Tag Archives: Recipes

September 21, 2009 · 11:17 am

Tomato Okra Casserole— Summer’s Ending!!!!

This is sooo good!!!

This is sooo good!!!

This is going to be the  last of tomatoes and okra for a while.  At least fresh!   The Alabama girl gave me this delicious recipe.  She and I taught together for 3 1/2 years.  She is a great teacher and a great cook.  I miss her terribly,but that is another story.  Anyway,  last year we had a potluck dinner and she brought this dish and I am going to share it with you.

I get fresh vegetables from the CSA in our area and had a pound of okra to work with.  If you do not have fresh okra frozen will work. 

Tomato Okra Casserole

  • 6 Tbl. onion chopped
  • 2Tbl. Bacon grease
  • 1/4 t. curry powder
  • 1/4 t. red pepper
  • 2 1/2 T Parmesean Cheese
  • 1 qt. tomatoes peeled cooked or canned
  • 1/2 t paprika
  • 1  T sugar
  • 1 1/2 t salt
  • 8 Ritz crackers crushed

Saute onions in bacon grease.

Her is how I got the bacon grease. Save the bacon for later.

Here is how I got the bacon grease. Save the bacon for later.

 

Sauteing onions

Sauteing onions

Add okra and cook until tender.

Add okra and cook until tender.

Add tomatoes and seasonings. Stir well.

Add tomatoes and seasonings. Stir well.

 

Put in greased casserole

Put in greased casserole

Top with cheese and crackers.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.  You are going to love this!!!  The okra is not slimy it is just plain good. 

Happy cooking,

The Teacher Cooks

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September 17, 2009 · 7:25 pm

BISCUITS Made from Scratch

WOW!

WOW!

Biscuits made from scratch are in most households a lost art.  I teach that skill for many reasons.  Homemade biscuits are good, better than canned and frozen ones.  They are cheap to make.  You can put them together in no time.  They are versatile.  And most importantly it makes you feel good about yourself when someone says ” You made this?  WOW ! I am impressed. ”  So today my students were given the task of making homemade biscuits and surprisingly they did very well.  This is not the easiest thing to do if you have never handled biscuit dough before.  It is hard to judge how much milk to add and how many times to knead the dough.  Usually there will be one disaster out the classes , but not today.  They all did pretty well.  I will have to brag on second block.  They were all super.

So how do you put these things together.  Really it is quite easy and very quick.  It just may take a few times to get the knack of it.  My first biscuits were not edible so there is hope!!   Always use WHITE LILY self rising flour and CRISCO.  I am not advertising for White Lily flour, but this is the only kind that works for me.  I use the recipe that is on the package.  You cannot go wrong.

  • 2 cups of White Lily self-rising flour
  • 1/4 cup Crisco
  • 2/3 cup – 3/4 cup milk

 

Using a pastry blender cut shortening in flour

Using a pastry blender cut shortening in flour

 

Using a pastry blender cut Crisco into flour until it is about the size of small peas.  This makes the biscuits tender and flaky.

Add milk and stir with a fork

Add milk and stir with a fork

Do not add all the milk at once.  The amount to humidity in the air will determine  the milk you will need.  The dough should be stirred with a fork and it should pull away from the sides of the bowl.  Pour on wax paper with flour.  Sprinkle a little flour on top to keep it from being sticky and put flour on your hands.  Knead the dough for 4 to 6 times.  The dough should be smooth and spongy. These two things are important when making biscuits :  1.  Do not handle the dough too much and 2.  Do not add too much flour when kneading.  Flatten out with your hands to a thickness of 1/2 inch and cut out with a biscuit cutter or something with an open end that will not trap air and cut smoothly.   

Cutting out biscuits

Cutting out biscuits

Place the biscuits flour side in the bottom of a slightly greased pan. Bake at 500 degrees for 10 min. 

Ready to bake

Ready to bake

That’s all there is to it.  Just give it a try.  Then practice and then practice again.   Now here are the results of today’s bake off!!

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September 3, 2009 · 6:51 pm

FLUFFY PANCAKES

A little artwork here!

A little artwork here!

Just the smell of bacon and pancakes is GOOD!  The taste is even better.  It was a great day in the laboratory.  I love it, the power of “teacher persuasion”.  It is so funny sometimes how you can put a firecracker under students to get them motivated.  All of them worked so diligently today to beat the clock and they did!  Congratulations on a job well done.

