Cookie Sheet Cleaner

Nasty Cookie Sheet

Did it work??? Eh.  Not to the extent of which I hoped.  So I found this recipe on pinterest because I have a few cheap cookie sheets that look like I bake every single day 12 hours a day.  I wash them every time I use them but since I use silpats I honestly just don't put forth much effort; which is gross in its own right.  As I was cleaning out my kitchen I came across said cookie sheets and finally had enough.

# 1.  I searched on Pinterest for a solution which was a mixture of the following:  1/4 cup of baking soda a little bit of peroxide, just enough to make a PASTE - not a liquid, a PASTE!

Mixture & Ingredients

 #2.  Next step is to spread this 'paste' onto the gross cookie sheet.  

Pans with the paste

#3.  Set the timer for 30 minutes.  As you can see, I may have skipped this step ;)

 #4.  Scrub the heck out of it with a brillo pad.  SCRUB, SCRUB and SCRUB some more.  I found the circle motion to work the best!  Once your hand starts to feel a little raw, rinse off the pan and your hand....

#5.  This was the result.

Clean Cookie Sheet

Dirty Top Left / Clean bottom right.

Did it work?  Yes for the most part.  It didn't get all the grossness off and it deffinately did not return it to its original beauty as most of the post said it would but it did get that sticky feel off perfectly and did clean it well for the most part!  I think if I did the process again that it might get the job done.

Now.  Go clean ALL of your cookie sheets and muffin pans!  You know they're gross!

Traci

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Brrrrrr!  The heat is going, the fireplace crackling and I'm STILL about to freeze to death.  We are impatiently waiting on the dangerous 394 flakes of snow that are headed towards us here in central Alabama.  Well, maybe.  The forecast changes every 28 seconds.  Then again, it is Alabama so since it will be 9 degrees and snowy tonight that means there is every possibility in the world that it will be 72 and sunny tomorrow, 12 hours later.  Don't change ya clothes just yet.

We have been battling strep throat in this house for what seems like a small eternity.  Our December went like this:

Payton - Strep
Haleigh - Strep
Payton - Stomach Bug
Haleigh - Stomach Bug
Tanner - Stomach Bug
Husband - Stomach Bug
Haleigh - Fever virus

Moving on into January and finally Tanner takes his turn:

Tanner - strep AND
Payton - Ear and Sinus Infection

Today Haleigh and Payton are both snotty and I don't mean that as a description of their personality.

For the love of all that is holy and kind.  We have changed tooth brushes 27 times.  Washed sheets every single week.  Thrown out half of the house and IT IS STILL HERE!

I should own stock in Lysol and Clorox.  Yuck.

Anyway, so last night since it was so cold and talk of snow and sickness and more sickness and for the love multiple kinds of grossness going on in this house, I decided that it was CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP time. I've dedicated one night a week to a soup for the rest of the winter; the kids and husband are not pleased.  My mom and I, we can eat soup ALL.THE.TIME.  My husband and kids both turn their nose up at the very mention of 'soup for dinner'.  Last week the potato soup was a GREAT success!  They sucked it down and asked for more.  Payton gets in the car from wrestling last night and says 'I do NOT want chicken noodle soup can you please go buy me something from a restaurant (when she says 'restaurant' she pronounces every last syllable).  I told her no and she started to cry.  I let her cry.  Then I reminded her that she was nearly eight years old and crying over stupid chicken noodle soup.  She didn't care, she continued to cry.  We made it home and she cried all the way to the kitchen, looked in my beautiful mustard yellow Le Creuset stock pot and cried salty tears over my chicken noodle soup!  THEN THAT HEIFER HAS THE NERVE TO SAY 'CAN I HAVE THE KIND IN THE CAN'!!!! Um, come again little lady?  I then of course went into my standard culinary rant.  'I have a $40,000 piece of paper that says I have the right to make CHICKEN NOODLE FRICKIN SOUP and SELL IT, by gosh don't think your going to ask for CRAP IN A CAN'!  It's typical, they know to expect it.  How did this end you may ask?  She ate two bowls and asked for a third,  I cut her off due to lack of appreciation.

