Soft Dinner Rolls For A Crowd

As those who know me can attest, I have a lot of recipes for different kinds breads. I love to bake and breads are one of my favorite things to bake. I just love kneading the bread and I love the smell of yeast and of the bread baking. Bread fresh from the oven is hard for me to resist...well pretty much impossible really! Even with all the recipes I have, I do have my certain "go to" recipes that are tested and true that I always use for certain situations. For instance I always use the same recipe for cinnamon rolls, or one for my pizza bread, or another for my Utah fried scones. I don't vary because these recipes are to me the best. Well this recipe is the one I always use when I need to make a bunch! The recipe is one that I modified from my friend Anath; it was her mothers recipe.

 

Rolls for a Crowd 

3 cups hot water (direct from tap)

¼ lb butter (1/2 cup)  

1 Tablespoon sugar

 

Mix & when butter is melted

ADD 3 pkgs. dry yeast (let yeast get bubbly)  

 

When good and bubbly add    

 

¾ cup sugar                                                       

2 teaspoon salt                                                                            

3 beaten eggs

9 heaping cups flour

 

MIX and let rise 1 hour (or doubled in bulk) this will be a soft dough – On a floured surface roll dough to about 3/4" thickness and cut with biscuit cutter.

 

When I make these for a pot-luck, or party I will cut them small; with a 2" biscuit cutter. You get more rolls that way. I can fit 5 dozen on my pan. That way little kids or light eaters can take one, and adults can take two...and of coarse teenage boys will take as many as they can fit on their plate!

 

Put about 1/2 cup vegetable oil in a large pan. I use a 1/2 sheet cake pan. Turn rolls in oil. – Let rise.

for a richer taste, you can substitute the 1/2 cup oil for melted butter.

 

Once the rolls have been rolled in the oil, you can put toppings on to make them more fancy and personal. I like sesame or poppy seeds or both. Granulated onion or garlic is nice and adds a really nice flavor. a little smoked paprika and garlic powder is great for a bar-b-que.  Powdered Ranch  dressing mix is great for when serving with salads!

 

Bake at 375 degrees  for 20 minutes or until brown.

If no toppings have been added, brush tops with butter when done.

 

The dough can be put in the refrigerator just after mixing until you are ready to use then set out to rise, roll & etc.

The cooked rolls can be frozen and when needed just wrap in foil and put in Preheated 300 degree oven until hot.

 

 



Pumpkin Butter Muffins

This year I made so much Pumpkin Butter, I ran out of freezer containers! So I decided to bake the leftovers. This recipe turned out really great. I doubled it and froze most of the muffins for later use. I hope you enjoy it!

Pumpkin Butter Muffins
1/2 cup shortening or butter
1 cup sugar
2 Eggs
1 2/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup pumpkin butter
1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar. beat in eggs on at a time. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add pumpkin butter. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake in paper lined or greased muffin tins for 20 minutes.

Ham & Cheese Sourdough Popovers

Ham & Cheese Sourdough Popovers

Combine milk & eggs well, then stir in starter, salt and flour. Don't over mix!

Gently stir in seasonings, cheese and ham. this is a thin batter.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Heat a muffin or popover pan in oven. Remove pan from oven and quickly spray with non stick spray. If using a muffin pan only use every other cup. Pour batter into the cups, filling all the way to the top. Bake for 15 minutes. Lower heat to 375 degrees and cook another 15- 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Sourdough Ham & Cheese Popovers

1 cup milk

3 large eggs

1/2 cup ,sourdough starter fed or unfed

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1/2 tsp. granulated onion
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (Swiss cheese may also be used)
1/2 cup finely diced ham

• 8 ounces milk (full-fat, reduced-fat, or skim)
• 3 large eggs
• 4 1/2 ounces sourdough starter, fed or unfed
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 1/4 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

• 227g milk (full-fat, reduced-fat, or skim)
• 3 large eggs
• 128g sourdough starter, fed or unfed
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 120g King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Directions

In the microwave warm the milk until it feels just slightly warm to the touch.

Combine the  milk with the eggs, beat until smooth. Add the  sourdough starter and salt, mix in the flour. Don't over-mix! Add seasonings and ham & cheese, gently stir in.  This is a thin batter.

