4 chicken breads
1 ½ pounds red potatoes, cubed
2 tsp paprika
1 ½ tsp rosemary
1 tsp garlic
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
Mix all spices, toss in chicken and potatoes, coat well, arrange in greased, foil-lined pan
425°
30m
Prep time 20m
Cook time 30m
6 servings
Big Biscuits
When serving soup, I like to have some sort of bread. I often make some lovely biscuits from a recipe I found here. I sometimes forgot to get the butter out to soften (okay, that happens a lot). You can grate it with a cheese grater and it works perfectly. I also double the recipe for my family of six. As written below, the recipes makes 12 biscuits.
1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 cup milk
In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Cut in butter (or grate it!) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk just until moistened. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently 8 to 10 times. Roll or push with your hands to 3/4-in. thickness or so; cut with a large biscuit cutter and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Biscuits and Gravy Tutorial
Here is a tutorial for a good ole Southern breakfast! I’ll bet you have all you need in your cupboard and refrigerator! I’ll give options on some of the ingredients, so if you haven’t had breakfast, now you know what to make!
I am no cooking expert and my husband can say ‘Amen’ (if he wasn’t so nice, but thankfully, he is), but I do enjoy cooking most of the time and especially enjoy cooking foods I love and I LOVE biscuits and gravy! 🙂
First, you will need All Purpose Flour or Self Rising Flour (you can use unbleached, organic, store brand, whatever you have on hand). If using AP flour, get out your baking powder (not soda) and salt.
Get out a medium-sized mixing bowl and also a sifter, if you have one. Now would be a great time to preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Get out a cast iron skillet (for best results) and spray it lightly with non stick spray, or use a small bit of the fat you are using in your biscuits to grease it. Do your skillet NOW, because your hands will be too gooked to do it later. Also put a handful of flour in a small bowl nearby your station.
If using AP Flour, measure out 2 cups and place in your sifter, which you have sitting inside your bowl. Add 1 tablespoonful of baking powder to your sifter and 1 teaspoonful of salt. Sift 3 ingredients together into the bowl.
Please excuse the PMS tea which seems to be in every picture. 🙂
Remove the sifter, and now you have this:
Let me interject to say if you are using Self Rising Flour (which I don’t because I can’t find any that is unbleached), then all you have to do is put 2 cups of SR flour into a bowl. If you do, please don’t use the Baking Powder or Salt. You will thank me.
Next, measure out 1/4 cup of fat. This can be coconut oil, olive oil, or for best results (now, not later…:), shortening. I have even used mayonnaise, in a crisis.
You can do one of two things here. You can put in your fat in solid form, which will cause you more work, or you can melt it and save some time. If you put it in in solid form, you will have to work it into your flour mixture until your flour mixture looks like it is little balls of flour ‘peas’. The second thing you can do, which is what I have discovered that works best for me, is to melt the fat, but do not burn it, add it and immediately add your milk (getting ahead of myself), and you will save time.
So, add your fat to your flour mixture.
I used olive oil because I was in a pinch, but for best results, use coconut oil or shortening.
Do not stir! This is very important if you have liquid fat that you do not stir yet.
Okay, now you can get out your buttermilk out of the fridge. Don’t even think about using sweet milk. If you have regular ole milk, the least you can do is add a tp of vinegar or lemon juice to make fake buttermilk, but still, you will not get good results like you do with buttermilk. While you are there at the fridge, get some sour cream. It is very important for the taste of your biscuits. May as well get the butter, too.
Add a little over 1 cup of buttermilk to your mixture. I usually just pour a tiny bit extra after pouring in my cup of buttermilk. *Edited to Add…I made them this morning and it’s about 1 & 1/4 cup of buttermilk. Add your 1 tablespoonful of sour cream.
Now here comes the fun part!
Using a fork, sort of mash the milk/fat mixture in with the flour until it is sort of worked in. You do NOT stir it in. Your biscuits will be tough tasting if you do.
Once you have the liquid sort of mixed with the flour, you get to dive in, hand first. You will probably want to take a moment to get your hands clean at this point. Even if, only for a second.
