Twice Baked Is Better Than Half Baked

Are you a good cook?  I don’t think I’m a great cook, but since I like to cook, I think I’ve become a passable cook.  My strengths are that I like to see the patterns and the science of cooking and that I enjoy the challenge of getting everything served at the same time.  Okay, just call me a nerd because I am.  A long-time, good friend (who knows who she is) used to call me Mr. Spock because of my analytical skills.

Despite my above mentioned strengths, I have made a few half-baked cooking moves.  Let’s see if I can remember:

Absentmindedly brought my waffle batter instead of pancake batter for a pancake night at a church function

Mistakenly used cayenne pepper for chili powder (see sloppy joe recipe)

Several baking flops using salt instead of sugar or forgetting the baking powder or soda

Tonight, actually, when I forgot to half my recipe for herbed rice

Walked away from a cheesy sauce and returned to cheese chunks

Melted chocolate in the microwave and cooked it into a big chocolate lump

Made several Rachael Ray recipes, ignoring the fact that my husband doesn’t like the ingredients, and thus faced a ton of leftovers since Rachael’s 4 servings could feed an entire baseball team

Unwittingly stirred burned stew up into the unscathed upper stew, ruining the whole pot

So, why are you taking cooking advice from me, anyway?  Ha!  Truthfully, though, you know I won’t give you any of my missed-the-mark meals.   And here is a winner!  I adapted it from the recipe in the Better Homes and Garden cookbook and the boys love it as a main meal or a side dish.  Twice baked potatoes are a sure crowd pleaser-so don’t be afraid.

Lisa’s Twice Baked Potatoes

4 large baking potatoes

3/4 cup sour cream

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1/8 tsp pepper

4 slices of cheddar cheese

2-3 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Scrub potatoes thoroughly, pat dry with paper towel.  Poke potatoes with a fork.  Bake in oven for 60 minutes.  Cool 10-15 minutes on a wire rack.

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise.  Gently scoop cooked potato pulp out and put in large mixing bowl, setting aside skins.

Mash potato pulp with electric mixer on low speed.  Add sour cream, garlic salt and pepper.  If mixture is too stiff, add milk by tablespoon until desired consistency.  Fill skins with mixture so they barely rise above skin edges.  Place on cookie sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees.  Remove from oven.

Add 1/2 cheese slice (cut on diagonal) to each potato, top with a tsp or so of bacon.  Place in oven for an addition 2 to 3 minutes to melt cheese. 

On a cooking show, they suggested cutting the bacon ahead of time for small crumbles.  Revolutionary!

You know I love to use that ice cream scoop!

Dynamite!, part 2

Recently, I was embarrassed to finally recognize that I am (a.)  too old and (b.) a victim of too much bad TV in my formative years.  But I still couldn’t resist finding a clip of JJ (see previous posting) saying  “Dyn-O-Mite.”  This one is from a “very special” episode when his cousin has a drinking problem.  It’s a 5 minute clip and the catchphrase comes at about 2 minutes 25 seconds.  It really is awful…but funny somehow, too.  Enjoy!

http://www.tv.com/video/16719/Sometimes%20Theres%20No%20Bottom%20in%20the%20Bottle%20-%20Minisode?o=tv&tag=bighead;video

Dynamite!

When I was making the pizza crust last week, I consulted my KitchenAid cookbook.  On a nearby page, I saw a recipe for pecan rolls.  Now let me tell you, I love cinnamon rolls but have yet to make any that are “perfect.”  And while these weren’t cinnamon rolls, I knew they were similar so they caught my eye.  As I read the recipe, I laughed when I noticed right under the title was printed:  Dynamite!  I immediately thought of Jimmie “JJ” Walker from the old sitcom Good Times and had myself a giggle. 

Now, while I enjoyed the show, I don’t think making the actor annoyingly rework his catchphrase again and again was brilliant television.  But, I find it hysterical that reading this catchphrase (albeit spelled differently) in a cookbook brought the actor’s facial expressions and vocal inflections  instantly to my mind.  Also, the audacity of the cookbook author compilers to brag about their recipe struck me with awe and curiosity.  So, I had to try it!

And??? After many failed attempts at cinnamon rolls, I found a sweet roll recipe that is Dyn-O-Mite!

If you are interested in what Jimmie Walker is up to these days, I found his website, which I list below.  It seems he mostly does stand-up comedy now.

http://www.dynomitejj.com/front.html

 Pecan Rolls from The KitchenAid Cookbook

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup butter, divided

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)

3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg

1 1/4 cups brown sugar, divided

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Scald milk; stir in 1/4 cup butter, sugar and salt.  Cool to lukewarm.  Dissolved yeast in warm water in bowl.  Add lukewarm milk mixture, 2 1/2 cups flour, and egg.

Attach bowl and dough hook.  Turn to Speed 2 and mix 1 minute, until well blended.  Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl.  Knead on Speed 2 for 2 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top.  Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Punch dough down.  Roll dough to a 12-inch square.   Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup pecans; sprinkle over dough.  Roll dough tightly, pinching seams together.  Cut into twelve 1-inch slices.

