Chicken Cobbler with Caramelized Onions

I love pie crust.  I love it so much that I could just like throw a plain pie crust in the oven, bake it, and eat it.  I am very terrible at crust from scratch.  My dear husband assures me that this is not my fault, it is because I don't have a good rolling pin.  Maybe I'll get one soon, I'm not sure.  Also I could just keep buying Pillsbury pie crust, which is very tasty.  This recipe came from the Southern Living cookbook that my mother in law sent me for my birthday.  It is under the heading "Timesaving Chicken Dinners."  That's not true though because this took me a long time.

Chicken Cobbler with Caramelized Onions
1/3 cup butter
2 large sweet onions, diced
1/4 cup flour
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine (my wine was SO dry you might say it was nonexistent...)
1 tbsp chicken bouillon granules
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cups coarsely chopped cooked chicken
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
15 oz pkg refrigerated pie crusts
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and saute for 20 minutes or until caramel colored.  Add flour; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.  Gradually stir in the evaporated milk, chicken broth, and wine (if you're using it...).  Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until thickened (ain't nobody got time for that...I just stirred often).  Add bouillon granules and pepper.  Remove from heat; stir in chicken and parsley.  Pour chicken mixture into lightly greased 10-inch deep dish pie plate.

Unfold/unroll pie crusts.  Sprinkle one pie crust with pecans and parmesan cheese.  Top with remaining pie crust.  Roll into a 14-inch circle; press edges to seal.  Cut into 1/2-inch wide strips.  Arrange strips in lattice design (I will explain how later) over filling, reserving any extra strips.  Fold edges under. 

Bake at 425 for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown (I checked it at 35 and it was too late...quite brown).  Place remaining strips (if you have any; I didn't) on lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with cobbler.

How to make a lattice design, if you don't know:  I had to look this up, because I didn't know and I was giving myself a headache trying to figure it out.  A few years ago my mom got my sister and I each a Taste of Home Best of Everything (pretty much, I'm paraphrasing here) cookbook, and it has been a helpful resource for things like this.  So here's how you do it:  Using longer strips for the middle of the pie, and shorter strips for the ends, place strips on pie 1/2 inch to 3/4 inches apart (I used 5 strips for this step).  Fold every other strip halfway up the middle (sorry I have no picture to demonstrate).  Starting in the middle, place a long strip at a right angle to the ones that are there.  Fold down the strips you folded up.  Now fold up the strips you didn't use the first time.  Place another strip of pie crust, then fold them down.  Now the opposite.  And so on, switching to the second half of the pie when the first half is done.  Clear as mud, right?

So now the verdict.  I enjoy making things like this once in a while.  It's fun to see if I can follow the directions and get it right.  But when something is this much work, I want it to taste fabulous.  And this wasn't fabulous.  It was good, but not fabulous.  The crust was great, even if it was a bit too brown.  When I placed the strips on the pie, quite a bit of the pecan/cheese mixture did spill out the sides (predictable, since there was nothing in the crust to make them stick...maybe an egg wash would work?) but not so much that there was nothing left.  I guess the filling was just good, not great.  Nathan only liked the chicken, and meticulously picked out any onions he could see.  The onions were good, of course, but the whole mixture wasn't fabulous.  I wanted to take a bite and say WOW.  Most of the wow factor was in how it looked, which I was very pleased with.  So while I will remember this crust technique for another time, I won't be making this combination again.  It was fun though.

Roasted Lime Chicken

I love lime.  And we all love chicken, especially the little one.  So this one looked good and yummy, and something different, but not TOO different.  From Simple & Delicious.

Roasted Lime Chicken
1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley or 2 tsp dried parsley flakes
2 tbsp minced fresh rosemary or 2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
2 tbsp minced fresh sage or 2 tsp rubbed sage
2 tbsp minced fresh thyme or 2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 roasting chicken (6-7 lbs)
4 medium limes, cut into wedges

Combine first 9 ingredients in a small bowl.  Cover and refrigerate 1/4 cup marinade; pour remaining marinade into a 2 gallon ziploc bag.  Add the chicken.  Seal bag and turn to coat.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.  Drain chicken and discard marinade.  Place lime wedges inside cavity.  Tuck wings under chicken; tie drumsticks together.  Place chicken breast side up in a shallow roasting pan.  Brush reserved marinade over chicken.  Bake at 350 for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until a thermometer inserted in thigh reads 180, basting occasionally with pan juices.  Cover loosely with foil if chicken browns too quickly.  Let stand 15 minutes before carving.