Heat a muffin or popover pan in the oven while it's preheating to 450°F.

Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven, and spray it thoroughly with non-stick pan spray. Pour the batter into the cups, filling them almost to the top. If you're using a muffin tin, fill cups all the way to the top.

Bake the popovers for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven heat to 375°F and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove the popovers from the oven and serve immediately.

Makes 6-8 popovers.

Pumpkin Butter

Many years ago our family visited The Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur, Illinois for the very first time. It was there I discovered the wonderful taste of Pumpkin Butter. I immediately went home and started searching for recipes. After tweaking the recipe many time this is my latest and probably final draft.

Selecting pumpkins and Preparing pumpkins... you can use any kind of pumpkin, even Jack-o-lantern pumpkins. I like pie or sugar pumpkins best.                                                                   You can often find pumpkins on sale the day of Halloween or after. I have even been able to pick them up for free the day after Halloween!                                                     Wash the pumpkins, cut in halve, scrape out seeds and bake at 350 degrees until very tender. Cooking time really depends on size and type of pumpkin.

In the past, I would boil the pumpkin, but baking gives a much stronger flavor and less wet pumpkin meat.  I usually bake all my pumpkin the day before I make my butter. After cooling the pumpkins,  the peel will come of very easy. I then put the pumpkin meat in large bowls and refrigerate until the following day. You can do it all in one day, but I usually like to break the process up.
The next step can be done in several ways, I like using a food processor, although a blender or strainer also work. You need to process the pumpkin to the same consistency as apple sauce. I measure it as I go and put it all in a large Dutch oven.

 Your are now ready to make your Pumpkin Butter. Just remember pureed pumpkin and squash should not be canned, it is not safe to do so. I just freeze all the pumpkin that I prepare.

I always make a lot of pureed pumpkin so I can use it in other recipes. I will post the recipes as I cook so that you to may enjoy them!

Caroline's Pumpkin Butter Recipe
4 cups pureed pumpkin
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup apple juice or cider
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine all ingredients in heavy pot and bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat stirring often.
Cook  butter until a spoonful dropped onto a plate holds it shape.
Time will depend on how wet your pumpkin meat is.
Make about 6 cups of butter. Store in refrigerator or freeze.

Remember this recipe must be frozen if not eaten right away.



Pumpkin Butter on German Pancakes!

Apple Butter

OLD FASHIONED APPLE BUTTER
1 peck of Apple's (10-12 pounds)
2 cups of water or apple cider
2 cups white sugar
4 cups brown sugar
2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice

If you have a strainer, quarter then steam your apples. Process through apple strainer. If  you don't have a strainer, Peel, core then quarter your apples. Steam apples then process in food processor or blender.
Combine all ingredients in large heavy-duty Dutch Oven. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for about 2 hours until water is evaporated. While cooking adjust spices to taste. When finished, refrigerate or can using proper canning methods.

I love Apple Butter and there are many recipes out there for crock pot Apple Butter, they are fantastic. For me this is faster and makes a much bigger batch for canning. I use it most often.  To check if apple butter is done, spoon a small amount onto a spoon or plate, if holds it shape it is ready! Enjoy!

Harvest Apple Sourdough Bread

This sourdough bread is my husbands favorite. He likes it fresh out of the oven, or toasted. He will eat it for breakfast or dessert! It is loaded with fruit and nuts.

Harvest Apple Sourdough Bread
Stir together:
1 cup chopped apple
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pieces
Add:
1 cup fed sourdough starter
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons yeast (optional for a quick rise)
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon maple flavor
5 cups flour (more or less depending on wetness of starter)
Directions:
Knead to form a smooth dough, let the dough raise until it is doubled in size. divide dough into halves and gently form into tow loaves. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Raise again until double. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray loaves with warm water and slash bread with a serrated knife. Bake bread for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool.

Chocolate Sour Dough Bundt Cake with Pumpkin Ice Cream

Oh yea, Fall is here and that means pumpkin time (although I must confess I eat pumpkin all year long. Yesterday I felt like baking something chocolatey! So I made a variation on King Arthur Flour sour dough chocolate cake...

