Little Blog Of Recipes

Hamburger rolls

I have a recipe for pretty much every kind of bread imaginable. This one makes a great loaf of bread...soft, with a nice tender crust but my favourite use for this recipe is sandwich buns. When made into buns, the crust is just a little crusty and the center is nice and tender. Aside from a little more bite to the crust, (and the no preservatives and funky stuff part) you won’t be able to tell the difference from store bought. I don’t know why anyone would want to buy hamburger rolls at the grocery. Make these and freeze them. They thaw beautifully.

Ingredients:

1-1/2C warm water (110°-120°)
2 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP yeast
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP oil
4C flour

Place first 5 ingredients in a mixer bowl and stir. Add 3 cups of the flour and mix to combine. Add remaining flour until you have a nice dough ball. This dough will be somewhat slack and sticky. Knead either in a stand mixer with dough hooks or by hand 7 minutes or so. Do not add too much flour. To keep it from sticking to your hands either keep them floured or rub a little shortening on your hands. Form into a smooth ball and place in a greased bowl, (please use glass or metal, cuz I said so) cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled.

Turn the dough out onto your lightly floured counter. Shape it into a rectangle about 1/2” thick. Using a 4” or 4-1/2” circle cookie cutter, cut out the buns and place on a greased sheet pan. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled again. It will take less time for the second rise. Form remaining dough into a ball, knead it a little and let rest for 10 minutes before you cut the remaining buns. If you prefer them to be a bigger bulky roll size, pat out to about 1” to 1-1/2” thick and cut with a 5” cutter.

Bake 30-35 minutes. Brush tops with a little butter when you take them out of the oven.

Makes about 10 hamburger sized rolls or 6 or 7 bulky sized rolls.

For simple, round cutters, I recommend these. You get a bunch of different sizes and Alton Brown says you should have these and he is a God who must be obeyed.

Banana Muffins

Ok. I make these ALL the time. They are pretty much a staple in our house. I frequently have to buy 1/2 price bananas at the store to make these…

Ingredients:

1/2 cup veg oil
1 cup sugar (I use Splenda for mine)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
3 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

Beat together oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and milk, until mixed well.

Add in baking soda, powder, salt and flour.

Mix in bananas until blended.

STIR in chocolate chips and nuts if you wish.

Fill greased or lined muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for approx 20 minutes.

Yield: 12 muffins per recipe.

NOTE:

I ALWAYS double this recipe, or more… doesn’t last long in our house.

Using Splenda makes this a diabetic friendly recipe too, I just don’t put chocolate chips in mine.

Stuffed Tilapia

I’ve seen various things labeled as ‘Salmon Roasts’ whilst wandering through my local Grocery Ranch™ locations and they look damn tasty, but not so tasty that I’m willing to spend fourteen bucks a pound. I figured that i could make something close to it that was cheaper, tastier and more attractive. One out of three isn’t bad for a first attempt ‘cos at least I know what I need to do differently next time. This is how I made it last night. I’ll mention the things I would do differently at the end.

Stuffed Tilapia

Ingredients:
4 Tilapia filets
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups spinach, stems removed and roughly chopped
1 Tbs grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp assorted herbs (I used oregano, thyme and tarragon)
3-4 Tbs Panko
olive oil for sauteing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 and spray a baking pan with cooking spray.

Heat oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until just getting golden. Toss in the spinach. It looks like a buttload right now but in about 40 seconds its gonna shrink down to nothing. Once any moisture from the spinach is cooked off, add the parmesan, cheese and panko. toss around until it’s all well mixed.

Match your fish fillets for size. Place one fillet from each pair flat side up on the baking pan and top with half the spinach mixture. Cover with the other fillet and toss in the oven about 8 minutes. Use a wide spatula to transfer to plates to minimize the chance that the fillets will break up before eating.

Notes and things I’d change:
Yeah, I know that the eponymous “they” say to bake your fish for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, but I think that this 1) results in dry and nearly inedible fish that 2) is directly responsible for why so many people don’t want to eat fish unless it’s coated in gluey batter and Fry-O-Later’ed by slacker teens at the local Captain Silver’s or served up in a diced and re-formed square abomination at McHardeeCastles. Now, on to the things I’d change…

I originally wanted to make these as pinwheels. Tilapia fillets are way too short and thick in places to roll up. Sole or Flounder would be better for that. The two small Tilapia fillets did make for a perfect, if slightly largish serving each though.

If stacking the fillets, I’d hold back 1/3 of the stuffing and use it to top the fillets. I’d keep the Panko out also and sprinkle it on top of the fish before baking.

