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!
Filed under Bread, Quick Breads
This school year has been quite a challenge for me for many reason that I won’t go into because I am working so hard to be a positive influence in my classroom. My students are absolutely wonderful! With the exception of a handful, all of them signed up for my class to learn how to cook. I have a large number of seniors that will be leaving their families for college next year and they want to be able to cook for themselves. I applaud them!
Filed under Bread, Quick Breads
Pain Au Chocolat is one of my favorite things to eat. Melted chocolate in a buttery croissant is just plain sinful. I love them calories and all. I don’t make them from scratch and it’s not often that I get them from a French bakery. Here is a great substitute that you can make in less than thirty minutes. It’s not the same rich, flaky, and buttery croissant as you might find in a French bakery, but it is a close second. You will get no complaints when these pop out of the oven!
This is without a doubt the best Banana Bread that I have ever had! I love banana bread right out of the oven or several days old toasted with a little dollop of butter. With a nice hot cup of coffee there is nothing better to start my morning. I fell in love with this bread several years ago when my sister-in-law baked it for breakfast Christmas morning. I just could not stop gushing over how moist and flavorful it was and could not wait to get home and try the recipe. After making it many times I have gotten it to the point of perfection.
Filed under Bread, Breakfast, Quick Breads
Last week we had the wonderful opportunity of having Rosco from Sam and Rosco’s Restaurant here in Douglasville to be a guest speaker in my classes. I am not exaggerating at all when I tell you that I had more administrators, teachers, and students than ever before stopping by my room to see what was being prepared. The aroma of garlic, peppers, and onions was everywhere. You can just imagine how the best Italian restaurant smells when you walk in and that’s what was permeating the entire back hall. It was amazingly good. My students were in awe of Rosco’s expertise in cooking and his life story of how he ended up in the restaurant business. He came here from the Northern part of Iran and graduated from Southern Tech as an engineer. In college he worked at many great restaurants in Atlanta such as Pano and Paul’s and The Fish Market. After graduating he taught college for a few years. As he was offered a Doctorial Program his life took a different turn and he and his college friend Sam decided to open an Italian restaurant that was named Aldo’s. That restaurant grew from one to several others in the Atlanta area. Being in the restaurant business is hard work with long hours. When both Sam and Rosco wanted to spend more time with their families all the Aldo restaurants were sold. Now they operate the one and only Sam and Rosco’s. Continue reading
Filed under Bread, Main dish, Restaurant
Being the Southern Girl that I am I have had my fair share of fried chicken, deviled eggs, buttermilk biscuits, red-eyed gravy and pimento cheese! With that said I have just made the best Southern biscuits that I have ever had in my entire life. Yes, that is correct- my entire life! Oh, my gosh you have got to make these. I am telling you that they are so good that you will skip the rest of your meal.
Filed under Bread
I love these sausage balls! Even though this recipe has been around for a long time, my students have requested me to make this recipe and post it. So here it is. This is day four of no school because of the snow and ice. What better excuse do you have to get in the kitchen? I think that these were originally intended to be served as a party food, but here we serve them for breakfast. Let them cool and place them in a freezer bag. They freeze well for a month, but if your family is like mine they will not last near that long.
French Toast looks so sophisticated, but it is simple to put together. This is one of my favorite breakfast foods. When I was in high school it was my breakfast choice almost every day. I did not use a recipe nor did I make it fancy. All I did was whisk an egg with a little milk , dip white bread in the egg and cook in a cast iron skillet with a little butter. I drizzled with hot syrup and enjoyed with hot coffee.
Here is a recipe that I have been using for years with my classes. I prefer at home to make French toast the night before and pop it in the oven the next morning especially if we have company! It is just quicker.
Here’s what you need.
Filed under Bread, Breakfast, Brunch, French Toast
Today was a great day at school! Especially after yesterday. I was not sure I wanted to return. But, alas I did and have to say it was a fulfilling day at that. There are a few little projects needing some work, if you know what I mean. What would teachers do if every student was perfect? Some of my fellow teachers might say , “A lot!” But in the end it might be quite boring.
We visited the media center today to explore the world of blogging and how it related to Nutrition and Wellness class. As I monitored the class work, I glanced at the computer screen next to me and asked, ” How did you do that?” It really amazes me the computer skills that my students have. Now I am in the other seat. The slow learner!!! The student is so encouraging, ” Oh, Mrs. L let me show you how to do it. It is just a click here and that is it.” Now I am the student and he is the teacher. I feel excited about learning something new and it gave this kid a big smile.
Throughout the semester my class will be commenting on many of the posts. The instructions are different each time but always they are to use good writing skills. If you read the comments you will see that some are very good. Some on the other hand could use improvement.
Let’s get to the baby corn muffins. This is Paula Dean’s recipe. I just kicked it up a bit with some jalepeno peppers. They are quite easy to put together. I can’t lie and tell you that they are healthy, but it is all about the size of the portion. These are extremely small, just don’t eat twelve!
