Mental Health Week?!

Since my brain has been fried this week (and last week too as a matter of fact!), we’re going to keep things in sync here on Free Recipe Friday too.  We’re going to give you something fried. 

This week’s Free Recipe is Fried Rice. Who doesn’t love that?!?  I’ve made several attempts at this over the years, and they have always left me with the feeling of, just forget it, I will eat it at a Chinese restaurant.  You know what I’m sayin’?!  But THIS recipe is the best I have had – it may even be a close contender to the restaurant styled ones.  It’s tastes so fresh and I know what went in it!  So get you some chopsticks – it’s time to make Fried Rice!

WHAT YOU NEED:
3 cups cooked white rice
(leftover rice is perfect for this)
3 tbs sesame oil
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
(thawed)
2 tsp garlic - minced
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup soy sauce
a couple of green onions - chopped
(This recipe was revised from one I found at
lifeasalofthouse.blogspot.com.) 
Yummo!

WHAT TO DO:
On medium high heat,
heat the oil in a large skillet or sauté pan.
Add the peas/carrots mix
along with the garlic.
Stir fry until tender.
Lower the heat to medium low
and push the veggie mixture off to one side,
then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet
and stir fry until scrambled.
Now add the rice, green onions and soy sauce
and stir them all together until heated through.

Serve with some Roasted Cabbage
and you have a meat free meal!

ENJOY!

I'm Screaminggg!!!

Did you know that July is National Ice Cream Month??? Thanks Ronald Reagan.  What's weird is, I think our family eats more ice cream in the winter months than we do in the summer ones.  What's up with that?!??

Did you know about 9% of all milk produced by U.S. Dairy Farmers is used to produce ice cream??  On average, American's eat about 6 gallons of ice cream per year.  That's per person - and that's a lot of milk and a lot of cows.

This week we are going to honor the dairy farmers across the nation by eating ice cream like crazy.  Let's get everybody screaming for ice cream!  Homemade, store bought, gelato, sorbet, frozen yogurt, it's ALL delicious - so scarf it up!

For this week's Free Recipe Friday, we made the old standby, Homemade Vanilla- a flavor that you'd think would be the easiest one in the world.  But many years ago, when we FINALLY purchased an ice cream maker, we had no clue which vanilla recipe to make.  We tried many...then one day my little sister gave me this one that she had inherited and I think it is the best I've ever had.  It's so very creamy - just like soft serve ice cream!  We made it the other day for my birthday.  It was delicious.  We barely got a snapshot before it was all gone.

Since this is my birthday week, we're throwing in an AMAZING extra for you too - Hot Fudge Sauce.  You just gotta have some ooey, gooey chocolate on that vanilla ice cream!  It's soooo EASSSYYY!  You. Have. To. Try.

So, go get that old ice cream freezer out of the attic...wipe the cobwebs off...drag out the rock salt and get busy!  (You can also use one of those fancy new ice cream makers that require no ice, no salt...they are AWESOME!)

WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE ICE CREAM:

an Ice Cream Maker of some sort
5 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
(I used 2 cans)
4 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 Tablespoon good quality vanilla
(I used a Mexican vanilla)

If using a traditional Ice Cream maker,
you'll need about half of a box of rock salt
and one bag of ice, maybe more.

WHAT TO DO:

In a medium/large bowl, mix eggs
with a hand mixer until pale yellow and foamy.
Add sugar and sweetened condensed milk.
Mix for several minutes.
Add milk, cream and vanilla. Mix well.
Refrigerate for making ice cream later
or pour directly into your ice cream freezer
and proceed per
manufacturers instructions.

*You do not cook the eggs in this recipe.
If you have personal or dietary objections to using eggs,
you can make your ice cream without them
or use Egg Beaters.
Yes, I have read the stats
and yes, there are all kinds of tricks
about adding a bit of lemon juice
to the eggs to kill any salmonella, etc, etc,
but we continue to eat this along with
other recipes with a 'cooked' base
as well as recipes with no eggs at all.
Please do what you feel comfortable with.

