I have shared several recipes using cornmeal, because our early ancestors definitely used cornmeal frequently. No doubt the 17th and early 18th century families I am talking about recently ate cornbread–probably frequently. Did our waste-hating grandmothers make cornbread pudding? I don’t know, but it is such a simple recipe that it would not show up in cookbooks of the period.
What did they do with leftover cornbread? Or with families of 10 children maybe they had no such a thing as leftovers. But in today’s smaller families, a full pan of cornbread may not disappear during the first meal where it appears.
Leftover cornbread pudding to the rescue. My husband and I had this for breakfast and it was delicious and filling. Feel free to scatter some fruit over the top, or include bits of meat (crisp bacon, ham) in the mix. I love dishes with the flexibility that this one has. Make it your own. (And let us know how you have adapted it.)
Leftover cornbread makes a delish dish for breakfast.
Course Breakfast
Keyword corn bread, leftover, breakfast
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Servings 2
Author Vera Marie Badertscher
Ingredients
two pieces of cornbread
2eggs
1cupmilk
dashsalt
1tbspsugar
cinnamon or spice blend
Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat eggs, add milk, salt, sugar, and salt and whisk together.
Butter inside of oven-proof dish, capacity 2-2 1/2 cups.
Break cornbread in bite-size chunks and scatter in bottom of dish.
Pour the milk/egg mixture over the cornbread.
Sprinkle spices over top.
Bake until you can insert a knife and there is no liquid in the center. (About 1/2 hour)
Notes
One serving of cornbread pudding
Don’t throw out that almost-stale cornbread!You can make cornbread pudding for breakfast, or use it for dessert.This recipe makes two servings of cornbread pudding. It is simple to multiply the recipe to feed as many as you like–or as much as you can make with your leftover cornbread. Baking times will depend on the size of the dish that you are using.
If you are a backyard gardener–like my grandmother was, like my father was, and like I was for a brief time–you know what that title means. The Zucchini Apocalypse is as dreaded among gardeners as a Zombie invasion. Toward the end of summer, those little green monsters are so numerous that you can’t keep them picked off the vine before some of them hide under the leaves and grow to a size worthy of the Guiness Book of World Records. They get so big you don’t know whether to cook them or attach a sail and go exploring the ocean. It is zucchini casserole time, for sure.
But don’t worry, I’ve been there. Before the zuchs get out of control, you can start making zucchini bread, zucchini pickles, stuffed zucchini, zucchini pizza, and a thousand and one other variations. Here’s a recipe that my sister-in-law gave me many, many decades ago, for a very vintage zucchini casserole . I’ve updated it in a couple of ways, but I left the most vintage touch of all–mushroom soup.
Zucchini Casserole from side
The Zucchini Casserole Dish
Size of casserole dishes
This recipe makes a VERY BIG casserole dish full. A word on the size of the bowl. After all, your fancy casserole dishes may not have measurements marked on the the side. I went with a 2 quart Pyrex bowl this time, but it definitely was not big enough. 2 1/2 quarts is ideal. How do you know what size your bowls are? Pour measured water into them. Time to return to grade school math class. Four cups equals one quart. I have a four-cup measuring cup and the Corning Ware bowl takes two and a half quarts to fill it to the brim. The Pyrex dish, on the other hand, holds just two quarts.
I recommend a deep rather than a shallow dish. My favorite for the zucchini casserole is this big Corning Ware baking dish. The pictures of the finished casserole show it in a two-quart pyrex dish, which isn’t really big enough. Make two and give one away if you don’t have a big enough dish.
WHOOPS!
Well, we’ve all been there haven’t we? Shut the oven door and notice there is something that did not get included in the dish or pan? I forgot to layer the Ricotta. So I slathered it on top. Didn’t hurt a thing.
Zucchini with afterthought ricotta
Good luck getting rid of all those zucchinis, gardeners!
This Zucchini casserole has been updated to make it a wee bit healthier, but retains mushroom soup as a nod to the past.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword casserole, vintage, zucchini
Prep Time 25 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour25 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour50 minutesminutes
Servings 12
Author Vera Marie Badertscher
Ingredients
1Cupbrown riceCook in 2 1/2 cups boiling water
1poundground beef
1stalksceleryAlternatively, one onion chopped, or a blend of celery and onion.
1Teaspoongarlic, chopped
1teaspoondried oreganoI used Penzy's Greek Seasoning Blend.
