Homemade Crescent Dough

 I love being inspired by the foodie friends that I have on my facebook page.  They remind me of the recipes I used to make, inspire me to try new things and motivate me to think outside the box.  Last week while perusing through my home page I saw this beautiful Chicken and Broccoli Bread Braid from Pampered Chef Consultant-Carol's Corner and just had to give it a try.

I used to make these braids a while ago but just forgot about them.  In fact, my family was thrilled when it arrived to the table.  They too remembered those days from long ago.  My only issue with why I don't make them as often is buying the crescent dough in the cans.  To me it's insanely expensive.  This coming from a woman who spends $20 a pound for great salami.  It's not the price it's the markup.  It blows me away that a company can charge $4 a can when it's bread dough.  I guess it's the principal of the thing…LOL

Honestly, it never occurred to me to try and make it myself.  I figured it was some deep secret recipe and the market was taken and you just BUY your dough.  I was wrong.  YEP, I said it…WRONG.  In my desire to make Carol's yummy braid I did a search and found a recipe on allrecipe.com that had 5 stars and excellent reviews.  I proceeded to print, make and eat a very good homemade version of the crescent roll dough from a can.

It was easy, felt very similar to the original and tasted like the dough in a can.  The flavor is what got me…it was that same "crescent dough" flavor that is so familiar with this product.  I can only assume that the flavor is from the Crisco.

I will make this recipe again in the future.  A few notes before I share the recipe.  It makes a lot.  9 cups of flour should be your first clue…it should have been mine…LOL  I easily could have divided the dough into fourths and froze 3 for future uses. You can also make up the dough, make the crescent shaped rolls, freeze and have them for a later meal.  I found the original recipe to be a little bit weak in the salt department, so I have changed the amount of salt added to the recipe (shown in red).  I also changed Carol's recipe just a scosh (that's a little) because my family would not like the dill blend for the spread and I did not have sharp cheddar on hand.  Her recipe inspired me to begin, but based on what I had and what my family likes, it has been changed to fit our palette.

Recipe:  Crescent Roll Dough

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups milk
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 cup sugar (2 T. in yeast/water and the remaining sugar used in the creaming process)
1 cup shortening
1 teaspoon of salt
6 eggs, beaten
9 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

DIRECTIONS:
 Heat milk to 110 degrees .

Add yeast and 2 T. of sugar; stir until dissolved.

Let set for 3-5 minutes until frothy on top.

In large mixing bowl ( I used my kitchenaid) , cream sugar, shortening and salt. Add eggs; mix well.

Alternate the flour and milk until all combined.

 Knead ( I used my Kitchenaid to do the kneading) until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.

Place dough in greased bowl; cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours.

Divide dough into 4 parts. Roll each into a circle and brush with melted butter.

Cut each circle into 16 pie-shaped pieces.

Roll each piece into a crescent, starting at wide end.

I used the remaining dough and rolled them into the standard crescent shape and baked them.  My family loved the rolls.

To bake, place on greased baking sheet and cover; let rise until doubled.

 Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.

Recipe: Chicken Broccoli Braid

Ingredients:

2 cups  chopped cooked chicken breasts

1 cup  chopped broccoli florets

1/4 cup of chopped red onion

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

1/2 cup ranch dressing (recipe below)

8-10 slices of Jack or Cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 of the dough from above

1 egg white, lightly beaten


Preheat oven to 375°F .   I used my round pizza stone.  You can have that pre heating in the oven while you are preparing your braid.

Prepare your filling.  Cook and chop your chicken into small pieces.  Steam your broccoli.  Chop your red onion and bell pepper.  Combine the chicken, broccoli, onion and bell pepper into a small bowl.

Make your ranch dressing (recipe below) and set aside.

Take your dough and roll into a rectangle on a slightly floured surface. If you use a piece of parchment paper then you can just slide the braid onto your cookie sheet or stoneware. I measured my stoneware and rolled the dough according to what would fit.  NOTE:  I noticed the dough doubles when cooked, keep this in mind when rolling out your dough.  If you want a thick crust, roll dough to 1/4 inch.  If you want a thinner crust roll the dough as thin as you can.

