Cooking with Cornmeal!!

Hey all,

This week I have been playing with cornmeal! Yellow and White :) Here are a few recipes:

Fried Green TOmAToes:
(I can't pass up green tomatoes when I see them in the market)

Need:
Firm Green Tomatoes
Buttermilk
Goat Cheese (I used Fig Goat Cheese!)
Cornmeal
Seasonings of your choice. I used salt, pepper, granulated garlic and a pinch of chipotle chili powder!

Slice your tomatoes and soak them in the buttermilk for 2 hrs minimum. Meanwhile, blend your cornmeal with your seasonings. Heat about a half inch of oil in your skillet (about med.high heat). Dip the buttermilk-soaked tomatoes into your dry ingredients and shake dry. Place in oil and fry about 3-4 min on each side. Drain on paper towel. Plate up and sprinkle with crumbled Goat cheese. Enjoy!

Pan Fried Tilapia (Fish Tacos)
Use can also bake the fish.
Need:
Tilapia Fillets
AP Flour
Cornmeal
Seasonings of choice. I used salt, pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, cumin and chipotle chili powder
Lime and Cilantro Optional

 Season Tilapia with seasonings of choice. (I sometimes squeeze lime at this point before breading). Coat Fillets with a mixture of half AP flour half Cornmeal (I usually season mixture too). Heat about a half inch of oil in your skillet (about med.high heat). Place in oil and fry about 5-7 min on each side. (Or bake).. Drain on paper towel. You can squeeze fresh lime juice and sprinkle with chopped cilantro here. I enjoyed this with homemade guacamole on a corn tortilla. DELISH!!

Finally, Cornbread... Let me say. I like cornbread, but I'm not the biggest fan. It is always grainy and dry. BUT not this recipe. This is moist and sweet and buttery and YUMMY.

Need:
1/2 C melted butter (1 stick)
2/3 C white sugar
2 eggs
1/2t Baking Powder
1C Cornmeal
1C AP Flour
1t Salt

Mix Dry ingredients and in a separate bowl mix eggs and buttermilk. Mix melted butter into dry ingredients followed by buttermilk and egg. Pour into a well greased pan or cast iron skillet (I buttered the skillet with a bit of the melted butter from earlier). Pour mixture into skillet/pan and bake for about 30-45min at 350. Fork or toothpick should not come out wet when inserted into the center. This recipe is absolutely yummy!

Bad experiences with cornbread has often turned me off from cornmeal period, but my mind is changed! It adds an excellent texture to great meals!

You have to Let Go to Make Room

This is a great mantra to have in any life experience. In this case, I am talking about the fridge :) Cooking is and always has been about experimentation then perfecting/adjusting the things you come up with that actually tasted good. I had some ingredients in the fridge that were on the brink of going bad this week. However, we didn't have access to much food (given the recent icy road conditions in Atlanta and the stores running low on food). Besides that, it hurts to throw food away (ouch). This is where creativity comes in! Anyone who says not to play with your food is Wrong! By all means play with it! 

Items: some potatoes (included red, purple and white), yuka (a starchy root vegetable used in a lot of African and Caribbean Cuisine), some onions and peppers. 

End result: A New Variation to Home Fries. The Yuka adds a different texture and flavor that blends in wells with the potatoes. The Purple Potatoes add an earthy flavor. And not to mention how COLORFUL the dish was. FAB!

Items: blueberries and blackberries

End result: a berry syrup. I put it on low heat with some sugar and some leftover white wine and reduced it. Strained the liquid and it taste YUMMMY with ginger ale or maybe some libation like vodka. 

Items: Hamburger Patties

End Result: Meatloaf! Make this your own. I like to add jerk seasoning to it :)

Items: Veggies: Onions, Carrots, Celery, Yellow Squash (on the brink of going bad) and Chicken bones.

End Result: Chicken Stock, OR you can do this with any left over bones or even Shellfish casings. OR leave out the bones and just make a veggie stock. Make sure to add a bay leaf and maybe some peppercorns. In school we are taught a formulas and times to make different base stocks. Typically stock is made with out seasonings (salt, etc). But, once again EXPERIMENT, Make this your own. Just remember that when you are done you need to strain all the ingredients so it is best to use ingredients that can be strained off. 