Now for the bonus Hot Fudge Sauce recipe, mmmm!

Note that this is not like Hershey's Syrup -

it is a thick Hot Fudge Sundae type sauce.

WHAT YOU NEED:

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup evaporated milk or cream
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
(kosher or table)
1 teaspoon good vanilla

WHAT TO DO:
Combine all ingredients EXCEPT vanilla
in a small saucepan on medium/high heat. 
Bring to a boil, stirring often.
Continue to boil for
a couple of minutes.
(If it boils much after 3 minutes,
it will get too thick and fudgy.)
Remove from heat and stir in
your vanilla.  Let it cool a bit
and you can use immediately.
If making ahead, keep in a sealed container
and store in the refrigerator. 
To soften and make pourable again,
before using, zap it in the microwave
or set the container in a bowl of hot water
until it reaches a good consistency.
Now you're ready to pour it over your
yummy ice cream OR eat it with a spoon!

ENJOY!

Coooooooookies!

This week it is definitely time for something sweet around here at Free Recipe Friday.  Cookies are a  delicious and great place to start wouldn't you say?!?  And LEMON CRINKLES at that.  Honey hush.  Cookies are just the best - I mean, unless you are making chocolate chip ones, you pretty much always have the ingredients to throw together some kind of cookies - at least I hope you do.  The staples of cookie life...butter, sugar, flour, salt, eggs...if you have those, you can pretty much rule the world!  Even though this week's recipe is my second favorite 'crinkle' variety (chocolate ones are the BOMB and my sister makes the best chocolate crinkles...maybe another post?!) they are amazing...so that's what we are cooking up.  I recently stumbled upon them and wanted to give them a try. 

WHAT YOU NEED:
½ cup butter, softened (1 stick)

1 cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

⅛ teaspoon baking soda

1-½ cup all-purpose flour

½-1 cup powdered sugar

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease baking sheets with non-stick spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together
until light and fluffy.
Mix in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice.
Scrape down the sides and mix again.
Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined,
excluding the powdered sugar.
Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly.
Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate.
Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball
and roll in powdered sugar.
Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin
to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}.
Remove baking sheet from the oven
and cool the cookies on the baking sheet
for about 3 minutes
before transferring to cooling rack.

These are so yummy and addicting!
ENJOY!

Easy Peazy Breakfast!

Hello there all the way from Tennessee!  This week's Free Recipe Friday is coming straight to you from the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.  We are in Chattanooga for the week with about 28 other family members...and all but two of them are staying in the same house.  It really is fun....until you need a bathroom! 
Despite being on vacation, Free Recipe Friday must prevail - even if it is midnight where we are.  Since this week is a laid back easy one, we will show you an easy recipe - Baked Eggs. If you love eggs like my family, you will love these!  Baked Eggs would be great any time of the week, day OR night.

WHAT YOU NEED: (makes 2 servings - double up for more)

• 1/4 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan
• 6 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  (Oven safe bowls)
  
  WHAT TO DO:
  
  Preheat the broiler for 5 minutes
  and place the oven rack 6 inches below the heat.

  
  Carefully crack 3 eggs into each of 2 small bowls
  (you won't be baking them in these)
  without breaking the yolks.
  (It's very important to have all the eggs
  ready to go before you start cooking.)
  
  Place 2 individual oven safe dishes on a baking sheet.
  Place 1 tablespoon of cream
  and 1/2 tablespoon of butter
  and a bit of the minced garlic in each dish
  and place under the broiler for about 3 minutes,
  until hot and bubbly.
  Quickly, but carefully, pour 3 eggs into each oven safe dish
  and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese,
  then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
  Place back under the broiler for 5 to 6 minutes,
  until the whites of the eggs are almost cooked.
  (Rotate the baking sheet once if they aren't cooking evenly.)
  The eggs will continue to cook after you take them out of the oven.
  We sprinkled some cheddar cheese on ours
  and some parsley to spruce it up!
  