This was a big disappointment.  There were no juices to baste with.  I had a 6.5 lb chicken.  At 3 hours of bake time, at 6:30 at night, the meat thermometer still wasn't reading 180.  We usually eat at 5:00-ish.  I had checked it multiple times.  I gave up, pulled it out of the oven, hacked off a bunch of the meat, and threw it in the microwave to zap it to doneness.  Also, despite the name, it didn't taste like lime.  It did smell like lime, a little bit, when it was cooking.  But no limey flavor at all.  So not worth it.  I do have a bunch of meat left for a chicken pot pie type recipe that I'm making in a few days.  I hadn't planned on using the meat for that purpose, due to the lime.  But since that is not an issue, that's my plan.  That is the only good thing about the recipe.  I do realize that I am biased against it, since I was really hungry and it wasn't done when I wanted it to be.  And since we don't eat the skin, which would probably have added to the lime flavor.  But whatever, what's done is done.

Asian Ribs

We love ribs, even though they are SO bad for you.  We only have them once or twice a year.  Here is one of the times.  This goes in the crock pot. so it makes the kitchen smell great.  We have karate until 5:15 (pm) on Thursdays, so it is nice to come home to a ready-made thing like this.  We had this with mashed potatoes from a box (gasp!) and corn.  From Simple & Delicious.  They have a contest every month for Best This or Best That, and this month the contest was for crock pot recipes.  They called it Simple Simmered Sensations, and this recipe was the grand prize winner.  I submitted a recipe once but I didn't win anything.  Not even an honorable mention.  It was for Mississippi Mud Cake, which people always love when I make it.  Unless they are just being kind.  Anyway here's the rib recipe.

Asian Ribs
6 lbs pork baby back ribs, cut into serving size pieces (I used 4 lbs boneless ribs)
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce (I used regular)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup minced fresh gingerroot (I used 2 tsp ground ginger)
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I used 1/4 tsp)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
Thinly sliced green onions and sesame seeds for garnish, optional

Place ribs in slow cooker.  Combine brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes in small bowl; pour over ribs.  Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours or until meat is tender.  Remove meat to a serving platter; keep warm.  Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Combine cornstarch and water until smooth.  Gradually stir into the pan.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Serve with ribs.  Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds if desired (I didn't).

So yummy!  The meat was so tender, just like it should be from a crock pot.  It was impossible to skim the fat from the cooking juices.  I made a valiant attempt, then ultimately decided that it was ribs.  Not a low fat meal.  Over half of it leftover for later.  A yummy keeper.

Cheesy Onion Focaccia Bread

I made this last night and brought it to the potluck dinner we have before Wednesday night service.  It's always risky bringing a new recipe somewhere, but I've made similar things in the past so I thought it would be okay.  From Simple & Delicious.  This starts with frozen bread dough, which I still have an abundance of from that time my friend gave me some, but I'm sure you could make your own dough if you are so inclined.

Cheesy Onion Focaccia Bread
2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
3 tbsp butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp brown sugar
1 loaf (1 lb) frozen bread dough, thawed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used a bit more)
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Saute onions in butter in large skillet until tender.  Add the garlic, italian seasoning, and brown sugar; cook 2 minutes longer.  Pat dough into 10-inch circle on an ungreased 12 inch pizza pan.  Build up edges slightly.  Make indentations at 1-inch intervals with a wooden spoon handle.  Top with onion mixture and cheeses.  Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Cut into wedges and serve warm.

So I only got a tiny sliver of this, because I cut the pieces so small, but it was very tasty.  I loved the sweetness of the onions.  I wasn't sure about cheddar cheese on a pizza-type thing, but it tasted great.  For me, this was a cheap recipe because I already had all of these ingredients.  So I will definitely make this again, and bring it nowhere, so we can eat  more of it.

Cobre Valley Casserole

According to my reputable geographical source, Simple & Delicious, Cobre Valley is in Arizona, and is Spanish for "copper," which is mined there.  And, apparently, variations of this recipe have been delighting families in that valley for many years.  So there is no copper in this casserole, despite the name.  It sounded yummy and Mexican-ish, which of course I really like.