I have tried many recipes for pancakes and coming from a make from scratch kind of cook this is not easy for me to say, but BISQUICK pancakes are the best. You can’t seem to go wrong with a little Betty Crocker.  I have been using this recipe for about 20 years in the classroom.  It is almost foolproof.  Alas, read my last paragraph and you can mess this up.

I used their website on my smartboard to show the recipe and to give tips for making pancakes.  It is a great way to start a demo.  I use a teflon skillet that will cook six pancakes at a time.  Along with this we discussed the labels on two different kinds of bacon and discovered how misleading they can be.  Who would have thought that companies would try to get us to purchase their product by fooling us????

As you can see from the photos they all turned out great.  To add a little extra each group invited an adult guest.  You know what that means–they have to talk!  Oh, wait they can do that well.  Table conversation with an adult is quite different.  It was all good though.  I was impressed.

One little”oops” that turned into a great learning experience.  I tasted a group’s pancakes that were quite horrible. I questioned them and “no ma’m we did not measure incorrectly .”  BUT looking at the box of Bisquick brought from home lo and behold the use by date was 2007. What can I say?   They made another recipe quite hurriedly and they were very good.

Another great day in my cooking world,

The Teacher Cooks

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August 20, 2009 · 4:49 pm

MEASURING INGREDIENTS

OK THIS COULD BE A BORING SUBJECT.   But it is necessary to those who have never stepped foot into the kitchen.   Believe me I have seen almost every kind of mistake that can be made by measuring incorrectly.  So I am giving you the basics here.

Measuring can make or break a recipe especially when baking.  Even a small ingredient such as salt  makes a big difference.  On the other hand if your are making spaghetti sauce  or something similar you can vary amounts of ingredients or leave some out all together and the sauce will still be tasty.

Measuring Liquids  – Liquid measuring cups come in various sizes. They should be glass or plastic with a pouring spout.   For those who have never measured ingredients pay attention to this small detail, when measuring 1/2 cup of a liquid do not measure it in a 4 cup measure.  The smallest amount you can measure is 1 cup.  Measure liquids at eye level.  Don’t measure liquids in a dry measuring cup!!

 

Measuring Flour

  • Use dry measuring cups
  • Sift if necessary or stir to add air if packed
  • Spoon lightly into a measuring cup
  • Level with a straight edge
  • Do not scoop flour out with the measuring cup or measuring spoon. You will almost  DOUBLE the flour you need. 

Wax paper is a great to use  on the counter when measuring because you can pour the leftovers back into the canister. 

Powdered sugar should be measured same as flour.

Brown sugar should be packed into a dry measure.

Use measuring spoons for small amounts of ingredients and level.

Shortening can be measured in two ways:

  • Pack into a dry measuring cup
  • Water Displacement method:  if you need 1/2 cup shortening measure 1/2 cup cold water and add shortening until the water level is 1 cup.  Keep shortening under water by pushing in to stick to bottom or side. Drain water.

Remember that measuring correctly is the key to great baking!!

Happy Cooking,

The Teacher Cooks

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August 13, 2009 · 9:00 am

Potato Salad and Tailgating

 

We went to the Braves game last night and at the last minute I decided that we should tailgate.   We have not done that in years.  I did nothing fancy.  I sliced garden fresh tomatoes with a little Italian dressing.  Sliced fresh peaches that GI Joe brought back from the English Farm in Zebulon.  They are great!  I picked up my favorite fried chicken.  The best part is that I made homemade potato salad. 

Potato salad is one of my favorite foods.  I LOVE it!  I am sharing with you my mother’s recipe.  She was such a great cook.  We like it hot with dill pickles, but you can use sweet pickles and serve it chilled.

Rule of thumb:  When making potato salad or mashed potatoes use 1 potato for each person.  What kind of potatoes do you use?  I use baking potatoes.  They have more starch so when cooked will tend to fall apart making a soft potato salad.  If you like more firm potatoes use new potatoes.  They have less starch ,less calories but they stay firm after cooking.  Choose what you like. 

Steps for making salad:

1.  Cube potatoes and cover with water in a saucepan.  I do not use salt because the olives I put in the salad are salty. 

2.  Cook until tender. About 15 – 20 min.  Check by using a fork and check for desired tenderness.

3.  Drain in a colander.  

4.  Return to pan and put your choice of condiments in such as sliced olives, dill pickle relish, a little mustard and mayonnaise. Stir lightly.

Enjoy!

Happy Cooking,

The Teacher Cooks

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