Pizza Factory Breadtwists

Maddie, I don't know how much you've baked with yeast, but if you haven't, don't be intimidated--these are EASY! Trust me. Easy. And really, really yummy. If you get at all confused when/if you make them, just call me. We've made them three times in a week. :D -Rae

Breadtwists

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine:

1½ cups warm water

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. yeast

Let that sit (and proof) for 5 minutes. Then add:

3½ cups flour

1 tsp Salt

Mix until smooth, then let rise for 10 minutes. (It's okay if you can't tell if it's risen or not, just let it sit in a relatively warm place for 10 minutes.)

Roll out dough into a large square on a floured surface. Brush with melted (real) butter mixed with garlic and then sprinkle with kosher salt (I also like to sprinkle parmesan onto the dough). Fold in half (so that it makes a rectangle) and cut into 1-inch-wide strips. Twist each strip (the strips look so short until you begin to twist them) and place on a cooking sheet. Let sit for 18 to 20 minutes to rise again. (Again, don't be worried if they don't look like they've risen much) 

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown (I usually end up doing 18 minutes). Immediately after baking, brush with more garlic butter and sprinkle with kosher salt and grated parmesan cheese.

Serve with marinara, alfredo sauce, or ranch for dipping. (We like ours with tomato soup.)

*Dough also makes a great pizza dough, just roll out into a large circle, add your favorite toppings, and bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

Rolo Cookies

Rolo Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
12 oz bag of rolos

Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix in dry ingredients. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cover rolo in just enough dough, so you don't see it anymore. Then roll ball in sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes.

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

"Hi Rae!  I miss you!

Here's my spaghetti sauce recipe that you asked me for ages ago.  I assume you still want it.  I got it from MY mom when I left home, and always made it the same way, and then when she tasted it one time after I'd made it for years, she didn't think it tasted like her sauce.  ?????  Anyway, try this:

brown a pound of hamburger with one or two large chopped onions (chop small)
          and add two 28-ounce cans of Hunt's tomato puree.  We like puree better than sauce and we like Hunt's.
   Add these spices, and note that the cinnamon is a secret offered by my mom's Italian friend.  A great improvement:
               1 t. salt
               1/2 t. chili powder (surprise)
               1/2 of a large bay leaf, or 1 skinny one
               1/4 t. basil
               1/4 t. oregano
               1/8 t. garlic powder
               cinnamon--without sugar, although the sugar could be tried--I guess I use 1/4 t. of cinnamon or less

Lots of times I use double the amount of basil, oregano, or garlic--depending on who's eating.  I let this sauce simmer an hour or so on very low heat if I have time to do that.  It tastes a lot better then.  But it's very good right after it's thrown together, too.  Oh!  If you want mushrooms put them with the onions when you're browning the onions in the ground beef.  Fresh mushrooms are always better than canned, but I've used canned ones before.  I've usually sliced the 'shrooms or used small button ones.  And I forgot to say you can drain the fat off the hamburger.  I forgot to say it because I don't usually do it any more.  I use 93% lean beef and there's hardly any fat and the fat is where the flavor is anyway.
                        One more tip--For the past several years we've liked our spaghetti to be angel hair.  Even the "thin" spaghetti doesn't please us as much as angel hair.  Your boys might like to think about eating angel hair.  And if you're really in a gourmet mood, I love this--cut a spaghetti squash in half (with a machete--that's about what it takes) and bake it 45 minutes face-down on a greased cookie sheet at 325 degrees; then scoop out the inside and it's very much like spaghetti with a nice delicate flavor besides.  And it's lower in carbs than pasta, if you care about that.  Dad and Maddie don't go for this as much as I do, so I don't serve it that way very often.

Bono appetito!  Amore---Tu Mama"

Honey Mustard Chicken

Honey Mustard Chicken
from We Are Eating

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed and tenderized slightly (if they are overly thick, slice them in half)
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
2 Tablespoons mustard (I used the basic yellow mustard since my husband is not a fan of Dijon mustard, but I bet it would be tasty with either)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pre-heat oven to 350. Place chicken in shallow baking pan. In a small bowl, combine butter, honey, mustard and salt and whisk well. Pour over chicken. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, basting every 15 minutes.
We Are Eating serves this with garlic mashed potatoes, which would be delicious. I opted for rice because I had some leftover in the fridge and it was still really good.

