Orange Knots

Once again, I found myself craving something really good for breakfast. I had used some Rhodes dough for the breakfast pockets, but I had a little left. I thought that orange rolls sounded good. I have gone to Rhodesbread.com before for recipes, so I thought I'd search there again to an orange roll-ish recipe. Sure enough- they had these orange knots. I'm glad I found them. They had delicious flavor that was not too overwhelming, and they were so light and fluffy. My daughter commented, "Wow, mom. This is the best breakfast you have ever made me." There you have it! The truth from a four year old. I think I should rename them "Pillowy orange dream rolls." That's better. :)

Pillowy Orange Dream Rolls:
source: http://www.rhodesbread.com/recipes/view/2038

makes 12

12 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold
1 medium orange rind, grated
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted

Citrus Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
3 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Roll each roll in a nine inch rope. Be sure to help Smokey prevent forest fires, too.
Tie a knot in the dough. You'll have some of the dough hanging over the edges, but that will all blend in once the dough rises.
Melt the butter in one bowl. In another bowl, combine the sugar and orange peel. Give the knot a butter bath. Roll it around in there to get it all slathered up with butter. Mmmm... sounds tasty already.
Plop the knot into the sugar/zest mixture. A zester is one tool I don't have yet, but it is on my Christmas list. I'll keep my fingers crossed. If you're like me and don't have a zester, use a paring knife to slice off small pieces of peel at a time. I've used the small, course side on a cheese grater before, but it never seems to come off. The knife works handy dandy... for now.
Geez... it looks like this little knot of dough is getting some kind of crazy spa treatment- butter bath and sugar/orange peel mark- great for the complexion! Place the sugar coated knots on a cookie sheet. There's so much stinkin' butter on the rolls that I doubt you'll need to grease the pan.
Place them in a warm spot to rise for 40-45 minutes or until double in size. I've said this before, but I always boil water in a pyrex glass measuring cup. I put that in the microwave with the bread. It seems to rise quicker, and you don't have to worry about those pesky drafts.
Here they are after they have doubled in size. I love to make dough from scratch, but you can never go wrong with Rhodes dough. I have never had any problems with it- even when I lived in Land of Flat Cookies, Idaho. I love Rhodes dough. :)

Preheat the oven to 350. Bake them for 15-20 minutes. Mine were in there for about 17 and came out just right. While they are baking, mix the glaze ingredients.
When the rolls come out, they will look like pillowy orange dream rolls. Yum!
Brush the glaze on the rolls. I was pretty generous on the brushing to make sure they were flavorful and sticky.

Serve them up! My daughter was just staring at them when I put them on the table. Her and my son each ate the whole roll! I couldn't believe it. I ate two myself. And I wonder where my thighs come from. Hmph. If your family tires of cinnamon rolls, give these a shot. They're delicious.

Cheddar Broccoli Soup

When I found the Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits recipe the other day, I also found this soup recipe on the same blog. I didn't have plans for dinner, and I had everything on hand for this soup. Also, it was one of the gloomiest days I can remember in Las Vegas, and I just wouldn't feel right making tacos or some other non-gloomy thought provoking foods. Soup it was! I couldn't wait to see my husband's reaction because he is not a fan of broccoli. He came home, and I told him what I made. I think his upper lip twitched a little bit. We sat down and started to eat. He started moving the soup around in his bowl as if to look for chunks of steak or something down there at the bottom of the bowl. Considering the fact that I know husband probably better than he knows himself, I said. "You don't have to eat it. I know you're not a fan of broccoli." He was grateful that my feelings weren't hurt. He did say, "I'm sure if you like broccoli, this soup would be delicious." :) He's right! It was delicious. My daughter and I scarffed it up! I even had the left-overs for lunch the next two days. I'm so glad I found this recipe. It is an awesome recipe for Cheddar broccoli soup- if you like cheddar broccoli soup.Almost-Famous Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

adapted from Food Network (I found this reference on Amberskitchen.blogspot.com)

Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 7-inch sourdough bread boules (round loaves)
4 cups broccoli florets (about 1 head)
1 large carrot, diced
2 1/2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated sharp white and yellow cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish

Get a stockpot on medium heat. Put the butter in there and melt it. Add the onion and cook for about five minutes. Add the flour and stir to make a paste. It will be the consistency of the paste you ate as a kid. Come on... you know you ate it! Cook the flour/onion paste for about 3 minutes. As tempting as it is, don't eat it yet!
Pour in the half and half and whisk until smooth. I didn't have half and half, so I used 1 c cream and 1 c vitamin D milk. Add the chicken broth, too. Whisk it all up.
Add the bay leaves and nutmeg. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Throw in the broccoli and carrot. Simmer 20 minutes longer so the vegetables can get tender.
Fish out the bay leaves. Pour the soup into the blender and puree. I did mine in two batches.
Put it back into the pot so you can add the cheese. The below picture is after the pureeing. I think next time I make this, I won't puree it. I think I would like the broccoli and carrot diced by hand in smaller pieces. When you puree it, it's like a karate kick in the face from broccoli with every bite. I do love broccoli, but I think I like cheese better. I'd like to have a more prominent cheese flavor instead of the broccoli flavor. There's my two cents.
Add the cheese to the soup and whisk over medium heat until melted. Save some of the cheese for garnish.

I loved this soup. It reheats well. Even my daughter wanted another bowl of it for lunch the next day. Now that winter is settling in, get your soup on! Although, Joel McHale will not appear while making or eating this soup. He would be nice to have around for comic relief though.

Again, thank you, Amber, for posting this on your blog. I loved it, and I would feel bad for not giving you the credit for finding it first. :)

Breakfast Pockets

Once again, I was craving something other than cereal for the breakfast. I wasn't quite sure what to do, but I thought some kind of breakfast sandwich would be good. I thought up this little sandwich and decided to give it a try. It was pretty good! I didn't follow any recipe, and there's really not much to it. I think next time I make this, I will do one big breakfast calzone instead of individual pockets. That would be a good way to feed a large crowd. When I do that, I'll add to this post with some pictures. I mean, my two little kids and anti-breakfast husband could gobble up about a tenth of a breakfast calzone. Anyone want to come over for breakfast?
Breakfast pockets:
source: my melon
servings: 3

1 loaf Rhodes dough, thawed
3 eggs, scrambled/cooked
1 T cream
2 T green onions, chopped
3 slices thin deli ham
3 slices American cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Break about 1/2 of the Rhodes dough off. Put 1/2 in the fridge for another use. Break the other half into three parts. Roll them out into circles. Mine was pretty thick, so I'd do it a little thinner next time. Roll them out to 1/4 inch thickness or thinner.

Crack the eggs into a skillet. Add the cream (milk will be fine, too) and green onions. Cook them over medium heat until they are cooked thoroughly. Before they start cooking, remove about 2 T of the egg mixture for brushing on at the end.

Put a slice of deli ham on the bottom. See how my ham is right on the edge of the dough? That's a big no-no. The bread will never seal if that ham is there. Make sure that you have a good 1/2 inch of dough around the edges. Top with some of the scrambled egg. Top with one piece of American cheese.
Fold the dough over. Pinch the edges to seal. If you don't make sure those edges are sealed realy well, you will have some runaway cheese during the baking process. It's one of those cooking magic tricks. You put the cheese in. You seal it. You bake it. You take it out. Poof! The cheese has magically disappeared. Wait... it's all over the baking sheet. Doh!
Once you have pressed all around the edges, use a fork to seal a little bit more.
Place the breakfast pockets on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with the reserved egg. If at this point you're thinking, "dad gummit! I forgot to save some egg!" no worries. Just crack a new one and mix it up. Brush that on. It'll be fine.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Here was my finished pocket, and you can see that stinkin' ham poking out on that side because I didn't leave enough room to seal the bread properly. hmph. It still was delicious. My kids loved them, too. This is a clever way to get kids to eat their breakfast. What kid doesn't like a sandwich or a pizza pocket? This is the same idea. I need a theme song.

Spinach Salad with Honey Dressing

I like to add a little variety with my salads from time to time. I'm always looking for a new recipe to try. I found this in a Taste of Home cookbook- of course. It was really good! It used Cider Vinegar, so the vinegar taste wasn't as strong. My husband isn't much of a salad fan- especially salads with vinegarette. Honestly, he commented, "The salad was pretty good. I could have done without the vinegar in there, but since you threw some bacon in there, the salad has redeemed itself." I really liked it. I only have one picture since salad is easy to throw together.
Spinach Salad with Honey Dressing:
source: Taste of Home Celebrations
servings: 6

1 medium apple
lemon juice
3 c torn fresh spinach
3 c lettuce
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced (I didn't add this)
1/2 can mandarin oranges
3 T honey roasted almonds
3 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

dressing: 1/4 c vegetable oil
2 T sugar
1 T cider vinegar
1 T plus 3/4 t honey
1/4 t each celery salt, onion powder, paprika, ground mustard, and lemon juice

After you slice the apples, toss them with lemon juice. This will keep them from turning brown. Clever little trick, eh? Toss all the salad ingredients in a serving bowl.

