Biscuits

 

This is a basic baking powder biscuit recipe that I adjusted to better suit my tastes. I've tried several recipes, this works the best for me. They are light and fluffy. Just remember not to overwork the dough, that's what makes them like little rocks.

 Ingredients
2 cups of flour
1 TBS baking powder
1 stick of butter
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resemles coarse cornmeal. Add milk a little at a time and mix until it forms a ball. Roll out on floured board to 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. Cut out in desired size and place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet.Brush with melted butter Bake at 450 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. I start checking at 10 minutes.

I love these fresh from the oven with a smear of butter and raspberry jam.

Retro Recipes

I have always been infatuated with the 50's and 60's. I love the TV shows, movies, clothes, etc. Since I have always loved to cook, it's only natural that I would eventually start tryig recipes that were popular during that era. Some of my inspirations came from TV shows, some from my parents talking about what their Mothers cooked back then. I was also given a copy of a family cookbook I put together for a woman when I was working in a print shop. It has many recipes from her mother, grandmother, aunts, and church ladies. It is a true treasure. One of my grandmothers was a fabulous cook, and though I learned a lot from watching her, the only recipe of hers I have is for her famous Clover Yeast Rolls. My mom has the actual hand-written recipe, on a yellowed index card with years of smudges, I hope to talk her into letting me frame it to hang in my kitchen.

I've always loved looking through my Mom's old Betty Crocker Cookbooks and I recently came across a stash of food ads from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Crazy stuff. My Dad remembers his Mom preparing a few of these things. We both agreed that most were too weird to even be considered, Tuna and Cottage Cheese Jello Mold, anyone? I've made two already, and when I searched the internet I found the blog of a woman who attempts many retro recipes. I had saved these recipes to make "eventually", but her reviews convinced me to go ahead and try them. You can find her blog at http://retrorecipe.wordpress.com/.  I hope to make more of these recipes (if I think I can stomach them), and share the results here. Both recipes were very good. My husband really enjoyed both meals. I didn't have canned biscuits when I made the Western Ranch Dinner; so I just used my regular recipe, and it was delicious.

So far I have made :

I forgot to take pictures of the Western Ranch Dinner, but I did get a picture of the Dude Ranch Beans. My 19 month old son really enjoyed them and even went back for seconds on his own. I didn't have baked beans, so I used a can of black beans and added some BBQ sauce, ketchup, a little pepper and chili powder. With all of the substitutions I make I guess what I have been making are technically "Retro-Inspired" recipes; since I don't normally purchase convenience foods, which is what most of these recipes call for. I didn't want to waste time threading the skewers either, so I just tossed everything on top of the beans prior to baking. 

Bread Pudding

I fell in love with bread pudding as a teenager when my Mom and I shared some for dessert at Mimi's Cafe. I had never made it myself until recently for a church potluck. For something so good, it is really easy to make. Mimi's drizzles theirs with a rum sauce, but I made a vanilla sauce since I was taking it to church. It is an excellent dessert and it would be delicious for a brunch as well.

 

1 loaf French bread (cut into 1" cubes)
½ cup Raisins (soak ½ hour in
warm water and drain)
1 pinch Nutmeg
¼ lb. Butter (melted)
¼ cup Sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla
3 cupsHalf & Half
4 Eggs (beaten)

Fill a 9"x 9"x 2-½" baking pan with the bread cubes and sprinkle the raisins on top. Whisk the remaining ingredients together to make a batter, pour over the top of the bread and stir lightly. Allow the bread to soak for 30 mintues. The pan will be very full. Bake in a 325° oven for about 40 minutes, until the pudding is golden brown and puffed up around the edges. The center should be "set" but still a little soft.

Vanilla Sauce:

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

pinch salt

 

Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Combine sugar and cornstarch, blend well. Add sugar and cornstarch mixture to boiling water; reduce heat to medium, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and add the butter, vanilla, and salt, stirring until butter is melted. Spoon over dessert.
Makes 3/4 cup.

 

$40 Bathroom Update

We bought our first house in July 2012. It is in great shape, with no problems, which is a blessing since we looked for over 6 months at disaster after disaster. However, it's boring. The previous owners never updated anything after having it built in 1996. Oak laminate, brass, and green formica abound; also, the entire interior was painted contractor yellow-beige in a flat finish. We have a toddler, and everytime he touches the wall, it leavesa mark. Everytime I try to wipe off said mark, the paint wipes right off. We painted our kitchen about a month after moving in because wiping the walls was causing the ugly avocado and brown paint that is under the beige to show through.

So, in the second bathroom.

Flat Beige Walls:            X
Laminate Oak Cabinets: X
Builder grade mirror:      X
Brass everthing:              X

My husband had a Home Depot gift card, so we decided to use it to give the bathroom an inexpensive face lift.