Cobre Valley Casserole
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1 envelope taco seasoning (I buy mine in bulk, so it's 1/4 cup if you do that)
1/4 cup water
2 cans (16 oz each) refried beans
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 green onions, sliced
1 large tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped (I used picante sauce)
1/3 cup sliced ripe olives (omitted)
1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips

Cook beef, onion, and celery over medium heat in large skillet until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Stir in the taco seasoning, water, beans, and chilies (this is when I said to myself, "Nathan won't eat this...").  Transfer to a greased 11x7 inch baking dish.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through.  Top with cheese, green onions, tomato, olives, and chips.

Okay so now that I've made and eaten this, I would like to suggest an alternate name: Bean Dip You Make In The Oven.  That's exactly what this is.  Except for the celery, which is just confusing.  This was bean dip, and it was good.  But it certainly wasn't what I had pictured in my mind.  I was thinking it would be more like shepherd's pie filling, but Mexican.  So it tasted good, but it just felt like an appetizer.  I'm not keeping this recipe because I already have a good recipe for something like this that you put in tortillas and make wraps with.  And it doesn't have celery.

Spiced Bacon Twists

If there's one thing I like, it's bacon.  I really really like it.  It smells great and it tastes great too.  So when I saw this recipe in the latest Simple & Delicious, I knew we had to try it.  I am the biggest fan of bacon in the house.  My oldest child prefers it over sausage, but doesn't love it like I do.  My middle child could take it or leave it, but she will eat it.  Steve eats it sometimes, on a discretionary basis.  Nathan won't touch it.  So a recipe like this is mainly for me.  But I knew Sam would eat it, too.  We had this with pancakes (and sausage) on Saturday night.

Spiced Bacon Twists
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
dash cayenne pepper (omitted)
10 center-cut bacon strips

Combine first five ingredients; rub over bacon on both sides (I laid the bacon out on a cutting board and sprinkled the spices over the top and then pressed them into the bacon).  Twist bacon; place on rack in a 15x10x1 inch baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until firm.

I used my broiler pan for this, and I didn't spray it with cooking spray.  My rationale was that bacon is so fatty, it will be easy enough to clean.  I was very wrong about that.  It took (I estimate) about 5 times longer to clean the pan after dinner than it did to eat the bacon during dinner.  So spray your pans, girls!  The bacon tasted great though.  Emma had a little taste and didn't like it, but Sam and I both thought it was great.  Steve had 1 piece to be polite, but didn't have 2, so I know he wasn't that crazy about it.  It's okay because I am crazy enough for both of us.  Definitely will make again.

Maple Nut Bagel Spread

I don't like cream cheese on bagels.  I love it in frosting.  And I'll use it as an ingredient.  But I would never smear it on a bagel and eat it just like that.  But my oldest child loves it.  If  I need flavored cream cheese for a recipe and have some left over, he likes to eat it.  And I bought chocolate cream cheese when they had it at Christmas time, and he liked that, too.  So when I saw this recipe I wanted to make it for him because it seems like something he would like.  It's from Simple & Delicious.  I left out the nuts, though, because he doesn't really like them.  So I told him it was Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese.  But I'll give you the title and the recipe as it was originally.

Maple Nut Bagel Spread
8 oz reduced-fat spreadable cream cheese (I used full fat...Sam is not watching his weight or anything)
3 tbsp maple syrup
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts

Beat cream cheese, syrup, and cinnamon together until smooth; stir in nuts.  Chill.

I tried to fit it all back into the original cream cheese container, but no luck.  He said it was good.  It looked awful during the mixing process.  I should have softened the cream cheese first, and it took a long time for the ingredients to all mix together well.  But it was easy, and he liked it, so I'll keep the recipe.

Nutty Butter Brownies

Not sure why these are called that.  They do not contain a popular cookie by a similar name, Nutter Butters.  They don't have an excess of butter.  They aren't that peanut-buttery as the recipe is written.  They do call for nuts, which I didn't add, but that just makes them nutty brownies, not really buttery.  But anyway, this is the other recipe I made for home fellowship last Friday.  From the $5 Dinner mom cookbook.

Nutty Butter Brownies
4 oz semisweet baking chocolate, chopped (I didn't chop it)
1/3 cup butter, softened (I didn't soften it)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, divided
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mixed nuts, chopped (omitted...I used peanut butter chips instead)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease and 8x8 inch pan with cooking spray.  In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate, butter, peanut butter, and 1 cup of the chocolate chips on high for 1 1/2 minutes.  Stir until chocolate is melted.  Whisk in the sugar, vanilla, and egg to the chocolate mixture.  Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk until batter forms.  Fold in remaining chocolate chips and mixed nuts (I didn't add extra chocolate chips, just the peanut butter ones).  Pour into prepared baking dish and bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick comes back clean.  Let cool slightly before cutting and serving.

