Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Bread Sticks
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
4-6 C. flour
1/4 C. butter or marg.
1/4 tsp. (or so) Garlic powderParmesan Cheese
1. In a medium bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and warm water. Let stand 10 mins.
2. Add the salt and enough flour so it's not sticky
3. Knead, then cover and rise until double
4. Roll out dough into a rectangle, and cut into strips. Fold each strip in half and twist. Place in greased pan
5. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with parmesan
6. Bake in preheate 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup
6 large potatoes, peeled and diced - I used Yukon, russet, & red potatoes
1 large onion, chopped
5 cups of chicken stock or use vegetable stock to make this soup vegetarian
1 (15-ounce) can evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
salt
pepper
toppings - crumbled bacon, chunks of ham, cut up kielbasa, shredded cheddar cheese, corn niblets, petite peas, chopped scallions, and sour cream
extra chicken or vegetable stock to thin soup
Place potatoes, onions, and stock in a crock pot. Cook on low for 9 hours. After the cooking time, mash potatoes with a potato masher and add evaporated milk and butter. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top as desired.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tex-Mex Dinner
Smoky Beef Tacos
2-3 TBS chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo
1/2 c. ketchup
8 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp. oregano
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 boneless beef chuck roast (about 3 lbs) excess fat trimmed
16 or more corn tortillas lightly toasted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a heavy pot with lid, stir together chiles, ketchup, 1 cup water, garlic, oregano, 2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Cut beef into 4 equal pieces. Add to pot, and turn to coat. Cover, and bring to a boil; transfer pot to oven. Bake, covered, until beef is fork-tender, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Transfer beef to a bowl. Skim off fat from cooking liquid. Shred beef with forks; moisten with cooking liquid as needed (I just returned the shredded beef to the pot with the liquid and it was great). Season with salt and pepper if needed. Serve with tortillas and desired toppings.
Cumin Rice and Beans
coarse salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 cup long grain white rice
1 can (19 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
In medium saucepan with lid, bring 1 1/2 cups salted water and cumin to boil. Add rice; cover and reduce to simmer. Cook 15 minutes; removed from heat and add beans. Cover and let stand a minute. Fluff rice with fork.
Spicy Pineapple Salad
1 TBS vegetable oil
1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 jalapeno chiles, ribs and seeds removed, thinly sliced crosswise (I only used 1 and it was spicy enough)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
coarse salt and ground pepper
In a large skillet, heat oil over high. Working in 2 batches, cook pineapple and jalapenos on one side until lightly browned, 4-6 minutes; transfer to a bowl. Add vinegar, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine.
Toppings
1. Avocado-Red Onion Relish: Combine 2 diced avocados and 1 finely chopped medium red onion with 1 TBS fresh lime juice. Season with salt and pepper (makes 3 cups).
2. Corn and Tomato Salsa: Combine 1 ten ounce bag thawed frozen corn, 1 cup quartered grape tomatoes, 2 tsp vegetable oil, and 2 tsp red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper (makes 3 cups).
3. Cilantro-Lime Crema: Stir together 16 oz reduced-fat sour cream, 1/4 cup fresh lime juice and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro. Season with salt and pepper (makes 2 cups).
Mexican Snowballs
2 pints vanilla ice cream
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Cover two large baking dishes with plastic wrap, pulling so surface is taut. Drop 16 scoops of ice cream onto prepared dishes, dipping ice-cream scoop in hot water as you work. Freeze balls until firm, at least 1 hour.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss coconut with cinnamon. Toast, tossing occasionally, 6-10 minutes; let cool.
Working with one ice-cream ball at a time, remove from freezer, and roll in coconut mixture; return to dish in freezer. Freeze until set, at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day. Serve 2 balls each.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Easy & Delicious Sugar Cookies
3 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar (I didn't have any and made the cookies without it and they still turned out fine)
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and almond and mix well. Mix dry ingredients together and then add to creamed mixture and stir well with wooden spoon.
