Mae Dawsons's Hoosier or sugar cream pie

I made this for my friend. It's easy and delicious. I made mine into mini pies using a round cookie cutter and cupcake baking dish.

Ingredients

2 tablespoon butter cut into small pieces
3/4 cup milk
1/2 pint (1-cup) whipping cream
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, unsifted
1 1/3 cup sugar
pinch nutmeg

For the 9 inch pie shell

1/3 cup plus 1 T. Butter, softened, diced

1 c. Flour

1/4 t. Salt

4 T. Cold water

In a bowl, mash butter with salt into flour. Once well incorporated, slowly add water. If you add too much water, add extra flour when you are rolling out on a floured surface. 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F

Combine sugar, flour, cream, and milk in a mixing bowl. Pour into pie shell. Dot butter bits all around top of pie. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and cook for approximately 30 more minutes. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until chilled. Serve chilled.

Cook’s Note: If using a glass baking dish, lower oven temperature by 25 degrees F. 

Oatmeal cookies

Moist inside yet still crispy crust. Tasty but doesn't alway hold it's round shape.

2 sticks butter, softened (1 cup)

1 1/2 c. Brown sugar

1 t. Vanilla

2 eggs

2/3 cup buttermilk

2 cups flour

1/2 t. Salt

1/2 t. Baking soda

2 t. Baking powder

1 t. Cinnamon

1/2 t. Cloves

1 1/2 c. Oats

1 c. Chopped nuts

1 c. Raisins or chopped dates or butterscotch chips (optional)

Cream butter, sugar. Add eggs, vanilla. Add salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves. Alteratively add buttermilk and flour. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Drop onto greased baking sheet. Bake 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Country Style Ribs

Boil ribs with salt, cayenne powder, whole garlic or garlic cut in half for 45 minutes to an hour (until tender). Save a little water for the pan about 1/4-1/2 cup.  In a shallow pan, bake ribs with some of the boiled liquid for 25-30 minutes at 325. Baste with your favorite sauce. Ribs will be moister, helps to reduce some fat, not the flavor.

Whole food croissants and pain au chocolat

Sounds too hard? Try slicing open a store bought croissant add some chocolate bars or if you like it sweet, add chocolate chips and place in a toaster oven.

Makes 10 plain and 10 chocolate croissants

For the dough
1 lb 1 5/8 oz. high gluten flour
3 1/2 oz. milk (just over 1/4 cup)
7 1/8 oz. water (less than 1cup)
3/8 oz. salt
1 5/8 oz. sugar
1 oz. yeast
9 1/2 oz. butter

Chocolat
10 chocolate batons

Recipe
In a mixing bowl, pour the yeast, sugar, salt, slowly adding water and milk. Mix for 1 minute. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.

Place dough onto a floured surface. Roll into a rectangle. Cover 1/3 of the dough with softened butter (in the center portion)  then fold the rectangle in thirds starting with the sides not covered with butter (towards the center) Roll the dough and fold in thirds. Repeat two more times. Place dough in the refrigerator. Fold dough one more time.

Shaping the dough for plain croissants
Roll out half the dough, very thin
Form a rectangle, cut it in 2 lengthwise
Cut each band of dough into triangles, start at the base of the dough and roll toward the triangle tip.   Bend the side edges inward to make it crescent shaped. 

Shaping for chocolat
Take the other half of a dough. Shape dough into a large rectangle. Cut it into smaller rectangles. Place a chocolate baton across each rectangle and roll the dough around the chocolate baton. 

Baking
Preheat oven to 400 f or 200 c
Brush the tops of the croissants with beaten eggs. Bake 15 minutes until golden brown.

Butternut squash with apples

Cut squash in half. Remove seeds and fibers with a spoon. In a large rectangular baking dish. Place skin side down. Meanwhile peel and dice apple. Mix brown sugar, flour, salt, diced butter. Sprinkle some of the sugar mixture over the the flat part (neck) of the squash. Mix the rest of the sugar mixture with the apple and put in the hole (where te seeds used to be). Preheat oven to 400. Fill pan with some water, 1/4 inch deep. Cover with foil. Bake 30-40 minutes until tender.

