Recipes

[chibichibi01]

So, I've been in a baking frenzy lately. I've made two loaves of bread, some cookies, scones, two quiches and some beef stroganoff. And when I have more time and no homework, I'll post those recipes up.

In the meantime, you guys have any favorites you want to share?

-beeping in the background- Ah! The honey bread is done!

EDIT:

Sammich bread 1 1/2 pound loaf

Unfortunately it only works if you have a bread machine because that's how I've made mine.

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Pop all that into the bread machine and bake on sandwich settings.

Sweet Scones! Makes 12-16

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut up
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
(Plus any other things like nuts or dried fruit or chocolate chips to mix in!)

Directions:

1 Heat oven to 425°F (220 Celsius).
2 Put flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl; stir mix well. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender or rub in with your fingers. (I used a hand mixer)
3 Add sugar; toss to mix.
4 Add milk and vanilla and stir with a fork (Or hand mixer) until dough forms.
5 Plop a heavy spoonful into a (greased) muffin pan
6 Sprinkle desired amount of cinnamon and sugar on each scone. (or other tasty bits)
7 Bake about 15 minutes, or until medium brown on top.

Quiche and stroganoff recipes to come soon

[Dave]

Well, I did one last evening which worked out quite well (that is. I liked it and my wife liked it, and that's good enough for this household).

It was a fairly simple-and-easy "baked winter squash" recipe. I had bought a small kabocha squash and we had a delicata that a friend had given us, so I used both. Poked holes in them, roasted on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, brought them out to cool, and then cut in half, cleaned out the seeds and strings, and scooped all of the softened flesh into a bowl. The delicata's skin (paper-thin) was thrown away; I saved the two half-shells from the kabocha.

Chopped one small yellow onion and a handful of nutmeats (a mix of almond, walnut, and pecan) and lightly sauteed them in some garlic-infused olive oil (enough to soften and begin to caramelize the onions and toast the nutmeats a bit). Warmed up a quarter-cup of chicken broth in the microwave and added a large teaspoon of honey. Stirred the broth/honey mixture into the cooked squash to soften it, mixed in the onions and nutmeats, added a few heaping tablespoons of sauteed mushrooms I'd made up earlier, a bit of powdered ginger and a bit of powdered nutmeg.

Mix well, stuff the kabocha shells (heaping-full), put them back on the cookie sheet, back in the oven for another 45 minutes to heat through and brown very slightly.

Served it with some fresh Pacific salmon fillets (liberally dusted with "Cajun blackened" spice mixture, and cooked 8 minutes per side over our outdoor gas grill set on "medium") and some more of the sauteed mushroom mixture (button, Portobello, and shiitake). Yummie!

[Fairportfan]

Huh. Thought i posted this. Must have thought i did and exited.

I mean, it's posted two other places, but those were copy-and-paste from what i typed up here... Is a puzzlement.

Well, here it is:

Been meaning to post this one since i made it a couple days ago. (I think that this is pretty much my own creation, but i'm not sure)

Smothered Steak My Way

Ingredients:

2 lb or so of cubed steaks (or ground-beef patties)
One large green papper
2 small or one medium-to-large sweet onion
8 oz package fresh sliced mushrooms
2 10-oz cans RoTel diced tomatoes with green chiles (or plain diced tomatoes)
herbed flour (i generally add commercial italian seasoning, possibly some garlic powder, some "Jane's Crazy Mixed-Up Salt" in proportions that appear good to me.)
oil or butter

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350.

Core and pith the pepper, chop it medium-coarse. Peel and slice the onion(s).

Melt some butter or heat some oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge the meat in the flour to thoroughly coat, then brown on both sides. Set it aside.

Add more butter or oil, if needed, and toss the chopped pepper in the skillet. Stir it around as it sizzles, until it begins to soften a bit.

Add the onion. Keep stirring until the onion begins to soften.

Add the mushrooms, keep stirring till they begin to be a little cooked.

Add a couple of tablespoons of the herbed flour and stir until the vegetables are coated. Remove from heat.

Begin loading the ingredients into an oven dish or roaster with a top. First add the meat. If there are more steaks/patties than will form a single layer, make the first layer and then put half of the vegetables on top of it, then add the second layer of meat, and top with the rest of the vegetables.

Pour the undrained diced tomatoes over the top.

(I use the Ro*Tel tomatoes with chiles - generally one can of original and one can of the lime-and-cilantro variety. If it seems that might be too spicy for you, substitute ordinary diced tomatoes for one or both of th two cans. I really recommend that at least one can of tomatoes you use be the Ro*Tel - the mild variety, if necessary, because they add flavour as well as spice.)

Cover and put it in the oven for thirty to forty-five minutes. (I really don't time it as such, just "Well, it oughta be ready.")

If you want, after it's cooked, turn the oven off, fish the meat out of the oven dish, and put it in the oven on a plate to keep warm.

Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, and add a couple of tablespoons of the herbed flour and stir to make a roux. Add the liquid from the baking dish, and simmer to thicken the sauce.

Serve with the sauce (including vegetables) ladled over the meat

Serve with mashed potatoes, rice or something of the sort.

[Julie]

Well, the only pastry recipe I've ever made is a mocha-spice bûche de noël with a homemade, sour cream-based chocolate frosting. Unfortunately, since I moved over the summer, I don't know where my non-cookbook recipes are. However, I can share with you the oven brisket that my husband and I recently made with MUCH success!


Ingredients
1 Beef Brisket (3-4 lbs)
2 tablespoons Very Finely Ground Coffee
1/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons Chili Powder
2 tablespoons Salt
1 tablespoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 teaspoons Dry Mustard
1 1/2 cups Beef Stock (or broth if that's what you have on hand)

Directions
Make a dry rub of the coffee, dakr brown sugar, chili powder, salt, black pepper, and dry mustard.
Season the raw brisket on both sides, and wrap in plastic wrap (we prefer to also add a layer of aluminum foil for added leak protection). Let sit in fridge overnight.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Place brisket in roasting pan (fat cap up), and roast, uncovered for 1 hour.
Add beef stock (or broth) to the roasting pan along with however much water is needed to have about 1/2 inch of liquid in the pan.
Lower oven temp to 300 degrees, cover the pan tightly, and continue to cook for another 3 hours (or until fork tender).
To serve, trim the fat and slice meat across the grain. Top meat slices with sauce from the pan.

You may wish to add BBQ sauce, but we've found it's not entirely necessary unless you want to brighten up the flavor of the meat...which will be very darkly flavored. It's also very good if you shred the meat, lightly toss it with some sauce, and serve on bread for a BBQ sandwich.

[Atomic]

Tis the season, so:

Gingerbread

2 TBS shortening (vegetable oil OK substitute)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs - beaten
1 cup Molasses (dark)
2 cups Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Baking Soda dissolved in:
1 cup Hot (boiling) water

Cream sugar and shortening (veg oil), beat in eggs.
Add the hot water/soda, mix, add molasses, mix.
Add flour and beat.

Well greased pan in 350F/180C oven, not too close to burner. 45-50 minutes -- check with toothpick.

Enjoy! (from my grandmother)