Mama’s Mac & Cheese

Mama’s Mac & Cheese

1/2 stick butter
1/4 C flour
3 C milk
1/2 - 3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8  tsp garlic powder
1/8 C finely minced onion
3 C grated SHARP cheddar cheese
2 1/4 C uncooked noodles

Cook macaroni noodles. Melt butter and stir in flour. When this roux is bubbly, stir in milk. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion.

When thick, add cheese. Add noodles to cheese mixture and stir. Pour into a greased 9 x 13" pan. Bake uncovered at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Poppy Seed Chicken

Poppy Seed Chicken
1 lb. cooked (baked, fried, grilled, broiled, boiled...doesn't matter which. The only one I haven't tried is grilled. And when I say fried, I just mean cooking it in the skillet, not like fried chicken...) and cubed chicken – pour into casserole dish
Mix and pour over chicken:
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
1 Tbsp soy sauce
Mix and sprinkle over casserole:
1 stick melted butter
1 tube crushed Ritz crackers
2 Tbsp poppy seeds
Bake at 350º for 30-40 minutes (basically bake until it bubbles). Serve over rice.
I discovered recently that you can substitute cream of mushroom soup if you add some chicken boullion granules too which disguise the taste almost completely (and I suppose if you love mushrooms you might not even want to do that). And if you're short on sour cream, you can fill in the rest with buttermilk. I'm not sure if that would work with the milk & vinegar substitute since I haven't tried that. But the other day I discovered mid-recipe that I did not have the cream of chicken I thought I did and also not as much sour cream as I needed. I used 3/4 of a can of cream of mushroom (I was worried about the taste being too strong...) and 1/3 C sour cream and 2/3 cup buttermilk.

Curried Coconut Chicken

Curried Coconut Chicken
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 teaspoon salt and pepper, or to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed, diced tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
Directions
1. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
2. Heat oil and curry powder in a large skillet over medium-high heat for two minutes. Stir in onions and garlic, and cook 1 minute more. Add chicken, tossing lightly to coat with curry oil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in center and juices run clear.
3. Pour coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and sugar into the pan, and stir to combine. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

Easy French Bread

Easy French Bread 


This is from Michael's Aunt Lisa, and I've made it at least three times already. The title is honest! It really is easy! And delicious. Mmmm, my favorite french bread ever (and I've tried the genuine stuff, too).

Easy French Bread

2 1/2 cups warm water
2 TBS yeast

Put yeast in warm water in a LARGE bowl and let proof for about 5-10 minutes (it will probably only take 10 minutes if the yeast came straight from the freezer). The original recipe requests that you avoid stirring the yeast...but I can't resist! I always end up stirring it at the end of the ten minutes.

2 TBS sugar
1 TBS salt
2 TBS oil
6 cups flour

Add the sugar, salt and oil to the yeast water and mix. Add the flour cup by cup, mixing thoroughly. After 10 minutes, punch down the dough. Punch it down every ten minutes for an hour.

I like to make tally marks on a paper nearby and keep a kitchen timer handy. I don't have a kitchenaid or really anything comparable, so I do this perhaps a bit primitively... all I really need after mixing in the flour is a spatula, which I use both to scrape the sides of the bowl and punch down the dough throughout the hour.

Around the 4th or 5th punching, preheat the oven for 400* and grease a cookie sheet. I like using a stick of butter to grease it.
When the hour is up, spread just a little bit of oil on the countertop.

TIP: The reason I use oil instead of more flour is it keep the bread from becoming too dry. I also prefer its efficiency for keeping my hands from getting sticky.

Split the dough in two and shape into loaves.
NOTE: this recipe doesn't require any kneading. The punching took care of that. The punching also makes this a really dense bread, so it's very moist (dense is good).
Place on cookie sheet and brush with either milk or melted butter (I prefer butter). Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Slit tops.
Bake for 30 minutes.


Also makes amazing french toast for breakfast the next morning, delicious garlic bread as a side for spaghetti, and even pretty decent grilled cheese sandwiches.

