cornmeal rolls and african chicken stew

Oh, the weather outside is getting frightful!
The winter is the only time this is acceptable.
But as long as it continues on so,
I'll stay inside and make rolls.

Yes, that pretty much sums up the cold streak here. And it's legitimately cold, not just be saying that sixty degrees is chilly. Kenny's coat sounds like a good idea right now, and if my down coat wasn't white I'd probably be wearing it around the house, even.

I had originally planned for these rolls to be for dinner two nights ago to go alongside a bean soup, but I started late. When it became obvious that these would not be finished in time, I stuck the bowl in the fridge to be shaped the next night.

What intrigued me about this recipe, found after a Google search, was the method of incorporating the cornmeal into the rest of the ingredients. Typically, you might find the cornmeal soaked in some of the water that has been heated to hydrate the cornmeal, though instead you make a cornmeal mush with milk. And do resist the urge to taste it; with four teaspoons of salt in the mix, even a salt addict like myself will gag. Don't be alarmed, however, since the finished rolls won't taste salty.

The taste was moist and slightly crunchy, and probably would make excellent toasting bread.

Having little to no desire to think of anything creative for dinner, I once again Googled "chicken stew" and happened upon a link for African Chicken Stew, containing peanut butter. I've seen it before and made a mental note to try it, but if you know me you know what that means.

Finally, though, I can say I've made it. It was pretty good, though sometimes my mind can't get over the "peanut butter should be sweet" concept. The flavorings were good, and though I didn't have ground coriander, a little cilantro on top helped perk up an otherwise boring colored dish and added more flavor. I also sprinkled the top with chopped peanuts.

If I made any variations in the future, it'd be to the chicken so it won't dry. That was my fault because the skillet wasn't at the correct heat, and perhaps I'd have bigger chunks of chicken next time. Overall, I liked it, and the cornmeal rolls made out to be a good pairing.

I will be submitting the cornmeal rolls to YeastSpotting and One Good Loaf, a pretty neat group on Flikr that's based on the premise of sharing what you've baked with each other. Visit Molly's blog, One Good Loaf, for more info.

Recipes ~
African Chicken Stew
Cornmeal Rolls ~ to which I added 2 tablespoons olive oil

Tastemakers: Nature's Pride Bread

Part of being a member of Foodbuzz means having the opportunity to participate in different programs. The latest offer from the Tastemaker Program is to sample bread from Nature's Pride, a 100% whole wheat loaf and the 12-grain loaf (contains white flour), both of which fall under the "hearty breads" category.

Nature's Pride gives you loaves of bread that are 100% natural, contain no artificial ingredients, high fructose corn syrup, or trans fat. I'm guessing there must be natural preservatives since the ingredient list is still rather long, though.

Sunflower seeds

For the taste test, I cut a slice of each in half and toasted two halves. The texture of the untoasted pieces were spongy and springy, but I didn't feel that carried over to the taste of the bread, being on the verge of dryness more than moistness. I tasted the molasses in the whole wheat bread, though it wasn't strong, and the 12-grain slice had a rather raw taste to it.

The reason I opted to toast two pieces is because toasting sometimes brings out the flavor of the bread more (kind of odd considering how the bread is already cooked, yet it actually does taste different). I preferred the 12-grain bread toasted since it seems that the sunflower seeds were untoasted, and it kind of brought the flavors together and got rid of whatever raw taste I was tasting. On the other hand, there wasn't much of a taste difference with the toasted piece of whole wheat, really just a deepened toastiness.

Looking at the bags of store bought bread at home, Nature's Pride is one of the brands I get, but the soft loaves instead of the hearty loaves (the soft loaf is shaped more like a traditional slice of bread, i.e., not as wide, the size of the loaf is smaller, and it's not double wrapped), and I prefer that more since it is moister. Not a bad bread at all, though I'd most likely only buy it on sale when I don't make bread.

Clif Bar and Quench Giveaway!

Strawberry Citrus, Lime-Ade, Fruit Punch, Orange

One day in the store I came across the Clif section and saw the display for Clif Quench. What is it? It's their version of an energy drink, but looking at the ingredient list showed that it was about as natural an energy drink as you could get unless you made it at home.

With just filtered water, organic evaporated cane juice, citric acid, real salt, natural flavors, magnesium lactate, and potassium phosphate making up the ingredient list, Clif Quench gives you the optimal balance of 11 grams of carbs with electrolytes to work in your body in a more effective manner, moving water from your stomach to the rest of your body more easily.

My impression of Clif Quench, lime flavor, was that it had a nice light taste that wasn't too sweet or seemingly too thick. With Gatorade I often have to dilute the drink 1:1 with water, and their version of Propel Water left an aftertaste from whatever artificial sweetener they used.

I drank some (thoroughly chilled, which is the only way to drink Quench since, lime many cold drinks, it tastes better when cold) before and towards the end of a 10 miler and I felt it really helped, giving me a sustained energy that lasted throughout my run, but without hurting my stomach or causing any distress. I didn't feel close to parched like I might normally would have during the end as I would if I had just drank water beforehand.

So I was thinking, "Hey, this is cool stuff! I need to spread the word." I don't normally feel the need to spread the word unless it's relevant to the situation, I can't imagine how walking into Starbucks and telling everyone to try Clif Quench would go over, but it's relevant to my blog. After getting in contact with some awesome people at Clif, they agreed to send each flavor of Clif Quench along with...

Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch, Apricot, Banana Nut Bread, Black Cherry Almond,
White chocolate Macadamia Nut, Blueberry Crisp

Six different flavors of Clif Bars! All for one lucky winner!

Leave a comment telling me what your favorite activity is along with your email. The winner will be chosen noon on Saturday, EST, and the winner will be contacted shortly after. Tell your friends and anyone who might be interested (because if they win and you don't, guilt trip them into giving you some!). Good luck!

US Residents only. Hopefully my next giveaway will be able to be shipped anywhere, so stay tuned for that!


Contest has ended

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