Cinnamon Rolls

These are the cinnamon rolls my mom has made every year for Christmas since I can remember.  Trust me when I say that my mom makes THE BEST cinnamon rolls on the planet. My sisters and I have watched my mom make these for the past 20 plus years and she has been making them for even longer.  Unfortunately this makes for a very non specific recipe.  I have added in some more specific instructions but some of it is just to taste or eyeballing it.

4c. Water
1 1/2 c. Butter (softened)
1c. Sugar
3 eggs
3t. Salt
13 1/2c. Flour
12T Dry Milk (2/3c.)
3T. Scant Yeast

Directions:
 Mix lukewarm water and yeast.  Wait 3-5 min.  Add sugar and mix well.  Wait 5-10 min.  Add butter, eggs, salt, dry milk and flour.  Put in a greased bowl covered with a damp tea towel and let rise until doubled.  Divide into 3-4 equal sections and roll out to desired thickness in a rectangular shape.  Add filling and roll.  Cut into individual rolls with dental floss or thread.  Let rise until doubled.

Filling:
Melted or softened butter
Brown sugar and cinnamon to taste.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8oz Cream Cheese
1 Stick butter (softened)
4c. Powdered Sugar
1t. Vanilla

Bake at 350 degrees on a greased cookie sheet until just starting to brown and cooked in the center.

Ck and Dumplings

This recipe is adapted from Rachael Ray (see original here). It is one of my favorites because it’s got lots of veggies and whips up in less than 30 minutes. The parsley really adds a lot of flavor to the biscuits. Last night I made it with green onions chopped into the biscuits instead, and there wasn’t nearly as much flavor.

Chicken & Dumplings

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenders
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 russet potato, peeled and diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced or thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 ribs celery, diced
• 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon season-all, 1/3 palm full
• 2 tablespoons flour, a handful
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 1 biscuit mix (see recipe below)
• 2/3 cup warm water
• Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 cup frozen green peas

Dice tenders into bite size pieces.

Place a large pot on stove over medium high heat. Add oil, butter, vegetables, chicken, and bay leaf and cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Season mixture with salt, pepper and season-all. Add flour to the pan and cook 2 minutes. Stir broth to the pot and bring to a boil.

Make biscuit mix, combining with 1/2 cup warm water and parsley. Drop tablespoonfuls of prepared mix into the pot, spacing dumplings evenly. Cover pot tightly and reduce heat to medium low. Steam dumplings 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cover and stir chicken and dumplings to thicken sauce a bit. Stir peas into the pan, remove chicken and dumplings from heat and serve in shallow bowls.

Biscuit Mix:

• 2/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 2/3 c. whole wheat flour
• 3 t. baking powder
• 2 t. sugar
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 T. butter or margarine

Mix together by hand or with fork, until butter is evenly distributed throughout in small pea-sized clumps.

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili

Recipe by Our Best Bites

I call this a chili, but it’s really a soup consistency.
If you want it thicker, just reduce the amount of broth. 

1 T Extra virgin Olive Oil
1 lb boneless chicken, cubed (about 3-4 boneless, skinless breasts)
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans Great Northern Beans
1 3.5 oz can green chilies
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t dried oregano leaves
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t salt
fresh cracked pepper
1 lime
1/2 C chopped cilantro

1 32oz box chicken brothCondiments: (in addition to measurements above)
Sour cream
Chopped cilantro
Pepperjack or Jack cheese, shredded
Avocado
Tortilla Chips or make your own tortilla strips

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add chopped onion and cook for about 2 minutes- just until it starts to become translucent. While onions are cooking, drain beans and rinse with cold water and set aside. Sprinkle chopped chicken with a little salt and pepper and add to pot. Add garlic as well. Cook until there’s no more visible pink on the chicken, probably 3-4 minutes.Then add green chills- along with all of the juices in the can. Add beans, cumin, oregano, coriander, salt, and a few turns of fresh cracked pepper. Stir to combine and then add chicken broth.Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and add the juice from one lime and the 1/2 C chopped cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle into bowls and top with sour cream. Serve with condiments. If you don’t have all those condiments- at least have sour cream! But honestly, it’s best with everything 

Makes about 8 cups of soup.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with sage butter

The recipe I used is from my Chef Chloe cookbook so I was hesitant to repost it, but hooray! It’s on the Humane Society’s website so (hopefully) I’m allowed to share it here as well.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage Butter

Serves 4 to 6

2 large red-skinned sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for serving
2-1/2 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup fresh sage leaves

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork, place in a baking pan, and bake until fully cooked, about 45 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit until cool enough to handle.