All American Red, white, blue chocolate cake

1 cup cocoa
2 c. Boiling water 
1 c. Melted butter (2 sticks, Unsalted) 
2 1/2 cups sugar 
4 eggs 
2 tsp. vanilla 
2 1/3 c. Flour 
2 tsp. baking soda 
1/2 tsp. baking powder 
1/2 tsp. salt 

 Topping-whipped cream, Strawberries, sliced, blueberries. In a small container, mix boiling water and cocoa and set aside to cool. Cream butter and eggs with vanilla. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt. Alternate adding flour and cocoa mixture. Do not over mix. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9x12 pan lined with parchment. Pour into the pan. Bake 30-35 minutes. Let cool. To make a flag, Top with whipped cream. Stars corner are made from blueberries. Stripes are whipped cream and strawberries.

Lemon ice

Pucker up. It's refreshing. I have tried this with lemon zest. I prefer it without, my husband likes it with. If you like it less sweet, use 1 cup sugar. Makes about 5-6 cups. 2 1/2 c. Water, divided 1 1/4 c. Sugar 1 c. Lemon juice or juice of 3 large lemons (ok if it's over a little) Boil 1 cup of water using a teapot or microwave. In a large bowl, add sugar and hot water. Once sugar is dissolved, add 1 1/2 c. Cool water, lemon juice. Let cool in the refrigerator 30 minutes to 1 hour. Place in an ice cream maker or in a freezer safe container or large baggie. For those who are using a container, freeze overnight. Break up larger chunks. You can eat it as is or puree in a blender in small batches to get a smoother constancy. Refreeze. If hardens too much break it up with a fork.

Paprika chicken

1/4 c. Canola or olive oil
 3 cloves garlic
3 1/2 lbs. chicken breasts, cut
4 teaspoons sweet paprika
 1 teaspoon hot paprika
3 fresh tomatoes or a can 28 oz. Crushed tomatoes
2 green peppers, diced
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 c. Sour cream

 Heat oil and chicken 10 minutes until cooked on medium heat. Reduce heat to medium low. Add garlic, paprikas, tomatoes, peppers, salt, 1 cup water. Stir. Cover and simmer. Stir occasionally. Cook 45 minutes. Serve with spaetzle and sour cream.

Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans, drained (I use Bush's brand other brands vary in water content,flavor and salt content) 1/2 lemon, juiced 1-2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 2 T. Or more Olive oil (depending on the type of beans you use) Salt and pepper In a blender, pulse purée the above ingredients. If it is too thick add a little more olive oil. Add salt and pepper. Scrape the sides and stir. Should be a smooth consistency. I prefer this version. Traditionally you would add 1-2 T. Tahini. Serve with pita or pita chips. Some people like it with veggies. You can easily double this recipe

Pocket Pita bread

I got this recipe from http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread It is delicious.
In our house it is gone in a flash. Eat it with hummus, butter or  butter and honey or use to make a falafel sandwich.

3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar or honey (tried it both ways-they are both good)
1 package active rise yeast or two teaspoons
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons butter

 This recipe is makes 7-8 pitas Mix together yeast, water, honey in large mixing bowl. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes. Add 3 cups flour and salt, butter and yogurt. Knead on a floured suface. Shape into a round baseball sized mass. Place the dough in a large large greased glass bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let mixture rest for about 90 minutes. Preheat oven to 400F. Punch down and knead 10 minutes. Break into pieces. On a floured surace, Roll into round or oval shapes with a rolling pin. Thinner dough will make be better. Bake on a pizza stone or baking sheet for about 3 minutes per side or til it gets puffy. Baking sheet may make it crispier.

Naan

This recipe is similar to the pita recipe with a few variations. Well worth the effort. You can double the recipe. 
1 package active rise yeast or 2 teaspoons 
1 T. Honey (here honey is the way to go)
 1 cup water at 110 degrees F. 
3 cups flour 
1 1/2 teaspoons salt 
2. Tablespoon butter 
2-3 T. Plain Yogurt 

 Mix together yeast, water, honey in large mixing bowl. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes. Add 3 cups flour and salt, butter and yogurt. Knead a floured surface. Shape into a round softball sized mass. Place dough in a large greased glass bowl. Cover with a wet cloth or plastic wrap. Let mixture rest/rise for about 90 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Punch down and knead 10 minutes . Break into pieces 7-8. On a floured surface, roll into round or oval shapes with a rolling pin. Bake for 3 minutes per side on a pizza stone or baking sheet.

