Sweet Corn Bread

Are you gals ready for a crazy delicious recipe? I got this from my friend Sadie Clift, who got it from a friend of hers. Not sure where it originated, all I know is it's addicting! 

Sadie made it for her wedding dinner, I made it in February for our annual FYFD party, but anytime I make chili is an excuse to make it. Today was such a day.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1  1/3 cup sugar

1 cup yellow corn meal

2 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups milk

4 eggs

2/3 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan. Combine dry ingredients, then add the rest. Mix until lumps are gone. Pour into pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

Variations:

- Pour 1/2 of the batter in bottom of pan, then sprinkle cheese and 2 small cans of green chiles, then top with the rest. 

- Put sugar and cinnamon on top with butter.

Left-Over Oatmeal Bread

I had some left over oatmeal that I'd added crasins to.  I found this recipe, made it and it tastes divine. I also added some cinnamon and knew it would make a great breakfast bread. Yum!

Leftover Oatmeal Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 c room temperature leftover oatmeal
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 1/4 t. yeast or one envelope
• 1/4 c. molasses or honey
• 1/4 c. melted butter
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 4-5 cups bread flour
• 2 t. salt

Directions: Mix oatmeal, water, yeast, molasses and one cup of the whole wheat flour until well blended. Let rest for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes add butter, the other 1 cup whole wheat flour and 3 cups bread flour. Mix well and let rest for an additional 20 minutes. Mix in salt and knead in additional bread flour until the dough is just slightly sticky, but pulling away from the bowl. I knead mine in my kitchen-aid for about 5 minutes. I dust the top of the dough with flour, cover and let rise until double, about 1 hour. Punch down dough and form into 2 large loaves or 3 medium loaves. Put into greased loaf pans, dust top with flour, cover and let rise until double, about 1 more hour. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of your loaves.

From The Sister's Dish Blog

Mary's Oatmeal Toasting Bread*

Makes 2 loaves: 1lb - 13 oz each

Ingredients:
2 1/2 Cups (20 oz)        Lukewarm milk (any kind of milk; don't use cold milk)
2 Cups (6 5/8 oz)          Rolled Oats (old fashioned oats or Quick cooking)
1/3+ Cup (4 5/8 oz)      Honey (buy in bulk at Winco or Costco)
6 Cups (1 lb 9 1/2 oz)   King Arthur Bread Flour (From Winco)
1 TBS                            Salt (Don't used iodized)
4 1/2 tsp                        Instant Yeast (I use SAF - buy at Winco and freeze)
4 TBS                           Unsalted butter room temperature (or 2 oz. canola or corn oil)

Optional: Secret ingredient! Add 1 tsp Diastolic Malt Powder if using only white flour. Add 2 tsps if using part or all whole wheat flour. Promotes strong rise and improves texture, especially with whole wheat bread. I buy the malt powder at kingarthurflour.com. If you buy it, keep it frozen. I can share mine with you if you want to try before buying.

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  In big mixer bowl, pour milk and honey over oats and stir. Let sit 30 minutes for instant oats, 1    hour or more of old-fashioned.
3.  Put flour on top of milk/honey/oats mixture.
4.  Add salt and instant yeast to bowl.
5.  If using butter, cut into 6-8 pieces and throw on top. Or if using oil, pour on top.
6.  Mix dough -

•  KitchenAid Mixer - Attach bowl full of ingredients and dough hook. Mix on lowest setting for 8 minutes
• Bread Machine - Place all ingredients into the pan of your machine. Program machine for manual or dough and press start. About 10 minutes before end of the second kneading cycle, check dough and adjust consistency with additional flour or milk as needed. The finished dough should be soft and supple.
• No machine - Mix ingredients with large spoon and then knead by hand until dough is smooth (around 10 minutes)

7.  Spray dough bucket or large bowl with cooking spray. Throw in the dough ball and cover with sprayed lid or sprayed plastic wrap.
8.  Let rise till double. Whole wheat will get puffy, but may not double.
9.  Cut dough in half and deflate. Shape each loaf. I flatten my dough into rectangles, the roll up and pinch seam.
10. Place dough in glass or metal bread pans sprayed with cooking spray, cover each with sprayed plastic wrap. Or place both pans uncovered in microwave to raise (don't turn on microwave!)
11.  When bread has crested 1 1/2 - 2 inches over top of pan, it's ready to bake.
12.  Put in preheated oven. Total cooking time is 35 minutes. But after the first 20 minutes, cover the bread with a tin foil tent to keep it from browning too much.

*Adapted from Oatmeal Toasting & Sandwich Bread recipe at Kingarthurflour.com
(King Arthur is my favorite site for bread recipes and ingredients.)

