Sausage Gravy

January 2, 2010 by

My hubby LOVES biscuits and gravy.  It’s a very filling breakfast, and I love to make it for him when he’s had a hard week or is doing a lot of work that day.  And it doesn’t hurt that the girls gobble it up too!

SAUSAGE GRAVY
1 lb. Italian sausage (we like mild-our butcher has a good one with lots of fennel seed)
6 T butter
1/3 c flour
3 c milk

Brown sausage in skillet.
Add the butter, and melt.  (Mine is really dry, if yours is greasy, either pour off the grease or use that instead of the butter)
Stir in the flour, cook for about 1 minute to cook out the raw flour flavor.
Now, whisk in the milk and cook over medium heat, letting it get thicker as it cooks.  If it has thickened up too much and gotten too thick, just whisk in more milk.

Filed Under: Breakfast

Dill Eggs

January 2, 2010 by

I love dill weed. I think it has such a good flavor and pairs nicely with lots of things, as you will probably see lots of recipes calling for this herb. It’s also very inexpensive and goes a long way. If you (for some odd reason) don’t like dill, you can leave it out and I won’t be offended. And if you’re doing a different amount of eggs, just remember a good rule of thumb is about 1 tsp each cream and butter for each egg used.

DILL EGGS
3 eggs
1 T cream (or milk)
1 tsp dill weed
1 T butter

Whisk all but butter together.
Melt butter in skillet over medium heat.
Add egg mixture and stir with a silicone spatula (or otherwise if not available)

The idea is to push the cooked layer off the bottom of the skillet so it kind of bunches up, letting the uncooked part flow down and take that room at the bottom of the pan.
While it still looks a little glossy, pull it off the heat so you don’t overcook it and have a bowl of curds and egg liquid. (NOT good eats)Enjoy!

Filed Under: Breakfast

Biscuits 101

January 2, 2010 by

I’ve been making biscuits since a pretty young age. This is my favorite way of making them, I’ve picked up a couple of tricks on the way to perfect them.  Serve them with sausage gravy, seared garlic onions, and dill scrambled eggs, or make breakfast sandwiches with sausage, bacon, or ham and eggs.
Or just plain. with a little butter. or homemade jam. I just can’t leave well enough alone….can I? : )
Be sure your butter or margarine is very cold, this is what helps the biscuits flake nicely.

BAKING POWDER BISCUITS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine (cold!)
3/4 to 1 cup milk

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
Cut in butter with a pastry blender until resembles coarse crumbs.

Pour milk in a well in the center, starting with just 3/4 cup.

Use fork to stir in until almost completely mixed. (Don’t overmix)

Add the rest of milk if needed, but careful not to make it too sticky.
Now turn out onto counter, lightly dust with flour and form into a ball.

Press down to about 1/2″ thickness. (This is important-don’t use a rolling pin-it flattens your dough and you biscuits won’t be as light & fluffy!)

Cut out into desired size. I use a big 3″ biscuit cutter usually, but a small one makes nice scones too.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet, CLOSE TOGETHER , almost touching-This makes them rise up instead of flattening out.

Now, some people like to brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with a little sugar or salt.  We like ours plain. Some things are meant to be simple and old-fashioned in my book.
Bake at 450 degrees for about 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

makes about 10 average sized biscuits

Filed Under: Bread, Quick & Muffins

Chicken Kiev

January 1, 2010 by

Okay, so this isn’t chicken kiev. But it’s not chicken cordon bleu either. It’s…really good. And I’ve for some reason always called it Chicken Kiev. So that’s what we’ll call it. And you won’t care about the technicallity of the name once you try it. And it’s multi-purpose! You can use the breading to do Chicken Strips or Nuggets at the same time, in case you have kiddos who want it simple.

This is something we make for special occasions, as it is very rich.

CHICKEN KIEV


3 chicken breasts, boneless skinless
Buttermilk
6 T garden vegetable cream cheese (or make your own with herbs & cream cheese)
6 slices Ham, thinly sliced
mozzarella or swiss cheese-cut into matchsticks
about 1/2 cup melted butter or milk, for dipping
*coating mix: 1 1/2 cups cornflake crumbs
3/4 cup flour
dash salt & pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder

All right, let’s get to it! You can do the chicken breasts one of two ways.

1. with chicken breast flat on a cutting board, Lay your hand on top, holding it flat down. Pierce a large knife in at the fattest end and cut in half horizontally.
2. Don’t cut all the way through, just butterfly it open.
(Way #1 will give you 3 larger portions, #2 gives you 6 smaller)

Now cover the chicken with wax paper or a couple layers of plastic wrap and using a mallet, pound them out thin, trying not to break through. (A good tip-put the skin side down-pounding on the non-skin side- or where the skin would be if it was chicken with skin left on)
Now soak in buttermilk for a couple of hours. You can skip this step if you want-I don’t notice a huge difference when I do.

