Homemade Salisbury Steak

Tonight I made Salisbury Steak to take to a dinner tomorrow after church. I made it early because I had never made it before so I wanted to make sure it would turn out OK. You just can't feed the preacher bad food you know. If you follow me on Pinterest, you will see the pin for the Salisbury Steak under the "Good Food and Cooking Ideas" board. I did not follow it exactly, I left out some of the stuff.....here is what I did:

Salisbury Steak with Caramelized Onion Gravy.. 

Ingredients:
Onion Gravy 

2 large vidalia onions, thinly sliced 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter 

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 

3 cups low-sodium beef broth 

1 tablespoon tomato paste 

Salt and pepper
Meat Patties 

1 pound lean ground beef  

1/2 cup cooked white rice 

1 egg yolk lightly beaten 

1 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon pepper 

1 clove minced garlic 

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 

1/2 teaspoon  thyme 

1 tablespoon cooking oil 

Directions: 

1) To make gravy: Heat butter in a large sauté pan. Add onions and cook over medium-high heat, until onions start to brown, stirring occasionally. When onions are slightly softened and turning a deep honey brown, add 1/4 cup broth. Reduce heat, cover and continue cooking, adding more broth as needed to prevent caramelized bits at the bottom of the pan from burning. It should take at least 25 to 30 minutes to properly caramelize onions. Stir in flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in remaining beef broth and tomato paste. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low and keep warm. 

2) To make patties: Mix ground beef, rice, egg yolk, salt, pepper, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and thyme in a bowl. Shape into 4 oval patties about 3/4-inch thick. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Sear patties about 3 minutes per side, or until a brown crust forms. Pour gravy over patties and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Yield: 4 Servings.

Instead of the last step of simmering them in a skillet for 10 minutes, I placed them in a deep 9 x 13 pan, covered them with the gravy and baked at 375 for 20 minutes. They were great!

I had to try one after they were done. Yum!

Here is the link to the pinterest post with the recipe.  
http://pinterest.com/pin/147633694005967926/

Chicken Fajitas

 These are super easy and quick AND good!
(all photos are from Google images)

In a large skillet or wok warm 1 tbsp vegetable oil, add 1/2 of a red pepper sliced and 1/2 of a green pepper sliced











Next add about 1/3 of a sweet onion sliced









 and 2 tbsp McCormick Fajita seasoning and saute` until vegetables are crisp-tender.

Next thinly slice your chicken and add to the peppers and onion. Stir with a wooden spoon and saute` until chicken is cooked through.  Warm tortillas per package instructions, load with fajita mixture and ENJOY!!

Corn Dog Muffins

I love corn dogs. It is difficult to get the right taste these days. I found a recipe for corn dog batter that tastes almost as good as corn dogs from the county fair. Now, instead of deep frying, these are baked in the oven. Yum! with a dip of yellow mustard on most bites......

 Here is the recipe
Oven to 450 degrees
Pampered Chef Stone muffin pan if you have one, other wise a 12 cup muffin tin will work
Pour about 1/2 to 1 tbsp oil in each muffin cup
heat in oven while oven is preheating.

While oven is heating, combine in your batter bowl:
1 cup self rising flour*
2/3 cup self rising corn meal mix*
1/4 cup sugar (I used about 2 tbsp less)
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
stir together

From your pre-heated muffin pan, cautiously pour excess oil into batter and stir. Please be careful oil and pan are HOT!!!!
Next, take 3 hot dogs cut into thirds
Place 1 tbsp batter in each cup
place hot dog piece on top of batter
equally place remainder of batter over each hot dog
Bake until golden brown.

Enjoy with a dollop of mustard!

If you had rather, you can deep fry your corn dogs. The following is the recipe from All Recipes.com here is the link to that site:
http://allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 quart oil for deep frying

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal

• 1/4 cup white sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoons bacon drippings

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 pounds hot dogs

• wooden sticks

Directions

1. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C).

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in melted bacon drippings. Make a well in the center, and pour in the egg, buttermilk, and baking soda. Mix until everything is smooth and well blended.

1. Pat the hot dogs dry with paper towels so that the batter will stick. Insert wooden sticks into the ends. Dip the hot dogs in the batter one at a time, shaking off the excess. Deep fry a few at a time in the hot oil until they are as brown as you like them. Drain on paper towels or serve on paper plates.