Sourdough Chocolate Cake

1 cup "fed" sourdough starter
1 cup milk
2 cups  All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa (not Dutch process)
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
3 large eggs

Directions

1) Combine the "fed" starter, milk, and flour in a large mixing bowl. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours. It won't necessarily bubble, but it may have expanded a bit.

2) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Thoroughly grease and flour a bundt pan.

3) In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar, oil, vanilla, salt, baking soda, cocoa. The mixture will be grainy.

4) Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5) Gently combine the chocolate mixture with the starter-flour-milk mixture, stirring till smooth. This will be a gloppy process at first, but the batter will smooth out as you continue to beat gently. Fold in the Chocolate Chips.

6) Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

7) Bake the cake for 55minutes, until it springs back when lightly pressed in the center, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

8) Remove the cake from the oven, and set it on a rack to cool

Rich Chocolate Glaze for Bundt Cake



 

1can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1) In a small sauce pan slowly heat sweetened condensed milk. Add 1/4 of the chocolate chips. Drizzle a small amount of glaze on top of cooled bundt cake.

2) Return to heat and add 1/2 of the remaining chips, drizzle a small amount of this on top of bundt cake.

3) Return to heat and add remaining chocolate chips, once again drizzle a small amount on top of the cake. This will give you 3 different shades of brown on your cake.

4) OPTIONAL: I like to also melt a few white chocolate chips and drizzle on top to and another layer.

5) Now, if you have remaining chocolate sauce add a few tablespoons of milk and a touch of vanilla to make a wonderful chocolate sauce to pour on you pumpkin ice cream...or whatever ice cream you serve with your cake!

PUMPKIN ICE CREAM                                                   

1 cup cooked pumpkin                                                                                                          

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar                                                                                  

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon                                                                                 

1/4 teaspoon ground  nutmeg                                                       

1 quart (4 cups) vanilla ice cream, slightly softened

       Stir together all ingredients except ice cream in large bowl. Add ice cream in large spoonful's, stirring until well mixed. Spoon mixture into ungreased 8-inch square pan. Cover; freeze at least 3 hours.

 

 

French Onion Sourdough Bread

This delicious bread is wonderful for sandwiches or served with soup. It takes time to caramelize the onion and is well worth the effort.

Thinly slice 2 onions, I also like mine quartered to make them smaller so they can spread out further in the dough.

Melt butter in heavy skillet, then add onions.



Cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes stirring every 5 minutes.

When nice and brown and transparent, remove from heat and cool completely.




French Onion Sourdough Bread

2 Tbls. Butter

2 Medium onions, thinly sliced then quartered

1 cup fed sourdough starter

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 1/2 tsp. salt

5 cups unbleached white flour

2 tsp. yeast (optional for faster rise)

 

 

Melt butter in a heavy skillet add onions. Cook on medium low for about twenty minutes stirring every five minutes. When nice and brown remove from heat and cool completely.

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

 

Stir  onions into starter. Stir in warm water. Add remaining ingredients. Knead until smooth, 7-10 minutes. Allow dough to rise about 90 minutes until doubled in size.

 

Divide dough in half, gently shape into two loaves. Cover and let rise once again until double.

 

Bake the bread for 25-30 minutes until golden brown, cool on a rack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sourdough Cookies!

The other day I was craving cookies, and it was a day to rotate my sourdough starter so I decided to make my standby recipe of Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I measured my sour dough starter went to the pantry and discovered I was out of Raisins! Oh no-what to do?
Well, I decided to try and tweak the recipe to make chocolate chip cookies instead, and let me tell you the tang of the sourdough melded perfectly with the sweetness of the chocolate chips! I now have a new sourdough cookie favorite!




Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine (softened)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup fed sourdough starter
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. maple flavoring
1 1/2 cup unbleached white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups oats
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together shortening, butter and sugars. Stir in eggs, starter and maple flavoring until well blended. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Stir into wet ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. I use a medium size scoop to form my cookies, but if you do not have one use a soup spoon to scoop them. Place them about two inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes. I like mine to be slightly brown on the edges and soft in the center. Now my kids are grown and gone, I like big cookies. If you make smaller ones you will need to watch your cooking time.

