Great Grandma Jones Homemade Bread

2 Cups Scalded Milk cooled to lukewarm

2 Cups Water Lukewarm

1 Large Cake Yeast or 3 pkgs Dried Yeast

5 heaping TB Lard or Crisco (I use Canola or Olive Oil)

4 TB Sugar

4 tsp Salt

12 Cups Flour (Approx.)

In a large bowl mix Crisco, Sugar and Salt in the Scalded Milk and let cool to lukewarm, add 1 cup of lukewarm water.

Proof the yeast in 1 cup of lukewarm water by adding 1 tsp Sugar and mixing well. Let it bubble up at least an inch, then add to remaining ingredients in the bowl.
Now add about 4 cups flour using the mixer or by hand. Mix well after each addition of flour. When it gets thick enough to knead, either let the mixer knead it, if you have that attachment, or knead it by hand in the bowl or on the table top at least 100 "turns" or even 200 if you used bread flour. (Bread flour has more gluten and needs more kneading than All Purpose flour).

Place dough in a large greased bowl and oil spray the top of the dough, then cover with plastic wrap or a cotton cloth. Don't forget to oil spray the top of the dough before covering. Let rise about 1-2 hours, until double in bulk, then punch down dough turn over to empty puffy dough onto table or counter top and divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Shape the dough into a loaf by rolling flat to remove air bubbles and then shaping into loaves. Place in oil sprayed loaf pans. I weigh mine-24 ounces for a medium loaf pan- 8 and 1/2" X 4 and 1/2 " and 30 ounces for a large loaf pan like Pampered Chef sells.

Let loaves rise until 1" above sides of pans, then bake in  400 degree oven for 40 minutes, or until a nice medium/dark brown. They should sound hollow when tapped on bottom. Cool on racks completely before slicing and or freezing.

NOTE: I personally cut the cooled loaves in slices and freeze 2-3 slices in sandwich bags so the loaf doesn't go moldy on me, taking outhem out as I need them, because there are no preservatives in them. I even freeze whole loaves and THEN thaw them and slice them and refreeze them with no problem.

Lorraine's Light Chicken Marinade

1/2 Cup Burgundy Cooking Wine

1/2 Cup Olive or Canola Oil

1 TB Kikkoman Soy Sauce

1 TB Yellow Mustard

1 TB Minced Garlic

1 tsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Emeril's Original Seasoning

1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash Italian Medley

Mix well and place in a flat dish, or set aside to pour over chicken in a zip lock bag.

Cut your chicken breasts lengthwise into 3 pieces, poke holes in it with a "nail" type tenderizer on both sides.  Then place in marinade and place in fridge for about 3 hours. Turn once half way through. Grill at least 5 minutes on each side. This is a flavorful marinade that doesn't overpower your taste buds. No dipping sauce needed.

Baking Bread

I'm baking bread today! Three loaves at a time. I would have made 5 but mom and dad didn't need any.

Crock Pot Chicken Soup

3 LB whole Chicken or 6 or more large chicken thighs.

4 carrots diced small 1/4"

1 Lg Onion diced small 1/4"

2 stalks celery, diced small  1/4"

2 Cups Peas

2 TB BETTER THAN BOUILLON

1/2 heaping cup pearl Barley

10 Cups water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Essence of Emeril.

Throw all ingredients except the frozen peas. Let cook on high for 4 hours. Remove chicken and de-bone after it cools. Cut in bite sized pieces and add to crock pot with the 2 cups of peas. Let cook another hour then serve. This freezes well.
NOTE: Add any other veggie you like. I often add 2 LB of mixed vegetables for a more filing soup.

Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls

3 chicken breasts

1 Pkg of Egg Roll Wrappers (20)

12 OZ shredded Cheddar , Sharp or Blue Cheese.

3/4 Cup Crystal or Franks Hot Sauce

1/2 Stick Butter

1 tsp Sugar

Beaten egg to wet the edges of wrappers.

Oil for frying egg rolls.

Cook the chicken either by poaching for 45 minutes or grilling the breasts after they've been cut in 3 chicken tender sized pieces.  Cool and then shred or cut up small. Pour wing sauce over the chicken and set aside while you get the oil ready for frying and lay out 6 egg roll wrappers and place 2 TB of the chicken as directed on egg roll package. Then place a hand full of cheese on chicken on top and wet the edges of the wrapper and rol as directed on package. Set on a plate and make 6 more egg rolls up. Make all twenty egg rolls then proceed to fry them, either in a Fry Daddy or in 1/4 " of Canola Oil. Brown on both sides and drain well.

NOTE: One recipe I saw online mentions placing 1 TB Cole Slaw on top of the meat too. I did not, although shredded cabbage would have been okay.
Another recipe I saw mentions spraying the egg roll with Oil spray and baking for 20 minutes at 400 degrees until brown and crispy. I may try that next time to save calories.