Make Room for experimentation!

Can you live without your meat?

It seems that Vegetarians and Vegans are now taking the country by storm! Is it because more and more people are becoming increasingly aware about their food products, specifically meat products? Is it because they are becoming more cautious about their health? Is it a trend? Or are people starting to notice that preteens in America look like adults?  From what I understand, it is a combination of all the above added to the unfair treatment of animals. Regardless of the reason, my real  introduction into the Vegetarian/Veganism world was eye-opening and exciting!


Let me state, that I am neither Vegetarian nor Vegan. I do eat meat and animal products. However, I do have Vegetarian/Vegan tendencies...  Why? because it is healthy. I am a firm believer in moderation and variety. Long gone are the days when being Vegetarian or Vegan meant tofu and vegetables. There are SOOO many options out there that makes cooking and eating in these lifestyles fun, healthy and delicious! It is a new year and a time when people create new diets for themselves for the next three months (including myself). My diet goal, however, will be to add more variation to the foods I eat. I'm not talking about eating more sushi or gyros. I'm talking about substituting ingredients from time to time because I know it will be better for me. For example, I won't use milk in my chai lattes (like most I am lactose intolerant but love dairy). I'm going to try another type of milk.  Perhaps I will cut out a meat product one day out of the week. I am not trying to sway you one way or the other. But I am trying to encourage mixin' it up from time to time. You may be surprised. Don't knock it till you try it! Here are some subsitutes:

Dairy Free Milk Products:
-Soy Milk (Everyone knows)
-Soy Creamer
-Oat Milk (can't wait to try!!!)
-Nut Milk- like Almond and Hazelnut (also can't wait to try)
-Rice Milk
-Hemp Milk
-Vegan Cheese- gonna take my time with this one..


Alternative Flours/Grains:
-Soy Flour
-Spelt Flour
-Chickpea Flour
-Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
-Quinoa (Keen-wah)- One of the healthiest grains in the WORLD! Contains 9 essential amino acids
-Brown Rice- takes a bit longer to cook
-Jasmine/Basmati Rice

Other key ingredients:
-Seitan- made from wheat gluten, used as a meat subsitute.
-Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)- meat substitute (my Grandma has been making her "beef patties" with this for years and we never know it wasn't beef. Still Yummy!
-Tofu- Comes in several forms from silken (yogurt-like) to firm
-Liquid Smoke- adds a meaty and smokey flavor to such dishes like Collard Greens
-Vegan Worcestershire Sauce- If you didn't know Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies, the Vegan Worcestershire sauce does not.

(P.S. I found two great Vegan Cookbooks I will experiment with, being a foodie and all. One is "Caribbean Vegan" by Taymer Mason, and the other is "Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food" by Alicia C. Simpson)

Journey Begins

Hello!

My name is Latoya and I suppose I should give you a bit of history of me and The Food Snob...

I was born of Caribbean/Latin (specifically Panama) and Southern decent and exposed to many different cultures while growing up. Cooking was a mainstay in my upbringing. I practically grew up in the kitchen.

Fast Forward to High School where I was see-sawing on going to a "traditional" college or going to Johnson and Wales or the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). Well, forces of the universe and Divine Plan had me go the "traditional" route and put my dreams of being a chef on the back burner.

Fast Forward again through my years at Smith College and post graduation when I decided to move with friends to Atlanta, GA with no job or money. I found a position as a waitress at a local pub and HATED IT! I moved on to event planning and felt stuck. One day it hit me, "Hey, why not pursue your desire to become a Chef?" So I did. I enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu and the rest is history.

I did an externship in Barcelona, Spain and have traveled to 10 different countries and numerous international cities.

I have been a practicing Personal Chef for a year now. I also worked as an exhibition chef for nearly a year before deciding to go off on my own OFFICIALLY! (Phew, and what a journey this is!)

A friend named me a Food Snob while in culinary school..and the name stuck!

I provide personalized meals, cooked in the client's homes or delivered. Personal grocery shopping, "Rent-a-Chef" services, Lessons, Event Catering and Event Planning!

Thanks for checking out my blog!