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine (softened)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup fed sourdough starter
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups oats
1 12 oz. bag semi sweet chocolate chips

 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together shortening, butter and sugars. Stir in eggs, starter and maple flavoring until well blended. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Stir into wet ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. I use a medium size scoop to form my cookies, but if you do not have one use a soup spoon to scoop them. Place them about two inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Sloppy Jakes (a Dutch Oven Variation of Sloppy Joes)

I am Back! After almost two weeks without a computer I am so happy to be back on line and I have a few new recipes to share in the next few days!
A few years ago we canceled our cable TV. We don't miss it. My husband and I are both avid readers and if we want to watch something we will just pop in a movie. We are also big movie fans, so we enjoy watching movies without the commercials. Being without the computer is another story. I was unable to look up recipes and patterns and Hubby was unable to do genealogy, which is his hobby.  When we finally gave up on having the old one fixed and bought a new computer it took several days to get everything set back up the way we like it. It sure is nice to have it back...
The recipe I am going to share with you today is for my version of Sloppy Joes. Now, I love Sloppy Joes, but I hate commercial buns, they get soggy and then fall apart. So this is how I like to make them. I make them with biscuits...almost like dumplings or an easy pot pie. I call them Sloppy Jakes after my son Jacob, not because he is sloppy, but, because he LOVES biscuits.
Any kind of biscuits can do, you can even use canned biscuits if you are in a pinch. Biscuits are so easy to make, why would anyone want to use canned?

Cheese & Onion Baking Powder Biscuits

2 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. shortening

1 cup grated Cheddar Cheese

2 Tbls. finely chopped onion

1 Tbls chopped parsley

3/4 c. milk
 

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into bowl. Add shortening and cut into flour with fork or pastry cutter. Stir in cheese, onion and parsley. Pour in milk and stir lightly until dough holds together. Turn dough out on lightly floured board. Pat dough out until 1/2 inch thick and cut with biscuit cutter or cup rim. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes. This recipe makes about 10  2 1/2 inch biscuits.

 

Sloppy Jakes

3 lbs. ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
2  15 oz. cans of Sloppy Joe sauce
1 cup water
Cheese and Onion Biscuit dough

               In a 12" Dutch Oven, brown the ground beef with the onions and peppers. Drain off the fat. Mix the ground beef mixture, Sloppy Joe sauce and water together. Heat till bubbly. While meat mixture is heating, roll dough to about 1/2 inch thick and cut with any size biscuit cutter. when mixture is bubbly drop cut biscuits on top.  Cook in the Dutch oven for 20-30 minutes with 8 coals on bottom and 14-16 on top. Rotate lid about every10 minutes to brown evenly.

This is a super easy meal for camping. Any biscuit recipe will do, but I like Baking Powder Biscuits best.

Pinterest Cafe Rio Recipe Review

Hi Everyone!
If you haven't noticed yet, I love to cook! If you live in Utah you most possibly are acquainted with the restaurant Café Rio. I crave their food, and since I live 1500 miles away from Utah, I have to make my own. I looked to Pinterest for copycat recipes; and here is what I tried and my opinion of them!

First for the chicken I found the recipe here...
http://www.mandysrecipeboxblog.com/2011/04/cafe-rio-chicken.html  I use part breast and part thighs. The chicken was very good, a little dry, next time I will marinate it and that should take care of the dryness. It was even better the next day! This is a recipe I will definitely do again!

For the beans, rice and dressing I used the recipes found here...
http://www.clarkscondensed.com/diy/cafe-rio-copycat-recipes/  The Cilantro Rice was amazing, I could have eaten it plain. I won't do anything to change the recipe.  The Cilantro Lime dressing was also really good. It made quite a lot and I have had it on several salads since. Since there is only the two of us next time I will cute it in half. I still have half of a quart jar left. The Black Bean recipe was a little disappointing. I think I will tweak with this recipe a bit before I serve it to others. It was good, just not as good as I would have liked!

The Clarks Condensed blog where I found the main recipe is great, it also has a copycat recipe for the Sweet pork, which I haven't tried yet. What is a nice perk, she has the recipes sized for a family or for a crowd...very convenient if we want to have a Café Rio party in Illinois!

