All posts by Sonte

Yeast

Light and Fluffy Dinner Rolls

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I have recently discovered the Dough setting on my Breadmaker and am putting it to good use! Why don’t I just make bread from scratch, you ask? Let’s face it, I just am not tall enough, nor are my counters low enough to ensure comfortable Kneading…and bread dough begs to be kneaded for 8-10 minutes. For these two reasons I have decided to let my machine do the hard work for me. That isn’t cheating, is it?

I really need to unsubscribe from Chocolate, Chocolate and More on Facebook because everyday something comes through the feed that I just HAVE to make! Heaven knows I simply do not have the time or the people on hand to eat all of the stuff I want to make…
That said, I am delighted to have had this recipe for Light and Fluffy Dinner Rolls come through because I often make soups and stews which are so much better with home made bread or buns.

Light and Fluffy Dinner Rolls
Super Light and Fluffy Dinner Rolls

1 1/2 cups Hot Water, from the tap
1/3 (65g) Vegetable Shortening, cubed
1/4 c Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg, well beaten
4 cups Flour
2 1/4 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast  (1 pkg)

In bread mixer pan add ingredients in order listed.
Use the Dough setting on your Bread Maker ( usually 1 1/2 hours)
Turn dough out onto lightly flour surface and knead into a smooth ball.
Portion dough evenly into 12 – 15 pieces.
Shape each portion into a ball and place in greased 9X13″ pan.
Cover lightly with oiled plastic wrap or L-Foil and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake in preheated 375F oven for about 15 – 18 minutes, until golden on top and sounds hollow when you tap on the surface.
Remove from oven, immediately brush with butter.
Turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

* I used a 9X13″ but portioned my dough for 16 pieces instead of 12! I put the extra dough into 2 lil ramekins and baked along side the big pan of rolls.

If making by Hand:
In bowl of your mixer, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
Use paddle attachment and add hot water.
Mix on Low speed until all combined.
Add shortening and egg, continuing to stir until well blended.
Switch to dough hook and add remaining flour.
Knead dough for 10 minutes.
Dough will be very soft and sticky.
Transfer dough to a large greased bowl, turning dough to coat.
Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm location until doubled in size.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface.
Roll dough into smooth ball, cut into four equal pieces and then those four pieces into three pieces each to give you a total of 12 rolls.
Shape each piece into a ball and place in a greased 9×13″ pan.
Cover with towel and let rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake as directed above.

Yield: 12- 18 Dinner Rolls

 

About, Cookies

Cocoa Ginger Crisps

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These are aptly named…Crisps. They are delightful lil bites of chocolately crispness with just a hint of ginger. This recipe for Cocoa Ginger Crisps from Chocolate Chocolate and More caught my eye when it came through my FB feed because they contained Ginger and since I like just about anything with ginger I thought I would give these a try. I will probably add a lil more ginger the next time I make them, because there WILL be a next time, as I couldn’t really taste the ginger at all. They were super easy to make and I found that I did not have to let the dough rest in the fridge before scooping out with my lil Pampered Chef scoop. However,  I already had bread dough on the go, so once I had rolled each individual cookie in the cocoa/sugar mixture I did place them in a sealed container in the fridge to bake after the bread came out of the oven.

I am experimenting with Egg-less baking because I often bring  tasty lil treats to a school that I work at and one of the students has an egg allergy. I found this recipe worked very well with Egg Replacer. I didn’t want to use Chia Seeds as an Egg Replacement because I find the Chia Seeds don’t break down very well; though now that I think about it, the extra texture would not have hurt these cookies.  I will have to give that a go next time. I should also note that I did not have light corn syrup in the pantry but DID have dark corn syrup…easily subbed in the dark for the light…and as I am typing this it just occurred to me that I will also replace 2 Tablespoons of the corn syrup with Molasses next time to try to achieve that  Ginger Cookie taste the name of this recipe conjures up in my mind.

cocoa ginger crisps
Just a hint of Ginger in these Cocoa Ginger Crisps

1 cup Butter, softened
1 + 1/3 cup Sugar, divided
1 Egg  (2 Tablespoons Water whisked together with 1 Tablespoon Egg Replacer)
1/4 cup Light Corn Syrup ( 2 Tablespoons Molasses, add enough Light Corn Syrup to measure    ……                                          1/4cup)
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 cups Flour
6 Tablespoons (3 oz) + 1 1/4 teaspoons Cocoa, divided
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoons ground Ginger
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Preheat oven to 350F.
Line baking trays with Parchment Paper.

In a small mixing bowl combine flour, 6 Tablespoons (3 oz) cocoa, baking soda, ginger and salt; set aside.
In a small flat bowl combine 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/4 teaspoons cocoa; set aside.
In large mixing bowl beat butter, sugar and egg (Egg Repalcer) until light and fluffy.
Add corn syrup (corn syrup/molasses mixture, if using) and vanilla; beat until well blended.
Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture, beating until well blended.
Using a #2 Pampered Chef scoop, portion dough, rolling each one in the sugar/cocoa mixture.
Place about 2″ apart on prepared baking trays.
Bake in 350F oven for about 10 – 12 minutes or until cookies flatten.
Cool for a minute on baking trays before transferring to cool completely on a wire rack.