If you use a more flavorful fish use a more flavorful dry cheese like Feta, Bleu or Gorgonzola

China: Carmella by Lenox

Scalloped Potatoes

It never fails to amaze me that you can take the most minimal, simple and bland ingredients put them together and get major yum. Scalloped potatoes is one of those dishes. Take some milk and potatoes and a little bit of spice and you achieve comfort food nirvana. It’s a freakin’ miracle I tell ya!

Ingredients:

5 TBSP flour
5 TBSP butter
1 small onion, chopped
4 C milk (I use regular and my ass is really fat to prove it. Use 1% or 2% if you’d prefer to have only one chin.)
6 large potatoes
1 packet G. Washington Gold
1/4 C parmesan (optional)

To taste: salt, parsley, chives, pepper

Directions:

Peel and slice potatoes 1/4” thick. Rinse and dry thoroughly. Layer into a 2 qt casserole. Sprinkle with parmesan.

In a 3 qt saucepan saute onion in butter. Add flour and G. Washington all at once, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. Slowly add milk, whisking constantly. Add spices. Cook until thickened.

Pour sauce over potatoes moving them slightly with a fork so the sauce flows through. It will seem like there’s a lot of sauce (see picture at left). That’s ok, it gets all soaked up by the potatoes as they cook. Bake at 350° for 1 to 1-1/2 hours until potatoes are fork-tender and sauce is thick. Let cool on the counter for 15 minutes or so because this will be like molten lava...way to hot to eat. Serves 4-ish people.

Chicken-Cheese-Spinach Lasagne

Many moons ago when blogs were still young, I frequented the blog of a nice guy from Pennsylvania, btezra. His blog has gone the way of the dinosaurs (so don't bother clicking) but this recipe, which he originally posted there and graciously permitted me to copy, has survived. I've done a couple of things differently but only in the prep. The ingredients are the same.

This lasagne is whatchacall a special occasion dish. It's labour intensive and makes for lots of dirty dishes. I make this maybe once or twice a year but trust me, once you've tried it, you'll find it's worth the trouble. If you're especially industrious, double the recipe and freeze the second pan for a quick heat-and-eat meal when you're busy. It will take a good 3 months worth of freezing with no problem. And seriously? This is damned good. Really good. Really, really good. It's also very rich and very filling. Be prepared to need a nap after dinner. You can, of course, substitute all that low-fat ricotta, milk, etc., but why would you want to? I mean, it's not like you'd eat this everyday.

Ingredients:

1/2 C butter + 2 TBSP
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C flour
2 C milk
2 C chicken broth
2 C (8 oz bag) shredded mozzarella - divided
1/2 C parmesan cheese
1/2 C onion, diced
1-2 tsp Italian seasoning, to taste
1 packet G. Washington Golden
1 tsp Nature's Seasons
1 C cottage cheese
1 C ricotta
1 egg
2 boneless chicken breast
1 pkg fresh or frozen spinach **Important - see footnote
9 lasagne noodles

Directions:

Cook lasagne noodles, dry and lay on waxed paper until ready to use. Slice chicken breast (easier if partially frozen) from the short side about 1/4" thick. Cutting from the short side creates little medallions. In a non-stick frying pan, melt 2 TBSP butter. Add sliced chicken and cook through, letting it brown a little. Remove to a plate and set aside. To the same pan, add your washed and dryed spinach. Slap a cover on it, let it cook for 2 minutes then turn off the heat leaving the lid on.

In a 3 or 4 qt saucepan, melt the butter. Add garlic and onion and cook until translucent. Whisk in flour and all the seasonings. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Whisk in milk and broth and bring to a boil. If the sauce is too thick, add more broth. Remove from heat, sauce will thicken as it sits so you might have to add a bit more broth. It should be thick and spreadable.

Combine cottage cheese, ricotta, 1 C mozzarella and egg. Mix well.
Spread about 1/3 of the sauce in 13 x 9 pan, top with noodles. Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture over noodles. Repeat sauce/noodle/cheese mixture. Top with chicken, then spinach. Add last layer of noodles and then remaining sauce. Cook covered @ 350° for 1 hour. Uncover and sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella cheese on top. Bake until cheese is melted and bubbly.

**After the spinach has wilted in the pan and cooled, put it in a triple layer of papertowels and squeeze out all of the excess moisture. You do not want the spinach to be wet. If you use frozen spinach, thawed it out first then squeeze out the excess moisture. Even though the original recipe calls for 1 bag, I always use two. I like the extra spinach.

