Deep Dish Pizza

Dough:

1 1/3 C Warm water
1/4 C Non-fat dry milk
1/2 tsp Salt
4 C Flour
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 pk Dry yeast
2 Tbsp Vegetable oil (for dough)
Vegetable oil ( just use enough to coat the pan)
Garlic Butter

Put yeast, sugar, salt, and dry milk in a large (2 qt.) bowl. Add water and stir to mix well. Allow to sit for two minutes. Add oil and stir again. Add flour and stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed. Turn out on to a flat surface and knead for about 10 minutes. (I did this part in my mixer) Divide dough into three balls. In three 9″ cake pans ( or can use 1 – 9 inch pie plate and 1 – 9 x 13 dish) , put oil in each, making sure it is spread evenly. Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough ball to about a 9″ circle. Place in cake pans. Cover. Place in warm area and allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Prepeat oven to 450 degrees. Spoon 1/3 cup sauce on each pizza and spread to within 1 inch of edge. Distribute 1 1/2 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese on each pizza. Place toppings of your choice in this order – pepperoni or ham, vegetables, meats (cooked ground sausage or beef) Top with 3 oz. mozzarella cheese. Cook until cheese is bubbling and outer crust is brown – about 15 minutes. Brush outer edge of crust with garlic butter.

Cauliflower Soup

• 1 stick Butter, Divided
• ½ whole Onion, Finely Diced
• 1 whole Carrot Finely Diced
• 1 stalk Celery, Finely Diced
• 1 whole (to 2 Whole) Cauliflower Heads (roughly Chopped)
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Or Dried Parsley (chopped)
• 2 quarts Low-sodium Chicken Broth Or Stock
• 6 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
• 2 cups Milk
• 1 cup Half-and-half
• 2 teaspoons To 4 Teaspoons Salt, To Taste
• 1 t. pepper
• 1 cup (heaping) Sour Cream, Room Temperature

In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to turn brown.

Add the carrots and celery and cook an additional couple of minutes. Add cauliflower and parsley and stir to combine.

Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour in chicken stock or broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer.

In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine. Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup half-and-half. Add mixture to the simmering soup. Allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary.

Just before serving, place the sour cream in a serving bowl or soup tureen. Add two to three ladles of hot soup into the tureen and stir to combine with the sour cream. Pour in remaining soup and stir.

Serve immediately.

Chicken Wonton Cups

• 48 whole Square Wonton Wrappers
• 2-½ cups Chopped Cooked Chicken
• 1 dash Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 1 cup Coleslaw Mix, Chopped
• 2 whole Green Onions, Finely Chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 teaspoons Grated Fresh Ginger
• ¼ cups Soy Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
• 1-½ Tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 1-½ teaspoon Dark Sesame Oil
• 1-½ teaspoon Sriracha (asian hot sauce)
• 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• ¾ cups Chicken Broth
• ¼ teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 Tablespoon Toasted Sesame Seeds

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray, and place one wonton wrapper in each cup, forming a little bowl.

Spray wrappers with additional cooking spray, and bake 5-7 minutes.

Remove wonton wrappers from tins and place upside-down on a baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray.

Bake an additional 5 minutes, until cups are crisp and golden. Remove from baking sheet and let cool.

Combine chicken, salt and pepper, coleslaw mix, and green onions in a bowl.

In a small saucepan, combine garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil, sriracha, canola oil, broth, and crushed red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until dressing is slightly reduced. Add to chicken mixture. (You might not need all the dressing.) Stir in sesame seeds.

Spoon a teaspoon or two of filling into each wonton cup. Serve at room temperature.

Yummy Salsa

1 Bushel of tomatoes

5 med. red onions

5 med yellow onions

1 bunch cilantro

3 oz garlic

2 oz sereno chillies w/ seeds

4 tsp cumin

1 tbls oragino

15 jalapenos, some with seeds some without according to your liking

3/4 cup non iodized salt

6 cans tomatoe paste

1/4 c. sugar

Simmer 20 min.water bath 25 min.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

• 20 whole Fresh Jalapenos, 2-3 Inches In Size
• 2 cubes Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 pound Thin(regular) Bacon, Sliced Into Thirds

Preparation Instructions

If you have them, slip on some latex gloves for the pepper prep… Cut jalapenos in half, length-wise. With a spoon, remove the seeds and white membrane (the source of the heat; leave a little if you like things HOT). Smear softened cream cheese into each jalapeno half. Wrap jalapeno with bacon pieces (1/3 slice). Secure by sticking toothpick through the middle. (At this point, you can freeze them, uncooked, in a Ziploc bag for later use).

Bake on a pan with a rack in a 375-degree oven for 20-25 minutes. You don’t want the bacon to shrink so much it starts to the squeeze the jalapeno. If, after 20 minutes, the bacon doesn’t look brown enough, just turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish it off. These are best when the jalapeno still has a bit of bite to it.

Serve immediately, or they’re also great at room temperature.

Banana Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas)

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Make a well in center of flour mixture. In the well, mix together the butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture, being sure not to over mix. Spoon batter into muffin cups.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.

Frost with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting. (Also on this blog)

Beef Paprika

• 1-½ Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 2 cups baby carrots, sliced in half
• 1 cup Onion, Diced
• 4 cloves Garlic, Diced
• 2 pounds Beef, Cubed
• 1 cup Ketchup
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 1-½ teaspoon Mustard
• 1-½ Tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 2-½ teaspoons smoked paprika
• ¾ cups Water
• 1-½ Tablespoon Soy Sauce

Preparation Instructions

Place the olive oil, carrots, onion and garlic in a large dutch oven. Cook over medium heat until crisp-tender. Stir occasionally and do not burn. Remove the cooked veggies and cook the beef cubes in batches until browned. Remove the beef. You may need to add a little more oil at this time. Once all of the beef is cooked, add the beef and veggies back into the dutch oven. Cook and scrape up all of the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.

Mix together the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, mustard, paprika, water and soy sauce. Add this to the meat mixture. Stir well.

Cover and simmer for 2 hours on low, stirring occasionally. During the last 30 minutes of cooking, uncover and turn the heat up to medium, stirring more frequently so it doesn’t scald.

Serve over hot noodles or pasta or with a thick slice of crusty bread.

Perfect Lemon Cupcakes

Perfect Lemon Cupcakes

Cake:
1 package lemon cake mix
1 C sour cream
3/4 C water
3/4 C oil
4 eggs
1 small package lemon instant pudding

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix with electric mixer on medium speed for about two minutes. Use a strong mixer, this batter is thick. For cupcakes, bake them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (I was able to get 24 very full cupcakes from the recipe). For regular cake, pour into a greased 9×11 pan or two round pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Don’t over bake or the cake will be too dry!

The original recipe said that the cupcakes will fall after they come out of the oven, but this is normal and to just fill up the indentation with more frosting.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, very soft
6-8 C powdered sugar
1/2 C fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of sugar, then the juice and the zest. Beat until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, until icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. Use and store at room temperature. (Don’t refrigerate and it will last in a covered container for about three days.)

Garnish with berries, if desired right before serving. I placed one raspberry on top and then sprinkled it with yellow decorating sugar.

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

• 1 quart milk
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 packages Active Dry Yeast
• 8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) Flour
• 1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
• Plenty Of Melted Butter
• 2 cups Sugar
• Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
• 
  
• FROSTING:
• 1 bag Powdered Sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla or almond flavoring
• 3/4 cups Milk
• ¼ cups Melted Butter
• ⅛ teaspoons Salt

Preparation Instructions

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. “Scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.