Garden Sourdough Bread in a Terra Cotta Pot

For this weeks sourdough I made bread with the bounties of summer. What makes this bread so fun is that I cooked it in Terra Cotta flower pots. It makes a great presentation for you table and any bread recipe can be cooked in terra cotta.

Now is a great time to get your flower pots, many stores have them on clearance, I wanted a few more, and was able to  get 4" pots on clearance for  19 cents. 4 inch is my favorite size. It will serve 2-3 people. I also have two 8" pots.  The pots cannot be glazed, inside or out, you want just plain ol' terra cotta. Make sure they are as smooth as possible on the inside. Wash the pots with warm soapy water and sit them out to dry thoroughly.  I usually wash them the night before. When dry, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Liberally spread your pots on the inside with vegetable shortening.  Place them on a foil lined cookie sheet then in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove them and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Re-apply more shortening and repeat the process. I usually do this 4-5 times until the terra cotta can hold no more shortening. On the last application I also do the outside just to make it look nice. Now your flower pot is ready to use. It can be used over and over now with bread, as long as you grease the pot with either shortening or spray oil before adding your dough. 

 

This makes a really cute gift, but for some reason I never get my pots back, I guess people don't understand the work to get them ready!

For the Garden Sourdough Bread Recipe click on my Sourdough page! 

Sourdough & Dutch Ovens

I don't know why, but when I make sourdough bread, it just call out to my Dutch ovens!  We had a Pioneer Day Activity here in Decatur for the kids 8-11 years old. I talked to the kids about how the pioneers cooked. It was so much fun! I made "Utah" scones and sourdough bread. The kids made butter to put on top of the breads, and it was delicious!



Most often for sourdough bread I will use the recipe on King Arthur Flour for Rustic Sourdough bread. It is very basic, fast and delicious.

 

The recipe uses yeast to help it rise faster, but this is just as great without yeast. The night before you want the bread, make the recipes as directed omitting the yeast. I form 1/2 the bread dough and place it in my greased 10" Dutch oven. I then place it in my refrigerator over night. I remove it from the fridge about 2-3 hours before I bake it. If I was cooking it in colder weather I might take it out in the morning.  I then cook the bread with 8 briquettes on the bottom and 14 on top, rotating every 15 minutes. The sourdough starter here in Illinois is more sweet than commercial sourdough or San Francisco sourdough.  This bread is wonderful served with soup or salads. I also like it with flavored butters! To see the full recipe go to my sourdough page at this blog!

"Utah Scones" not to be confused with British Scones.



Deep fried bread dough, best served with butter, honey or molasses!

Pioneer Day and my Panquitch Heritage

Today, July 24th is a day that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints celebrate the arrival of the first pioneer company into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.
My Mom loved to share the stories of Southern Utah and our Pioneer History. This is one story she often told me and I miss her most on days like today!

 

In 1863 a group of members were sent by the Prophet Brigham Young to settle the Panquitch Valley.  The winter of 1864-1865 was extremely cold and snow was deep. Crops were planted but the season was short and they did not mature.  The wheat was still green when the first snows came. Soon the Panquitch pioneers began to run out of food and supplies. The closest supplies were forty miles to the west over the difficult Bear Valley Road in Parowan.  Seven men, were selected to go from Panquitch to Parowan to get flour and food for their starving families.  They began with oxen and a wagon. Soon the snow was so deep they had to abandon the wagon and oxen and walk. The snow was soon so deep the men could not walk. In faith they decided to kneel and pray. The men laid a quilt on the snow to kneel on. After their faithful prayer for help to save their families the men rose to realize that they had not sunk in the snow. They continued on their journey by laying a quilt on the deep snow, when they walked to the end of the quilt, they would lay the next quilt down. They continued laying quilts one end to another, relaying the quilts as they went. They were able to reach the town of Parowan by walking on the quilts.
The following words were written by Alexander Matheson:  "We decided that if we had faith as big as a mustard seed, we could make it and bring flour to our starving families.  So we began the quilt-laying in prayerful earnestness.  The return trip was harder with the weight of the flour, but we finally made it to our wagon and oxen and on home with thankfulness to the Lord for his goodness.  The whole settlement welcomed us,  because we had been gone longer expected.  There had been prayers, tears, and fears which turned to rejoicing and cheers."

The Quilt Walk Monument in Panquitch Utah