Start your braid by layering your ingredients.  I did mine this way: Ranch, Broc/Chicken mixture, salt and then cheese.

I used a pizza cutter to cut the slices on the side of my rectangle of dough.  I spaced the slices about every 1.5 inches apart.

My son said that I needed to be less stingy with the cheese..I thought this was a lot, but it would have been cheesier with a lot more and that is what they want next time.

To Braid:  Start on one end and pull the end up over the beginning of the braid (on your left).  Take the left side and the right side and fold over each other in a criss-cross pattern.  USE water if your dough is not staying in place.  Just dab a little bit where the dough touches and it should stay.  As you near the end, trim off any extra dough that might be too "thick" and fold the right end to look pretty.

Take the egg white and beat until frothy.  Using a pastry brush, spread the egg white on the top of the braid.  This gives it a nice golden and shiny crust.

Transfer the braid to the cookie sheet or stoneware and bake for 20-25 minutes.   Watch the top so that it does not get too dark…you can use a piece of foil towards the end so that you are sure to not over brown the top.

Recipe:  Ranch Dressing

1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp. garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. onion salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Combine all of the ingredients together and store in refrigerator.  Taste to make sure the spices are how you and your family like your ranch.  You may need to add a bit more garlic or salt.

Written by Sherron Watson

3 Easy Peppermint Recipes for Christmas

We love peppermint in our home.  We like to drink peppermint tea, especially Iced Tea.  We enjoy peppermint candy canes, peppermint truffles and mints and peppermint dairy creamer (this is our new favorite).  The creamer mixed with your coffee first thing in the morning is like having a jubilee chorus singing "hallelujah"... it's that tasty.  LOL

Over the last week I have played around with a few peppermint, easy and kid friendly recipes for the holidays.

I recently had peppermint bark and was immediately in love.  Why had it taken me so long to find this yummy candy.  I was having a moment and decided to make my own.  Super easy and what a fun gift for the neighbors.

Our next yummy treat is a Peppermint Pretzel Bite.   I first had these at a cute hotdog haus in a neighboring town.  I originally had them the pretzel dipped in cinnamon and sugar.  I thought I had taken a bite out of a piece of french toast, it was really good.  This was my original plan when I set out to make these last week.  As I was preparing the ingredients, I found the baggie of left over crushed candy canes…an IDEA popped into my head.  I could dip them into the candy cane and have a pretty treat.  It worked and they are so more-ish.

Finally, a cookie was to be made.  I saw these cute pink cookies dipped in white chocolate with peppermint sprinkles on them.  They sounded good, but they also looked so pretty!  I set out to make these and discovered that I did not have some of the ingredients and had to improvise.  I was so happy with the result that I will share them with you  too.  Cranberry Pomegranate Shortbread cookies are the perfect blend of sweet and tart….with a snap of peppermint sugar crystals…so good and yummy!

Recipe:   Peppermint Bark

1 cup of dark chocolate chips
2 cups of white chocolate chips or Baker cubes (2 boxes)
candy canes

Have a cookies sheet, lined with parchment paper, ready.  Crush your candy canes by placing 4 in a baggie and using a rolling pin, roll back and forth using your body weight.  You should be able to get very fine or chunky pieces, this is up to you.  I chose to have chunky pieces

Melt your chocolates in two different bowls.  You can microwave the chips in 30 second intervals, stirring each time OR use a bowl onto of a sauce pan with boiling water.  The water only needs to be an inch  and the chocolate should be stirred until melted.  Do not over cook or you will ruin your candy.

Spread the chocolate layer to a thin layer and refrigerate for 15 minutes or until hard.

Melt the white chocolate using the same method above.  Carefully pour the white chocolate over the dark chocolate trying not to melt and swirl the two together.

Sprinkle your candy cane pieces over the white chocolate and gently using your palms, push the pieces into the white chocolate.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes or until hard.

Remove from fridge and let the chocolate set for an hour.  The candy should peel away from the parchment paper and broken into bite size pieces.

