Soft pretzels

I wanted to try out a different soft pretzel recipe, so I used Alton Brown's. Last time I used Paula Dean's recipe, but the high heat warped my pan. The pretzels themselves were pretty good, but harder than I would have liked. Alton's recipe turned out excellent, except I put them in storage too soon so they got a bit soggy. Otherwise, excellent! Definitely making this recipe again.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt

Directions

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

loose meat hamburger

I followed the recipe called "They Could Be Sliders If Eaten With Eyes Closed" with a few changes. Now I don't think I've ever had White Castle, but this was yummy.

Here's the rough recipe:
#1 Brown 1 pound ground beef, and drain.
#2 Mince 1 small onion and cook for a few minutes.
#3 Add onion soup mix. I of course didn't have this, so I simply spiced with some chicken bouillon, onion powder and pepper.
#4 Stir in some Velveeta.
#5 Spread burger mixture on buns or bread.

salisbury steak

I made Salisbury steak for supper last night and the good news is I even liked it. This is one of those dishes I never would have eaten even a few years ago. I used this recipe

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1/2 C. minced onion

1 clove garlic minced

1 1/2 T. butter

Saute onions and garlic in butter until translucent and set aside. Mix beef in bowl with:

2 eggs

4 oz. bread crumbs

2 T. fresh chopped parsley

Add cooled onion mixture.

Form mixture into 6 patties and saute in pan with 1 T. butter until golden brown on both sides. Set aside in a casserole dish. Patties should still be pink inside.

Add 1 lb. sliced mushrooms to pan and quickly saute about 4 minutes. Set aside.

Melt 2 T. butter in pan and add 3 T. flour. Cook 1 minute and whisk in 1 1/2 C. beef broth. Add mushrooms and pour over patties in casserole.

Bake at 350°F. for 30 minutes.

Served with baked potatoes, pears, and jello.

Chicken stirfry with mai fun noodles, spice soup

I made this recipe: How to make Chicken Mei Fun

Pretty simple recipe, and it turned out yummy, too!
Marinate about 1-2 lbs cut up chicken breast in soy sauce, ginger and brown sugar for about 20 minutes.
prepare mai fun noodles as according to instructions. mine required soaking them in hot water for about 10 minutes.

heat about a tablespoon of coconut oil in wok over high heat. cook chicken for about 10 - 15 minutes. add any vegetables you would like and continue to cook until chicken is done cooking. I made this dish with onions, green pepper, mushrooms and some snap peas.

Add a dash of red wine vinegar, soy sauce, more oil if needed. Add noodles and stir continuously until well combined. Season as desired. I believe we used onion, garlic, pepper.

Next time: cut noodles in half first and only use maybe half a package.

I also made a soup based on this recipe: 5 spice onion soup

slice 1 onion, saute for about 5 minutes, until soft and clear.
Heat about 5 cups chicken broth until boiling. Reduce heat, add onions and spices: I added ginger, Asian chili pepper, parsley and turmeric and a dash of soy sauce and brown sugar. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

The soup was good, and we ended up throwing half of the noodles in it since there were too many for the chicken dish. It was also WAY too spicy hot because I used a bit too much chili pepper and also ginger. My boyfriend added some other spices, but I'm not sure what all he added. Garlic, onion powder, I believe. Also, he threw in some corn starch to thicken it.

We ate this with some crushed pineapple which was excellent in nullifying the heat of the soup. Very good, but not very filling.

Hot chicken... sandwiches?

My most recent experiement started off with trying to make hot chicken sandwiches. I knew what I had in mind but finding a recipe alone was difficult. Regardless, I found a few, but didn't have any cream of X(mushroom or chicken) soup so I finally decided to make my own. I used this recipe for the cream of chicken base but as usual I had some unexpected problems (bad milk!)

Here's the basic recipe:

1.In medium-sized saucepan, boil chicken broth, 1/2 cup of the milk, and the seasonings for a minute or two (longer if using fresh onions or garlic).

You need 1 1/2 cup chicken broth. I used leftover chicken soup, mostly broth, and threw in some chicken bouillon. So, boiled the broth, then added the bouillon and waited for it to dissolve. 1/2 cup of milk... oh crap, the milk is bad. OK... 1/2 cup of yogurt then (shhhh... don't tell Mike!) and waited for the yogurt to liquefy a bit. 1/2 diced onion and 1/2 tsp soul seasoning (Family Dollar brand). Let cook for a few minutes (note to self: cooked in wok.)

2. In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup of milk and flour. Add to boiling mixture and continue whisking briskly until mixture boils and thickens.

Don't have a whisk, and since the milk decided to go bad I scooped out about 1 cup of sour cream and added it to the mixture in small clumps. Again, waited until it liquefied a bit and then added some flour. Almost forgot, seasonings:
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt (or less; taste to test)
1/4 teaspoon parsley
dash of paprika
I didn't add salt because there was already so much salt in this. Good call, it was almost too salty as it was.

Next step, adding the chicken. The recipe I got for the actual sandwich part of this can be found here. Basically all I had to do was add the chicken. I cooked about 1.5 pounds of chicken tenders previously for about 4 hours, until it was falling apart.

I had planned on having this on sandwiches but there was too much liquid so I kept cooking it on low and made some brown rice. By the time the rice was done, the chicken was mushy. However, it was very yummy!

Side dishes included corn, pineapple chunks, then chocolate cake for dessert. This was definitely a winning recipe which I'll be making again. Though next time maybe with milk ;)

Meatballs and rice

Original recipe found here but of course I modified it.

Heat up about a tablespoon of coconut oil in a frying pan. Dice up some mushrooms, about 4 - 6 and brown for a few minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl combine the following:
1.5 - 2 pounds ground beef
half medium onion, diced
2 large eggs
about 1/2 cup cornmeal
garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, or season to taste

Form into meatballs and cook in frying pan for about 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. At this point you're supposed to make a gravy and pour it over the meatballs, then cook in the oven for about an hour. Instead, I used a gravy mix. It turned into a big greasy mess because not all of the grease cooked out of the meat before putting it in the oven. So.. I had to pour off the grease, then make 2 more batches of gravy mix.

Served over white rice, along with mixed vegetables. It turned out very good, we both enjoyed it so I'm definitely making this recipe again. Next time, I'll probably just make the gravy from scratch (healthier) and I'll probably just cook the meatballs over the stove top, then in the oven, then add the gravy.

I definitely recommend this for something different, and a little taste of "old fashioned home cooking". About 2 hour cook time altogether since I had to make gravy a second time (then a third because I didn't make enough the second time!)

Ground beef and rice pie

Last night I made the following recipe: Ground Beef N Rice Pie

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce, divided
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 1/2 cups cooked rice
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

Directions:
1. In a bowl, combine beef, 3/4 cup tomato sauce, bread crumbs, onion, green pepper if desired and seasonings. Press evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-in. pie plate, forming a crust.
2. In a bowl, combine the tomato paste and remaining tomato sauce. Stir in the rice and 3/4 cup cheese; pour into crust. Place pie plate on a baking sheet. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink. Uncover; drain. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. bake 10-15 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

I just made a few changes to the original recipe. Instead of bread crumbs, I used corn meal. Instead of tomato sauce, I used decided tomatoes with green chillies. I didn't add any cheese to the rice mixture, I just topped the whole thing off with what cheese I had: some Muenster, Colby Jack and Pepper Jack.

It turned out good and I liked it, but the meat was a little bland. I think next time I'll spice it up a bit more, we like spicy food.