Oma Sue's Granola

Ingredients: 

6 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped nuts of your choice.

1/2 cup oil

3/8 cup honey

1 TBSP vanilla

2/3 cup raisins (optional)

Instructions: 

1 Combine oats, wheat germ, sesame seeds, brown sugar and nuts. 

2. In a separate pan, combine oil, honey & vanilla. Mix thoroughly, heating slightly for best results. Add to oat mixture & mix by hand until the oats are evenly covered with the honey mixture. 

3. Fill the baking pan about half full with the mixture. Bake at 300 degrees, stirring every ten minutes, for one hour, or until the oats are golden brown. 

4. Add raisins after baking. 

5. Cool before storing in air-tight containers. 

Veggie Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups grated zucchini

2 green onions, thinly sliced

¼ yellow (or white, or purple) onion, julienned

1 cups spinach leaves, julienned

2 large eggs

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup shredded Cheddar

¼ cup cornstarch

1 TBSP roasted garlic powder 

Dried basil, oregano, sage, etc. to taste.

Salt & pepper, to taste

Vegetable oil or bacon grease, for cooking

Instructions:

• Feel free to vary the vegetables as much as you want: Pumpkin, carrots, kale, cabbage, shallots, bell peppers. Experimentation is encouraged. Clean out your vegetable drawer. 

• Squeeze all moisture out of vegetables with a clean kitchen towel, or several clean paper towels. Be thorough.

• In a large bowl, combine vegetables, eggs, cheeses, cornstarch, & spices. Mix thoroughly. Add more cornstarch if needed to make a mix that will stick together well.

• Heat oil or bacon grease in skillet. Scoop about ⅓ cup of mixture, and form into a pancake.

• Cook until medium brown on both sides, about 4 minutes a side. Drain on paper towel if needed, and keep warm in oven. 

Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to a week. 

Serving Suggestion:

○ Preheat toaster oven to 400° or so.

○ Heat one or two slices of ham in microwave. Or fry some bacon.

○ While ham is heating, use toaster oven to partially melt 1 slice of Gruyere or mild cheese on veggie pancake.

○ Fry or poach an egg. Leave yoke soft.

○ Stack egg on ham slices on softened cheese on veggie pancake.

○ Top with shredded cheese, and return to toaster oven to melt, or possibly brown, depending on your preferences.

Harvest Crock Pot Roast

Ingredients:

½ beef roast, of any size and quality
½ onion, sliced thickly
½ large sweet potatoes or 1/2 large yam, peeled and cut in 1” chunks
¼ lb whole baby yellow squash, rinsed, with stems cut off (optional)
1 large granny smith apple (about a pound) cored and cut in large chunks.
¾ cup spicy apple cider 

   (¾ c apple cider, 1 TBSP orange juice, ⅛ tsp cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, ⅛ tsp orange zest, and a dash of lemon juice.)
⅛ cup apple cider vinegar
⅛ cup brown sugar
garam masala (an Indian spice blend)
kosher salt
roux, for gravy (optional)

Directions:

o        Place thick-sliced onions in bottom of slow cooker.

o        Trim any visible fat from roast. Sear the roast (while it was still frozen, if possible)

o        Rub the roast all over, on both sides, with garam masala and salt to taste. 

o        Place roast in slow cooker with yam or sweet potato, squash, and apples piled around it.

o        Mix together spicy cider, vinegar, and sugar.

o        Pour cider mixture over meat and vegetables, making sure all parts of the roast are covered by about the same amount of liquid, and no vegetables are dry.

o        This can be refrigerated overnight at this point. 

o        Cover and cook on “high” for 5 to 8 hours, or “low” 10 to 12 hours, until roast falls apart easily when tested with a serving spoon.
o        Drain the apple juice out before serving it. (Set the juice aside for cooking other yummy things.)

o        If you feel like it, make gravy from some of the liquids in a saucepan.

Comments: 

• This is pretty darned good. 
• Make the gravy! Oh my goodness, make the gravy!
• This goes with lighter beer, not stouts or dark ales. 
• 
  

Mini Meat Pies (Clean Refrigerator)

Mini Chicken 'n Broccoli Pies

Filling Mixture

1          tablespoon vegetable oil          

1          lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces    

1          medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)         

1          cup frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained         

½         teaspoon salt   

¼         teaspoon pepper          

1          cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)    

Baking Mixture 

½         cup homemade baking mix       

½         cup milk           

2          eggs    

           

Process:
First, mix your filling ingredients.

While they're sitting there, happily sharing flavors, mix the baking mix with milk and eggs. Mix these ingredients together, and put a little less than a tablespoon in each greased muffin cup. If using mini pie-pans, a bit more.