Recipe:  Peppermint Pretzel Bites

1 Bag of Snyder's square pretzels
3 cubes of Baker's white chocolate or 1/2 cup of chips
4 candy canes
cinnamon and sugar mix (option)

Select a shallow bowl to melt your candy in so that when you dip your pretzels, you hands do not get messy. Melt white chocolate by using the microwave method or stovetop.

Crush the candy canes using the baggie and rolling pin method.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Dip a pretzel in to the white chocolate, half way, and then dip pretzel into cinnamon and sugar OR the crushed candy cane.

Place the pretzel on the cookie sheet and place in fridge when full.  Remove after 15 minutes.  These can be stored in a baggie.

Recipe:  Cranberry Pomegranate Shortbread Cookies w/ peppermint sprinkles

Original recipe can be found here by Better Homes and Garden.  I changed the ingredients, but the technique used in the original recipe is the same for both.

1/2 cup dried cranberries, minced finely
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cold butter
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup of fresh pomegranate juice
2 drops red food coloring (optional)

To decorate:

12 ounces white chocolate baking squares
Peppermint sprinkles

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in cranberries and pomegranate juice. Stir in almond extract and, if desired, food coloring. Knead mixture until it forms a smooth ball.

3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1-1/2-inch rounds.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until centers are set. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

5. Melt chocolate by using the microwave method or stovetop. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off.  Roll edges in peppermint sprinkles. Place cookies on waxed paper until chocolate is set. 

Written by Sherron Watson

Cinnamon Pull-a-parts

Update 2-6-2014:  I recently visited a site that I have this recipe listed. I was a bit concerned with some of the comments suggesting the recipe did not work. Well, I am here to say that it does.  I made a fresh batch today and the recipe is spot on.  I don't know why some have had a difficult time getting this to work.  With that said, please keep in mind that we all cook differently, with a different skill set and different available ingredients.  Here is a picture of the batch I made this morning:  This picture has the full 2 cups of sugar and cinnamon (I noted below that the other pictures were made with half of this).

I will add that they are best fresh!  If they sit, they will get a bit firm but they can be microwaved for a few seconds to soften again.   Do not over bake them.

The recipe also works well to halve the ingredients to make one pie plate.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

What is a pull-a-part?  It's a goofy name you give to something that doesn't fit the title of Monkey Bread or Cinnamon Rolls…LOL

Yesterday, I woke up thinking I needed something warm, gooey and doughy.  My kids have been asking for Monkey Bread for..well…EVER.  I keep forgetting to buy a Bundt pan and so I thought that maybe I could use a large Stoneware bowl that I own and put something in the middle, like a canning jar, and create my own Bundt pan.  WRONG.  I don't own any canning jars either.  I know, right, what is wrong with this woman who professes to be a cook and is missing two important things in her kitchen…LOL  This week that will be fixed. PROMISE.

So I did the next best thing, and decided that I would take a moment and create something that tasted the same as a cinnamon roll and pulled apart similar to Monkey Bread.  I will have to admit the Monkey Bread and all of it's gooey-ness is what I was craving but I endured the tasting and sampling of the pull-a-parts and did just fine.

I have been wanting to try my roll recipe that can be made in under an hour for this type of recipe.  I don't believe that one bread recipe is good for all things, but when your in a hurry and time is of the essence, I think this particular recipe worked great for rolls and cinnamon pull-a-parts.  It was airy, light, fluffy, and yet, dense enough to hold its shape to be pulled apart.  That was a good thing.

The next time I make these I will experiment more with adding cinnamon and sugar with a freer hand.  I was a little bit stingy because I did not want to over do it with the sugar.  I could have used 3x's as much and had them taste "really, really" cinnamony (is this a word?…lol)  That is next time though.  Yes, we will make these again because my family devoured them in no time.  I love surprising my family with these types of Sunday mornings.  Cooking is fun because I have a captive audience and they always make me feel like I know what I am doing, even if some of the time I am flying by the seat of my pants…like a monkey.

