Onion Strings/Rings

1 large onion

1 med onion

2 cups Buttermilk (reg milk w/ 2 tbsp white vinegar)

2 Cups Flour

Salt and Pepper

Cayenne

Oil for Frying

Slice up your onion nice and thin for onion strings, or a little thicker for rings.  In a shallow dish soak onions in buttermilk at least an hour. (This is supposed to take some of the bitterness out of the onion and helps the flour mix stick better)

Heat your oil to 375.  Put your flour in a bowl with 1 tbsp salt, pepper and 1/4-1/2  tsp cayenne and mix.  Once your onions are nice and soaked you can take a handful and drop them into the four and toss until coated, shake or tap off any excess flour and fry till golden.  

I put my oven on the lowest heat setting with a cookie sheet set up with a baking rack and layer of paper towels so as I cook the rings in batches the finished ones stay warm and crispy in the oven and have a place to let extra grease drip off.  Yummy but plan on about an hour of fry time. Serve hot with fry sauce.

This is one large and one medium onion, it made more than I thought it would. Plenty for 4 adults with some left to munch on after dinner.

***I cut my onions pretty thin this batch (probably 1/8" thick), next time I would keep them thicker (maybe 1/4" ish) for more onion taste and less crunch.  These ones were more crunch less onion.

I would also put more salt in my flour mix, and more of the pepper and cayenne, these were pretty mild and I didn't salt them after they were cooked.

I sliced up a tomato for dinner and it was pretty green (not what I needed for the main dish) so I tossed it in the buttermilk and flour after the onions were done and added Fried Green Tomatos to the menu.  I salted these when they came out of the fryer. Let cool slightly but eat while still hot and crispy.  These don't hold well because the tomato is juicy.

Pepper Steaks (Easy Burgers)

1 1/2 lbs Hamburger

1 large Green Pepper

8 oz Fresh Mushrooms

1 Medium Onion

2 Medium Tomatos

Cheese

salt/pepper

Hamburger Buns/Bread

Season your raw burger with salt and pepper in large sauce pan, add onions and peppers and cook until meat is almost browned then add mushrooms.  Drain excess water and grease from the pan.  Add any other meat seasonings you'd like then stir in your tomatos and cheese to bind meat and veggies together. Serve hot on your Buns!

Side Ideas: Green Beans, Chips, Salad, Fries, Onion Rings...

*Tastes better than it looks and is quick and easy. I would probably use a full pound of mushrooms next time since they shrink up so much when they cook.

**I made onion rings and fry sauce as my side dish, I ended up putting some of both on my peppersteak as well. Yummy!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pinwheels

1 cup Strawberries (diced really small)

4 oz softened Cream Cheese

1/4 cup Sugar

1 can Crescent Rolls (pack of 8)

Powdered Sugar to Garnish

Mix berries, sugar and cream cheese. Unroll crescents on clean flat surface. Split dough so you have two sets of 4 triangles layed out making a square.  Pinch seams together so dough becomes one piece.

Spread with berry mixture leaving about 1/2-1 inch of one side with out the filling.  Roll dough towards the end with no filling and use that extra dough to seal the roll.  Put on the cookie sheet and place in the freezer until dough hardens enough to cut into pinwheels without smashing the roll.

Bake in oven at 375 until golden brown, 10-16 minutes.  Let cool completely then you can garnish with powdered sugar.

***I was not a fan of these...I like the idea but it wasn't my best dessert. Steve's parents liked them and he said they were okay.  I felt like they were a little bitter...probably should've followed a REAL recipe...maybe use Strawberry jam/jelly instead of fresh berries...I looked at a few different recipes then simplified - FAIL.

I cooked my pinwheels on parchment paper on a baking rack on a cookie sheet - I think this made them a little more mushy and less crisp.  I'd say the parchment paper is still a good idea but let them cook on the baking rack so they can breathe a little more.

Here is a REAL recipe...


