Oat Soda Bread

Source: from a webclip in the top of my aggiemail inbox that led me here, and that link subsequently led me here

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt (I didn't have this, and a teaspoon seemed like a ton, so I added 1/2 teaspoon regular salt.)
1 3/4 cups buttermilk (plus more if needed), and 2 Tablespoons for brushing (You can make a perfectly good buttermilk substitute by putting 1 TB white vinegar or lemon juice in a measuring cup and bringing the volume up to 1 cup with milk. Let sit for 5 minutes and voila! You've got "buttermilk".)
mixed seeds - sesame, caraway, poppy, etc (I didn't have any seeds of any kind, so I sprinkled the top with flour instead and it turned out lovely.)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Butter and line a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan (or one with ~8 cup capacity) with parchment paper and set aside. Alternately, you can bake this bread without a pan, on a lightly floured baking sheet. (I did the latter ... following directions on the second website listed above: http://www.injennieskitchen.com/2011/01/oat-soda-bread.html)

To make the oat flour, use a food processor (or blender!) to pulse the rolled oats a few times. Then process into a fine powder - another minute or two. If you are buying oat flour, not making your own, measure out scant 2 cups.

Sift the flours, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the flour and pour in the buttermilk. Stir just until everything comes together into a dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead for 30 seconds or so, just long enough for the dough to come together into a cohesive, slightly flattened ball without many cracks or fissures. If your dough is on the dry side, add more buttermilk a small splash at a time. Now ease the dough evenly into the prepared baking pan.

Brush all over the top and sides with buttermilk and sprinkle generously with mixed seeds or flour, 2 Tablespoons or so. Slice a few deep slashes across the top of the dough. Bake for about 30 minutes, then quickly (without letting all the hot air out of the oven), move the rack and the bread up a level, so the top of the bread gets nice and toasted. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until a hard crust forms and the bread is baked through. (We actually just baked it all on the same rack for ~40 minutes and it turned out perfect ... just watch it and adjust accordingly for your oven.) It will feel very solid and sound hollow when you knock on it. Carefully lift it out of the pan, in a timely fashion, and allow to cool on a wire rack. Enjoy with a good slathering of salted butter.

Notes:
I used to love to make rolls and bread on Sundays, but since I'm doing a lot of mammalian cell culture up in the lab, I've had to pretty much cut yeast out of my life. (See, if I knead bread dough that has yeast in it, some of the yeast can live on my hands - even though I wash them - which can then cause contamination - aka havoc! - in my cultures in the lab. Bad news all around.) So, when I stumbled across this recipe I knew I had to give it a try. While it doesn't taste a lot like yeast bread (go figure), I thought it was quite crusty and tasty. Gregg thought it was kind of a mix between corn bread and biscuits. We had it spread with butter and honey. I think it would be delightful dunked in soup. It's definitely easy and quick and conveniently yeast-free! (P.S. I tried to steal a photo from one of the blogs I stole the recipe from, but somehow it's not working ... just go to their sites to see the beauty of this bread.)

Easy Apple Pie

Source: Gregg, via this site

Ingredients:
2 9 inch pie crusts, one for the top and one for the bottom (Gregg is the official crust maker and he uses his mom's oil pastry recipe)
1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
dash salt
2 Tablespoons butter
6 cups apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (We used 5 medium-sized Galas and it worked perfectly)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425F. Mix sugar, cinnamon, flour, nutmeg and salt. Stir in apples. (We have found that sort of tossing/mixing with your hands and then pouring from one bowl to the next is the best way to get it all mixed.) Place pie into crust. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust and slit evenly to let steam escape. Seal the top crust to the bottom by pinching the edges together. Cover edge of crust with a 2-3" strip of aluminum foil. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until crust is brown and juices begin to bubble through top. (We baked for 30 minutes, then removed the foil and finished baking for 10 more minutes.)