Recipe:  Cinnamon Pull-a-parts

Makes two 10 inch pie plates full of cinnamon balls

1/3 cup of sugar
2 T. yeast
2 cups of warm water
2 tsp. salt
6 eggs
6-8 cups of flour (the dough should pull from the bowl and knead without sticking)

2 stick of butter
1-2 cups of cinnamon/sugar mixture ( I used a cup, but if you like a lot of cinnamon/sugar…add more) To make the cinnamon-sugar mixture for each cup of sugar I would add 2 tablespoons of cinnamon.


1.  Heat your oven to 400.  Preheat pans in oven while dough is rising.  Stoneware and glass pans work great.

2.  In a small bowl or 2 cup measuring device, add sugar and yeast to the warm water.  Let set for 5 minutes until frothy.

3.  In a LARGE bowl or large mixer, add your salt, eggs and water/yeast mixture.  Mix together.  Slowly start adding your 6-8 cups of flour.  The dough should pull away from the side of your bowl and combine all the ingredients together well.  Knead for 3 minutes.

4.  Let the dough rise for 30 minutes.   Melt 1 stick of butter in  a small bowl.  Combine sugar and cinnamon.


5.  Take preheated pans out of the oven and melt 4 T. of butter in each.  Sprinkle a 1/2 cup of cinnamon sugar on the bottom of the pan.  Start pinching of sections of dough and rolling them into a ball.   Coat each ball with melted butter and then the sugar and cinnamon mixture.

6.  Place each ball in the pan close to each other.  The heat from the pan will cause the dough to start rising.  Place your pan in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. The rolls should be golden brown on top.  


**NOTE:  My dough sections when rolled, where the size of walnuts and this made for a 3.5 inch raised pull-a-part.  If you would like them to not be so tall, then make your rolled dough pieces smaller.  This may alter the cooking time a bit so keep an eye on them while they cook.


I served the pull-a-parts with a simple cream cheese frosting.


In a small bowl, I mixed equal parts butter and cream cheese, added a touch of vanilla.  With the powdered sugar, I continued to add enough until the consistency and flavor was what I wanted.  I have a small whip that comes in handy for this task.  ENJOY!

Simple Gyoza's (dumplings)

When Cory and I were first married we were young and trying to find our way in this life.  We were not sure what to do for careers but we knew that we needed to go to college.  Being young and having to support ourselves in school we did what we thought was best: we joined the Air Force.  We did this for two reasons: school and to travel.

Well, Cory got to travel.  He was gone for 2 of the 4 years while I got to see Texas.  He did get his education after we full-filled our commitment.  We were so grateful for our time spent in the military and that he was able to serve our country.  He was in the Gulf War for 9 months.   During our time in the military, we met lots of wonderful families and friends.

One of the couples we became friends with, had just returned from Japan.  This young man returned with his Japanese wife to a foreign country and she spoke very little English.  We immediately became friends because my husband speaks Japanese.  He lived there as a child and served a mission there for two years.

When we first met, you could see the loneliness in her eyes and when Cory greeted her in Japanese she immediately got this beautiful smile….she found some friends.  Of course, I do not speak Japanese, outside of the few phrases I have learned over the years.

Our two families spent a lot of time together.  In the course of our friendship, we cooked together.  It was something that we both loved to do and also something that did not require us to know the other's language.  I could watch and learn and I did.

When she showed us how to make the gyozas…we were in love.  Cory was taken back to his time in Japan…the smells were delicious in the air.  He said he could close his eyes and feel as though he was in a home in Japan.  This was a special moment for him.

I could not believe how much work it was to make the gyoza's and together we knocked them out quite fast.  From that short friendship and moment in our lives, this recipe has been made thousands of times.  In 25 years I  make this recipe at least 4 or 5 times a year and each time I make the recipe I prepare about 200-250 unless I am hosting a party and then the number turns into 400-500.  Yes, it's crazy but the smile on my guest faces when they taste them…it's worth it!