Next add your filling. Add about ¼ cup of the mixture to each muffin-size cup. If using mini pie-pans, you'll need about ½ cup of filling ingredients.

Finally, top it off with one more tablespoon of the homemade baking mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375º. They should pop out of the pan easily. Plate, garnish & serve.

Also consider:

     Creative variations: Cheeseburger, pepperoni pizza, 
   breakfast sausage & mushroom (pictured), BLT. 
      Be creative with your thinking

   Thai Chicken Mixture: 

  1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

¼ cup sliced green onions (4 medium)

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

½ teaspoon Thai red curry paste

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)

Steak Rub / House Seasoning.

1 TBSP kosher salt.
1 TBSP ground black pepper.
1 TBSP onion powder.
1 TBSP garlic powder.

Variations: Try adding one or another of these:

2 TBSP Italian seasoning.
1 tsp cayenne pepper.
1 TBSP chili powder.
2 tsp smoked paprika


Mix it together. Put it in a spare shaker-top seasoning container. Sprinkle it on food.

Awesome Sauce

Melt together in a medium saucepan.


4 TBSP butter, melted
3 TBSP all-purpose flour

Stir until very smooth. 
Slowly add 1 cup of warm milk, stirring constantly.

In a frying pan, melt 1 tsp butter. Add:
4 cloves garlic, chopped
½ of a sweet onion, chopped small


When they're partway cooked, add:
8 - 10 medium size mushrooms, chopped fairly small. Add more butter if needed.
Fry until everything is very soft.

When the saucepan mixture is warm, add the contents of the frying pan, and:
2 tsp low-sodium chicken bouillon paste
1½ cup shredded parmesan cheese (a little at a time)
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
½ tsp white pepper
Freshly ground pepper

The sauce will be thick, really thick. It will become thicker once it's cooled. 
It is really good for Chicken Pasta Mornay.

Chicken Parmesan Mornay sauce (white sauce with cheese)

2 TBSP butter, melted
2 TBSP all-purpose flour

Melt together in a medium saucepan. Stir until very smooth.

Slowly add 1 cup of warm milk, stirring constantly.

When it’s warm, add:
1 tsp chicken bouillon paste
½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon ground sage
½ teaspoon fresh thyme
Freshly ground pepper

This makes enough for three servings of Chicken Pasta Mornay.

Hearty Beef & Parmesian Bread

Bread dough: load into the bread machine:
2½ tsp yeast
4 cups bread flour
2 TBSP sugar
1 1/3 TBSP gluten
2 tsp salt
2 TBSP butter, in pieces
1 1/3 cups whole milk (adjust to make sure the dough is not too solid)

Load it all into the bread machine, set it on “dough” and fire it off.

While the dough is mixing, get out a large frying pan and fry until tender:
2 TBSP butter
5 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup sweet onion, chopped
with salt & pepper to taste.

While that’s frying, prepare and mix together in a large bowl:
1 pound red meat. I used stew beef; any better cut is obviously acceptable. Cut it into 1” cubes and drain well.
1 pinch salt just to open the beef up for the rest of the seasonings:
½ TBSP Italian seasoning
¼ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
½ tsp dried minced red peppers (“pizza peppers”)

Work quickly: the meat mixture must be done and cooled to room temperature by the time the bread machine beeps at you.

When the onions & garlic are nicely transparent, add the spiced meat mixture. (You must pause to enjoy the sizzle!) Brown the meat thoroughly on all sides.

While the meat is browning is a good time to prepare the bread pans. This bread won’t rise very high, so I use pie pans, which I grease well, and flour with rye flour.

When the meat is well browned (it will be nearly done), add:
1 tsp beef bouillon paste
¾ cup boiling water

Bring quickly to a boil. Leave uncovered and let it boil, stirring regularly. When it’s tender and the liquid is reduced by about ¾, remove the meat, leaving the liquid with the garlic & onions in the frying pan over a medium-to-low flame to reduce even further, until it’s like thickish gravy.

Chop or shred the meat into small pieces, much larger than “ground beef”; use a food processor if you like to make quick work of it. Place in a large bowl. Mix the hot meat, the hot liquid from cooking the meat with:

¾ cup frozen, shredded parmesan cheese

to cool the mixture, which should be room temperature or a tiny bit warmer when you’re done.

When the machine is almost done with mixing the ingredients, it will beep, signaling that it’s time to add the final ingredients: add the meat mixture at this point. The bread machine may need help mixing in this many ingredients into the bread dough.

Let the machine finish mixing the dough, and let it raise once in the bread machine. Turn it onto a well-floured cutting board, divide into portions (I made one large piece and several smaller ones). Add topping. Let them raise again until they’ve doubled, typically about 40 minutes.

