Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts cut into small chunks
2.5 cups flour
0.25 cup powdered sugar
4 tsp salt
3 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika

Methods:
Place chicken and dry ingredients into a large Ziplock bag. Shake vigorously. Prepare a large pot of oil for frying. Keep oil 350-375 degrees. Fry in batches until golden brown and delicious. Drain on paper towel. Serve with favorite dipping sauce.

Bacon

Great way to make bacon:
Line a baking sheet with foil. Place bacon in a single layer barely touching. Place in a cold oven. Set the oven to 400 degrees, turn on, and walk away. Check on the bacon 17-20 mins later. Remove and drain on paper towel. Delicious.

Hobbs Chili

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of 85/15 ground beef

2 tsp minced garlic or 2 cloves

1 large can kidney beans

1 large can of pinto beans

1 small can of blacks beans

1 large can of tomato sauce

8-10 stalks of celery, chopped

1 large pablano pepper, diced

2 tbsp Sriracha sauce

For my extra hot version you will also need...

2-3 jalapeno peppers, diced

1-2 Serrano peppers, diced

Chili Seasoning:

1/4 cup chili powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp cayenne (add more to taste)

Methods:

In a large stock pot, brown the beef and minced garlic.  Add tomato sauce to pot.  Drain and rinse each can of beans and add to the pot.  Add celery and pepper(s).  Mix seasoning together and add to the pot.  Add Sriracha sauce.  Add enough water to cover the contents and make the contents soup consistency of soup (3-5 cups), stir.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30-45 mins, stirring regularly.

Broccoli Chicken Casserole with a Kick

To do:
Steam 2 cups fresh broccoli.
Sauté 2 cubed boneless/skinless chicken breasts.
Cook 8-10 ounces of elbow pasta.
Dice 1 jalapeño.
In a medium saucepan melt 3 tablespoons of butter, add 3 tablespoons of flour and whisk cooking over medium heat for 5 mins. Add 3 cups of milk, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder or dried minced onion, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 mins. Add 8 oz of cheddar and 8 oz of pepper jack cheese. Add the noodles from before and mix.
Pour into a large casserole dish and add chicken, jalapeño, and broccoli. Top with some parmesan cheese and black pepper. Bake at 350 for half hour.

Applesauce Pancakes

Ingredients:
2 cups pancake mix (Hungry Jack or Bisquick)
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg
1 cup applesauce (or cinnamon applesauce)
1/2 cup milk (maybe more if batter is too thick)

Methods:
Mix dry ingredients together, mix wet ingredients together, and combine in a large bowl. (mix well)
Heat and grease your cast iron griddle to medium.
Pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup of batter onto pan.
Cook 1-2 mins per side.
Enjoy.

S'mores Bars

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup crushed graham crackers, about 4
6 Hershey's bars
2 cups mini marshmallows

Methods:
Preheat oven to 375.
Mix butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Add flour and graham cracker, mix well.
Press mix onto bottom of a greased 9-inch square pan.
Bake 15 mins or until golden brown.
Arrange Hershey's bars on top of crust.
Top with marshmallows and switch oven to broil.
Broil for 1-2 minutes or until toasted, light brown.
Let cool and cut into bars.

Note: Instead of using mini marshmallows, try jumbo marshmallows in a 4 by 4 grid arrangement (one per serving)

Chicken Fried Steak Dredge

Wet:
1-2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons hot sauce (Frank's or Cholula work well, Tabasco if you like)

Mix together in a medium bowl.

Dry:
1 1/2 - 2 cups of flour
6-8 mashed up saltine crackers
1 teaspoon paprika (or smoked paprika)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon season salt

Whisk together and pour onto a plate for dredging.

A good tip is to let the steaks sit for about 15 mins after dredging before frying. I usually fry in vegetable oil, making sure the cast iron skillet and oil are preheated, and then backing off the temp a bit before cooking. Cook until golden brown and delicious, turning once. Drain on newspaper or paper towels.

Cinnamon Rolls

Quick Buttermilk Sweet Dough:

Ingredients:

2 packages active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

2 eggs

5-6 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

Filling:

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

2-3 teaspoons cinnamon

Raisins or Nuts if desired

Methods:

Dough:

In a large mixer bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add buttermilk, eggs, 2.5 cups of the flour, the butter, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Blend 1/2 minute on low speed, scraping bowl constantly. Beat 2 minutes medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally.  Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. (Dough should remain soft and slightly sticky.)

