Broccoli Salad

As our family grew up, our family expanded and so did our recipes.  This one comes from my niece Monica.  She brought it to a family picnic once and that’s all it took, we were hooked and begging for the recipe.  It’s a blessing that our family of great cooks have a managed to marry great cooks, keeps the recipe archive growing with delicious recipes like this one.

Dressing

1 cup mayo, 
1/8 cup white vinegar, 
1/2 sugar, mix well, set aside. 

Combine: 

8 cups fresh chopped broccoli,*
1/4 cup sunflower kernels, 
3 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled. 

Pour dressing over broccoli mixture- refrigerate for 4 hours or more!!

Garnish with Green Onion

*Monica's new twist on this recipe is half broccoi, half cauliflower...YUM!!

Cheeseburger Casserole

One time early on in my married life, kids were little, work was busy, dinner was a hassle and I bought 'Hamburger Helper' ack!! It was only once and I got over that real quick.  I still had a need for quick, cheap meals from time to time and this recipe found it's way into my arsneal. 

Ok I'll admit, this recipe is not rocket science.  It's good, it's not wonderful but, sometimes you just need hot, filling, quick, and cheap.  This fills those requirements.

Ingredients:

1 8oz pkg rotini pasta

2 tbls oil
1/4 cup onions, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 lb lean ground beef (95% lean)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tbls ketchup

28 oz diced tomatoes
2 tbls Dijon Mustard

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup chopped dill pickles

1/4 cup bacon bits

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain well.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in ground beef and cook until browned; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the ketchup, add the tomatoes and mustard. Let the mixture bubble gently until it is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. 

Toss the meat mixture with the pasta and spread it into the prepared dish. Top with the cheddar and bacon then bake until the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle the chopped pickles over the top and serve. Makes about 9 cups*

9 very large cups, seriously with 1/2 the kids gone from home already this is easily three meals for us.  If you aren't a large family, you definitely need to make a 1/2 batch!!

Fluffiest White Bread EVER!!

I have been making bread for roughly 30 years, my quest to make my familys bread as opposed to buying it was a much bigger challenge than I ever initially anticipated.

Through the years, we have had some successes, many, many failures as my goal was to produce somthing akin to Wonder bread.  Soft, yet substantial enough for a sandwich without the horrible yeasty flavor that seems to overwhelm most homemade breads. At one point I began to waver slightly and even bought a variety of bread machines and tried untold versions of store bought and homemade bread machine mixes.

In the early years I poured through cookbooks, newspaper recipes, magazines, searching for that 'perfect loaf'.  Then with the popularity of the internet, my searching took on a whole new dimension.  I was now able to access the secrets of some of the best bakeries in the world.

I am not going to stake my claim as having developed, 'the best bread in the world' however, I did accomplish my goal, here is my version of Wonder bread.

White Bread

Tangzhong

Ingredients:

1/3 cup flour
1 cup water

Directions:

1. Mix flour and water together and whisk until it is completely dissolved and no lumps remain.

2. Pour mixture into a small pot and turn on medium heat. Stirring constantly as the mixture heats up. It will begin to thicken.  When the temperature of the mixture reaches 149 degrees Fahrenheit, turn off the stove and take the mixture off the stove to let it cool.

3. Pour it into a bowl and cover the top using plastic wrap. Place the wrap directly onto the mixture to keep it from drying out and put it in the fridge for several hours or overnight. The paste does not keep well, so use within a few days.

__________________________________________________________

Bread 
Yields 1 loaf

Ingredients:

2½ cups all purpose flour * see notes
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 large egg
½ cup scalded milk (1 1/2 cups if using high protein flour, such as Hector or Cerasota)
1/2 of the Tangzhong * see notes
3 tsp instant yeast
3 tbsp butter softened

Directions
1. Combine the flour, salt, sugar and instant yeast in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Whisk and combine all wet ingredients: milk, egg and tangzhong, then add into the well of the dry ingredients. Knead until your dough comes together and then add in the butter and continue kneading.* If you own a food processor, or stand mixer with a dough hook powerful enough to knead dough, I recommend using it. The dough takes a long time to knead. About 45 minutes by hand, 15 minutes by Mixer or Food Processor. The dough will start out extremely sticky.  Keep kneading until the dough is no longer sticky and it becomes smooth and elastic. You should be able to stretch the dough without it breaking right away. When it does break it should form a perfect circle in the middle.