Over the years my recipe has changed.  Primarily because I could not always get the "original" ingredients.  I am finding myself in this situation now.  I have been wanting to make these and share them with you for almost 6 months but I have had one problem:  the gyoza wrappers.  I can't find them anywhere in our new location.  It's so maddening!  I can find wonton wrappers and I have resisted this buy for months, until this week.

I tried to order the gyoza's online but they want a fortune for shipping…75.00 to ship 12 packages.  OUCH!  I asked Cory what he wanted for his birthday dinner and this is what he requested.  FINE, I will buy the wonton wrappers and make them work…but I am NOT taking a picture of them and sharing on the blog…RIGHT!!!

SO, here I am with my wonton wrappers, recipe, and pictures.  I finally told myself that it's ok to share because maybe others can't find the wrappers too.  Honestly, they tasted great and I could hardly tell the difference.  To my Japanese friends, please forgive me that I have used another wrapper…but, I could not refuse the request of my hubby for his special meal.

If you would like to see the "real" deal along with beautiful pictures and an original recipe please visit my friend Nami from Just One Cookbook. She is Japanese and has an amazing recipe that you can also check out for Gyoza's.

Over the years we have loved having Japanese students living in our home.  We love this culture and find ourselves having strong feelings and an abundance of love towards the people, the culture and especially, the food.  This always made them smile when I would make gyozas.

This was also the first time that we involved our kids in making the process.  I thought that it was about time for them to understand the labor that went into making something that they loved so much.  It's kind of like catching your dinner and then having to kill, clean and cook it.  Although I did not make them kill the pig for the pork (my neighbor did that).  We had a great time.  I treasure these times with my kids, especially as I know that their time under our roof is limited.  We talked about how, one day, they will look back and remember the times we made gyoza's together and hopefully they will teach their kids and have the same bonding experience.

This recipe is a keeper.  It's work, but if your involve many hands, it becomes fun and memorable.

Recipe:  Gyoza's (simple recipe)

1 pound of ground pork
1 head of cabbage ( I have used Napa and regular green cabbage over the years)
1 onion
lots of minced garlic (3-4T)
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 T. Mirin Sauce

Oil, for cooking
water, for steaming
3-4 packages of Gyoza wrappers (round ones if you can find them)

Dipping Sauce:

soy sauce
vinegar


Your Gyoza wrappers should be set out at room temperature for at least an hour before you start to wrap the gyozas.  If they are cold the wrappers have a tendency to break or tear.  Just my opinion from over the years of making them.

You will want to shred your cabbage very thinly then make sure the pieces are small….do not use a food processor and turn your cabbage into mush.  It should be small pieces.  See pictures below to gage the size.

Finely chop your onion.  Add the onion, garlic, pork, cabbage, Mirin sauce  and soy sauce into one large bowl.  NOTE: I do not measure my ingredients for this recipe.  The soy sauce  is an estimate.  You want your mixture to look like it is coated with soy sauce, a light brown in color.  MIX all of the ingredients well.  I use my hands to do this because I want the pork and cabbage mix to be really combined.

This is the pork that my neighbor gave to us.  I also use ground pork from the butcher.

This really is a team effort.  We try to involve as many people as possible when making these morsels of yumminess.  I have a large bowl for the meat/cabbage mix and then each person gets a spoon, a small bowl of water and a tray.

With your spoon, take a small amount and place in the center of wrapper.  Wet the edges all the way around and fold over one side.  You can real fancy and put tucks into the edges or simply seal the wrapper.  For my immediate family we do not tuck, but for fancy dinners and guest…I tuck!

I have cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and start putting our creations into rows.  Without the parchment paper they will stick to the metal of the cookie sheet and get gooey.

Once your gyoza's are made you can start to cook them.  In the past I have had a large covered electric skillet.  This is the best way to cook them.  You can also steam or boil them.  My family does not like them this way so I don't use either of these cooking styles.

For this dinner I was forced to use two pans because my electric skillet died and I have not replaced it, plus I forgot about that until I was ready to cook them…LOL  Guess whats on my list to buy?

