MISC – Page 224 – Chasing MY Life WHEREVER it Leads ME

Tuesdays with Dorie ~ All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie

Emily of Sandmuffin chose All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie on pages 300-302. We were having a family dinner and I needed 2 pies so I made last weeks and this one at the same time – talk about killing 2 birds with 1 stone. There was nothing of either pie left! They were both so yummy!

Try a New Recipe: Sourdough Starter + Bread

If you’ve ever wanted to try making sourdough, now is the perfect time to get “started!” OuR KrAzY KiTcHeN is holding the 3rd Annual Need to Knead Bread Roundup, and if you “start” now, you can have some fabulous sourdough bread to enter in the roundup!

This recipe came from one of my Taste & Create partners last year: Grace of A Southern Grace. (If you’d like to sign up and participate in November, go here by Nov. 8!)

As I was looking around Grace’s blog last year, I kept seeing all the fabulous things Grace does with her precious Ebenezer, her sourdough starter.

And I thought:

Exactly what kind of cowgirl doesn’t have a jar of sourdough starter?

Can I actually claim to be a cowgirl, having never made a loaf of bread from my own starter?

Does Grace have a recipe for sourdough starter?

Will this sourdough starter really, truly be hard to kill, as Grace alleges?
Please let it be hard to kill, and easy to maintain.

What should I name it??

And I made a list for Number One and sent him off to the store.

Sourdough Starter
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 package (2-1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
3 tablespoons instant potato flakes

To make starter:
Mix water, sugar, yeast, and potato flakes. Let ferment on counter for two days. Then feed with starter feeder and continue with the instructions found in the bread recipe and/or links below.

Starter Feeder
Mix together:
½ c sugar
3 T potato flakes
1 c warm water

Add to jar of starter, (I mixed mine a little with a wooden spoon) and let sit on the counter for around 8 hours.

Grace says: Eb lives in the fridge until feeding time, which can be anywhere from 3 to 14 days after his last meal. (I’ve actually gone longer than two weeks without feeding him and he still did fine.) Upon feeding, he sits on the counter for about 8 hours, and then he’s ready to go.

After sourdough has been on the counter for 8 hours, proceed with any number of sourdough recipes. (Click this link to see all the things I’ve made with sourdough starter!)

The sourdough starter went off without a hitch. It sat and fermented and bubbled and stewed on the counter. I added the starter feeder, and it bubbled away some more. I decided to name it Virgil, which means “growing.”

When it was time, I decided to go ahead with the most basic recipe, Sourdough Bread. I followed Grace’s recipe to the letter. 12 hours later, the dough had risen, but certainly wasn’t overflowing out of my bowl like Grace’s was out of her trifle bowl. Perhaps my bowl was bigger, or something?

I decided I’d make just two loaves instead of three loaves like Grace made. I left the loaves in the oven for 8 hours, just like Grace recommends.

My bread turned out lovely! Perfectly risen, (see above!) golden brown on the outside. The very middle was just a bit doughy, so next time I will preheat the oven to 350 before I start the timer! I think that will take care of that little problem. But, this bread is delicious and easy, and I started baking more of my own bread! I also tried some other sourdough recipes, and I even got my neighbor started with some starter of her very own!

I am sold and converted. Now I’m a real, live cowgirl with real, live sourdough starter in the fridge. Howdy, Virgil. Thanks for coming into my life! I know we’ll make some beautiful things together.

Grace’s Sourdough Bread
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sourdough starter
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup sugar
5 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons wheat germ

Combine all ingredients in a large non-metal bowl. Stir everything together, adding more bread flour as necessary to create dough that’s no longer sticky. Transfer the dough into a second non-metal greased bowl.

Roll it around so the entire ball becomes glorious, set it in a warm place, cover it with sprayed aluminum foil…and watch it grow for about 12 hours.

After 12 hours, punch down the dough once, right in its middle. Turn it out of the bowl onto a floured surface and knead it a few times.

(Although Grace divided her dough into three, I only felt like I had enough for two loaves this time).