Ingredients:

1 package of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
1/4 cup of homemade strawberry jam
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg + 1 tsp of water for egg wash

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Cream until there are no lumps. 

Unroll each crescent roll. On the fattest part of the triangle place 1 tsp on cream cheese mixture and one tsp of jam. Roll into a croissant shape.

Whisk together egg and water for egg wash and brush over each croissant.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until croissants are golden brown and inside is no longer doughy. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Buffalo Chicken Mac

Photo has nothing to do with the recipe :)

2 Tbsp EVOO

2 lbs Boneless Chicken Breasts (cut into small pieces)

1 Lg Carrot Chopped (fairly small, like a dice cut in half)

3 Ribs Celery Chopped (small pieces again)

1 Tbsp Garlic Powder

1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika (reg paprika works, you can also throw in a dash of liquid "smoke")

1-3 Bay Leafs

2 Cups Chicken Stock or Broth

1/8-1/4 cup Hot Sauce (depending on hot much heat you want..you can always put the hot sauce on the table when serving)

1 can (15oz) crushed Tomato's or Sauce

1 lb Elbow Mac (or pasta of preference)

1 Cup Pepper-Jack Cheese Grated (use Monterey Jack for a milder heat)

Salt & Pepper

Cook chicken in evoo.  Add celery, carrot, bay leaf(s), paprika, salt and pepper, cook until softened.

Add chicken stock then tomatos and hot sauce - bring to a boil then simmer 15-20 minutes (you can simmer  longer to thicken and increase the heat).

While sauce is simmering cook and drain the Elbow Mac. Remove bay leaf(s) then add noodles to sauce, stir in cheese until melted. 

Serve while hot.

*for extra cheese and style points you can top the finished pasta with more cheese and throw under the broiler for a few minutes until you get a nice golden cheese crust...mmmm!)

**we usually do more carrot and less celery.

***Bob does not like Mac N Cheese but he enjoys this meal, so even the Mac'N Cheese haters will like this :)

****Jovie started eating this around 9 or ten months, go figure! she likes her spicy mac!

Scones

***Picture shows 1/2 batch of scones!***

4 cups Buttermilk (reg milk w/splash of lemon juice works)

2 Tbsp Yeast

1 cup Warm Water

1/4 cup Sugar

2 Eggs Beaten

2 Tbsp Oil

1 1/2 tsp Salt

3 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

8 Cups Flour

Oil for Frying

Mix milk, yeast, sugar and water - let stand until frothy (ten minutes or so...don't try to skip this step!)
Beat eggs, add oil. Mix into frothy yeast mixture.  Mix in dry ingredients adding flour slowly.
Once dough starts to pull away from sides of bowl and form a ball its ready. 

Start oil heating while you let it raise in warm area. Dough should still be a little sticky. Rub a little oil into hands so you can handle the dough.  Shape dough into "pancakes" and fry till lightly golden.  I put a cookie sheet with a baking drip rack in the oven on the lowest heat to keep the fried scones hot and let any excess grease drip off (if I feel like the oven gets too hot I turn it off and it will still hold the heat).

Top with chili, lettuce, tomato's, cheese, salsa, ranch dressing, sour cream, jalapenos. . . 

Other topping ideas: Honey, cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar (warm your scone spread with butter and put in a zip lock bag with powdered sugar and shake to cover whole scone...mmmmm!), pb&j, butter and salt....

Beth's No-Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

2/3 evaporated milk (whole, 1 or 2% work)

1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups oats

1/2 cups nuts

Mix everything but oats and bring to a low boil stirring constantly. Add oats in and boil on low about 3 min.

** I used half quick oats and half regular to vary the texture and I probably ended up adding an extra cup because it seemed really thin. I used crunchy PB and didn't add the nuts.  This was my second time EVER making these and they turned out yummy :) **


(I had the thought after I made these that if you omitted the PB and nuts, and used raspberries and crunched pretzels it might be yummy...or maybe orange extract...hmmm? hmmm?)