Notes:
Gregg loves pie. And this apple pie has yet to let him (or me) down. He's the crust maker. I've started helping out by prepping the apples. I like to think we make a good team. :)

The Original Kim Blanchard Chicken Tortilla Soup

Source: Kim Blanchard (the original ... with a couple of additions by me, Kim Blanchard II)

Ingredients:
1 onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used a couple of shakes of garlic powder since I didn't have real garlic)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 can Mexican mix canned tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
1 cup water (we used 1 can)
1 can corn, drained
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro (Kim says optional, but I say don't leave it out!)
1 (4 oz) can chopped green chiles
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces (Gregg and I like it shredded)
crushed tortilla chips
sliced avocado
shredded cheese
chopped green onion

Directions:
In a medium pan, heat oil and saute onion, red pepper and garlic till soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Stir in corn, chiles, beans, cilantro and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle soup into individual bowls, top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado, cheese and green onion.

Notes:
Um ... yum! This soup is fantastic! The only thing I added that wasn't on the recipe from Kim was the red pepper ... just because I was feeling adventurous. I liked it. The cilantro was so good! I think we added about twice as much as the recipe called for, and that might have been too much, but just barely. Wow. Just a super yummy dinner! Gregg and I even thought that the chicken was a minor ingredient ... it would be fantastic without since there are so many other flavors and textures going on already.

(P.S. I couldn't find that anyone had posted this recipe on the Bistro Blog yet, so hopefully I didn't miss it and now we have a duplicate post. If that's the case, I'll delete this one!)

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Source: Marcy Labrum (my good friend from the lab) via Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped *Marcy's advice: freeze (or put in fridge) unwrapped PB cups - it is easier to press the frozen candy into the hot cookie without falling to pieces.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F (I used 350F since I think my oven is hot and my mini muffin pans are the dark, nonstick kind). Sift together the flour, soda, and salt; set aside. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter, and brown sugar. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well. Shape into 40 balls (I ended up with 48, so some didn't get reeses cups ... but they're great just as peanut butter cookies, too!) and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan. Bake at 375F for about 8 minutes (mine were in for 7, but even 6 might have been enough). Remove from oven and immediately press a peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

Notes:
These little wonders are simply delightful. My friend Marcy made them for me last year for my birthday celebration in the lab, and we've been friends ever since. (That's me and the cookies ... Marcy and I have been friends for much longer! ;) She even gave me the recipe, mini muffin pans and a bag of reeses as a bridal shower gift. I was craving something sweet today, and this was the result ... week 3 down on my "try a new recipe a week" goal. (I may have eaten more of these than I dare admit, but today was officially my first day ever attempting their creation myself.)

Beef Sticky Buns

Source: Beefitswhatsfordinner.com


Servings: 4 (8 buns)
Prep Time:
Cook Time: 18-20 minutes
Total Time: 1 to 1-1/4 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe Basic Country Beef Breakfast Sausage (recipe follows)
• 1 cup sliced button mushrooms
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 3 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 package (13.8 ounces) refrigerated pizza dough
• 1/2 cup jalapeño pepper jelly, warmed (optional) or Cream Cheese "Frosting" (optional, recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Prepare Basic Country Beef Breakfast Sausage, cooking mushrooms and onion with beef and spices. Add spinach to skillet; stir to wilt spinach. Set mixture aside 20 to 25 minutes or until mixture is cooled completely, stirring occasionally. Stir in cheese.
2. Preheat oven to 425°F. Unroll pizza dough on flat surface; pat or roll dough evenly to 14 x 10-inch rectangle, pinching together any tears, if necessary. Spread beef mixture on dough, leaving 1/2 inch border on short side furthest from you. Starting at closest short end, roll up jelly-roll style, pinching to close. Slice dough into 8 pieces using serrated knife and careful sawing motion; place cut-side-up on greased baking sheet.
3. Bake in 425°F oven 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove buns to cooling rack. While still warm, drizzle with melted jalapeño pepper jelly or Cream Cheese "Frosting," if desired.

Basic Country Beef Breakfast Sausage:

1. Combine 12 ounces ground beef (96% lean), 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage or 1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage, 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 3/4 teaspoon onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper in large bowl, mixing lightly but thoroughly.
2. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add beef mixture; cook 8 to 10 minutes, breaking into 1/2-inch crumbles and stirring occasionally. Makes 2 cups crumbles.

