AUGUST 2016 ... WHAT'S COOKING FOR DINNER ?

Earlier today I had a hamburger on regular bread. The side that had lettuce was OK but the other side got really soggy. Next time I'll put lettuce on both sides. I didn't have any thing else for dinner tonight so I made the hamburgers shaped like hot dogs so Charlie would eat them.

Dane, too, won't eat a hamburger on bread.....I always call him a 'Big Whiner'. Just once did I make the burgers shaped like hot dogs to use hot dog buns ~ you would have thought I was trying to poison him! I admit, plain bread, especially thin sliced white or white/wheat does get soggy, but you can always toast it and then eat it as an open-faced sandwich.

I guess, growing up with 3 brothers, there were lots of times I didn't get a bun with my burger. Heck, there were quite a few times I didn't even get the darn burger 'cause I wasn't fast enough!

Hamburger on toast is a good idea.

DomesticGoddess....you sure you aren't a Southern Gal who just happens to live up north in Wisconsin? That sounds like a truly southern meal to me! LOL

What brand of sausage do you use for your sausage gravy? I use to use Bob Evans' brand but the last few times I bought it there were shards of hard gristle or even what looked to be bone in the grind. Now I usually use the 'hot' Jimmy Dean brand. I like to add some finely chopped onion to mine, as well as some additional red pepper flakes. I'm the only one who eats it, Mr. Amazing isn't a fan at all. But that's fine with me. When I make it, using the entire tube of sausage, I freeze the leftover gravy in 6 oz. containers and that's just right for one split biscuit. I also make a whole batch of biscuits and wrap those individually & bag for the freezer. It makes for a quick and easy breakfast/brunch or lunch/lupper when I'm home alone.

I like Bob Evans and Jimmy Dean also but both seem to have more filler or something that makes them softer than they used to be. I wouldn't be surprised if both brands sublet their product to ConAgra now.

Beth wrote:Now I usually use the 'hot' Jimmy Dean brand. I like to add some finely chopped onion to mine, as well as some additional red pepper flakes. I'm the only one who eats it, Mr. Amazing isn't a fan at all. But that's fine with me.

We use the hot Jimmy Dean stuff, too, Beth. I don't make biscuits with sausage gravy often but boy, when I do, Brian acts like I've made Beef Wellington or something. The man loves it!

It's funny, as when we first started dating, he told me he didn't like biscuits. I don't think I'd ever heard of anyone not liking biscuits -- I can see them not being on your list of favorite things but what's not to like if you eat bread? The first time I made them (using Bisquick), he kept grabbing another and another. He says he'd only had hard, dry biscuits and never ones that were soft and delicious. Today they're one of his favorite things, even if I throw them together with Bisquick. And, of course, I've gotten him into scones, which we both adore.

Puts me in mind of breakfast for dinner, which we haven't had in a long time. I'm going to have to rectify that really soon...

Michelle, Cream Biscuits are my favorite thing to make when I'm in a hurry....

Easy recipe: 2 1/4 c. White Lily Self Rising Flour, 1 c. HEAVY whipping cream....and in addition to the original recipe which is just that....I add a couple Tbsp. of melted butter, just because I like the flavor.

Mix, knead a couple times, pat out, cut w/biscuit cutter or just into squares w/knife....bake at 400 until lightly browned. How easy can it get?

I did a chicken pasta tonight.....mushrooms, red onion, asparagus, cavatavi (cork screw pasta) in a light cream sauce. The pasta gets cooked in a thin chicken broth in the pot and not drained so it absorbs most of the liquid. That contributes to the 'sauce'. Then I add a tbsp. or so or cream cheese and some heavy cream or half & half, which ever I happen to have in the refrigerator.....saucy pasta.

bethk wrote:Michelle, Cream Biscuits are my favorite thing to make when I'm in a hurry....

Easy recipe:  2 1/4 c. White Lily Self Rising Flour, 1 c. HEAVY whipping cream....and in addition to the original recipe which is just that....I add a couple Tbsp. of melted butter, just because I like the flavor.

Mix, knead a couple times, pat out, cut w/biscuit cutter or just into squares w/knife....bake at 400 until lightly browned.  How easy can it get?