Sweet Potato Pie! LOL

No Knead Bread

I made my first batch of No Knead Bread this morning. I admit I mixed the sticky dough by hand before setting it aside for the first rise. But I did knead the 5 loaves of bread individually only 15 turns before shaping into loaves. Still and all it was a lot less kneading and on smaller dough balls, so it was easier. The recipe was just like French Bread.. Unbleached flour, yeast, water and salt. I baked mine in loaf pans though - no cottage loaves for me since I toast my bread quite a lot.

6 & 1/2 to 7 & 1/2 Cups Unbleached Flour

3 Cups Lukewarm Water

1 TB Salt

1 and 1/2 TB dry Yeast (4 and 1/2 tsp)

 If dipping measuring cup into flour before leveling off, use 6 and 1/2 cups. If pouring the flour into cups before leveling off, use 7 and a 1/2 cups.

Mix well and set aside for first rise in the fridge for 2 hours if you plan to bake the bread right away.  Then form into 2 loaves or 3 small loves and let rise again. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

If you want to bake the later or the next day place dough in fridge for 2 hours up until 7 days before forming into loaves and letting rise before baking. The longer you let dough ferment in the fridge the more it tastes tangy like sour dough bread.

Crock Pot Stew

I made Crock Pot Stew today.. I only had a 1/2 pound of beef so I added 3 chicken thighs.. I used about 2 LB of carrots and a pound of potatoes and a pound of frozen mixed veggies. 3 and 1/2 cups of chicken broth, Essence of Emeril original seasoning, onion powder, 2 garlic cloves. I also added 1/2 tsp salt. I had to pick the chicken off the bones and place back in the pot. It turned out very well.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Honestly I can't see why anyone would want to devour anything with that much RED food coloring in it. I would make the same recipe and omit the stupid food coloring.

Cheeseburger Pie

1 LB Ground Beef or Turkey

1 Onion diced or 2 tsp Onion Powder

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

1 and 1/2 tsp Emeril's Original Seasoning,
or your favorite mixed seasoning

1/4 to 1/2  tsp Salt

1 (15 oz ) can well drained Petite diced Tomatoes (This is not in the original recipe)

1 to 1 and 1/2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese,
or use your favorite

*******************
 1 Cup Milk

1/2 Cup Bisquick

2 Eggs

Brown the ground beef or turkey with the chopped onion and drain well. If you omit the onions add the Onion Powder, garlic powder, any other seasoning you prefer and salt.

Oil spray a 10" glass pie dish or 8 or 9" square baking dish, spread the meat mixture on the bottom of the dish, cover with drained tomatoes and then sprinkle the cheese on top. Mix up the biscuit mix with the eggs and milk and pour over the pie.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes.

NOTE: This recipe is easily doubled if baked in a 9" x 13" glass cake dish. In fact this recipe is half the original recipe I found online.

Oatmeal Bread

I ran out of bread today so I made a batch of my Oatmeal Bread using a sponge I made last night. I love a good piece of homemade bread toasted and dipped into my egg yolks in the morning. I eat a LOT of eggs by the way.

Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce

I made Crock Pot spaghetti sauce today since I knew my husband would be working on an oil painting tomorrow in our kitchen, and needs my counter space.. He's painting someone's cat who passed away a while ago.

Crock Pot Sweet Pork/Venison/Chuck Roast

3 -5 pound Roast of your choice (We prefer pork)

1 package McCormick Puller Pork Seasoning divided in half. (Save the rest for the next roast)

2 Cups Chicken Broth

Potatoes cut in eighths

Carrots cut in chunks

Make up the half the seasoning mix using half the amounts of ketchup, vinegar and brown sugar, mix into the crock pot with the broth.

Peel and cut potatoes in eighths. Peel and cut carrots into large chunks.

Place the veggies in the bottom of the pot., then place the meat on top and press down so it's setting in some of the broth mixture. Let cook on high for about 5-6 hours. Or let cook on high for 2 hours and turn down to low until supper time. Make a gravy with flour and water mixture after removing the meat and veggies from the pot the last half hour on high setting.

NOTE: Right now I'm using a small 2 LB venison roast. The venison burger which came from the same deer tasted kind of "gamey"so I soaked it in vinegar water for 24 hours.

Sponges for Bread

I was all Gung Ho for sourdough bread in the past.  I had a yeast starter I use for rye bread, but the rye never tasted like the store bought Jewish rye bread.. so I decided not to make it anymore. Even my parents prefer store bought! (No way was I putting citric acid in my dough to make it taste sour!) Now I make a SPONGE the night before I make a batch of bread. It does make it chewier which we all love since we toast my bread more often than eat it soft. Here's my sponge recipe:

SPONGE for Bread

2 Cups warm water

2 tsp dried yeast

1 TB Salt

1 TB Sugar or Honey

2-3 Cups Flour.

Mix well with a whisk until smooth, cover with plastic wrap and let ferment overnight.