Using a sharp knife, cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. Using a large spoon, scoop the flesh out of each sweet potato into a medium bowl. Thoroughly mash the sweet potatoes while they are still warm, then set aside or refrigerate to cool completely.

Add salt, nutmeg, and pepper to the sweet potatoes. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well with a spoon to combine. Once a soft, slightly sticky dough has formed, divide it into six portions. Generously flour the work surface and your hands. Roll each portion of dough into ropes about 1/2 inch in diameter. Each rope will be approximately 7 to 9 inches long.

Dip a sharp knife in flour and cut each rope into 1-inch long pillows. If desired, roll each pillow on fork tines to make decorative ridges.

Fill a medium saucepan with heavily salted water and bring it to a boil. In the meantime, heat the margarine and sage in a large nonstick skillet until the margarine begins to bubble.

When the water is boiling, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and gently drop in the gnocchi, about 20 at a time. The gnocchi will float to the surface in about 4 minutes. Continue to cook about 30 seconds more. Using a slotted spoon, immediately transfer the gnocchi to the skillet of butter sauce. Let cook, turning frequently, for 1 to 2 minutes. You will have to do this in several batches, until all the gnocchi are cooked. Serve immediately, topped with additional freshly ground black pepper.

Note: Uncooked gnocchi can be made in advance and kept frozen for up to 1 month or refrigerated for 3 to 4 days until ready to boil.

My Notes: I pretty much followed the directions here, except for I found mixing the dough with my hands was easier than with a spoon. I only cooked half of the pasta and it was plenty for our family of three. I also used real butter (unless I splurge on earth balance, non-dairy margarine isn’t so tasty to me) and cut the amount in half. I browned the butter as I was cooking the gnocchi in it. Also, the sage is amazing. I could eat sage fried in butter all day. :) I served the gnocchi with roasted cauliflower.

French Dip Sandwiches

French Dip SandwichesOur Best Bites

(Recipe Our Best Bites)

1 2.5-3 lb. beef roast (you can use a frozen roast if you want)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
2 1-ounce packages dry onion soup mix
2 c. water
2 cans beef broth
6-8 large buns (or more…6 would be VERY generous servings!)
Swiss, provolone, or mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and rub roast with salt and pepper.

When very hot, carefully place roast in pan and sear on all sides. You’re not cooking the meat, you’re just browning it quickly on all sides to add flavor and seal in the juices. Oh, and it smells so good–just like Grandma’s house on a Sunday afternoon.

Place in crockpot and sprinkle with onions soup mix. Pour water and beef broth over roast.

Cook 8-10 hours on low or cook 4-5 hours on high and another 3-4 hours on low. It’s hard to screw this part up; basically, the longer it cooks, the more tender it will be. But you know it’s done when you pop a fork in it and the meat just falls apart. When meat is ready, shred with a fork.

Place meat in crusty rolls. Top with cheese and broil open-faced in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes, until bread is golden and cheese is melty. And don’t even think about walking away–things can go from lightly-toasted to on fire within a matter of seconds when you’re using your broiler.

Ladle juices into small cups for dipping and enjoy!

FREEZER DIRECTIONS:

Prepare roast through the searing step; after meat has cooled, place in a plastic freezer-safe container (think Gladware), cover with onion soup mix and boullion, and freeze. When ready to cook, pop it straight into the crockpot (frozen), add 2 cups of water, and set to high until warm or, even better, simmering. Turn to low; cook for a total of 8-10 hours.

Pie Crust

*Our Best Bites

9-Inch Single Pie Crust 

1 1/4c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c.+ 1 Tbsp. shortening (I prefer butter flavored but either works)
Ice water (probably about 1/4 c.)

