How To Make Homemade Shake And Bake For Chicken Or Pork

This is almost a clone for the commercial Shake n Bake product. It is very tasty! :-)

How To Make No Knead Ciabatta Bread

The person who has never made yeast bread before might enjoy making ciabatta bread to start. This recipe lets you be very stingy with the Yeast and flour both, so it is super economical... and there is no kneading at all!  Although I used my mixer to stir it up, it would be about as easy to use a spoon. There's also no "mix the yeast with warm water and wait": the yeast goes right in with the flour.  The only thing is, you do have to start the day before!  Try it, and enjoy your own delicious artisan sandwich bread.

Chicken Spaghetti Recipe - Great for Covered Dish Meals!

Every town has their own "signature" Chicken Spaghetti recipe.  Here's the one from ours! :-) I made it with turkey this time, a good way to finish off the turkey from the holiday meal. This casserole can be put together in advance then heat in the oven shortly before serving.  Enjoy!

Christmas Recipe Challenge & Our Chex Mix Recipe

Hopefully, over the week the comments thread on this video will fill up with tasty family favorites! Do you have a You Tube channel? Make a video  and come share in the comments on You Tube!  Watch til the end to find out how to take part. Maybe your name will be drawn for the "Christmas with Martha Stewart Living" book give away! :-)

Green Tomato Mincemeat Pie Filling

This is a great way to use some of the green tomatoes left in the garden. I chose to use the small cherry tomatoes for this, cut into quarters, to take advantage of them for texture.  I used some of this to make a Mincemeat Cake (recipe here) to take to a gathering this week and it turned out great!

West Texas Baked Steak - An Easy and Thrifty Homecooked Meal

This is an old standby at our house. Low fat, super easy to make after work! Enjoy, and thank you for subscribing over on You Tube - it is appreciated :-)

How To Make Whipped Cream Without An Electric Mixer, Using Only a Whisk

A little secret about milk is that the higher the fat content, the longer it will keep in the fridge. So "Heavy Whipping Cream", which has so much fat you could make butter out of it, can be bought a week or two ahead of time to be used for making whipping cream at a moment's notice.

My grandmother, Mema, made whipped cream from scratch - we never had cool whip or dream whip. It tastes divine and once you have developed a taste for it, the other products taste artificial and waxy. She used an electric mixer and I usually do too, but for a small amount to serve one or two people, it is just as fast to whip it by hand.

Here is how you do it:

Buy only heavy whipping cream or whipping cream. You can't use coffee cream or half and half. You can't use "fat free" cream. Highest fat content is essential.  Keep it very cold, but don't freeze it - alas nearly every brand today has additives that cause it to separate when frozen.

You can freeze the BOWL though, and using a chilled bowl will make it whip faster.

Pour about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of heavy cream into your chilled bowl and beat with a whisk (any kind of whisk will work as long as it is clean - don't use a bamboo one unless it is new, because they are hard to clean completely and may retain oils and flavors of other foods they were previously used with).

Beat for about 1 minute, then add one Tablespoon of granulated cane sugar.  You don't need much sugar usually because the cream itself is naturally sweet. So take it easy, you can add more later if it isn't sweet enough. Also add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (vanilla also heightens the sweetness of foods, reducing the amount of sugar needed). Continue beating for another two minutes or so until the cream is stiff enough for your liking. Taste and see if it is sweet enough.

Pile it on top of cake or pie or ice cream and serve!

Refrigerate any leftovers immediately. :-)

Tomato Pie, How to Bake an Empty Pie Shell, Oh & How to Stop a Soggy Crust

 My daughter-in-love Sandy asked me to make Tomato Pie for a party they had this past weekend. This is her favorite of my recipes.  It is so rich that it can be a main course, and no one will ask where the meat is.

It took me a while to perfect this one, since people are a bit secretive about their tomato pie recipes. Sort of like Marie on "Everybody Loves Raymond", they tend to leave out a single important element or direction. Then one makes it, and it is "almost" perfect... except for that little flaw! Well, that little flaw in Tomato Pie is the soggy crust. I have two solutions that both work well.

Here's my recipe, with complete instructions :-)


Tina's Tomato Pie

1 Deep Dish Pie Crust, pre-baked (see instructions below at the end of the post)
2 pounds fresh tomatos, peeled (see instructions below at the end of the post) - In the winter, use canned whole tomatoes.
2 Tablespoons fresh basil, minced, or 2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed
1 teaspoon Salt
Pinch of sugar
Couple of grinds of fresh ground black pepper
1 cup to 1 1/2 cups of Real Mayonnaise (do NOT use "lite" mayo or yogurt or any substitutes!!!)
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar Cheese


Pre-bake your pie shell. For tomato pie, when you remove the pie weights, sprinkle the bottom of the crust with shredded cheese to cover, then return to the hot oven to finish baking.

