Beets

These are some beets I got the other week in our food box. How absolutely gorgeous!! I was so sad to eat the last of them. We ate them raw on salad, in a carrot and beet salad and roasted.

Double Chocolate Muffins

This recipe is amazing if you love chocolate! They have a true muffin texture and are not cupcakey. These are seriously some of the best muffins I have made in a loooong time.

I slightly modified this recipe from the one I found here Diana's Desserts

Double Chocolate Muffins

3 ounces 70-80% dark chocolate (for melting)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream (9 or 18% creme fraiche)
1/2 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 100g (standard size) bar of 70-80% dark chocolate broken into small pieces to add to muffin mixture

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C). Line muffin cups with muffin or cupcake liners. You can either use the jumbo or the standard size muffin pans. I prefer the standard size.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate in the microwave on medium-high heat for 25 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter. Beat in eggs, then add sour cream and milk. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour flour mixture into butter mixture and stir together by hand. Stir in melted chocolate, then chocolate pieces.

Fill each muffin cup just to the edge of the baking cup. This will give you that nice muffin top look. Bake for about 20 minutes for standard-sized muffins or 25 minutes for giant muffins, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer muffins to wire rack to cool completely. Muffins are best eaten fresh.

Makes 6 giant or 12 standard muffins.

Speaking of Hot Sauce

We can not live without this in our house.

If you don't know it and you love hot sauce then RUN to your nearest Asian market and ask for sriracha. This is the brand we prefer, but there are many others out there to choose from. Mark loves it so much I think he would eat it on pasta for his dinner every night.

Black Eyed Peas and Cornbread

Finally the dish that this blog is named after! Yum yum YUM!

Beans: I used half a bag of dried black eyed peas. I either let them soak in water over night or I boil a pot of water and let them soak for about 6-8 hours. When you are ready to cook them, add 1 large cube (I use Knorr) of pork bullion. When I have them, I will use some large pork bones with a bit of meat on them. Either way, the beans need some porky pig love. Bring to a boil and cook over med low for 45 min-1 hour.

We prefer to eat the beans over brown rice with some diced raw onion. I put a small pat of butter on, Mark likes Sriracha pepper sauce, and Twig likes his with ketchup. A dash of Tabasco or Texas Pete is also pretty common.

Now for the corn bread...I use a slightly modified recipe from Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook. The original recipe is great as is which I why I include it with my modifications.

As a side note: If I was only able to bring one cookbook with me no matter where I lived, I believe it would be this one!

BHG Cornbread *(my modifications)

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar *(I only use 1 tbs sugar)
  
• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt*(I use 1/4 tsp salt)
  
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup milk* (I use 1 cup Buttermilk)
  
• 1/4 cup cooking oil or melted butter
• Honey (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F. In a medium bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2. Add the 1 tablespoon butter to a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, a 9x1 1/2-inch round baking pan, or an 8x8x2-inch square baking pan. Place in the preheated oven about 3 minutes or until butter melts. Remove pan from oven; swirl butter in pan to coat bottom and sides of pan.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine eggs, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Pour batter into hot skillet or pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cut into wedges or squares. Serve warm. If desired, drizzle with honey. Makes 8 to 10 pieces.

Corn Muffins: Prepare as above, except omit the 1 tablespoon butter. Spoon the batter into 12 greased 2-1/2-inch muffin cups, filling cups two-thirds full. Bake in the preheated oven about 15 minutes or until light brown and a wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.