Cookies

Spent the afternoon baking cookies & rocking out to Queen.  It's been a good day!

Ginger Snaps - Choc. Chip - Sugar Cookies

Biscuits

This is my basic biscuit recipe.  I found it years ago in a cookbook and fixed it.  Simple to make, fast to bake and very easy to turn into cheesy-garlic biscuits.


2 C Flour
4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/4 C lard*
3/4 C whole milk**

Sift together dry ingredients.  Cut in lard with a pastry knife until it's crumbly then fold in the milk.  Use your hands to finish combining the dough but don't go overboard.  Pull off chunks and place on a baking pan.  Into the oven @ 450º F for 10 minutes (or golden brown).

Best served with hot bacon and fresh coffee.



* If you use Crisco or butter, you will be disappointed.  Try local grocery chains or mom & pop type stores, if they don't have lard, odds are they can tell you who does.  It seems to last forever in the fridge, so no worries about having it go to waste.

** Yes, whole milk.  I was raised on 2% but started buying whole milk in college because it lasted longer.  Now I'm hooked & can't go back.  Some of the recipes just don't turn out the same with 2% or (God forbid) skim.  Though I have been known - in an emergency - to used dried milk mixed with half & half  (roughly 7 parts re-hydrated milk to 1 part half & half) 

Pie!

Alright, for Thanksgiving, instead of pouring pumpkin out of a can to make a pie, I make one out of butternut squash.  It's just like pumpkin, but smoother and *bonus* I can get the butternut fresh from the garden.  
Recipe (1 pie):

1 lg butternut squash pie (1 1/2 cups)
1 c brown sugar (firmly packed)
3 lg eggs (slightly beaten)
3/4 c evaporated milk or half & half (recommend the latter)
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t ginger

1/4 t cloves
1/4 t salt
2 T flour
1 T melted butter
1 t vanilla

Side notes on ingredients: You can play with the spices quite a bit, I use less cinnamon, more nutmeg and a little less ginger and cloves.  All spices are ground.  Also, more vanilla never hurt anyone :)

Prep:

Cooking squash: remove step, slice lengthwise, scoop out seeds.  Place cut-side down on a baking sheet lined with foil and brushed with oil.  Bake at 400 for 45 min - 1 hr (easily pierced with a fork)

Remove the tray from the oven, reduce heat to 350 and allow the squash to cool.  Put the cooked squash through a food mill.  Combine it with the remaining ingredients in the order listed using an electric mixer (or really resilient arms).

Baking:

Fill the uncooked pie crust & bake for at least 45 min, should be firm in the center when done.  Use foil or a pie shield to keep the crust from burning.  

Crust:

 Use whatever pie crust recipe you like, use pre-made if you want.  But if you're looking for a good, flaky crust, try using lard instead of butter or Crisco.  If you're going to eat something fattening, you may as well go full out.

Thanksgiving Lessons

1. I am not super woman
2. Next year, I will remember to butcher our turkeys before they reach 45lbs dressed out. Even halved, it's still a damn 22lb bird!
3. Starting cooking at 1pm is a bad idea.
4. There are always more dishes.
5. Even at 10pm, Thanksgiving dinner, with all the fixings, is delicious*

 * No one was waiting on dinner - I was making extra for leftovers.

Meatloaf

 I'm not sure what previous generations have done to make meatloaf instill fear and loathing in the general populous, but it's a damn shame.  If you want something filling, easy and delicious, meatloaf fits the bill.  It is something that has to be cooked by feel / taste so the first turn out might not be perfect but I've yet to have a bad turn out with these basics.

Basic ingredients:
ground beef
eggs
Italian bread crumbs
oatmeal
onion
salt, pepper, garlic, tarragon & marjoram.

Start with 2lbs ground beef (substitute 1/4 lb with ground sausage for a spicier turnout), 2 - 3 med eggs, 1 med onion, ~ 1 1/2 c bread crumbs, ~ 1 c oatmeal (uncooked) & then add spices to taste.  When combined, it should be tacky without being soupy and hold its shape.

Shape it however you want but I'd recommend keeping it relatively short / squat.  I have no idea why folks like to used bread pans for meatloaf, it just doesn't end well.  I use a standard oval corningware dish and bake it covered until the thermometer reads med-well for beef then uncover and let the top brown until it reads well done.  You can cook it at 350F or 375F seems to come out well either way.

If you've ended up with more than 4 tbsp of fat / grease try adding more oatmeal or bread crumbs next time.  If there's no grease, well geez just how much oatmeal did you add?!

For the top sauce you can use my husband's method - random bbq sauce & done - or my method:

Ingredients:  
Ketchup
Mustard (any kind will do, but I'm spoiled with Grandpa's Cheese Barn's Roasted Garlic)
Brown Sugar
Lemon Juice
Worcestershire

This is strictly to taste!  Just mix the above together until you've got something nice & tangy (yeah, I know, that's not helpful).  For 2 lbs of meat you'll need to start with over a cup of Ketchup to get the volume.  So ~1 c Ketchup, ~3 tbsp Mustard, < 1/4 c Brown Sugar, ~ 2 tsp Lemon Juice and go easy with the Worcestershire since there's no good way to 'undo'.  Don't cook it with the sauce on - put it on after it's done.

Normally, I'd include pictures but it's gone so it'll have to wait for next time :-D

Noms!

Fried zucchini is one of my favorite summer foods, as it's easy to make, has little mess & effectively uses up garden surplus.  I start by putting flour and crumbed club crackers into separate ziplocs and beating together egg, buttermilk & S&P (1 part milk to 2 parts egg).  How much of each ingredient depends on how much zucchini you have; a cup of flour, a sleeve of crackers and an egg is enough to do 1 moderate size zuch.

 Slice up the zucchini, toss it in the flour ziploc & shake until they're completely coated - knock off excess flour.  Then, flop the slices into the egg mixture & let them rest in there for a little while.  They should come out without any flour spots.  Scoop them out with a fork (no stabbing!) or something else that's scoop-like & put them in the cracker ziploc.  Bounce the slices about until they're coated & set aside until you've finished.

Heat up a large skillet and use your preferred frying liquid.  I use butter, lots and lots of butter :-)  Put the slices in once the pan's hot enough for them to sizzle right off and keep the heat around medium.  Don't bother'em, just let'em cook.  Once they're brown on one side, flip and repeat.  Should take about 15 minutes depending on the thickness of the slices. Plate & serve.  Be careful with larger zuchs, the larger seeds seem to store heat & can really burn.

Mine are simple, I'm sure you could add Tabasco sauce, chili powder, paprika, etc to liven up the taste.  Consider this as a good starting point for a summer classic & enjoy.