So these weren't as good as the mocha ones.  I only had 2 squares of semisweet chocolate after making the mocha brownies, so I had to use 2 squares of unsweetened.  I found online that you can use those in the place of semisweetened, and add 1 tbsp of either honey, corn syrup, or molasses for each square.  So I used corn syrup.  I would have just used more granulated sugar but I used all that up, too (I had to go to the store on Saturday to stock up on everything...).  I'm not sure if the addition of that threw everything off, but these never looked done.  They were in the oven for a while.  My friend Barbie was here, and she was like "take them out, they're going to burn..." I have learned to listen to her sage cooking advice, so I took them out, and after they cooled the edges did look rather crusty.  But they didn't have that nice top to them that brownies usually get.  When I licked the spoon for this batter, it didn't taste sweet enough.  It was fine, but not as sweet as brownies typically are.  Anyway this one I'm not saving.  But I'm glad the mocha ones were so good.

One-Bowl Mocha Brownies

I made these for home fellowship.  I made another kind of brownies, too, because it seems mean to make a coffee flavored dessert that only some of the grown ups will like.  And both recipes were one bowl brownies, so easy to throw together.  If you're already in brownie mode, you might as well make two...this is from the cookbook my mom gave me for Christmas, the $5 Dinner Mom one.

One-Bowl Mocha Brownies
2 oz semisweet baking chocolate, chopped (I didn't chop it)
1/2 cup butter
2 cups chocolate chips, divided
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tbsp instant coffee granules

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 8x8 inch glass baking dish (I only have metal...) with nonstick cooking spray.  In a large microwave safe bowl, heat baking chocolate, butter, and 1 cup of the chocolate chips on high for 1 1/2 minutes.  Stir until completely melted.

Whisk the sugar, vanilla, flour, cocoa powder, and salt into the chocolate mixture.  Whisk the eggs and coffee granules into the batter until the batter is smooth.  Fold in remaining 1 cup chocolate chips.  Pour batter into greased baking dish.  Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes back clean.  Let cool slightly before cutting and serving.

Yum.  I licked the spoon on this one because I love brownie batter.  So so yummy.  And the brownies were good once they were baked, too.  I made little signs to put on them at home fellowship so no child (or adult that hates coffee) would unwittingly take one of these, but Sam still took one, and didn't like it.  I thought they were good though.  Saving this one...

Cajun Macaroni and Cheese Skillet

The Christmas cookbook I got from my mom this year is The $5 Dinner Mom One-Dish Dinners Cookbook.  Apparently there is a famous mom (she can't be THAT famous because her name is unknown to everyone I've asked) who has made a living from creating and publishing recipes for meals that can be made for under $5 for a family of 4-6.  Beside every ingredient in her ingredient list, she puts a price of what that ingredient would cost her (even the spices, which must have been tedious to figure out), and then a total at the end.  The catch is she's like an extreme couponer, and the price she puts is the lowest price she can get on an item in a year, or something like that.  She puts the cost of a pound of ground beef at $1.49, because if you watch sales and use coupons, you can get it for that price sometimes (really...and this cookbook just came out in 2012, so this isn't from like 1999 or something...she really thinks we could get ground beef for that price).  She puts a can of tomatoes at $0.20 for the same reason.  So it's not like I can walk into the Walmart and buy the ingredients for most of these recipes for under $5.  But they are still economical recipes using cheaper cuts of meat.  There are also tips for buying in bulk and freezing, and prepping ahead and things like that.  So it was good to read through, and I have many many recipes marked to try.  This is the debut recipe...

Cajun Macaroni and Cheese Skillet
1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 tbsp creole seasoning (I had to buy this...it's in a big container (like salt) in the spice aisle)
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups hot water
2 cups elbow macaroni
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large skillet brown the ground beef.  Drain.  Add the peppers, onions, celery, and Creole seasoning.  Saute for 4-5 minutes or until onions are translucent.  Stir in the tomatoes.  Add the milk and hot water.  Stir in the macaroni and press into the liquid.  Cover and let cook for 8-10 minutes.  Uncover once halfway through the cooking time and stir the macaroni to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.  When the pasta is al dente, remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the sour cream and shredded cheese.  Let cool slightly before serving.  Serve with fresh fruit if desired.  Makes 4 servings.