Easy BBQ pulled pork for the crock pot

Be sure to have enough water or it may burn. I should mention this freezes well. You should defrost in the microwave or by setting in the fridge 1-2 days beforehand.

 1 small pork sirloin tip roast  1/2-3/4 cup water, 1/2 bottle of BBQ sauce for in the slow cooker plus some for the sandwhich.

Dry rub: 1-2 t. Cumin 1/2 t. Paprika sweet or smoky Dash garlic, pepper, cayenne, mustard, cloves, cinnamon, salt 1-2 teaspoons of brown sugar Rub on tip roast. Wet portion A teaspoon balsamic vinegar, ketchup About 1/2-3/4 of a small container of BBQ sauce Add some water and your favorite sauce. Enough to cover most of the meat. Cook on low. Some of the liquid will evaporate. Turn over part way. Towards the end you can shred and add more liquid as needed so you do not burn your sauce or meat. I like mine on a hamburger bun with mayo and lime juice.

Toum- Lebanese garlic dip- I'm so addicted

5-6 cloves of garlic Juice of half a lemon About (start with slightly less) 1/4 cup of canola or vegetable oil - do not substite olive oil as it is too strong and can be bitter Pinch of salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons mayonnaise- cut calories by using light mayo (mayo is not traditional but tames the strong garlic flavor and helps maintain the desired thickness) In a food processor, finely grind garlic, add lemon juice, veggie oil. Mixture will turn white and smooth. Put it in a container and add mayo. Refrigerate. If garlic is still too strong, add a little more mayo. Add salt and pepper. I use this dip for chicken or dipping cold veggies like carrots or broccoli. My daughter loves to eat this with bread and french fries. You can make a double batch with 1 about 1 head (add garlic slowly to taste), 1/2 cup oil and juice of 1 lemon. You may want to start out with a little less oil at first. Elephant garlic is milder in flavor.

If you make it with olive oil by mistake, you can add mayo and white wine vinegar to make a dressing or add to yogurt to marinate chicken or beef. Olive oil can be bitter and salty.

My daughter also likes to put it in a sandwich with bread with mozarella, pepperoni.

Ginger cakes

I got this recipe from La Brea Bakery. Uses 10 2in tall 3 inch diameter cake rings. Lightly coated with butter and chilled. Bread crumb coating: 1/2 small loaf sourdough bread or 1 1/2 c, bread crumbs 1 1/2 t. Ground ginger 2 T. Plus 1 t. Granulated sugar Batter: 2 sticks plus 2 T. Unsalted butter 1 c. Whole milk 3 1/4 c. Pastry or all purpose flour, unbleached 1 T. Plus 2 t. Baking powder 1 T. Ground ginger 3/4 teaspoon ground white pepper 4 eggs 2 1/4 cups plus 1 T. Dark brown sugar, lightly packed 2 T. Molasses 2 T. Fehily ground ginger, about 3 inch piece of ginger Crumb topping: Preheat oven to 325 Use bread crumbs or Cut or tear bread and bake until firm but not colored. Allow to cool. Combine bread crumbs, ground ginger, sugar. Set aside. Batter: Melt the butter, heat the milk over medium heat or in the microwave, set aside to cool. Beat with a mixer the eggs and brown sugar 3-5 minutes until thickened. On low speed, add molasses, fresh ginger until combined. Add the baking, powder, ground ginger, white pepper, flour. Batter will be fairly thin. Pour the batter into cake rings 2/3 filled. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of topping over each and bake for 25-30 minutes. Makes 10 small cakes.

Chocolate marshallow cookies

These cookies remind me of a hostess ho-ho.

 Cookies:
1 3/4 cup cake flour (regular flour works too)
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 t. Baking soda
1/2 c. Cocoa
1/2 c. Butter
1 c. Sugar
1 egg
1 t. Vanilla
1/4 c. Milk
18 large marshmallows, halved or stacker marshmallows (flattened)
1/2 c. Pecans (for decoration topping)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter, sugar. Add egg, vanilla, milk. Beat well. Add flour, salt, soda cocoa. Drop by the teaspoon. Bake 8 min. Add marshmallow. Bake for 2 minutes. 

Frosting:
 2 c. Confectioners sugar
 5 T. Cocoa
1/8 t. Salt
3 T. Butter
4-5 T. Cream or milk
Mix together. Put on the top of the cookies. Add the pecan to the top of the frosting.