Strawberry Cheesecake Layers

I have heard people say cheesecake is hard to make. It isn't really, just time consuming. The trick is to make sure everything is completely smooth without adding air to the batter. You do this by mixing long, not fast. My Kitchenaid mixer never goes above 2 when making cheesecake.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C fine graham cracker crumbs
3 T Sugar
3 T melted butter

5 8oz pkg Cream cheese at room temperature
1 C sugar
3 T flour
1 T vanilla
1 C sour cream
4 eggs
3 T  strawberry preserves
1  t strawberry extract
4 drops red food color

Preheat oven to 325F. Position oven racks - one on bottom and one in middle of the oven. Combine graham cracker crumbs and 3 T sugar,, add melted butter and combine well. Press into the bottom and 1/4 up the sides of a 10" spring form pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven to cool. Beat cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add sugar, flour, vanilla,, and sour cream. Beat until smooth scraping sides of bowl often. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Scrape bowl. Beat another 5 minutes or so until the batter is completely smooth. Pour 3/4 of the batter into spring form pan. Add preserves and extract to remaining batter and mix until thoroughly combined. Add food color and mix until solid pink in color. Slowly pour on top of batter in the pan. Place on center rack in oven. Place 9 X 13 inch pan filled with 1 inch of water on oven bottom rack. Bake for 1 hour 5 minutes. The center will appear jiggly, but the cake is done. Turn oven off. Crack open oven door and leave cake in oven until oven is completely cool.  About an hour. About 15 minutes into oven cooling, pull rack and run a knife around the edges of cake to loosen from pan. Slide rack and cake back in oven leaving oven door cracked open.  Remove from oven and allow to finish cooling on rack. Put in refrigerator once cooled. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before garnishing with sliced strawberries, whipped cream, etc.

Philly Cheese Steak Pasta

My adaptation of the sandwich into a meal.

Ingredients:

1 lb Penne Pasta cooked to al dente
1/4 C Oil
1 lb Beef or Venison Steak thinly sliced
1 Green Pepper jullienned
1 Medium Onion jullienned
1 t Garlic Powder
1 t Salt
1/2 t Pepper
2 T Soy Sauce
1/4 C Teriaki Sauce
1 Pkt Brown Gravy Mix
1 1/2 C Water
4 oz Swiss or Provolone Cheese diced

Prepare pasta per package directions to al dente. Heat oil in skillet on medium high add meat, green pepper, and onions. Season with garlic, salt and pepper. Saute until pepper is crisp soft and onion is translucent. Add soy and teriaki sauces. Turn burner down to medium. Allow sauces to reduce by about 1/2, about 5 minutes. Add gravy packet and water. Stir to combine. Allow to cook for another 5 minutes. Drain pasta and add meat sauce to pasta. Mix to combine. Remove from heat. Add cheese to top and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes or until cheese just starts to melt. Lightly mix in cheese. The cheese should be stringy through the dish, not melted into it.

Hillbilly Greek Chicken & Sinful Mashed Potatoes

I was married to a greek for 15 years. While he and I are no longer together.....I do love greek food and fortunately I learned to cook plenty of it from his mother. But with my family being from West Virginia, I have adapted some of it to my hillbilly tendencies. Hope you like it.

Chicken Ingredients:

2 lb Boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil (buy the best you can afford - it makes a huge difference in taste)
2 T Lemon Juice
1 t Lemon Zest
1 t Garlic powder
1 t Oregano
1/2 t black pepper
2 Cans Campbells Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Soup can of half n half

Preheat oven to 375F. Place chicken in a glass baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Rub to make sure oil coats each piece top and bottom. Drizzle with lemon juice. Sprinkle garlic, lemon zest, oregano, and black pepper. Set aside for 30 minutes or so in fridge. Combine soup and half n half. When ready to bake pour "gravy" over the chicken making sure all pieces are covered. Cover pan with tin foil and bake for 45 minutes.

Potato Ingredients:

2 lb Russet Potatoes chunked roughly 8 potatoes (I cut into 1/8ths if medium to large and 1/4ths if small)
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 C sour cream
Half n Half to consistency
salt and pepper to taste - I start with 1 t of salt and 1/2 t coarse black pepper and adjust once I have the right consistency..

Place potatoes in a large stock pot and cover with COLD water. Salt the water. Bring to a boil on stove and cook until potatoes are tender. I test with a paring knife. If the knife goes through without any resistance the potatoes are done. Drain completely. Add butter and put the lid on the pot. Leave it for a few minutes for the butter to completely melt. Add sour cream, salt and pepper. I use a hand mixer and smash down the potatoes at this point with the mixer off. Then add a small amount of half n half and turn mixer on low. Add a bit more half n half and continue to mix. Once the mashed potatoes start holding together without spitting bits of potatoes everywhere, turn the mixer to medium and add half  n half to desired consistency. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

Use the gravy from the chicken for both the chicken and mashed potatoes.

The green beans are just green beans with minced onion and bacon grease cooked in water on the stove until done.