1 1/2 poundzucchinisliced in 1/2" pieces
2cupsricotta cheeseor fine cottage cheese
1cupcanned mushroom soupnot diluted
1cupgrated cheeseeg. cheddar/monterey jack mix
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix rice in boiling water, reduce to simmer and cook until done–about 45 minutes
While rice is cooking, chop celery (and/or onions)
Brown ground beef in skillet with celery/onions
While beef is cooking, slice zucchini and put half in bottom of casserole
When rice is cooked through, add to beef in skillet along with garlic and oregano (or preferred seasonings).
Layer beef/rice mix over zucchini in casserole, next add ricotta and then rest of zucchini. Spread soup as top layer and scatter cheese on top.
Bake 35-40 minutes (less if using two smaller dishes) at 350 degrees.
Notes
I did not recommend adding salt and pepper because there are LOTS of flavors going on here. There is so much salt in the mushroom soup and also some in cheese. But besides that there is a bit of salt in the spice blend I used. On the other hand, you have plenty of room to bend the flavors in the direction you wish. I liked using the Penzy Greek Spice Blend –oregano, lemon, marjoram, garlic, and a bit of salt and pepper. But I could imagine turning the casserole in different directions with spices. French with tarragon and thyme; Mexican with chile, etc.
Before you go, I’d like you to know about a couple of tricks for improving your vegetable cooking skills. One: If you are on Facebook, join the Fearless Fresh Kitchen Ninjas group. It is an amazing, sharing site for home cooks. A few trained cooks and professionals are there, too, so you will get great answers to any questions. Two: Stephanie Stiavetti, who started that Facebook group,also has a series of video lessons and other aids to improving your skills in the kitchen. Her latest series on cooking vegetables is FREE. Go here.
First, let us get this out of the way. The English Muffin is NOT English. Samuel Bath Thomas gets credit for first making and promoting them as early as 1894, and the most famous English Muffin still bear his name. The American company, Bimbo Bakeries, now owns the brand, Thomas’.
When I saw a recipe for English Muffin bread on line, I was intrigued. When I saw how easy the creation of this bread would be, I got out the flour bin. I have made this great toasting bread several times now, and decided that even although it isn’t related to my English ancestors, I wanted to share the recipe with you.
Crumpets or Muffins?
By the way, in England, the “English” Muffins are simply known as Muffins, but in Ireland they are marketed at “American Muffins.” In England, you’re more likely to find crumpets on the menu than Muffins (English or otherwise), and in fact the baker who started the whole thing originally called them “toaster crumpets.”
One major difference between the two–crumpets contain baking soda which causes holes on top as well as inside. That makes the English Muffin Bread recipe more crumpet than muffin because it DOES have baking powder. This closeup shows that the English Crumpet(?) Bread has holes in the top.
English Muffin Bread closeup
I have always liked English Muffins, because of their main distinguishing characteristic–although they are smooth on the outside, holes cover the interior surface. Those holes provide little pockets to hold melted butter or drops of marmalade, jam or jelly. Mmmm, crunchy and soft and dripping with butter. Just think of strawberry butter dripping into all those holes! This bread mimics that characteristic of the muffin, like its cousins the English (or American) Muffin and the crumpet, I like it best toasted.
The English Muffin Recipe
English Muffin bread with raspberry jam
My bread recipe comes from my favorite baking site, King Arthur Flour. Just a couple of comments.
Flexible pan size. I have made this in a 9″ bread pan instead of an 8 12″, and that works, too.
Thermometer. However, you will definitely be better off with a thermometer. Not only to measure the temperature of the liquids that you heat before mixing in, but also to test the bread’s degree of doneness. Don’t trust the looks of the outside crust, because when the outside tans, the inside may still be gooey.
Theyeast. Note that the recipe calls for instant yeast which you mix in with the dry ingredients rather than regular/rapid rise yeast that goes into the liquid. Also, the recipe calls for one tablespoon of yeast. Unfortunately, that is ever so slightly more than one packet of yeast, if you buy your yeast in those strips of three small packets.
The cornmeal. While I have always used cornmeal when I made the bread, I did see some English Muffin recipes that call for semolina (Cream of Wheat will do the trick). Your choice.
So, on to the recipe. It really is simple. Only one rising that takes about an hour and a half. No kneading. (And if you have a bread machine, King Arthur Flour can give you a recipe for that, too.)
Once you’ve tried English Muffin bread, maybe you’d like to move on to English muffins. A search at King Arthur Flour will give you a recipe for them, also.
