Au Gratin Potatoes

 Place 2 tablespoons of soft or melted butter in a cup containing 1 & 1/2 cups of heavy cream (I use cream that is 40% cream). Add 1/2 tsp. minced garlic (or more if desired).

In a tiny bowl combine 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper and a scant tsp. dried thyme.

Grate a pound or so of cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, gruyere or a combo of whatever you like).

Thinly slice about 4-5 large russet potatoes.

Make 3 layers in the order of: potatoes then cream mixture, then salt mixture, and a scant cup of cheese. On the last layer, don't put the cheese on top.

Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Uncover and add the last of the grated cheese. Bake an additional 15 minutes. Yum.

Cauliflower Soup

 I don't know about you, but I love a good soup when it is cold outside...paired with homemade bread or rolls.

Boil a cut up head of cauliflower, 1 small onion diced, 5 carrots sliced and 4 stalks of celery sliced thinly in 1 and 1/2 quarts of salted water for about 10 minutes. Do NOT drain.

Add 1 quart milk and 1 pint of half and half (or cream if desired). Heat until almost boiling. In separate pan, melt 1/2 pound of butter and whisk in 1 cup flour. Pour this into the soup cooking/stirring until thick. Add 1 and 1/2 cups cheese and 2 tablespoons of seasoned salt. Heat but don't boil. Serve warm.

Instant Pot Beef Stew

3 Pounds Beef Cube Steak

2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

2 Teaspoon Salt

2 Teaspoon Pepper

2 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning

4 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

4 Cloves Garlic, Minced

1 Large Onion, Chopped

 2 Pounds Carrots, Cut Into Slices

2 Pounds baby Potatoes, Halved

3 Cans Beef Broth

2 Cans Tomato Sauce

5 Tablespoons Cornstarch

4 Tablespoons Cold Water

Turn your instant pot on to the sauté function and add olive oil. Add beef with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Brown the meat well. Add broth, Worcestershire, garlic, onion, tomato sauce and carrots. Stir well. Add potatoes on top. Seal the lid in place and use the manual button for 25 minutes on high pressure. When done, allow a 10 minute natural release. Quick release the rest of the pressure. Combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Add immediately to the instant pot and stir. Serve. Yum.

 

 

 

My favorite Alfredo sauce

1/2 Cup Butter

1 1/2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream

2 Teaspoons Minced Garlic

1/2 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Pepper

2 Cups Freshly Grated Cheeses (Romano, Parmesan, and Asiago)

Instructions

Simmer butter and cream in a large skillet for a couple minutes.

Add garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir till combined. 

Use a whisk to stir in the cheeses until melted.

This is best served fresh! It is ok warmed up, but does separate. 

Serve over ravioli, pasta, chicken alfredo etc.

Potato Soup

 Dice 3 or 4 shallots and an onion if desired and cook till transparent in 1 tablespoon of olive oil (5-7 min.)

Add 1 cup dry white cooking wine (or chicken broth) and cook over medium heat until almost gone.

Add 2 cups chicken broth and reduce until almost gone.

Add 3 and 1/2 cups heavy cream and cook over medium low for 10-15 minutes.

Strain out the shallots and reserve the cream mixture.

Add 2 cups chicken stock and 10 medium sized potatoes peeled, cubed and cooked to desired doneness to the cream mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes and add 1 can cream style corn. Simmer 5 minutes and add cooked, diced ham if desired. Serve sprinkled with grated cheese and chives.

Jenn's Best Rolls EVER!

 

This recipe came from my friend Jenn Roberts. She is a great cook! I love these rolls because they are delicious right out of the oven and are still good for a week! 

Add 2 tablespoons of dry active yeast to 3 cups warm water (110 degrees). Cover with a towel and allow to rest for a few minutes. Add 6 tablespoons sugar to the yeast mixture and allow the yeast to work.

Add 5 cups bread flour and 4 tsp. salt to a mixing bowl. Microwave 1 cup milk and 4 tablespoons of butter for 90 seconds.