Divide the dough into two or three even hunks, and knead each a bit more. Place the dough into greased loaf pans.

Place the pans in the oven, cover with sprayed foil, and leave to rise again for around 8 hours.

Grace says: Just FYI, the pans are put into the oven to rise so they don’t have to be moved later and risk collapsing.

After the second rise, remove the foil and bake the dough at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Preheat the oven before you start the timer!

Don’t forget to visit me at The Bad Girl’s Kitchen for more fabulous recipes!

Save Room for Dessert…Donuts!

During our little cool spell a week or two ago, I decided that I would tackle donuts! I’ve long made Sicilian sfinges, but I’d never made the roll and cut variety. It’s actually quite an easy process. It’s not a project to do if you have little ones underfoot, however, as you do deep fry these treats and the flour tends to splatter. I definitely recommend using a thermometer if you don’t have an electric skillet with a temp guage. The oil temperature needs to stay around 370-375 degrees to keep the donuts from becoming greasy.

I was inspired to make these after reading the new culinary mystery series, A Donut Shop Mystery by Jessica Beck. This rrecipe was in Glazed Murder.

A Good Beginning Donut from Glazed Murder
4-5 cups bread flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg (recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon, but I love nutmeg)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt (recipe calls for 2 dashes)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
Powdered sugar for rolling
Oil for frying

Whisk together the dry ingredients.
Using a fork, beat together the sour cream, egg, and buttermilk, then add to the dry ingredients.
Beat together until mixture resembles bread dough.
Roll dough 1/4″ on a well-floured surface.
Using a donut cutter, cut your donuts.
Heat oil (3 inches deep or so) to 375 degrees.
Carefully lower donuts into hot oil.
Fry for 2 minutes on each side.
Remove from oil and let drain on paper towels or a rack before dusting with powdered sugar.
Continue frying remaining donuts and donut holes. Dough may be rolled again to cut more donuts.

I made 1 dozen donuts and 1 dozen donut holes.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL????????????

We’re HUGE football fans! Well, it’s that time of year again! Football season is already several weeks old (where does the time go?) and that means it’s time for tailgating again at the games, serious football food and game day buffets. Bring over your best appetizers and your biggest appetite and oh don’t forget the Brewskis to go with it all. I like mine really cold please with a side of lime!

Tailgating Time will be posted every Sunday at noon and open all week for you to add your football favorites. We’ll play each and every week until Superbowl Sunday. I can’t wait to see what you’ll be bringing!

It’s Tailgating Time!
HOSTED BY:
Martha at Seaside Simplicity
Tamy at 3 sides of Crazy
Lyndsey at Tiny Skillet

Would you like to be a host of Tailgating Time too?

Leave me a comment here with your email or with Martha over at Seaside Simplicity so we can send you the code and add you to the host list – more exposure, more links, more football food!

It’s Tailgating Time!

GRAVESIDE CUPCAKES

Hi there! This is Emily from EZ’s Recipes posting! Since “my” Simply Delicious Sunday fell on the week before Halloween, I decided to post something fun and, well, simply delicious in honor of the occasion. I went with these Graveyard Cupcakes. I actually found this recipe months ago and bookmarked it way back then with the intent of making them in time for Halloween.

I realize that unless you are a regular follower of my blog, you do not know me very well, seeing as this is only the second time that I have posted over here at Our Krazy Kitchen. But if you are a regular visitor over there, it is no secret to you how much I love Halloween. I have been talking about it all month! And now we’re so close! Halloween for me, as a 30-something married adult with no kids yet, means getting all decked out in costume and going to a Halloween-themed party with friends. Hopefully in the near future I will become a mom, and it will take on a whole new meaning for me. My focus will shift from making Halloween awesome for myself and my adult friends to making it awesome for my kids and my friends’ kids.

But it’s not just about the costumes and the costume parties. It is about the change in the season. Here in the Midwest, that shift in the weather in mid-October makes for that perfect chilly-but-not-unbearable temperature that just tells you that Halloween is around the corner. The leaves are turning color and falling. And then there’s the best part… the food. Which leads me to the point of my blog post today… my Graveyard Cupcakes. Which I have been dying to share with you, my readers.