For cheat garlic bread, butter slices and sprinkle with Garlic Salt. If the bread isn't fresh from the oven, place the prepared slices on a cookie sheet in an oven either set on Broil or about 350* for only a minute or two. Sometimes I even leave the oven door open so I can better monitor the bread--it doesn't take long to toast it!

*when doing sticky/messy recipes, I tie my wedding ring to my apron strings. I've even written notes on those recipes to remind myself to do this--and especially to put it back on once I'm finished!*

This dough doesn't have to rise the full hour to be successful.

Dad's Rolls

ROLLS RECIPE 
for Maddie’s Cookbook for Birthday #20!

From our Better Homes & Gardens (1968?) cookbook, with Dad’s changes and notes shown in boldface red font.  The triple-recipe portions are also shown in boldface red font.  Read the green paragraphs that follow the black ones, before proceeding with the BH & G recipe:

The roll dough recipe I use is a triple batch.  There are never enough to go around and the triple batch is the largest I like to handle.  It takes four hours without exception.  (In saying this, Dad means it takes a four-hour block of time, but that’s mostly rising time.)


1 package active dry yeast          This means 3 Tablespoons (9 whole teaspoons), for Dad’s triple batch.
¼ cup warm water                         ¾ cup
1 cup milk, scalded                         3 cups
¼ cup sugar                                      ¾ cup
¼ cup shortening                             ¾ cup
1 teaspoon salt                                 1 Tablespoon (= 3 teaspoons)
3 ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour   10 ½ cups, but added in portions as Dad describes in these notes
1 egg                                                   3 eggs, and he always uses large eggs
Soften yeast in warm water (110 degrees).  Combine milk, sugar, shortening, and salt; cool to lukewarm.  Add 1 ½ cups of flour; beat well.  Beat in yeast and egg.  Gradually add remaining flour to form soft dough, beating well.  Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease surface.  Cover and let rise till double (1 ½ to 2 hours).

I mix the yeast and water first, then set it aside to activate (goes bubbly).  (A note about temperature control.  The water for the yeast must be about 80 degrees F.  Just like a formula bottle next to your wrist)While that's in motion I mix the dry stuff.  That is the powdered milk, sugar, salt and only 3 1/2 cups of the flour.  (The triple recipe is 10 and 1/2 cups flour)  Then I add really hot water from the tap (3 cups).  I mix the water and the dry stuff with a blender.  Then while it's still hot I add the shortening (I like crisco best).  The shortening then melts and mixes better.  Then the three eggs from the fridge.  The eggs cool the mixture just enough to be about 80 degrees farenheit.  Then I add the yeast/water mixture and blend it all up.

The rest of the flour (6 and 1/2 cups) is added to a large mixing bowl, I pour the liquid mixture in and stir with a long handle wooden spoon.  It will get stiff and hard to stir.   Set aside about 1/2 cup flour for keeping the roll dough from sticking to the table and for teasing the dough away from the mixing bowl.  Then it all goes on the table for kneeding.  Once kneeded you let it sit on the table while you clean the large mixing bowl.  Then grease the mixing bowl with crisco (not a lot, just enough to allow the dough to rise and not stick).  The dough goes back into the large mixing bowl.  Put a cotton dishtowel over the dough so it doesn't get too dry.  Let it rise two hours at 80 degrees F.  


Turn out on lightly floured surface and shape as desired (“see drawings”, says the cookbook, but see Dad’s notes instead).  Cover and let shaped rolls rise till double (30 to 45 minutes).  Bake on greased baking sheet or in greased muffin pans in hot oven (400 degrees) for 12 to 15 minutes.  Makes 2 dozen Cloverleafs, Butter Fans, or Bowknots, or 3 dozen Parker House.

After it has about doubled in volume, then dump it out on the table and kneed it again.  Then flatten with  a rolling pin and cut large circles with a biscuit cutter.  Fold them in half and put on a pre-greased (or Pam spray) pan to rise 1 and 1/2 hours again.  They can even go longer if the room is not around 80 degrees.  107 degrees in the garage is too warm.  

Then bake for 10 or 11 minutes.  Do not over bake.  Test one pan, each oven is slightly different.  They may need to cook for 12 minutes.  When you take them out of the oven, get them immediately off the cookie pan and onto a rack where they can cool.  

