Basic Cake Donuts

Red LOVES cake donuts.  I like all the wiz-bang gadgets on mine!  So...doing what any good wife would do....I made cake donuts!

I've made bagels before, they're slightly different and of course the consistency is quite drastic from the other.

These are fantastic, so simple and so good!

2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tblsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tblsps melted butter
1/2 cup of milk
1 beaten egg
1 quart of oil for frying

In a mixing bowl, sift sugar, flour, salt, nutmeg, baking powder together.  Add melted butter and stir until just combined.  Beat egg into the milk and mix.  Dough will be slightly sticky.

Heat oil to 350 degrees.

On a well floured surface, roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut with round biscuit cutter and make small hole in the center of circle.  Drop donuts two at a time into the oil.  Fry for 2 minutes and let dry on paper towel lined plate.


Enjoy! :)
FOB Frahlich

Cinnamon Bread

Bread is so expensive!  I've been slacking a little on the bread making, and every time I make a fresh loaf I find myself asking why I even bother with the store bought stuff?  Cinnamon bread is one of those things that our family loves, but we go through it so quickly that I don't usually buy it!  Otherwise, I would find myself buying out the cinnamon bread every week at the store.  So instead, like a lot of things we keep around the house, I made a mass amount of it and froze it. 


I'm one of those odd ball people who own 5 loaf pans, so making bread is pretty simple for us.  With their being six of us though, its not really a lot. 

Especially when school is in session. 


Now I'm rambling....onto bread making!

1 cup of milk
1 stick of butter
2 1/2 tsps of active dry yeast
2 eggs
1/3 cup of sugar
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt

For the nice cinnamon swirl in the middle you'll need:
1/3 cup of sugar
4 tblsps of cinnamon

Melt butter with milk in a sauce pan over medium heat, make sure you don't boil! Cool milk and butter to where its warm enough to touch but not "I just burnt the Sh*t out of my finger!" hot.  Sprinkle the yeast of the top of the liquid and give it a gentle stir.  Allow it to sit for about 10 minutes.

Combine salt and flour.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix sugar and eggs until combined.  Pour in milk mixture and stir to combine.  Add half the flour and beat on medium speed until combined.  Add the other half and beat until combined. 

Now, depending on atmospheric conditions, yes its true, your dough may be more sticky than needed.  You can mix in 1/4 cup of flour at a time on low.  You never want to over mix dough.  Dough should be sticky, but not to the point of scraping it off your fingers. 

In a buttered bowl, toss the dough ball around to grease all sides and let rise in a warm place for about 2 hours.  Be patient with the dough.

Melt a couple tablespoons of butter.  Turn the risen dough out onto the work surface.  Roll into a rectangle and spread melted butter over the dough and generously coat the dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture.  Starting at the end furthest from you, roll the dough toward you, horizontally, tightly. 

Place loaf in a heavily greased loaf pan, cover with a clean dish towel and let rise another two hours.

Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 40 minutes. 

Savor the way your house smells......

And try not to eat the whole thing......

Pear Frangipane

I bought a cookbook for my 25th birthday. Its about 600 pages and has all sorts of amazing pastries, tarts, custards and cakes that you won't find in your typical cookbook.  Last night was the last Sunday Red will have off for awhile, so I decided to roast a couple of chickens, make a potato casserole and this little custardy piece of heaven for dessert!  This is one of those desserts that will wow the inlaws and trick everyone into thinking you slaved to make something this awesome!

Here's what you'll need:

A food processor
tart pan with removeable bottom or a pie plate will do

For the pastry:
1 Cup of all purpose flour
1/4 tsp of salt
6 tblsp cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
2 tblsps (or a little more) of ice cold water

Frangipane:
6 Tblsp butter
2/3 Cup granulated sugar
3/4 Cup of ground almonds
2 tsps all purpose flour
1 tsp corn starch
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
3 soft, ripe pears(I used bartlett) peeled, cut in half lengthwise, cored then thinly sliced

For the pastry, place flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse to blend.  Add butter and pulse util  mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add ice water; pulse until ball barely forms.  Father into a ball; wrap with plastic wrap and refridgerate for 1 hour.

Preheat over to 375.

Roll out dough and place in tart or pie pan.  Bake crust for 20 minutes.  Let cool.

In food processor, place whole almonds and pulse until finely ground.  If you have more left over, store them in a container to put on ice cream later ;)

For Frangipane, place butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of a food processor; process until smooth.  Add almonds and blend.  Add flour, cornstarch, egg and egg white.  Process until smooth.  Add vanilla and almond extracts; blend well.

Spread frangipane in pastry.  Arrange pears in any design on the frangipane, lightly press pears into mixture.

 

 

Here it is right before going into the oven!  Your pears are going to "sink" a little, don't worry!  I also sprinkled some extra ground almonds on top before it went in!

 

 

Bake about 40 minutes, until frangipane is puffy and golden.

 

 

 

 

Enjoy! :)

 

FOB Frahlich

Sweet Garlic Glazed Chicken

Story of my life:  I was short on time the other night.  I didn't thaw anything out and our leftovers were all gone (and THAT is NOT the story of my life!).  So, I broke out my electric skillet.  If you don't have an electric skillet, your life isn't complete.  Its just that simple. 

So, I threw six frozen chicken breasts into the electric skillet, cranked it up to 400 and let them cook/thaw.  Then I did this......

 

 

Oh yes. 

 

Right before the chicken was cooked all the way through, I put a small saucepan on the stove with about 7 tablespoons of EVOO, 5 tablespoons of brown sugar and 5 cloves of fresh minced garlic.  I cooked this on medium heat until it got to a boil, whisking continuously, then glazed the chicken!  I put the lid back on the skillet for a few more minutes and this is what happened!

 

About to run out the door for our date night, I opted to throw some rice and broccoli in the steamer to serve with it!  Ahhhh-maaazzzziiinnnngggg!!!

 

The glaze would probably be pretty bombtastic if you put some freshly grated ginger in as well!  Maybe next time?

 

Enjoy :)

 

FOB Frahlich

Creamy Parsley Potatoes

This is a fantastic side dish, beats the dirt off of any boxed potato mix!  I have a big bottle or dried organic parsley that I keep on hand, but you're welcome to use fresh parsley as well!

7 medium russet potatoes
2 tblsp of butter, softened
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/4 cup of half and half--you could also use milk here
3 tblsps of dried parsley or finely chopped fresh
salt, to taste

Wash potatoes well, peel and slice into half dollar sized portions.  Add parsley, butter, sour cream, half and half and salt.  Stir until potatoes are coated well.  Place in a casserole dish with lid.  Cover and bake 375 for one hour or until potatoes are tender.

Banana Bread

This is such a great way to use up some bananas or when you find a bundle on major discount at the market! Make several loaves for the freezer!

2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup of melted butter
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 ripe mashed bananas

Mix all ingredients except bananas. Stir in mashed bananas. Add 1/2 cup if nuts and/or raisins if desired. Grease 2 loaf pans or one bundt pan. Bake until it passes the toothpick test at 350! Enjoy!!

Red's Favorite BBQ

This will be the shortest blog and quite possibly the easiest meal ever.

Pulled pork.

6lb pork shoulder
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce



In the crock pot, place fresh or frozen shoulder in crock, cover the top of the crock with foil, place lid on the crock and cook on high (if frozen) or low (if thawed) until bone separates from meat. Remove bone and shred pork. Add sauce! Devour.