Joan Rands' Artisan Bread

3 Cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 T. granulated yeast
1 1/2 T kosher salt
6 1/2 Cups unsifted, unbleached all-purpose white flour

Mix water and yeast in a 5 qt bowl with resealable lid (ice cream bucket works well). Add all the flour at once and stir until all the flour is incorporated. The dough will be very lumpy and sticky. Let raise for about 2 hours. It is now ready to use or put in the frig till later.

When you want bread, first sprinkle corn meal on a pizza paddle so the bread will slide off easily. Then dust your hands with flour and top of dough in bucket and grab about a grapefruit sized ball of dough. Hold the dough in your hands and gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, leaving a smooth ball with all the ends tucked underneath. Flour hands as needed so as not to stick. Score the top of the dough ball and place on pizza paddle to rise.

Let the dough rise for about 40 minutes on the paddle. 20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450 with a pizza stone on the middle rack and an old broiler pan on the bottom rack. After 20 minutes (even if oven isn't hot enough) slide dough onto pizza stone. Pour 1 to 2 cups hot water into the broiler pan and close the door quickly to trap the steam. Bake for about 30-45 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Let cool before slicing.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Makes 2-3 dozen


Ingredients:

½ cups butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 whole egg

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoons baking powder

⅛ teaspoons baking soda

1-½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cups powdered sugar


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.


In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice.
Scrape sides and mix again.
Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar.
Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly.
Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate.
Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar.
Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Soul Sweet 'Taters

Ingredients
    •    4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 3/4 pounds)
    •    1 cup granulated sugar
    •    1 cup milk
    •    2 large eggs
    •    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    •    1 teaspoon salt
    •    1 cup packed dark brown sugar
    •    1 cup nuts of your choice, chopped
    •    1/2 cup all-purpose flour
    •    6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the sweet potatoes on the oven rack and bake until fork-tender, about 45 minutes. When the potatoes are finished cooking, let cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Slice them open lengthwise and scrape out the flesh with a fork into a large bowl. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
Add the granulated sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla and salt to the bowl with the sweet potatoes. Mash the mixture with a potato masher until combined and slightly lumpy-you don't want it to be perfectly smooth.
Now, in a separate bowl, mash the brown sugar, pecans, flour and butter with a pastry cutter or fork until thoroughly combined. The mixture should resemble a crumble.
Spread the sweet potato mixture in a 14-cup oval-shaped baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

No Bake Lemon Cream Pie

Ingredients
1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust or pre-baked pie crust

Directions
    1.    Place the pie crust in the freezer.    
    2.    Using a large bowl, add an 8-oz. package of softened cream cheese at room temperature, beat with an electric hand mixer on medium until fluffy.    
    3.    Add 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, stir in 1/3 cup of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1/2 cup sour cream.    
    4.    Blend ingredients well.    
    5.    Take chilled pre-made pie crust, evenly spoon in the mixture and chill in refrigerator for about 2 hours.    
    6.    To garnish, zest a lemon peel with a hand grater or use fresh fruit (strawberries or blueberries).
    7.     Garnish with whipped cream.

Pomegranate Salad

1 6 oz pkg cherry jello
1/2 c. sugar
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
1 lg. pomegranate, seeded
1pkg. raw cranberries, chopped
2 apples, chopped
2/3 c. chopped nuts (optional)
Cool Whip or Whipped cream

Dissolve jello as directed, using pineapple juice as cold liquid, add sugar, then fruit. Place in fridge to set up. Before serving, garnish with whipped topping.

Green Chile Beef Tacos

I made this for Sunday lunch, except used pork roast. It was awesome and so tender!

5 pounds boneless beef chuck roast
1 (1 ounce) packet taco seasoning mix
1 (16 ounce) jar green salsa
1 Can Rotel tomatoes w/ lime and cilantro
2 cups beef broth, or more if needed

1. Lay the chuck roast into the bottom of a slow cooker with a tight-fitting lid. Sprinkle the taco seasoning mix over the beef. Pour the green salsa over the beef, followed by the beef broth.
2. Cook on Low for 4 hours. Add more beef broth if needed. Remove the beef from the slow cooker and shred with two forks. Return the shredded beef to the slow cooker; mix with the liquid. Serve hot.