With your hands (if you’re squeamish about using your hands, get over it), squish the mixture together a few times to blend it all together. If you use a spoon or a fork, it is too ‘rough’ for the mixture—it will be tough.
When you are able to pull a small amount with your hands without it feeling too ‘liquid-y’, it is ready to roll into biscuits. *Edited to add…you may have some dry flour at the bottom that hasn’t meshed into the other ingredients. Don’t worry about mixing it in. Just leave it at the bottom of the bowl. It’s okay. 🙂
Dip your hand into the flour (that you put in the extra bowl) to coat your hands. Break off a small ball of dough (about a tennis ball size or less). Roll between your hands a couple of times, place in the skillet and pat down a bit. Do this until you have the biscuits in the skillet like so:
Place a small pat of butter in the middle of each biscuit. You will thank yourself when you take a bite.
Bake for about 17 minutes. At the end of 17 minutes, broil for 1 minute. Do this if you’re like me and just have to have those biscuits brown. Do not over bake. You will hate me if they are too hard.
Don’t bother rolling out the dough and cutting out this biscuit recipe. You are much too busy, mama, for such complication.
Plus your biscuits might make mine look bad.
Don’t forget to butter ‘em again!
*Special thanks to my husband’s deceased Great-Aunt Inez for this biscuit recipe.
Leave me a comment if you plan to try these biscuits! You’ll have to come back tomorrow for the gravy part. My day is much too filled and I’ve taken far too long. I will be busy gardening (I Must set out those broccoli, peas, and pepper plants today), laundering, cleaning, decluttering, straightening, homeschooling, and piano teaching.
Oh and take a look at this:
3/4 to 1 lb. roast beef (from the deli)
3/4 to 1 lb. sliced white cheese from the deli – muenster, provolone, mozzarella, etc.
hoagie or french rolls – one per person
1 lb. sliced mushrooms, optional
1 lg. onion, quartered, optional
softened butter
If you want a buttery flavor then slice each roll, spread with butter and lay butter side down on a large cookie sheet. Toast at 400 degrees for a few minutes, until butter is melted and bread is barely crisp. You can also just toast the bread without the butter. Flip them over and add a few slices of roast beef and some cheese. Stick back into the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.
If you want (and I highly recommend it) you can saute the mushrooms and onions in butter while everything is toasting and then put a large spoonful or two on top of the cheese once it’s melted. Or on top of the roast beef, then add the cheese and melt it all. My kids don’t like the mushrooms/onions so they eat theirs with meat and cheese only. The two littlest guys (ages 3 and 5) split one.
An alternative to the roast beef is to use some sort of beef sliced super thin, or stir fry meat (make sure you cut it smaller if the strips are very long). Brown the meat in some butter and throw in some garlic powder, onion powder, beef bouillon granules, soy sauce, worchestershire sauce, and Jane’s Mixed-up seasoning or salt. This is sometimes cheaper than a pound of roast beef, but takes longer to make.
Here’s a flavorful soup for your crockpot. I love my crockpot. If you don’t love yours, you can make this on the stovetop. Which I did the other night and it took about 40 minutes.
1/2 to 1 pound Italian sausage – I’ve used turkey sausage and reduced fat too, it all works
1 onion, diced
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
6 cups chicken broth or 1 48 oz can chicken broth – I use half broth, half water and bouillon
3 to 4 large carrots, sliced
1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley
1 zucchini, sliced or diced
a head or a few handfuls fresh spinach, chopped
Cook the sausage, onion, and garlic until the sausage is done. Toss all the ingredients into your crockpot and give it a hug. Cover and cook 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low.
Grandma Swain’s Sausage Soup
This is Grandma’s famous soup, talked about in hushed and reverent tones at family gatherings. We all adore this soup. It is fantastic. I usually have the ingredients on hand so I can whip this up anytime. Okay, I keep the ingredients on hand specifically so I can make it often. There have been fights over the last bowl.
1 lb. uncooked breakfast sausage links
1 small to medium sized onion, chopped
1/3 c. chopped green pepper (I often leave this out since the kids don’t like them)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
3 c. water
18-oz. can tomato juice (2 1/4 c.)
