Monthly Archives: October 2011

Garlic and Cheese Drop Biscuits another Lab

Looking for an easy way to make biscuits?  This is just the recipe for you.  I don’t really think that you can mess this one up unless of course you add more milk than you should and you end up with Garlic and Cheese pancakes.  That doesn’t sound t0o appetizing does it?  I have had a couple of groups to do this!    No seriously, this is a no-fail recipe for those who are inept at kneading the dough.  In the time that it takes the oven to preheat all the grating (if you choose) and mixing can be done.  The baking time is quick, too, 8- 10 minutes.   This is a winner no matter how many times you make it.

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Filed under Bread

Smoked Gouda Macaroni and Cheese

I love macaroni and cheese prepared just about anyway except the stuff that comes in a box. I’m talking the real deal with a homemade sauce. I found one that is different, but it a good way. It’s packed with lots of nutrients and lower in calories than your regular Mac and Cheese. I love the flavor that the smoked Gouda cheese gives this dish. It’s almost like you put lots and lots of smoked bacon with none of the calories. Yes, Bacon! The spinach is a great addition and is so good with the rich and creamy cheese sauce. You should try this especially with all the fresh spinach that is available now.

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Filed under Main dish, Meatless Main Dish, side dish

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

I have turned up my nose at this cake for years.  Who in their right mind would bake a perfectly good chocolate cake with mayonnaise?  Mayonnaise goes on a great hamburger,  in Southern pimento cheese  or in your best chicken salad, but a cake no way!   After making Mayonnaise Rolls for my students I had a lot of mayo left over and decided after being bombarded with the advertisment for this cake that I would actually try it.  Tell me that ads don’t have power over the mind because that’s the only reason I tried the recipe.  Who can resist the way the cake looks in the ad just so mouthwatering and  moist!  So here is the lowdown on the mayonnaise cake.

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Filed under Desserts

An Easy Pizza Sauce and an Incredible Lab

Our first ever pizza lab was a great success.  I will have to admit that I was a little leery of doing this lab.  I even had a couple of sleepless nights thinking of everything that might go wrong and how I could plan ahead for it all to go smoothly.   Thanks to Antoine and his boss from Stevie B’s Pizza in Douglasville this lab was an incredible experience for everyone.  If you have never made homemade pizza you will be surprised at how easy it is,  how great it taste, and how much money you save!  Antoine brought in pizza dough ready to stretch out in pizza pans.  We used pans with holes in them which makes for quicker cooking and a more crisp crust.  You can find them a your local Wal-Mart.  Here’s how we did it.

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Filed under Main dish

Mixed up Popcorn

The name says “mixed up” popcorn, but I really think that it is “kicked up” popcorn.  This is good stuff.  Just for your information this stuff is very addictive.  I don’t really care for caramel popcorn, but this is more on the side of popcorn and other stuff covered in pralines.  I first had this several years ago when I last went on a real vacation.  You know the kind where you stay for a week or more and read several books while sitting in a chair with the beach breeze gently blowing your hair.  The kind of time that you never want to end.  You have no trouble sleeping.  Work is someone else’s problem.  The only decision that you have to make is what are you’re having for dinner.  I need that right now.  Anyway, Anna made this Mixed Up Popcorn for our vacation and it was a fight for the last bite. It is that good!

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Filed under Appetizer, Snack

Parmesan and Thyme Crackers

When I was in college I made a 100,000 cheese straws for every President’s tea, Alumni luncheon, or fundraiser that was held while I was there.  It seems that one would tire of a certain food when one had to produce that many in such a short time.  But, that is not the case.  I still love them and when I saw this recipe in Ina Garten’s Back to Basic Cookbook using freshly grated parmesan cheese I had to try them.  These are similar to cheese straws in some ways, but  much more rich and oh so flavorful.  In other words they are absolutely divine.  These crackers are a buttery shortbread with the saltiness of  parmesan cheese and a hint of thyme.  Novice cooks these are just for you to pull out of the oven and place on a beautiful tray at a party.  I promise they will be a hit!

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Filed under Appetizer

Hamburgers Made Ina’s Way

I am a big fan of hamburgers.  There is nothing better than a burger straight off the grill with a toasted bun topped with lettuce, tomato, and some good mayo.  Know matter how you like yours dressed up, first you have to get the burger right.  I think after years of trying I have found the best burger ever thanks to Ina Garten’s cookbook Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics.  When I made these a couple of months ago I thought maybe it was just a fluke that they were out of this world.  I made them again this weekend and they were fabulous.  They are very simple.  Give them a try and let me know if you get the same results.  Ina’s recipe calls for Niman Ranch ground meat which you can buy in some grocery stores in this area or you can order it on-line.  It is beef grown all naturally without antibiotics and primarily grass-fed.  My beef came from Tommy Waldrop here in Douglasville.  Anyway, start with some good ground beef and the rest is just a breeze!

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Filed under Big Green Egg, Main dish

White Lily’s Biscuit Recipe and a Lab

Biscuit making always floods my mind with childhood memories of watching my mother put together a beautiful pan of biscuits.  They were perfectly rolled out with her hands into small mounds of fluffy white dough that when baked would just seem to melt in your mouth.  When I was about 13 I tried my best to make them the same way, but mine were anything but fluffy.  You could best describe them as rock hard!

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Filed under Bread, Quick Breads