Combine the yeast mixture, and milk mixture with the flour and knead in your mixer for 3 minutes until smooth. Add 4 and 1/2 to 5 more cups of flour a bit at a time until combined and knead for 8 minutes on high. Cover and allow this to rise for 45 minutes.

Shape into 4 loaves of bread or form into rolls allow to rise until doubled and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until browned. I placed golf ball sized balls on a jelly roll pan in a 5x7 formation and they turned out great!

Brush with butter while still warm if desired.

Deviled Eggs

Place as many eggs as you would like in your instant pot. I use a wire basket to hold them. Add 1 cup water and set the manual timer to 4 minutes. After instant pot beeps, allow a 5 minute natural release. Remove from pot and place in ice water. Peel and extract yolk. Combine all the yolks with:

2 tablespoons of cream

1 tsp. dried parsley

1/2 tsp. dried chives

1/2 tsp. mustard powder

1/4 tsp. dried dill weed

1/4 tsp. seasoned salt

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

about 1 cup mayo or a combo of mayo and sour cream

Adjust according to how many eggs you are using.

Mix well and place back into egg halves. 

Dust with paprika and serve.

 

Easy roast and potatoes

 

Sometimes you need a meal in a jiffy and you've not remembered to defrost any meat. This recipe is great for days like that.

Place a completely rock solid frozen roast in your instant pot with one can of beef broth. Close the lid and adjust the manual time to 120 minutes. Allow to cook and to complete a natural release. When finished, pull the roast and shred it. Make a gravy out of the drippings and mix it with the shredded roast. Make mashed potatoes, put the meat over them and salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted butternut squash

 I grew butternut squash in my garden this past Summer and saved them in the basement where it is dark and cool and they are still in fabulous shape. Roasting it is one of my favorite ways to eat it. 

Peel and cut your squash up into about 1 inch cubes and place in a bowl. 

Add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the squash and toss. 

I grind about 4 grinds of fresh pepper onto the squash and about 1/4 tsp. salt according to your tastes.

Place on parchment lined pan and cook in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Stir the squash and cook for 10-20 more minutes and serve just like that or blend for a soup base.

 

Shortcake bars

 

I used the Strawberry Sorbet recipe on this blog and the Vanilla Ice Cream recipe to make these scrumptious bars.

Blend (in a good blender or a food processor) 20 golden cookies with 3 tablespoons of melted butter. Press into a parchment lined 8x8 pan and freeze until set.

Make the ice cream and sorbet ahead of time.

Spread vanilla ice cream on the crust, then a layer of sorbet, finishing with vanilla ice cream. 

In a Ziploc bag, coarsely crush about 10 golden cookies (Oreos). Add 1 tablespoon melted butter and about 4 tablespoons of crushed freeze dried strawberries (use a food processor or Blendtec to crush them). Sprinkle this topping over the last layer of Vanilla Ice Cream and freeze overnight.

Cut into bars and prepare to be transported to deliciousness!! 

Instant Pot Yogurt

 I tried several times to make instant pot yogurt before I finally had success. There are a billion places on the internet to find out how to make it. I followed directions and thought I'd made it...just to have it not set up. That was disappointing.

I finally found a blog called, "this old gal" where she explains in detail how to make it. The trick to it for me and my instant pot was to continue to cook it after the yogurt, boil setting had finished. I simply turn on the sauté function and make certain the milk reaches 184 degrees before I continue. Made all the difference in the world! This is so good plain or used as a substitute for sour cream. It is excellent with my homemade granola recipe that you can find on here by typing granola into the search bar. I recommend making your own yogurt. It is so easy!

Pour 1 gallon of whole milk into your instant pot and press the yogurt button. Then press the adjust button until it reads, Boil. When the cycle is finished, open, stir and take the temperature. I always need to press the sauté button and stir until it reaches 184*. 

When desired temperature is achieved, place the inner pot into a sink of cold water and allow it to cool to 95 degrees stirring occasionally.

Take a scoop of milk out of the pot and place into a bowl with 2 tablespoons of starter (any plain yogurt with live cultures). Mix well and whisk back into the milk.