We bought a gallon of KILZ brand paint in an eggshell finish and had it tinted to Navajo Sand, which is a Behr color. I wasn't sure about the KILZ brand, since it was less expensive than the Behr, but I LOVED it. It went on so much easier and with better coverage than the much more expensive Valspar we used in our kitchen.

He took down the brass fixtures and knobs, sanded them and spray painted them with Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze. That stuff is a miracle product. We used it about 5 months ago on the knobs and fixtures in the master bathroom, and everything we sanded first has held up beautifully with no chips. We have painted almost all of the brass light fixtures in the house with it. That alone saved so much money! The fixtures in our house were all nice, I just didn't like the brass. The cheapest replacements at HD (that I didn't like as much) were between $20-$30. We've used maybe 1.5 cans of the spray paint to do all of these. So $10 worth of paint and a few hours of time vs. 10 new light fixtures. We saved at least $250- $300.

This next part is what I am so excited about. He framed the mirror for less than $4 because he already had the sandpaper and stain. He just bought a 14 ft piece of 1x4 pine board and had them cut it since it wouldn't fit in my car without being cut. He brought it home, did a little distressing (banged it up with tools, he had quite a bit of fun with that part),  sanded the edges, and applied 4 coats of MinWax Mission Oak and 1 coat of Rustoleum Kona stains. If you ever do any mirror project, make sure you paint/stain about an inch on the top of the backside so the reflection isn't plain wood.  When it was dry, he mounted it on the mirror with 3M foam tape.

I seriously love how this came out. I didn't get pictures of all the brass fixtures or yellowy paint, I guess I was just too anxious to update them. We are still going to replace that usly bar light fixture, but it doesn't look as bad in ORB as it did in brass.

Creamy White Chicken Lasagna

is a white lasagna I came up with to use up some ricotta, broccoli, and chicken I had in the fridge. It is a very simple recipe. This is a smaller recipe than I would normally make, I only used an 8x8 pan, but It could easily be adapted to a larger pan.

Ingredients:

1.5 - 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken. I used the meat from 3 thighs.
1 package frozen broccoli, cooked
8 lasagna noodles, cooked
1 lb ricotta cheese
2 cloves garlic, chopped or grated on a zester
salt and pepper
1 T Italian herbs
2 cups mozzarella cheese
2 cup chicken broth
2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup flour
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper

After cooking the chicken, lasagna, and broccoli. Combine the chicken, broccoli, rocotta, herbs, and a few pinches of salt and pepper in a bowl. Whisk together broth, milk, flour, nutmeg,and a few pinches of salt and pepper ina sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk until thickened, mix half of white sauce in with chicken and broccoli. Place a layer of noodles in and 8x8 pan, cover with half of the filling mixture, add a layer of noodles, cover with remaining filling. Top with remaining noodles and the rest of the white sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella. I also sprinkled some sliced olives on top, but that is optional. Bake at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes.

Mom's Recipes: American Goulash

This is in no way an authentic goulash recipe, it doesn't contain a speck of paprika. I didn't know that until I was a teenager. It is, however, delicious, comforting, quick, easy, and economical. My Mom makes this quite often, it feeds a crowd, and our family loves it. A few weeks ago, my husband requested that I make it.  He and our son devoured it, so it looks like another generation will be enjoying it.

You will need:

1 lb box of macaroni or shells pasta
1 lb ground beef
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce OR a can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1 (15 oz)  can sweet corn
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Brown the beef with the onions. Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, and corn. Heat through. Add to pasta, stir in salt and pepper to taste. Growing up we ate this with a salad and buttered bread.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

I know, it is waayyyyy too hot to be eating soup this time of year. That's what I was thinking even as we ate this the other night. I can't help it, I'm a soup person. I wish it were fall year round so I could comfortably enjoy soups and stews whenever I want. Sometimes, though, it's just one of "those" days, and I need a comforting bowl of soup.

I've loved Cream of Broccoli soup ever since I was a little girl. I went to lunch with my Mom and some of her work friends, and we all had soups and salads. My Mom ordered Cream of Broccoli for me, it was love at first spoonful. Whenever we visited that restaurant, that's what I ordered.

You will need:

12 ounces, Frozen Chopped Broccoli

2 cups Chicken Broth

2 Tablespoons Butter

⅓ cups Onion, Chopped

1 clove of garlic, grated

2 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour

⅔ cups Milk

a few pinches of Pepper

salt to taste

Preparation Instructions

In a large pot over medium heat, simmer the broccoli in the broth for 15 minutes. Use a potato masher to smash the broccoli into smaller pieces and thicken the broth.

In a separate skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Then, add the onions  and garlic and saute for 5 minutes or to desired tenderness. Add the flour to the onions and stir well. Heat milk in the microwave for 30 seconds(helps keep the "roux" from clumping) then gradually add the milk and stir until thick. Add this mixture to the broccoli mixture in the pot and stir well. Next, add the cheese, stirring until melted (the heat can be turned off at this point). Finally, add the salt and pepper to taste.