Anyway, hopefully you and yours will appreciate this amazing recipe because I will tell you....everyone loved it...I hope you love it too!

:::Chicken Noodle Soup:::

Olive Oil

1 T. Butter (Optional)

3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

2 Onions: 1 Cut in chunks, 1 diced

4 Celery Stalks

16 Baby Carrots or 4 Big Carrots: 2 Chunky cut and 2 diced

1/4 Bunch of Parsley, Chopped

12 Cups of Water

Salt & Pepper

8 Ounces of Egg Noodles

In a preheated dutch oven bring olive oil and butter (optional) to a medium high heat.  Place chicken breast in skillet and sear on each side for about 3 minutes each.  Add in (all cut in large chunks, otherwise known as 'rough cuts') 1 onion, 2 Celery Stalks and 6 baby carrots or 2 large carrots, cook until veggies are sweated.  Pour 8 cups of the water over the chicken and veggies.  Cook until chicken is falling apart or falls apart when touched with your spoon.  As water reduces, start adding the remaining 8 cups of water.  This will concentrate the flavor.  Meanwhile, in a tablespoon of olive oil (heated) in a saute pan begin to saute the remaining diced onion, 2 diced celery stalks, 2 diced large carrots and parsley.  Once saute, turn stove top off and let sit.  Once all 8 cups of water have been incorporated, remove chicken.  At this point you can emulsify the veggies or remove them, I chose to emulsify because it acts as a bit of a thickening agent to the broth.  At this point, add salt and pepper to taste.  Your chicken broth should taste like it is now enjoyable.  Shred chicken or cut in chunks (whichever you prefer).  Add in sauteed veggies and noodles.  Cook for 7 minutes.  Serve.

Servings:  About 10 Bowlfuls 

Eat Yo' Soup,

Traci.

Hot Dog Buns Recipe

I found this little recipe for hot dog buns and loved it.  The buns turned out fabulous.  I know what you are thinking...why am I not posting an original recipe?  Well - I am a chef but I am NOT a bread maker.  There is a HUGE difference.  I will be posting recipes hopefully very soon that are my very own but until then, I'll ALWAYS give credit where credit is due and this little lady - is awesome.  Her Julia Child voice will catch you off guard in the beginning but she is really great, I hope you appreciate her awesomeness.  Her videos are also great because they show you an angle of which you can actually see her working the ingredients, which my friends, is hard to find...I give you The Bread Kitchen's Titli Nihaan's recipe for Hot Dog Buns.......

Here is a little picture of how mine turned out; the family LOVED them.

I clearly should have folded the edges over a bit more but they were so good!  I will make one adjustment next time and probably throw in some honey at some point. So good.

I also made home-style fries that night.  I just took a cup or so of flour and added in some garlic and onion powder, about a teaspoon each and then about a table spoon of Tony Chachere's Cajun spice. Added about two cups of water (just enough to make the batter soupy).  Stirred it up really good, no lumps.  Then I cut some potatoes after peeling them into eights.  Dredged the potatoes through the batter and fried them in an olive oil / veggie oil mixture at medium high heat.  They cook in about five minutes.  Once they are golden brown, they are ready.  Pull them out of the oil and hit them with a pinch of salt WHILE they are hot.  Fry in batches, be sure NOT to crowd your oil or you will have a bunch of soggy fries or they will all be stuck together.

Dip the fries in the homemade ranch we made a few days ago and thank the good Lord above for fresh ingredients.

X's & O's.

Traci.

Potato & Leek Soup Recipe

My kids like 'Chicken N' Noodle' and 'Tomato' soup by Campbell's.  The only soup they will eat are those two.  Well, once we stopped eating processed foods I had to stop buying them.  The first soup I made for them was potato and leek soup.   I was immediately met with resistance.  The first thing the ask me when busting through the door at 3:23 PM is 'what's for dinner' or 'did you fix us a snack'?  I said we are having potato soup.  Their responses ranged from 'WHAT, seriously?, I don't eat that' and my favorite 'what about the meat?'

