Rand's Pretzels

Rand LOVES pretzels and sometimes we make them in the morning while everyone is gone. Here is our favorite recipe.....

3 cups flour
1 pkg or 1 TB yeast
1 TB sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup warm water (115-125 degrees)
3 TB vegetable oil

2 TB baking soda

2 TB coarse salt

In mixer, attach bread hook. Stir together flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add water and oil. Mix/knead until ball forms and dough clings to hook and sides of bowl are clean. (5-10 mins, you may need to add a scant amount of water or flour)

Remove ball and place in a greased bowl. Flip ball over so greased side is up. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit about 45 mins, or until doubled in size.

Remove ball to clean work surface and poke down. Cut into 10 equal pieces. Spray a few cookie sheets with non-stick spray.

Roll each piece into 20 inch strips. Keep other pieces covered with plastic wrap while working (unless you're super fast). Form into pretzels and place back onto cookie sheets. Cover again with plastic wrap (or a kitchen towel). Let rise about a half hour.

Preheat oven to 450.

Fill a large pan (8qt) about 2/3rds full of water and bring to a rolling boil. Add 2TB baking soda. Carefully with a  slotted spoon, boil pretzels 30 seconds on each side. Return them to baking sheet about 2" apart. Sprinkle with salt (or leave plain).

Bake about 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Eat warm. We like to brush with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. 

*This only makes 10 pretzels. Trust me, you'll want more. I double it when I want enough for the whole family.

Salted Caramel Corn with Pecans and Dark chocolate

About 16 cups popped popcorn (about 3/4 - 1 cup unpopped)
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter
6 TB corn syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 - 1 cup toasted chopped pecans (I toast my pecans by just putting them in a non-stick skillet and tossing them over high heat for a few mins. be careful not to burn them though!!)
2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 1/2 cups ghiradelli dark chocolate melting wafers

Place popcorn in a large baking pan (I use my turkey pan). Keep popcorn warm in oven set to 300 while making caramel mixture.

In a 3qt saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium heat until boiling. Attach candy thermometer. Cook and stir over medium heat to hard ball stage (255 degrees). Remove from heat, stir in soda and vanilla; pour over popcorn. Stir gently while sprinkling in the pecans and sea salt. Once coated, bake in oven for 15 minutes; stir. Bake and additional 10 minutes or so.

Transfer popcorn mixture to large piece of foil, wax paper, or parchment (I tape a few pieces to the counter). Spread it out, breaking apart the big pieces and let it cool while you melt the chocolate. Drizzle with chocolate. Once cool, break it up and store in air-tight container (ziploc bags are fine).

**This recipe makes a LOT because I make it for my large family. Definitely can be halved and probably should be if you're watching your waistline.

Louisiana Mushroom Pot Pie

1 pound ground turkey
4 T butter
1 small onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup frozen peas
1 can mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Cajun seasoning (I use Louisiana)
2, pie crusts

Brown turkey with some Cajun seasoning.

Saute onions and carrots in butter until translucent. Add peas, mushrooms, soup, sour cream, milk and some Cajun seasoning and stir well until heated through.

Pour ground turkey into prepared pie crust. Top with shredded cheese. Pour vegetable mixture over top. Top with 2nd pie crust. Cut slits in the top.

Bake at 350° for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.

I highly recommend using the Pioneer woman's thyme pie crust recipe with this. However, if you do, you may only want crust on top as it's very thick.

Gingerbread Cookies

How cute are THESE??? Normally we do gingerbread men, but a few years ago I found this cookie cutter in a clearance bin at the grocery store post-season and decided it needed to be broken in.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)

Directions:
 

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until well blended. In a large bowl (KitchenAid's great for this) beat butter, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended. Add molasses, vanilla, and lemon zest and continue to mix until well blended. Gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth.

 

Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours. (Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. Return to room temp before using.)

 

Preheat oven to 375 deg. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.

 

Place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin. Roll dough to a scant 1/4-inch thick. Use additional flour to avoid sticking. Cut out cookies with desired cutter-- the ginger bread man is our favorite of course, or Christmas trees.