Wow.  This was spicy.  Also it tasted really good.  And weirdly, the kids all liked it.  Even the picky ones.  They kept eating and saying how spicy it was.  This was a lot like our family's version of goulash (after extensive research I have learned every family has their own version, and sometimes they call it chop suey instead of goulash) but spicier.  It wasn't crazy spicy, but you could definitely feel the heat.  Sam said he wouldn't be eating any of the leftovers because it was too hot, and he is the kid who likes hot stuff.  Nathan and Emma kept eating and eating until I told them they had eaten enough and could stop, and they were like "phew!" But they never asked if they could be done, like they usually do.  So I don't really know what to do with this recipe...
 

Tamale Pie

Mexican two days in a row?  Yes, if I want to, we do it.  This recipe is entirely made in the microwave.  I have an awesome microcooker thing from Tupperware that I don't have occasion to use very often, so when I saw this recipe I wanted to make it just based on that.  Isn't that a silly reason to make something?  I also knew we would like it...If a recipe had fish or mayo in it and you made it in the microwave, I definitely would not make that recipe.  But in these circumstances, it seemed like a good one to try.  It's from Simple & Delicious.  We have had tamale pie before that was meatless and made with lentils.  That was pretty good.  I don't think it had a cornbread topping but I don't really remember because someone brought it to us as a meal after my surgery, and so many things from that time are a blur.  I remember us all eating and liking it though.  I may have made it myself since then, too, I don't really recall.  But anyway, as usual I digress.  Here is the recipe.

Tamale Pie
1 lb ground beef
1/4 lb bulk pork sausage
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes, drained
1 can (11 oz) corn, drained (I used 1 cup frozen)
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1/4 cup sliced ripe olives (omitted)
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 pkg (8.5 oz) corn bread/muffin mix
Dash paprika
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine beef, sausage, onion, and garlic in a 3-qt microwave safe dish.  Cover and microwave on high for 4-5 minutes, stirring once to crumble meat.  Drain.  Add the tomatoes, corn, tomato paste, olives, chili powder, and salt; mix well.  Cover and microwave on high for 4-6 minutes or until heated through.

Whisk egg in a large bowl; add milk and corn bread mix.  Stir just until moistened.  Spoon over meat mixture; sprinkle with paprika.  Microwave, uncovered, oh high for 14-16 minutes or until toothpick comes back clean.  Sprinkle with cheese.

Everybody liked this.  The meat filling was very tasty and not spicy at all.  The cornbread was a bit...maybe...rubbery?...around the edges...not sure how to describe it, but about what you would expect baking a bread in the microwave.  So that part wasn't fabulous, but not bad enough to not eat it, and not bad enough to not make the recipe again.  Easy and tasty, and I'm sure we'll have it again.

Taco Twist Soup

Weird weather for January in Maine, wouldn't you say?  We had soup yesterday.  Steve has a little cold so it was a good meal for that.  We love taco type things, and I like good hot soup.  Steve is not a huge fan of soup, but this was a Mexican one, and I served it with tortilla chips on the side, so this was a hit.  Also it's a vegetarian soup, so it gets points for that, too.  This is from Simple & Delicious.

Taco Twist Soup
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp olive oil
3 cups vegetable or beef broth
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 1/2 cups picante sauce (I used my favorite, Pace mmmmm)
1 cup uncooked spiral pasta
1 small green pepper, chopped
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (we used shredded Mexican)
3 tbsp sour cream (omitted by me)

Saute onion and garlic in large saucepan (or soup pot) until tender.  Add all remaining ingredients except cheese and sour cream.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally.  Ladle into bowls and top with cheese and sour cream.  (we had ours with tortilla chips for dipping and scooping, too)

This was well liked.  When we were almost done, I asked the kids if they had noticed that it was a vegetarian meal.  They were surprised.  The broth was very yummy and tasted awesome with the tortilla chips.  This soup came together quick and easy.  We will definitely have it again.

Extra Special Rolls

This recipe is from the Southern Living Christmas cookbook I'm going through simultaneously with many others.  There are a lot of dinner roll/bread recipes I want to try from this one.  We had these with the Four Hour Barbecue recipe I just posted.  Lots of times I will make dinner roll dough in my bread machine and go from there, but sometimes I go all the way from scratch.  Just for fun.  These were a lot more work though, and I'm not sure it was worth it.