*I used self rising *White Lily Unbleached Flour and *White Lily Cornmeal Mix and omitted the baking soda baking powder and salt. I also used 2% milk instead of buttermilk.

Ice cream!

I wanted to make ice cream for a while. I have had a Cuisinart Ice Cream and Yogurt maker for 15 years or more. I love the thing but I haven't used it in several years. The bowl goes in the freezer, you take it out and add your ingredients and turn it on. It takes 30 or 40 minutes to make ice cream. So I am into Pinterest now and found a recipe using Sweetened Condensed Milk and "soda" (we all know in the south there is no such thing as soda-- all varieties are 'Coke' as in what kind of Coke do you want) to make ice cream. So, I went in the kitchen and found a 2L bottle of Big Red. I got in the Pantry and got out a can of sweetened condensed milk and got started. I poured in the milk, then the Big Red, stirred it a little, put the paddle in, top on and turned on the machine. In one half hour I had ice cream. It tasted pretty good too. I placed the remainder in a freezer safe bowl, covered it, washed and returned the ice cream bowl to the freezer for the next time. Yum! 

 

So, I suppose the recipe is:  

1 - 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 - 2L bottle of your favorite cola

 stir gently to combine and place in your freezer. Activate per manufacturer's directions. Enjoy!

Follow me on Pinterest!  

http://pinterest.com/

Brownies!

So everyone loves brownies, or most everyone! I found a very simple recipe for brownies and an easy fudge frosting recipe that require no cooking! So, here goes!

Brownies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

You only need a half recipe for the brownies....it is so easy!

No-cook fudge frosting

• 4 3/4 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup butter , softened
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

• 1. In a bowl mix together the powdered sugar and cocoa.
  2. Add the butter, boiling water and vanilla.
  3. Beat with mixer at low speed until combined.
  4. Beat at medium speed for 1 minute.
  5. Cool for 20-30 minutes or until spreading consistency

Happy Baking!

Like Riley's cookies? There are similar!

So you like tea cookies from Riley's Bakery? Well, these are very similar! They are easy to make and taste very close! I had the recipe years ago and lost it, so here it is again! They are melt in your mouth good!

Confectioner's Sugar Cookies
1-1/2 cups butter, softened
1-1/3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour


Directions
1. In large mixing bowl beat butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar and salt; beat until combined, scraping sides of
bowl. Beat in vanilla. Add flour; beat until dough comes together. Wrap and chill
dough 1 hour or until easy to handle.

2. Preheat oven to 350F. Take dough out and pinch off enough dough to make 1" balls, place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets, flatten center slightly with your thumb. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheets 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack; cool completely.

3. Make powdered sugar icing, and dollop a half-teaspoon to one teaspoon of icing onto each cookie

4. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days; freeze up to 3 months.

Powdered Sugar Icing: Mix together 3 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 stick soft butter and 1 to 3 tablespoons milk one tablespoon at a time. Add food color of your choice to icing.

I hope you enjoy these cookies! They melt in your mouth! Yum!

Homemade Chocolate Chip Muffins! Melt in your mouth!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1/3 cup light-brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter*, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 (11 1/2 ounce) package milk chocolate chips

May stir in 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans if desired.
If you don't use self rising flour, use plain flower and add 2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt.
*shouldn't substitute margarine for butter because of the water content. May cause muffins to be flat and dough-like.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Grease twelve muffin cups.
3. In a large bowl, stir together flour and sugars, (baking powder and salt if used).
4. In another bowl, stir together milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla until blended.
5. Make a well in center of dry ingredients.
6. Add milk mixture and stir just to combine.
7. Stir in chocolate chips.
8. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
9. Now bake for 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean.
10. Remove muffin tin to wire rack.
11. Cool for 5 minutes.
12. Remove from tins to finish cooling.

Serve warm! Store leftovers in an airtight container. May warm slightly if desired before eating.






Gift idea! Bake up a batch in a decorative muffin tin, let cool, wrap in color plastic wrap and give with a copy of the recipe.
Gift idea! layer dry ingredients, one at a time ending with the chocolate chips. Copy recipe (change to say contents of jar, add eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla with the amounts of those items), with baking directions and attach to jar with pretty ribbon.

I hope you enjoy the muffins!