Best Pizza Dough Ever

Made in my bread machine but I'm sure hand kneading or a stand up mixer would work the same. So light and fluffy and sweet!!!

2 teaspoons dried granulated yeast
3 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup water, plus 2 tablespoons water

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-peezy-pizza-dough-bread-machine-pizza-dough-35805?oc=linkback

Corn and Red Pepper Skillet Medley

Katie made this when I was in Austin in March 2013.  We had it as a side dish with baked breaded portabella mushrooms.  Delicious!  Corn and red pepper medley

Cranberry Nut Bread

I think we found this recipe in the newspaper in the 80s, and over the years it became yellowed, stained, and torn. We loved this bread and made it every Thanksgiving.  It is very moist.

Cranberry-Nut Bread

Combine

  1  cup whole wheat flour
  1  cup unbleached all-purpose flour
   ¾  cup granulated sugar
  1 ½  teaspoon baking powder
  ½  teaspoon baking soda
  ½  teaspoon salt

  2  Tablespoons grated orange peel

Add

  ¾  cup orange juice 

  ¼  cup melted butter 

  1 large egg 

  1 cup chopped fresh (best) or frozen cranberries 

  ½  cup (or more) chopped walnuts 

9" X 5" loaf pan - oiled

1. Preheat oven to 350*F (175*C). Oil a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan; set aside. 
2. Combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, and orange rind in a mixing bowl. 
3. Add the remaining ingredients and stir just to blend well – do not over stir. 
4. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean--start checking after 50 minutes, but it could take up to an hour. 
5. Cool for 6 minutes before removing from the pan. Run a sharp knife around the edge to loosen the bread and turn it out onto a wire rack. Store in a plastic bag or aluminum foil for at least one day before slicing. 

Brined Thanksgiving turkey

We used a 10.8 pound fresh turkey from our local butcher.  It was the moistest turkey we ever made.

Ingredients:

• turkey
• kosher salt
• honey
• sugar 
• spices (optional - use anything you like)
• water
• 2 2.5 gallon zip lock bags for an 11 pound turkey

Wednesday

5:00 p.m.     Prepare the brine.

11:30 p.m.   Put turkey in brine – refrigerate.

Thursday

8:30 a.m.     Remove turkey from brine.  Dry, place uncovered in refrigerator.

1:00 p.m.     Cook turkey.

                           

1. We prepared the brine using a cold water method, placing the salt and sugar in the water a few hours prior to putting the turkey in the brine.  The salt dissolved.  We used:  
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/4 - 1/3  cup mix honey and sugar
• 1 gallon water.
2. Right before we put the turkey in the brine, we added a few spices (we couldn’t really taste these in the cooked turkey):  bay leaves, a few cloves, about a teaspoon each of rosemary, sage, and thyme. 
3. We removed the organs from the turkey cavities and washed and patted dry the turkey.
4. We placed the turkey in double 2.5 gallon zip-lock bags.
5. We poured the brine into the bags and sealed them so that as much of the bird as possible was covered by the brine. We put the bird/brine into a big pot (in case the bags leaked) and put it in the refrigerator.
6. The bird remained in the brine in the fridge overnight for about 9 hours.
7. In the morning, we took the turkey out of the brine, rinsed and dried it, and threw away the brine mixture.
8. We put the turkey, uncovered, into the refrigerator to sit for 4 hours.  It was recommended that it sit uncovered for 8 hours to produce a more crispy brown skin.  (I’m not sure if this has anything to do with brining.)
9. We put the turkey in the oven (upside down – again, not sure this has anything to do with brining) at 325 degrees.  It took 3 hours plus to reach 165 degrees.  It got very brown and crispy, so we put a loose foil tent over it the last 45 minutes to an hour.  Next time we may try to turn it the last hour to brown the breast side.
10. We let it rest 20 minutes before carving.

It was fantastic!  Three sites we reviewed when trying to figure out how to do this:

• http://www.slashfood.com/2007/11/09/some-turkey-brining-dos-and-donts/ 
• http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/11/turkey-brining-101-how-to-brine-that-bird/
• http://southerncuisine.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_brine_a_turkey_recipe_and_directions 

The ONLY lava cake recipe you'll ever need. EASY!

This is my go-to recipe for chocolate cake.  When someone says, "make some chocolate cake!" I whip up this recipe below.  

Depending on who is eating you can double the recipe and make up to 8 mini cakes, or just use mugs (like I do) and create 2-3 bigger servings.

Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe:

Preparation Time: 15 minutes 
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves:  4

Ingredients (4 people):

6 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate (or use your favorite 70% dark chocolate bar)
6 oz. Butter (diced, room temperature)
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Flour
Butter for Ramekins

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 350°F
1. Melt chocolate on low flame in a bain-marie (double boiler). When melted, take of flame, and…
2. Stir in diced butter, until it melts.
3. In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar, until it starts to whiten.
4. Stir in melted chocolate and then the flour.
5. Butter 4 individual ramekins, and pour in chocolate batter.
6. Cook for about 10 minutes.
7. Tip ramekins upside down onto dessert plates and serve.
Voilà!

Tips:

You can definitely prepare your chocolate lave cake recipe ahead of time, and then bake 10 minutes before serving. I always do it this way!

In terms of buttering the ramekins: butter the bottoms first, and then butter the sides, wiping from the bottom up to the top. It helps the chocolate to rise even more.

In terms of baking time… well, it depends on how runny you want it! I like it with a super-liquid-oozing center -- so do my guests! For this, you want the top to be cooked through, but the center to be liquid. You can check with a toothpick after 10 minutes of baking.
If you don't like liquid-center chocolate desserts, just cook for a little longer, and you will have an incredibly moist chocolate cake. So, either way, you can't go wrong!

Serving suggestions/Notes:

*I don't have a double boiler, so I just use a heavy glass bowl over a pot on the stove - works like a charm!

*If you arre making these ahead of time, don't fear!  You can leave them in the cold oven overnight and the next day you have essentially a fudgy brownie cake.  You can add frosting or whip cream and eat it just like so.

Cakes for 1 :)

These recipes are from a collection of recipes I found for microwave "mug cakes" that are single-serving. It's essentially Easy Bake Oven for adults. My favorite is the peanut butter cake with icing...I like to add chocolate chips:)
 Enjoy!!


One Minute Peanut Butter Cake 
Serves One 

 Ingredients:

• 1 egg, beaten 
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 heaping tablespoon flour
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter 
• 1 teaspoon milk 
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar (give or take) 

Directions: In a small bowl, whisk together egg, brown sugar, baking powder, peanut butter and flour. Pour batter into a greased ramekin. Microwave for 30 seconds ( or up to a minute depending on how moist you like your cake and how powerful your microwave is.) . While the cake is microwaving, stir together milk and powdered sugar, adding more powdered sugar if necessary to thicken frosting. Remove cake from ramekin (or don’t), pour frosting over top. Enjoy!

90 Second Nutella Chocolate Cake

Remember that microwave power varies drastically. It take a little bit of trial and error to figure out the time and power to get the right cake texture. But once you figure it out, you’ll always know.

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Nutella
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 heaping tablespoon flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Directions:

1. Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl until well combined.
2. Pour the batter into two greased ramekins or one large grease microwavable bowl or mug.
3. Microwave on 70% power for 30 seconds. At the end of the time, check for doneness (and volcano-ness!). If not cooked through, add 15 seconds at a time.

Mini Chocolate Bar Mug Brownie

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• Pinch or 2 of salt
• 2 Tbsp butter or margarine-melted
• 2 Tbsp milk, coffee or water *I made two at a time-1 for my husband, and myself-I substituted 1 egg in place of the milk,coffee, or water (so technically, each cup got a half an egg-but I was mixing everything together in one bowl, and divided it later into the mugs. It made it a cakey brownie consistancy
• 1/4-1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 2-3 mini chocolate bars-I used a butterfinger, snickers, and twix

In a heatproof mug or ramekin, stir together the dry ingredients until no lumps remain. Stir in the margarine or butter and milk until you have a thick paste. Stir in the chopped chocolate bar(s).  Microwave on high for a minute and 30 seconds, checking it after 30 seconds (microwaves vary) — it will be done when it’s springy on top but still a bit gooey — like the very best brownie. Eat warm and top with vanilla bean ice cream or whipped cream.

Judy's Brown Paper Bag Asparagus

The first time I had this at Pat and Judy's, I couldn't believe she was using a brown paper bag.  It took me back - 'in the day' we cooked a whole chicken in a brown paper bag.

The asparagus was delicious, and now this is the only way I cook it.

See link below for the recipe.  You need asparagus, olive oil, a lemon, bay leaves, and salt and pepper.

I do a few things differently:

• I sprinkle the asparagus with olive oil - I do not sprinkle the paper bag on the outside.
• I line a baking pan with foil before placing the bag on it.
• I have squeezed lemon (at least half a lemon) over the asparagus instead of using slices.

The cooking time varies based on the size of the asparagus spears and how tender you want them.

Steamed asparagus - Food Network