In your pan, put a small amount of oil.  Place your gyoza's and cook about 3 minutes on each side.  We do both sides because we like ours a little bit crispy.  After both sides are cooked, add 1/4 cup of water to each set cooked and place a lid on top.  You want to steam the gyoza's for a few minutes.

I usually set my oven to warm, place an oven proof pan inside, and add my batches until I have enough to feed my family.

I serve the gyoza's with white rice and the dipping sauce.  I like my sauce twangy, so I do a bit more vinegar than most.

Your house will smell wonderful, your friends and family will be stuffed, you will be eyeing the leftovers for tomorrows breakfast ( yes, because they don't make it to lunch) and you will already be planning when to make these again.

Written by Sherron Watson

Homemade Dinner Rolls

'86.  This was a good year for me.  I graduated from high school,  spent some time with my Dad, started a new job and found a college to attend.  I would have to say that this is when my life got really good.  My memories are fresh.  The music was awesome.  My future was before me.

'11.  So many years later and never in a million years would I have been able to plan for the adventure my family has had!  Life is good.  We are blessed every day and are so thankful for each and every year we get together as a family.

November has a way of making you stop and think about the things you are grateful for.  I am glad that it's a month and not just a day.  Yes, we eat turkey on one day,  but really the whole month is a constant reminder that being thankful brings a person joy and happiness.

I have said this before, and will probably say it again, that I am thankful for this page and blog.  It is a great way for me to share with my family and friends wonderful recipes that have been shared with me and for this I am thankful.

The other day, Rye and I were making something that she loved.  She asked me if I was going to put the recipe on the blog.  OF COURSE sweet girl!  My kids are understanding, that the recipes that we eat and share as a family,  have memories attached to them.  That the recipes represent a time in their life when they will one day be able to relate it to an event, somewhat like music does.  When you hear a song, no matter where you are, it takes you back to a time, a place, an event…a memory.

I want my kids to have those memories because those will include me.  Our time spent together at the kitchen table, preparing our dishes, laughing and being together.  Our family time is precious and for this, I am thankful every day.

This blog allows my kids, nieces, and nephews, to have family recipes where ever they may live or be in their lives.  They can always call but having an index does come in handy.  I am thankful for technology.

These two recipes were shared with me over 20 years ago by some dear friends.  This was during a time when I was just learning to "really" cook.  That sounds odd, but this is the time that I learned the words "from scratch" and really embraced them.  I love to cook things with whole ingredients.  These recipes are not original to them ( I am sure they were handed down to them by their family) but they are just great recipes.  Easy and quick are two words, lately, that I have enjoyed in the kitchen.  I love my days that I get to spend ALL day making one dish; there is a time a place for all things.  I am thankful for all types of cooking styles, flavors, techniques, recipes, and cooks.  Together we make this "foodie world" wonderful!

Recipes:  Quick Dinner Rolls (32 rolls)

1/3 cup of sugar
2 T. yeast
2 cups of warm water
2 tsp. salt
6 eggs
8 cups of flour
1 stick of butter, melted

Heat your oven to 425.

In a small bowl or 2 cup measuring device, add sugar and yeast to the warm water.  Let sit for 5 minutes until frothy.

In a LARGE bowl or large mixer, add your salt, eggs and water/yeast mixture.  Mix together.  Slowly start adding your 8 cups of flour.  The dough will be sticky.

Let the dough rise for 30 minutes.  Remove from the bowl to a floured surface and knead in enough flour to make it workable.  I add maybe another 1/2 cup to the whole process.  It should still be soft.

Once your dough is ready to be parted, cut into 4 sections and set them off to the side.

Melt your butter in a bowl.

Take one of the flour and roll the dough like you would a pizza crust, into a circle about 14 inches across.

With a pastry brush and using the melted butter, make sure the top is covered in butter.

I use a pizza cutter and cut the circle into 8 pieces, like a pie.

Start on the edges of each piece and roll to the center.  Place on a cookie sheet.  I line my cookie sheet with parchment paper, if you don't, I would spray Pam before laying the rolls on the cookie sheet.

Raise 20 minutes.  You can raise longer, they just get really airy.  Some people like this.