16-oz. can kidney beans, drained
1/2 c. long-grained rice (both white and brown work; brown just takes a little longer)
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 to 1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
dash pepper
Cut the sausage into bite-sized pieces and brown in a large saucepan. I usually throw the onion (and green pepper if I’m using it) in at the same time and let it cook with the sausage then add the garlic right at the end. Add water, tomato juice, beans, rice and seasonings. Simmer, covered, for 25-30 minutes or until rice is tender, stirring occasionally. We wipe out the entire pot in one sitting. This does not hold up well as leftovers since the rice turns super mushy. If you will have leftovers cook some rice separately from the soup and add a little to each bowl as you serve it.
Sugar Cookie Bars
Yield: about 60 bars (depending on how big you cut them)
Time: about 40 minutes + time to cool and frost
Recipe from MyDearMother
PRINT RECIPE
Cookies:1 1/2 C sugar
1 C butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 t almond extract
1 t vanilla
1/2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 1/2 C flour
Frosting:
1/2 C butter softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 C powdered sugar
3-5 T milk
1 t vanilla
food coloring
1. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer beat the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and egg until nice and frothy. About 4 minutes.
2. Add the vanilla and almond extract and beat for 1 minute more.
3. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix them around so that all ingredients are well incorporated.
4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat for about 2 minutes.
5. Press the dough into a large jelly roll (cookie sheet) pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
7. Let the pan cool completely.
8. Time to make the frosting! In a medium sized bowl (or your stand mixer) combine the butter and cream cheese. Beat for about 2 minutes.
9. Add the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and food coloring. Mix for 1-2 minutes or until smooth.
10. Frost your pan of cookies. Cut the cookies into bars and serve!
As a fun decorative option, you could pipe a bit of white frosting onto the bars. Just take about 1/4 of the frosting out of the mixer before you add the food coloring. Put the white frosting into to sandwich sized zip loc bag. Carefully snip the tip and pipe some fun decorations onto the bars.
1 (16 ounce) box saltine crackers, you won’t need the whole box
1 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup finely chopped pecans
Directions:
1
Heat oven to 350°F.
2
Line a cookie sheet with foil.
3
Arrange crackers snugly in a single layer, filling the sheet completely, about 40 crackers.
4
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat.
5
Add the brown sugar and mix well.
6
Pour the butter mixture evenly over crackers, spreading as necessary.
7
Bake 8-10 minutes, or until the butter is bubbly.
8
Remove the sheet from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the crackers.
9
When the chips have softened, spread them over the crackers with a knife.
10
Sprinkle immediately with the nuts.
11
Let the cookies cool 5-10 minutes before cutting between the individual cookies with a spatula.
12
Remove them to a plate, keeping them in a single layer.
13
If you don’t remove them while they are still warm, they will stick to the foil.
I discovered very quickly that a cheesecake is a nice gift–people like them, they look fancy, and they freeze well (and therefore transport well).
So I’m posting the recipe here, since I keep promising to give it to friends.
Cheesecake:
filling:
3 packages cream cheese (8 oz each), softened
1 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice
4 large or 5 medium eggs
crust:
1/3 lb graham crackers (1 pkg from a 1 lb box) crushed to about 1 1/4 c fine crumbs
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c butter or margarine
Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each on medium or low speed, and scraping the bowl frequently. Mix graham crackers and 1/4 c sugar. Add melted butter and mix well. Press into 9″ springform pan or 9″ round cake pan lined with foil. You can just press it into the bottom, or part-way up the sides, too. Pour in filling. Tap it gently on the counter or run a knife through it to pop the bubbles, if there are any. Bake at 300-315 F for one hour. Then turn off the oven but leave the door closed for an hour. Then prop the oven door open with a butter knife for another hour. Chill overnight or freeze (this is an important step–it “fixes” the texture). Use the foil to life the cheesecake from the cake pan after it’s chilled or frozen.
You can actually freeze this overnight, remove the pan, and slide the whole cheesecake into a gallon-sized ziploc bag to serve later.