Topping:
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
½ tsp Italian seasoning

Toss lightly together, spread generously over the loaves before baking.

Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 375°. Bake 15 or 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot with lots of butter. Works well as “Shred Bread”, or bread which is not sliced, but everyone at the dinner table tears off a chunk for themselves.

Sausage Cheese Rolls

Into the bread machine, in this order:
1½ tsp active dry yeast
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour
2 TBSP white sugar
2 TBSP dry milk powder
2 TBSP butter
1¼ tsp salt
1⅓ cups water, lukewarm.

Set the bread machine on “dough” setting.

While the bread machine is producing dough for you, sauté and set aside:
4 pieces of bacon chopped into pieces
6-10 breakfast sausages, cut into 1/4" chunks.

also shred 1½ cups cheese. I like sharp cheddar, but medium cheddar will do.

Most bread machines will mix the ingredients, let the bread raise for a while, then mix some more, and let it raise again. Four minutes before the end of the last real mixing time, add the bacon, sausage and cheese. Let the bread finish mixing and let it raise a little.

Remove the bread from the machine before it's finished raising. Cut it into small pieces and shape as desired. There's room for a great deal of creativity here. I use some very small loaf pans, and some tiny pie pans from small chicken pot pies, shaping and sizing the bread for those. I also cover a cookie sheet in parchment paper and shape some basic roll shapes - suitable for hamburger buns later - for cooking there. I made some long strips of dough and braided it together for a fun long & narrow bun.

Place the rolls in a warm place to raise again; it will probably need to be noticeably warmer than room temperature.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake at 350 for 20 or 25 minutes until the inside is completely cooked. Cool on a cooling rack.

I love these fresh and hot out of the oven and slathered in butter. But I also like using them for hamburger buns, with bacon and cheese and fried onions.

This produces a hearty bread, slightly savory. It's more filling than I expected.

TexMex meets the West Coast in Meatrolls

In a large frypan, sauté until brown:
5-10 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced thin,
1 pound of chicken thighs, de-boned, cut into small pieces,
1 pound stew beef, cut into <½ inch pieces season with pepper (no salt),

When the meat is nearly done, add:
1 tsp chicken bouillon base.
½ tsp hickory smoke flavoring
½ cup catsup
1 tsp dark chili powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Assembly:

Make the dough:
3 cups Bisquik
½ cup water
1 tsp chili powder
¾ tsp dried oregano

Roll out on a very well-floured board (or onto cheesecloth or parchment paper; this stuff is sticky!) into a sheet 15” x 20”. Mark a line 3” or so from the far end: don’t add any fillings to the last 3” of the bread: that will be used to close the roll and hold it closed.

Cover the dough (except a 1” border and the last 3” noted above) with the meat mixture.

Cover with:
1 cup of shredded or grated parmesan cheese. (Do not use the powdered stuff in a can from Kraft. Eww.)
Seasoning to taste: Essence is nice.

½ cup frozen veggies (your choice) thawed to room temperature.

Roll the loaded dough up from the full side towards the empty 3” end. Seal the ends as you’re rolling so that the stuffing doesn’t roll out. You should have a roll about 4” in diameter and about 16” long. Cover with shredded cheese: cheddar, Parmesan or both.

Bake at 350 until the top is dark (expect 20 minutes: I cook it until a thermometer in the center has hit 135 - 140 degrees). Do NOT be surprised if the bisquik dough hasn’t held together on top.

Remove from oven and let it cool completely. Then slice into single servings (I cut it into about six 2” slices). Put each slice in a freezer bag or heavy duty sandwich bag, and freeze until needed. Microwave on a small plate and serve, or eat it while you’re running off to do something exciting.

Chocolate Banana Cream Pie Recipe

OK. Confession time. I don't make this one. I didn't invent the recipe. This is one the real cooks in my family make for me on special occasions. (I love it when they do! This is good!) But please don't deceive yourself: this is not health food.

One pie:

Here are the ingredients:

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsel, divided
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup light cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 banana, divided- 1/2 mashed, 1/2 sliced for garnish
• 3 bananas (sliced)
• 1 (9 inch) baked pie crusts (they use a graham cracker crust; even better richer with an Oreo cookie crust.)
  
• whipped cream

Here are the directions:

1. In a saucepan mix together sugar, salt and flour.
2. In a medium bowl combine egg yolks, milk and cream. Mix well.
3. Slowly add milk mixture to dry ingredients in saucepan, stirring with a whisk.
4. Cook over low heat until thick.
5. Remove from heat and add butter and mashed banana. Stir to combine.
6. Slice bananas into the pre-baked pie crust. Over the bananas, put in 1/2 cup of the morsels, spread evenly.
7. Pour filling over bananas and morsels, shake slightly to settle filling.

