Scalloped Potatoes

I hesitated to post this recipe because I usually guess at the amounts for some of the ingredients. But... I don't think you can really mess it up.

Peel and slice potatoes. (depending on size, around 2 per person.)
3 T butter
1/4 C flour
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
3 C milk
Cheese - I use a combination of American and cheddar. Generally about 8 slices of American and about 8 oz of shredded cheddar.

Using medium heat, melt the butter in a sauce pan and incorporate the flour with a wisk. Add salt and pepper. Add milk, then cheese. Continue to stir using a whisk until all the cheese is melted and starts to thicken.

Place sliced potatoes in a casserole dish. Pour sauce over them. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350º for 1 hour. Uncover and continue baking for another 30 minutes.

Bagels

This is the recipe for plain bagels. Of course, you can make plain into sesame, poppy, or everything. Making bagels is not difficult, it it just time consuming.

1 package yeast
2 C warm water
2 T honey
1 T salt (I actually use a little less than 1 T)
5 C flour
Seeded toppings (poppy seeds, sesame seeds, onion flakes, garlic flakes)
egg white


Dissolve the yeast, honey and salt in warm water.
Add 2 C flour at a time and mix well.
Turn out onto floured surface and knead for at least 5 minutes until dough is elastic and smooth.



Put into greased bowl and cover. Let rise for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
Divide dough into 8-12 equal parts. (Depending on how big you want the bagels.)
Roll each part into a ball and cut out center hole.



Boil bagels for 6 minutes, turning once.



Drain and coat with desired toppings. (Note: I use a non-stick aluminum foil so the bagels don't stick to the surface. To make sure the toppings adhere, brush the bagel with egg white.)





Bake at 425F for 25-30 minutes.



You'll have to trust me when I say that homemade bagels are worth the trouble.

Baked Chicken Breasts

I remember making this chicken the first time we had dinner guests - in 1983. If I'm still making it, it must be one of my successes. (Thanks, Mom!)

Bone In, Skin On Chicken Breasts
1/4 C vegetable oil
1 C flour
Seasoned Salt

Line baking dish with aluminum foil (to aid in clean-up.) Pour the oil in the bottom of the pan. Rinse the chicken in water and then place chicken in pan - getting both sides wet in the oil. Liberally dust the chicken with flour - turning it over and getting the flour wet. Sprinkle seasoned salt on the chicken.




Bake at 350F for at least 1 1/2 hours. Crust should be browned and crunchy.




Note: I make gravy out of the pan drippings. Anyone need that recipe?

Throw-Ins

Wow. It's really been a long time since I cooked anything. (Actually, just a long time since I blogged about cooking. Sorry.)

I have my terrific mother-in-law to thank for this meal. It's not so much a recipe as it is a wonderful idea. When my husband was growing up, this was a favorite on "family night." Most of the time, they would be made in the fireplace. I use an oven - but for "indoor camping," this is a great meal.

hamburger patty
sliced carrots
sliced onions
diced potatoes
salt
pepper
parsley

Place a generous piece of aluminum foil on the counter. Put the hamburger patty in the middle. Pile the rest of the vegetables on top.

Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle parsley.



Seal the meal into a pouch.





Bake at 350F for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. (Check for doneness.) Drain grease.

I love this meal for cleanup!

Banana Bread

I've used this recipe for about 15 years. Of course, you can omit the nuts if you want to or even use a different kind. I prefer black walnuts, but since I'm the only person in my family that likes them, I use regular walnuts. The trick to flavorful banana bread is to use ripe bananas... you know, the ones with dark spots that remain on the counter.

1 3/4 C flour
1 1/2 C sugar
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
2-3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/4 C plus 1 T milk
1 t vanilla
1 C chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325F
Combine flour, salt, sugar and soda (Use a sifter so dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed.)
In another bowl, combine eggs, bananas, oil, milk and vanilla; add to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Fold in nuts.
Pour into greased loaf pan.





Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until bread tests done.
Cool on wire rack.

Note: Recipe does not double well.

Chocolate Delight

This recipe has been in the family for a very long time. I think I initially got the recipe from my sister-in-law, Linda. I suppose the trick when serving this is to make sure it's at the right temperature. A good idea is to pull it out of the freezer when you sit down at the table for the meal. That way, it won't be too hard when dessert time comes!

Crust: 1 1/2 sticks softened butter
1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 C chopped pecans

Mix pastry, then pad into bottom of pan. Bake at 325F for 45 minutes, then cool completely.

Blend 8 oz cream cheese, 1 C sugar and 1/2 large tub of Cool Whip. Spread mixture on cool crust and freeze for at least 30 minutes.

Mix 2 packages of instant chocolate pudding (per box instructions.) Spread on top of cream cheese mixture. Freeze. Spread the remaining Cool Whip on top of pudding and garnish with chopped pecans on top.

Freeze.

(Picture to come...)

Squash Casserole

This is one of the favorite vegetable casseroles recipes in our family. Like several of my recipes, to make more (or less) feel free to change the amounts of the ingredients. Don't worry, you really can't mess this up. (If you like squash, that is!)

fresh yellow squash (for a decent amount, use at least 6)
4 T butter
1/2 diced onion
1 t salt
1/2 pepper
1 beaten egg
1/2 sleeve saltine crackers - crushed
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Slice and boil squash for about 10 minutes. Drain. Add the butter. Mash the squash and butter with a potato masher. Add onion, salt, pepper, beaten egg and 1/2 cracker crumbs and 1/2 of the shredded cheddar. Stir together. Pour into casserole dish and top with the remaining cracker crumbs and cheese. Bake approx 45 minutes at 350F until golden and bubbly!

This picture is an uncooked casserole. I'll add a picture of the finished product next week.

Thanksgiving Cooking Has Begun!

The next several entries will be on the menu for Thanksgiving Dinner. I have started to make several things and I'm putting them in the freezer. Last Thanksgiving, Robb and I took the little boys and visited our parents. That left the older 3 to fend for themselves. Kellen did a great job for her first attempt - even cooking in the middle of the night. After Thanksgiving, I got sick and Christmas was a big let-down. So, in order to make up for last year, I made a promise to make the holidays extra special.

As for the actual menu, I have over 20 things on it... so let's get this party started!

Cajun Chicken Pasta

For the most part, this recipe was developed by Ryan. Sonora Chicken pasta was one of his favorite meals at Ruby Tuesday. It is no longer on their menu, so Ryan decided to recreate it.

1 jar Con Queso Dip
1 jar salsa
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 bag frozen corn

Mix the above ingredients in a pot on the stove. Heat thoroughly.



Cook pasta per box instructions. The traditional recipe calls for penne - but obviously, any kind will work fine.

Blackened grilled chicken (recipe for the dry rub below). Dredge raw chicken in dry rub and grill.



Serve chicken and sauce over pasta.




Cajun Dry Rub Recipe:

This is a great dry rub recipe that Ryan found online. We use it often. You can decrease or increase the amount of "heat." (cayenne pepper)

2 T onion powder
2 T garlic powder
2 T dried oregano
1 T dried thyme
1 T black pepper
1 T white pepper
1 T cayenne pepper
5 T paprika
3 T salt

Mix well and store in an airtight container.

French Bread

This is a pretty easy recipe for homemade bread. It makes 2 large loaves.

2 packages yeast
1 T plus 2 t sugar
2 C warm water
1 T salt
5 C flour
2 T cornmeal
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 T water (optional)

Combine the yeast, sugar and warm water. Mix well to dissolve yeast. Add the salt and flour. (I use a wooden spoon for this - but I'm sure some of you have dough hooks with your mixers - I'm sure that would work great!) Thoroughly mix together and turn out onto floured surface. Knead until dough becomes pliable and spongy. Return to greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled.