Making the Dough

Combine flour and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Add shortening in small cubes.

Cut in shortening (room temperature) until you get pieces that are about pea-sized.

Now, this is where it gets a little tricky, but don’t be scared. Start sprinkling the ice water by about a tablespoon at a time over the flour/shortening mixture.

Very, very gently, turn the dough with your fingers so it gets exposed to the water. You’re NOT mixing, just trying to moisten all of the flour/shortening mixture. Gradually, all of the flour mixture will be moistened. Gently pat the dough into a ball (it should come together easily but not be sticky).

Wrap in plastic wrap and keep in the fridge until you’re ready to use.

Rolling the Dough
When you’re ready to roll out your pie crust, lightly flour your work surface and place the dough ball on the surface. One of the keys in making pie crust is to handle the dough as little as possible. Don’t freak out TOO much; like I said, this recipe for crust is pretty forgiving, but at the same time, the less you touch it, the more tender and flaky it will be. Starting in the center, roll the dough out into a circle shape, about 1/8″ thick. When you’ve reached your desired thickness, place the rolling pin in the middle and gently fold the crust over the rolling pin. Lift the dough onto your pie plate and unfold it (gently; notice a theme here?).

The Edge of Reason
Unless I’m planning on doing something fancy schmancy with my edges, I just run a sharp knife around the edges of the pie plate, cutting off the excess dough. Then I use my thumb and fingers to make kind of a big, wavy edge on the crust, but that’s just how I do it; there are lots of pretty pie edges.

Pre-baked Crusts
Sometimes a recipe will call for a pre-baked crust. Some people place “weights” (either little balls specifically designed for this purpose, or even beans) in the pie to keep it from puffing and shrinking, but I’ve found that with this recipe, I don’t need them. Just prick the bottom of the crust with a fork and bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes or until golden-brown.

Double Crusts
Sometimes you’ll need or want a lid on top of that pie. Just double the recipe for the crust and cut the dough in half, using one part for the bottom and one part for the top.

When you put the crust on top, you’ll need some way of letting the steam out. This is where you can really wow people. I had a roommate who would cut a cute little heart in the top crust; some people cut some decorative slits so when you put it on top, it spreads a little and looks all pretty. My favorite thing to do is a lattice top.

How to Make a Lattice Crust
Place the rolled-out bottom crust in the pie plate, fill your pie as desired, and then roll out the top crust and cut it into strips about 1″ wide. You can use a knife or a fluted pastry wheel.

Now, lay 4-5 strips vertically on top of your pie…

Now fold every other strip back and lay a horizontal strip right under the part you’ve folded back.

Unfold the vertical strip so it lays on top of the horizontal strip.  Repeat this step, this time folding back pieces that you didn’t fold before,

and then continue repeating.

until the pie is covered.

Now gently press the crust strips into the bottom crust and finish the edges however you like! This step goes for any way you top your pie…

I (sara) like to just fold the strips into the edges so I have a nice, round, solid edge

and then flute the edges all the way around

If you want, you can brush the top of your crust with some melted butter and sprinkle with sugar like I’ve done with the cherry pie here:

She Gets Distracted by Shiny Things…

Some people really like that pretty, golden shine that some pies have. Personally, I can take it or leave it and I usually leave it. I have egg issues (in that they tend to creep me out, not that I’m deathly allergic) and I’ve noticed a distinct, yucky, burny egginess sometimes when I put an egg wash on a crust. Also, if the eggs aren’t thoroughly beaten or if there’s more egg in some places than others, I’ve found that the egg wash doesn’t come out so pretty. BUT if you’ve ever wondered how to get that pretty, shiny pie and want to do it, beat an egg very well and then brush the crust top (or edges if your pie doesn’t have a top) with the beaten egg and bake. You’ll want to keep an eye on how it’s browning, though, you don’t want your pie to look burned. Personally, I’ve found that this crust browns nicely and looks perfectly pretty without an egg wash.If You Can’t Take the Heat…
You’ll want to keep an eye on your pie as it’s baking because sometimes, the crust gets brown long before the pie is done. If you see this happening, take some tin foil and punch a hole a couple inches in diameter in the middle. Remove pie from oven and carefully, loosely place the shield over the pie (loose because you still want the steam to be able to escape). This will keep the edges from getting too brown while the middle finishes cooking.