 

Space cookies 1 1/2-inches apart.

 

Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes (the lower time will give you softer cookies-- very good!). 

 

Remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack. If using cookies to build a little house, you must RE-CUT the cookie straight from the oven. Since the cookie expands slightly while baking, you will have rounded edges, so re-cut using the cookie cutter, or knife if building your own house immediately while hot. My kids favorite thing is to eat the scraps from the hot cookies. I just toss them on the bar and they magically disappear.

The photo of the trees was my first attempt at using the flooding technique. Here is a great tutorial on how to flood your cookies with royal icing. Hopefully your turn out a little better than mine.

Royal Icing recipe:

1 lb or 1 box of powdered sugar

5 TB meringue powder

1 scant 1/2 cup cold water

Beat all together to desired consistency. For the houses, I used thicker sticky icing and for the trees a little runnier so I could flood the cookies.

Caramels

2 cups white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup evaporated milk
1 pint (4 cups) heavy whipping cream
1 cup butter (salted, if you use unsalted add 1/4 tsp salt to recipe)
1 1/4 tsp vanilla

Grease a 12x15 inch pan with some butter (a smaller pan will simply give you thicker caramels)

In a medium-sized pot, combine all ingredients, except vanilla, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Monitor heat with a candy thermometer. When temperature reaches 234 degrees (250 for chewier caramels), remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Cool, cut into desired sized squares and wrap in wax paper or parchment.

Tips for caramel making:

• Make sure you have about an hour of uninterrupted time. You need to watch that thermometer because it can jump up fast.
• Stir the caramel frequently, constantly if you prefer.
• Please note that the mixture will double in size when coming up to heat, so make sure your pot is big enough.
• A tall skinny pot is better to use than and short wide pot, as this can leading to scorching on the bottom.

Cole Slaw

1 16 bag of cole slaw mix
2/3 cup light mayo
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tb milk
2 Tb vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all ingredients. Serve.

It's that simple :) I make this when my husband smoks a pork butt because it's delicious with pulled pork.

Roasted Broccoli

We love broccoli in this house and this was an instant favorite.

4 to 5 pounds broccoli
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
EVOO
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (put pine nuts in a small skillet and toast on the stove)
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves (about 12 leaves)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut the broccoli florets from the thick stalks, leaving an inch or two of stalk attached to the florets, discarding the rest of the stalks. Cut the larger pieces through the base of the head with a small knife, pulling the florets apart (you can skip all of this by using the huge bag of broccoli from Costco). You should have about 8 cups of florets. Place the broccoli florets on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Toss the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with 5 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.

Remove the broccoli from the oven and immediately toss with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, pine nuts, Parmesan, and basil. Serve hot.

 

Recipe from the Food Network.

Boston Baked Beans

2 (16 ounce) packages dried navy beans
4 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon pepper
1 large onion
4 -6 whole cloves
1 meaty ham bone

Directions:

1 Prepare beans: Rinse well and discard any stones or shriveled beans.
2 Soak beans in water in a 5 quart Dutch oven, using the overnight or quick soak method.
3 Overnight Method: Cover each cup of dried beans with 3 cups of water; let stand for a minimum of 12 hours.
4 Quick Soak Method: Add beans to boiling water, allowing 3 cups of water for each cup of beans, bring back to the boil and boil for 2 minutes; remove from heat, cover and leave for an hour, then cook in same water.
5 Bring mixture to a boil, add salt, reduce heat, cover and simmer for an hour.
6 Stir in molasses and next 3 ingredients.
7 Stud the onion with the cloves; tuck onion & ham bone (or salt pork) into the beans.
8 Cover and bake in a 250F oven for about 7 hours; check & stir about once an hour.
9 Add more water to keep beans moist but not too wet OR remove lid to thicken mixture through evaporation; it all depends on your preference for thick or runny!
10 Discard cloves, chop onion and return to mixture.
11 Remove meat from ham bone (or cut salt pork into pieces, discarding fat) and return to mixture.

