Martha White Recipes

Linda Master's From the Kitchen: Tennessee Onion Soup Gratin steals show

Jennifer B. used classic French onion soup as her inspiration for Tennessee Onion Soup Gratin. Her rustic soup draws delightful flavor from caramelized onions, bacon, Swiss chard and white beans. Cubes of Monterey Jack cheese are mixed into a cornbread topping batter, made with Martha White Yellow Cornbread Mix. The batter is spooned over the stew and baked until golden brown — reminiscent of the melted cheese on French Onion Soup. Her original main dish recipe earned the top prize of $5,000 cash, a 30-inch stainless steel gas range from FiveStar Professional Cooking Equipment and special gifts from Martha White and Lodge Cast Iron. The second-place winner, Margee B. of White Salmon, Wash., took home a $1,500 cash prize, plus special gifts from Martha White and Lodge Cast Iron. Her creative Caramelized Maple Apple Bacon Brunch Bake recipe features cornbread made with Martha White Cotton Country or Buttermilk Cornbread Mix flavored with caramelized bacon, cheese and maple syrup. Cornbread wedges are topped with a sautéed, spiced apple, orange and raisin mixture and garnished with toasted pecans, bacon, nutmeg and a dusting of powdered sugar before serving. Andria G. of Matthews, N.C., created Sausage and Spinach Calzone Cornbread, a new twist on a hearty Italian favorite made with Martha White Yellow Cornbread Mix. The cornbread is loaded with Italian sausage, spinach, roasted red peppers, ricotta and Italian cheeses. Individual servings are topped with marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese for an easy-to-make main dish full of robust flavor. She won the third-place prize of $1,000 along with special gifts from Martha White and Lodge Cast Iron. Additional National Cornbread Cook-Off finalists each took home $150 cash and special gifts from Martha White and Lodge Cast Iron. Heat a Lodge 5-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook bacon until crisp. Remove with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Add onions and sugar to bacon drippings. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are caramelized, about 20 minutes.

Calzone cornbread hits jackpot | Matthews - Mint Hill Weekly

Fusing two favorite dishes together might result in disaster for some cooks, but for Andria Gaskins, it was the secret to success. The Matthews resident recently placed third in the Martha White 2011 National Cornbread Cook-off with her Sausage and Spinach Calzone Cornbread recipe.

The competition, held annually in South Pittsburg, Tenn., is sponsored by Martha White and Lodge Cast Iron. Aspiring contestants from all over the country submit their recipes, and 10 finalists are chosen to attend the festival. The finalists are required to use Martha White cornbread and cook their main dish in cast iron at the event.

A long-time cook by hobby, Gaskins discovered the competition while browsing online for recipe contests. “I like recipe contests,” she said. “I saw the Martha White cornbread contest, and I thought, ‘I can do this.’”

Gaskins, a south New Jersey native, grew up eating Italian food. As a long-time calzone lover, she was inspired to combine her favorite calzone ingredients with the cornbread to create her original recipe. “I basically just put everything I like to eat in my calzone into the cornbread,” she said.

Gaskins, along with her husband and two sons, traveled to Tennessee the weekend of April 30 for the festival, where the judges were blown away by the original flare of her recipe.

Linda Carman, who works with Martha White recipe development and served as a contest judge, felt the recipe was a nice combination.

“When you’re making a good recipe, the trick is to make every ingredient count, and not just keep adding more and more,” she said. The Matthews resident’s recipe “had all the right ingredients and tasted wonderful.”

This is not the first contest in which Gaskins has succeeded. In 2008, she won first place in the Buns Across America competition, followed by another first-place win in the 2009 Food Network Ultimate Recipe Challenge with her Cardamom Spiced Carrot Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing recipe. Gaskins also traveled to California last year to compete in Beringer Wine’s National Great Steak Challenge.

Gaskins has no formal culinary training. She attributes her knack for whipping up a winning dish to divine inspiration and her mother, who taught Gaskins to cook at age 12. “I think I was a natural from the beginning,” she said. “I was able to just do it.”

Over the years, Gaskins has perfected her cooking and added to her list of recipes by consistently trying new things, including, most recently, Thai food.

Water exercise

Southern Traditions, 100 Years of Great Recipes from Martha White

Letters of E. B. White

Martha White's Southern Sampler, Ninety Years of Baking Tradition

The Complete Book of Food Counts