Just sharing this makes me all that much more excited for Halloween! They were a lot of fun to make, and they are so incredibly versatile that you can be really creative and there’s no going wrong with it.

Ingredients:

1 box chocolate cake mix (if you want to go the “easy” route… feel free to make the batter from scratch as well. If you use boxed cake mix, bake according to the directions for cupcakes)
Chocolate or Vanilla frosting – made from scratch, or store-bought, also up to personal preference
Sandwich cookie crumbs OR chocolate sprinkles for graveyard “dirt”
Cookies such as Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies or something similarly rounded to make a “tombstone”
Icing to write on the tombstones with – preferably black in color but other colors could work. Or, if you want to make “grass” you could always use some green!

And from there it is pretty straightforward… make the cupcakes and decorate to your heart’s content! Have fun with it! I went with “grass” and “dirt” with mine, and experimented with both chocolate and white frostings. This is something that could be fun to make for a child’s Halloween party at school, or for an adult party… kids and adults will love them all the same!

Every have a very safe, fun, and Happy Halloween! I will see you next month, just in time for Thanksgiving! Please visit me at EZ’s Recipes!

SUPER INEXPENSIVE RECIPE FOR CLEANING SILVER

Now for something fun and easy – cleaning the silver. Yep, you heard me right, cleaning the silver. FIL wanted the silver polished. I have news for you, I don’t polish silver! I even sold my own and replaced it with gorgeous stainless, but I found this quick, easy AND super inexpensive recipe for cleaning silver! Here is the before picture:

Hubby helped as I have been a bit busy. He is trying to show you the instantaneous results he achieved with this formula below.

After

SILVER CLEANER
per large piece or place setting you will need:
1/2 cup baking soda
1 tablespoon salt
1 large piece aluminum foil
1 non-metal sink or wash tub
hot water

Lay large piece of foil along the bottom of the sink.
Fill the sink with VERY HOT water.
Swirl in the baking soda and salt until well dissolved.
Add silver or silverplate piece.
Watch the magic. Allow it to sit a few minutes. The chemical reaction of the salt and baking soda transfers the tarnish to the piece of foil leaving you with a pretty silver piece.
Rinse and dry!

For heavily tarnished pieces you might have to repeat the process. Hubby also found the reaction was quicker if you wrapped the foil around the pieces.

CHALLENGE: Is your guest area ready for guests?

SOMETHING WE SHOULD ALL REMEMBER

You all know that I’m dealing with an aunt who is in a guardianship situation and that the situation is not good because the guardian (in mine and my family’s opinions) is not doing due diligence to care for my aunt or at least have her in a care taking situation that does. She is in a home where she is being verbally, emotionally, spiritually abused. These I have witnessed. She also says they physically abuse her when no one is around to see. Unfortunately, all of this is being written off as here say and the proper authorities are not getting involved because the guardian is “well respected” by the court. I have to ask how my aunt was placed in this home (along with many other “guardian” clients of the same lawyer) when the home did not even have the proper licensing, at the time of the placement, but that’s another story. While this is a sad situation that we are pulling our hair out to solve (and also explains why my uncle is bald) part of the blame lies with my aunt. Yes, she has a debilitating disease, yes she is a pain in the neck, but she is a human being that deserves at the very least compassionate care takers and if she had a better attitude it would help all around. I can’t help but pray and wish that she had had the attitude of this man and I pray that I WILL have this attitude and the grace to live with life as it happens as I grow older.

This was an email I received recently. I couldn’t think of a more appropriate place to share it than here at THE Motivation Station.

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. I love it,’ he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

Mr. Jones, you haven’t seen the room; just wait.’

‘That doesn’t have anything to do with it,’ he replied. Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged … it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. ‘It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away.. Just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you’ve put in.

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!

Thank you for your part in filling my Memory Bank.
I am still depositing.