Bake for 6-8 minutes.

YUM!

Recipe:  Chicken Alfredo

1 large chicken breast
1 cup of broccoli florets (optional)
1 box of pasta
1 stick of butter
1/3 cup of flour
2 cups of cream ( you can use half milk and half cream too)
1/2-1 cup of Parmesan cheese ( we like ours strong)
salt
pepper
dash of nutmeg


Preheat oven to 350.

Cut and cook chicken into pieces.  Steam broccoli and cut into small pieces.

Cook pasta according to directions on the packaging.  Drain.

In a medium-size pot, melt your butter.  Add the flour.  Cook for a few minutes over medium heat. Add your cream/milk and bring to a boil.  The sauce should get thick within 6-8 minutes.  Be careful to not burn the bottom.  Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

This is a mild white sauce.  The cheese you use and how much cheese will determine how strong the flavor becomes.

I use two small baking dishes, but this will also fit into a 9X13 pan.  Toss the chicken, broccoli, sauce and pasta together.  Add to your baking dish.  Top with cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  It should be bubbly.  This makes excellent leftovers.

Written by Sherron Watson

Homemade Breadsticks

If you know me very well, then you know that we have moved a lot.  Over 20 times in 24 years (this is just my married life..LOL)  My husband's job and education have had us traveling and exploring most of our married life.  With each move, I have made great friends.  With every friend, I inherited some amazing recipes!  This is one of them.

While living in Tacoma, WA, I met a woman who could do everything, so it seemed.  She cooked like there was no tomorrow and her food was always the hit of any event or party.  She was very gracious with her recipes and had no problem sharing them with everyone.  I have two bread recipes that are amazing, quick and taste so good.  I learned to make bread with these two because they were very user-friendly.

Today I will share the breadstick and in a future post, I will share the other rolls.  What I love about her bread recipe, is that it can be an afterthought and still get made in time for dinner.  So many times bread is an afterthought for me at a meal.  This happened to me yesterday as I was preparing the potato soup.  Then I remembered that I had an old cookbook that I just unpacked and all of my old bread recipes would be nicely tucked away.  I looked and there it was.  YAHOO…bread sticks were made in under an hour and they were a huge hit with the family.  Enjoy!

Recipe:  Easy Breadsticks

1 T yeast, dissolved in 1 ½ cups warm water; add 3 T. sugar.  Let sit for a few minutes until bubbly. 

Add ½ tsp salt and 3 1/4  cups of flour.

Mix and knead for 3 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes.  Melt 1 stick of butter in a cookie sheet.  Roll dough on the counter and cut into strips.  Dab both sides with butter and line them onto the cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with garlic, parsley flakes, seasoned salt, and parm cheese.  Let raise 10-20 minutes, bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees.

NOTE:  The dough is very soft, if it's too soft, add a bit more flour so that you can handle each strip.  I know that one stick of butter sounds like a lot, but the butter is soaked up by the rising dough and breadstick when cooked. If you happen to use less, please let me know if it turns out.  Thanks!

BAM..your done!  Was that not super easy or what?  I have added the pictures below to help with each step.

The above strips were a bit too soft to be picked up, so I ended up cutting them down the middle too.  They will stretch the length of the pan and make thinner bread sticks.  They still taste just as good.

The breadsticks will immediately start to rise in the hot pan with the melted butter.

Season your breadsticks and let rise.

Bake and watch them mesh together, but they pull apart so easily.

This is a quick shot to show you how easily they pull apart and how much they rise.

Written by Sherron Watson

Rouladen with Brown Gravy

 

What the heck is Rouladen?  You might be asking yourself this question or you already know.  It's a German dish made with beef and served with gravy. I was introduced to this dish in my husband's family.  His mother made this dish on nice occasions and for special birthday requests.  This week I was watching Guy's show Dinners, Dumps, and Dives and he featured a restaurant where it was made.  Like food usually does for me, it triggered a memory.  I was reminded of our time spent traveling to his family home for special dinners where this was served.  I never got the recipe and this is why I needed to do some snooping around for myself.