For the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Stir to combine. Pour it on, toss it, and serve.

One note- I only used about 1/2 or less of the dressing. It made quite a bit of it. Dump it on a little at a time so you're salad isn't forced to take an unwanted swim in a pool of honey dressing.

Carmelized Apple French Toast

I love a good breakfast. Pancakes, waffles, muffins, french toast, hash browns... not all at the same time, of course. My husband is not much of a breakfast person. He'll eat 3/4 of a pancake and call it quits. Sniff. Sniff. Well, the other morning, he left for work, and I wanted a good breakfast. I whipped this up all by myself. I didn't use a recipe for this one. I had made something similar years ago, but I don't remember where I found the recipe, so I winged it. It was delicious, but next time I won't cook the apples as long. They were a little too mushy- delicious, but mushy. Another perk to this recipe- you can use up the loaf of French Bread from last night's spaghetti dinner. Woohoo! No more wasted French bread.
Carmelized Apple French Toast:
serves 2

Caramel sauce with apples:
3 T brown sugar
1/4 c butter
1/2 apple, sliced
1/2 t cinnamon

Egg mixture:
1 egg
1/4 c milk
1 t orange juice
12 t cinnamon

French bread slices
Whipped cream

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the butter and brown sugar.
Cook it for 2-3 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved. Add the apples and cinnamon. Cook for five minutes. Once the five minutes starts, preheat the griddle for the French Toast.
This is what it will look like once it gets hot enough. Turn the heat down to medium low.
Combine the egg, 1/4 c milk, 1 t orange juice, and 1/2 t cinnamon in a pie plate. Mix it well with a fork.
Dip the slices of bread in the egg mixture on both sides and cook them on the heated griddle. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown on the bottom.
Remove the bread and put it on a plate. Top with the carmelized apples and whipped cream. yum! Again, the apples are better when they are overcooked so watch them! There. An alternative to cereal in the morning. Enjoy!

Chicken Tomatillo Soup

There is this wonderful food co-op called the Bountiful Basket Food Co-op. I just got my first basket this past Saturday, and let me tell you- I was like a little kid at Christmas. I was up before the sun, and I couldn't wait to see what was in my basket. I was so happy when I went there and saw all of the amazing produce I got for 15.00! It's such an incredible deal. I also got the Mexican pack, of course, because I love to cook Mexican food. I was so happy to see about 10 tomatillos in the pack because just a day or two before I saw a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens that I really wanted to try. I looked at this recipe again, and every produce ingredient I needed was in that darn Mexican pack. It's like it was planned or something. I made the soup tonight, and it was so tasty. My little Sony Cybershot does not do this soup justice. You've got to try it. The flavor is so bold. It's got a little kick to it, but nothing that will floor someone with severe heartburn. I'll be getting the Mexican pack every time this soup is on my dinner list. Enjoy!
Tomatillo Chicken Soup:
Source: Better Homes and Gardens November 2010

6 tomatillos, husks removed and washed
1 1/2 lb chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 medium green sweet pepper, chopped
1/2 c chopped onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
2 T snipped fresh cilantro
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1 T cumin
1 T lime juice
2 t chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced

Dice three of the washed tomatillos and place in a large saucepan. *This recipe is originally done in a crockpot, but I did it on the stove for 1 1/2 hours.

Place the remaining tomatillos in the blender. I quartered mine to ease of blending them up. Before:After:
Add the pureed tomatillos and the chicken broth.
I used a little red pepper instead of a green one. Dice it up.
Dice the onion.
Dice the jalapeno. I also cut the veins out of the jalapeno.
Dice the celery. Add all the diced vegetables into the soup.
Add the canned diced green chilies. I only used about half of the can, and there was still plenty of flavor and heat. You can add the whole can if you're feeling crazy.
Add the chopped cilantro. Wait! I wasn't too keen on the idea of soggy cilantro. Wait to add this right before serving. You'll be glad you did! I added it early, and it was kinda dark green and floppy. I like cilantro bright green and not floppy.

Add the cumin, lime juice, chili powder, and garlic. I cooked a chicken breast in a skillet with butter and shredded it. Once it's shredded, you can add that to the soup as well. Simmer for 90 minutes. If you're using the crockpot method, cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3 - 3 1/2 hours.
I didn't get another picture of the soup in the pan after it had simmered for 90 minutes. The first picture was the finished product though. You've really got to try this. It's such a good soup. Now that winter is coming, you'll need all kinds of good soup recipes on hand. This one won't disappoint you!

