Helen Ryan's white bread

My mom (Cory's grandma and Maddy's great- grandma used to make amazing bread! I used to love to watch as the flab under her arm would swing back and forth while she stirred the heavy dough. She never measured anything, so one of my sisters followed one day as she made it and measured the ingredients as she added them. When she was through kneading it, she would say "Get it nice and smooth, then pat it like a baby's bottom." The potato water she used was the water she used to cook potatoes in. We had potatoes with dinner every night (like all good Irishmen!) so she always had potato water. Don't salt the potatoes when you cook them if you are going to use the water for bread. 

Preparation Time: A long time!!!!

Ingredients:
4 cups potato water
1/3 cup shortening (Crisco or lard)
1/3 cup sugar
2 pkgs. dry yeast or 3 small cakes fresh yeast ( Mom always used fresh)
1 Tablespoon salt
flour

Directions:
Dissolve the yeast in 1 cup of luke warm potato water. Add salt, sugar, and shortening to the other 3 cups of hot potato water. Stir until luke warm. Add yeast and stir. Add 1 cup of flour at a time and mix with a large spoon until it forms a soft ball. Put on a floured board and add flour and knead until it is smooth and elastic. (Like a baby's bottom.) Use a wooden rolling pin and beat and turn dough. The more kneading, the lighter the bread will be. Place in a greased bowl and butter the top of the dough. Set it over a pan with 1 cup hot water in bottom of pan. Cover with a cloth. Let rise until double in bulk. Punch down. Let rise again, then make into rolls or loaves. Let rise until doubled. Bake in 400 degree oven for 35-40 minutes for loaves or 30 minutes for rolls.

Source: Submitted in loving memory of my mom.
Servings: 4 loaves but you can cut it down.

Bread Maker Cheese Bread

Works great for "hole in ones"!!

Ingredients:
1 pkg yeast
3 C bread flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 T sugar
1 C Buttermilk (room temp)
¼ C warm water
1 C grated cheddar cheese

Directions:
Press start

Apricot Scones

Maddy's favorite.  It is written for high altitude, but I may have low altitude/humid directions by the end of the week.

Preparation Time: 15 to prepare, 15 to bake

Ingredients:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup brown or raw sugar (sucanat)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 stick very cold butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup milk or cream (the more fat the tastier)
1 egg
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 apricots, cut into small pieces

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients together.  Use a pastry blender to cut in butter.  The butter should be pea-sized when finished.  In another bowl whisk together egg, milk or cream, and vanilla.  Fold wet ingredients and apricot into dry ingredients.  Try not to overwork the dough.  I like the texture final texture to be such that the dough is so dry it is just barely able to stay together.  You may even have some dry crumbes in the bottom of the bowl.

Flatten the dough into one or two circles that are about 1 to 1.5 inches thick.  If using one circle, cut into 8 pieces.  For two circles, I cut each into 6 pieces.  Lay on to a parchment paper covered pan and bake at 425 for 10-30 minutes.  This varies greatly depending on how wet your dough is.

Source: Mostly me
Servings: 8-12 scones

Dakota bread

A yummy whole wheat bread.

Ingredients: 3 cups warm water
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup shortening melted
1 Tablespoon salt
5 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup pumpkin seed
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

Directions:
Dissolve yeast in the warm water with honey. Add other ingredients. Knead until smooth. let rise until double. Shape into round loaves on a cookie sheet. Let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Source: I developed this recipe after tasting the Dakota bread at Great Harvest. Their Dakota bread has mullet seeds in it, but I didn't like them when I used them. After many loaves of trial bread, this is the one I like best.

Servings: Makes 2 loaves.

Suggested Reading - Whole Grains

The new food pyramid suggests that half of all grains we consume be whole grains.  Why? and How?

Mayo Clinic explains why whole grains are better:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/whole-grains/NU00204

My favorite whole wheat, I use it in everything and can't tell the difference from white flour:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/king-arthur-white-whole-wheat-flour-5-lb

And, for the more adventurous, a discussion on sprouting grains and on soaking grains:
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2009/01/why-sprout.html
http://nourishedkitchen.com/soaking-grains-nuts-legumes/

Nourishing Traditions is an excellent book if you want to take this concept a bit further.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
4-6 chicken breast halves
4-6 pieces Swiss cheese
4-6 pieces thin ham slices
1 can mushroom soup
16 oz. sour cream
1/2 pkg. sliced mushrooms

1/2 package Pepperidge Farm fine fine seasoned stuffing
1/2 stick butter

Directions:
Place ham slices in a 9x13 pan. Top with chicken breasts, then put Swiss cheese on top of that. Spread mushrooms on top. Mix sour cream and soup, then pour over the top. Combine seasoned stuffing with melted butter. Sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 degrees for one and a half hours. If it starts to brown too much, cover it with foil the last half hour.