I discovered that you can cook two at a time, but not three–three pushes them too close to the oven walls and they don’t cook evenly.
Also, I discovered that cream cheese has a “use by” date that is six months down the road. So you can buy a bunch when it’s on sale and then have cheesecake whenever you want.
Finally, we tried seriously whipping the mixture (usually a “no-no” with cheesecake) and it came out so incredibly fantastic–but it had cracks all over the surface, so it wasn’t pretty when it was done. Worth trying, though!
Three notes from my mom, the cheesecake master:
1. Cream cheese should be room temp so it doesn’t lump.
2. Beat as much as you want until you add the eggs. After the eggs, almost no
beating.
3. Cream cheese is good for months after the expiration date.
Lemon Squares
Crust
Mix
1 cup melted butter
12; cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour
Press into 9×13 pan and bakd 350 for 15m
Filling
14; cup flour
2 cups sugar
in separate bowl beat
4 eggs and add 6 TBSP lemon juice
Add both bowls together
Pour into crust and bake 350 for 25m
sprinkle powdered sugar on top immediately after it comes out of oven
Baked Doughnuts
For Printable Recipe, Click here!
Makes: About 15 doughnuts (& donut holes)
For the Dough
3/4 cups Warm Milk
1 packet Active Dry Yeast
1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
1/3 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
2 ½ cup All Purpose Flour
Pinch of Nutmeg
½ tsp. Salt
For the Glaze
* Enough to glaze all the doughnuts
¼ cup Milk
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
2 cups Confectioners Sugar
For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping
*Enough to cover all of the doughnuts
½ cup Unsalted Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 tbsp. Cinnamon
To make the dough, place ¼ cups of the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Let sit for 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup of milk with the sugar and butter. Add it to the yeast mixture. Stir to combine. Add the eggs and stir until incorporated. Add the flour, nutmeg, and salt and stir until the dough starts to form. Change to the dough hook and knead for until the dough starts to become smooth. If the dough is too sticky, slowly add more flour until it is no longer sticky.
Transfer to the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and has formed a ball. Place the dough ball in a large lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.
Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until ½ thick. Using a doughnut cutter (if you don’t have a doughnut cutter, you can use 2 biscuit cutters – 1 that is about 3 inches, and the other that is about 2 inches for the inner circle) cut out the doughnuts until you have no dough left. If desired you can gather up the scraps into a ball and roll it out and cut out more doughnuts. I prefer not too because I feel the dough becomes too tough.
Place the doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, about 2 inches apart. Cover with a clean towel and let sit for about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven 375 degrees F.
Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Be careful to not overbake these. You want them to be light and doughy inside. Let the doughnuts cool for about 5 minutes until ready to top with either the glaze or cinnamon sugar topping
While the doughnuts are cooling make the glaze and/or cinnamon sugar glaze. Each recipe makes enough to cover all the doughnuts. I made a half recipe of each and topped half of the doughnuts with each topping. Or you can choose to just do one of topping for all the doughnuts.
To make the glaze, combine the milk and the vanilla in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until just warmed. Slowly add in the confectioners sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Remove the glaze from the heat and place over a bowl of warm water.
To glaze the doughnuts, dip them halfway into the glaze and place on a draining/cooling rack set over a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired. Let set for about 10 minutes.
To make the cinnamon sugar topping, melt the butter in a saucepan or a microwave, and place in a small bowl. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl.
To top the doughnuts with cinnamon sugar, dip the halfway into the melted butter. Then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Set on a draining/cooling rack to set, about 5 minutes.
Serve and enjoy :)!
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup crisp rice cereal, coarsely crushed
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter-flavored shortening
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted
Mix flour, crushed cereal, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl.
Cut in shortening with pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add milk and stir just until moistened.
Roll dough into approximately 2 1/2 dozen 1 inch balls.
Mix cinnamon and remaining sugar in a small bowl. Drop balls into melted butter and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.
Place balls onto greased 8 or 9 inch round pan.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes in pan on wire rack before removing.
If you are looking for a perfectly rounded ball, try using a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan as mine baked together. They weren’t exactly round but they still turned out beautiful!