 2-inch cookie cutter. (Do NOT twist cookie cutter! That prevents the biscuits from rising.)