Source: My recipe box
Servings: 4-6

Salsa Chicken

scores high on "results vs. effort" . Chicken crock pot recipes never seem to work out for me, except for this one.

Preparation Time: about 10 minutes

Ingredients:

boneless chicken breasts, cut in half (about 2 lbs)

1 1/2 cups of your favorite salsa (not one jar)

1 tsp cumin

pinch of chili powder

3 tbsp fresh lime juice

Directions:
spray cookware with cooking spray. place breasts in cookware. cover with salsa. cook on HIGH for 3-3.5 hours

stir in cumin, chili powder, lime juice and cook for additional 15 minutes before serving

Source: Not your mother's slow cooker cookbook, Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann
Servings: 6-8

Chicken: Due Tomorrow

Next Week's Topic:  Breads.

Any votes for the following?

Korean Hot Wings

Ingredients:
8 chicken wings

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

5 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 cup of oil (canola, sesame, or corn)

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 oz fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

Sauce:

5 tablespoon Sweet Soy Base Sauce

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

2 tablespoon light corn syrup

Sweet Soy Base Sauce (makes 1 3/4 cup, can be stored up to 3 months in the refrigerator)

1/2 cup of water

4 cloves garlic, sliced

6 1/8 in ginger

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1 cup soy sauce, low sodium

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup red wine or white wine

Combine all the ingredients for the sauce and bring to a boil in a saucepan. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the sauce through a sieve. Discard ginger and garlic.

Directions For Chicken Wings:

Sprinkle salt and pepper on chicken wings. Coat chicken wings with corn starch.

Put oil in wok and heat up to 350 degrees F. Work in batches and fry the chicken on one side for two minutes. With a pair of tongs turn the chicken and fry for another minute.

Place the chicken wings on a wire rack.

Remove all the oil from the wok.

Add the sauce to the wok and put the chicken back in. Heat until the chicken is coated or the sauce is bubbling.

Source: Modified from "Korean Table" by Chung
Servings: Serves 2

Chicken Curry

This Chicken Curry is so delicious! It can be very healthy depending on the milk or cream you choose, but is a great substitution for ordering takeout. Also, it's Tom's favorite recipe that I make, which means it has to be good!

Preparation Time: Probably a little over an hour for prep and cook. It goes faster when you have a helper!

Ingredients:
2 pieces of chicken breast (or replace with rotisserie chicken)

1 tbsp curry powder

Olive Oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 granny smith apple, chopped

1-1/2 tablespoons curry powder (or more to taste)

1-1/2 tablespoons flour (equal the amount of curry powder)

1 cup plain yogurt (Organic kinds do not work!)

1-1/2 cups milk or cream (we use skim and it works fine)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 carrot, shredded thickly

(1) 8 oz. can pineapple chunks (or replace with fresh mango for a different twist)

A handful of pea pods, halved

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved

2 cups cooked brown rice

Major Grey's Hot or Regular Mango Chutney, for garnish

Raisins, for garnish

Crushed Peanuts, for garnish

Shredded coconut, for garnish

Extra curry powder, for garnish

Directions:
Season chicken breasts with curry powder and cook - grill, bake or pan fry. When finished, chop in bite size pieces. If you bought a rotisserie chicken, remove the meat, shredding or separating into bite size pieces, and set aside in a bowl.

Start your water for your rice, and cook accordingly.

Heat the oil in an extra large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and apple and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes. Combine the curry powder and flour in a small bowl, mixing well. Sprinkle over the apples and onions, stirring for 1 minute. Starting with the milk, add 1/2 cup to the pan, whisking well and scraping up the seasoning from the pan. Next add 1/2 cup of the yogurt, whisking liberally until well blended with the milk (my problem with the organic yogurt, is it wouldn't blend well and would cook so I had floating chunks of yogurt in my sauce, making me start all over!) Continue this rotation until you use the recommended amounts.

Add the chicken, carrots, pineapple or mango, and pea pods to the pan. Continue cooking on medium heat, making sure the sauce does not burn. It should thicken up a little from the flour added earlier. About 10 minutes before you are ready to eat, add the grape tomatoes.

Plate the rice, top with the curry sauce, and top with all or some of the garnishes to finish the meal!

