Hard Pretzels Handmade at Home !

This recipe took many attempts but here they are FINALLY ! FUN to make too ! Enjoy your own Pretzels! I am adding this for your information, THESE ONLY KEEP FOR ABOUT 1 WEEK then lose that hard pretzel crispness! These are great for right away snacking but do not plan on storing these they will not keep.

 
1 & 1/2 Cups Warm Water      
2 TSP Sea Salt
1 TBS Sugar
1 Yeast Packet
2 TBS Shortening    
Stir warm water, salt, sugar & melted shortening together, Stir in yeast & set aside but make sure yeast has dissolved into the water.
4 & 1/2 Cups Flour. Add water mixture slowly beating with mixer or a food processor until you have a firm dough. I started with my mixer & then ended working the flour in with my hands. Cover & set dough aside to rise about 2 hours. It will not quite double in size.
Now the FUN BEGINS.
Mix together
2 Egg Whites beaten, with 2 TBS water & 2 TBS Baking Soda beat well !
Pinch off egg size pieces of dough one at a time & roll between your hands until you have an approx. 19 to 20 inch rope of dough. I used a twirling motion, pulled & stretched slightly. On your parchment covered baking sheet lay rope of dough out & twist into pretzel shapes. Brush the pretzel with the egg mixture at once & sprinkle with coarse sea salt ! Continue with all of the dough.

                                                                              
You will get exactly 12 pretzels! Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven until dark brown check at 20 minutes,  if dark brown, lower the temperature to 350 degrees & bake  another 20 minutes, lower the oven to 300 degrees & bake another 30 minutes checking at each step that the pretzels are not getting to brown. After they baked at 300 degrees TURN OVEN OFF but let pretzels cool COMPLETELY in the off but closed oven. You will have CRISPY BEAUTIFUL PRETZELS !                 

Onion Rings Batter Up !

2 Large Sweet Onions Cut into 1/4 inch thick rings & separate into single rings
1 & 1/4 Cup Flour     
1 TSP Salt     
1 Beaten Egg  
1 Cup Milk  
2 TBS Oil  
1 TSP Paprika  
1 TBS Parsley Flakes
1/4 TSP Red Pepper
2 Dashes of White Pepper  
Oil for frying
Mix all the ingredients together, stirring until you have a nice batter. Dip each ring into the batter & place carefully into your hot frying oil. I fry in a large black iron skillet with 3 inches of oil in the pan. Only fry a single layer of rings at a time or they will clump together & make a MESS! As rings get golden brown turn them over so the other side browns too! Once brown carefully remove rings & place on paper towel to drain off extra oil. Place finished onion rings on a baking sheet & keep warm in a warm oven until all are fried. Serve piping hot with a sprinkle of salt !                                      

Fish Fry

4 Cod Fillets
1 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup Cornmeal   
1 Egg Beaten     
2 TBS Oil     
1/2 Cup Milk
Flour to dredge fillets          
1 TSP Salt      
1 TBS Old Bay Seasoning   
Parsley Flakes       
Oil for frying       

Take the thawed fillets & dredge each one with a coating of flour. Mix the 1 Cup flour with cornmeal, beaten egg, 2 TBS oil,1/2 cup milk, salt, Old Bay & a couple of shakes of parsley flakes. Dip each fillet in batter coating both sides in a thick coating. Fry in hot oil flipping fillets once to brown. Cook until nicely browned. We love these for fish sandwiches!

           Here is our fish sandwich with my Onion Rings Batter Up Style ! Recipe on my Blog!                                                                       

Sugar Cakes an Old Fashioned Drop Sugar Cookie

                                                                          


These are a very OLD recipe passed down in my family for generations. These were always called Mrs. Brimmers sugar cookies we have long forgotten who good old Mrs. Brimmer was. But she made a GREAT sugar cookie ! I hope you enjoy these as much as we do ! Yes, these do take lard, do not be scared off by that ingredient ! It is no worse for you than butter and a very natural choice for baking. You can find lard in most grocery stores in the bacon section. Just ask the meat department if you can not locate it in your store! Do not substitute shortening for lard in this recipe, you will miss out on great flavor and texture! Whip up a batch you will see! The recipe I am posting believe it or not is only a 1/2 batch of these unusual flavored cookies! You just might want to make a whole batch. I will give the amounts for the whole batch at the end of this recipe. These cookies have a nice tang to them from the lemon, buttermilk & nutmeg & taste very old fashion & are a fresh take on the traditional vanilla sugar cookie!