Depending what size pans you use you could possibly make 48. Don’t worry they freeze really well. To reheat just wrap in foil and place in the oven for about 10 minutes. They can be reheated in the microwave wrapped in paper towel.
Here’s how you make them. Enjoy!
Gather all the ingredients
1 1/4 cups of cornmeal and 2 teaspoons baking powder
Add 1/2 teaspoon salt
Then add 1 cup of sharp grated cheese, 1 8 oz. can of creamed corn, 1 cup sour cream, 1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies and I added 1 chopped jalapeno to add some heat.
Chilies, sour cream, corn and cheddar cheese are added then mix lightly.
Beat slightly 2 eggs and 1/2 canola oil and stir until combined. Do not overmix.
Put in greased mini muffin pan
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Just a note here about filling the pans. The ones above are filled just a little too much. It makes it very hard to get out of the pan. At first I thought that I should put oil around the tops of the pan. No!! This did not help. I did find that filling the pans 1/2 instead of 2/3 was the answer. It just did not look as if it would be enough batter, but it will work making them much easier to remove.
Enjoy!
Green Chili Corn Muffins
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease miniature muffin tins wih vegetable oil or cooking spray.
In a small bowl combine the cornmeal, salt, and baking powder. Add the cheese, corn, sour cream, and chilies. ( I stirred in minced jalapeno). Stir until lightly combined. Add the oil and eggs and stir until eveything is just combined. Do not overmix. The batter will be very stiff. Place about 1/2 tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
Make 48 miniature muffins
Happy Cooking,
The Teacher Cooks
This was the second day of the new semester and I decided to mix it up a little bit. Why not have a demo right off the bat? Make it more interesting . We don’t have to do the same old stuff. Show the students what the class is really about. Have some fun. Eat some food. And that is what we did!
It was a great day in the classroom. I felt like a move star. All eyes were on me. You could hear a pin drop. I am serious!!! You could tell that they were soaking in every word that I was saying. That is what I live for as a teacher. You just know at that moment that you are doing the right thing. Now mind you it may not happen this way for a long time, but today it did. I could feel the excitement. The comments that the students made about the class– it was music to my ears.
I did not make anything spectacular. I just used a can of refrigerated biscuits and made something a little different. The recipe came out of a textbook we used a few years ago. It is not that healthy, but it is quick and good. I made two variations. One savory Pull-apart Parmesan Dill Bread and the other sweet Pull-apart cinnamon and sugar bread. They both are very good.
So here is what we cooked up today in my class. I hope that you will try these and enjoy!
12 oz. can of refrigerated biscuits cut into quarters
Using a pair of kitchen shears cut 12 oz. of refrigerated biscuits into quarters.
Mix 2 Tablespoons of Parmesan Cheese and 1/2 teaspoon of dill
2 Tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Or if you are making the sweet side of the bread mix together 2 Tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
Melt 1 1/2 Tablespoons of butter and coat the biscuits
Melt about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of butter or margarine in a small bowl. Coat the quartered biscuits in the butter. I found that you can only put a few in at the time. The butter will help the cheese or sugar to stick to the biscuits.
Put seasonings in a bag and coat the biscuits
This is another thing that I love about teaching. Students see things that teachers don’t see at the time. When I am giving a demo I am really concentrating on following the recipe, cleaning up and being ready for the next class. In other words my thinking is really one tracked. Thank goodness for students that think outside of all of that.
That is what happened this morning. The recipe did not call for you to put the seasonings in a bag and shake to cover, but to put them in a small bowl . WRONG! Putting them in a bag was much more efficient. So thanks to a young gentleman in my first block we changed the recipe to be much more efficient.
Grease an 8 inch cake pan
Parmesan and dill bread ready to cook
Cinnamon and sugar bread ready to cook
Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Turn upside down on a serving plate. Pull apart to serve, or cook for 5 minutes before cutting into 8 wedges.
Bake for 12- 14 minutes at 400 degrees
This is the Parmesan Dill pull apart bread!
I feel good about today. Here’s hoping that you had a great day,too! Here you go with the recipe. Enjoy!
Pull-Apart Parmesan Dill Bread
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 8-in round cake pan. In a small bowl, stir cheese and dill until combined. Cut biscuits in quarters. Add a few biscuits at a time to margarine, separating pieces with fingers. Add cheese mixture and toss with fingers untill all pieces ar coated. ( I put everything in a bag and shook until all the biscuits were coated.) Arrange in one layer in prepared pan. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown.
Bad News: 70 calories per serving, 2 g. protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat, 215 mg sodium, 0 g fiber
Happy Cooking,
The Teacher Cooks
Filed under Biscuits, Bread, Cinnamon Rolls, Cooking, Recipes, using refrigerated biscuits
The Teacher Cooks 