Cooking Goal...

We're getting down to the wire and my recipe ratio vs the days I have less is becoming more and more insurmountable as the days tick down. I will be quite disappointed in myself if I ultimately do not meet this goal - it will be the first goal since I have started making these challenges for myself, that I would have 'failed' - so while I am still pushing forward and will attempt to at least make a dent toward HALF of my goal, we'll see how it does.

Another recipe that I recently completed was for biscuits. We needed some bread to go with our pot roast, and so I went to the internet to find myself a simply recipe for something tasty to soak up some gravy. Yum. I came across this one and I doubled it so I'd have some extra to use for breakfast sandwhiches, and snacks. Yum carbs!

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup milk

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 425'
2.In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3.Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4.Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown

These turned out soo yummy, I certainly will keep this recipe and use it again! The cooking continues and I keep pushing forward toward the goal of 150 NEW recipes in 2010! We'll see how I do!

Knothole Eggs

These are quickly becoming a staple in our house - my MIL makes a mean one! In fact when she was visiting Easter weekend she made them, and then the other night my husband made them again for dinner. Our son took to them right away - and if I can get him to eat egg that's GREAT! That's good protein!

Ingredients:
butter
1 slice of bread (I find potato bread works great!)
1 egg
garlic salt

Directions:

• Butter both sides of the bread and then cut a circle about 1-2 inch(es) in diameter
• Place a dollop of butter in the frying pan over a medium heat, place bread in and cook bread on both sides for a short time (starting to get it toasted, but not quite)
• Then crack the egg into the hole. I like to stir the yolk a bit so it's more 'scrambled'
• Cook on each side for as long as you like to get the egg consistency you want (over easy, medium, etc.)
• Sprinkle with garlic salt and serve
  
  
  They are super easy, pretty quick and not very much clean up. For my son I serve it with ketchup and let him 'dip' - which he is quite fond of. He ususally will eat one piece of bread and one whole egg this way - and that is great!
  
  

Cheddar and Sage Biscuits

I love carbs. A lot. I can eat the innards of a loaf of french bread in less than an hour (I'm not a crust fan) I absolutely love all things bread. I can eat my weight in pasta when I get a good hankering for it. I just love 'em! Luckily the Lord blessed me (currently) with the ability to enjoy them and not be the size of a house. In fact during this season in particular (breastfeeding) I am enjoying an excess amount of them :) because I am certain my days are numbered on the endless consumption of delicious bread and pasta carbs.

Another recipe from the December issue of Everyday Food caught my eye instantly! How delicious biscuits are - in fact when I go to KFC I might have one piece of chicken and like 4-5 biscuits for my meal - so when there's a good recipe to make them at home I get very excited! Add cheese and fresh spices, yum yum yum! And indeed they were, albeit a tad salty!

Ingredients (as adapted by me):
4 cups of all-purpose flour
2 T of baking powder (yes tablespoons!)
1 tsp of baking soda
2 tsp coarse salt
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
2 T chopped fresh sage
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1.5 cups of low-fat buttermilk

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450'. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add cheddar and sage. Add butter and mix until it is a texture of a coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces butter remaining. Add buttermilk and mix until combined.
• Turn dough out until a lightly floured work area and knead just until it comes together. With a floured rolling pin, roll dough to a 3/4-inch thickness. With a floured 2.75" biscuit cutter, cut out 12 biscuits (reroll and cut scraps)
  
• Place biscuits on baking sheet and bake until puffed and golden. 12 to 15 minutes.
  
  

One of the next thing on my kitchen cooking gadgets and supplies will be a silicon baking mat, however I have yet to procure it. So far wax paper and a taping job has been working sufficiently for my purposes - although you can't roll the rolling pin perfectly with this creation. This recipe calls for a TON of salt and is almost TOO salty. When I make it again I will experiment by removing either 1 tsp of the course salt or perhaps even a tablespoon (sheesh!) of baking powder. I'll have to do a little more research into which would be best to remove. But they are very salty, but still very yummy.