2. Knead the dough into a ball shape. Take a large bowl and grease with oil.  Place dough into greased bowl and cover with a wet towel. Let it proof until it’s doubled in size, about 40 minutes.

3. Transfer to a clean surface. Divide the dough into four equal portions. Knead into balls.  Cover with plastic wrap, let rest for 15 minutes.

4. Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape.  Fold in the sides of the oval to meet in the middle.

5. Flip dough over with the folds facing down, and flatten dough with rolling pin.

6. Flip dough back over so the folds face up again. Roll out dough to form a rectangle.  Start at the narrow end and roll up into a log. Repeat with each ball and place each of the logs into a lightly greased bread pan. Let them rise for another 40 minutes.

7. Beat an egg+1 tblsp water,  and brush egg mixture on top to create shiny eggwash finish.

8. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Note:
*Although I do use an all purpose flour in this recipe, I use a brand that is unbleached, unbromated, non-GMO, high protein, high quality.  If you are using a cheap grocery/discount store,  or generic brand flour, I would suggest you use bread flour or consider paying an extra 1.00 on your weekly flour purchases and get the good stuff!!

*The Tangzhong makes roughly 3/4 of a cup when it's done.  Half of 3/4  of  a cup is 6 tbls, or 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons.  But, all that seems to over complicate this recipe for me and I like simple.   I store the Tanzhong in a bowl in the fridge until I am ready to bake, at that time I take a knife, cut the tangzhong in half, scoop out one half and move on down the road.  ( Simple is ALWAYS better)

*If you are going to knead by hand, grease your worksurface and hands while kneading... DO NOT ADD ANY MORE FLOUR!!! 2 1/2 cups is the TOTAL amount of flour. 

Cinnamon Rolls

*NEW RECIPE* I have replace the old recipe with a newer easier version.  I hope you will love it as much as I do!!I have always LOVED cinnamon rolls.  I have tried close to 100 different recipes trying to find a roll that was light, fluffy, gooey, and easy.  These rolls do everything I wanted, and they are so quick and easy I can actually pull these off as a breakfast item.

Cinnamon Rolls

Yield: 30 cinnamon rolls

ingredients:

2 packages yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons), dissolved in 1 cup lukewarm water
6 tablespoons shortening (Crisco)
1 cup granulated sugar
9 cups high quality flour
2 cups hot water
2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon salt

1 cup room temperature heavy cream

Brown Sugar Mixture
6 Tbls Softened butter
1 cup Brown sugar
1 Tbls Cinnamon

For the frosting:

4 tablespoons butter, softened

2 tablespoons cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

directions:

1. Add yeast to cup of lukewarm water and sprinkle in a little sugar. Set aside for about five minutes.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add shortening, sugar, and salt to hot water and beat for 2 minutes, using the beater blade. Let cool to lukewarm temperature. Stir in 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture and mix until well combined. Mix in the beaten eggs.
3. Gradually stir in the remaining flour and mix with the dough hook for about 10 minutes.
4. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. After the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl and divide it in half. With a rolling pin, roll one half of the dough into a rectangular shape. Mix butter cinnamon and sugar together to make a paste and spread dough evenly with 1/2  the mixture.
5. Roll up dough into one long roll. Cut rolls, using a piece of dental floss or thread, about two inches thick. Place rolls in greased 9X13 baking pans. Now follow the exact same steps with the other half of the dough.
6. Let the rolls rise until double in bulk. Right before placing in oven, drizzle 1 cup of room temperature heavy cream over the rolls then, bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until brown-only about 6 more minutes.

7. Make the frosting. In a medium bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Frost the cooled cinnamon rolls generously!

