Hay Season, Cabbage Casserole, Fried Cornbread

Cabbage Casserole & Fried Cornbread

Before I got busy doing other things this morning, I did a quick check in the pantry. I've been cleaning out all over the house. I only threw away a couple of things, but I did find some tomato juice with a "best by..." of last week. That reminded me of a recipe I haven't made in ages and it uses tomato juice. 

I've said a million times that the hardest part of cooking supper is deciding what to cook. The tomato juice  decided it for me. And that made for an easy supper. 

This casserole is quick to put together and it's a complete meal in one dish. It makes a lot. If you are a household of two like us, be prepared to enjoy leftovers or find someone to share it with. We will be having leftovers tomorrow. No kitchen duty for me!

Take note that it bakes in the oven for an hour and a half. Be sure to start early enough to have it done at supper time.

CABBAGE CASSEROLE

1/2 head of cabbage (medium-size), finely chopped

salt

1/2 cup uncooked white rice

1/2 cup diced onion

1 lb. lean ground beef, browned

salt & pepper

1-1/2 cups tomato juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread half of cabbage in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with salt. (Don't be too skimpy.) Add rice, onion and ground beef in layers over cabbage. Spread remaining cabbage over top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour tomato juice over all. 

Cover dish with foil. Bake for 1-1/2 hours, or until done. Let stand, covered, a few minutes after you remove it from the oven. 

I usually let that one dish be the entire meal but tonight I tried a new-to-me recipe. It's really an old, old one but I had never made fried cornbread. Man, it was quick and easy. And good enough that Daddy-O had a second piece. He doesn't like cornbread. But he liked this kind. (He liked it best with molasses.) It's crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside. 

 

Fried Cornbread

I didn't actually measure anything. There isn't any need to. It's that easy. 

FRIED CORNBREAD

self-rising cornmeal

buttermilk

canola oil, for frying. 

I used about a cup of cornmeal because I only wanted to make enough for the two of us. 

Stir in enough buttermilk, a little at a time, to make a fairly thick batter. If it gets too thin, add a little more meal. 

Heat a little oil in a skillet—like you would to cook pancakes. Spoon batter into hot pan. Let it brown and turn the hoecakes over. ("Hoecake" is another name for fried cornbread.) Turn down the heat to be sure that the batter cooks all the way through. 

This supper is about as Southern as it gets. We really like the cabbage casserole, but I've never quite known what to put with it. Cabbage and cornbread. Why didn't I think of this sooner? It was a winning combination. Just right to feed the farmer when he came in from the field.

Daddy-O has been busy on the tractor all week. It's hay season. First, you cut the hay. Next, you tedder the hay. I call that part "fluff and puff." Tossing the freshly cut hay around helps speed up the drying process. Then , you rake the hay into rows. Finally, it's time to bale the hay. And about half the time, the weather will mess up one of the steps. So far, this has been a perfect weather week for "making hay while the sun shines."