Buttery Honey Beer Bread

I found this on cookiemonstercooking.com a couple years ago, and I have been very impressed by it. The reason I like it so much is that it's a quick-bread (no rising, kneading, proofing, waiting) with the texture of a yeast bread. It's also really forgiving: you don't have to have cake flour (I never have cake flour), and you don't have to use expensive beer. I almost always have the ingredients to make this bread. It takes a few minutes to mix up, and then 50-60 minutes to make, it doesn't have to cool completely before cutting it (though that's certainly easier), and it tastes delicious. This recipe makes 1 loaf, around one pound in weight.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour *
• 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons honey
• 1 bottle (12 oz) of your favorite beer
• 4 Tablespoons butter (the original recipe specifies unsalted, but I generally use all my unsalted butter in scones and shortbread, and I like the salt in this bread) melted and slightly cooled

* As I said, I never have cake flour on hand, so I always use 3 cups of regular flour. I also almost always use self-rising flour, which means I can omit the baking powder and salt. However, if you use all-purpose flour, make sure you put those leavening agents in there.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or butter or shortening.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together both kinds of flour, the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the honey and beer, and mix until just combined. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. (It says batter, but it's more of a stick dough, it's very thick.) Pour the melted butter over the top of the batter. (Occasionally I screw up and melt a whole stick of butter instead of half, but this has only ever made the bread yummier.)
3. Transfer the pan to the oven and place a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any butter that may drip. (This has never happened to me, maybe because the baking powder native to self-rising flour is less than what is called for here, and if you follow the recipe exactly you may get more rise than I usually do. However, I do not neglect to place that cookie sheet there, just in case.)
4. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a cake-tester inserted into the middle comes out clean and the top is golden brown.
5. Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack for cooling. This will give it a harder, crunchier crust.  You can serve it warm, but be advised it's more difficult to slice.

Chinese Cabbage Salad

I saw this on Pinterest (http://jamiecooksitup.net/2011/08/chinese-cabbage-salad/), and it was similar to a recipe I got from a friend years ago, so I gave it a try. (I'll include the first version as a variation at the end.) It's Gary's and Hans' favorite.  This is slightly different than the site I've listed, as I go ahead with the peanut butter even if I have peanut oil. We just like the flavor.

Time: 40 minutes            Yield: 15 servings

2 1/2 pounds nappa cabbage

5 green onions

3 packages ramen noodles, chicken flavor if you use the variation recipe

1/2 C butter

1/4 C sliced almonds

1/4 C sesame seeds

Dressing:

3 T peanut butter + peanut or canola oil to equal 3/4 C

1/2 C sugar

1/4 C rice vinegar

2 T soy sauce

Cut the tail end off of your cabbage and toss it in the trash. Thinly slice the rest of the cabbage and place it into a large bowl. (NOTE: This is actually the way to chaos. Start at the opposite end, slice the cabbage off the stem in thin slices. The stem holds it all together. I don't know about you, but my hands are not large enough to hold that thing together once it comes off the thing that holds it together AND still slice through it with a large knife. So just slice it until you're about 3 inches from the end, where the leaves are really thick, and then throw the end away. This is the voice of experience.)

Slice your green onions and add them to your bowl.

Open up your packages of Ramen Noodles. For this recipe, put the flavor packets aside. If you're making the variation, save them for the dressing. Take the noodles and place them in a gallon sized freezer zip lock bag and pound them into small pieces with a meat tenderizer or rolling pin or iron skillet or heavy book, whatever totes your goats.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Melt your butter and then add your almonds, sesame seeds, and ramen noodles.  (IMPORTANT NOTE: I seldom use the butter. I just toast my mixture in a dry hot pan, and it works fine without the fat. ALSO: Toast your stuff in stages, doing the ramen noodles first, then the almonds, and then add the sesame seeds at the end. If you put them all in at the same time, the sesame seeds will burn, the almonds will mostly burn, and the ramen will still be white. That is the voice of experience. Learn from my culinary tragedy!)

Cook the mixture over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until everything turns a nice toasty brown.  Set the crunchy mixture aside to cool.