Oatmeal Carmelita Bars

Yield: 24 bars
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Bake Time: 25 minutes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1½ cups light brown sugar
2 cups quick-cooking oats
14 ounces caramel candies, unwrapped
½ cup evaporated milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until combined and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until fully incorporated. Add the oats and mix on low briefly to just combine.
4. Transfer approximately half of the dough mixture to the baking dish. Spread and press the dough into the baking dish until you have an even layer with no cracks or crumbles. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven.
5. While the dough is baking, combine the evaporated milk and caramels in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir the mixture constantly until all the caramels are melted and you have a thick sauce. Allow to cool until cookie base comes out of the oven.
6. Once out of the oven, sprinkle the cookie base evenly with chocolate chips and pecans, and then carefully pour the caramel sauce over the cookie base, nuts, and chocolate. Use an offset spatula to spread the caramel sauce into an even layer.
7. Sprinkle the remaining cookie dough over the top of the caramel-chocolate-nut mixture a handful at a time, making sure to get an even coating over the whole dish.
8. Return the dish to the oven, baking until the topping is lightly browned, about 15 minutes.
9. Once out of the oven, cool the dish to room temperature and then refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Black Velvet Cake

Tired of Red Velvet? Maybe black is the new red...

2 1/4 cups cake flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process!)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla bean paste (substitute an equal amount of pure vanilla extract for the paste!)

3 tablespoons Pero
1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup half & half
1-2 tablespoons black food coloring (depends on how dark you'd like your cake to be!)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

Chocolate marshmallow frosting
one 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme (also known as fluff!)

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2-3 tablespoons heavy cream, depending on how thick you'd like your frosting to be

2 T black food coloring
sprinkles or nonpareils, for decorating (optional)


Combine cake ingredients, place in pan(s) and cook, time depending on the size of your pans. Cool, then make the frosting. Enjoy.

Apple Tapioca

From Teena Read

Makes one quart. OK to increase for canning.

Mix together:

1/3 c. tapioca

1 c. firmly packed brown sugar

4 c. sliced tart apples 2 c water

2 c. water

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. salt

Let stand 5 minutes. 

Let stand 5 minutes. Place mixture in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Simmer till apples are tender (about 12 minutes). Fill jars, wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes.

Serve warm or cold, as topping for ice cream, filling for pie shell or base for apple crisp.

Garlic Dill Pickles

From Marissa McClellan of FoodinJars.com. 

Makes approximately 8 pints (total yield varies depending on size of cucumbers).

2 overflowing quarts of pickling cucumbers, sliced into fat coins*
4 cups apple cider vinegar
4 cups water
6 tablespoons pickling salt
16 garlic cloves, peeled (2 per jar)**
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper per jar
(2 teaspoons total)
1 teaspoon dill seed per jar (8 teaspoons total)
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns per jar
(4 teaspoons total)

Wash and slice the cucumbers. In a large saucepot, combine vinegar, water and salt. Bring to a simmer. Arrange jars on counter and dole out the spices to each. Pack the cucumber slices firmly into the jars. You don’t want to damage the cukes, but you do want them packed tight.

Pour the brine into the jar, leaving ½ inch headspace.Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

If you want to skip the boiling water process, these pickles are also wonderful as refrigerator pickles. Just pop the jars into the fridge once they’re cool.

*I use slices because I find that they are easiest to pack into jars. However, you could also choose to make spears, halves or pickle the cucumbers whole.

**I like to peel the garlic by leaning on it ever so slightly with the side of a chef’s knife. This bruises the garlic a bit and gets its pungent flavor into the brine/cucumbers more effectively.

***Some people have reported that this level of spice leaves their pickles far too spicy. If your red chili flakes are particularly fresh or potent and you’re not a huge fan of spice, consider reducing the amount.

Sweet & Sour Sauce

From my grandmother Grace Taylor. This is one of my favorite recipes to can. It is also a great recipe to make for dinner, though you might want to half it if you are not cooking for a crowd.

Makes 12 pints or 6 quarts.

8 cups tomatoes, diced
2 1/2 cups onions, chopped
1 can mandarin oranges
2 can pineapple tidbits
5 cups bell peppers, chopped
7 cups white sugar
3 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cups soy sauce
1 cups cornstarch

Combine all except pineapple juice & cornstarch. Cook until onions are translucent. Combine cornstarch with pineapple juice and add to pot and let thicken. At this point it is ready to serve immediately. If you are canning it, fill jars with sauce, wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water canner for 35 minutes.

Standard Tomato Sauce

From the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, 2009 edition

Whole tomatoes
Lemon juice

A bushel of tomatoes weighs a little more than 50 pounds and will produce 10-12 quarts of thin tomato sauce. The thicker you make your sauce, the lower the yield.

Wash, remove stems and trim off bruised or discolored portions from tomatoes. Cut a good portion of the tomatoes into quarters and put directly into a large, hot saucepan and crush them with a potato masher. Continue to slowly add and crush freshly cut tomato quarters to the mixture, stirring occasionally.