12 Add salt to taste.

Deep Dish Pecan Pie

Ingredients

• 1 whole unbaked pie crust "deep dish"
• 2 cups white sugar
• 6 TB brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups corn syrup
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup melted salted butter
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups (heaping) chopped pecans

Preparation Instructions

Mix sugar, brown sugar, salt, corn syrup, butter, eggs, and vanilla together in a bowl.
Pour chopped pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell.
Pour syrup mixture over the top. Cover top and crust lightly/gently with foil. Bake pie at 350º for 50 minutes. Remove foil, then continue baking for 20 minutes, being careful not to burn the crust or pecans.
NOTE: PIE SHOULD NOT BE OVERLY JIGGLY WHEN YOU REMOVE IT FROM THE OVEN. If it shakes a lot, cover with foil and bake for an additional 20 minute or until set. Required baking time seems to vary widely with this recipe.
Allow to cool for several hours or overnight. Serve in thin slivers.

**This recipe is from The Pioneer Woman. However, since I wanted a deep dish pie, I doubled her recipe (I posted it to keep it with my recipes because it's the BEST!)** 

Garlic Red Mashed Potatoes

4 lbs small red potatoes
cloves of garlic to taste (I would use at least 4)
2 cubes butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
fresh chives

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and garlic. Boil until tender, but still a little firm (10-15 minutes). Drain.

Whip/mash potatoes with remaining ingredients until smooth and creamy.

A. Maze. Ing.

Smashed Salt and Vinegar Potatoes

Wait for it. Wait for it.

I saw these on TV and couldn't locate the recipe online so I tried to duplicate it. They turned out WONDERFUL!!! So here is what I did.

Baby potatoes (about 1-2 inches in size, I used the mixed bag of red, yellow and purple potatoes from Costco)
4 quarts Water
2-2 1/2 cups Iodized Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Malt Vinegar

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add 2 1/2 cups (yes, I said CUPS) of salt and potatoes (about 4 lbs). Boil about 20-30 minutes until tender.

Drain potatoes and allow potatoes to dry out on a towel for about 10 minutes or more.

Prepare a large jelly roll pan by coating with about 1/2 cup of Olive Oil.

Preheat oven to 500 degree and move rack to middle/top position (not the very top and not the very middle)

Place potatoes in oil and smash with the bottom of a measuring cup or glass until they are about 1/2 inch thick (they will break open obviously, see photo). Spread them out so they aren't touching (I did 2 pans worth). Drizzle or brush malt vinegar over potatoes. (I used about 3 TB). Sprinkle with pepper.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and brush/drizzle with vinegar again.

ENJOY!!

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Ingredients:

4 T butter (1/2 stick)
1 T EVOO
1 C diced yellow onion
1/2 C finely diced celery
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 quart half-and-half
28 oz chicken stock
1 t kosher salt
1/2 t dried thyme
1/2 t dried parsley flakes
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1 C grated carrots
1 C chopped spinach leaves
1 C cooked rotisserie chicken
1 16 oz package of gnocchi

Method:

1. In a large soup pot, melt butter into oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the onion becomes translucent.
2. Whisk in the flour and cook for about a minute, then slowly whisk in the half-and-half. Simmer until thickened.
3. Whisk in chicken stock, simmer again. Stir in salt, thyme, parsley, nutmeg, carrots spinach, chicken and gnocchi. Bring to a boil, then lower heat down to a simmer. Taste and add salt if needed. Recipe inspired by: olive garden's chicken gnocchi recipe 

French Fries

I've finally found the recipe for the perfect french fry.

Here ya go.

4 cups warm water
2/3 cup sugar
about 6 medium russet potatoes cut to desired fries
6 cups canola or vegetable oil
salt

In a large bowl dissolve sugar  in warm water. Once it's dissolved, add ice to make water cold. Cut your potatoes and put them in the ice water. Soak at least 15 minutes while you prepare your oil.

