I’ve gotten into the habit lately of, instead of buying things for people on holidays, baking or cooking for them. Food is something that EVERYONE loves. Plus it’s kind of a gift for me as well because then I get to eat it too. Is that selfish? Maybe, but it would be wrong for me to turn down a bite if offered. I have to taste my goods. For safety reasons of course.

When Father’s Day rolled around I was semi-stumped about what to make for my dad. His favorite dish is Osso Buco but all of the recipes I found all required ingredients that I know he doesn’t like and I wasn’t confident enough in my abilities to improvise. Sure, he eats it in restaurants and in those cases it probably contains all of the ingredients he supposedly hates but he is hypercritical of my cooking when it comes to herbs and spices. So I didn’t go there.

Instead, I decided to make him some crockpot pulled pork – a dish that I’ve made before and that he loves. This was also a good choice because it required no attention and left me to focus on my favorite aspect of the meal – the sides! First, I bought a large kabocha squash (and thought of Sophia while doing it), cut it up into eighths and roasted it for 30 minutes at 450 and 20 minutes at 350. It got so caramelized from doing this that it was sweet and perfect without any extra seasonings. Then, I turned to the master of all things food – Mr. Florence himself – and stumbled upon his recipe for cornbread! Ty has two cornbread recipes – one with chiles and one without. Since my dad doesn’t really like spicy things, I went with the chile-less recipe. Even though it got mixed reviews on the food network website, I thought the cornbread was really good. I made a few changes, that being to use less bacon than called for but it still turned out really well. My dad ate 1/4 of the loaf! I will definitely make it again WITH the chiles for myself.
Tyler Florence’s Cornbread
Serves 12, adapted from Tyler Florence

2 slices bacon
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
4 large eggs
2 cups almond milk
2 tbsp chives, finely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. Cook the bacon in the microwave or in a pan or in the oven. I microwaved it. I was lazy. Let it cool and then crumble it into small pieces.

3. Grease a 9-inch springform pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking pwoder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Whisk in the milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined. Fold in the bacon bits and chives. Pour the batter into the pan.

4. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Tyler says 20-25 minutes, I say 35-40 minutes.

And because we all know that no holiday meal is complete without dessert, I also made a batch of my dad’s favorite cookies – Oatmeal Raisin Cookies! These babies were chewy, moist and delicious. I got the recipe from Simply Recipes, an awesome blog. The only thing I changed was to sub half the butter with applesauce. This lightened the cookies a bit but also made them chewier. I personally like chewier rather than crispier cookies, but to each his own.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Makes 2 dozen cookies, adapted from Simply Recipes

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease two baking sheets.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add in the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs. Add vanilla.

3. Mix flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Stir dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture. Stir in the applesauce. Stir in raisins and nuts. Stir in oats.

4. Spoon out dough onto cookie sheets. Bake until edges of cookie starts to brown and center of cookie isn’t soft anymore. Elise says 10-12 minutes, I say 15-20 minutes but I think it’s because of the applesauce. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack.
I am submitting the cornbread to Tyler Florence Fridays, one of my favorite blog events!

You are reading this post on Eats Well With Others at https://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author and or owner of Eats Well With Others. All rights reserved by Joanne Bruno.
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15 Responses to TFF For Father’s Day

  1. Natashya says:

    Looks great, my hubs loves cornbread. It must be hard to cook for a picky eater though, I would have given up long ago!

  2. Reeni? says:

    The cornbread looks yummy – I love it any way I can get it! And the cookies look like a nice treat!

  3. Debinhawaii says:

    Both the cornbread and cookies look great and you get extra bonus points for adapting them to your Dad’s picky eating habits! You are a wonderful daughter!

  4. Megan says:

    You get triple bonus points for considering all of your dad’s likes/dislikes, plus turning out such a fabulous meal!

    Everything looks wonderful, I’d like to try that cornbread – but I can’t use almond milk, so I guess I can use regular milk or buttermilk.

  5. Donna-FFW says:

    OOOHHH!! Cornbread with bacon, what a magnificent choice. My Guy Ty really knows how to put his pork;) to good use.

  6. ttfn300 says:

    Mmm, cornbread. Looks fabulous 🙂 as do those cookies!

  7. The cornbread looks fabulous!

  8. Pam says:

    Everything looks great! I’m with you, food gifts are the best.

  9. Kristin says:

    We had TF for Father’s day too! thanks for the comment, I thought the same thing with the pistachios. Happy TFF!!!

  10. burpandslurp says:

    bacon in cornbread! amazing combo!

  11. ARLENE says:

    MMmmm. It looks great (and has bacon!). I’m making crockpot pulled pork for our 4th of July BBQ; maybe I should give it a try?

  12. Jenny says:

    I agree, food gifts are good gifts.

  13. karen says:

    yummy – although i’ve never had cornbread with bacon before. looks great. so do the cookies. 🙂

  14. finsmom says:

    Two great recipes! Love that cornbread- yours turned out beautifully!

  15. Kim says:

    I’m a big cornbread fan, but have never tried Tyler’s recipe. It looks great and I’m glad your Dad enjoyed it. Dad’s are hard to shop for so I know what you mean about making them some food. I took my Dad a batch of Tyler’s Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies. Sounds like Tyler’s recipes were a hit with both our fathers.

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