Now get organized. Get everything you’ll need ready:
Butter or milk for dipping, coating all mixed together, all your ham and cheeses ready. I like to use a bread loaf pan for baking since it holds the ends of the chicken rolls tight so not so much can ooze out. 3 of the smaller rolls fit perfect in a loaf pan. So spray your loaf pan with PAM and set aside.

Lay out all your chicken flat. Spread each one with about 1 T of cream cheese.

Next, lay 1-2 pieces of ham on top. I use the really thin budding ham usually, but this last time I had some ham leftover from Christmas, and even though it was thicker, it still rolled fine-and was REALLY good!

Next, top in the middle with 1-2 cheese matchsticks.
Now, get ready to get messy!
Roll each one up, tucking the cheese inside as you go.

Now, we could secure with toothpicks, but I find that it’s fine to just put it straight in the loaf pan after breading, so I don’t.

Next, dip in the melted butter or milk, then in the coating. I told you it would be messy!

Now, place in loaf pan and repeat.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes, or until cheese is oozy and chicken is cooked through.
If it looks dry on top, you can always brush with melted butter or spray with PAM before it’s done cooking.
*You can play around with the seasonings in the coating mix, sometimes I use a garlic seasoning mix. Have some fun with it!

Filed Under: Chicken / Turkey

Cheesy Bread and Pan Pizza

January 1, 2010 by

Wouldn’t you know I married a man who LOVES ADORES Pizza. My hubby is a very mellow guy, but if you mention the word Pizza he’s sure to perk up!  So instead of ordering out pizza, I like to make him home-made. I can control what’s going into it, and use whatever we have on hand.

I found this recipe on http://www.everydayfoodstorage.net/ (It was called 30 Minute Breadsticks or No-Fail Deep Dish Pizza Crust) The title was a bit misleading, as it of course takes a bit more time than that, but it really is a good recipe and I love her website. Instead of breadsticks, I did Cheesy Bread but it you want just plain breadsticks, leave off the cheese. And you can also do any combination of white/whole wheat flour you like.

CHEESY BREAD & PAN PIZZA
2 1/2 cups hot water
5 tsp SAF Instant Yeast (or 2 T regular active dry)
2 T sugar
3 T oil
1 tsp salt
6 cups flour
1 cube of butter

Pour hot water in mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top and allow to dissolve. (Unless you’re using active dry yeast, you don’t need to let it fully bloom)
Add sugar, salt, and oil.  Gradually add flour.
While oven is heating to 400 degrees,  place butter on two pans in oven to melt.
I did two pans out of this dough, one for cheesy bread, and one for pizza, but you could do just one pan if you want it really thick.

Place half of dough in each pan with the butter, stretching to fit. This will be a little messy, but the dough is very forgiving. I flip it over half way through so some of the butter gets on top.
Allow to double in size (about 15 minutes)

Now, for Cheesy Bread top with a sprinkling of :
Johny’s Garlic Seasoning
about 8-16 oz shredded mozzarella & cheddar (depending how cheesy you want it)

For Pizza, top with:
pizza sauce (I mix 1 small can each tomato sauce and paste and add Italian seasoning)
Shredded cheese
favorite toppings (In the photo I did turkey pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, white onions
Now bake in the 400 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes or until nicely browned. (The original recipe only allowed for 10-12 minutes which I found to be short)

Cut into strips of pieces and enjoy!

Filed Under: Bread, Yeast, Pizza

Frozen Hot Chocolate

December 30, 2009 by

This recipe has been all over the internet since “Serendipity” the restaurant in New York that invented finally released the recipe. We had it last night for New Year’s Eve. It’s kind of like a chocolate slushy. We used semi-sweet chocolate with good results but I bet dark chocolate would be even better.

FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE
4 oz chocolate (that’s about 2/3 cup of chocolate chips)
2 tsp hot cocoa powder
1 1/2 T sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups ice cubes
whipped cream
chocolate shavings (optional)

Melt chcolate in microwave. Once melted, add hot cocoa powder and sugar.  Stir until thoroughly blended. Add 1/2 cup of the milk, stir till smooth.  Cool to room temperature.
In blender, place remaining 1 c milk, room-temp chocolate mixture, and ice. Blend on high speed until smooth. Makes about 4 servings (8 oz)

Pour in glasses and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Filed Under: Drinks

Almond Toffee

December 29, 2009 by

This is for my friend Carol, my kindred spirit. Sweet, amazing, WONDERFUL Carol. Such an amazing woman that I had to name my first born after her. Every Christmas season I make sure to take her an extra big bag of this almond toffee because I know she savors every bite of it!