Source: My version! Combined from Sharyl and Real Simple
Servings: 4 to 8 Servings

Chicken PIccata

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (cut in half) that have been pounded until ¼” thick.
2 T veg oil
¼ C dry white wine
1 t garlic, minced
½ C chicken broth
2 T fresh lemon Juice
1 T capers, drained
2 T butter
Fresh lemon slices

Directions:
Season chicken with salt and pepper then dust with flour. Spray a sauté pan with nonstick spray, add veg oil and heat over med-high. Sauté chicken 2-3 minutes on one side. Flip over and sauté other side 1-2 minutes with pan covered. Transfer chick to a warm plate.

Deglaze pan with wine and add garlic. Cook until garlic is slightly brown and liquid is nearly gone, about 2 minutes. Add broth, lemon juice and capers. Return chicken to pan and cook on each side 1 minute. Transfer chicken to a warm plate.

Finish by adding butter and lemon slices to pan. Once butter melts, pour sauce over chicken.

Servings: 4

Glazed Acorn Rings

Ingredients:
1 large acorn squash
1/3 cup orange juice
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:
Trim ends from squash and cut into crosswise slices 3/4 inch thick. Remove seeds and membrane. Place slices in a large shallow casserole or baking dish. Add orange juice. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Combine remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer 5 minutes. Pour over squash rings. Bake uncovered for an additional 15-20 min. basting occasionally.

Source: Phyllis
Servings: 6

Mashed Potatoes and Root Vegetables

This dish is weird, but in a good way. My notes say "unusual change of pace" but I would make it again. I don't use parsnips often, so this was fun.

Preparation Time: about an hour, mostly boiling stuff

Ingredients:
4 tbsp unsalted butter

8 ounces carrots, parsnips, turnips, or celery root cut up into chunks

1.5 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, cut up into chunks, rinsed 3-4 times in cold water

1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth

table salt

3/4 cup half-and-half

3 tbsp minced fresh chives

pepper

Directions:

1: melt butter. add root vegetables. cook until vegetables browned and caramelized (10-12 minutes).

2: add potatoes, broth, and 3/4 tsp salt. Cook covered on low heat (do not boil) stirring occasionally until everything's soft and crumbly (20-30 minutes). Cook uncovered a final 2 minutes to dry things out a bit.

3: mash gently; fold in half-and-half and chives; season with salt and pepper

Source: America's Test Kitchen
Servings: 4

Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 cups reduced-fat cream-style cottage cheese
15 ounces reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1-1/2 teaspoons crushed Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 to 1 teaspoon pepper
1-1/2 cups skim milk
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach or broccoli, thawed, drained
1 medium carrot, shredded
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste
9 oven-ready lasagna noodles
2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup marinara sauce

Directions:
Beat the eggs lightly in a medium bowl. Stir in the cottage cheese, ricotta cheese and Italian seasoning. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onion and garlic. Saute until tender. Stir in the flour and pepper. Add the milk. Cook until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 minute longer.

Remove from heat. Stir in the spinach, carrot, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and salt.

Layer one-third of the spinach mixture and one-third of the noodles in a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Layer the cottage cheese mixture, the remaining spinach mixture, mozzarella cheese, Cheddar cheese and remaining noodles one-half at a time over the layers. Spread the marinara sauce over the top. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until heated through. Let stand for 10 minutes
before serving.

Note: You may assemble the lasagna, cover with foil and chill for up to 48 hours before baking. To freeze, wrap the unbaked lasagna tightly with foil. Freeze for up to 2 months. To serve, bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 35 to 40 minutes longer or until hot and bubbly. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Source: DailyInbox
Servings: 10 - 12

Sweet Potato Ravioli

These are a bit of work, but quite tasty as a gourmet treat.

Preparation Time: Quite a bit.  Depends on how quick your fingers are.

Ingredients:
Dough:
4 eggs, beaten
¾ cup water
3 ¾ cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt

Filling:
1 large sweet potato baked, cooled and mashed, about 1 cup
1 cup Parmigiano cheese grated
2-3 tablespoons prosciutto chopped
1 egg, yolk only
2-3 tablespoons Italian parsley chopped
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
Salt, pepper to taste

Directions:
Dough:
In a bowl, mix the eggs, water, 2 cups flour, and salt. Gradually mix in the remaining flour until smooth. Divide dough into 2 parts. Cover, and set aside in the refrigerator 20 minutes.  Roll the two parts into sheets of desired thickness.

Ravioil:
Place the baked, cooled and mashed sweet potato in a bowl and add the grated cheese, prosciutto, egg yolk, parsley, the nutmeg, salt and pepper, and mix. This may be prepared ahead. Make the ravioli, by laying down one of the sheets and dotting it with 2-teaspoon mounds of filling about 2 inches apart (don't be stingy). Lay a second sheet over the first, tamp down gently around the filling to join the two sheets together and cut the ravioli free with a serrated pastry wheel. Continue laying down and dotting sheets until the filling is used up.