Cream Cheese "Frosting":

1. Combine 1/4 cup softened reduced-fat cream cheese and 1 tablespoon milk in small bowl, stirring until smooth.
2. Drizzle over warmed beef rolls.

Comments:

We decided to mix things up for Sunday dinner today and try a breakfast-for-dinner menu: banana muffins, Sunday Brunch Bake, and these unique, savory "sticky buns." The buns were really yummy! It was a fun idea to make our own "sausage" with ground beef that we already had on hand. (Although, I'm sure just using sage ground sausage in the first place would cut out on prep time and taste about the same.) We really loved the cream cheese "frosting". . .but the jalapeño pepper jelly would be fun to try next time!

I couldn't find refrigerated pizza dough at the store, so I just used the dough of 12 Rhodes rolls. The rolls tasted fine, but were time-consuming and tricky to combine and roll out flat; next time I think I'll use Kim's pizza crust recipe (in the Bistro cookbook). Also, using a knife to cut the rolls didn't work very well for me, so I cut off the rolls by wrapping around string and pulling it tight. (A tip I remember from making cinnamon rolls in junior high foods class!)

Crunchy Honey Chicken

Source: Tasty Kitchen

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 3

Ingredients:
2 whole Egg Whites
1/3 cups Cornstarch Or Flour
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 cup Broccoli Florets
½ whole Red Pepper, Thinly Sliced
¾ cups Sugar Snap Peas
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
1 clove Garlic, Minced
1 pound Thin Sliced, Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
¼ cups Honey
Salt And Pepper

Directions:
Prepare and slice all veggies. Feel free to add whatever you would like. In 2 separate bowls, add the egg whites (lightly beaten) and the cornstarch or flour. (The cornstarch will yield a “crispier” chicken.) Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add veggies with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add in soy sauce and garlic and stir so veggies are coated, about 60 seconds. Remove from skillet and set aside in a bowl.

Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Heat the same skillet (or you can use a different one, I just use the same to make it easier) over medium-high heat and add remaining olive oil. Dip chicken pieces in egg whites and then lightly dredge in cornstarch. Add to the skillet and let brown for 2-3 minutes, then flip. Continue with remaining chicken pieces, and do so in batches if needed.

Once chicken is cooked, add veggies back in the skillet. Add honey and thoroughly mix to combine. Taste and season with salt, pepper, additional honey or soy sauce. Serve with rice. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

Notes:
This goal of a new recipe a week may prove a little tricky ... especially when we leave town for a week and/or our fridge is lacking ingredients and it happens to be Sunday. BUT ... I'm squeaking in a recipe before the week is officially over, so I'm going to count it. 2 down. :)

So, I followed the recipe pretty closely, but I used a yellow pepper, 2 carrots, a cup of broccoli, and 1 small onion for the veggies since that's what I had. Also, I didn't have cloves of garlic so I just shook in some garlic powder. I used the cornstarch and one whole egg instead of two egg whites. I don't know if that makes a big difference, but it tasted fine anyway.

The only thing that was a little disappointing about this recipe was that the chicken wasn't crunchy. I was expecting something like the sweet and sour chicken you get from Chinese restaurants with that crispy shell, but this definitely didn't have that. Perhaps I need to practice and perfect that technique.

As for the taste, it was quite yummy. Very sweet. I might cut back the honey next time a titch. I was also worried about it being saucy enough since Gregg really likes his sauce, but, while it was really thin, it turned there was plenty to seep through the rice and soak everything to Gregg's approval. :)

Boil-Up

Source: Candi Wihongi & EZinearticles (for help with exact measurements)

Servings: 10-12?
Prep Time: 5-1o minutes
Cook Time: 30-35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lbs. boneless pork ribs, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 6 medium potatoes*, chopped into large pieces
• 2 bunches of watercress ("puha"), wash and remove stems from leaves
• 1 bunch spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cabbage, coarsely chopped
• Dumplings ("doughboys"):
  - 1 c. flour
  - 1 t. salt
  - 1/4 c. water

* Other chopped-up root vegetables, such as sweet potatoes ("kumara"), pumpkin, etc., can be used as well.

Directions:

1. Place pork in a large pot and fill with water (fill to about one inch above the meat), and add the salt.
2. Bring to the boil, and let boil for approximately 5 minutes.
3. Add potatoes* and boil for approximately 5 minutes.
4. Add watercress, spinach, and cabbage, making sure they are submerged in the liquid, and boil for approximately 1-2 minutes.
5. Roll doughboy dough into small balls and drop into liquid.
6. Cook for 20 minutes.

Comments:

In addition to chop suey and Maori bread (both in the Bistro cookbook), boil-up is another New Zealand recipe that I love. Dray even loved this when we went to New Zealand in 2009; Scott's Uncle Alwood would take the tender meat and vegetables out, and mash them up into the best baby food Dray had ever had! Plus, with all the greens and veggies, this is pretty healthy!

Boil-up is really just a throw-the-ingredients-in-the-pot kind of recipe, more or less of each of these ingredients according to taste works fine. I just figured I should look up some exact measurements (thus the website link) so I have a good guesstimate when making it again in the future.

Note:

• You don't have to necessarily have all three types of greens in the recipe. All three, or just one or two of them work fine, although watercress is what really makes it good. Bok choy, chard ("silverbeet"), and other greens can work great, too.
• Make sure to chop the potatoes (and/or other root vegetables) into large pieces so they don't get soggy and disintegrate while cooking. (Which I learned from experience!)
• This is traditionally made by boiling pork bones in addition to the meat. If I can get a hold of pork bones in the future, I'll come back and add my experiment notes to this recipe!

Lemon Herb Lamb Chops

Source: Allrecipes.com

Servings: 2
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 (6 ounce) lamb loin chops

Directions

1. In a large resealable plastic bag (I just put it all in a small pyrex pan), combine the first eight ingredients; add the chops. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight (3-4 hours was plenty, although I'm sure more wouldn't hurt).
2. Drain and discard marinade. Broil lamb 3-4 in. from the heat for 4-6 minutes (4 on each side worked great, could have probably even gone 3 or 3.5) on each side or until meat reaches desired doneness (for medium-rare, a meat thermometer should read 145 degrees F; medium, 160 degrees F; well-done, 170 degrees F).

Comments: This was my first time cooking lamb. The chops were on a great special, and I picked them up since Ry likes lamb so much. I've only had lamb a few times (in gyros) and usually I can eat it, but the flavor is a little strong for my taste. (I'm a picky eater, and especially picky with meat. I really could be a vegetarian so easily . . .) But this was INCREDIBLE. The meat was high quality and the marinade complemented it perfectly. Easily the best meat I've had in my life. So tender, juicy, and flavorful. Of course I eat so little meat that a lot of possible contenders have never even hit my tongue, but even Ryan, who has much more experience with meat, agrees it was some of the very best meat he's had. I know the original Kim Blanchard (how's that term as a way to differentiate K.G.B. from K.E.B.?) is not a lamb fan, but I truly cannot imagine any non-vegetarian not loving this meat. It was simply that good! (And the flavor of the meat was so mild, I don't think I would have guessed it was lamb if I had not known what it was before hand.)

Garlic-Herb Crusted Beef Roast

Source: Beef It's What's for Dinner

Servings: 6-8
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 1/2-2 hours
Total Time: 2-2 1/2 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 boneless beef round rump rast or beef bottom round roast (3-4 lbs.)
• salt and ground black pepper
• 2 t. garlic-pepper seasoning
• 2 t. dried basil leaves, crushed
• 2 t. dried thyme leaves, crushed
• 1 t. dried parsley leaves, crushed

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325 F. Combine seasonings in small bowl; press evenly onto all surfaces of beef roast.
2. Place roast on rack in shallow roasting pan. Insert ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is centered in thickees past of beef, not resting in fat. Do not add water or cover. Roast in 325 F oven 1 1/2 to 2 hours for medium rare doneness.
3. Remove roast when meat thermometer registers 135 F for medium rare. Transfer roast to carving board; tent loosely with aluminum foil. Let stand 15 to 20 minutes. (Temperature will continue to rise about 10 F to reach 145 F for medium rare.)
4. Carve roast into thin slices; season with salt and black pepper, as desired.