Bring oil to 375 degrees. Remove potatoes from water to a clean kitchen towel and pat dry. Add about half or 1/3 of the potatoes to the oil and blanch for about 2 minutes. Remove from oil to paper towels. Let sit until room temperature. When you're about 10 minutes out from dinner, heat up the oil again to 375 and cook and additional 4 minutes (until golden brown).

TIP: Make sure your oil is back up to 375 before doing subsequent batches.
TIP: You can freeze after the blanch stage for future use.

Salt and enjoy!

Texas Sheet Cake

Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 cup butter
1 cup water
5 TB unsweetened cocoa powder


Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour jelly roll (10x15") pan.

Combine flour, sugar, soda, and salt. Beat in sour cream and eggs. Set aside. Melt the butter on low in a saucepan, add water and cocoa. Bring mixture to a boil and remove from heat. Allow to cool a little, then stir into egg mixture, mix until blended. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting:
6 TB milk
5 TB unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)


In large saucepan, combine milk, cocoa and butter. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla. Fold in nuts, if using. Mix until well blended.

Frost cake while warm.

Strawberry Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes

Bake 1 Devils Food Cake mix for 24 cupcakes.

Remove middles using an apple corer (optional)

Dip cupcakes in Ganache. (spoon extra into the hole, optional for more chocolatey cupcakes)

Frost with Strawberry Buttercream frosting. WALAAAA! Delish :P

Ganache:

3/4 evaporated milk

1 TB cocoa powder (unsweetened)

1 TB sugar

1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (give or take for desired thickness)

1/2 tsp vanilla

In a double boiler or small saucepan, mix the cocoa, sugar and milk. Stir over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Do NOT let the milk boil. Once you see bubbles forming around the edges of the pan, remove from heat.

Place chocolate chips in a glass bowl. Pour hot milk mixture over chips and whisk to blend. Add vanilla and whisk well. The chips will melt and you'll be ready for dipping once you have a smoothe ganache! Store letfover in the fridge for later reheating/dipping.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting:

1 cup butter, softened

4-5 TB pureed strawberries (about 1 strawberry per TB)

a dash of salt

2 lbs powdered sugar (about 7-8 cups)

Beat Butter, strawberries and salt together. Add powdered sugar about 2 cups at a time, beating well between each addition. (I used frozen strawberries that I thawed in the microwave so they were VERY watery, if you use fresh, You may need to either use more strawberries or add a tablespoon or so of milk)

Enjoy!

Prime Rib, Done Right!

Ask for a Standing Rib Roast 1/2 lbs. per person from your butcher. Bones cut off, tied back on

Set out meat for about 1 hr before cooking. (not frozen!!)

Heat oven to 325.

Before you put roast in oven Make a rub

Mix 1TBSP of each.
Onion Salt
Garlic Salt
Sea Salt
Thyme
Rosemary

Rub all over Roast

Stick in oven for 1 hr.

Turn off but DO NOT OPEN OVEN!

In about 3-4 hrs or about 1 1/2 hr before you want to eat

Turn oven back on for 1 Hr. Do not open oven.

It will be done. Promise. This will be a rare in center med. rare towards the ends

Roast should be 135-140 in center. temp will come up a little when sits out.

Let stand about 10 min.

cut and enjoy.

Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Glaze

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons lemon juice 2/3 cup milk 2 large very ripe bananas, mashed 1 (18.25 ounce) package butter cake mix

1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup butter, softened 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a desired pan (9x13, bundt, 24 cupcakes). Put 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a measuring cup with 2/3 cup milk. Set aside. Mash bananas with a fork, adding the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice to them as you mash. Set aside.
2.	In a large bowl, combine cake mix and baking soda. Stir to combine. Add bananas, softened butter, milk mixture, eggs and vanilla. Beat at low speed until moistened (about 30 seconds). Beat at medium speed for 4 minutes. Pour into prepared pan.
3.	Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until center of cake springs back when lightly tapped. A toothpick stuck in the center may leave a slight crumb. Allow to cool on a wire rack

Glaze:

1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1-2 TB milk
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Blend peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add 1 TB milk and vanilla. Add powdered sugar a little at a time until desired consistency is reached. I like it so it's thin enough to drip but thick enough to not soak into the cake.

