RECIPE THREAD
So, since we were all talking about starting a recipe thread last week, I thought I might start us off this week. Let's make it a weekly thread, and you can add to it whenever you have time from one week to the next. I know there are several recipes that I hear y'all talk about that I would like to have. Examples would be Eileen's salsa chicken or chocolate zucchini bread. Or Trish's all day pasta sauce. There are too many to mention here. Some recipes can be WLS friendly and some can just be too good to pass up! Please feel free to just pop in and share as the whim takes you. I think this will be fun! Happy baking, cooking, and eating!
Vickie
AUNT NELLIE'S SUGAR COOKIES
A big recipe for a crowd. Makes about 7 dozen.
CREAM TOGETHER:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. vegetable oil
ADD IN:
2 eggs, one at a time
STIR IN:
5 c. all purpose flour (lightly spooned into measure cup and leveled off)
1 tsp baking soda
1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cream of tartar
IMPORTANT: CHILL DOUGH AT LEAST 2 HOURS!
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll chilled dough into 1" balls. Place 1" apart on cookie sheets. Press balls flat with the bottom of a glass that has been slightly dampened with water and then dipped in sugar. Bake for 15 minutes.
Cook's note: These are unlike any other sugar cookie you have ever tried! You must not omit the cream of tartar or they will not turn out correctly.
Vickie
I am going to make these tonight and see if they travel well. I hate buying snacks on the road so I try to make a bunch of snack foods up for the trip and when we have more than two of the grandkids, we take an ice chest filled with food and drinks so we don't have to spend a ton of money on fast food meals. Plus, the kids consider roadside rest areas great places for picnics.
Nana's Biscuits AKA Mama's Biscuits
Sift together
2 Cups all purpose flour
4 Teaspsoons of baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
about 1 tablespoon sugar
Add the following
Cut in using a large fork
2 Tablespoons of cold butter (do not use margin)
1/4th cup of shortening
When the dry ingredients are incorporated into the fat, add the butter milk. I start out with 1/2 cup and I stir it around and if I need more, I add a little at a time until I have mixed the dough well but it cannot be running....
Here is the trick...do not touch the dough...or touch it sparingly.
I dump the dough onto a lightly floured cutting board and very gently, using extra flour if I have to, make a large disc...you should be able to cut 6-8 biscuits, depending upon the biscuit cutter...
I bake the biscuits in a large cast iron skillet that has either melted butter or bacon grease in it and I put the biscuit in the skillet and quickly flip it over so the butter is on both sides. I bake them at 400 degrees in a pre-heated oven and when they are brown, I take them out of the oven. They are delicious.
Oh, yum! Biscuits and gravy are my favorite!
SAUSAGE GRAVY
1 chub of sausage (mild, hot, sage--whatever you prefer)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
Brown the sausage and onion together in a large skillet over medium heat.
TO MAKE GRAVY:
The "rule of thumb" for gravy is this: 2 TBS of flour to each 1 cup of milk.
(For an entire chub of sausage, I would normally use 3 cups of milk, 6 TBS of flour, and Salt and Pepper to taste. We like pepper!)
Add flour to skillet and stir for a few minutes to let flour brown a bit. If needed, add a bit of fat--a little extra butter or bacon grease--to keep flour from getting too dry and clumpy. It should be fairly liquid.
Now add milk, salt and pepper and cook over med heat, stirring often, until gravy bubbles and thickens.
Cook's note: it's certainly not necessary to cook an entire chub of sausage. I often just use half a chub (or less) when I'm not cooking for a large group. And you can stretch this recipe by adding more milk and flour. It's all good.
Vickie
