Mix together: 1 large can of chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can mixed vegetables
1/2 chopped onion
1 cup grated mild cheddar cheese
1/2 roll of crushed Ritz Crackers
Place in a casserole dish in a 350 preheated oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove casserole and top with another cup of grated cheese, the other half roll of Ritz Crackers, crushed and then drizzle 1 stick of butter over the top of the crackers. Place back into the oven and bake for another 15 minutes. Take out and serve hot with a salad and bread!
This is the perfect size for two people. To make for more, just double everything on the recipe and bake in a large casserole dish.
HOME MADE CINNAMON RAISIN BREAD
First, Let me tell you that anyone can bake bread, if I can...seriously! The thing that I have learned about bread baking, however, is that it takes time. You cannot rush bread baking, so read you recipe carefully before even beginning. A lot of recipes require a couple of days to bake, so I find that weekends are a great time for me to bake my breads. I either start them on Friday and do the baking on Saturday or start them on Saturday and bake them on Sunday. Any way you look at it, bread baking is (and has become for me) a nice little hobby; just trying new recipes. That is the other thing I would like to mention...follow the recipe; this is very important. And if your bread does not come out "perfect" the first time, just tweak the recipe and try it again. You will LOVE the wonderful smell that permeates your house while the finished product is baking! Now, on to this delicious "Cinnamon Raisin Bread" that I am baking right now.
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups unbleached white bread flour, plus 2/3 cup or as needed
2 1/2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
3/4 instant, fast-rising yeast ( I use Rapid Rise)
1 3/4 cups ice water, plus more if needed
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled, plus extra for coating dough top and baking pan
1/4 good quality instant nonfat dry milk ( do not use generic brand)
2 large eggs, at room temperature and beaten with a fork
1 cup dark raisins, rinsed under hot water, drained well, and patted dry
oil spray
generous 1/3 cup granulated sugar combined with 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon cool and firm unsalted butter, cut into fine bits
FIRST RISE:
In a large bowl, thouroughly stir together 3 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast. Thoroughly stir the water into the bowl, scraping down the sides and mixing just until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. If the mixture is too dry to incorporate all the flour, a bit at a time, stir in enough more water to blend the ingredients and produce a fairly soft dough. Brush the top with butter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Put the dough in the refrigerator for 3 hours (or up to 10 hours if you need to). Then, take the dough out and let it rise at room temperature for the next 16-20 hours. Try to stir it vigorously about halfway through this rise. Recover with the plastic wrap and leave at room to temperature to continue rising.
SECOND RISE:
In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, milk powder, and 2 Tablespoons of the beaten egg until thoroughly blended; reserve the remaining egg for glazing the loaf top. Vigorously stir (or beat on low spead in mixer, using dough hook) the butter mixture into the dough until smoothly and evenly incorporated; this may take several minutes. Gradually mix in 2/3 cup or enough more flour to yield a very hard-to-stir dough. Using a well-oiled rubber spatula, fold the dough in towards the center, working all the way around the bowl; this helps organize the gluten for shaping into a loaf.
Stir the raisins into the dough vigorously and then replace the plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to rest.
Coat a sheet of parchment paper with spray oil and then sprinkle generously with flour. Turn the dough out onto the parchment paper and with floured hands, shaped the dough out flat rectangularly. Using the remaining egg, brush it on top of the dough, sprinkle with the sugar/cinnamon mixture, and then cut the 1 Tablespoon of butter into fine bits and sprinkle over the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Have a 9x5 inch baking pan prepared by spraying it with an oil spray. Fold the ends of the dough in and then roll it into a roll. Placing it seam side down, place it in the prepared pan, spray the top of the dough with oil spray and then cover with plastic wrap. Set in a warm, dry place to rise again; about 1-2 hours (When it is hot outside, I set mine on the back porch; it rises quickly there). Then, remove the plastic wrap and let it continue to rise until it is about 1/2 inch above the top of the pan.
15 minutes before baking, place a rack on the lower third of the oven and preheat your over to 350 degrees. Evenly brush the remaining egg on the top of the dough and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture.
BAKING:
Bake on the lower rack for 25-30 minutes (bread will be nicely browned). Cover with foil and continue to bake for 25-35 minutes longer. Test by using an instant-read thermometer...center should register 207-209 degrees. Replace foil and then bake for an additional 10-15 minutes more to make sure the center is done. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the loaf out onto the rack.
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FOCACCIA BREAD
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Tablespoon honey
1 cup warm water
1/2 Tablespoon active dry yeast (I use Rapid Rise)
1/2 Table spoon kosher salt
1/2 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup diced onion, sauteed
2 cloves garlic, minced and sauteed with onion
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed
1 1/2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
2-3 Tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
DIRECTION:
Dissolve honey in the warm water in a large bowl, then sprinkle yeast over the top. Let stand for 5 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to foam. Stir in the salt, olive oil, sauteed onion and garlic, and flour until the dough come together. Knead on a well floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place dough onto oiled baking sheet (I use a square pan; this works best), and flatten to cover the whole sheet (pan) evenly (from corner to corner). Use the tips of your fingers to make indentations all over the dough spaced about 1 inch apart. Drizzle the focaccia with 3 Tablespoons olive oil, then sprinkle rosemary and Parmesan cheese on top. Let rise for 10 minutes. Bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
OPTIONS:
Split the focaccia bread to make sandwiches. Use different cheeses to make a great hot grilled cheese sandwich and serve it with a vegetable soup or risotto (add anything you like to the risotto; fresh vegetable or chicken; risotto only takes EXACTLY 20 minutes to make). I choose to slice mine to make and Italian sandwich, using the following ingredients: olive bruscchetta mix, yellow or red roasted peppers, calamata olives, sliced cherry tomatoes, prosciutto, and a mixture of fontina, mozzarella, and parmesan, asagio and romano cheese. After filling the bread, I then stick it back in the oven for just a little while, until the cheeses melt. I serve this with some sliced red potatoes, drizzled with olive oil and spinkled with kosher salt and Tuscan seasoning (this can be found at Marshall's;...they have a great gourmet food section) and slow baked at about 250 degrees, until the potatoes are tender (leave the peeling on them).
MAM-MAW'S HOME MADE BISCUITS
Use Self-Rising Flour...For every cup of flour you use, add 2 Tablespoons of Crisco
Put 1 cup flour in bowl. Add 2 heaping T. of Crisco and cut it up into the flour with a fork. Then add milk to consistency (you want the dough to be kind of stiff). Drop a heaping T. of dough into flour and form into a biscuit. Place biscuits onto a pan and bake on 350 degrees until golden brown on top.
MAM-MAW'S CUPCAKES/MUFFINS
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup self-rising flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter (5 1/3 T.)
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
Mix all ingredients and bake in cupcake tins at 375 degrees until golden brown.
You can add whatever you want to this recipe; I added fresh blueberries! Just remember to "fold" them in gently and not beat them.
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