*cake recipe if from allrecipes.com

Chocolate Peppermint Ganache Cupcakes

Meet the lone survivor. The last cupcake of the batch..... Oh so yummy :) It's not the best photo, but you all get that the taste is what's important, right?

The cupcakes:

3 eggs
½ C water
¼ C milk
½ C oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 C sour cream

Peppermint Ganache:

1/2 C butter
5 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
6 Tbsp buttermilk (or 5 ½ T milk, ½ T lemon juice)
3 C powdered sugar
½ tsp peppermint extract

Peppermint Buttercream:
8 oz cream cheese
½ C butter, softened
2 C powdered sugar
½- 1 tsp peppermint extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the eggs, water, milk, oil and vanilla together. Add in cake cake mix and sour cream until well blended.

Fill cupcake liner ¾ full and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While cupcakes are baking, make the peppermint ganache.

In a bowl, sift 3 cups powdered sugar. In a small pan, melt butter and add cocoa and buttermilk and bring to a boil. Pour mixture over powdered sugar and, add peppermint extract and stir until smooth.

Dip the tops of the warm cupcakes into the warm ganache and let cool before frosting. You can also poke a hole in the middle of the cupcake with a wooden spoon and fill the whole with ganache. So good!! Extra ganache will keep fine in the refrigerator. (I found it was easier to poke the hole and lightly spoon the ganache in while spreading a thin layer over the top. Then it wont drip as bad. Dipping was an epic fail for me)

Frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar. Add extra sugar if needed for right consistency. Add peppermint extract and beat again.

Pipe frosting onto cupcake (I used my 1M frosting tip) and then top with candy cane kisses, crushed candy cane or even mint M & M’s.

adapted from home based mom (she has way more cool pictures than me and helpful tips)

Egg Nog Cookies

Oh my egg nog! Gotta love Mrs. Fields and her creative genius on this one. I'm a huge egg nog fan and these just hit the spot this time of year. Luckily there was lots of leftover delicious icing! Any ideas what I can do with egg nog icing? Otherwise I'll probably just eat it straight. Yes, it's that good.

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup SALTED butter, room temp (Mrs. Fields calls for this)
1/2 cup eggnog
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon nutmeg (optional)

Preheat oven to 300F.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well with a wire whisk and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer. Add eggnog, vanilla and egg yolks and beat at medium speed until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets, 1″ apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg or skip this step and sprinkle on the nutmeg after you ice the cookies. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until bottoms turn light brown.

Transfer to cool, flat surface immediately with spatula.

Eggnog Icing

3 C. confectioners’ sugar
1/4 C. softened butter or margarine
1/3 C. commercial eggnog (use as much as you need)

In small mixer bowl, beat confectioners’ sugar and butter or margarine until well blended. Gradually beat in eggnog until icing is smooth. Makes about 1 1/2 cups. (I waited until cookies were cool and used my cupcake star tip #1M because I'm a sucker for a pretty cookie)

Candy Cane Chocolate Chip Cookies

Are you ready??

1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant Candy Cane Pudding mix
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla (if you like your stuff REALLY minty, you may want to add 1/2 tsp peppermint extract. I thought they were perfect the next day without the extract)
1/4 teaspoon salt
30 mini candy canes broken into chunks
1 cup Ghiradellli 60% cacao semi-sweet chocolate chips
food coloring, optional

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Cream together butter and sugars (add food coloring, if desired). Beat in pudding mix until blended. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix to combine. Stir in candy pieces and chocolate chips.

Place golf ball sized dough balls on a cookie sheet (I use a baking stone) lined with baking parchment (of course this is optional, but when baking with candy you'll have sticking if you dont). Bake at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes. Do not over-bake! Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet before moving to a cooking rack. Store in air-tight container (I suggest doing this while they're still a little warm if you like your cookies on the chewy side)