Sausage & Bell Pepper Chili

This is my go-to chili. Prep time is minimal, it doesn’t have too many ingredients (and it’s very forgiving of adding others), it cooks up fast and it’s pretty darn tasty. Back in the day there was a recipe that I used for it but after deleting and substituting ingredients in the name of simplicity, it really doesn’t bear any relationship to this. Since there are so few ingredients, make sure that they’re the freshest and best quality you can snag.

Sausage and Pepper Chili

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oil
6 cloves minced garlic (I use more)
3 bell peppers, (any color) cut into 1/2” squares
3 Tbs chili powder
1 Tbs ground cayenne
2 lbs sausage(s) of your choice*, casings removed if applicable
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup red wine
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 Tbs oregano
1 Tbs sugar
1/2 Tbs salt

Directions:

Measure out the cup of wine for the chili. Pour yourself a glass from what’s left over in the bottle. Now you’re ready to start.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a big pot. Add the onions, garlic and bell peppers; saute for 2-3 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add the cayenne and chili powder and saute another minute or so. Add the sausage and saute until browned. Yeah I know. With all the chili in there, it’s hard to tell visually, so you have to go by texture. Generally this’ll take about 10 minutes or so.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients and simmer uncovered about 20 minutes for a thick chili. If you like your chili a little thinner so that the gravy can soak into rice, cover it for the simmering time.

*The only kind of sausages I wouldn’t use are sage breakfast sausage and bratwurst.

Chocolate snack cakes

I got this recipe off the back of a can of cocoa several years ago. I have never made this recipe as a layer cake or a sheet cake. I always make them in some form of cupcake pan...preferably a mini fluted cake pan and I always cover them in a glaze or whipped cream or ice cream rather than frosting. You can try this batter in other forms if you want but I can’t tell you baking times so you’ll have to figure that out for yourself.

This cake starts with a VERY thin batter. When I say “thin” I mean watery. That’s ok. It also bakes up with a wet-looking top. When you touch it, however, it will be springy and a tester will come out clean even though the tops will look not quite done. The tops also fall nearly flat after they cool which to me is fine because I always make them in mini bundt type pans so they require no slicing of the tops to lay flat on the plate. See what I mean about baking them in other types of pans?

Ingredients:

2C sugar
1-3/4C flour
3/4 C cocoa
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1C milk
1/2C oil
2 tsp vanilla
1C boiling water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together all dry ingredients. Add eggs and milk. Drizzle in oil. Add vanilla. Beat until well combined. Slowly add boiling water being careful not to splash. Once incorporated, beat for a minute or so. Batter will be extremely thin.

Spray two 6-cup mini fluted cake pans with PAM. Fill cups 2/3 full.

Bake for about 25 minutes until top springs back when touched even though it might look wet and a tester comes out clean. (Sometimes as they’re baking, the tops will look like little volcanos in which you can see the batter bubbling.) Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans and turn fluted side up to finish cooling. Cakes will feel somewhat sticky.

Prepare icing drizzle:

Melt 1/3 cup butter in a medium bowl.
Add 2C confectioner’s sugar
Add 1-1/2 tsp vanilla
Add 2-4 TBSP hot water

Mix until smooth. Using a round bottom measuring tablespoon, pour 2 tablespoons into center and use the back of the spoon to swirl the icing over the edges.

These little cakes are perfect for snacks but they also look really pretty served at the table for dessert.

Sausage & Spinach pie

I was looking through the kitchen to figure out what to eat last night and it was pretty grim. A few staples, a humiliatingly complete collection of condiments, some sausage that I got on sale, tortillas and some ready-made pie crusts leftover from Thanksgiving. The pie crusts reminded me of Mr P’s savory pie, so I kinda riffed on what he did. There weren’t enough eggs and cheese to call it a quiche, but they did give it a quichey (as opposed to kitschy) feel and added some moisture and richness. It got me wondering about other combinations though. Maybe a german version with bratwurst and sauerkraut is in the future?

Sausage and spinach pie

Ingredients:

1 lb sausage (I used Italian)
1 large onion, chopped
5-6 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup ricotta cheese *
1/2 tsp anchovy paste
3 eggs
1 Tbs milk, half & half or cream
1 cup shredded cheese (again, your choice)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs**
1 Tbs herbs (whatever you have on hand)
1/2 tsp pepper

2 roll-out pie crusts (feel free to make a crust from scratch but me? Not so much)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.