This was way, waaaaaay more than I ever meant to say about pie crusts; please don’t let it scare you from making your own! Let us know if you still have any questions and we will happily walk you through any pie crust-making; we’re going to wean the world off store-bought pie crusts one Best Bites reader at a time!

Apple Pie

Apple Pie
Recipe by Our Best Bites 

Ingredients:

Pastry for double-crust pie
6 cups peeled, sliced Granny Smith apples (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp. butter, chopped

Instructions:

Roll half of the pastry to 1/8″ thickness on a surface that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Gently place in a 9″ pieplate; set aside.

Anyway. Preheat your oven to 450. Combine lemon juice and apples in a large bowl.. Combine 1/2 c. sugar and next four ingredients, mixing well. Spoon over apple mixture, tossing gently. Spoon filling evenly into pastry shell and dot with chopped butter.

Roll remaining pie crust 1/8″ thick (see “Pie Crusts” for ideas on how to top your crust, including instructions on how to make a lattice crust). When your top is how you want it, bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 50 minutes more. Definitely keep an eye on the pie; you may need to make a shield if it starts getting too brown. If you get worried, go ahead and make a square of foil, cut a center out of the foil, and place it on the pie so the foil covers the edge of the pie.

Mini Cheesecake Tarts

Mini Cheesecake Tarts

Recipe by Our Best Bites

Ingredients:

12 Nilla Wafer Cookies

2 8oz packages cream cheese

3/4 C sugar

2 Tbs flour

1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Foil cupcake liners

Optional Toppings:

canned pie filling

fresh berries

whipped cream

chocolate sauce

caramel sauce

lemon curd

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375. Soften cream cheese if needed. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar.  Add in flour and baking powder and beat to combine. Then add in eggs, one at a time, lemon juice, and vanilla.  Beat to combine.

Fill a muffin pan with cupcake liners and place one vanilla wafer at the bottom of each one. Divide batter between 12 muffin papers, filling each cup up to about 1/4 inch from the top. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  They’ll puff way up during baking, but they’ll settle after being chilled.

When you take them out of the oven, place them on a cooling rack and let them cool completely. While they cool, they will sink down in the center. Don’t worry- that’s normal! It makes the perfect little well to fill up with the fruit filling. Before you top them, chill in the fridge for at least 4-6 hours or preferably over night. Then top and serve. You can be creative and top with whatever you like, like chocolate, caramel, lemon curd, whatever! Makes 12 cheesecakes.

Caramel Corn

Easy Caramel Corn
from ourbestbites.com

12 C popped popcorn (about 1/2 C kernels)
1 C brown sugar
1/4 C white Karo syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt (if you are using salted microwave popcorn then omit salt here)
1/2 cup real butter
1/2 t baking soda
1 t vanilla

Pop popcorn and set aside. Place brown sugar, Karo syrup, salt, and butter in a microwave safe dish. Microwave for 30 seconds. That should be enough to melt the butter at least half way. Stir it all to combine. No microwave on high for 2 minutes. Take it out and stir. Microwave for 2 more minutes.

While the caramel is cooking, put the popcorn in a big bowl. Use one that is way bigger than you think you’ll need.  Also, remove any un-popped kernels.  When the caramel is done cooking, take out of microwave and add baking soda and vanilla.  Stir well and then pour over popcorn and stir up popcorn immediately to coat.

Eat warm straight out of the bowl, or spread out onto waxed paper or foil and let cool to room temperature (for soft, gooey popcorn).

For crunchy caramel corn: spread out on a cookie sheet (you might need 2) and bake either at 200 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes, or at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  If you choose the latter, keep an eye on it towards the end of cooking time to avoid over cooking.

