Texas Roadhouse Rolls

*Amended on February 23, 2014 - after making these multiple times I have some changes to make to the recipe and believe me, totally worth it and they are ten times better.  
(All changes to the recipe will be italicized)
Texas Roadhouse...if anyone mentions this restaurant, I guarantee that they will mention their rolls.  And they should, they are epic.  I don't know what they do but they are amazing and no other rolls are as good as theirs.  And the cinnamon honey butter is the other thing that makes them amazing.  I have tried many copycat recipes for their rolls.  They are good, but not even close to the real thing.  I didn't think it was possible to find a recipe that is the actual, real thing.  I have found it.  Of course, it was a Pinterest find, but I worked my magic, and tried them and they are good.  So...I guess I will just say, your welcome and enjoy some very amazing, yummy rolls! :)

Texas Roadhouse Rolls

4 tsp Active Dry Yeast

1 tsp Sugar

½ Cup Warm Water

2 Cup Milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm

3 Tbsp Melted Butter, slightly cooled

½ Cup Sugar

2 quarts All Purpose Flour (7-8 Cups)

2 Eggs

2 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Honey

Dissolve yeast in warm water with a tsp of sugar; let the yeast do its magic and let it sit until frothy.  Scald your milk while waiting.  Combine yeast mixture, milk, sugar and enough flour to make a medium batter (it has the consistency of pancake batter). Beat thoroughly.  Add melted butter, eggs and salt and honey.  Beat again.  Add enough flour to form a soft dough.  Sprinkle a small amount of flour onto counter and let the dough rest.  Meanwhile, grease a large bowl.  Knead the dough until smooth and satiny and put in the greased bowl.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk.  Punch down.  Turn onto floured board.  and let rest 10 minutes.  Roll the dough out to about 1/2" thick.  Then fold over and seal the dough so it is 1" thick.  Cut into rectangles or squares.   Place on a greased baking sheet.  Let rise until doubled.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Immediately smother the rolls with Cinnamon Honey Butter.

Cinnamon Honey Butter

2 sticks Buttter, softened

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 Cup Honey

2 tsp Cinnamon                         

Whip the butter (make sure it’s soft and room temp).  Add the powdered sugar, then the honey, then the cinnamon. Whip it good. Scrape the sides. Whip it again.  

Ham N' Cheese Garden Loaf

(I was too busy eating this recipe to catch a picture, so this one from the Internet will have to do for now. It is similar but not exact.)

Need something fast, satisfying and fairly healthy for dinner?

How about a quick ham and cheese loaf that involves fresh vegetables?

I have spinach coming on in my garden so that was added as a whim and made a huge improvement on taste!

Ingredients:

2 boxes Jiffy pizza crust mix

2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash seasoning

3-4 tbs ranch dressing

8 big ol' slices of ham

2 cups shredded cheese

25-30 fresh spinach leaves

2 thinly sliced Roma tomatoes

First; combine the Mrs.Dash with the dry pizza crust mix. Then add one cup hot tap water, (as on the box directions) and mix until moist.

Put the dough in a warm place (about 85 degrees) ((like a warmed oven turned off)) for about 5 minutes until risen slightly.

Flour your counter and knead a few times.

Roll the dough into an oblong oval about 1/2 inch thick and transfer to a cookie sheet.

Spread ranch dressing over entire surface.

Place four ham slices down the center.

Place spinach leaves on ham followed by tomato slices.

Spread cheese over the vegetables then top with remaining four slices of ham.

Fold the ends of the dough over and pinch the ends so nothing leaks during cooking.

The fold the sides up over the innards (love that word) and pinch a seal across the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until dough is firm and innards (ha!) are hot.

Slice and serve.

YUM!

A kid-friendly food with benefits!

-A.S.

Italiano Bruschetta

Mmmm...

Have you ever had some french bread sitting on your counter just calling on you to use it.

What do you do?  You can just rip open the bag and start eating those lovely carbs...or...try something else!

This happened to me the other night and I realized how much I was craving Bruschetta.

This lovely tomato, onion, basil concoction from Italiano is just tasty!

It is so simple to make and makes that french bread disappear fast.

The other night I just cut up one Roma tomato, a slice of onion, basil, a dash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Mixed it together and dabbed a little bit more of balsamic vinegar until just right.  I cut thin slices of bread and stuck them in the toaster and topped with the bruschetta.
So yummy, but if you want to go full out here is a recipe from Our Best Bites (click here)!