These are wonderful boiled for a couple of minutes and then fried in an herb butter.

Source: About.com
Servings: 2 for entree.  More for side.

Vegetarian Due Tomorrow

Next Week's Topic:  Chicken.

Any votes for the following?

Chana Masala

Spiced chick peas are delicious. I have been working on finding the ultimate Chana Masala recipe. This is one of my favorites and makes it to my table fairly regularly. This recipe has a lot of spices. I bought mine at an international food store and the investment has led to lots of tasty meals.


Ingredients:
1 tablespoon flavorless oil like vegetable oil or grapeseed oil
2 medium onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced (I use 3-4)
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used a quarter of this because my cayenne is extremely hot)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tablespoon amchoor powder (this is mango powder you can use 1/2 a lemon juiced if you can't find this)
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 cups tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
2/3 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon (juiced)

Directions:
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions fry for a couple of minutes then add garlic, ginger and pepper. Continue to saute until browned about 5 minutes.

Turn heat to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchoor (if using it), paprika and garam masala.

Cook for a minute or two until the spices become fragment and smell less raw. Then add tomatoes, and any juices. Scrape any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.


Source: Smitten Kitchen
Servings: 3-4

Vegetable Risotto

Great filling meal and really easy to make. Its a good comfort food for a cold night. 

Preparation Time: 45 minutes 

Ingredients:
olive oil
2 finely chopped yellow onions
1 Tbs of minced garlic
1 lb of arborio
1/2 cup white wine
32 to 48 ounces of vegetable stock heated up
salt and black pepper to taste
Sauteed asparagus and peppers

Directions:
In a medium saucepan coat with oil and sweat onions and garlic on medium heat. Season and add rice and saute for 3 to 5 minutes. Add wine and let rice completely absorb. lowly add the hot stock one ladle at a time while stirring. The rice needs to completely absorb the stock before another ladle is added. The risotto is done when creamy texture is achieved. In a separate pan saute asparagus and peppers till they are cooked and place veggies on top of risotto.

Source: Food Network and tweaks by myself
Servings: 4 servings

Seasoned Shredded Leeks

A sharp dish to pair with heavy meat dishes. We had this with bulgogi 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 leek

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes

Directions:
Get rid of the top green part of the leek.

Cut the leek in half lengthwise and rinse throughly.

Cut the leek into thin matchstick strips.

Soak the leek for 2 minutes

Pat dry.

Toss in sesame oil and red pepper flakes.

Source: Chung's Korean Kitchen
Servings: 4

Spinach and Artichoke Mac N Cheese

I was hesitant about making this recipe at first, but was hoping it was impossible to mess up macaroni and cheese! This dish is very easy to make, a great alteration from your typical macaroni and cheese, and so delicious!

Preparation Time: 20 minutes prep time, 50 minutes cook time

Ingredients:
1 pound whole wheat penne

2 tbsp EVOO

3 tbsp butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated

3 tbsp flour

1/2 cup white wine

2 cups milk

Freshly grated nutmeg, about 1/4 tsp (we didn't use fresh and it tasted great!)

(1) 10 oz. box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and wrung dry in a kitchen towel

(1) 10 oz. box frozen chopped artichokes, defrosted and wrung dry in a kitchen towel

Salt & Pepper

1-1/2 cups shredded Italian Fontina cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top

1-1/2 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top

(We substituted both cheeses with smoked gouda and sharp cheddar - delicious!)

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for pasta, salt water and cook pasta to al dente.

While the pasta water comes to a boil, place a medium pot over medium-low heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons, and the butter. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook the veggies until very soft, about 10 minutes. Then heat the broiler and position rack in the middle of the oven. (We just baked it at 375 degrees for approximately the same time)

Turn the heat up to medium-high and sprinkle the flour into the pan. Cook for about 1 minute then whisk the wine into the pan, cooking for another minute to burn off the alcohol. Whisk the milk into the pan and bring up to a bubble. Add the nutmeg, spinach, artichokes, salt and pepper to the sauce and simmer until thickened and vegetables are warmed through, 2-3 minutes more. Add 1 cup of each of the cheeses to the sauce and stir until melted.

Toss the prepared sauce with the cooked pasta and transfer to a casserole dish. Sprinkle some more Fontina and Parmigiano over the top and bake until the cheese ha melted and the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

*You can easily substitute either of the cheeses for something you like might better. Any cheese that melts well should work fine! If you'd like this to be a one dish meal, you could also add more vegetables to the pan in the first step, such as diced carrots or red peppers. For the non-vegetarians, you can easily add diced chicken to this dish to satisfy your appetite!

Source: Rachael Ray Show
Servings: 4-6