Pamela Toman

Cornbread

A sweet and moist cornbread (that is, a cornbread that we actually eat more than 1 slice of).

The original recipe calls for ½ c. white sugar, but we found that version was too sweet to stand up to butter and a drizzle of honey, so I cut it in half.

Jalapenos and cheddar are welcome additions!

Ingredients Step
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
¾ c. yellow cornmeal
1 c. flour
¼ c. sugar
2 t. baking powder
½ t. salt		 Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl.
1 c. milk
¼ c. oil
4 T (½ stick) butter, melted
2 T. honey
1 egg
1 egg yolk		 Whisk wet ingredients together until incorporated.
Pour wet ingredients into dry, then stir until just incorporated. Let sit 5-10 minutes to hydrate. While waiting, butter an 8x8 pan.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake 17-30 minutes, until starting to turn golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Don't overbake.
Cool 10 minutes, then slice. Serve with butter and honey.

Source: Melissa Stadler at Modern Honey

Cornbread was published on 27 May 2025.

Recipe uses: cornmeal, egg-yolk

Blackeyed Peas and Collards

This is my one-and-only collards recipe. A great way to ring in the new year in Southern style, or to use up CSA collards. Pairs nicely with cornbread.

Ingredients Step
1 onion, diced
oil		 Saute in Instant Pot.
3 cloves garlic, minced Add garlic toward end of sauteeing.
1⅓ c. dry blackeyed peas (rinsed)
4 c. vegetable broth		 Stir in.
2 t. smoked paprika
2 dried bay leaves (1 if fresh)
½ t. black pepper
1 T soy sauce
1 dash liquid smoke (3 is too many)
1 T. apple cider vinegar / red wine vinegar
2 T. tomato paste
1 T. brown sugar (optional)		 Incorporate some or all of these spices.
1-2 bunches collards, trimmed and chopped into bite-sized pieces Lay on top of beans-and-broth mixture (don't stir — we want the beans submerged and the collards on top).
  Pressure cook on high for 16 minutes, then natural release for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves, stir, taste, and season with salt and other seasonings.

Draws on: Kristen Chidsey and Minimalist Baker

Blackeyed Peas and Collards was published on 27 May 2025.

Recipe uses: blackeyed-peas, collards

Kolacky

A classic.

Ingredients Step
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
½ lb. butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 T. sugar
1 T. milk		 Cream together.
1 egg yolk Add. Mix in.
2 c. cake flour
½ t. baking powder		 Whisk together, then add to wet ingredients.
Chill 2 hours or overnight.
2 cans Solo pie filling (e.g., prune, apricot) Take a baseball sized ball of batter. Roll it out using cake flour. Cut it into squares, then place the squares onto ungreased cookie sheets. Dab on filling, then fold up the two side corners of each cookie. Bake 10-12 minutes.
powdered sugar When cool (or after freezing then thawing cookies), sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Source: Cathy Sorensen

Kolacky was published on 24 May 2025.

Recipe uses: cake-flour, cream-cheese, egg-yolk

Alternative Pizza Sauce

An alternative pizza sauce recipe to Mom's pizza sauce.

Ingredients Step
head of garlic Roast by rubbing with olive oil, sprinkling with salt, then wrapping in aluminum foil and baking at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.
2 T. olive oil
2 twigs fresh oregano
¼ white onion, finely minced
¼ yellow onion, finely minced
2-3 squished roasted garlic cloves
up to 1 T of combined salt, black pepper, red pepper		 Cook in a saucepan over medium-high heat until onions are translucent.
28 oz. can peeled San Marzano tomatoes (avoid tomatoes packed with calcium chloride) Add to saucepan. Stir intermittently until sauce develops a deep red color.
Source: dannyphantom

Alternative Pizza Sauce was published on 8 January 2025.

Plain Cheesecake

A 9" cheesecake. You must make it the day before so it has time to set up -- but it's a nice dense cheesecake in the Eli's style.

The tricks to non-cracking cheesecake: use room temperature ingredients, introduce minimal air, don't overbeat your eggs, keep a stable oven temperature (no peeking!), free the crust from the pan, and cool the cheesecake slowly.

Springform pans will work, but they may leak -- you may want a dedicated cheesecake pan if you make this often.

For a vegan cheesecake, the Daiya brand New York Cheezecake comes highly recommended (yes, truly, Daiya).

Ingredients Step
32 oz (4 containers) cream cheese
⅔ c. sour cream
4 large eggs		 Pull out and let rise to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Ensure the rack is in the center of the oven.
1½ c. graham cracker crumbs (1 package)
2 T. white sugar
1 T. brown sugar
7 T. melted butter		 Combine (probably in the food processor), then press into a 9" round pan. Place the pan on a cookie sheet lined with foil (just in case).
32 oz cream cheese Stir gently until smooth and creamy, scraping as needed.
1 c. sugar Stir gently again until creamy, scraping as needed.
⅔ c. sour cream
1½ t. vanilla
⅛ t. salt		 Stir until well-combined, scraping as needed.
4 eggs One at a time, lightly beat each egg and then gently stir into the cream cheese mixture. Do not over-mix. Scrape sides as needed.
Tap the cheesecake batter against the counter until you're satisfied that you've eliminated most of the air bubbles you introduced during mixing.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 325 for 50-75 minutes, until the edges are slightly puffed and possibly turning light golden brown, and the center is still jiggly like Jell-O.
Turn off the oven and open it, letting it cool for 10 minutes. After ten minutes, use a knife to gently loosen the crust from the pan -- but leave the ring attached.
Let the cheesecake cool until it is near room temperature (1-2 hours), then refrigerate the cheesecake overnight before serving.

Source: Sam Merritt

Plain Cheesecake was published on 6 January 2025.

Recipe uses: cream-cheese, sour-cream, eggs