I'm laughing 'cause you gave me this recipe already, Beth -- at my request, I might add. I have it typed out in my recipes on the computer. You even mentioned the melted butter! I just have this box of Bisquick, you see, and though I'm sure the biscuits aren't as good as yours, Bisquick makes good biscuits and it's quicker for me, too, as I don't have to convert AP flour to self-rising by adding baking powder and salt. I don't use self-rising flour enough to try and squeeze it into my cabinets with all the other stuff that's in there...

Our dinner tonight was breaded and deep fried pork cutlets, mashed potatoes, gravy made with half milk and half chicken stock and a tossed salad.  I thought I had some peas in the freezer to go with the potatoes but I couldn't find them.

This recipe was from King Arthur today. It's a cream biscuit recipe.  I am going to try some of the additions mentioned after the recipe.  My son's favorite biscuits are Georgia Touch of Grace biscuits from Shirley Corriher.  It is basically cream biscuits.

NEVER-FAIL BISCUITS
The. Easiest. Biscuits. Ever. Simply mix equal parts (by weight) self-rising flour and heavy cream; scoop biscuits onto a baking sheet, and bake until golden and tender-yet-slightly-crisp. Oh, oh, OH so good! Ultra-tender, super-rich, they're the fastest/easiest biscuits you'll ever bake. And there are lots of ways to take them from simple to sublime — find our favorite variations, from sweet shortcakes to herb biscuits, in "tips," below.
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PREP  5 mins. to 10 mins.  BAKE 10 mins. TOTAL  15 mins. to 20 mins.
YIELD  12 biscuits
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Self-Rising Flour
3/4 cup heavy or whipping cream*
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon salt, optional; for a saltier biscuit
*If the dough doesn't come together readily, dribble in an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons cream, to make it totally conhesive.

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450°F, with a rack in the top third.
Mix the flour and cream until smooth and cohesive.
Scoop 1-ounce balls of dough onto an ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. Leave a couple of inches between them.

Brush the tops of the biscuits with cream, milk, or water; this will help them rise.
Bake the biscuits for 10 minutes, or until they're light golden brown on top. Break one open — it should be baked all the way through.
Remove the biscuits from the oven, and serve warm, or at room temperature. Store, well-wrapped, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.


TIPS FROM OUR BAKERS

Pat the dough 3/4" thick and cut biscuits with a cutter, if desired.

For larger biscuits, simply scoop the dough into 1 1/2-ounce balls, to make 8 biscuits; or 2-ounce balls, to make 6. Bake the larger biscuits a minute or so longer, or until they're baked all the way through.

This recipe is ridiculously easy to scale up (or down). Simply use equal amounts of flour and heavy cream, by weight; each biscuit uses about 1 ounce of dough. So if you use, say, 4 ounces of flour and 4 ounces of cream, you'll make 8 biscuits. Or 12 ounces (3 cups) of flour, 12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) of cream — 24 biscuits.

Feel free to stir the additions of your choice into the dough. Berries, cheese cubes, crumbled bacon or diced ham, chopped scallions, chocolate chips, dried fruit... use your imagination!

To make now, serve later, place shaped/unbaked biscuits close together on a small baking sheet; place the sheet in the freezer, and freeze until solid. Transfer the biscuits to an airtight container (plastic bag, etc.) When you're ready to serve, there's no need to thaw the biscuits; remove them from the freezer and bake as directed above, adding a few minutes to the baking time.

Want to make biscuits for fruit shortcake? Add 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon vanilla to the dough.

For savory biscuits, perfect with soup or salad, add 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs to the dough.

Wow. Easy conversion for making batches.....love that! Thanks, Norm.

Went to the neighbor's for supper.....nice to not have to plan anything and still get to eat.

I was away for a few days for some R&R with my sister about 250 miles north of here. We vegged out, ate too much, didn't drink enough (She doesn't drink any booze, so I don't either when we are together) We stayed in a resort called Grand Tappatoo Resort. It is "rustic" but great. The best part of all was one evening when we had gone out for a drive, on the way back a black bear ran across the road right in front of us. It was the first time she had ever seen one in the wild, so it was pretty special!

Supper for me tonight was a stir fry of mushrooms, onions, yellow pepper, broccoli, and some mixed seafood. I used a package of little things, shrimp, baby octopus, some calamari rings. Yumm.............. but I didn't have any rice or pasta cooked, so I will probably be looking for a snack in a couple of hours!