I had to do some research with this dish because I wanted to make sure that when I made it, the rouladen was not dry.  I wanted lots of flavors too.  In reading about this dish, I found that there are several ways to make it.   This made sense to me because the way my MIL made the dish was very different from the way I had just seen it on Guy's show.  The main difference was the addition of pickle and possibly mustard.  I don't ever remember tasting those flavors and this, for me, sounded awesome!  I love both of those ingredients and then together…match made in heaven.

I learned that the dish is prepared differently based on the regions that you may live in around Germany. I also found that there were slight variations on cooking, gravy, and types of mustard and bacon that were used.  It's hard to decide on one recipe with all of the options available.  I did the only thing that I could do.  I decided to take what I liked from several recipes and combine them to make what we ate tonight.  

If you are a seasoned cook this recipe is not difficult.  It does take time to cook and a bit of time to prepare the rolls but it's not hard.  As with most of my recipes, I encourage you to look through the recipe and add what you like to it or take out what you don't like.  Some of the folks did not include the pickle and this dish still tasted wonderful, in their opinion.  The mustard is the other option that could easily be changed to meet your needs.  I used honey mustard, but you may want to use a Dijon or one of your favorites, or simply what you have on hand.



Recipe:  Rouladen with Brown Gravy
make 8 rolls ( I planned on 2 per person)

NOTE: You will need thinly cut pieces of steak.  I used Chip Steak, which is London Broil.  I read that some recipes used Flank Steak as well.  If you use Flank Steak, I would use a mallet and pound to a thinner thickness…1/8 thick.  The steak pieces should be about 3 inches by 6.  I had some pieces that narrowed at one end, which was fine.  I used this end to start the rolling process.   You want enough meat to roll multiple times. I was hoping for three rolls and found that I was able to get pretty close.

8 pieces of thinly cut beef, roughly 3X6 inches in size
1 large dill pickle, cut very thinly or diced very small
8 pieces of bacon, uncooked and thin
1/4 red onion, sliced very thin
honey mustard
1 package of Onion dry soup mix, like Lipton
2.5 cups of water (the measurement is two and a half  cups)
1 T. oil
1/4 cup of flour (GF, use brown or white rice flour)
cooking twine or toothpicks

Preheat your oven to 325.

Prepare your pickles and onion by cutting them very thin.  I ended up chopping up my pickle because I did not cut them thin enough.  Either way works fine.  Take your 8 slices of raw bacon and cut them in half.

Remove your meat from the packaging and line them up side by side.  Doing them in batches saves time.  I did 4 at a time.  With a spoon, take about 1 tsp of honey mustard and spread all over one piece of meat. Separate your slices of red onion and scatter them on top of the mustard.

Take two strips of bacon and lay them long ways on the honey mustard.

Lay a pickle slice or the chopped pieces last.

Cut enough twine for each one to have at least two pieces of string. I had a few that needed three.  Try to tie one on each end and this is where the third might come in handy.  If the middle is bulging and things are trying to escape out of the center add a third-string to it.

In a large frypan, add the oil.  Lay the rouladen bundles in the oil and cook on all sides.  I used a medium-high heat and this took about 4-6 minutes to complete.

In a large stockpot, add your water and package of onion soup mix.  Stir well.  Lay your bundles down inside the pot and add the drippings from the pan.  This will enhance the gravy as it cooks.

I cooked my rouladen for 2 hours.  The first hour the heat was set to 325 for one hour.  The second hour, I bumped up the stove to 375 and cooked for an additional hour.  This last hour is when I started preparing the mashed potatoes.

You will know the rouladen is done if the meat is very soft to cut, you should not need a knife.  Remove the rouladen to a serving bowl.  Put the gravy onto the stovetop and add your flour.  Bring the gravy to a boil and it should thicken.  If the gravy is not as thick as you like,  then remove from heat and add a bit more flour and return to a boil.  Pour the gravy over the rouladen in the serving bowl.  I also added gravy to a gravy bowl for those that wanted some on their mashed potatoes.

Written by Sherron Watson