Roll onto powdered sugar, not flour, cut and bake at 350 for 5-9 minutes. Cool and frost/decorate as desired.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Spicy Soup
-about 2 chicken breasts, cubed (can pre-cook, but it will cook in your crock pot if you cook it long enough)
-2 cans (family size) chicken and rice soup
-2 cans Rotell
-2 cans ranch style beans
cook in crock pot and enjoy! Can serve with sour cream, or tortilla chips, or whatever you want
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Smooth Tomato Sauce
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp sugar
salt and ground black pepper
Heat garlic and oil together in large saucepan over medium-high heat until garlic starts to sizzle. Stir in tomatoes, basil, oregano, sugar, pinch of salt, and 2 grinds of pepper. Bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer until the sauce thickens a bit and flavors meld, 10-12 minutes. Taste sauce and adjust salt if necessary. Cover and keep warm.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Ted's Pizza Dough
1/2 TBS. active dry yeast
1 c. warm water
2 TBS. olive oil
3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. kosher salt
1. In large bowl, stir together yeast, water and olive oil. Then add flour, sprinkle the salt over the flour and stir into wet ingredients with a wooden spoon. When dough gets too stiff to stir with a spoon, knead in the unincorporated flour by hand, picking up the dough with one hand and pressing it against the sides and bottom of the bowl to pick up any bits, and then folding it over on itself so that it all sticks together. Do this until you have a coherent, if still messy, ball of dough.
2. Turn out onto clean work surface and knead for 10 minutes (3-5 will suffice if you feel lazy or get a mixer with a dough hook) At the beginning, the dough will be sticky; but don't add flour and don't flour the surface. Just keep kneading. The dough will eventually get very smooth and supple. It can be sort of meditative after you get going. Or, you may choose to view it as a workout for your arms.
3. Rinse the bowl. Dry it. Grease it with a bit of olive oil. Put dough into bowl; cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until it has increased about 1 1/2 times in volume, about an hour. If you're not ready when the dough is, just punch it down again and let it sit until you're ready for it. It's not going anywhere.
4. Preheat oven to 500. If using a stone, put it in the oven and heat for 25 minutes.
5. Dust work surface with cornmeal or flour. Cut pizza dough in two and put one half on work surface; set other half aside. Use your fingers to flatten the dough into a disk. Press and stretch the dough to make a thin circle or rectangle, 10 -12 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick (I actually just used a rolling pin because I'm no good at free forming dough with my fingers alone).
6. Transfer dough to stone or baking sheet, add toppings as desired. Bake (475 degrees for baking sheet) until edges are lightly browned, about 12-15 minutes (I checked at 9-10 minutes and mine was done). Remove from oven, sprinkle with a bit of pecorino, romano, parmesano or asiago and some fresh herbs if desired.
I like to use BBQ chicken/red peppers/purple onion/monterey jack cheese OR homemade marinara sauce/monterey jack cheese. I will post the marinara sauce next. ;0)
Cream Syrup
1 c. whipping cream
1 c. sugar
3 TBS. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix cream, sugar and butter together in large pot. Bring to boil and let boil for 2-3 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Serve hot.
I also added about 1 tsp. maple flavoring (after the vanilla) in one of the batches I made and it was tasty too!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Monkey Bread
This is the EASIEST and FASTEST thing you will ever make.
1 tube refrigerated biscuits, you know the ones you unroll, and they give you a heart attack when they finally pop, or explode open.
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Cut biscuits into quarters. Put butter in a round, I've used square it works too, cake dish and microwave butter until completely melted. Stir in brown sugar, and cinnamon. Place biscuits inside and mix so butter mix is all over. Microwave for 3-4 minutes.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 c. sugar
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 c. butter (I use it straight out of the fridge)
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 c. flour
12 oz (2 cups) chocolate chips
Place sugar, brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater. Turn to speed 2 and mix ~30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl. Turn to speed 4 and beat ~30 more seconds. Stop and scrape bowl.
Turn to stir speed. Gradually add baking soda, salt, and flour to sugar mixture and mix ~2 minutes. Turn to speed 2 and mix ~30 seconds. Turn to stir speed and add chocolate chips, mixing ~15 seconds.
Roll into tablespoon sized balls and place on cookie sheets. I don't drop them because they tend to stay more fluffy if they are rolled. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Remove immediately and place on wire rack to cool.
The key to these cookies (I think) is keeping the dough pretty cool (place it in the fridge between batches of cookies), and NOT over-mixing the dough. The directions are given for use with a Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer, but you can adapt it to a regular mixer if needed. Speed 2 is low and Speed 4 is Medium-High. This is a pretty versatile recipe too. The last batch I made, I used semi-sweet chips, butterscotch chips and coconut combined...it was great! They are also more rich when you use milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet. Just play around with it.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Corn Bread
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups buttermilk (or if you don't have just use 2 TBS of lemon juice or vinegar combined with milk and let stand 5 mins)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup cornmeal
3 cups flour
Melt butter, add to sugar and eggs in a large bowl. Add buttermilk to wet ingredients. In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients and then add to large bowl of wet ingredients. Use a whisk to combine thoroughly. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 375 degrees for 30 mins.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Spicy Grilled Shrimp
Ingredients
- 2 large cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (you can lessen if you don't want it too spicy)
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (optional) we don't use
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice from lemon
- 2 pounds large, raw shrimp, de-veined (easy peel) we use the 26-30 count ($4.99-$9.99)
- Preheat grill for medium heat.
