White Bread Plus

OK so Sunday night I realized we were out of bread and I didn't want to go to the store. I didn't have any whole wheat flour and so I made this white bread which is very yummy. Can I say the Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches have never tasted so good. The recipe comes from the "Joy of Cooking" recipe book I got from someone when my husband and I got married. So I will post the instructions below. Makes 2-3 loaves of bread.

This method of mixing bread dough calls for active dry yeast and an electric mixer. As this recipe requires less yeast and more sugar than does White Bread, and because this bread, started in a cold oven, has a longer proofing period, less yeast flavor is retained.

In a large mixer bowl, mix together:
3 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp salt
1 package active dry yeast

Combine:
2 1/2 cups 120-130 degree water
1/2 cup lard, shortening, or olive oil

The shortening does not need to melt. Gradually add to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes at medium speed, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add to make a thicker batter:
1 beaten egg
1 cup sifted all purpose flour

Beat 1/2 minute at low speed, then at high speed 3 minutes. Stir in to make a soft dough:
3-4 cups sifted all purpose flour

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Allow the bread to rise once in the mixing bowl(about 2 hours) and once in the baking pan(about 2-3 hours). To bake, place loaves in a cold oven. Turn the heat to 400 degrees. After 15 minutes, reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake 25 minutes longer. Test for doneness by tapping lightly on bread to listen for hollow sound. Remove the loaves at once from the pans and cool on a rack before storing. Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Whole Wheat Bread

OK so I have been on a bread baking kit recently. My sister will more than likely look at me and say there is nothing easy about bread. However I have always found this Whole Wheat recipe to be easy, tasty and looking at the ingredients very healthy. All valuable things in making bread. So I hope that you get as much enjoyment from it as I have.

Ingredients:

1 packet yeast or 1 Tbsp and 1 tsp of yeast from a bag
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp salt
3 cups scalded milk
6 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:

In a small cup add water and yeast. Stir. Allow to soften or flower as some people call it. Mostly it is just dissolving and growing a little. Next combine oil, honey, molasses, salt, and scalded milk. Cool to Lukewarm and add yeast mixture. Add flour as needed. Shape into 2 loaves and place in greased loaf tins. Let rise to not quite double in bulk (1-2 hours). Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Makes 2 medium size loaves.

Below is my daughter helping me roll out the dough to get rid of air bubbles before I shaped it. Really I rolled it first and then let her feel like she was helping.
Cute picture though.

Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream

I have made this a few times, but recently I started adding chocolate to this recipe and the chocolate version almost reminds me of a Chocolate Frosty from Wendy's. I have used this vanilla recipe and added anything from candy to fruit. It has always turned out great. I hope you Enjoy!
Vanilla Ice Cream
4 Quart Recipe

2 1/2 cups milk
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups half and half
1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
4 cups whipping cream

Mix all ingredients together and freeze according to manufactures instructions.

For Chocolate mix in a separate bowl:
3/4 cup chocolate powder
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk

Pour into vanilla mixture and freeze according to manufacture instructions.

Lemon Cake

I took this recipe from here, and well think it's worth sharing. Since I'll copy and paste most of the recipe I'll just add my own thoughts in italics.

1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) of REAL butter (umm yeah I used half butter and half vegetable oil spread came out just fine though I can't recommend less then half real butter)
3 c. cake flour (no substitutions here--you really need the lightness of cake flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 c. sugar
5 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice (I squeezed 1 lemon and got 2T)
Zest of 2 lemons (just zest the other lemons before you squeeze them)
1 c. buttermilk (yeah. no buttermilk here I used the substitute of 1T vinegar and enough milk for that to become a cup)


Preheat oven to 325.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Don't go skimping here--you want the mixture to be almost white and super fluffy. This is absolutely essential to the outcome of the cake. (yeah if I had a stand alone electric mixer, a hand mixer worked fine but it did take longer to get the desired results- Don't be afraid to look at the recipe I used to see a picture of how this should look)

While butter and sugar are mixing, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside. After butter and sugar have mixed sufficiently, With the mixer running, add eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition. Beat in vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest.

With mixer on low speed, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating until fully incorporated. (don't just dump them in at the same time it's important to get it all mixed together and all mixed together creamy)

The recipe I used was for cupcakes at 325 (20-25 minutes). I did bake it at 325 but I bake mine in a 9x13 for 35-40 minutes. Be very careful not to over bake.

Also there is a lemon butter cream frosting to top it. For actual frosting wait until the cake is completely cooled and mix the following.

1 1/4 c. butter (2 1/2 sticks)
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 c. powdered sugar

Beat butter, lemon rind, and lemon juice in an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating to spreading consistency. Makes 2 3/4 c.

For my cake since my husband prefers a glaze on his lemon cakes I added 1/8c water decreased the amount of butter by half (I just didn't need that much frosting since I was turning it into a glaze) I'm not sure how much sugar I used since I just kept adding it until I liked the consistency. Then I drizzled the glaze on while the cake was still warm.

