Sunday, January 19, 2025

BBQ Country Style Ribs


Country-style ribs come from the shoulder portion of the pig. This makes them fattier, easier to prepare and cook.

Serve with a classic Baked Beans recipe and a delicious Potato Salad for the perfect family gathering.


Ingredients


  • 4 lbs country style ribs
    1.5-2 cups BBQ sauce
Rib Rub

  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar packed
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes crushed
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 250°F and place ribs on a rimmed baking sheet (I line with foil for easy cleanup).
  • In a small bowl whisk together rib rub ingredients.
  • Coat the ribs in the seasoning and cover tightly with foil. Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the ribs just start to feel tender.
  • Remove from the oven and liberally baste the ribs with bbq sauce. Cook for another 45 mins to 1 hour uncovered until fork tender.
  • If desired, turn your oven onto the broil setting and let the BBQ sauce on the ribs bubble and lightly brown.





Sunday, January 12, 2025

Pecan Pie Bars

Pecan Pie Bars with a shortbread style crust, a sweet, creamy filling and crisp, toasted pecans on top; they're like pecan pie only without all the work!



Pecan Pie Bars
Slightly adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Crust Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold, unsalted butter - 12 tablespoons

Filling:
3 large eggs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups chopped pecans

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray. 

2. In a bowl mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture is fine particles. Or you can mix this in a food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs. Pour crust mixture into the prepared baking pan. Spread out evenly and press crust down firmly all over.

3. Place crust in oven and bake for about 20 minutes until just lightly golden around edges.

4.While crust is baking prepare the topping. Mix eggs, sugars, corn syrup, melted butter and vanilla together in a bowl until smooth. Stir in the chopped pecans. Spread the topping over the crust as soon as it comes out of oven.

5. Place bars in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the topping is set. If the topping jiggles, it is not done. If the topping begins to brown to much, loosely place a sheet of foil over the pan.

6. Allow Pecan Pie Bars to cool completely before cutting. Enjoy!

From Lyndasrecipebox.com



Sunday, January 5, 2025

Chicken Parmesan Casserole



This chicken Parmesan is done casserole style (so, no breading or frying!), but still offers up that irresistible combination of tender chicken, crunchy/cheesy coating, and flavorful sauce."     

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (not too large)
2 cups prepared marinara sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil                                    
1 (8 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 (5 ounce) package garlic croutons
                                                             

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. Coat the bottom of a 9x13 inch casserole dish with olive oil, and sprinkle with garlic and hot red pepper flakes.
  3. Arrange the chicken breasts in bottom of the dish, and pour marinara sauce over chicken. Sprinkle basil over marinara sauce, and top with half the mozzarella cheese, followed by half the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle on the croutons, then top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and remaining Parmesan cheese.
  4. Bake in preheated oven until cheese and croutons are golden brown and the chicken is no longer pink inside, about 35 minutes to an hour, depending on the shape and thickness of your chicken breasts. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a chicken breast should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).  


Pumpkin Cookies

 



INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
3 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour
1 (12 oz.) bag white chocolate chips

ICING
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
2 cups sifted powder sugar

INSTRUCTIONS COOKIES

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed fpr 2 minutes.
3. Add in the egg, vanilla, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and mix for 1 minute till smooth, scraping the sides of bowl as necessary,
4. Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour, mixing until just combined.  Stir in the white chocolate chips until evenly incorporated.
5. Using a medium (2 Tablespoon) size cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 10 - 12 minutes until the edges are slightly golden.  Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. ICING: In a medium sauce pan stir together the brown sugar and butter over medium heat.
7. Bring the mixture to a bowl and continue cooking for 1 minute.  Whisk the milk and powdered sugar until smooth.  Alternately you can use a hand mixer for this step.
8. Spread about 1 teaspoon on the top of each cookie and allow to set.

NOTW:  Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Source




Sunday, December 8, 2024

Sophie Schaffer's Fresh Yeast Rolls & Cinnamon Rolls



My great friend, Gayle Schaffer, makes the best yeast rolls ever.  She's been visiting me from Virginia, and we decided to make these yeast rolls.  

She told me she wanted to make them with me so that I could really get the feel for the process.  And I'm so glad she was here, because it really is a process.

In the future, I will make this recipe a day ahead and reheat the rolls for my family holiday gatherings.

We started about 1:00 pm. and finished about 7:00 pm. 
A six hour process. 

You know it's going to be special when you deliberately spend
that long making it.  

I also had to purchase a stand alone mixer,
which I've been wanting to buy for a long time. 
Notice the hook connected to the mixer. 


NOTE - First Gayle said, the kitchen needs to be very warm. 
You don't want any drafts.  

Ingredients

1 stick butter
2 cups whole milk
2 Packages Platinum Yeast by Red Star (the best) optional use Red Star Rapid Rise.
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 beaten eggs
King Arthur's Bread Flour



Directions

Melt Milk and butter over medium heat until just warm.
Test temp with your finger.  Too much heat will kill the yeast when added. If it's too warm, set it to the side for a bit.


Combine about 1/3 cup warm water (not hot) with the 2 yeast packets.  Stir to dissolve.  
Add yeast to warm milk and butter and set aside.  No heat.  It will look lumpy.  Let the yeast foam up, about 20 minutes.  With experience you can tell just by looking at it, when it's ready.




In a medium size bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar,
1 teaspoon salt, and 2 beaten eggs.