Melt remaining butter and add remaining brown sugar and pecans; mix well.  Spoon into 12 greased muffin cups.  Place one dough slice, cut side up, into each muffin cup.  Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.  Invert pan on wire rack.  Let stand 3 minutes, then remove.  Makes 12 rolls.

Let Sigourney Weaver Make Your Meatloaf!

My husband owns a cassette tape (yes, we’re that old!) by comedian Jeff Foxworthy.  When we first were married, he played it for me and we both found one bit extremely funny.  Funny enough that we still refer back to it for comedic relief even today.

Here’s how I remember the joke:  Jeff tells of eating dinner with his wife.  She had prepared meatloaf.  He begins talking about how much he loves Sigourney Weaver (this must have been right after Alien.)  Not being smart enough to know when a conversation is really annoying his wife, he continues on and on about Sigourney.  Finally, his wife blurts out icily before stomping out of the kitchen:  “Well, let Sigourney Weaver make your meatloaf, then!”

Now, we get along well, Curt and I.  But it’s natural to occasionally feel underappreciated, especially in comparison to a perfect looking, seemingly put together Hollywood star.  So I’m not spilling the beans to admit that the following sentences have been uttered in our home (at least once):

“Well, let Teri Hatcher do your laundry!”

“Why don’t you have Matthew McConaughey mow the lawn?”

This simple mutual joke always brings a smile to my face.  It also gives pause for time to really acknowledge the one I love and depend on the most.  I must admit, though, I now think of our joke every time I make and serve meatloaf!

Lisa’s Tangy Meatloaf

1/2 cup catsup

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp powdered dry mustard

4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp seasoned salt

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 egg

2 tbsp finely chopped green pepper (optional)

3/4 cup bread crumbs

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

In large bowl, combine catsup, brown sugar and mustard.  Reserve 4 tbsp for topping.  To remaining mixture, add Worcestershire sauce, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, and egg.  Blend well.  Stir in green pepper.  Add bread crumbs and ground beef.  Mix well and shape into loaf in shallow baking pan.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 65 minutes.  Spread catsup mixture on top of loaf.  Bake an additional 15 minutes.

Make up the topping first, reserve 4 tbsp, then mix in the spices in remaining sauce

I use an 8x8 pan to allow fat to drip away from loaf

spread the topping, bake for 15 more minutes

Lisa Pizza

That’s what my sister Kathi always has called me.  You can see her beautiful face on my followers list.  Did I mention that she’s my older sister?  And she will always be.   Yeah for me!   This is the two of us when we were younger, from the late 60’s or very early 70’s.   Can’t you see the spark of trouble in her eyes?   That same spark is still there today.

This next photo is one I ‘borrowed’ from her facebook page without her permission.  (Well, she lives in a time zone 3 hours earlier than me and I didn’t want to call her at bedtime as I’m working on this post.  So, I’m hoping she’s okay with my deftly acquired blog material.)  She recently graduated with her Bachelors degree after years of going to night school following her full-time job as a computer something or other (very technical.)  Way to go, sis!

I’m so glad to have her as a sister, even though we live on opposite ends of the country.   We, ourselves, are total opposites in many ways, but our common beginning of our life stories and all of my free cell phone minutes keep us close.

One striking way that we are different is our approach to cooking.  She’s the artist and I’m the engineer.  She happily experiments with flavor combinations and measurements, while I nervously cling to the safety of a cookbook or recipe card.   She’s the yang to my yin, in the kitchen at least.

Well, I am proud to report that I have taken a walk on Kathi’s side of the cooking street with a new pizza crust recipe.  As you might recall, my friend (and blogging inspiration) Brooke in Utah shared her new recipe for pizza crust.  When I received a written copy of it,  I noticed that it was entitled the “Best Pizza Crust Ever.”  I tried it a month or so ago, but ran into difficulties. 

See, it included the ingredients, but no technical instructions.  The first try yielded a tasty yet poorly executed crust.  But I persevered last night by researching and experimenting, just like Kat would do.  (Kat is my pet name for Kathi, which she abhors, but answers to anyway.)  We had an excellent ‘Friday pizza night’ as a result.  I will share my techniques, but know I’m not an expert on pizza making.  At least I’m trying to be like my sister, though, by relaxing and enjoying the process.  Friday pizza night definitely should be enjoyed! 

By the way, it is the best pizza crust ever.

Best Pizza Crust Ever  from Brooke

1 1/2 cups very warm water

2 tsp yeast

2 tsp sugar

16 ounces (about 2 3/4 cups) bread flour (I used all-purpose and it was alright)

3 1/2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) semolina* flour

1 tsp salt

[I let the yeast proof in the water for about 5 minutes and then mixed in the rest of the ingredients.  My semolina, when measured, weighed less so I used the weighted amounts instead of the cup measurements for both flours.  I mixed the dough with my dough hook until the dough clung to the hook, adding a bit more flour to do so.  Then I kneaded with my mixer and dough hook for 5 more minutes.  The dough still was quite sticky.]

