Cinnamon rolls tried and true

Cinnamon Rolls, Cinnabon Style

1/2 cup warm water

2 pkg. active dry yeast

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 3 1/2 oz. pkg. instant vanilla pudding

2 cups milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

8 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter, melted

1+ cup sugar

1/4+ cup good quality cinnamon 

In a small bowl, combine water, yeast, and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. 

In large bowl, make pudding mix according to package directions. Add butter, eggs, and salt; mix well. Add the yeast mixture; blend. Gradually add flour and knead until smooth and elastic. 

Place in very large greased bowl. Cover and let rise until double (about 1 hour). Punch down and let rise again (45 minutes). 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out to a 1/4 inch thick rectangle, 21 inches in its smaller dimension. Note: you may wish to divide the dough in halves and roll out two rectangles. You may have to partially roll it out, then cover it with a damp cloth and let it rest before finishing. Spread 1/2 cup melted butter over surface. Mix cinnamon and sugar together, and spread evenly over surface, leaving a 1-inch margin along one of the long edges. Roll up tightly, starting from a long side. Press together along the edge not covered with cinnamon sugar. 

Slice at ~1 1/4 inch intervals. Place on greased baking pan, ~2 inches apart. Cover and let rise until double again. 

Bake at 350°for 15-20 minutes. Remove as soon as they turn golden. Frost warm rolls with cream cheese frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk 

Combine all ingredients, mix until smooth.

Chicken florentine

I guess I am in a cooking mood! Got in from work yesterday and knew I wanted chicken with a pasta. a new creation was born!

I took 7-10 frozen chicken tenders straight out of the freezer and put them in my medium sized round calaphon sauté pan on a medium to high heat. Added in a cup of sliced mushrooms, a cup of chopped celery, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, salt, pepper, and Tuscany seasoning to taste After letting that simmer with the dome lid on for a few minutes I added one can of diced tomatoes and covered it again.  It needed color and more sauce so I went looking in the pantry and found a pint of gossner's shelf whipping cream.  Added that and let it simmer a bit more. I also cut up the now cooked chicken tenders  into bite sized pieceswith a small metal spatula while it was still in the pan. Still wasn't happy with it,  so I pulled out the remains of fresh spinach from the fridge and added about 1.5 cups of freshly torn spinach to the pan and covered it up and turned off the heat.

I cooked up a batch of whole wheat angel hair pasta. That was the healthy part of dinner!  The final touch was adding a handful of shredded cheese to the top of the chicken florentined cream rose colored sauce before serving. To say the least, It was a hit with this crew!

Shrimp Creole...my way

I was at my sister in laws on Saturday and saw her recipe for Shrimp Creole sitting on the counter. I immediately knew I would be making something like it this week

1.5 cups chopped red bell pepper
1/4 of a jalepeno pepper minced very fine
1 c chopped red onion
1.5 cups of chopped celery
2 Tblsp minced garlic

Sauté all of this in a 1/4 cup butter. Salt pepper to taste

Add 2 lbs of shrimp(mine were actually frozen with deveined and the tail off)
Tobasco to taste
1 can of tomato paste
3 reg cans of diced tomatoes

I let that simmer and stew until the shrimp started to melt  and cook. I then added frozen okra, about  one and a half cups. Simmered about twenty more minutes. Turned the heat off and let it sit for an hour. Served over jasmine rice blend with wild rices that had been cooked in chicken broth and butter.

It was really a comfort food on a rainy night.

Manhattan style beef stew

2 lbs of beef stew meat seasoned with uncle Chris seasoning
1 cup each chopped onion, celery, carrots
4 small red potatoes chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
Salt pepper to taste
Brown the meat in butter, add the veges stew with the lid on medium temp, After 10 minutes add 1/2 c  sour cream, let stew for 5 minutes or until the potatoes can be cut with a fork. Add 1/2 cup cheese on top( I like the 4 cheese combination ) let melt on top and serve!

big D says this was the best stew he has ever had and I better write it down!

Nacho Cheese Mashed Potato Salad

This last sunday I made a little different potato salad. It was designed for those who are not huge fans of pickles or eggs

12 potatoes cut up and boiled in salted water , then drained.

1 c chopped Celery
1 c chopped Onion
1 c of crumbled Bacon

Saute the three C of COB in 2 Tbl of butter. Combine all of this with the still warm drained potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. I like to add an herbal seasoned salt that has rosemary, thyme and other various herbs. I actually use a potato masher to give it a bit of a mashed potato appearance, leaving lumps is preferred. Add the last three ingreadients, mixing it quite well.

1 C sour cream
1/4 c of mayonaise
1 1/2 C of shredded nacho cheese( I do love Gossner's brand)

The awesome part of this recipe is that it can be served warm like a german potato salad or cold like a traditional summer salad.

Quick Pork roast with Bread Dumplings

I have a family friend who I call "Aunt Maria". She is from Czeckoslovakia which is now known as the Czech Republic. She taught me long ago to make czech bread dumplings. When we were in Prague I ordered their goulash with dumplings. I was utterly pleased when they were the bread dumplings that she has taught to make years ago.

We found pre-made ones in Bergreinfeld where Jeni and Al live. We hoped for the best and they did not disappoint. But I digress.
We were starving when we returned from church and I wanted something quick. We had pork roast and a package of the dumplings. I opted to cut the raw pork roast into bite size pieces, coat it in flour, and braised it with onions, carrots, ground pepper, and a herbed salt we found in Salzburg. The meat was tender and juicy and tasty. It left a wonderful base for a gravy. A little gooseberry jam was added to the gravy and it was super! When it was all done, we added the pre-cooked dumplings on top, covered it and let them steam. It was so fresh and tasted like the meal we had had in Prague.
Now if you cannot find pre-made dumplings I am including the recipe that Aunt Maria gave me years ago.
1 pkg of yeast
1/2 c Warm-not hot milk to activate the yeast
1 pinch of salt
2 eggs
3-4 c of flour
2 rolls broken up small or 4 white pieces of bread torn up
mix ingredients in order. Let rise for an hour. Form into loaf shapes and then drop in hot boiling salted water. COVER-DO NOT PEEK! Keep covered and boiling for 20 minutes. When they are done remove and cut them into thin slices with a piece of White thread. There are two kinds of dumpling on this picture, one is the potato dumpling and is more yellow in color. The other is white and the bread dumpling. They are wonderful for using with any meat and gravy. Also tasty with Cabbage and potatoes cooked together!

Savaroises au chocolat

Our trip to Europe has inspired a new taste treat! Trying it out today.

My thanks to La Cuisine De Christelle...a blogger of French cuisine.

I have attempted to translate the recipe...hopefully it works

*3 oefs... 3 eggs

*100 g sucre...1/2 cup sugar

*110 g farina...1 c flour

*1 cc de levure chimique...a generous 1/2 tsp of baking powder

*90 gr de beurre...1/2 stick butter

*1 cc cacao powder...about 1 Tblsn dark cocoa powder

*Quelgues vanilla...generous 1/2 tsp vanilla

*1 pince de sel...pinch of salt

I set the oven to 375.

Beat the eggs with sugar, add the butter and vanilla. Beat again. Add the salt, flour and baking powder, mix well. Divide on third of the dough away from the larger mass, save on the side. Add cocoa powder to the two third remainder, blend well.

Put paper cupcake holders in the stone ware muffin pan. Put One large spoonful of cocoa mixture in the bottom of the paper cupcake holder till it was all gone. Filled 12 cups. Added a small Spoonful of the vanilla butter mixture to the top. Baked for 12 to 15 minutes.

The tasting judges say it is perfect!