Baking some shredded cheese onto the crust is an important step that will help keep the crust from getting soggy from the tomatoes. I tried several things when I first made this. Brushing the inside of the crust with egg white and then popping back into the overn for the last 5 minute of baking is a good technique too. But the thin layer of melted cheese seems to work best for this dish.

Peel your tomatoes, and chop them coarsely. Sprinkle with salt and put them into a colander to drain for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. I like to set my colander over a bowl to catch the juice. It is good to drink right then, or freeze and add to soup later.

 After the tomatoes have drained, stir in a pinch of sugar, then put the tomatoes into the baked pie shell. That "pinch of sugar" is what my grandmother added to every tomato dish - she said a pinch of sugar will "cut the tomatoes", and it does do something that really rounds out the flavor. I can tell the difference without it.


 Mince the basil and sprinkle it over the top of the tomatoes, along with a grind or two of black pepper.

 

 In a bowl, blend the mayonnaise and cheese, then spoon the mixture on top of the tomatoes. Use a knife of spatula to spread it out and completely cover the top of the pie.

 Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and bubbly. 

You can serve it warm, but we serve it fresh baked and cooled to room temperature. And some of us like it leftover for breakfast too!  Be sure to refrigerate any leftovers, as this pie will spoil if left out too long. 


~~~~~

As promised above, here are the instructions for pre-baking your pie shell, and for peeling fresh tomatoes:


How To Pre-bake a pie shell:  Line the pie pans with crust and flute your edges. Make sure there is plenty of dough for overlap on the top edge as the crust will shrink a little. Fork the bottom and sides of the crust all over to make little holes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, then line the pie crust with aluminum foil (or waxed paper or parchment). 

Next, either push another, empty pie pan in on top of this one, or fill your foil-covered crust with dry beans or rice (use some old beans that you will never cook with and save them for this purpose). This will help keep the crust from shrinking and from bubbling.

Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes at 450 degrees. Remove from oven and cool slightly but leave the oven on. Lift the foil & beans out of the crust or remove the other pan. Use your foil to make strips and cover the edges of the crust to keep them from overbrowning.

Then, return the crust to the hot oven for another 5 to 8 minutes, until the bottom is baked. Cool before filling.



How To Peel Fresh Tomatoes:  Bring a 2 quart pot of water to a rolling boil. Keep the heat on high and, using a slotted spoon, put each WHOLE tomato into the boiling water. Turn & poke down if necessary to be sure the tomatos all get time under the water.

Leave in for one minute only, then remove each tomato using the slotted spoon. Put these tomatoes into a bowl of cold tap water. Now the skins will just peel right off with your fingers.

How a Thank You Note Made My Day

Since the new Texas Cottage Food Law took effect September first, I have been baking bread to sell at our local Farmer's Market. It has been fun, because my bread always sells out and people are very happy to have it! Last week I took some to a small pioneer day event, and sold out there too.

The law requires that we put a label on our foods, and include our address on it. Today in my mailbox was the kindest Thank You note from a customer:

"Dear Friend,
My daughter and I visited Pioneer Day...on Saturday. She bought me a loaf of wheat bread. Oh my, it is wonderful. Had some on Sunday morning with ham and an egg. [here she drew a smiley face]  Made me happy all day. Love it. Thank you for sharing your time and talent with others.
Sincerely, [her name] "

This sweet lady and I do not know each other, so I was doubly enchanted by her note. Little kindnesses such as this add joy to life if we focus on "just for today".

This has given me much "food for thought" about this latest hobby, and the potential for good in the simplest things like real home-made food.

 I am going to miss these kinds of interaction when the Farmer's Market closes for the season in mid-October.

And I will look especially forward to having veggies to bring to it in the Spring!




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A Fresh Strawberry Cake for a Springtime Birthday Dinner

Our granddaughter (or "Grand angel" as Paul calls her) asked for a strawberry cake and filet mignon for her birthday. Oh boy! I got to set a pretty pink table and use my pretty "new" flea market dishes, along with my old family pieces!

The footed iced tea glasses, in the Mayfair pattern, are heirlooms: they belonged to Big Grandmother - my great-grandmother, Mema's mother. I inherited her pink depression glass, mostly in the Cherry Blossom pattern - the cake plate is one of those pieces.

The plates are a recent find, with hand-painted wild roses in pink with green leaves. They look very much like Franciscan's Desert Rose. They were made by Villeroy and Bach, a good brand, but they were quite dirty from having been packed in newspaper and so were priced very cheap. A good scrub with my glass cooktop cleaner (I use Ceramabrite - it's basically a polishing glass wax) took the stains right off.

 

