Chile Cheese Tex-Mex Cornbread

Easy to make, this tender and moist Mexican Cornbread brings a sweet heat to those Tex-Mex and Mexican meals, soups, stews and chili dishes. 

Mexican Cornbread

I know for a southerner it's likely to sound a little sacrilegious, but we aren't super huge on cornbread down here along the Gulf Coast. 

Sure, we eat it and we enjoy it, but French bread and yeast rolls are much more prevalent down here. Because of that, we don't necessarily subscribe to the idea that there is only one way to make cornbread, and, we don't even mind, if occasionally, it's got a little sweetness to it. I know. I can hear the gasps.

Sliced fresh jalapenos, lightly blanched, then stacked in a quart jar with sliced garlic and brined in an apple cider vinegar and sugar brine.

Cowboy Candy - Candied Pickled Jalapenos

I used to grow lots of vegetables, including sweet and hot peppers, but haven't grown any in quite a bit. Haven't really grown much of anything other than tomatoes, and maybe a few herbs here the past few years. Just can't take the heat enough to keep the garden in good shape. But, peppers are in abundance and pretty cheap during the summer months, so you don't have to be a gardener to grab a bunch!

This is a variation of a Bell's Best cookbook recipe from the 70s that uses both sweet and hot peppers, but primarily sweet peppers. I decided to make it using only jalapenos. It's often referred to as Cowboy Candy across the net, but it's simply a pickled jalapeno that's a little bit heavier on the sugar, and somewhere along the line of those candied Fire 'n Ice pickles, we all love so much.

Perfect as an appetizer for entertaining, these fluffy, gooey, cheesy, Green Chile Cheese Squares also fit well for a brunch or buffet, and they're good at room temperature or served warm.

Green Chile Cheese Squares

These little cheesy squares are a favorite around the holidays down here. Always have been.

There are so many iterations of them now, that no two are alike either, so if mine don't look the same as your recipe, that's why. Some of them are flatter, more cheesy and gooey, others are more cakey, and yet others very souffle-like made with many eggs. Heck it's even been turned it into a casserole, so it can be served either way, as a finger food or as a side dish for those nice brunches. How many squares you get, depends completely on how you cut them!

One thing I can tell you is that they are rich and addictive, so try to share them because, you know... there's lots of cheese and well, you know all about that whole cheese thing, right? They are delicious! My preference is to eat them warm or at room temperature, though they're pretty good cold too.

Fire 'n Ice Watermelon Salsa, made with bell pepper, jalapeno, red onion, garlic, lime and cilantro, and watermelon, shown here with my Frozen Watermelon Margaritas.

Fire 'n Ice Watermelon Salsa

I have already been eating cucumbers, cantaloupe, strawberries, watermelon and tomatoes, like I'm never gonna see them again, and summer only just arrived.

Far as I'm concerned they need to move the official beginning of summer up, and just cut spring short, because in the Deep South spring is, oh, I don't know... about two weeks at most I'm guessing. Summer heat and humidity run right on in like it's been waiting. Much of the rest of the country has been pretty hot too from what I'm seeing, so clearly it's not just the south. At least some of y'all do get a reprieve once in awhile. We don't, at least not until it's pretty much winter. Apparently my body just needs hydration or something, because those cooling foods absolutely have been a regular part of my diet here lately.

A cold dip made with Mexicorn, cheese, green chilies, jalapenos, Rotel, mayo, sour cream, green onion and seasonings.

Cold Corn Dip

If y'all have been hanging around here any length of time, you pretty much know that any kind of dip - from that good old fashioned 7 layer dip that's been around forever, to my more delectable hot crab dip (and everything in between) - are party favorites for me. Though I do actually favor hot dips over cold, I have to say that this corn dip, served cold, is downright delicious and even a tiny bit addictive!

A fresh peach jam made with peaches, sweet red bell peppers and jalapeno.

Peach and Pepper Jam

Like cornbread, whether a hoecake is make from flour or cornmeal, what is the so-called "right" way to make southern chicken and dumplings and how we all make other regional foods, the title of who can claim the top peach in the country is one of those things that can create an argument quickly among several Southern states. Truth is, I figure whatever peach is local to you is probably the winner.

Refrigerator Pickled Vegetables (Giardiniera)

Refrigerator Pickled Vegetables (Giardiniera)

Giardiniera

I decided to make up a batch of pickled veggies over the Memorial Day weekend. Pickled vegetables, or Giardiniera (meaning "the garden") is probably familiar to you from the grocery store shelf, but it's a super easy pickled condiment to make at home too.

Garden Fresh Salsa, made with juicy tomatoes, sweet Vidalia onions, crisp sweet garden bell peppers, spicy fresh jalapeno, sweet corn on the cob and fragrant garden cilantro.

Garden Fresh Salsa

Here it is running up on mid-August already and I realize that I've got quite a few summer posts like this one to catch up on! So don't go fussin' at me for posting a series of non-traditional recipes that may not necessarily fit into the "Southern" recipe box. Besides our southern favorites and classic southern recipes, like everybody else, we also enjoy a wide variety of other foods too, like this.

Baby lima beans, stewed down to creamy perfection and seasoned nicely with bacon and ham, are as at home as a side dish as they are a main dish, when paired up with a nice garden salad, cornbread and iced tea.

Stewed Baby Lima Beans

I mostly prepare frozen baby lima beans as a side to be honest, like in succotash, but we don't eat them as often as I like, because they require some advance planning for cooking, and unfortunately I tend to forget about them! Unlike my beloved butter beans, it's a rare occasion where I make them from fresh or dried, but I don't know why, because they are just so much more delicious and worth the effort.

Like a deconstructed jalapeno popper, this dip is made with jalapenos, green chilies, cream cheese, parmesan and cheddar, and topped with a buttery bread crumb.

Awesome Jalapeno Popper Dip

Okay. I know that saying this is an "awesome" dip is a pretty bold statement but I think it's pretty awesome. A layered, deconstructed version of a jalapeno popper in a dip, that I've never seen done quite this way, and since I didn't have outside influences, I'm claiming it as my own original recipe.

Fresh jalapeno peppers are blanched then stuffed with a bacon and cream cheese, cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack blend, dipped in buttermilk, rolled in flour & deep fried. Yum!

Fried Jalapeno Poppers

We just don't do a lot of Tex-Mex recipes here along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and I'd venture to guess that most folks who live in my area probably buy their poppers from the freezer section at the grocery store! They are not the same as homemade folks, so I decided to make my own homemade version that I have come to love.