Gingerbread Men

Ingredients

1. 1 c. butter
2. 1 c. sugar
3. 1 c. molasses
4. 2 egg yolks
5. 4 c. flour
6. 1 tsp. salt
7. 1 tsp. baking powder
8. 1 tsp. baking soda
9. 1 tsp. cinnamon
10. 1 tsp. cloves
11. 1 tsp. ginger
12. 1 tsp. nutmeg

Instructions

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add molasses and egg yolk. In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Chill for at least an hour. It's a fairly sticky dough so you might need to chill it a little longer.
2. Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough to 1/4" thick and cut with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2" apart on a baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. If you bake them on the short end they will stay soft and chewy and if you bake them on the longer end they will be nice and crispy. They're great either way!
3. Allow to cool about 5 minutes on pan and then transfer to wire rack and cool completely. Once they're cooled you can decorate your heart out.

By Our Best Bites

Berry cobbler

Berry CobblerRecipe by Our Best Bites

3 c. all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into the measuring cup and leveled with a knife
1/4 tsp. table salt
2 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. (1 stick) salted butter
2 eggs
1 c. heavy cream
zest of one lemon or orange (optional)
4 c. berries (I like blueberries and/or blackberries)
1/2 c. brown sugar

Streusel Topping:

1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. + 1 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp. butter at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9×13″ baking dish and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and citrus zest. Set aside.

Using a cheese grater, grate 1 cold stick of butter. Lightly toss the butter with flour mixture until it’s mixed evenly and crumbly (don’t over-mix here). Whisk the eggs and then lightly toss them with the flour/butter mixture until evenly absorbed. Add in the cream and mix until combined; the mixture should be quite sticky and a little lumpy (kind of like biscuit dough). Lightly press about 1 1/2 c. of the dough mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and set it aside.

Toss the berries with the brown sugar and spread it over the prepared “crust.” Drop the remaining dough over the berries and set aside.

Whisk together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon for the struesel topping. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the dough and bake for 45-55 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the crust is cooked through. Serve warm with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Candied Walnut Salad

Candied Walnut Salad

2 heads of leafy greens; 1 can be a bag of spinach (I like 1 bag of spinach and a head of Romaine or just 2 heads of Romaine)

3/4 c. Craisins

2 crisp apples

Orange juice (enough to toss apples in to prevent browning and add a little flavor)

2 oz. blue cheese or Gorgonzola (I prefer Gorgonzola; it’s milder, but harder to find and more expensive)

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1/4 c. sugar

1 recipe Honey Red Wine Vinaigrette

1. Wash and chop lettuce. Set aside to drain.

 2. Now…Sara’s method for caramelizing nuts is awesome, and it’s especially good for oily nuts like macadamias and cashews. However, walnuts are lower in oil and I like doing them this way because I don’t have to worry about putting them in the oven. Because, you know, one less dish to wash is never a bad thing in my house.

 Anyway, to candy the nuts, combine walnuts and sugar in a medium skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly. After a few minutes, the sugar will look very fine and then a few minutes after that, it will start to liquefy. This is when you have to be absolutely vigilant about scraping the bottom of the skillet and making sure everything gets stirred around. The syrup will begin to darken and will coat the nuts. When they reach a golden brown color, remove from heat. Stir occasionally as the nuts begin to cool. After a few minutes, spread candied nuts onto a greased piece of parchment or wax paper or a greased cookie sheet and allow to cool completely. Set aside.

3. Chop blue cheese or Gorgonzola very finely. You want crumbles, not chunks. If blue cheese absolutely gives you the ookies and you CANNOT handle the thought of it (the flavor in the salad will be very mild, I promise!), you can use another strong cheese like feta. But I really, really think you should use the real thing… 

4. Chop apples and toss in orange juice.

When ready to serve, toss lettuce, cranberries, walnuts, apples, and blue cheese in a large bowl. Add dressing if desired; it really is better all mixed together rather than on top, but the dressing will wilt any leftovers.

* Recipe Our Best Bites

Honey Red Wine Vinaigrette

Honey Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/2 c. red wine vinegar

1/2 c. honey

1-2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (really, that’s pretty optional; it all goes in the blender)

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

1/2 c. canola oil

In a blender, combine vinegar, honey, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place lid on blender and blend on high. While blender is running, add oil in a steady stream. Store in refrigerator for about 2-3 weeks. Shake well before serving.

* recipe by Our Best Bites