Place 3 T of peanut butter into a glass measuring cup pour oil into the cup, right over the top of the peanut butter. Your total measurement with the peanut butter and oil should be 3/4 C. (I have also done it where I forgot about displacing the pb in the oil and I just used 3 T of pb and 3/4 cup oil, and no one but me knew the difference.)

Put the peanut butter/oil mixture into the microwave and heat it for 30 seconds. Stir it all around until the peanut butter dissolves.  (You can put this into the sauce pan and heat it there if you don't have a heat-proof measuring cup. Or if you have to do dishes by hand and don't want to wash ANOTHER thing.)

Into a medium sized sauce pan, pour the sugar, peanut butter/oil mixture, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Mix it thoroughly. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil over medium high heat. Let it boil hard for one minute. Then set it aside to cool. If you do not cool the dressing first, it will wilt even the heartiest greens. You can put it in the fridge or freezer to hurry it along.

When you are ready to serve, toss the cabbage and green onions with the crunchy ramen mixture, and pour the dressing over the top to coat. Serve immediately.

VARIATION: You can use romaine lettuce if you can't get nappa cabbage. If you don't like peanut butter or are allergic, you can use regular vegetable oil and use the chicken flavor packets instead of peanut butter. You can also use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.

ONE LAST NOTE: When I make this for a large dinner or potluck (It's a Large Salad), I do mix everything together. When it's just my family or a small dinner party, I out the greens in the bowl and pass the toppings and dressing separately. This is because the crunchies will not be crunchy as leftovers, and they are very unappetizing when they are uncrunchy. This recipe makes more crunchies than people tend to put on their own salads, and less dressing than people tend to put on their own salads.

Lipton Onion Roasted Potatoes

Right off the box, y'all. And SO simple. This is one of those recipes I multiply by 4 or 5 for potluck dinners, and I never bring any leftovers home. This serves about 8.

1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix (splurge of you can, and get the Lipton. The other tastes weird.)
2 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed and cubed (or peeled and cubed)
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a bowl, add all the ingredients and toss until the potatoes are evenly coated.

Spread the mixture out in a shallow baking dish. Bake, stirring occasionally, for 40-45 minutes, until tender and golden. (If you cut your cubes smaller and don't have too thick a layer of potatoes, they cook faster.)

Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Garlic Cheese Drop Biscuits

These are LIKE those biscuits you get at Red Lobster, but they are not copy-cat. They go great with soup, with fried ham, with breakfast….

• 2 cups Bisquick (regular or reduced fat)
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1.5 teaspoons garlic salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Yes really. Do it now, because once you mix these babies up, you won’t want to wait for your oven.

Mix Bisquick, cheese, and milk in a bowl until well-combined. No dry spots. Let it rest 5 minutes.

Spray a cookie sheet with Pam, or if you’re owner of a seasoned pizza stone you can use that and you don’t even have to spray it.  

Now here you have a choice: I use a small cookie-scoop and make 3 dozen (or more) bite-size biscuits, or I use a fork and make the biscuits about twice that size. This takes some practice to make them round rather than oblong, and you’re going to get dough on your finger. If you have a normal ice cream scoop with a lever, you can use that. I don’t have one of those anymore. (I don’t miss it.)

Bake 8-10 minutes. You might need to go longer if you use a bigger scoop. You want them to get brown on the edges and the rough parts.

While it’s baking, mix your butter and garlic salt. If you want to be REALLY fancy, you can use fresh crushed garlic and sea salt. In my opinion, it’s BISQUICK. Fresh garlic might be a little over the top. Sea salt is just wrong.

As soon as the biscuits are out of the oven, start brushing on the garlic butter. You want to baptize every single one of those golden-brown lumps of Fabulousness. I use my pastry brush. I have a silicone one, and it’s perfect. (The old bristle-one that I had and wore out worked perfectly well, too.) I usually have enough butter to thoroughly coat every biscuit.

You’ll have to use a spatula or pancake turner to get them off your baking sheet. Serve hot or warm or cold. You will be a hero.

And if you make a batch and eat them all yourself, I won't judge you.