January 21, 2010

Tammy

Side Dish: Almost-Famous Cheddar Biscuits

Prep Time: 25 Min

Cook Time: 15 Min

Source: Food Network Magazine, Oct 2009 issue

Ingredients/Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mist cooking spray on a large cookie sheet. Make the Biscuits: Pulse 1 3/4 cup flour, 1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp baking powder, 2 1/2 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp salt in a food processor. Add 3 Tbsp vegetable shortening (room temp) and pulse until combined. Add 4 Tbsp cold, unsalted butter (cut into 1/2 inch pieces) and pulse until butter is in pea-size pieces. Add 6 oz. grated yellow cheddar cheese and pulse 2 to 3 times. Then pour in 3/4 cup whole milk and pulse until mixture is moistened and forms a shaggy dough. Turn dough onto a clean surface and knead until the dough comes together. Do not overwork the dough or the biscuits will be tough (this is what I feared the most ). Drop the dough onto the baking sheet in 1/4 cup portions, 2 in. apart and bake until golden. Mine cooked for 15 min.

While baking melt 3 Tbsp unsalted butter with one smashed garlic clove in a pot over med heat and cook for 1 min. Remove from heat and stir in 1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley. When biscuits come out of the oven, brush the garlic butter over the top and serve. Makes about 12 biscuits.

Comments: Let me forward this by saying I was nervous about this recipe. This is supposed to be a copycat recipe of Red Lobster's cheddar biscuits. Being such a big fan of their biscuits, it was a scary endeavor. This is one of those recipes that I told myself I would try someday, but most likely would never get around to ( I have lots of those). But, this challenge that we have taken on, encouraged me to try it. Why let it just sit there unattempted? I had never made any kind of biscuit before and when it said if you overwork the dough it will turn out tough, I was sure that was where my biscuits would go. To the land of too tough to eat :) Actually though, this recipe was super easy. Who doesn't love to make something where the food processor does all the work for you? These actually turned out really good. Very good flavor and they weren't tough, YAY!!!! Were they as good as Red Lobster? No. However, I think that they could be really close if you double up the garlic butter and be very generous with the amount put on the biscuit. It soaks right into the biscuit. Yum. Also, when reflecting back on them this morning, I think I would take the advice of my 7 year old and cook them less time in the oven. One of the best parts of the Red Lobster ones is how soft they are. Mine were a little crispy on the outside. Maybe I would try to cook it at 12 minutes and see what happens. Regardless, I was proud of myself for taking this one finally on :)

Melissa: I was proud of sis for trying a biscuit recipe...I definitely won't be trying one of those anytime soon. I remember the one and only time I have ever tried to make bread sticks they turned out like 12 inches long and hard as a rock =). Anyways, these were very yummy. I don't know if anyone can make a Red Lobster biscuit just like they do - but these were close and if you double the garlic that's rubbed on top, I think it will be perfect.



Janice: These biscuits were srcumptious. I loved them. They were a little like my recipe, but we all decided that adding a litting more topping at the end would probably make them more moist. But, overall they didn't really need anything. Tammy was very nervous and I was nervous for her, but I new it would all come out all right in the end which it did.

Janice

Entree: Chicken Noodle Casserole

Source: The Four Ingredient Cookbook

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients/Directions: 1 (8 ounce) package egg noodles, cooked and drained 1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted 6 chicken legs or thighs paprika Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cooked noodles and soup. Place into a casserole pan. Arrange chicken on top of noodles. Sprinkle with paprika. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until chicken is tender.


Comments: I was very pround of myself for having tried this recipe. However, I discovered that it was very dry. So the conclusion by me was that when I made that recipe again, I would put in more cream of mushroom soup so that it would not be so dry. Also to add some seasoning to the chicken. As we were talking about it later, it donned on Tammy that instead of doubling the recipe, I had quadrupled it. This meant that I would have needed to add 2 more cans of soup. No wonder it was so dry. Well, live and learn. I was funny when I thought about it. Next meeting I am going to really challenge myself and see what I come up with.

Tammy: Mom thought she doubled the recipe, but she had actually quadrupled the amount of noodles. She put in 2 lbs of noodles, but only doubled the other ingredients. Dish turned out pretty dry and the chicken was not seasoned. I think that if she had stuck to the recipe and had seasoned the chicken it would have turned out okay. Ok Mom, time to step it up a notch. Get way out of your comfort zone and do something really challenging. One thing that we all realized last night was out of the 3 times that we have done this, we have each had trouble on our main dish night. What is that old saying? "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree?" Ha, ha.


Lissa: We realized, after the fact, that mom had tripled her amount of noodles and not the rest of the recipe, so the noodles and chicken were both dry...and the chicken didn't have any seasonings. I think with the way the recipe was written and some seasonings on the chicken it would have been great! And, I love cheese so I think a little cheese on top would have been perfect. Sis and I both challenged mom to try a recipe that wasn't out of the "4 ingredients cookbook" so she can really try something that's different".






Melissa
Dessert: Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cool Time: 1 hour
Ingredients/Directions: 1 1/2 sticks of butter or margarine, melted 2 cups graham cracker crumbs 2 cups powdered sugar 1 cup of peanut butter 1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup peanut butter Melt on stove butter and 1 cup of peanut butter. Meanwhile mix together graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar in bowl. Stir in melted ingredients and spread into ungreased 13x9 inch pan (suggested to use wax paper on bottom). Place in freezer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile melt chocolate and remaining peanut butter in metal or glass bowl over simmering water. Then spread over prepared crust and refrigerate for 1 hour. Cut into squares and serve.


Comments: I loved, loved this dessert! It was super easy, even for me (haha) and I'm not sure how anyone could mess this up (other than maybe burning the chocolate, which I have done in the past). Of course, I'm not saying I didn't make a mess in the process LOL. I poured powdered sugar all down the front of my shirt and on my shoes and dumped the bag of chocolate chips all over the floor and counter. Don't ever expect me to be in the kitchen and not make a total mess, even if the recipe calls for one ingredient! My only complaint was that the chocolate was too thick on top and the crust was too thin, so I think that if I had just used 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips and only 1/4 cup of peanut butter for the topping, it would have been great and maybe try using a small square pan (like 9x9) so the crust is thicker because it was sooo good! Also, it is very sweet so very small portions go a long way, it probably could serve 15 people. Oh! And I would love to try it with crunchy peanut butter. Yum


Tammy: My sister makes me laugh every time we are in the kitchen together. We are a lot alike in the fact that we make a total mess when cooking. Luckily I got through last night unscathed, however I can't say the same about Lissa's shirt and shoes :) Regarding the recipe, can I just say, YUM! I loved them. Super delish and looked so easy. I think the amount of chocolate on top is a preference. I might try milk chocolate next time. Other than that, I would leave it as is. What we learned about dessert is that it tends to be much easier than the main dish. We have all been winners when it was our turn for dessert. Really though, dessert is the most important place to shine right? After all, it is the best part of any meal :)


Janice: Well my daughters are right. No matter what kitchen we are in we do have fun. In fact we always have the biggest mess when we are trying to put a meal together. Normally this would drive me crazy because I am sort of a neat freak, but for some reason I don't evey think about it then. I loved this recipe. Of course, I am a peanut butter and chocolate freak anyway.




Tammy:  Devyn wanted to get in on the action.  She made up her own recipe.  She stirred peanut butter with chocolate chips, crushed graham crackers, and roasted peanuts and put it on a graham cracker.  It was pretty good.  Loved the chocolate in it.