‘Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Veggie Tales: Veggie Pasta Bake

Happy Saturday! This is Kris from Behold the Metatron. Fall is here and the air is crisp and the leaves are turning gorgeous amber hues!

On chilly days I love to bake. But not just sweets… how about a pasta bake?

This is a Giada DeLaurentiis recipe that I tweaked it. Very delish, but NOT for those that don’t like vegetables! (Shame on you!)

Ingredients

2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips
2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes (I USED ONLY 1)
2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
4 cremini mushrooms, halved (I USED 1 PINT OF BABY PORTOBELLOS)
1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips (I USED 1 RED ONION)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix or herbs de Provence (I USED HERBES DE PROVENCE)
1 pound penne pasta
3 cups marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)
1 cup grated fontina cheese
1/2 cup grated smoked mozzarella (I USED REG MOZZARELLA…I didn’t want the smokey flavor)
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup for topping
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a baking sheet, toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and onions with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and dried herbs. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, cheeses, peas, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.

Pour the pasta into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan. Top with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and butter pieces. Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

OREO CHEESECAKE BALLS

OREO CHEESECAKE BALLS – YUM YUM GOOD!
1 regular package Oreos
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
Almond Bark
Candy Decorations

Crush Oreos in food processors
With hand mixer, mix together the Oreo crumbs and cream cheese
Roll into small balls.
Put balls into freezer for 5 minutes.
Melt Almond bark in small batches.
Coat each ball in almond bark.
Immediately decorate.
Let harden.

The plates I made for the neighbors wouldn’t have been complete without them.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

It is Fire Day Friday and one of our favorite things to cook on our grills is pizza. Yes, grilled pizza. That might sound weird but it shouldn’t, coal and wood fired brick oven cooked pizzas are all the rage these days.

But first I have to thank Jenn of Jenn’s Food Journey for the excellent job she did guest posting for me last week. She has an open invite to post Fire Day Friday anytime she wants.

Back to the pizza. This is one Alexis made this week on her Big Green Egg. You could do the same thing in your oven but it is just a bit better cooked by live fire.

Alexis’ Chicken Alfredo Pizza

1 chicken breast, boneless, skinless
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
2 slices bacon, cooked to crisp and crumbled
1 green onion, diced for garnish
1 recipe Pizza dough (use refrigerated, buy from your local pizza joint or make your own. Alexis used the recipe from Kitchenaid for their Crusty Pizza Dough).

Alfredo Sauce
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup half & half
1 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated

If you are making your own dough, like Alexis, make it first because it’s going to have to rise and do all that yeast voodoo that you amazing bakers do.

Then fire up your grill to 400f. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Grill 5-6 minutes per side or until 160f internal temp. After resting the chicken for 10 minutes, thinly slice.

While chicken is resting, melt butter in a medium sauce pan. Whisk in the flour, stirring until mixing together in a light blond roux. Whisk in the half & half and simmer until reduced in volume by half. Then blend in the cheese.

Raise your grill or oven temperature to 500f. Spread the dough over a pizza stone and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Remove and ladle 1/2 cup of the alfredo sauce onto the dough. Top with the chicken, bacon, and mozzarella. Drizzle about 1/4 cup of the alfredo sauce over the top.

Return to the oven/grill in an indirect heat set up for 9 minutes and top with the green onion. Cook another 2-6 minutes, until the crust reaches your desired crispiness and the toppings are melted.
Have I mentioned that I am one lucky guy because I married the perfect woman for me.

So what’s your favorite pizza?

FRENCH ONION CHICKEN

These were serious Dolly Parton chicken breasts that I found on sale. I just didn’t realize HOW big they were until I opened the package today. I made these tonight with bone in breasts, but next time will use boneless to make the meal easier for everyone.