For a broccoli cheddar version, remove the pot from the heat and stir in 1 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese. In the fall, I serve this in bread bowls, as a treat for my hubby.

Braciole

This is my rendition of a delicious old school Italian dish. The kind of dish I would imagine the Italian side of my family enjoyed Sunday evening after church. I don't know much about them, but I've always longed for the kind of family dinners you see big Italian families attending in movies. I have a friend whose family is from the same Brooklyn neighborhood my Grandfather grew up in, being a dinner guest at her house gave me a taste of the Italian family I'd dreamed of but never experienced. Not to knock the family I have. We always had amazing family dinners and lots of love.

This was my first time preparing this dish. I read about 100 different recipes, and picked out what I liked from each. I then adapted the ingredients based on what I had in my kitchen. I urned out delicious, and my husband adored it. This would be a perfect dish to make for a dinner party.

I didn't measure out the filling ingredients, so these are estimations of what I used for 2 people.

thinly sliced flank steak - 1 per person

2 TBS chopped shallots, sauteed just enough to soften them
Panko breadcrumbs - 1/4 cup
Spinach - 1/4 cup
1 clove garlic - I grate it with a microplane zester
10 basil leaves
a handful of Parmesan cheese
a handful of grated Mozzarella
Spaghetti sauce - I used a jar of 4 cheese sauce

Pound the steaks thin between 2 pieces of waxed paper. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a few TBS of olive oil in a skillet. Mix filling ingredients together. Spoon a few TBS of filling over each steak. Roll up and tie with butcher's twine or secure with toothpicks. Brown quickly in skillet. Lower heat, add sauce and simmer 60-90 minutes, turning occasionally. Check for tenderness. Remove twine and serve. I had extra filling, so I spooned it over the tops and put it under the broiler to brown up. I probably wouldn't have bothered with this step if I weren't already using an oven-safe skillet. I served this with a big salad and creamy polenta.

Homemade Dark Chocolate Sauce

This stuff is ridiculously good. The first time I tried it, I was home by myself. I considered consuming the entire thing and not telling anyone, or hiding it in the back of the fridge. I don't care for most store bought chocolate sauces, as I find them to be overly sweet. This one is just perfect. I lowered the sugar called for in a recipe given to me by a friend, and swapped regular cocoa powder for dark. It is delicious over fresh fruit,  ice cream or brownies, and makes a perfect glass of chocolate milk. It is way easier to prepare at home than I ever dreamed. I halved the batch because it's just my husband and I that use it, and having a lot around could be bad news for us. If you have a bigger family or can control yourself around chocolate, go ahead and double this recipe. It would make an awesome gift.

You will need:

3/4 cup Water
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 TBS Corn Syrup
3/4 Cup Dark Cocoa Powder (I use Hershey's Special Dark)
1 TBS Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt (I use Kosher)

Bring the water, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low, whisk in cocoa powder 1/4 cup at a time. Cook for 5 minutes, or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and salt.

Sometimes I sub out part of the vanilla for other extracts. Hazelnut extract makes a delicious sauce that tastes like Nutella.

Chicken Stock - The Good Stuff

One of my favorite things to have on hand in my kitchen is homemade chicken stock. This stuff, the real stuff, the good stuff, is what you want when you are sick. Its flavor is unmatched by anything you find in the super market. I have been known to use the canned stuff, more than I use hommade actually. But homemade is so much better, and actually very easy to make. It is also very economical.

I don't buy special chicken pieces to make my stock. I buy a lot of bone-in meat, and I save the bones. When I buy a rotisserie chicken at Costco, I save the bones. I have a big bag in my freezer that I add bones to as I go, and when it is full, I make stock. This same method works for turkey, and makes for great stuffing or leftover turkey soup, if you don't get around to it before Thanksgiving.

You will need: A large pot, a colander, and a large bowl. Cheese cloth helps the straining process by catching little bits, but don't fret if you don't have it.


Chicken Bones, at least 1 carcass or a bunch of bones
3 carrots, chopped
2 onions, coarsly chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 Bay Leaves
Whole Peppercorns (sometimes I forget these, and it still tastes pretty good)

If I have them, I add a sprig of fresh thyme and parsley, tied up in cheese cloth. I've used other herbs too, such as sage and  rosemary. They are great, but for a "traditional" taste, it's thyme and parsley.

Put bones in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer, skim off the scum that rises to the top. Add the veggies and herbs, return to a simmer for 3-4 hours. To avoid a cloudy broth, don't let it boil, just simmer.

Use it in some of my favorite soups:

Chicken & Dumplings



Chicken & Veggie Soup



Chicken & Noodles (recipe coming soon)