Add Warm butter, milk, and yeast to this mixture.
(In this picture, the red measuring cup is the yeast before adding warm water)

Using a stand alone mixer, with the bread hook, on a slow "2" speed, begin by adding 2 cups bread flour.  Occasionally scrape the sides of the bowl. Increase mixer speed to a "3" speed. Continue adding flour 1 cup at a time. Approximately 5-7 cups total flour.  We ran the mixer about 1 minute before adding additional flour.


Spread 1 cup flour on the counter and pour dough mixture out onto the flour, scraping the edges.
Do not wash this bowl.  Butter all around the bowl, clear to the top.  We'll use this bowl to let the dough rise.

Knead the dough adding a bit more flour, 1/2 to 1 cup, until the dough is smooth and elastic.







Kneading hints - 
After pouring out on the counter, pull in a little flour when it gets sticky.  Using the palm of your hand, knead this approximately 100 times. About 10 minutes. You'll feel it drawing up and becoming more elastic.  Knead another 30 times.  Dough should be very elastic by then.  We did not use all the dough on the counter.  Do not clean up the flour on the counter.  We will continue to use it later.

Put dough in the buttered bowl.  Roll it around the bowl a little to butter the dough, and cover with a tea towel.  Set aside to rise, in your warm kitchen.  Depending on the conditions inside, and even outside your house, will determine how long the dough takes to rise.  It will take approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. to have the dough double in size.  It took us every bit of 2 hours.  

After the dough has doubled, it just fell out of the buttered bowl.  Work the dough minimally again.
We divided the dough in half because we are going to make 2 kinds of rolls

Do not use anything on the baking pans.  Not spray PAM or oil of any kind.

A Parkerhouse Roll - Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to desired thickness.  Using a biscuit cutter or a thin rimmed glass, cut our a circle.  Then stretch the dough just a little, fold it over once, and place on a light colored cookie sheet.  We pinched the two sides together with a little flour, so they won't come apart while rising a second time.  Now we will cover the rolls with a tea towel and set in a non-drafty area of the kitchen to let the rolls rise again.  It will take another 1 or a little longer to double in size again.  







Hot Rolls - We added the leftover dough from the cut out rolls to the second half of the dough, and kneaded gently again.  We handled the dough delicately.  Do not over work the dough.  We are going to make balls with this dough, about a 2-inch round size.  Don't press the dough together.  

Using a light colored 9x13 pan, we placed the balls 3 across and 4 long.  Cover with another tea towel, and allow to rise, doubled in size, about 1 hour.  The same as the Parkerhouse rolls.

After the rolls have doubled again, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
Do NOT use the Convection setting on your oven.  Use the traditional oven setting.
   
Bake rolls approximately 12 minutes.


First picture here is before they rose.  Second picture is out of the oven.

Gayle said to me a dozen times, "Do not open the oven door", as I watched them bake.

It smells SO GOOD in my kitchen!

ENJOY 



Cinnamon Rolls

Roll out dough into a rectangle.  Melt 1/2 to 3/4 of a stick of butter, and brush the inside of your dough.  Mix Brown Sugar and Cinnamon in equal parts and sprinkle over melted butter.

Then Roll it up like a jelly roll, and pinch the dough together.  Slice about 3/4 to 1 inch thick and place in a light colored 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle left over cinnamon & sugar mixture evenly over top of rolls.

Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise until doubled in size.

Bake cinnamon rolls about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.








EASY Prime Rib

 

Harter House Supermarkets will cut the Bone from your Rib Roast 
and tie it back on, making for easy slicing.

Harter House will also season you roast for FREE 
with Pappy's or Santa Maria Seasoning.



Seasoning
Cracked Black Pepper,
Kosher Salt
Garlic.
(or your seasonings of choice)

Instructions
Bake in a 350 degree oven -  approximately 2 1/2 to 3 hours - depending on size.

The important part is to use a meat thermometer.
Remove the prime rib from the oven when your meat thermometer says 120 - 125 degrees.

Allow the meat to rest at least 15 minutes before slicing.
 
NOTE
If your slices look too rare, let the slices sit in the Au Jus Gravy for just a bit.
It will brown right up and be very tender.

And Don't forget the Horseradish sauce. YUM.



Sunday, October 20, 2024

Roasted Potatoes & Spicy Chorizo


A simple skillet meal and it’s so easy to add extra stuff to it.

Some extra veggies you want to use up.
Add some scrambled eggs and you’ve got a wake-up-your-taste-buds egg, potato and chorizo breakfast.
Or add some spinach leaves … toss those in during the final stir so they just wilt a little bit before serving to get some extra greens on your plate.
Or how about sliced zucchini or squash … sauté those a little bit along with the onions and bell peppers and follow the recipe as written.
Baby carrots would be a great addition … roast those alongside the potatoes before adding to the skillet.


Ingredients
  • 1 pound baby new potatoes, quartered (substitute with chopped sweet potatoes )
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 8 ounces uncooked Harter House pork chorizo
  • 1/2 cup chopped white onion
  • 1 cup diced bell peppers
  • 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven 425º F
  2. In a medium bowl, add potatoes with olive oil, oregano, and garlic powder. Mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Spread out potatoes on a baking sheet. Place in center oven and roast about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are golden and tender.
  4. While potatoes are roasting, cook chorizo in a stovetop skillet over medium-high heat until browned and cooked through. Remove meat from skillet and temporarily set aside.
  5. Next add onions and peppers to the hot skillet with a little more olive oil if needed. Season with a little salt and pepper if desired. Sauté until tender, about 4-5 minutes.
  6. Finally, return cooked chorizo to the hot skillet. Add in the roasted potatoes. Stir everything together until warmed through. Garnish with fresh parsley and enjoy.
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