My table is oval, and it is impossible to find tablecloths in that shape, so I end up using oblong ones. This vintage damask linen is one of the few oval table cloths I have. The pink is such a pretty shade.

Paul cooked a lovely meal: filet mignon, baked potato, our own asparagus with a saffron sauce. For starters, he made a hot chicken dip that she'd also requested - one of her mother's recipes. It was yummy, and I'll share the recipe for that another time.

Here's the recipe for the cake - it got raves all around and has a lovely fresh taste. Keeps so well in the refigerator. It is one I will make again: nice and cool for a summer barbeque, and it is best if made in advance. That's important for me: things I can make up the night before, to save time and fit my schedule.

Pretty & Pink Fresh Strawberry Cake

Ingredients

1 boxed yellow cake mix
3 tablespoons flour
1 small box strawberry gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
3 1/2 cups of strawberries (a one pound carton)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 8 ounce package cream cheese
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour three round cake pans.

Pour the water into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle gelatin on top. Let it sit to dissolve.

Wash the berries. Pick out 5 or 6 pretty strawberries for garnish and set them aside. Hull the rest of them. Take another cup full of whole, hulled berries and set them aside - they will be sliced for the layers later.

Take one cup of strawberries and chop finely. Add them to the mixing bowl with gelatin, and beat on high for a couple of minutes, then add the remaining ingredients: cake mix, flour, eggs, oil. Beat at medium speed for 5 minutes.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cakes in the pans 5 or 10 minutes, then turn out and complete cooling on wire racks.

Chop one cup of strawberries finely and sprinkle with sugar in a small bowl. Let them sit a few minutes to draw excess liquid out, then drain them.

Whip the cream and set aside. Cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and the drained, chopped strawberries until light and fluffy then add the whipped cream. If necessary, add more powdered sugar until the frosting holds peaks. Refrigerate the frosting until you are ready to ice the cake.

Slice the rest of the strawberries (except the ones to be used for garnish - leave them aside for now) into very thin slices.

When layers are cool, place one on a cake plate. Spread frosting on top evenly to the edges. Arrange half of your thinly sliced strawberries all over the top of this layer, then put the next cake layer on top of that and repeat, using the rest of the thinly sliced berries on this layer.

Top with the 3rd layer and frost the top and sides thickly with the frosting.

Do not garnish until right before serving, as the juice from cut berries will drip down the sides of the cake. To avoid this, you could garnish with a single whole berry in the center.

When ready to serve, add the strawberries for garnish - in this photo, Paul showed me how to fan the center one by leaving the hull on, and slicing through from bottom to top, leaving the slices attached at the hull end, then twist slightly to fan it out. The other berries were simply cut in half and arranged around it.

Store this cake in the refrigerator and serve chilled. It keeps beautifully and is best made a day or two before.

Enjoy!

Irish Soda Bread for St Patrick's Day

 
Feels like old times this week: all the grandchildren (all four are young teens or tweens) are here for Spring Break. They are having a great time doing all the old fashioned things that kids will do if given the opportunity: swinging in the porch swing, helping with yard work, finding lizards, skateboarding, walking up to the school to run (and meet their friends), playing scrabble after supper, staying up too late and being too loud and sleeping til noon.

So what if they have smart phones in hand on the porch - that doesn't stop them laughing with delight as they swing back and forth.  They took pictures with their iPod of the lizard they found, but they still moved all the firewood to a new platform first. They googled the Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary and figured out words - but they still asked to play again the next night on our 30 year old "Deluxe" turntable board. Some things they do a little differently, but much has not changed at all. We do not need to worry about our upcoming generation: the kids are alright.

With them all here for St Patrick's Day, I thought it would be fun to have a "traditional Irish Breakfast", so we had a sweet Irish Soda Bread toasted and slathered with butter (they LOVED it), canadian bacon, fried eggs (3 of them wanted runny yolks!), tomatoes, "white sausage" (we used scrapple - not quite the same I know but all I could arrange for in a pinch, so close enough), and nice hot tea with cream and sugar. They also LOVED the tea - and wanted to know if we can have it again later today.  Sure - we'll have hot tea tonight with our St Paddy's Day Baked Potato Feast (all the toppings, including taco meat, bacon, cheese, crutons.... etc etc and everyone builds their own).

