My family loves these as a side dish. Just a bit fancier than simple sliced apples, and it’s pretty much apple pie filling – without the rest of the work of making a pie. This is also a great way to use up some apples that are starting to go a little soft. You know what I mean, not crisp enough to want to eat it whole, but they aren’t quite soft enough to relegate to applesauce. Season them a little, toss them in a pan, and they’re magically perfect again!
A buckle is one of my favorite desserts. It’s not a cobbler, fruit on the bottom with an oatmeal crumb topping. But it’s not really a cake either because it’s got a ton more fruit than say a strawberry cake would have. Also, there is no frosting, so it’s definitely not a traditional cake. It is, to me, the perfect balance of cake and fruit. My recipe is a delightful slightly spiced cake base with about a million berries folded in and a crumbly streusel topping which leaves you the perfect opportunity to garnish this with some fresh sweetened whipped cream or go all the way and serve this with vanilla ice cream.
2 lb thin sliced steak 3 tablespoons oil 2 carrots 1 head broccoli 3/4 cup cherry juice * 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 3/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup brown sugar 4 cloves garlic 1/2 tsp. red pepper flake 1/2 tsp. ground ginger 1/4 cup cornstarch 1) Slice steak and cook in hot oil until almost done. If you prefer, you could season a little cornstarch and lightly bread the steak strips before frying them, but my family likes it better without the breading. 2) Julienne the carrots and cut the broccoli into bit sized pieces. Add them to the pan. Stir around and cook until they get a little color but still crisp. You don’t want limp overcooked veggies in your stir fry. You know what would also be good… Some sliced onion. Add it in with the carrots and broccoli, they’d be fantastic. 3) Whisk together the remaining sauce ingredients and add to the pan with the steak. Cook until bubbling and thickened. * We tried different juices that we tend to have on hand, apple and cherry were both good. If you don’t have any juice you could just use 1/2 cup of water and bump...
When it comes to pizza, to each his own I say. There are tons of options: thick crust, thin crust, hand tossed, rolled, crispy cracker crust, tons of cheese options, sauce, no sauce, whatever sauce you want, and a million different toppings. I prefer deep dish, you need a knife and fork to get through this baby. It really doesn’t take very long to do and I’ve adapted a wonderful recipe to please the rest of my family as well.
I have to say, these were the best dinner rolls that I’ve ever had. Flaky like a biscuit with several layers and butter baked between each one. But they were still light and bready like a yeast roll. I copied this down from a late night re-run of an Alton Brown Good Eats episode. I tried to look it up on the Food Network website, but it wasn’t there. Good thing that I recorded that episode! 1) In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine together the following: 8 oz. warm milk 1/3 c. sugar 1 Tbl. + 1 tsp. active dry yeast 2 egg yolks 15 oz. all purpose flour (sifted) 2 1/2 tsp. salt 2) Let the dough rest in the bowl for 10 minutes. 3) Switch to the hook attachment and add in 2 ounces of room temperature butter. Increase the speed to medium and knead for 8 minutes. (Alton says “Not a minute longer!) 4) Move the dough to a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Move it into a greased glass bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled (should take about an hour depending on the temperature in your kitchen). 5)...
In a word… YUM! In a few more words from Jason… There is a very good flavor to the chicken, but it’s not overwhelming. A nice warm heat, not overly spicy. Just right. Perfect for grilling out, baking in the oven, or just sauteing in a skillet. However you choose to finish your chicken, this is a fantastic place to start. 1) Mix the following together in a small bowl: 1 tsp. red pepper flake 1 tsp. garlic powder (or you could use 1/2 tsp. fresh minced garlic) 1/2 tsp. oregano 1/4 tsp. ginger 1/4 tsp. cumin 1/8 tsp. salt 1/4 cup lime juice 2) Warm up a few teaspoons of oil in a skillet and add in the marinade mixture. Lay 4-5 chicken breasts in the pan and cook on one side until they are half done. 3) Flip the chicken over and finish cooking. This is super simple and I like how all the flavors play nicely together. This is definitely a nice way to change up the usual chicken-cooked-in-butter that I fall back on when dinnertime sneaks up on me. I hope you like it too!