Turn dough onto well-floured board; knead 5 minutes or about 200 turns.  Shape dough immediately (no need to let rise) into desired shape/amount. (for rolls, roll dough out into a relatively large rectangle.)

Rolls:

Cover dough with butter.  Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and top dough.

Begin rolling dough on the longer side of the rectangle. Use thumbs to work across the dough rolling slowly until about an inch from the other side.  Crimp together and set on the seam.  Cut dough roll in half, then cut each into thirds, then half the thirds - resulting in a dozen.  

Cover and let rise for an hour or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 375.
Bake until golden brown and delicious - about 20 minutes. 

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2-3 cups (or so) of powdered sugar
1/4-1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix with a hand mixer until desired consistency - adding milk to thin or powdered sugar to thicken.

English Muffin Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons cornmeal
2 tablespoons of butter
6 cups bread flour
2 (0.25 oz) packs of active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Methods:
Warm the milk and water in a small saucepan (125-150 degrees).
Use butter to grease 2 loaf pans; sprinkle cornmeal inside, toss extra.
In a large bowl whisk together 3 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and soda.
Stir in warm milk and mix well. Stir in remaining 3 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time, until a stuff batter is formed.
Split in to two portions and place in pans. Cover and let rise for about 45 mins.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Bake until golden brown, about 25 mins. Remove from pans and cool.

Best enjoyed toasted with a generous amount of butter and a cup of coffee to wash it all down.

Quick Pizza Crust

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup olive oil

Methods:
Preheat oven to 425.
Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Add milk and oil, and stir until mixture comes together in a ball.
Knead dough 10+ times on lightly floured surface. Let rest, then roll out to desired diameter and thickness.
Bake until light brown on top.
Add topping and continue baking until cheese is melted and delicious.

Taco Seasoning

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Methods:
Stir together in a bowl. Add to beef followed by 1/2 cup of water. Cook off water.

Easy Lasagna

Materials:
8-10 lasagna noodles
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 lb. Italian sausage or beef
12-16 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 tbs minced garlic
Italian seasoning (shaker)
Parmesan cheese (grated)

Methods:
Preheat oven to 350.
Cook noodles al dente. Brown sausage Add garlic and a few shakes of italian seasoning to sausage. Add sauce and warm.
Prepare a 9"x13" casserole dish with light nonstick spray.
Divide stuff into two parts. Start with a bit of sauce in the dish then one layer of noodles. Add first half of sauce/meat mixture followed by first half of ricotta then first half of mozzarella. Add a few generous shakes of parmesan. Repeat layering with second half of stuff.
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Baked Mac and Cheese

One of my favorites from Alton Brown:

Ingredients:
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper

Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

[I usually omit the onion or use dehydrated minced onion. I also incorporate some Parmesan cheese before topping the dish with the bread crumbs.]

Apple Crumb Cobbler

Here is a very rough recap:

5 medium apples peeled, cored, and sliced thin (fuji or golden delicious worked well)
Toss with:
A splash of lemon juice,
A cup or so of brown sugar,
A teaspoon or so of cinnamon, and
A tablespoon or so of flour.
You can add nutmeg as well.
(stir prior to tossing with apples)

Pour mix into a greased baking dish.

Topping:
Mix a stick of butter (softened),
1/2 cup or so of oatmeal,
A cup of flour, and
A cup of brown sugar until it forms little balls.

Top the apples and bake at 350 for an hour until golden brown and delicious.

7-Up Cake

Ingredients:
3 sticks butter
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups flour
1 cup 7up
1 ts lemon extract or juice

Methods:
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and blend. Alternate adding flour and 7up. Add lemon juice. Mix. Pour mix into greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 325 for 1 hour or more. Test with toothpick.

Glaze:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 ts vanilla
1 ts lemon extract or juice
Cook until syrup. Brush on hot cake.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar (packed)2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of ground cinnamon
2 packaged (6 ounces each) semisweet chocolate pieces
Add chopped nuts if desired
Methods:
Heat oven to 375. Mix shortening, butter, and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each, then add vanilla and mix.
In a separate bowl, add soda, salt, and cinnamon to flour and whisk to combine/sift.
Add half of the flour, mix well, then add second half.
(For a softer, rounder cookie, add 1/2 cup flour)

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet or stone.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown. Cool 2 mins before removing from baking sheet.
Move onto wire rack and cool completely.