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles-by Tami Powers

I LOVE snickerdoodle cookies.  My mom used to make them when I was little and she would divide the dough and color the batches with food coloring.  I remember those yummy pink, green, yellow, and blue cookies like it was yesterday.

However, I tried her recipe and found them to be crunchier than I like. (I just prefer softer cookies) So I combined her recipe with a couple of tricks I picked up along the way and, eureka!! Amazingly soft and tasty Snickerdoodles.

I don't use the food coloring, I try to avoid that stuff these days but, these can still evoke those powerful childhood memories.

Yeilds 16-18 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup browned butter (1 stick), cooled
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
For rolling:
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer on high speed. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
2. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
3. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.
4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees while you let the dough rest for 30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator.
5. In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the cinnamon for the topping.
6. Take about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the dough and roll it into a ball. Roll this dough in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and press it onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat for the remaining cookies.
7. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes and no more. The cookies may seem undercooked, but will continue to develop after they are removed from the oven. When the cookies have cooled they should be soft and chewy in the middle.

Lemon Shrimp

1/4 cup water

1 Lemon, thinly sliced

1 lb fresh, devined shrimp

Good Seasons, dried italian dressing mix

Coat pan with pam, add ¼ cup water Slice one lemon and layer it. Put down fresh shrimp, then sprinkle one pack of Good Seasons dried Italian seasoning over shrimp. Place in the oven and bake at 350 for 15 min.

Crock-Pot Chicken Fajitas

1 yellow onion, sliced

3 sweet peppers, sliced

1 ½ pounds boneless chicken breast or thighs

½ cup chicken broth

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cumin

1 ½ tablespoons chili powder

Squirt of lime juice

Tortillas

Fajita fixings

Combine sliced onion and peppers in the bottom of a greased crockpot. Lay chicken on top of veggies. Pour chicken broth over top. Sprinkle everything with cumin, salt, and chili powder. Give a nice quirt of lime juice over the top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours (or on High for 4-6 hours). When meat is done, shred with two forks and stir back into juices. Serve meat mixture with slotted spoon on tortillas with your choice of fixings.

Chewy Granola Bars

3 cups old fashion oats

2 tbls brown sugar

½ tsp kosher salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup honey

¼ cup peanut or coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½- 2 cups seeds nuts, dried fruit etc

2 tbls corn syrup

1. In a large bowl, stir together old-fashioned rolled oats, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon.

2. In another bowl, stir together honey, oil, vanilla. Dump this over the oat mixture and add 1 1/2-2 cups nuts, seeds, dried fruit, combine thoroughly. Get your hands in it to mix everything well, and to coat the oats evenly with the honey mixture. Heat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Spread the mixture in a thin, even layer on a baking sheet and place on the center rack of the heated oven. Bake, stirring after 5-10 minutes, until the granola is a very light golden brown. If you like your granola crunchier with a toastier flavor, bake it a little longer, keeping a close eye on it—if it gets dark it will taste burnt.

4. Add corn syrup, mix well press into 9/11" pyrex dish and bake an additional 10 minutes. Cool the granola completely, cut into bars, store in airtight container.

Chicken n’ Biscuits

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1 can cream of mushroom

1 can cream of chicken

1 can cram of celery

1 can water

½ cup frozen petite peas

1 Can biscuits

Mix together, chicken, soups, water peas and pour into 10x9 casserole dish. Bake at 375 for 35-45 min until crust forms on soup.

Remove from oven, add biscuits very lightly on top of soup. Adjust temperature and bake as direct on biscuit can.

When the biscuits have browned sufficiently, remove and eat!!

Pot Pie Soup

2 Hungry Man all white meat chicken pot pies.

1 Family Size Can- Cream of Chicken soup

Enough Milk to fill the empty soup can

Cook the pot pies in the microwave and cook them about 4-5 minutes longer than the directions requires… you want NO soggy crust on those pies

Empty the contents of the Cream of Chicken Soup into a large pot and add 1 can of milk. Whisk to incorporate and heat through.

When pot pies are done add them to the soup and break them up a little, let it simmer for a couple of minutes – eat