If you bought your sausage in links, take them out of the casings and throw into a big ass skillet over medium heat. Once some of the fat begins to render out of the sausage add the onions and garlic. If your sausage is unconscionably lean like mine, you may have to add some oil. Once the sausage is no longer pink, drain the sausage and vegetables and return to the skillet. Add the ricotta cheese to the sausage mixture and stir until melted and combined. When it begins to look like cat-sick, take it off the heat and let it cool a bit.

Meanwhile, beat two of the eggs and the milk in a big mixing bowl. Toss in the herbs, spinach, pepper, grated cheese and bread crumbs. Stir to combine. If it’s a little bit dry, add a bit more milk. Pour in the sausage mixture and fold it all together, making sure that everything’s mixed well.

place one pie crust in the bottom of a deep pie pan and pour in the filling, spreading it out evenly. Roll out the top crust and crimp together. Beat the remaining egg and brush on the top crust, then toss into the oven. Bake for 45-minutes to an hour, covering the edges of hte crust with foil to prevent them from burning.

Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

* I thought this would be needed to help bind the ingredients together along with the eggs and breadcrumbs. You could probably accomplish the same thing by omitting the ricotta and adding another egg and more shredded cheese.
** or, if you’re like me, you can throw a couple slices of stale bread in a bag and crush ‘em.

Presentation details:
Background-my three ring binder of recipes I like
China-Iris on Grey Chinastone by Lenox

Bakery style blueberry muffins

As far as I’m concerned, these are absolutely THE BEST blueberry muffins you will ever eat. I always use fresh blueberries. You can use frozen but frozen berries are more likely to sink to the bottom and turn your batter blue.

INGREDIENTS:

Mix together in a large bowl:

3C flour
1-1/2 C sugar
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder

In a 2 C measure combine:

2/3 C oil
2 eggs
and enough milk to fill to the 2 cup mark. (about 2/3 C milk)

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir by hand until batter resembles a thick glue. Gently stir in the blueberries. Poor batter into extra large muffin pans that have been sprayed liberally with PAM, including the top of the pan. Top with streusel.

Streusel topping:

1/2 C sugar
1/3 C flour
1/4 C butter, softened
1 tsp cinnamon

Combine with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse, pea sized crumbs. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons on each muffin.

Be sure to fill your muffin cups all the way to the top. Don’t use paper liners. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes. A cake tester should come out clean. Let them cool completely before removing them from the pan since the tops are heavy and the bottoms might not be able to support the weight while they’re warm. If you’ve sprayed your pans well, they’ll pop right out with no problems. Makes about 8-10 extra large muffins.

If you don’t have jumbo muffin tins, follow the same instructions but bake for 20-25 minutes. Makes about 24 small muffins.

I normally use these jumbo muffin pans but this time I decided to try the mini fluted pans that I bitched about in this post. They worked out pretty well and were a little more decorative but you really don’t need decorative muffins. Oh and as an aside, Baker’s Secret is apparently peopled by a bunch of morons. When I called to complain about that whole glue issue, rather than actually let anyone know who could maybe do something about the problem, they just sent me another pan...which I also had to use Oops Solvent to get the glue off of that one too. (Goo-Gone doesn’t have enough oomph to get that horrible glue off.) So yeah. Way to ignore what your customer is trying to tell you, Baker’s Secret. Good job!

Anyway, you have got to try these muffins. I’m telling ya, they don’t get much better than this.

Pork & Chile Casserole

Given the sorry state of my bank account as it waits for a badly needed infusion of tax refund, I’ve started to dust off recipes that are let us say… not too expensive to make and that will reheat well . This means casseroles and crock pot dishes which are actually kinda nice for the winter. This was a kinda bland pork casserole that I found in a churchlady cookbook and doctored up so that you don’t feel like you’re in the Fellowship Hall.

Pork and Chile Casserole

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb pork, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 small onion, diced
1 candiced tomatoes (14 oz)
2 canschopped green chiles
1 can black beans, drained
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup quick cooking rice
4 Tbs Salsa
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, co-jack, taco, whatever)
1-2 Tbs oil for cooking (as needed)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Heat the oil in a largish saucepan and saute the chicken and onion in two batches; placing in a colander to drain off fat.

Return the pork to the saucepan and add all remaining ingredients but the cheese. Bring to a boil and then carefully (cos that shit is hot) pour into a rectangular baking dish. Toss in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Pull out of the oven, top with the cheese and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6-8

Notes: This works well with chicken too. I didn’t have enough pork or chicken, so I cut up 2 pork chops and 2 chicken thighs. Use whatever diced tomatoes you have -Ro-Tel would be good, but keep in mind that it’s a smaller can so you’ll pprobably have to use extra salsa to get the liquid ratio right.