Banzai Burger

My family and I have been trying not to eat out. It saves us a ton of money, and the food at home is pretty tasty. I used to love to go to Red Robin for their Banzai burger. If you've never been there, it's a hamburger with Teriyaki sauce, pineapple, cheddar, and lettuce. It makes me salivate just thinking of it. Since our days of spending 9.00 on a hamburger are over, we re-created it. I didn't use a recipe from anywhere. I just kinda winged it. It really hit the spot with me. It wasn't as salty as theirs. I loved it. Banzai Burger
1/4 lb hamburger
1/4 inch thick slice of cheddar
1 ring pineapple
teriyaki glaze
Lettuce
Mayonnaise

My husband made a 1/4 lb hamburger seasoned with freshly ground pepper and seasoned salt. When it was almost done, I put a 1/4 inch thick piece of cheddar cheese on top. He covered it with a lid so the cheese would melt. I got my bun ready by putting a little bit of mayonnaise on it. I put the hamburger patty on top. When you get the teriyaki sauce, make sure you get the glaze. It's thicker. You don't want the really watery Teriyaki sauce. Slather some teriyaki sauce on top of the hamburger. Add the pineapple ring. Slather a little more sauce. Top with lettuce. That's all folks! It is so easy and it tastes just like Red Robin at a fraction of the price.

Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

Since I started this blog a couple months ago, I have stumbled upon other food blogs. There are some amazing cooks out there! While I was hunting for a good biscuit recipe, I came across Amber's Delectable Delights. Oh, these biscuits were delectable and delightful. I don't personally know Amber, but she deserves a big hug for posting this. I loved them. I've made quite a few biscuits in my day, but none have ever turned out so wonderful. Just look below at the layers! Slather some butter and honey on these little morsels of joy, and you are going to be one happy camper even if you absolutely despise camping. However- If you're the type that doesn't like to go to a lot of trouble for something that comes in a little can that pops open when you pull its wrapper off, you may not enjoy this recipe. There are a lot of steps here, but I think they're well worth it. They are way better than refrigerated flaky biscuits. For one- these don't have a medicinal taste. Plus! They haven't been sitting on a shelf for weeks. Plus! You can pronounce all of the ingredients. Definite plus! I bet you'll like them if you try. Now, I sounds like Sam I am. Great. Here's the recipe.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces), plus additional flour for work surface
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening , cut into 1/2-inch chunks
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), cold, lightly floured and cut into 1/8-inch slices
2 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk , cold

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the shortening and cut it in. Drop chunks of the butter in. Use a fork to mix it in a little. Use your fingers and pinch the larger pieces of butter into flat little disks. I'm not sure the purpose for this, but I like to do what I am told. :) Put the flour mixture in the freezer for 15 minutes.
While it's in the freezer, prepare your counter top. Make sure it's a clean area. If your kid was finger painting with raw chicken juice on the counter, you'll probably want to clean that up first. Spray the area with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle flour on and gently spread it across with your fingers. You'll have a nice little mess like this on your counter. Lovely!
Take the flour mixture out of the freezer and add all but 2 T of the buttermilk. With a wooden spoon, mix it all up until a ball forms and collects all the flour in the bowl. Add the reserved buttermilk a little at a time if needed.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Dump it all onto the floured surface. Sprinkle some more flour on the dough and your hands. Knead the dough until it is nice and smooth. It's no 6-8 minutes though! This dough was very easy to work with. I actually enjoyed kneading it. Generally, I'm not a very kneady person.
Here is a picture of post-kneading. Nice!
Pat the dough in a 10x10 square.
Roll it out to an 18x14 rectangle. If it's not perfect, the biscuits won't turn out. kidding...kidding.
Fold the dough into thirds.
Fold it into thirds the other direction.
Here is what you'll end up with.
Roll that into a 10x10 square. Folding it like this is what makes the layers in the biscuits. Scrum diddily.
Using a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or even an empty, clean soup can, make nine cuts in the dough. I dipped it in flour each time so it wouldn't stick. Transfer the nine circles to a greased cookie sheet. Squish the remaining dough into a ball. Fold it over once. Roll it out so you can make three more biscuits. Toss the remaining dough or let your kids play with while the biscuits are baking. This is a great alternative to raw chicken juice. :)
Brush the tops with melted butter. Bake for 15-17 minutes.
Abracadabra! Alakazam! Poof! I'm telling you... it's magic. I love it.
I served them with butter and honey. They were divine.