Extra Special Rolls
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 pkg active dry yeast (this would be 4 1/2 tsp if you buy it in a jar or in bulk)
1 cup plus 3 tbsp milk
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, softened

Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in large mixing bowl; stir well.  Combine milk and 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan; heat until butter melts, stirring occasionally.  Cool to 120 to 130 degrees.  Gradually add liquid mixture to flour mixture, beating at low speed.  Beat an additional 2 minutes at medium speed.  Add eggs; beat well.  Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough (I never know what's right...I used the whole 5 cups).

Turn dough out onto floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes)(I did for about 2 minutes...it looked fine to me).  Place in a greased bowl and turn to grease top.  Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down; turn out onto lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 4 or 5 times.  Divide dough into fourths; roll each portion into a 12 inch circle on a floured surface.  Spread 1 tbsp softened butter on each circle.  Cut each circle into 12 wedges; roll up each wedge, beginning at wide end.  Place on lightly greased baking sheets, point side down.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for 35 minutes or until doubled in bulk.  Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until golden. 4 dozen.

These were a lot of work, like I said.  But everyone really liked them.  We put a bit more butter on the bottoms just before we ate them.  The dough was nice and soft.  Of note, one of my stones was inadvertently left at a house we were visiting on Christmas Eve, so when I ran out of room on my other two stones, I had to use a metal cookie sheet.  The 7 rolls on the cookie sheet all had burned bottoms, and 0 of the rolls on the stoneware did.  So that makes me love my stones even more.  I am so used to using them for everything that I had started to take them for granted, I think.  Nice little reminder.  Sam decided to play food critic tonight, and rated the rolls 4 out of 5 stars.  When he rated one of my jokes 3 out of 5 stars, I told him to get out of my restaurant.  Hahaha.

Four Hour Barbecue

Two of the cookbooks my mother in law sent me for my birthday have the recipes broken down by month.  That is very pleasing to my organized self.  This is the only one I have marked for January out of the Southern Living 2000 Annual Recipes (I am assuming here they mean the year 2000, and not that there are this many recipes contained therein).  My mom also gave me a great new cookbook for Christmas that I am starting this week, too...my proverbial cup runneth over  =o)

Four Hour Barbecue
3 lb boneless chuck roast, trimmed
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups water
1 cup ketchup
2 small onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Brown roast on all sides in hot vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat (oh the fat spattering!).  Stir together all remaining ingredients and pour over roast.  Bake, covered, at 325 for 4 hours.  6-8 servings.

This made the kitchen smell great all afternoon.  The meat was very tender.  The difficulty of the meat chewing is Emma's biggest beef with eating meat (HA! Get it?) and when she saw Steve cutting hers, she said "ooh, that looks easy to chew."  Nathan wasn't a huge fan and had to be encouraged to eat his with a bit of mashed potato so it would "be easier."  We ate about a third of this tonight, and out of what's left we gave half to Grampie and kept the rest of it for us to eat this week.  So even though the roast was like $11, we are getting a lot of use out of it, and the other ingredients were very inexpensive.  It's been a long time since we had a roast, so it was a yummy change.
 

Beef Tenderloin Stroganoff

We had this for supper last night.  The last time I made a stroganoff-type recipe, I didn't like it at all.  The sauce had way too much sour cream and tasted weird and had a weird texture.  It also might have had mushrooms, I don't really remember, except I remember I didn't like it.  But when I saw this recipe, the picture looked yummy, and it only has a little bit of sour cream.  And there is beef broth, which I thought would make this be more like beef and gravy over noodles.  So we tried it.  Emma helped with a lot of it, so that was fun, too.  From Simple & Delicious.

Beef Tenderloin Stroganoff
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 lbs beef tenderloin, cut into thin strips (I couldn't find this exact cut...I ended up buying tenderloin steaks and cutting them into strips...maybe that's what you were supposed to do anyway, I don't know)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp paprika
salt to taste (we used 1/2 tsp)
Hot cooked noodles

Place flour in ziploc bag; add beef, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat (I just threw mine all in at once and it was fine).  Brown beef in oil and butter in large skillet over medium heat (it didn't say to drain here, so I didn't, but I wished I had...).  Gradually stir in broth; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low.  Combine sour cream, tomato paste, paprika, and salt in a small bowl (all done by Emma); slowly stir the mixture into the skillet (do not boil).  Cook, uncovered, over low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently.  Serve with noodles.

During that last part, there was this film of oil/grease all around the edges.  I tried to spoon some of it off but didn't have much luck with that.  When I served the food, I just took from the middle of the skillet rather than the edges...