FRENCH ONION CHICKEN
4 chicken breasts
4 tablespoons butter
4 slices bacon, diced and browned
1 package Laura Scudder’s French onion dip mix
2 tablespoons dehydrated red pepper
1/3 cup flour
1 large bunch green onions, sliced
2 cups homemade chicken broth
PURE
1 cup sour cream

Rehydrate the dehydrated red pepper in chicken broth for an hour before beginning to cook.
In a large skillet melt butter.
Sift together the flour and Laura Scudder’s green onion dip mix into a large plastic bag.
One at a time dredge chicken in flour mixture coating well.
Brown chicken on both sides until crisp.
Using an electric skillet, spray with PURE.
Add browned chicken breasts.
Gently pour the broth mixture around the edges of the chicken.
Top chicken pieces with green onions.
Set on 200 degrees and simmer for an hour.
Brown bacon and drain oil.
Remove chicken and keep warm.
Sprinkle the bacon over the chicken pieces.
Bring drippings to a boil and reduce to 1 cup.
Remove from heat and quickly whisk in sour cream for gravy.
Serve with mashed potatoes.

Blue and Yellow Corn Muffins from Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Restaurant

Presentation and taste…

Mostly taste! These little gems are Bobby Flay’s Blue and Yellow Corn Muffins. According to Bobby, these are the most consumed item at hisMESA GRILL restaurants. They are the hit of his bread basket.

And look close, Fresh sweet corn, red bell peppers and jalapeños add color, texture and taste. Out of the ordinary muffins to be sure.

Finding the blue corn meal can be a bit of a challenge. There are plenty of places on the internet to order. I found this at my neighborhood store. Oddly enough, it was not on the shelf sitting next to “regular” corn meal, it was sitting in the gourmet food section. So, you may need to hunt, but it does exist, and it is available. Just start asking.

But, the blue is just for looks. Tastes the same as yellow corn meal. So, feel free to use this recipe with the easy to find stuff.

One other note, I use something called “Polenta Corn meal”. The ingredient list is exactly the same, but the color is much deeper yellow. Tastes the same, just better presentation.

Makes 12 large muffins or 3 dozen little mini muffins…

Nonstick cooking spray
6 TBS Butter
1 cup fresh Sweet Corn kernels (can use frozen)
1/2 cup finely diced Red Onions
1/2 cup finely diced Red Bell pepper
1/2 cup smashed and chopped roasted Garlic (about 6 cloves)
2 jalapeño Chili Peppers, finely diced
2 TBS finely chopped Cilantro
1 1/2 cup all-purpose Flour
1TBS Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
4 tsp Kosher Salt
1 1/3 cups whole Milk
4 large Eggs
2 TBS Honey
1 cup Yellow Corn Meal
1 cup Blue Corn Meal

OK, before I get to the instructions, a bit of fair warning, if you compare the ingredient list to what is printed in the Mesa Grill Cookbook, there are a couple of little changes. I doubled the amount of corn. I like corn. I like the looks of corn just busting out of these muffins when you break into one. And the Kansas Sweet Corn right now is the best in the world. I also roasted the garlic cloves (350 degree oven, rubbed with olive oil, wrapped in aluminum foil for 30 minutes). The book says to mince the cloves. I roast em, smash em with the blade of a knife and chop those. The roasting adds deeper garlic flavor. The smashing makes more of a paste, makes for a creamier taste.

Roast the garlic while you Mise en Place the veggies. Start chopping.
Rack in the middle of the oven, preheated to 400 degrees. Grease a 12 muffin pan, or mini muffin pans. I was going to serve these with soup, so made mini muffins that worked great as croûtons.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter, add the onion and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the smashed and diced garlic. Divide the mixture evenly between two bowls.
In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, honey, eggs, red peppers, jalapeños, corn and cilantro. Add half of the mixture in with each of the bowls containing the onion mixture.
Put the blue and yellow corn meal in separate bowls. Add half the flour, baking powder and baking soda in with the corn meal. Sprinkle a bit of salt in each. Mix each corn meal mixture with the separate onion mix.
Put a spoon full of each mixture side by side in a muffin mold. Do not mix, as you want the Yin/Yang look. Bake for 16 minutes (or for 14 minutes if you are making the mini muffins).