Personally I thought YUM. This was amazingly light but not airy. The flavor was wonderful it wasn't "just a hint" nor was it overpowering. Perfect for summer because really who doesn't love a citrus dessert in summer? Two thumbs way by from me and my family (birthday boy included).

Summer Pasta

Since I had leftover chicken (hello! beer butt chicken, and yes it was STILL moist) that was quickly approaching my 3 day use or toss rule this was born. Besides it's HOT and seriously who wants to cook?

*1 little (I think it is 6ozs) package dry spaghetti
*8 T butter
*2 garlic cloves
*salt to taste
*pepper to taste
*1 T parsley
*1 c grated cheese (I used Mozzarella)
*1 c retained pasta water
*Whatever chicken I had left (about 2 cups cubed ok I admit we liked the leftovers so I really only had 1 cup but I also had a can of canned chicken so all together I had about 2 cups)
*Diced tomatoes- my first pickings from my plant (so read NOT much lol)!

Boil pasta for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente.

Meanwhile heat a skillet over medium-low heat. Melt butter with garlic. Season with salt, pepper, and parsley.

Drain pasta (remember to retain 1 cup) and then toss in skillet until well-coated with butter. Add the retained water and chicken. Increase heat to medium, and cook until pasta is heated through and has absorbed some of the water/butter. Add cheese and tomatoes warm until the cheese starts melting.

Ta-da! 30 minutes to dinner. This was fabulous. Buttery and light, perfect for summer. Serves 4

I could also see this as a side minus the chicken. I think it would go well with, pork, chicken (obviously), maybe a grilled stake, or just as a meatless dish (mixed with different more veggies).

Lime Pie

OK so when I made this I was in the mood for something light and fluffy. It was Sunday so I wasn't about to go to the store and I couldn't find a recipe that used the ingredients that I had. Since desperation is the mother of invention. I borrowed a pie plate from my neighbor, since mine have all been thrown away and later took my creation over to share and get a second opinion. It got good reviews. So here you go. I hope that you enjoy it as much as everyone said they did here. There will be extra filling. I grabbed 5 custard dishes and made some more crust and divided the leftover among the custard dishes for individual servings. You could also make a second pie if you prefer. Just double the recipe for crust.


Ingredients:

crust
10 cinnamon honey graham crackers
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

filling
2 1/2 8 oz packages cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 cup lime juice

topping
1/2 8 oz package cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
2 T vanilla
1/4 cup of milk

Directions:
In a food processor chop graham crackers until small and grainy(You can also do this by hand if you don't have a food processor). Add sugar and butter and pulse till mixed. Dump into a 9" pie plate and press to form crust.

Next I used my Kitchen Aid mixer with the whisk attachment. You can use a hand mixer for this however make sure the cream cheese has been softened first or it can burn out the hand mixer motor. In the Kitchen Aid cream the 2 1/2 packages of cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar on medium high(about 7 or 8 speed). Next slowly add the sweetened condensed milk while mixer is going. Once thoroughly mixed add lime juice slowly, continuing on a 7-8 speed setting. Once all ingredients are added. Stop machine and scrape sides. Once sides are scraped mix on medium high for 2 minutes. Once finished turn off machine and spread mixer into crust.

Last in a bowl I creamed the 1/2 package of cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar with a hand mixer. Next I added the vanilla and mixed well. Finally I added the milk slowly. Once completely mixed I put it into a Ziploc bag and cut a corner and piped topping around the edge of pie and onto center of pie.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Enjoy!

Beer Butt Chicken

This is totally unconventional but whatever it's really yummy. The recipe came from allrecipes.com with some modifications for my own taste.

You start with a full chicken in the 4-5lb range on the outside you baste
1/2 c. Melted Butter
3T Garlic Powder
4T Chicken Seasonings
1t Paprika
1/2t Cheyenne Pepper
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Let that sit for at least 3 hours but overnight is better. If you feel up to it you can loosen the chicken's skin and get some of that baste underneath. I didn't do that but it would definitely add to the flavor of the meat.

In a 12 fluid ounce beer can (we used soda cans as the beer we had was 24ozs) mix
6ozs of Beer (totally your choice)
2-3 Garlic Cloves
3T Chicken Seasonings
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
I used a can opener to take the top off completely.
I have heard that cherry cola and ginger ale work well to. I could see that since it's the boiling of the liquid that keeps the chicken moist, so really ANY liquid could work but the beer added flavor so keep that in mind when you choose a liquid.

Make sure you baste the outside of the can with veggie oil before you insert it into the butt of the chicken.

Place on a cookie sheet and grill over low heat for about 3 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C).

It is also possible to bake it (obviously we didn't do that). 350 for about 15 minutes per pound (or about an hour/ hour and a half).

Final meal.

I served mine with grilled corn on the cob, fresh home made rolls, and garlic cheese mashed potatoes. Yum, yum, yum.

Oh and the leftovers were moist the next day!