Yield: About 4 1/2 Dozen

 

Quick Breads

Homemade Bisquick Mix

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Often a recipe will call for Bisquick Mix…who buys that stuff? Not me. Never have, never will. I usually just whip up a batch of BP Biscuit dough and use that but sometimes you just don’t have time to go through the added time of making the BP dough. Then it struck me that someone surely would have come up with a homemade version, right? Right! Homemade Biscuit Mix. at Food.com had what I was looking for. Now I try to keep a batch of this in the fridge during the cooler winter nights so I can easily whip up a batch of biscuits or use in recipes calling for Bisquick Mix.

6 cups Flour
3 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1 cup Milk Powder
1 Tablespoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 cup Vegetable Shortening, cubed

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in food processor bowl; whir a couple of times.
With motor running, drop cubed shortening through the feeder tube and process just until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Store in sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 months.
Use whenever a recipe calls for Bisquick Mix.

* If you don’t have a food processor:
Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a large mixing bowl.
Use a pastry blender, two knives or your hands to cut shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Beef

Shepherd Pie with Leftover Roast Beef

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Alright so you made that roast beef, loads of mashed potatoes and now you have heaps of leftovers, right? I offer you a wonderful solution:Paula Deen’s Shepherd Pie with Leftover Roast Beef found over at Food.com. I made a few changes…as I am known to do, so I have listed how I made it. My husband was thrilled that I even presented him with a lil serving of Ketchup to go with his portion. This Shepherd Pie reminded me of an Aussie Meat Pie which also begs for a good dollop of Ketchup.

This Shepherd Pie is different from all the ones I have seen; it uses mashed potatoes for the “crust” and has a biscuit topping! I don’t EVER purchase Bisquick Baking Mix but a few years ago I realized that someone MUST have posted home made versions of the stuff; I was right. I make up a batch of biscuit mix now and again and keep it in the fridge for when I am feeling particularly lazy and don’t want to make ’em from scratch.

I poured the goopy Biscuit dough on top of the meat filling as directed in the recipe but my son Ryan said next time I should scoop it on in mounds. I think he might be on to something with that suggestion.

Shepherd Pie with Leftover Roast Beef
Shepherd Pie with Leftover Roast Beef, Mashed Potato Crust and Biscuit Topping

1 Onion, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 1/2 pounds Leftover Roast Beef, cubed
3/4 cup Gravy (use leftover Gravy if you have it; if not, stir 1 Tablespoon Gravy Mix into 3/4 cup cold water, whisk until no lumps remain)
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
Salt and Pepper
3 cups Mashed Potatoes, leftover
1 cup Frozen Sweet Peas
1/2 cup diced Carrots
1 – 1 1/2 cups Milk
2 cups Biscuit Mix
4 Tablespoons Butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly spray a 9x9inch square pan with vegetable oil spray.
Beef Layer:
In a large skillet over med-high heat sauté onion in olive oil.
Add minced garlic and continue sautéing for another couple of minutes.
Add beef, stir well.
Add gravy and heat to boiling; cook for 1 – 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat.
Add worcestershire sauce,  salt and pepper; set aside.
“Crust”:
Layer mashed potatoes halfway up the sides of prepared baking dish.
Spread beef mixture over mashed potatoes.
Next, add frozen sweet peas and diced carrots.
Biscuit Topping:
Combine biscuit topping mix with enough milk to make a goopy dough.
Scoop biscuit dough and drop in mounds onto vegetable layer.
Brush with melted butter.
Bake in preheated 350F oven for 35 – 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.
Let stand a few minutes before serving.

Serve 4 – 6

Poultry

Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo

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The boys in this house enjoy Chicken Adobo but I don’t like frying chicken; I was pleased to find this recipe for Slow Cooker Adobo Chicken, which did not ask for me to first brown it in oil.

I reckon it is pretty adaptable to what you have on hand too: I was in desperate need of grocery shopping and only had one onion and part of a red onion on hand to work with, luckily I had just purchased Rice Vinegar so had that on hand – in the past I have subbed in regular white vinegar. That said, I do hope that it tasted alright? Both the guys said it was good. I asked for more specific details but they couldn’t come up with any! (I don’t eat meat so I have no idea how it tasted. I thought it looked better than the stove top version I make and I also liked the consistency of the sauce. I removed the chicken to a serving dish, poured the liquid into a small saucepan and reduced it to a thicker consistency to satisfy my own sensibilities.

Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo
Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo

4 Onions, halved and thinly sliced
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon Grated Ginger
1 Bay Leaf
3 lbs Bone In, Chicken Thighs
3/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
Steamed Rice

Place onions, garlic,  ginger and bay leaf in an even layer in the slow cooker.
If Chicken Thighs have skins, remove skin and visible fat; arrange chicken in an even layer on top of the onions et al.
Whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and pepper; pour it over the chicken.
Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through and falling off the bone, about 4 – 5 hours on LOW.
Transfer Chicken to serving dish and cover with foil.
Pour liquid into a small saucepan, fish out bay leaf and discard; bring to a boil.
Continue boiling to reduce to desired consistency.
Pour over Chicken, sprinkle with chopped green onions and serve alongside hot Steamed Rice.

Serves 4 – 6