1/2 Batch Recipe

3 Cups  Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup Lard
8 Cups Flour
2 Cups Buttermilk
3 Eggs
1 TBS Baking Soda
2 TSP Salt
1 TBS Nutmeg
1/2 TBS Cream of Tartar
1/2 TBS Lemon Extract ( not juice it must be extract)

Topping , 1& 1/2 Cups Granulated sugar blended with 1 & 1/2  Cups light brown sugar, raisins

Cream the lard until whipped and light. It will turn snow white and glossy. Beat in brown sugar and beat again. Add eggs and beat again. Sift flour, salt, nutmeg & cream of tartar together & set aside. Stir buttermilk and lemon extract together. Now add baking soda to the buttermilk. It will foam up . Slowly add some of the flour mixture to the lard mixture & beat on low. Once mixed well slowly add some of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat back & forth until everything is mixed ending with the flour going in last. Beat well to blend. Chill dough at least 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees.
Drop by heaped tablespoons on cookie sheets. You will only be able to fit nine cookies to a sheet for large sugar cakes. If you want regular sized sugar cookies drop by heaped teaspoons & fit 12 to a sheet.I did not grease my sheets but it might depend on your baking sheets. Try one sheet without greasing. If you grease your sheets these might spread out to much & get thin instead of nice & high. My recipe did not have instructions for greasing or not . I think they are higher without greasing the sheets. Sprinkle a heaping teaspoon of the sugar mixture on top of each cookie. Press a raisin in the center so the raisin is down in the dough but still visible. Bake 10 to 14 minutes until done to the touch & lightly browned around the edges. Remove from sheets & let cool. Store in an airtight container with wax paper between each layer of cookies, with a fresh piece of store bought bread on the top layer of cookies. Replace bread as it gets hard. Your cookies will stay nice and soft if you do this. This recipe makes 5 dozen large sugar cake cookie or about 9 dozen regular sized sugar cookies!

For a whole batch :
6 Cups Light Brown Sugar
2 Cups Lard
16 Cups Flour
1 Quart Buttermilk
6 Eggs
2 TBS Baking Soda

4 TSP Salt
1 TBS Cream Of Tartar
1 TBS Lemon Extract
Mix just like above directions but be prepared for a LOT OF SUGAR CAKES !

Topping : 2 & 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar, 2 & 1/2 Cups Light  Brown Sugar, Raisins

Sugar Cakes an Old Fashioned Christmas Cookie

Sugar Cakes, a very old recipe passed down in my family will be my next post ! I have them mixed up and chilling overnight! These are a big drop cookie topped with sugars & a raisin in the center but with a very unusual flavor that is reminiscent of Christmas long ago! I have not made these in a very long time; in fact I thought I had lost the recipe, but I came across it the other day when I was riffling through my recipes. I just had to mix them up ! I can NOT WAIT to share these with you ! If you want a HUGE sugary cakelike cookie with a twist look for these sometime tomorrow!

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COWBOY BEANS

                                                                         
This makes a HUGE POT of BEANS perfect for group dinners! I came up with this for our church youth group after a western theme activity & the kids LOVED IT ! Make up the whole batch for your large group or cut in half for about 10 servings .

2 LBS of Ground Beef ( I use Turkey Burger)
2 Large Onions Peeled & Chopped
2. 40 OZ Cans of Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce
4 Large White Potatoes Peeled & Diced
6 Pieces Bacon cooked crisp
1/4 Cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Cup Yellow Prepared Mustard
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Cups Ketchup
1/4 to 1/2 TSP Red Pepper

                                                                        

Brown burger with the onions, if using beef drain after browning , if using turkey burger brown in 2 TBS oil & do not drain. Add remaining ingredients & cook in any of the following methods. Continue on top of the stove cooking over medium heat until thick & potatoes are soft about 1 & 1/2 hours. stirring every 10 minutes to prevent sticking. Or bake in a 350 degree oven about 1 & 1/2 hours or until potatoes are soft. Or put everything in the crock-pot & cook on low about 8 hours or about 5 hours on high! I prefer the crock-pot method only because it is turn it on & forget about it cooking ! These all taste great and have a spicy yet sweet thing going on, just use the cooking  method that works best for you ! DIG IN these are GOOD ! REALLY GOOD with my cornbread that is on this Blog ! For Cornbread recipe just go to my November 2011 archive!