Comments:

Another meat recipe. . .and no slow cooker this time, either! A real oven roast. We loved the taste of the seasonings and how juicy it was. We've made it a few times since I discovered it in December; we just made it last Sunday for Mum's birthday dinner, and I figured I better post it!

A couple items to note:

• We like our meat on the rare side, but we even thought it was a little too pink; we cooked it for closer to 2 hours and 15 minutes.
• I don't even own a meat thermometer, so we just cut into the roast to make sure the color looked good.

Iron Range Pot Roast

Source: TheOtherWhiteMeat.com

Servings: 6-8
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 480 minutes
Total Time: 8-9 hours

Ingredients:

• 3 pound boneless pork shoulder roast, (Boston Butt)
• 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch slices
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 3/4 cup beef broth, (or water)

Directions:

1. Mix together seasonings and rub over all surfaces of pork roast. Brown roast in a little oil in large skillet over medium-high heat, turning often to brown evenly.
2. Place potatoes and garlic in 3 1/2-4 quart slow cooker, pour broth over and top with browned pork roast.
3. Cover and cook on Low for 8-9 hours, until pork is very tender. Slice pork to serve with vegetables and juices.

Comments:

One of my New Year's "goals" (I like your term, Kim!) is to delve into the realm of meat recipes. I married a real meat-and-potatoes man, and my pasta and rice dishes don't always hit the spot. We can't always grill in the winter, so I decided I better start experimenting with meat indoors. . .like baking yeast breads, cooking meat other than ground beef has always been a bit intimidating!

I found this recipe on the label of the meat I bought at Smith's. (How's that for a fun discovery!) This recipe was a fun alternative to the traditional beef Crock Pot roast that I do a lot on Sundays. (Easy, too. . .although browning it in the pan before putting it in the Crock Pot was a bit tricky.) We had Mom and Dad over for dinner a few months ago when I made this for the first time. . .we all really enjoyed it! We served it with garlic mashed potatoes since there was so much yummy juice from the meat and veggies to make into gravy.

Parmesan Dijon Chicken

Source: Best of Betty Crocker 2010 ... with a couple of tweaks by me
(you can download a free copy here)

Ingredients:
1/8 cup butter, melted
2+ tablespoons Dijon mustard (I didn't have any Dijon, so I used some honey mustard instead, which coincidentally, I didn't have either, but I whipped some up using the "bonus" recipe below)
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/8 cup parmesan cheese
4 chicken tenders

Directions:
Heat oven to 375F. Mix butter and mustard in a shallow dish until well mixed. Mix bread crumbs and cheese in a ziplock baggie (or I just used a little bowl and it worked great). Dip one piece of chicken at a time into mustard mixture, coating all sides. Then coat in bread crumbs. Place chicken in single layer in an ungreased pan. Bake uncovered 20 to 30 minutes, until the juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.

Notes:
One of my new years goals (I prefer 'goal' over 'resolution') is to make a new recipe every week and then blog about it. So, here goes. Week 1 down, 51 to go. :)

This recipe came together quite simply and quickly and turned out surprisingly delicious. You can scale the ingredients as you see fit. I still had about half the bread crumbs/parmesan cheese mixture left over after my dipping. But I ran out of the butter/mustard mixture after about 2 1/2 chicken tenders, so I just dipped the remaining 1 1/2 tenders in straight mustard. Couldn't tell a difference myself, so next time I'll probably just skip the butter part. Also, I used frozen tenders right from the freezer, so the cook time was a toward the longer side of 30 minutes. But since they were "tender" size, they cooked pretty quickly anyway. Had the last tender for leftovers today with a bit of the leftover mustard as a dipping sauce and it was quite a delightful little lunch.


Bonus recipe: Honey Mustard

Source: The amazing internet!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon black pepper (I usually use 1/4 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon garlic salt (I usually use 1/4 teaspoon)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, mix until thickened, increase ingredient to taste, refrigerate before serving. Miracle whip can be used in place of the mayonnaise and white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar can be used in place of the lemon juice.

Notes:
I substituted Miracle Whip for mayo because that's what I had. I only put maybe half or less of the suggested pepper and garlic salt and it was plenty. Gregg loves this stuff ... adds a nice zip to our previously boring egg salad sandwiches!