Un-Authentic Luau Food

So for food group this week I decided to try something really funky and different. Alright, what else is new, you're thinking? Since summer is approaching, I had an intense lust for Kalua pork, which used to be served at this fantastic little Hawaiian joint that shut down a few years ago. So I went searching for a recipe and happened upon a Kalua chicken recipe. Why stop there? In my high school cooking class we had the opportunity to make foods from around the world and one gal made up a gooey batch of coconut rolls and they have yet to leave my memory so I decided to add that to the menu. Then I got thinking about coleslaw in all its crunchy goodness and dredged up a Hawaiian coleslaw recipe and gave it my own flair. So today's menu:

Luau Food A'la Amy.

We'll start with the Kalua Chicken:

Get yourself about 6-8 lbs of chicken. (I used frozen because its cheaper)

Get yourself a bottle of smoke flavoring ($1 at Walmart)

Find yourself about 1/3 cup of course Sea Salt (DO NOT USE IODIZED TABLE SALT! Your face with pickle like a prune)

Add two cups of water to a big crock pot, stir in the salt and smoke and chuck in the chicken.

Set it on low for 6-8 hours until thoroughly steamy and smoky-licious.

Shred with a fork into the remaining juices. I actually got a potato masher and just pressed it into pieces. It seemed to work.

Next up, Sweet & Gooey Coconut Rolls;

If you're going to do rolls from scratch, good on ya. I used frozen Terrel's dough (best dough this side of the Mississippi) and let the frozen dough balls thaw and rise a bit.

Find yourself a can of Coconut Milk and pour half over the rising dough. Be sure to shake the can well or dump it in a bowl and stir in all the lumpy coconut fat until smooth. Mmm...coconut fat.

What do you do with the other half of the coconut milk? Why make another batch of rolls, dummy!

Never waste coconut milk. It is a sin in multiple countries.

Just because I'm a little strange, I gave the tops of the rolls a shot of cinnamon.

What's better than coconut and cinnamon?

Bake these luscious doughy-wonders at 350 until they are firm on top. They don't brown easily and if you let them brown they may be too done. They will soak up the coconut milk as they cook.

And now, Hawaiian Coleslaw;

This was a big experiment on my behalf. I had a recipe but it just didn't live up to the weirdness in my blood so I had to weird it up a little to get it right. :)

Start with your red and white cabbage/carrot mix. Once again, doing it from scratch is up to you. The bagged stuff works great because it is dry and the sauce sticks. But, it is your coleslaw. To bag or not to bag...that is your question.

Take 1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

a pinch of salt

1 cup crushed pineapple w/ juice

1/3 cup craisins

1/3 cup shredded coconut

2 tbs sugar

and 1/3 cup crazy.

 (The crazy is up to you. I used a Caribbean spice mix that gave it a kick. You do not have to do this.)

Mix well then toss with the dry cabbage/carrot mixture.

Let it sit for a few hours to soak in the goodness.

These foods are pretty good by themselves but the key to unlocking the awesome power of this meal is in the cramming of them, all together, into one bite. I served some brown rice with the chicken for those who can't handle the awesome in one mouthful. The meat juices makes a good flavor-enhancer for the rice or roll-dip if you're into Au Ju.

But if you are into flavor-packed deliciousness...here is what you do;

Split a gooey roll, top with chicken. Then slaw.

Shove that baby in your mouth.

It. Is. Awesome.

Enjoy!

-A.S.

Baked French Toast

Oh my...I am excited to share this with you.

So I was browsing through Pinterest and came across a recipe for Baked French Toast.  

It looked so delicious and glancing at the recipe it didn't look difficult at all.  Then at the bottom the blogger had written "adapted from The Pioneer Woman's recipe."  I knew that this had to be heaven because I absolutely love her website and her recipes.  They are simple and very, very good!
Go check out her website here.

So we were having a get together at my sister's house and I decided that this would be the perfect time to try this recipe out - with a group of family member.  Great guinea pigs. :)
We made it the night before and made the topping that morning before putting it in the oven.
I must say, that I may never make regular french toast again...it is THAT GOOD!

The best part for me is that you don't need to put butter or syrup over the top.  Already perfect.
I had to take a picture before it was all gone.  We all loved it (even the kids who were skeptical at first)!
Here is the original recipe link...click here.
Enjoy!

Baked French Toast

French Toast:

1 loaf French Bread or Sourdough Bread

8 Whole Eggs

2 Cups Milk

1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

3/4 Cups Sugar

2 Tbsp Vanilla

Topping:

1/2 Cup Flour

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, packed

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Salt

1 stick Butter, cold, cut into pieces

Grease 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Tear bread into chunks and evenly distribute in the pan. Mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover tightly and store in the fridge several hours or overnight.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add butter pieces and but into the dry mixture until mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a Ziploc in the fridge.
When you're ready to bake the casserole, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove casserole from fridge and sprinkle crumb mixture over the top. Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture. Bake 1 hour or more for a firmer, less liquid texture. Scoop out individual portions.