These started as an accident and since they worked out better than I thought they would, I experimented until they were what I thought they should be. Cranberry sauce is a favorite condiment in our house at Thanksgiving but rarely is it seen at any other time of year. My MOPS group had a stock swap a while back and among other useful items, I picked up a can of cranberry sauce. I decided that it would be interesting to try that in place of the usual grape jelly and bbq sauce that I smother my meatballs in. It was good, but needed more oomph. I scaled back the bbq sauce to just a little bit because it completely overwhelmed the zingy cranberry flavor and then I added back just a touch of grape jelly to give back some of the sweetness. Bingo! 1) Follow my recipe for the meatballs, or use your own. This time I swapped out the sage for dried parsley. 2) While your meatballs firm up in the freezer, assemble the following for the sauce: 1 (14 ounce) can of whole berry cranberry sauce 1/3 cup grape jelly 2 Tbl. barbeque sauce or ketchup 1...
When we lived in Southern California, I could visit a nearby Pizzeria Uno’s (now it’s called Uno Chicago Grill) anytime I happened to be in San Diego/Escondido. Out here in Alabama, there isn’t a local Uno’s franchise for over 400 miles. That’s a little far to drive for dinner. My favorite thing to eat there, aside from their fabulous deep dish pizza, was their Pizza Skins. A pizza joint’s take on potato skins. Delicious mashed potatoes baked in Uno’s famous biscuity deep dish crust, topped with cheese and bacon. Could it get any better? I think not. Missing this meal-sized appetizer like you wouldn’t believe, I decided to take matters into my own hands and recreate it myself. Here’s how I do it: Overnight Deep Dish Pizza Crust Island Honey’s Garlic Mashed Potatoes (I prefer to leave the skins on for this application, but peel them if you’d rather) 1 – 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (my family likes colby jack, but feel free to use mozzarella, cheddar or a mixture of whatever you like) 1 pound diced and crisped bacon parmesan cheese, to taste 1) 24 hours beforehand, prepare the pizza dough as the linked recipe instructs. 2)...
I originally posted this along with some completely unrelated writing about Jeremy back in November 2009. It’s been bothering me for quite a while that it was hidden back there and I’ve finally remembered to update it and make this it’s own post…. Since being here in the South for nearly four months now (at the time that I updated this we’ve been here just shy of 2 years) I have sampled a wide variety of sweet tea. I have always loved iced tea and prefer it instead of juice or soda anytime. Living on the west coast I have always sweetened my tea with any number of artificial sweeteners. Living here has completely changed my understanding of iced tea. Anywhere you go to eat you are offered either sweet or unsweet iced tea. I’m not talking about the fake raspberry flavored iced tea that you can get most places, this is different and wonderful. I’ve so many recipes, some were too sweet, some were not sweet enough and I had to rely on the addition of my beloved Splenda or Equal. Finally, this morning I mastered it: Sweet Tea Bring 6 cups of water to a rolling boil....
My family has a serious love for meatballs. We like them in pasta sauce, slathered in bbq sauce, and served up with a nice spoonful of stroganoff sauce. This is my recipe for Swedish meatballs. There are tons out there, but this is how we like it. For the meatballs: 1 lb. ground beef 1/2 cup. oats 1/2 cup milk 2 Tbl. dry minced onion 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. black pepper 1 tsp. dry sage 1) Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl. I like to use my potato masher or a pastry blender to really get everything incorporated and the meat mashed up finely. You could just as easily use your hands or a spatula. 2) Use a tablespoon or a cookie scoop to portion out your meatballs. Using a tablespoon measure this yields about 34 meatballs. Using my small cookie scoop, this recipe makes about 24 meatballs. 3) Space them out in a single layer on a rack (the kind you use to cool cookies) and pop it in the freezer for at least 10 minutes. I find that allowing the meatballs to firm up in the freezer helps them to keep their shape while...