Here's the recipe for a moist, sweet version of Irish Soda Bread that has raisins and caraway seed in it. It is easy and quick to put together, but it has to bake for more than an hour, so take that into consideration.

Sweet Irish Soda Bread

4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
15 ounce box of raisins(about 2 1/2 cups)
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
8 ounce package of sour cream (about 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use shortening to generously grease a 9" round baking pan or cast iron skillet. I used Thelma's old biscuit pan - Paul said he remembers her using this his whole life. I hope every family has an heirloom biscuit pan, cornbread pan or comal that still can make us feel warm and happy when we use it just like our mom or grandmother did.

Plump the raisins by pouring one cup of boiling water over them and letting them set til cool, then drain.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and caraway seeds in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and sour cream. Stir the liquid mixture into flour mixture and add the raisins. Mix it just until all the flour is moistened. Do not over-work this dough - it should be soft and sticky.

Pour the dough in the prepared pan. It's going to be homely looking.  Dust with a bit of flour, then use a sharp knife to slash a cross into the top, about an inch or two deep.

Bake for one hour and 5 minutes - a little longer if you think it needs it. Turn out of the pan onto a wire rack to cool.  Serve warm, cold or toasted, with soft butter.

Not one kid thought the caraway was odd (although Paul did) - they all have eaten several pieces of it.  Definitely a keeper, and I am going to make another loaf to take to our Church's small group meeting tomorrow.

Update: Thanks to Pat @ SIGIS for the link! :-)

A Homemade King Cake for Mardis Gras!

I've made Kings Cake's a couple of times before, but I always used a shortcut, starting with canned cinnamon roll dough. This year, I decided to make one from scratch, with a traditional brioche dough and cream cheese filling.  I took it to a small group gathering yesterday and it was a big hit!  There's still time if you want to make one for Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday).  Here's how:

Place dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl or bread bowl:
4 cups of flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 scant tablespoons of active dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon lemon zest (grated lemon peel)
Optional: 4 teaspoons wheat gluten

Mix together well and set aside.  In a small saucepan, melt
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), then add
1 cup of milk

and warm until just above body temp - 100 to 105 degrees F. Remove from heat and whisk in:

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 egg yolks (save the whites - you can freeze egg whites (but not egg yolks) and use them to make merangues later)

Slowly add the warm liquid to the flour mixture, stirring as you go. Mix it together well until all flour is incorporated, and continue to knead until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky.  I used our KitchenAid stand mixer with the dough hooks, and it makes short work of it on medium high for 4 minutes. If you are doing it by hand, this will take about 6 to 8 minutes of kneading.

Cover with a damp cloth and set in a warm place to rise until doubled. It will take about 2 hours. A good trick is to turn your oven on for one minute, then turn it off and turn the oven light on. Then the oven will hold enough heat to help the bread rise without being too hot or drafty. This will work as long as the light bulb is an incandescent one. A flourescent bulb does not generate heat, so it wouldn't help.

While the dough is rising, make the filling:

1 1/2 packages of cream cheese (about 12 ounces total)
1/2 cup marmalade or preserves
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup sugar (to taste, depending on how sweet your preserves are)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together well and set aside.


When dough has risen, lay it out on a lightly floured board and roll it into a rectangle that is about 30 inches long and only 5 or 6 inches wide.  Spread the filling down the middle along the entire length of it, then fold one long edge over to meet the other and pinch together well.   Roll along it with your hands until it is a cylinder shape with the sealed edge on the bottom, and bring together into a circle, pinching the open edge together.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or waxed paper and quickly lift the dough from the board onto the baking sheet with the sealed edge down.

Now's the time to tuck the baby, the feve, or the bean into the cake - put it underneath the cake and push it up well into the dough so that it is surrounded by dough and hidden from Herod's soldiers. I used a pecan half for this cake, as I didn't have a plastic feve and was nervous about someone maybe breaking a tooth on a porcelain one (besides, I didn't want to part with any antique feves from my collection!).

Use a sharp, greased knife and make shallow cuts across the top of the wreath about 5 inches apart (at right angles to the cake so that the cut goes from the inside edge of the circle to the outside edge). These will give the cake its "crown" appearance.  I forgot this step when making the cake pictured, so it is not essential.