  Allow to set for 60 seconds and serve hot with toasted bread.
  
  

  

  You can even make it an all in one breakfast by adding
  cooked bacon or ham that you've diced
  and sprinkled on the eggs
  either before or after baking.
  Delicious!

Fried Pickle Friday

Hello everyone.  Welcome back to Free Recipe Friday.  I don't know if you are a fan of dill pickles or not, but this week my friend, it's all about some fried sourness.  Thinking back through the years, I believe I have always loved pickles.  Sweet, sour, bread and butter, they are all so yummy.  I have often taken a swig of pickle juice right from the jar.  (Shhh)  One of my most fav's is the pickle in it's rawest state. . . . a cucumber, fresh from the garden, sliced and placed in a lovely bath of vinegar and sliced onions.  Mmmmm.  Of course all of the above are all the more better when they have been grown and canned by someone you know and love.  Those are the absolute best pickles.  The best NON-homemade sliced pickle is the Best Maid brand - hamburger dill slices. THE best, hands down.  So good, even the Dallas Cowboy Organization endorse them.  So there you have it.  

If you are a pickle lover, you may have tried Fried Pickles at your local eatery.  I have tried fried pickles from several establishments and have found only one or two that are worthy to eat.  I will however, give a shout out to The Fork in Gladewater, Tx for having some amazing fried pickles.  So good in fact, that it set me on a mission to recreate them at home once again.  After several failed attempts, I had given up.  This fantastic recipe comes from the queen of the south herself, Paula Deen. 

The fry mixture makes a bunch, you'll have plenty of dredge mix left for several more batches of fried pickles.  The original title of the dredge mix is Uncle Bubba's Fry Mix (of course it is).  Make up a batch and fry anything you want with it.  Today we're frying pickles. 

The Basics: Uncle Bubba's Fry Mix

6 cups self-rising flour (see below)
1 cup self-rising white cornmeal (see below)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients.
That's it.  Remember, it makes about 7 cups,
so store it in a large resealable plastic bag
and keep it in the freezer
until you need to fry something.

Helpful hints:
- - - If you can’t find self-rising flour,
use 6 cups all-purpose flour
plus 3 tablespoons baking powder
and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.

- - - If you can’t find self-rising cornmeal,
use 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons white cornmeal,
1 tablespoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Now.........on to the pickles.

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 32-oz jar Hamburger Dill Slices (Best Maid)
or 1 24 oz jar Dill Spears (Best Maid)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup Louisiana hot sauce
(we use the Louisiana brand, not Tabasco -
you could use Texas Pete's as well)
1/2 cup buttermilk
vegetable oil to fry with
2 cups Uncle Bubba's Fry Mix

WHAT TO DO:
Drain the juice from the pickle jar
(and either A:save it for me to drink or
B: pour it up into ice cube trays and freeze...
yes, pickle juice popsicles - they SELL these, ya know)
Next, refill the jar with the garlic powder,
hot sauce, and buttermilk.
Marinate the pickles for at least 30 minutes.

Place a heavy skillet or frying pan
filled about halfway up with veggie oil
and heat over medium-high heat
until the oil is about 350 degrees F.
(To tell if the oil is hot enough to begin frying,
place the handle end of a wooden spoon
down into the bottom of the frying pan.
Hold it straight up - if bubbles
rise up the wooden spoon, your oil is ready)

While your oil is heating up,
drain the pickles from their marinade.
Put the fry mix in a large mixing bowl,
and toss the pickles to coat thoroughly.
Shake off the excess mix
by tossing lightly in a strainer
or by hand and deep fry the pickles
in batches for 3 to 5 minutes.

When golden brown, remove the pickles from the oil
and place on paper towels to drain off any excess.

These are incredible.  And since this is Texas,
they are even better dipped in ranch dressing.

Mmmm.
Enjoy the goodness!