Biscuits and Gravy

Almost every time we go to Denny's for breakfast, I order biscuits and gravy. It is one of the least expensive things on the menu and it tastes great. Over the past few months, my husband has made them from scratch several times and I finally decided to take a picture and preserve the recipe that he uses. He got the original recipe from allrecipes.com, but he never is exact about the way he follows it so it tastes slightly different every time. 

Biscuits:

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp butter, melted

Gravy:

1/2 lb. pork sausage

1 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

1 3/4 cup milk

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a bowl, combine milk and butter then add in flour, baking powder and salt. Stir just until blended. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

While the biscuits are baking, cook sausage over medium heat until it is no longer pink. Stir in butter until it is melted, then add flour and stir until it is completely combined with butter. Slowly add milk, stirring often. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, for two more minutes. Serve over freshly baked biscuits

Swedish Meatballs

Ever since we got married, my husband has been talking about how his old roommate's cousin (who was from Sweden) used to go to their apartment sometimes and make them Swedish Meatballs. They would all pitch in to buy the ingredients and she would make dinner. Rather than eating their meatballs over rice, they would eat them with fried potatoes, and she would also make some kind of Swedish cake as well. I was hoping to somehow replicate the experience so I asked him to get the recipe from his friend. Well, it turns out that his friend didn't have the original recipe, but he did give us this one, which we really liked. But my husband has promised to find that cousin over facebook and ask for the recipe so that we can have the real thing sometime.

Meatballs:

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup milk

1 Tbsp butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

3/4 lb ground beef

3/4 lb ground pork (not sausage)

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 Tbsp butter

Gravy:

1/4 cup flour

3 cups beef broth

1/4 cup evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 200°. Also, melt 1 Tbsp butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook 3-4 minutes or until the onions are translucent and soft. Combine bread crumbs, milk, ground beef, ground pork, egg yolks, 1 tsp salt, pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and onions. Then, shape the mixture into meatballs that are approximately one oz, or about 1 1/2" in diameter.

Melt the remaining butter in a frying pan and saute the meatballs until they are golden brown, about 7-10 minutes. Reserve leftover butter and place meatballs on a baking sheet and bake, approximately 20 minutes or until they are completely cooked. 

Meanwhile, prepare gravy by adding flour to the pan. Whisk until it is lightly browned. Then add beef broth gradually, stirring constantly, and allow sauce to thicken. Add milk and stir until the gravy reaches the desired consistency.

Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler

I remember when my parents bought their first dutch ovens. I think we must have had some dutch oven food when we were camping with some family friends and my parents thought it was a great idea. Once we had our own, camping dinners were never the same. Cooking with a dutch oven makes camping food so much better. We started cooking with these on every camping trip and sometimes even when we were at home. My family used to eat this peach cobbler nearly every time we went camping (which was pretty frequently). 

1 yellow cake mix

1/2 cup butter

30-60 oz canned peaches

Drain peaches and place them at the bottom of the dutch oven. Top with dry cake mix and cut butter over top. If you would prefer, you can melt the butter and mix it with the cake mix and crumble it over the top of the peaches. Cook with coals for approximately 40-60 minutes, checking occasionally. It is ready when the peaches are bubbly and the topping is golden brown.

Dutch Oven Chicken and Potatoes

We went camping with some friends a couple of weeks ago and I was in charge of making our dinner one of the nights. After completely charring tin foil dinners the first night - and being forced to eat pizza at a restaurant down the road so that we wouldn't starve - everyone was pretty nervous that this dinner wouldn't taste good. Thankfully it turned out amazing. It was almost as good as when my aunt made it a few months ago. Because we were using the other pan to make dessert, we made the chicken and potatoes in a single dutch oven, even though they should really be made in two separate ovens in order to maintain separate flavors. 

Chicken:

2-3 lb chicken, cut into large chunks

1 cup flour

1 Tbsp poultry seasoning

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

1 tsp salt

Olive Oil

additional salt and pepper to taste

Mix flour and spices in a gallon ziplock bag. This can be done before you leave to go camping. Place chicken in ziplock bag and shake until it is evenly coated and prepared for cooking.

Prepare dutch oven by heating with coals (or it can be done over a fire or grill for less mess). Pour olive oil in 12" dutch oven so it is approximately 1/4" high. Once it is hot, add chicken and cook until it begins to brown. Cover oven so it will cook faster, turning chicken every 5-10 minutes. Should cook in 40 -50 min. maximum.

Potatoes:

2-3 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks 

1 cup flour

2 tsp garlic

1 tsp onion powder

1 onion

1/2 green pepper

1 package real bacon bits

Salt (lots) and pepper to taste

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix flour, garlic, and onion powder in a gallon ziplock bag. Place potatoes in bag and shake until they are completely coated.

Prepare dutch oven to approximately the same temperature and with the same amount of oil as the chicken. Begin to cook the potatoes, onion, and green pepper, adding considerable salt and pepper as they cook. Cover with lid, but continue to turn them every 5-10 minutes. When they are completely cooked, pour in a can of cream of chicken soup and bacon bits. Stir together and sprinkle grated cheese over the top. Cover with lid for 5 minutes or less to allow the cheese to melt.

Picante Chicken

This is a great recipe that my mom made a lot when I was younger. A few years ago I tried to make it myself using a new type of salsa that was on sale. Big Mistake. If you make this recipe, only use a salsa that you trust. Because the salsa gives it most of its flavor, using a new type of salsa will give it a flavor that you don't recognize and maybe don't even like. Having learned that lesson, I recently made this recipe again and, thank goodness, it tasted just as good as when my mom used to make it for me.

2-3 lb chicken, left whole or cut into pieces depending on preference

1 cup white rice 

2 tsp oil

1 cup salsa (I use medium Picante brand)

3/4 cup coarsely chopped onion

2 cups chicken broth

1 medium tomato, coarsely chopped

shredded cheddar cheese

sliced ripe olives

Preheat skillet with oil over medium-high heat. Cook onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add broth and salsa and bring to a boil. Stir in rice. Arrange chicken over rice and cover tightly. Simmer 20 minutes, then remove from the heat. Leave cover in place and let stand until all of the liquid is absorbed - about 5 minutes. Garnish with tomato, cheese, and olives.

Cheese Stuffed Shells

My mom makes these delicious stuffed shells sometimes that I have always loved. My husband had them for the first time a few years ago and often talks about how much he loves them, so I finally decided to make them for the first time in our marriage. I didn't call my mom for the recipe so this might be a little different from the original, but I have helped her make it before and I think I remembered everything that was in it. Either way, they tasted great and they were very easy to make. Prep time was about 25 minutes and baking time was another 20.

15 dried jumbo pasta shells
1 egg
12 oz cottage cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
tomato sauce

Cook jumbo pasta shells according to the specifications on the package. Cool shells in a single layer to prevent them from sticking together.

For filling, stir together egg, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, Italian seasoning, and oregano. Spoon filling into each shell and place in a 9" square casserole dish. Top with tomato sauce of choice*.

Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes at 350° then bake uncovered for another 15 minutes.

*this time I used half of a bottle of sauce and mixed in a can of Basil, Garlic, and Oregano stewed tomatoes.

Roast Beef with Mushroom Sauce

I usually plan all of the dinners that I am going to make for the week every Sunday afternoon. Lately I have been paying close attention to the produce and other perishable items that I have on hand because I want to make sure that nothing goes to waste, so I knew I had to make something that had a lot of mushrooms. A few days ago I had purchased a container full of mushrooms at a great price - I think they were getting to the limit of how long the grocery store can keep their produce, but they were still great for me! Grocery stores end up having to throw a lot of food away that is still good. I was going through my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and found this recipe, which I adapted a bit to fit my preferences.

1 2-3 lb beef eye of round roast
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper
3 cups quartered fresh mushrooms
5 green onions, bias-sliced into 1/2" pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp margarine or butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp dried thyme, crushed
2 cup beef broth
1/4 cup milk

Trim fat from meat. Mix mustard and pepper. Bur onto meat. Place meat on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Insert a meat thermometer. Roast in a 325° oven till thermometer registers 140° for medium rare (1 1/2-2 hours) or 155° for medium (1 3/4-2 1/4 hours). Cover with foil; let stand 15 minutes before carving. (The meat's temperature will rise 5° during standing)

Meanwhile, for sauce, in a medium saucepan cook mushrooms, green onions, and garlic in hot margarine till green onions are tender. Stir in flour and thyme. Gradually stir in beef broth. Cook and stir over medium heat till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Stir in light cream or milk. Cook and stir till heated through.

Thinly slice meat across the grain. Arrange on a serving platter. Pour some sauce atop meat. Pass remaining sauce. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Cream Cheese Filling

This is the cream cheese filling that my sweet husband made for my birthday cake. It was awesome.

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Carrot Cake

A few days before my birthday, my husband asked what kind of cake I wanted. He said he was thinking about buying the same kind of carrot cake that we had as the top layer of our wedding cake. That cake was very delicious, but I had a better idea. I told him I wanted him to make me a cake... from scratch. None of this box cake business. I made a pretty big deal about it and told all of our friends that he was going to bake my birthday cake (which might be why some of the mysteriously couldn't make it to the birthday party). So just to let all of you know, MY HUSBAND CAN BAKE. We got the recipe from my aunt, who had made it for us for Christmas and he stayed up until midnight the night before my birthday preparing and baking. I didn't even help at all. Then he made a cream cheese frosting and a cream cheese filling to go inside. It was absolutely incredible.

2 cups sugar

1 1/3 cups vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 extra-large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

3 cups grated carrots (less than 1 pound)

1 cup raisins (optional)

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs, 1 at a time.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the grated carrots, raisins, and walnuts to the remaining flour, mix well, and add to the batter. Mix until just combined.

Bake in two 8 or 9" spring form pans (or one layer at a time) for 50-60 minutes each. When they are completely cool, add the filling using this recipe and frost with this recipe.

Cream Cheese Frosting

This is my mom's excellent recipe for cream cheese frosting. It is the one I always use when I make carrot or pumpkin cake and sometimes I use it for cinnamon rolls as well. It can be doubled or tripled to make as much as you need, although one recipe was enough to completely cover the cake that is shown above.

4 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter
2 c. powdered sugar