Refrigerate pie at least 4 hours until well chilled. Garnish top of pie with whipped cream, sliced bananas and the remaining chocolate morsels.

Savory Beef Meat Roll

In a large frying pan, sauté until brown:
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced,
1 pound stew beef, cubed,
1 pound hamburger (shredded beef would be better, but it's more expensive).
Season with pepper and
1 tsp beef bouillon base.
Cook until brown.

When the meat is both done and well coated in the bouillon base, add
1 can tomato sauce,
bring back to temperature, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes while the sauce reduces and coats the meat.
Remove to a bowl and set aside.

Assembly:

Make bread dough. (See here for a yummy example.) Use either a one-pound loaf recipe, or half of a 2-pound loaf recipe. Roll out on a well-floured board into a sheet 15” x 20”. Mark a line 3” or so from the far end: don’t add any fillings to the last 3” of the bread: that will be used to close the roll and hold it closed.

Cover the dough (except a 1” border and the last 3” noted above) with the beef mix.
Cover with:
1 can black beans, evenly distributed over the surface of the meat. If there’s any liquid, reserve it.
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.

Roll the loaded dough up from the full side towards the empty 3” end. Seal the ends as you’re rolling so that the stuffing doesn’t roll out. Wrap the 3” over the top, using the liquid reserved from the beans (or water) as glue to seal the roll shut. You should have a roll about 4” in diameter and about 16” long.

Lay the roll, sealed side down, on parchment paper on a large baking sheet.
Sprinkle on the top:
¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese. Press it into the surface of the roll.

Let it raise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
Bake at 350 until done (expect 40 minutes: I cook it until a thermometer in the center has hit 135 - 140 degrees).

Remove from oven and let it cool completely. Then slice into single servings (I cut it into about eight 2” slices). Put each slice in a freezer bag or heavy duty sandwich bag, and freeze until needed. Microwave on a small plate and serve, or eat it while you’re running off to do something exciting.

Herb Dough for Meat Rolls

Into the bread machine, in this order:
1½ tsp active dry yeast
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour
2 TBSP white sugar
2 TBSP dry milk powder
2 TBSP butter
1⅓ cups water, lukewarm.

Spices:
1 ½ tsp dried rosemary leaves
1 tsp chili powder
1 ¼ tsp onion salt
¼ tsp ground cumin
¾ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp ground white pepper
¼ tsp celery seed

Set the bread machine on “dough” setting.

When the machine beeps, divide the dough in half. Use each half for a meatroll.

Serious Meat Rolls

Into the bread machine, in this order:

1½ tsp active dry yeast

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups white flour

2 TBSP white sugar

2 TBSP dry milk powder

2 TBSP butter

1¼ tsp salt

1⅓ cups water, lukewarm.

Set the bread machine on “dough” setting. When it's done, cut it in half, and roll each half out on a flowered surface, until it's less than 1/4" thick. Coat with:

Sliced steak (season and grille a 12 oz steak; refrigerate, slice thinly; half for each roll)
one chicken breast, seasoned and grilled, refrigerated and sliced.
3 oz thinly sliced pepperoni
4 slices of bacon, soft cooked
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup frozen veggies (I like French cut beans)
4 ounces (1/4 pound) of crumbled cooked pork sausage.
Season with a fair bit of freshly ground pepper (the bacon provides enough salt).

Roll up the dough like a cinnamon roll, resulting in a roll that's 12" x maybe 4" diameter. Let it raise for 20 minutes, then bake at 350 for 35 or 40 minutes until the inside is completely cooked. Cool on a cooling rack. Serve warm, sliced thick as a main dish (I like it with fresh corn on the cob), or slice it into appropriate size pieces and freeze separately for re-heating later.

9 Grain Bread Machine Bread

Add, in order, to the bread machine bowl:

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup 9 grain mix for bread
1 1/2 cups white bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 TBSP white sugar
2 TBSP butter (margarine will do if you must!)
2 TBSP dry milk powder
(or eliminate milk powder and substitute milk for water)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups (or a little more) lukewarm water

load it all in the bread machine bowl, in sequence, set the machine for dark bread (the heavy dough takes slightly longer to cook) and press "go!" I usually hold back 1/4c of the water until every thing else has mixed, adding a little bit of the remainder at a time until the dough is firm but soft.

This is our family's staple whole grain bread: we love it toasted with home-made jam, or broiled with meat and cheese on top.

Emeril's Essence

I list this here just as a reference. It's from Emeril Lagasse's website, and it's also on the Food Network's website. It's Emeril's recipe; it's just really useful for Guy Food!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Yield: about 2/3 cup