Let rise in well-oiled bowl until double, about an hour.  Oil pan(s) and sprinkle with extra semolina flour.  Knead and roll out dough to fit pan.  (I found it easier on my second try to roll out just once in the pan - and not on the counter first.)  Top with pizza toppings and bake at 450 degrees until golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Makes 2 medium thin crust pizzas or one large, thicker crust pizza.

I make my own easy sauce.  I use an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce and mix in Italian seasoning, garlic pepper and salt to taste.  Spread sauce on the rolled out crust sparingly with a rubber mixing spatula.

*Semolina flour, I found out, is finely ground cornmeal.  I found it in the bulk section of the health food area in my grocery store.

half the dough for a medium thin crust

with sauce

before baking

 

out of the oven

I’m Waffling!

If you’ve checked my blog this past week, you may have been a tad confused.  I keep changing the look of my blog!  For those of you who don’t particularly like change, I apologize.  I am not sure of what I’m doing at all, it seems.

 

I thought I found the perfect blog template, it was lovely.  There was a classy, pretty photograph of a bowl of cherries which I liked for many reasons.  One is that I love photography.  Two is that I love red.  And three is that it fit my blog theme.  But, it was extra narrow and the transparency of the page to allow you to still see the photo made it hard to read the text.  So today I tried on several others.  (Once you get the hang of deleting the old, then copying and pasting on the new “HTML,” it goes very quickly.)  I finally found this red and brown print one that I really like, although it has no food or cooking references.  But I’m sticking with it, at least to the end of this week…

 

My fear is that all my crazy mood/template swings will cause you to just stop checking in.  Please bear with me.  I think it’s my advanced age and accompanying hormonal changes.  I do notice that I am becoming a bit (more) flighty and irritable at times.

 

Hopefully, the recipes are helpful, regardless of the presentation.  A month or so ago, Gail told me she had made my sloppy joe recipe for her family and that they liked it a lot.  I was thrilled to hear that!   Keep the feedback coming.

 

Meanwhile, I wanted to share with you one of my favorites from The Joy of Cooking.  It’s for waffles.  I’ve stuck to this recipe for several years and it always turns out delicious.  In the cookbook, they advise using 4 tbsp. of butter for lower fat waffles, 8 tbsp. for regular and 16 tbsp. for extra crispy.  I go back and forth between the 4 and the 8 and don’t notice a dramatic difference, so I’m sticking with the 4.  I also cool extras on a cake rack.  Once cool, I put them in baggies and freeze.  On school mornings, they toast up right from the freezer like eggos, but are so much better.  And the waffle iron has never needed any vegetable spray, since the butter in the batter is sufficient.  My final tip is to use a plastic spaghetti fork to remove the waffles from the iron.  It works wonderfully.

Lisa’s Waffles from The Joy of Cooking
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp of melted unsalted butter
3 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups of milk

 

Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl, make a well in center.  In smaller bowl, whisk wet ingredients, add to dry ingredients, mix gently until dry ingredients are blended.  Batter will still appear pebbled.  Add to waffle iron and cook according to iron instructions.  Makes 12 six inch waffles.

       an ice cream scoop is handy to put batter on iron

warm up the syrup for an added touch

Obsessions of a Cooking Blogger

Tonight, as I was frantically doing various Google searches (which have been mysteriously and curiously replaced on my server by Bing searches without an iota of market research from me) about Rice Krispy Treats, my husband walks by and says “Face it, you’re obsessed.” And as I follow him into the kitchen where he is cataloging a few (ha!) baseball cards he adds “And I know obsessed.” My simple observation on both comments is that he is dead right.

As my faithful readers (I think there are a couple) have already learned from my June 8th posting, I use an alternative recipe for Rice Krispy Treats. My assertion at the time was that the Kellogg’s company at some point changed the recipe to lessen the butter and marshmallows and, thus, the palatability. Now I have the proof!

One night, after the rest of my household was asleep, I was flipping through the myriad of useless satellite channels searching for a reason to stay up much too late. I tuned in to The Food Network’s show Unwrapped and was thrilled to see that they were reviewing the history of the Rice Krispy Treat! They flashed a 1940’s cereal box with the then recipe very quickly but made no mention that the recipe has since changed. I jumped to my remote and hit the record button for the DVR. Yeah technology!

As I was able to watch, pause, rewind and pause again, I found the original recipe ingredients, concocted by an employee named Mildred Day in 1928 and first printed on the cereal box in 1940, read as follows:

1/3 cup butter
1/2 lb. marshmallows
1/2 tsp vanilla, optional
5 1/2 oz rice krispies

What??? In terms of my version’s quantity of cereal, that would translate to about:

15 tbsp butter
1.4 lbs marshmallows (1 plus 2/5 of a large bag)
1 plus 1/4 tsp of vanilla

Bottom line, it’s way more butter and marshmallows to cereal than I even use, so I totally feel vindicated. (Okay, I’ll freely confess that I’m obsessive about both my postings and my specialty dishes.) And who ever knew about the vanilla? Next time I make treats I’ll have to try the extract. My friend Debbie commented that she has also seen a recipe with almond extract. Wow, that sounds good too. It seems we’ve blown the roof off of the current politically correct Kellogg’s official recipe!

Power to the people!