Voila, eat with butter that melts and is soooo good.

Chicken Sauce for Hawaiian Haystacks

Chicken Sauce for Hawaiian Haystacks

*Makes about 4 cups chicken sauce (enough to serve 4-6 for Hawaiian Haystacks)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size chunks (or leftover cooked chicken, cubed)
3 tablespoons butter
½ onion (about ½ cup), finely chopped
3 cloves garlic; finely minced
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup flour
2 cups milk
1 cup chicken broth

In a large skillet melt the butter over medium heat and add the onion and raw chicken (if using leftover cooked chicken, don’t add it to the skillet now, you’ll add it later). Saute the onion and chicken, if using, until the onions are soft and translucent and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about one minute, stirring, until fragrant.

Sprinkle the flour over the onions and chicken and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat for one minute - this helps get rid of the starchy, flour taste. Slowly whisk in the milk and chicken broth. Cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, and bring the sauce to a simmer over medium to medium-high heat. Add the salt and pepper. If you are using leftover cooked chicken, add it now. Continue simmering, stirring the sauce frequently, until the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes.

Serve the chicken sauce over rice with your toppings of choice, such as olives, tomatoes, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, green onions, mandarin oranges and chow mein noodles.

Recipe Source: My Kitchen Cafe

Beccy and Beverly’s Beef Stew

Beccy and Beverly’s Beef Stew

"Okay Rae, here's the recipe. I don't measure anything when I make this one, this is how Mom did it: start with beef broth (enough to make it however "brothy" you like it and to boil the veggies). I like to use about 6 C, and I make it from that "Better than Bouillon" beef stock paste stuff from Costco. You store it in a little jar in the fridge and reconstitute it with water. Very handy, cheaper than canned broth.

Add some worchestershire sauce, a little vinegar, dried mustard, allspice (go easy) salt and pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning and dried parsley. Add a bay leaf, and pearl barley if you have any. If you frequent the health food stores, quinoa and/or hemp seed add protein and flavor (and make awesome little broth floaties) :D

Then chop! Pretend you're on a cooking show and go for it!: 4-6 potatoes, carrots, onions, celery. Add a can of diced tomatoes, some frozen peas, frozen corn, green beans, and cooked beef cubes (I use canned roast beef, also from Costco). Bring it to a boil, then simmer it covered til your potatoes and carrots are tender (maybe 20 min.). I love it reheated for lunch. Mmmmm! We have it with hot bread/biscuits.

It's actually my winter go-to recipe when I don't know what to fix, because the fresh veggies are ones I usually have on hand, and the other stuff I have stored/canned/frozen. Plus, it feeds my hungry teenage boys (who slurped up 3 bowlfuls each that night). It's comfort food, but low calorie. Good stuff!!!

Love ya :D"

4 Packet Roast

4 Packet Roast
Submitted by Mindy at www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com

Ingredients:
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 packet brown gravy mix

1 packet Italian salad dressing mix
1 packet onion soup mix
1 roast of choice
1/2-3/4 cup of water
assorted veggies if desired (I like carrots the best, but I often use cubed potatoes and onion wedges, as well)

Place roast in crockpot.  Arrange vegetables around the roast if being used.  Sprinkle the mix packets over the roast.  Pour water around the roast.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Stuffed Shells

Stuffed Shells

2 beaten eggs
(2) 15-oz. containers cottage cheese (or ricotta)
2 C mozzarella cheese
1 C grated Parmesan cheese
3 C spaghetti sauce
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
parsley to taste
12 oz. jumbo pasta shells, cooked & drained

After putting shells in the pot to boil, combine in a bowl the eggs, cottage cheese (or ricotta, whatever), mozzarella, 3/4 cup of the parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper.

Spoon a small portion of spaghetti sauce into bottom of the casserole dish, covering the bottom evenly.

Spoon about 2 Tbsp mixture into each shell. [2 Tbsp? Whatever—more like 1/8 of a cup!] Arrange in a 13" x 9" baking dish; top with spaghetti sauce. (I’ve discovered that the parts of the noodles left uncovered by the sauce get overbaked and crunchy. Be sure to cover each noodle with sauce, and try to fill the spaces in between, too.)

Sprinkle the top with the remaining parmesan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through.