Yes, we did. We lived about 400 miles apart for most of our adult lives, so we are making up for lost sister time now.

I had a chicken cutlet in the freezer that was quick to thaw....pounded it out, gave it a buttermilk/siracha soak, coated it with some panko and quick brown in a CI skillet. Asparagus got cleaned, dried and a drizzle of evoo, sprinkle of s&p and under the broiler in the toaster oven. Washed potato cooked in the microwave, then halved & buttered and under the broiler to crisp it up a bit. I had made the cucumber/onion/radish salad earlier in the day and it had plenty of time for the dressing to meld all the flavors together. It was the first time I've added radishes, just because I had them. The avocado w/basalmic drizzle was an after thought because it needed to be used.

Yeah, Jimmy....I was thinking of you when I fried up the chicken cutlet....right up until I put the sliced avocado on top. I laughed to myself, imagining you going, "GAAK!!!"

LOL

bethk wrote:Yeah, Jimmy....I was thinking of you when I fried up the chicken cutlet....right up until I put the sliced avocado on top.  I laughed to myself, imagining you going, "GAAK!!!"

LOL

Well, you imagined right! hahahahaha.

Remember though, Jimmy will eat breaded cutlets if they are paper thin, and with crispy edges.

Well, we had a mish-mash of leftovers for dinner and a taste test of pasta out of my pasta machine. Steak, potatoes Romanoff, grilled artichokes, 4 different kinds of pasta with jarred tomato sauce and alfredo sauce. The pappardelle was too thick, tagliatelle was more like fettucine, angel hair and regular spaghetti were very good. The jarred sauce could have been much worse. I think it was Classico marinara.

Today I plan to make an easy looking recipe for slow cooker Carnitas. Yesterday I mixed up a batch of fried chicken coating from an article I was reading an article about a guy who runs the original gas station and cafe owned by Harlan Sanders as a museum. The second wife, of the KFC Col. was this guy's aunt and she was a waitress at the restaurant in the 40's. He has her photo album.  In the back are some documents and hand written on the back of a copy of her will it says 11 herbs and spices. Mix with two cups of flour.  Now when the Col. started selling the mix to restaurants, he also sold a broaster for cooking the chicken. These are commercial pressure/fryer cookers costing in the thousands today, but one account of the original, original recipe cooked at the restaurant  says it was done in a cast iron skillet.

I copied the recipe and plan to try it sometime soon.

Here is the list followed by some instructions in a tape included in the article plus some notes from me from other pan fried chicken recipes related to cooking times.

Mix with 2 cups of flour + 11 herbs and spices.  From Claudia Ledington’s notebook. Claudia was Harlan Sanders second wife wed in the ’40's and worked as a waitress  in his cafe and was instrumental in launching what would become KFC
1/3 Tbs. salt
1/2 Tbs thyme
1/2 Tbs. Basil
1/3 Tbs. origino (sic)
1 Tbs. celary salt (sic)
1 Tbs. black pepper
1 Tbs. dried mustard
4 Tbs. paprika
2 Tbs. garlic salt
1Tbs. ground ginger
3 Tbs. white pepper.

Original Sanders chicken was pan fried in an iron skillet. After he started selling the brand to other restaurants he started selling it with a broaster cooker machine.

The tape with this recipe:  1 c buttermilk and one egg,
marinate 20 30 minutes. coat chicken with flour mixture, let sit on wire rack 20 min.

  heat 2-3 Inches oil  oil to 350  in cast iron skillet cook in batches, turning once until golden brown on both sides.

cooking times from other recipes I have.

About 18 minutes, turning halfway through to 170º

or

When oil reaches 365 degrees (or starts smoking)  because you want very hot oil for this recipe.  Arrange chicken pieces in the pan, skin side down, and cover the pan.  After 5 minutes, remove the cover.  Adjust heat level, if necessary, so oil bubbles at a moderate pace- not too rapidly and not too slowly. (medium- high jeat is best, depending the heat conductivity of your pan.)  Rearrange pieces of chicken if some are browning more quickly than others.  After 5 minutes more, turn the chicken pieces over.  Cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes more or until done.