BREAD for 4-5 Loaves

2-3 Cups slightly hot Water

2-3 Cups Oatmeal or Whole Oats

5 TB Sugar

5 TB Veg. Oil

2 rounded tsp Dry Yeast

2 tsp salt

Bread or Unbleached All Purpose Flour

Mix up the bread ingredients, minus the flour, then add to the Sponge to it. Now add flour a cup at a time until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Now turn out onto the counter and knead in flour until it's no longer as  sticky and looks smooth about 200 1/4 turns . It will be textured from the oatmeal.

Now wash the two large bowls you used and oil spray them. Divide up the dough between the two bowls unless you have  jumbo bowl for the whole batch and let raise a good hour or two in a warm room or the unlit oven with the light on.

Now get out your food scale and measure out 24 ounces for each loaf of bread. Knead out the bubbles and shape into 4 loaves. Place in oil sprayed loaf pans. I make cinnamon rolls with any left over dough. Let rise about an hour or more until 1 inch above the edge of loaf pans before baking at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

NOTE: You can always use warm milk in the recipe, or add mashed potatoes or potato flakes in the beginning. Even add onion and garlic or herbs to the recipe. It's your baby! LOL

Plastic Wrap Helpful Hint..

I got sick and tired of my roll of plastic wrap coming out of the box while unrolling it, so I decided to tie it into place with some yarn, using a long knitting needle to thread it through the center. There are those little trap door flaps they suggest you poke into the ends.. so the holes are already there.

Out of Gas..

I ran out of gas/propane for my stove about 6 months ago and have lived without my stove and oven.. was it hard? No.. I have a large toaster/convection oven and I make baked chicken nuggets, baked salmon cakes, mini meatloaves, garlic roasted potatoes, roasted cubed sweet potatoes, and small 8" X 8" coffee cakes in it.
I use mom and dad's oven to bake bread and I often bake 4 loaves of oatmeal bread at a time and give my parents 2 loaves since I use their oven. Why do I bake 4 loaves at a time? Whether I bake one loaf or 4 loaves it takes the same amount of gas, that's why.. why waste the fuel that way? I also have an electric single burner I use and I must admit I crock pot all the time.. at least twice a week. I make a lot of soup, chili, roasts, General Tso's Chicken, yogurt.. I've discovered all kinds of food I can make in a crock that I never dreamed of making in the past!

Yogurt Update

Here's a photo of the thickened yogurt.. see all the bubbles on top?

I made yogurt last night/this morning. I wanted to make organic yogurt using organic whole milk, but it costs twice as much as store brand so I didn't since I'm on a rather tight budget. I poured the milk in to the 4.5 qt crock pot and left it alone for 2 hours before measuring the temperature. It was only 150 degrees with the candy thermometer, so I replaced the lid went to watch the repeat Ancient Aliens since a new show was coming on in an hour later. Unfortunately I kept dozing off and when I woke up another 2 hours had passed. The milk had a thick skin on top and a ring around the pot, so I turned it off and removed the skin, hoping the milk didn't actually boil around the edges., and let it cool down for a half hour. It was still too hot to add the one cup of yogurt I set aside from the last batch. So I decided to pour the scalded milk into a glass bowl and promptly cleaned the crock out! It needed lots of scrubbing! Then I dried it and poured the hot milk back in, by then it was a nice warm temperature so I whisked in the yogurt. I wasn't sure it would work since I'm quite sure the milk was much hotter than the last time made some. I draped two thick towels over the pot and went to bed, then I woke up this morning to a nice crock pot of thickened yogurt. It's nice and tangy too! 

Mom gave me a few cups of Blueberry Sauce she made from thawed frozen blueberries for the pancake supper at the church last Tuesday to put in my servings of yogurt, but the blueberries weren't as tender as the wild huckleberry sauce she made before, so I chopped up the sauce in my food chopper. The yogurt is so sour I admit to adding a rounded spoonful of sugar to each 6 OZ serving along with the cornstarch and sugar thickened blueberry sauce.

Crock Pot Yogurt

1/2 Gallon Milk

8 OZ  Plain Yogurt with live cultures

1/2 Cup Powdered Milk (Optional for thicker yogurt.)

Scald the milk in the crock pot on high setting. This took 1 and 1/2 hours in my 4.5 quart crock pot.

Allow the milk to cool to 115 degrees. Use a candy thermometer to measure the temperature. Now stir in the yogurt with a whisk and replace the lid on the pot and place a towel on the top. If your house is cold wrap the whole crock pot in a few bath or beach towels to insulate the pot.

Now let the mixture ferment for at least 12 hours. You will notice it's much thicker on the bottom layer and tiny bubbles are on the top layer. Now stir well and refrigerate. Save 8 OZ of yogurt for your next batch.  It seems very thin until refridgerated, when it thickened up to heavy cream consistancy.

I added Huckleberry pancake sauce to my yogurt serving because I didn't have any jam. I admit I had to add extra sugar, maybe I can wean myself off of that.. LOL!

NOTE: I use Chobani brand yogurt because it has 3 live cultures in it.