Simmer for another five minutes, then remove from heat and press the heated tomato mixture through a medium sieve or food mill to remove skins and seeds. Return to heat, simmer and reduce the sauce until you reach the desired consistency.

Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice to clean, hot quart-sized canning jars, adding salt if you like. Fill hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water canner for 45 minutes.

White Peach Sauce

From Marisa McClellan of FoodinJars.com

10 pounds of peaches, halved and peeled
3 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
10 tablespoons bottled lemon juice (this is 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons)

Cook the peaches down in a large, non-reactive pot, using a potato masher to help them break down and release their juice. Add the vanilla bean seeds and the pod so that the vanilla flavor will infuse all the peaches.

After approximately 20 minutes over medium heat, the peaches should be fairly well cooked down. Remove the vanilla bean from the pot (making sure to squeeze all the goodness from it). If you like your sauce chunky, leave as is. If you want a smoother consistency, puree with an immersion blender.
Taste and add sugar to achieve your desired sweetness. I found a happy, flavorful place at 3 cups, but depending on the innate sweetness in the peaches, you might be able to stop at 2 cups. Or you might need to add more. It’s up to you.

Pour peach sauce into pints, leaving a bit more than an inch of headspace. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to each jar and stir in with a chopstick or plastic spoon. Wipe rims, apply lids and process for 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.

If you want to make butter from some of the sauce, reserve 6-8 cups of sauce and cook down in a slow cooker (making sure to add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for every two cups of sauce at the beginning of cooking).

Apple Pie Filling

From my grandmother Grace Taylor

Makes sauce for 7 quarts of apples.

5 cups sugar
10 cups water
1 cups cornstarch
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
Sliced apples of your choice

Mix all ingredients together in a pan, boil until it thickens a bit. Put a little in the bottom of each bottles. Fill with sliced apples, then fill to top with sauce. Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes for quarts, 15 minutes for pints.

A tip about slicing apples for canning: I use the peeler, corer, slicer gadget that spiral cuts the apple while peeling and coring it. After I do each apple, I slice it in half top to bottom and place it in a bowl of water with a few tablespoons of either Fresh Fruit (a canning product) or lemon juice added. This will keep the apples moist and not turn brown by the time you are ready to pack the jars and add the sauce.

Red Ribbon Salsa

From Melinda Hixson, Utah State Fair ribbon winner

Makes 3 pints. You can 4 times it to get 2 batches of pints or 1 batch of quarts.

4 cups tomatoes, peeled, diced and drained
1 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno chili, seeded and chopped
1 anaheim chili, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 8-oz can tomato sauce or 1 cup homemade
1 tablespoon salt (preferably canning salt)

Combine and simmer 1 hour. Fill jars, wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water canner for 45 minutes.

This is the salsa we made at the September R.S. canning class. If you use Roma or plum tomatoes, and set them in a strainer while you are prepping the ingredients, a majority of the water will drain out and your salsa will end up thicker. We also fire roasted the peppers on the grill and let them cool in a paper bag before peeling off the blackened skins.

Chicken-Seafood Creole Gumbo

My mom used to put canned whole tomatoes in her's and chicken, too.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Ready In: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients
1 pound crab meat
1 pint oysters
1 pound raw shrimp
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup flour
2 large onions, diced
1/2 cup green pepper, diced
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tbsp red pepper
2 bay leaves
2 quarts water
1 cup green onion tops
1 tbsp file' (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
First you make a dark roux with the flour and oil in a large heavy bottomed pot. When oil is hot add flour and stir constantly until it turns dark brown in color. Be careful not to burn the roux. If it burns, you will have to start over. Saute the onion, pepper, and celery in roux. Add the water and the seasonings and cook for 1/2 hour.

Add shrimp and cook for 10 minutes. Add crabmeat, oysters and green onions, and simmer for 10 more minutes. Remove from heat. Allowing gumbo to sit on the stove for at least an hour after it is completed greatly increases the flavor.

Serve over rice.

File' is a thickening agent that you can add to gumbo when it is fully cooked. You /have/ to add file' powder. Some like it, some don't. Do not add during the cooking process. Salt and pepper are very important to the end results of this dish. So adjust seasoning accordingly.

Gumbo is not made the same way by any two people, feel free to add or remove any ingredients that you like. You can make a very thick  gravy or a very thin gravy. It's all up to you.  Smoked sausage can be added, too. If  you add tomatoes you then have Creole Gumbo.

Impossible Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup half and half (or evaporated milk)

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or silicone liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice

In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and half and half until well combined.
Add in dry ingredients and whisk until no streaks of flour remain and batter is smooth.

Fill each muffin cup with approximately 1/3 cup of batter.

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan. They will sink as they cool.

Chill cupcakes before serving.
Top with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Makes 12