Remove dough from bowl and divide into 2 portions. Roll into a large rectangle approx. 3/4" thick. Roll up the dough. Tuck and roll so that any seams disappear into the dough.

Sprinkle the baking sheet with cornmeal. Place the loaves on the baking sheet about 3" apart. Sprinkle with the remaining cornmeal (optional). Cover the loaves with a cloth and let rise again for about an hour.




Preheat oven to 375F.

With a sharp knife, make diagonal slashes, about 1" apart, on the top of each loaf. With a pastry brush, brush the egg wash evenly over each loaf. Place a cup of hot water in an oven-proof container on the baking sheet with the loaves.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until bread is golden brown. Cool...slice... and serve!

Beef Stroganoff

For the meat in this dish, you can use whatever you prefer. I usually use leftover roast beef. For this recipe, I used "eye of round." It tends to hold together better after it's been cooked.

Roast Beef
1/4 chopped onion
Salt and Pepper
1/4 flour
3 T butter
1 package mushrooms
1 1/2 C beef broth
2 C heavy cream (if you use milk, you made need a little more flour to thicken sauce)
1 C sour cream
Egg noodles


Dust the meat with some flour and pan fry along with the onion in butter. Add salt and pepper. Set aside and use the same pan to saute the mushrooms (chopped) in butter. Add together and simmer with beef broth and heavy cream. Reduce for approx. 30 minutes. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, stir in the sour cream. Serve over egg noodles (cooked per package instructions.)

Homemade Pizza

My mother taught me to make pizza. When I was growing up, it was a tradition to have it on New Year's Eve. That was it... only once a year. (Do you hear that Robbie, Ryan and Kellen?)

Crust

1 T yeast
2-3 C warm water (depends how much pizza you want to make)
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 C melted butter
1 egg
flour (I could give an amount here... but I have no idea... let's just say 5-6 C at least.)

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt, sugar, butter and egg. Mix. Start adding flour - stirring to mix it in thoroughly. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until dough forms. (Keep adding flour if it's sticky.)Let dough rise until it doubles in size. (Thankfully, I have a bread proofing setting on my oven. That shortens the time considerably.)

note: I plan on editing this blog the next time I make pizza. I'll add a video of the dough making process.

Divide the dough and roll into the shape of the pan/s you have. I typically make 4 cookie sheets of pizza. Place the stretched dough onto a greased cookie sheet and press into the corners.

Pizza Sauce - you've got a couple of options here. You can either make your own or buy sauce. I do both - I either use Pizza Quick or make my own using tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, oregano, and other various Italian seasonings.

Toppings - this is where the fun starts! You can throw on anything you like - pepperoni, sausage, green or black olives, mushrooms, green pepper, chopped bacon, ham, broccoli... you get the idea! Put mozzarella on top and bake in a preheated 350F oven. It will take 20-30 minutes. A good time to check is when you start to smell it. Use a spatula to lift up the crust and check for doneness. You want to make sure it's crispy.

Cut and serve! Happy New Year!

Sugar Cookies

I have my sister-in-law, Julie to thank for this recipe. Her Christmas cookies were the first I'd ever seen with such meticulous decorating. It takes a little practice, but with the right frosting consistency, you can whip these out with experience. It took me about an hour to decorate about 5 dozen cookies. I made these for Wiley's Halloween party at school.

Basic Sugar Cookie Recipe:

3/4 C shortening (at least part butter)
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt

Preheat oven to 400F.
Mix well shortening, sugar, eggs and flavoring. Blend dry ingredients; Stir together. Roll 1/8" thick on floured surface and cut with cookie cutters. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes.

Frosting

1/4 C softened butter
1/2 t salt
2 t vanilla
3 C powdered sugar
1/4 C milk

Combine butter, salt, vanilla and 1 C sugar. Add remaining sugar and milk alternately. Mix until smooth and creamy. Drop in food coloring.

note: I often double both recipes and they turn out fine.