Place the pot back into the instant pot and press the yogurt button again. Making sure it reads 8:00.

Allow it to do its thing for 8 hours. Remove the inner pot when done, cover with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 8 hours. Voila! You then have yogurt! It is that easy. I strain mine for a bit to get rid of a little bit of the whey. But you can use it as is or whatever suits your fancy. 

Lettuce wraps

 

I am not a photographer for sure. These were tasty little refreshing yummy wraps. 

Cut and soak chicken pieces in your desired sauce for at least an hour (I used medium buffalo sauce). 

Dip them in bread crumbs and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes until inside reads 165 degrees. 

Place a lettuce leaf on a plate and pile on the things you love. IE...quinoa, tomatoes, avocados, and of course the chicken. Top with more sauce of your liking. I used ranch here. 

Perfect for a quick easy meal.

Homemade pasta

I have tried several recipes for pasta. I like this fresh one a lot. 

Place 2 beaten eggs in a mixer. Add 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 cup milk. Add 2 cups all purpose flour and 1 tsp. baking powder. Mix well. Run through your pasta roller to desired thickness. Allow dough to rest 20 minutes. Cut and allow pasta to dry for a couple of hours. Cook in boiling water for 20 minutes less or more depending on thickness. 

 

Vanilla ice cream

 

In a bowl, combine 1 cup sugar and 1 and 1/2 cups whole milk. Stir for a couple of minutes to dissolve sugar. Add 2 and 1/2 cups heavy cream and a tablespoon vanilla bean paste. Place in ice cream freezer and churn until done. YUM!

Strawberry Sorbet

 

Place 1 and 3/4 - 2 cups (depending on your tastes) sugar in a food processor. Add 1 lemon chopped and with seeds removed. Pulse together well. Set aside.

Add 2 pounds frozen or fresh strawberries to a food processor along with the juice from 1 lemon. Pulse until fine. 

Combine both and place in an ice cream freezer drum.

Layer with ice and salt according to your freezer instructions.

This one takes a couple of hours to freeze (at least in my ice cream maker).

Talk about delicious! I paired this with homemade vanilla ice cream. Way better than the photo!!

Luscious Lemon Cream Pie

 Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line un-pricked pie crust with a double thickness of heavy duty tinfoil. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes depending on your crust choice. I use and make my crusts ahead of time so I pull them from the freezer to use.

Lemon Filling:

Combine 3/4 cup sugar, 6 tablespoons cornstarch, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a small saucepan. Stir in 1 and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat add 1/2 cup sugar. Cook for about 2 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tsp. grated lemon peel. Add 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice. Cool to room temp.

Cream Filling:

Beat 11 ounces cream cheese with 3/4 cup powdered sugar until smooth. Fold in 1 and 1/2 cups Dream whip and 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice. Reserve 1/2 cup for garnish. Spread remaining in the pie crust and top with lemon filling. Decorate with the reserved cream filling using a piping bag.

Refrigerate overnight. 

HEAVENLY!

Buttermilk Bisquits

Place 4 and 1/2 cups of flour in a large mixing bowl. 

Add and mix in: 1 Tbsp. and 1 tsp. baking powder, 1tsp. baking soda, 2 tsp. sugar, and1 tsp. salt

 Cut in 1 cup cold butter till pea sized

Mix in 2 cups buttermilk

Press the dough out into an oval on a floured surface until it is about an inch thick. Fold up the shorter ends and then press it out again. Do this 7 times but on the seventh time, cut the dough with a biscuit cutter or a glass. 

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until done.

Talk about FLUFFY!

 

Apricot glazed Salmon

 Remove the skin and rub both sides with course salt and Pepper both sides of a couple salmon fillets.

Mix together about 1/4 cup apricot or peach jam, a couple of tablespoons of honey, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/8 tsp. chipotle powder, and 1 tablespoon of bourbon or apple juice if preferred. 

Brush the top and sides of your fillets with the jam mixture. Bake at about 400 degrees for 10 or so minutes depending on the thickness of your fillets. YUM!