- In a small bowl, crush the garlic with the salt. Mix in cayenne pepper and paprika, and then stir in olive oil and lemon juice to form a paste. In a large bowl, toss shrimp with garlic paste until evenly coated. Once coated, place on bamboo skewers.
- Lightly oil grill grate (optional). Cook shrimp for 3 minutes per side on medium, or until they turn a pinkish color. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with lemon wedges, and serve.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Split Pea Soup with Crescent Rolls
Split Pea Comfort Soup
Ingredients:
1 package (16 oz.) dried green split peas, rinsed
1 Hambone OR 2 cups diced ham
3 carrots, peeled & sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery plus leaves, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon seasoned salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon fresh pepper
1 1/2 quart hot water
Directions:
Layer ingredients in slow cooker, pour in water. DO NOT STIR. Cover and cook on high 4 to 5 hours or on low 8 to 10 hours until peas are very soft and ham falls off bone. Remove bones and bay leaf.
Crescent Dinner Rolls
Ingredients:
1 pkg (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
1/4 C. warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 Tb. + 1/2 C. sugar, divided
3/4 C. warm milk (110-115 degrees)
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 C. butter, softened
1 tsp. salt
5-5 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
Melted butter
Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add 1 tablespoon sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the millk, eggs, butter, salt and remaining sugar. Stir in enough flour to form a stiff dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes, Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1- 1/2 hours. Punch dough down.
2. Divide into thirds. Roll each into a 12-in. circle; cut each circle into eight wedges. Brush with melted butter; roll up wedges from the wide end and place, pointed end down, 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.
3. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks. Makes 2 dozen.
Ziploc Omelets
This works great! Good for when you're alone or when all your family is together. The best feature is that no one has to wait for their special omelet. Have the guests write their name on a Quart Size Ziploc Freezer Bag with a permanent marker.
2. Put out a variety of ingredients such as: Cheeses, Ham, Onions, Green Peppers, Tomatoes, Hash Browns, Salsa, Etc.
3. Each person adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake the bag to mix them well.
6. Cut the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.
Imagine having these ready the night before, and putting the bag in boiling water while you get ready in the morning. And in just 13 minutes you have a nice omelet for a quick breakfast.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Ginny's Yummy Melt In Your Mouth Brownies
1 1/3 c chocolate chips
1c sugar
1c brown sugar
4 eggs
3 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c flour
Melt chocolate and butter together and then add sugar, eggs and vanilla to the mixture
stir then add flour and salt.
Use a pan little smaller than a 9x13 grease or tinfoil pan.
Bake at 350 for 40 min. or when tooth pick comes out clean one inch from side of brownies.
I had these brownies last night and they were to die for!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Peanut Butter, Marshmallow, Chocolate Covered Oreos
12 Oreo Cookies
12 teaspoons peanut butter
12 Tablespoons Marshmallow Cream
½ Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1. Place Oreos onto a wax paper covered baking sheet. Spoon peanut butter evenly over Oreos, spreading gently. With cookie scoop, place marshmallow cream over peanut butter layer. Place entire baking sheet of oreos into freezer for 30 minutes or until firm.
2. Place chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30 second intervals until chips are melted. Stir in heavy cream until shiny and smooth. If not smooth, add a touch more cream until smooth and shiny. Spoon chocolate over cookies, spreading carefully around edges. **If marshmallow cream starts peeking through a few minutes after coating with chocolate, just add additional chocolate over white areas.**
3. Place in refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes and serve. Keep any leftovers in refrigerator.
Pastel Cookies
3oz jello mix
1 egg
1 1/2c butter
3 1/2c flour
1tsp vanilla
1tsp baking powder
bake at 400 for 8 min.
Roll the cookie dough in little balls and bake
Sweet and Sour Chicken
1c water
1/2c sugar
1/3c vinegar
1/4c pineapple
1/4c soy sauce
2T lemon juice
1c chopped carrots
1/2c onion
bring to boil and add chicken
thicken with corn starch and add pineapple chunks
serve over rice