The kids all liked the meat.  I didn't really care for the sauce.  I guess what I was hoping for was more of a salisbury-steak-type sauce, rather than a stroganoff-type.  It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very good either.  I think both in this recipe, and in the Ranch-Marinated Chicken recipe that I just posted, I have a mental block against the sour cream.  Even though there was hardly any in this one, it was swimming in it in the other one.  Maybe I have more of a sour cream phobia than I thought.  Steve took the leftovers of this stroganoff to work today.  Hope it was good.

Dutch Potatoes

I've never heard of potatoes being made like this, but they sounded so yummy when I read this recipe (in Simple & Delicious).  We had these with the ranch chicken recipe I just posted.  I'm not sure if the "Dutch" means Holland-Dutch or Amish-Dutch.  Or the kind of Dutch when you go on a date and each person pays for themselves...

Dutch Potatoes
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tsp butter
2 cups cubed peeled potatoes
1 cup sliced fresh carrots
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp salt
minced chives

Saute onion in butter in a small skillet for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.  Meanwhile, place potatoes and carrots in a large saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender.  Drain.  Mash potatoes and carrots.  Beat in the onion, sour cream, and salt.  Sprinkle with chives.  2 servings

We had this with the chicken recipe I just posted.  I liked these potatoes way better than I liked that chicken.  They could have been a bit creamier, but I wouldn't want to achieve that by adding more sour cream.  Maybe a bit of butter.  This was the perfect amount of potatoes for me, Steve, and Emma (my parents had the boys).  Next time I make it I will probably double it.  And add more salt.  Very yummy.

Ranch-Marinated Chicken Breasts

I don't like sour cream as a rule, but it seems to be making an awful lot of appearances lately (you'll see as the recipes come throughout the month...).  I definitely do not like it as a condiment, but I will use it as an ingredient.  And I don't have a phobia of it like I do of mayo.  Even though sour cream is so gross looking when it's plain.  I do like ranch flavored stuff.  And we all like chicken.  And here is a recipe that has both.  It's from Simple & Delicious.

Ranch-Marinated Chicken Breasts
2 cups sour cream
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
4 tsp lemon juice
4 tsp worcestershire sauce
2 tsp celery salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp pepper
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup butter, melted

Combine first 8 ingredients in large ziploc bag; add chicken.  Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Drain and discard marinade.  Place chicken on greased 10x15x1 baking pan.  Drizzle with butter.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes or until juices run clear.

This "marinade" stayed very thick, I couldn't really drain it.  I withdrew the chicken breasts from it, shook them off some, and then put them on the cookie sheet.  The boys were with my parents, so I can't tell you their reactions to this, but I can guess: Sam would have liked it, Nathan would not have.  Steve and Emma both really liked this.  Emma ate all her chicken without prompting, which is very unlike her.  I didn't really like it though.  I don't think it retained much ranch flavor.  And yet the coating on the chicken after it was baked was distinctly unpleasant (to me, at least...).  But the meat did stay very moist, which is probably why Emma liked it so well.  Mixed reviews for this one...

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

This is in my Top 2 Favorite Cookies category.  I love the store bought ones (like at Subway, for example) that are so greasy they leave spots on the napkin.  Other recipes I have tried at home have not tasted nearly as good.  The dough hasn't been quite right.  But I decided to try this one just to see, and I think it's right!  The super secret ingredient is shortening.  It's so bad for you.  But it makes this cookie perfect.  Only make it if you love delicious cookies.  Anyway the nuts for this recipe cost $7 so it's not like you're going to make it very often anyway, so you don't need to feel bad about the shortening.  This is from the Southern Living Christmas cookbook but I made them even though it's January. 

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 6 oz pkg white chocolate baking bar, cut into chunks
1 7 oz jar macadamia nuts, chopped

Beat butter and shortening on medium speed of electric mixer until soft and creamy; gradually add sugars, beating well.  Add egg and vanilla; beat well.  Combine flour, baking soda, and salt and add gradually to creamed mixture, beating well.  Stir in white chocolate chunks and nuts.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheets.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool slightly before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

I made these for home fellowship tonight, and I thought they were great.  I think it's more of a grown-up taste preference though, because I brought home about 1/3 of them.  They just couldn't compete with the 2 packages of Oreos that Stephanie brought.  I made them the exact size of the Pampered Chef medium scoop and got 3 1/2 dozen, but they didn't spread much during baking.  Next time I will use more dough per cookie and flatten them out some before baking.  Definitely keeping this recipe now that I've found it!