Ham Egg & Cheese Bake

A recipe that can be changed and changed again to suit the ingredients you have on hand or your mood or taste. Use the basic ingredients and add sauteed onions and peppers or jalepeno and sundried or chopped fresh spinach, tomatoes...sausage or bacon instead of the ham....monterey jack or hot pepper cheese instead of the cheddar....the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

Ingredients:

2 C diced ham or 1 lb cooked and drained sausage or crumbled bacon
6 slices cubed bread
1 C shredded cheddar
10 eggs
2 C milk
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t yellow mustard (makes cheese taste cheesier)

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 9 X 13 baking pan with non stick spray.  Arrange meat and cubed bread (or any other veggies, etc you decide to use) in bottom of pan. Top with shredded cheese. In large bowl combine eggs, milk, seasonings, and mustard until well mixed. Pour egg mixture evenly over the pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until eggs are set in center.

Easy peasy!! and oh so yummy!

Robinson Hut Pizza

This is as italian sausage, pepperoni, mushroom, black olive pizza.....by all means choose the toppings you like. I cooked the sausage and drained it before putting it on the pizza. I also sauteed the mushrooms in garlic butter prior to adding them to it too....anyway, here is how I make my pizza.

Crust:

4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1 packet active dry yeast, or 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin is best
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven 425°F.
I prefer using milk for the liquid in this recipe. It adds flavor to your dough. But if you don't have it, use water. Using a large ceramic mixing bowl, or any suitable food safe bowl, add the flour, make a "well" in middle, and put in 1 teaspoon salt, stir to combine well. Set aside. Prepare the starter: In a liquid measuring cup pour in 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water, 1 teaspoon sugar or honey, and one package of active dry yeast. Stir and set aside for 5 minutes. Allow to foam up. mix the starter (yeast water) and the milk in the bowl containing the flour with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir together using a wooden spoon or clean hands. You will need additional flour to knead on the surface that you're working on. Knead for about 8 minutes or until you get a smooth elastic rubbery dough ball. Set aside in bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil to keep the dough from drying out. Let dough sit covered lightly with plastic wrap or use a plate or damp clean towel to cover it. Allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes. grease the pan with olive oil using a paper towel.  Flatten dough and press out into a circle to fit the pan it will be baked in. 

Sauce:

1 (29 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 tsp. onion salt
1 clove garlic or 1 tsp. garlic salt
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. fennel seed
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. rosemary

Mix all ingredients and allow to simmer on medium low for 30 minutes. Makes enough for 2 large pizzas. Cool. Can be made ahead......freezes well and can be kept in freezer for a couple of months.

When ready to make pizza, spread sauce on dough, top with desired toppings, cover with 2 cups shredded pizza cheese, bake at 425F for 15-20 minutes.

Easy Cheesy Danish

I think this is going to be the easiest cheese danish you will ever make. I colored the cheese part with 10 drops of green food coloring for St Patrick's Day/ Easter, but the food coloring is not necessary.

Ingredients:

2 Cans Pillsbury Grand Juniors -  I used flaky

Filling:

1 8 oz block cream cheese
2/3 C sugar
1 egg yoke (save white for brushing danish)
1 T lemon juice
1 t vanilla
sanding sugar (coarse sugar for decorating)

Glaze:

1 C powdered sugar
1 T milk
1 t vanilla

Heat oven to 400F. spray 2 cookie sheets with cooking spray. Mix all filling ingredients until smooth. Take one biscuit and smash it down to about a 4 inch square. Does not have to be perfect. Put 1 teaspoon of filling in center of biscuit. Take opposite corners of biscuit and pinch together. Do again for the other opposite corners. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat with all biscuits. Brush tops with egg white and sprinkle about a 1/4 teaspoon of sugar on each. Bake for 10 minutes. While danishes are baking, take a zip lock bag (freezer ones are best as there is less chance of a blow out) and put all glaze ingredients in it. Smoosh together in bag until glaze is smooth. Snip a hole about the size of a pencil tip in one corner. Squeeze glaze onto danishes........eat while warm!!!!

Two Tone Coffee n Chocolate Bundt Cake

Every one has an oops and today this cake was mine. The taste was very good so I decided to chunk it up, put it in a large bowl, and drizzle the glaze over it anyway. I hate wasting, especially home made cake!

It may not look so pretty, but boy oh boy wait until you taste it!

You can chunk your cake up on purpose if you really want to, but this is actually a Bundt cake. Just make sure you grease and flour the pan very well. Do not try to  use any spray instead. I tried using Bakers Joy and you see what happened.

Ingredients:

2 3/4 C sugar
1 1/4 C butter - room temperature
1 1/2 t vanilla
5 large eggs

1 T instant coffee granules
1 t hot water

3 C All purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 C evaporated milk
1/3 C cocoa

Heat oven to 350F. Grease and flour bundt pan. Mix coffee granules and hot water together in a small cup or bowl until smooth. Mix sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs scraping bowl constantly for 1 minute on low. Add coffee paste and mix another 30 seconds on low. Turn mixer to high and beat for 5 minutes scraping bowl occasionally. Combine dry ingredients. Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk on low speed until combined. Pour 2/3 of batter into bundt pan. Add cocoa to the remaining batter and mix on low until combined. Pour cocoa batter on top of the batter in the pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Invert onto serving plate and remove pan (hopefully it all comes out!) Allow to completely cool before glazing.

Glaze:

1 1/2 t instant coffee granules
2 T cocoa
1/3 C melted butter
2 C powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
3-4 T milk

Mix warm melted butter with coffee and cocoa. Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix in milk 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake.