English Muffins to try

English Muffins

Cornmeal
1 1/4 cups very warm water
1 pkg. dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
4 cups flour
1/4 cup butter softened

Grease large cookie sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal. Mix sugar in water; dissolve yeast in sugar-water mixture. When yeast is frothy, add salt and 2 cups flour. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until batter is smooth (2 to 3 minutes). Add butter and 1 cup flour; continue beating until batter is smooth. Gradually, add in remaining flour, then beat until batter is smooth, sticky and thick. Turn out onto a well-floured pastry cloth, board or sheet. Coat all sides of the dough with flour. Cover with bowl and let rest 5 minutes. Knead dough five minutes until smooth. Roll out ¼ inch thick. With a biscuit cutter or a large can, cut into muffins. Place onto cookie sheet coated with cornmeal. Let rise in a warm place, covered with a towel about 50 minutes or until double in size. Bake muffins on ungreased griddle or skillet until golden brown, about 7 minutes on each side. Cool on wire rack.

Chicken Pocket Sandwiches

Let me just preface this by saying that this is one of the first recipes I've ever made where the ingredients are native to a place other than America. I *THINK* it's easily adaptable, but you'll have to try it and let me know.

Here's how I make it here in Turkey:

CHICKEN POCKET SANDWICHES
(Thanks to my friend Kelly for this tasty recipe!)

* Milfoy (Frozen pastry dough squares)
* 1.5-2 pounds of chicken, cooked and shredded
* 8 ounces cream cheese
* 1 tsp garlic salt
* one red bell pepper, finely chopped (optional)
* 5 green onions (5 onions, not 5 bunches), finely chopped (optional)

1- Cook & shred chicken, chop bell pepper and green onions.
2- Mix chicken & veggies with cream cheese and garlic salt.
3- Put one heaping Tbsp of mixture in each pastry square and tightly seal.
4- Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.


*** So, I think a good substitution for this would be to use something like Pillsbury crescent rolls (*but not break them up into the individual triangles, and instead use 2 of them at a time*) and make oblong pockets, filled with more than just the 1 Tbsp I mentioned above. You'd still seal them up carefully and possibly baked for 10-15 minutes, perhaps a little longer depending on how they cook on bottom. You want them to be crisp, but not burned. ***

These tasty sandwiches are absolutely delicious, and the recipe makes a good amount of them (great for having some left over for kids' lunches, etc.). Eat & enjoy!


(FYI-- I also adapt this same recipe by using taco-seasoned beef mixed with cheddar cheese for the filling, to make taco pockets.)

A Few Christmas Recipes

I figured I'd consolidate some of the recipes I'm using this Christmas into one post, so I'd have them for future reference.




FOR CHRISTMAS MORNING:

• CINNAMON ROLLS 101- these seriously sound like they will cause all who consume them to instantly commence with the "Mmmmm"s. I can't wait to try them.
• (And for some other morning, because they look so amazingly delicious: ) Cinnamon Sugar French Breakfast Puffs- Buttery, sugary, cinnamony moist breakfast muffins. They look positively sinful.
  

FOR CHRISTMAS DINNER:
This year, we're going to do a Texas-themed Christmas, seeing as how it's technically our first Christmas outside of America. So, we're doing chicken & cheese enchiladas, classic beef tacos, enough guacamole to feed a small army, some salsa, and I'm going to try to make refried beans from scratch without pinto beans. :) I honestly have no idea if or how that will work. Here are some recipes I'm going to pick from:

• Molly's Refried Beans - These require bacon, which we can't get here. So I might need to get a fatty piece of turkey or something to make them.
• Refried Beans with all the facts- This site gives GREAT information about when and why to make beans from scratch, and her recipe sounds great too.
• Delicious-sounding refried beans- These sound really good, and she gives the step-by-step basic instructions for those of us who get scared about making things like beans from scratch. (Which sounds so silly, because most of the world makes beans from scratch, but we Texans with our delicious canned refried beans are spoiled!) ;)
  

Get Your Hot Links Here!

Here are a couple of "hot links" I've found recently:

• Beth Moore's version of KING RANCH CHICKEN! (A Texas favorite that I've eaten many times but have never actually made-- this is DELICIOUS!!!)

• Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie, courtesy of Mrs. Sewell of Serving God & Family.

ENJOY!

Simple Cream Cheese Cookies

Recipe from my SL friend, Kimbo:

1 Cake mix- any kind you like
1 Egg
1 Stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1 Block of cream cheese (8 oz)

Mix it all up, drop and bake at 350 until done to your preference. I do mine about the size of a ping-pong ball. Soooooo yummy and easy!

Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Sausage, egg and cheese casserole
(from my sweet cyber-pal & fellow homeschooler, Kelly)

---

12 eggs
12 slices bread
2 3/4 c. milk
12-16 ozs. cheddar cheese
1 lb. bulk pork breakfast sausage (I use Bob Evans sage)
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. sage

Brown sausage and set aside. Oh, sometimes I put chopped onion in with it.

Cube bread and put into a bowl.

In another bowl mix eggs, milk, salt, pepper, mustard and sage. Add 3/4 of the cheese. Pour over eggs. Mix in sausage.

Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Cover and refrigerate over night.

Remove from refrigerater 30 min. before baking so pan isn't so cold (I use a stone, so I always make sure not to forget this step).

Bake at 350*, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes until eggs are set.

YIELD: 12 servings

Farm-style Oatmeal Cookies

These are, bar none, my favorite cookies, and the dough, bar none, is my favorite cookie dough to eat raw! Try it and you'll see why.

Ingredients:
2 cups packed brown sugar (living where we do, I can't get brown sugar, so I substitute with 2 cups regular sugar and 2-3 Tbsp of molasses)
1 cup lard or shortening
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups quick-cooking oats
1 & 3/4 cups all-purpose* or whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt


* If using self-rising flour, omit baking soda & salt.

• Heat oven to 375 F (approx. 190 C).
  
• Mix brown sugar, lard/shortening, buttermilk, and vanilla.
  
• Stir in remaining ingredients.
  
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls.
  
• Place about 3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet (I line mine with parchment paper).
  
• Flatten with the bottom of a glass that has been dipped in water.
• Bake until golden brown, 8-10 minutes.
  
• Immediately remove from cookie sheet and let cool on a rack.
  

MAKES ABOUT 7 DOZEN cookies, which will all be promptly eaten. :)

Thanks to Betty Crocker for the recipe- these are totally yummy!