Sweet 'n Sour Sausage Stir Fry

This was a quick easy meal from Simple & Delicious that we had this week.  It has smoked sausage in it, and no matter what else I add to it or do with it, the kids will at least always eat the sausage.  I really really like smoked sausage, but we don't have it too often because I know it's not good for you.  But if I have a coupon and a yummy-sounding recipe...

Sweet 'n Sour Sausage Stir Fry
14 oz pkg smoked turkey sausage (I used regular) cut into 1/2" slices
2 small onions, peeled, quartered, and separated
1 cup shredded carrots
8 oz can unsweetened pineapple chunks, undrained
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 to 1 tsp ground ginger (I hate spice ranges...I used 3/4 tsp)
6 tbsp water
2 tbsp soy sauce
Hot cooked rice, optional

Stir fry sausage in large skillet for 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned.  Add onions and carrots; stir fry until crisp-tender.  Drain pineapple, reserving juice.  Add pineapple to skillet.  Combine reserved pineapple juice with cornstarch, ginger, water, and soy sauce until smooth.  Add to skillet.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.  Serve over rice if desired.

So yummy and so easy.  A little heavy on the onions maybe, but I didn't mind that.  We'll keep this one, even though there are probably 3 others like it in my keeper book already.  I just love smoked sausage.

Parmesan Ranch Pan Rolls

A while back a friend of mine gave me 12 loaves of frozen bread dough.  I have no idea how she came by it, but her trunk was filled with it.  This recipe calls for 2 loaves of frozen bread dough, and there is another one we're having next week that starts with frozen bread dough, too.  This is from Simple & Delicious and we had it with the Potato and Leek Soup that I just posted.

Parmesan Ranch Pan Rolls
2 loaves frozen bread dough, thawed
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
1 small onion, finely chopped

Divide dough into 18 portions on a lightly floured surface; shape each into a ball.  Combine the cheese, butter, and dressing mix in a bowl.  Roll each ball in cheese mixture; arrange in 2 greased 9-in square baking pans.  Sprinkle with the onion.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from pans to wire racks. 

I put mine in a greased 9x13, but then the ones in the middle didn't cook all the way and the ones on the ends did.  So I guess that's why they say to use 2 smaller-sized pans.  Nathan didn't like these, but everyone else did.  They were pretty good, and since they were coated in a butter mixture, we didn't cut them and add more butter like you would do with regular dinner rolls.  I forgot to add the chopped onion at the end and it was still fine.  Final verdict is that these were good, but not so much better than your average dinner roll that it is worth the cost of the ranch mix and the other ingredients.  Plus you can do way more things with regular leftover dinner rolls, like make mini sandwiches. 

Potato and Leek Soup

First post of the new year!  Starting it off with a soup that has a whole pound of bacon in it...what's not to love?  This soup has a leek in it.  The only other recipe I have used a leek in is this yummy potato salad (that has no disgusting mayo) that is essentially potatoes, leeks, and Italian dressing, but it looks way more complicated when it's in the bowl.  But I know that leeks are related to onions, but they kind of look like celery, and you cut them like celery.  And you only use the white part.  Oh and for some reason, once you cut off the root and the green leaves, you cut it in half and rinse it under cool water to remove the sand (??) particles.  Maybe the leeks stopped at the beach on their way to the grocery store, I don't know.  So this soup is a crock pot recipe, and it's from Simple & Delicious.  We had this with a dinner roll recipe that I will post separately.

Potato and Leek Soup
4 cups chicken broth
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 cups chopped cabbage (I did not include this)
2 medium carrots, chopped (I used 10 baby carrots and sliced them thinly) 
1 medium leek (they were all one size at Hannaford)(white portion only), chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (I didn't have any fresh, I just used a few tsp of dried)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup sour cream
1 lb bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

Combine first 11 ingredients in a 4 or 5 quart slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until vegetables are tender.

Before serving, combine sour cream with 1 cup of soup; return all to the slow cooker.  Remove the bay leaf and stir in the bacon. 

I thought this was quite good.  And it smelled great.  But I could tell Steve didn't like it that much.  He of course did eat it, but when I asked what he thought he said "I like your other potato soup, too.  The one with the cheese in it."  So there you go, not a big fan, and this from the man that likes almost everything.  He does prefer stews to soup, so it was probably just his personal preference.  So I guess it's not one we'll have again, but it was good and easy. 

So, if you left the bacon out at the end, this would be a vegetarian meal.  I love bacon too much to try/do that.  But because of that I did put it in the "meatless" category, too.