The recipe is from a book my mom passed on to me, The Complete Wilton Book of Candy. (copyright date 1981) It’s my go-to book for any candy recipes. They ALWAYS turn out, and they always taste like heaven!

And remember, when making candy, always use pure, unsalted butter, and ONLY C&H Cane sugar, never use beet sugar when making candy (Or in my book, ever!)

ALMOND TOFFEE
Suprisingly easy to make- rich, crisp, and butterly delicious!

1 pound butter
2 T water
2 cups granulated cane sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups finely chopped almonds
10 oz milk chocolate, chopped (Or milk chocolate chips)

Butter a 12″ x 18″ cookie sheet. Set aside.
Put butter and water in a heavy 12″ pot or skillet over medium-high heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until melted, then add sugar and salt as you continue stirring.
When mixture loses its yellow color and becomes whitish, add one cup of the nuts.
Continue cooking, stirring contantly, to 300 degrees F. (You DO have a candy thermometer…right?)
Mixture will be a caramel color. Remove from heat. Should take about 20 minutes cook time.
Turn into prepared pan and cool just until set, but not completely hardened.
Score into 1 1/2″ squares with a sharp knife. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate over double boiler or in microwave. Spread over cooled toffee and sprinkle with remaining cup of nuts.
Chill until set, about 20 minutes.
Break into squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks. (Like it could last that long!)

Yield: about 90 pieces

Filed Under: Candy / Confections

Cinnamon Apple Pancakes

December 29, 2009 by

I love dried fruit. There are SO many great things you can do with it! This idea just happened one day out of staring at pancakes cooking for my girls and wanting to do something fun.

CINNAMON APPLE PANCAKES
your favorite buttermilk pancake recipe or mix
dried apple slices
cinnamon

Pour your pancakes on a hot griddle as you normally would, then sprinkle with dried apple slices and cinnamon.
There is no need to rehydrate the apples, as they will absorb the moisture in the pancake.
Flip when ready, and cook until done.
I’ve tried mixing the apples into the batter, but I like the texture they get going directly on the griddle. If you like you can mix the cinnamon into the batter beforehand though.

Filed Under: Breakfast

Hashbrowns

December 29, 2009 by

Hashbrowns

This is a take from a dish my mom made all the time. She would take leftover baked potatoes and chill them in the fridge, then the next morning (or dinner even), she would slice them and heat them in a cast iron skillet. I still love them that way, but my husband loves cubed hashbrowns. Serve with breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

HASHBROWNS
8 medium russet or yukon gold potatoes
1-2 large white onions, chopped (depending on preference)
canola oil
desired seasonings (I use about 1 tsp paprika, 2 tsp Johny’s Garlic Seasoning, s&p to taste)

Scrub potatoes, place in one layer on a plate.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Microwave on high about 12 minutes, or until mostly cooked. (You want them slightly firm still)
Alternatively, if you have leftover baked potatoes, just use those.
Heat about 1 T oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. (I’d use a cast-iron if available)
Add onions, and chop potatoes. After onions are softened, add potatoes and sprinkle seasonings on top. Mix together, then let one side cook until browned.
Flip over, and finish cooking other side. Add more oil when necessary.
My cast iron skillet isn’t that large, so I do all this in 2 batches. If the layer is too deep, then you don’t get enough potatoes with a nice crust.

If you want, you can put these in a dish in the oven to keep warm for a while too, and they’re still great.

Filed Under: Breakfast

Peanut Butter Truffles

December 29, 2009 by

 

Peanut Butter Truffles

I first made these in high school, and they’ve always been a favorite confection of mine. Easy, cute, and everyone loves them! They freeze particularly well, and I almost prefer them that way. Sorry if they look slightly scuffed in the photos, they were actually buried in the freezer. 🙂

Peanut Butter Truffles

9 oz chocolate (milk, semi-sweet, dark, or almond bark)
1 Cup plus 2 T peanut butter
5 T unsalted butter, softened
2 Cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal

Melt chocolate (in the microwave is fine).
Let cool slightly. Cream PB and butter together in a bowl. Gradually add in powdered sugar, mixing until smooth.
Stir in rice cereal. Press into heaping tablespoonfulls in your palm.
You can also use a small scooper, and make them any size you want.
Roll or press balls till smooth. If you want you can do through this step ahead of time and store in fridge or freezer to firm up more.

Next, dip in the melted chocolate. I like to use 2 fondue forks, piercing them with one, and using the other to push them off the other.
Place on waxed paper set on a cookie sheet or tray. Refrigerate till set. (Or freeze if you want them faster.)
You can also drizzle another kind of chocolate on top for contrast, or even white chocolate if you desire. Enjoy while they last!

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Filed Under: Candy / Confections