If you want to give it a Mexican twist, the New Orleans King Cake can become a Rosca de reyes by adding dried fruits to the top: figs, candied orange peel, dried cherries or citron.  Or, do a little research to see which variations were most popular in the countries of your ancestors - this tradition is truly ancient, and was formerly celebrated by Christians all around the world.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees while the cake rests. Then put the cake in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on the baking sheet.

Mix icing and make colored sugar while the cake is cooling:

Colored sugar:
6 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided into 3 separate cups (2 tablespoons for each color).
Food coloring

Work in a place that can be easily cleaned and will not stain, wear and old apron and use vinyl gloves to keep the food color off your hands as it will stain. Use 2 or 3 drops of food color for each cup. Make one cup of golden yellow, one of green and one of purple.  To make green: 1 drop of blue and one or 2 drops of yellow, right into the cup with the sugar. As you mix it together with with sugar, they will blend and make green. To make purple: 1 or 2 drops of blue and one or two drops of red - depending on whether you like a bluer shade of purple or a redder shade.  As you mix it together with the sugar, it will become purple.

Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon of milk

Stir together sugar and lemon juice until powdered sugar is thoroughly mixed. If it needs more liquid, add milk a teaspoonful at a time until it is the consistency you like.  Drizzle the icing over the cake, let sit for a few moments to stabilize, and then sprinkle the colored sugars alternately all the way around it.

Pick the cake up carefully, move it to a serving platter, and present to your guests!

Devil's Food Torte with Raspberries

Paul had a birthday recently, and it was a big one milestone, so we had some of our friends over for cake. When I asked Paul what kind of cake he wanted, he started talking about mocha and raspberries and oh my.  I found a recipe and adapted it to fit. It turned out gorgeous! Looks great and tastes perfect. Several people have asked for the recipe,so here it is.

Devil's Food Torte with Raspberries

Make cake and chill for 8 hours before serving. It should keep well, refrigerated, for at least 24 hours. 

1 Devil's Food Cake Mix (I used Duncan Hines)
Leftover brewed coffee to substitute for water called for in cake mix
Eggs and oil as called for in cake mix
2 layer cake pans

Use shortening to grease the cake pans and dust with flour. Set pans on baking sheets "just in case" to prevent overflows. Preheat oven.
Prepare the cake mix according to package directions, using whole eggs and oil, and substituting coffee for the water called for. Pour into pans and bake as directed for layer cake pans. Test for doneness with a toothpick at earliest time. Remove from oven and cool in pans on wire racks for 15 minutes, then turn out of pans and finish cooling on wire racks with top side UP.  Cool for at least one hour.

2 cups heavy whipping cream (I used Kroger brand)
1 8 ounce package cream cheese (not low fat)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

Use electric mixer and beat cream until very stiff.  Set aside.

Put cream cheese into large bowl with sugar and vanilla and beat on high until fluffy. At low speed, gradually fold in whipped cream.

Divide this frosting into 4 relatively equal portions (one can be larger than the others for the top and for "leftover")

Assembling and icing the cake:

1 can raspberry filling (can't remember the brand, but it wasn't a very big can) to glaze the layers with
1 package fresh raspberries

While layer remains on wire rack, use a bread knife (or your electric knife if you don't have a bread knife), and carefully trim the convex part off the top so that it is flat. Don't worry about how it looks, only that most of the top be mostly flat. (Set the trimmings aside to make yourself  & your sweetie a little "preview parfait" out of the leftover ingredients)

Then, hold your bread knife flat and cut the layer in half horizontally. Carefully lift the top and set it onto your cake plate.

Open the raspberry filling and use your spatula to spread a VERY THIN layer on the top of the layer. It should be thin, just enough to glaze the top.

Take a few fresh berries (the ugly ones) and crumble them and scatter on top.

Clean spatula, then spread the cream frosting thickly on top of the glaze, letting it kind of stray over the edges a bit.

Set the other layer right on top of all this and do exactly the same thing all over again.

Split the next layer and repeat.

When the top is iced, smooth it a little, and arrange the prettiest raspberries on it.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. By chilling it for several hours, it will hold together well and you won't need skewers to hold it together.

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We had coffee ice cream with it, and it was perfect! Paul says it is one of the best cakes he has ever eaten. I was so pleased!  I have never been much of a baker but it starts to look like I have taken it up as a new hobby by accident. :-)