New Year's Cracklin, Cheesy, Roasted Butter Cornbread - with AI Help

 

What does AI have to do with cornbread?

Not much really. But I use it everyday, on just about everything else. So,  I decided I'd use it for my New Years cornbread.  What you're reading is the conversation I had with a "Chef Persona' I created in my "Magai" account. Note that Magai personas have all information regarding the role AI is playing. So you can speak to the AI about things the persona knows about. At any rate, this cornbread is/was fantastic. And yes, that's an affiliate link. But I don't promote it because of that. I promote it because it's a great app. 

Walnut-Pecan Cream Cheese Banana Bread

I had some bananas that were over ripe. I had been watching them for a couple of days. I knew I was going to use them for banana bread. But I didn't want to just make plain old banana bread. I like experimenting with recipes. I also don't like to see anything to to waste, especially food. So I decided to look and see what else I had hanging around.

Inspirational Ingredients 

 Looking in the pantry I found some walnuts and pecans. There wasn't enough of either of them to make a pie. I had made banana bread with each of them before. But I had never added them together. I had about two cups between both of them. I figured I would use them all. I knew that the nuts would absorb a lot of the liquid in the bread. So I started thinking about what I could use to offset this. That's when I remembered the 2/3 bar of cream cheese.

Amaranth Date Nut Bread

What is Amaranth?

I have a habit of checking out the 'clearance' section at Kroger. I don't buy the day old bread, outdated soups/cereals, or half crushed containers of anything. I look for utensils, appliances, and other gadgets I have no room or use for.  Sometimes I buy gifts. Sometimes I buy gags. Sometimes I buy things because my wife says I don't need it.  I'm a guy. We do that kind of stuff.  Every now and then I see something that's interesting. That's what happened the day I saw the overstocked Amaranth, Teff, and Quinoa. I simply couldn't resist the urge to try new stuff. Besides, I had just purchased some really neat glass containers. Big, bulky and brawny enough that Cheryl didn't want them on the counters.  Perfect. 

What Do You Do With It? 

So I grabbed up several packages of each, and took it home. I already knew what Quinoa was. But I had no idea about the other stuff. I didn't know how to cook any of it. Recipes all looked too complicated or called for impossible cooking methods. I don't have an underground, rock lined, solar heated sand oven. So I decided to look on the package and adjust the best I could.  For the first grain I decided I'd make an Amaranth Date Nut Bread.  I wasn't sure that I would like it.  I'm not just saying this to hear myself talking... this bread is damn good.  This Amaranth Date Nut Bread recipe is pretty easy, and honestly well worth trying.  I've never been happier about a purchase from the clearance section.