One of my culinary school chef instructors Chef Denny Streeter made this amazing potato and leek soup one night on a whim.  I think it was extremely cold outside and since we had class at night everyone pretty much ate during class, whatever it was that we had cooked.  So on our cold Wednesday night last week I decided to try and yes, that soup has stuck with me for the past 8 or so years.  It was just THAT good.

So, I thought I would share the recipe instead of keeping all this goodness to myself.

Potato & Leek Soup

5 T. Butter

1 T. Olive Oil

1 Small White Onion, Diced

1 Celery Stock, Sliced

2 Leeks, Cleaned and Diced

2 Carrots, Cleaned and Diced

2 tsp. Garlic, Diced

8 Russet Potatoes, Peeled and Diced

6 Cups of Stock, Chicken or Vegetable

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

3 T. Flour, AP

1 C. Heavy Cream

In a stockpot over medium high heat melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and olive oil together add in the onion, celery, leeks, carrots and cook stirring frequently for seven minutes until vegetables are well sweated. Add in potatoes and cook for two more minutes, coating with the other veggies.  Add in garlic and cook for two more minutes.  Poor the stock over the vegetables and bring to a boil.  Once at a boil reduce heat and cook until potatoes are completely cooked, stirring occasionally.  In a separate small pot add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, melt.  Whisk in 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour and whisk for two minutes.  Slowly add in the cream and continue whisking until thickened.  Set mixture aside.  Once potatoes are cooked thoroughly add in the cream mixture and stir till completely dissolved.  The soup will begin to thicken over the next few minutes.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.  At this point you can take the soup and put it into a blender and blend it down or use an emulsion blender, which is what I did.  This allows you to leave the soup as chunky or as smooth as you would like!  Serve and enjoy!

Toppers:  Crispy bacon, cheese, sour cream and chives! Nomnomnom!

                                                                             
Oh and what did the kids say about it?  They devoured it.  Even Tanner, Mr. Picky eater himself.  It was so good and I believe I did Chef Streeter proud.  'I don't eat that' quickly turned into 'Can I have more'!  I hope your family enjoy's it as much as mine did.

Much Love,

Traci

Honey White Wheat Bread

I have to tell y'all.  I haven't baked a loaf of bread since culinary school.  I must have watched 22 tutorials before I gave it a go.  So after 2 hours of letting YouTube fire me up enough to get started - I couldn't find my dough hook.  I.COULD.NOT.FIND.MY.DOUGH.HOOK.  So I began to feel uneasy.  Again.  I gave myself this pep talk:

Traci.  You are 3 years old.  Thirty THREE years old.  You can and you will get in that kitchen and make that bread.  You know why?  Because since your genius self said "if it is something we can make, then we are going to make it, not buy it"....Yeah, where did THAT nonsense come from!  So get your butt in gear, march to the kitchen and KNEAD.THAT.DOUGH!

So my YouTube search turned from 'making bread from scratch' to 'making bread from scratch without a dough hook'.  True Story.  Since it was my birthday, I was feeling overly confident.  But let me tell you what:  this girl made some bread and it was f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c.  I mean, not only good - it was freaking GREAT!

Oh did I mention that after I couldn't find my dough hook then I suddenly couldn't find my loaf pans.  Yeah - great.  Just flipping great.  Anyway, back to the recipe.   I am in love.  I am in love with bread and with this recipe.  If you make this bread and eat it hot with butter, then you eat it later with a piece of ham slapped in the middle...but wait, then you decide to eat toast for dinner just.so.you.can.eat.it.again!  It is/was so good...I can't eat store bought chemically injected bread again.  No way!  Like - it's not even the same thing!!!!  Just give it a try! You.CAN.Do.IT!!!!

:::Honey White-Wheat Bread:::

:::Ingredients:::

-2 Cups Warm Water (NOT hot)

-1 T. Active Dry Yeast

-1/3 Cup of Oil + More for Rubbing

-1/2 Cup of REALLY good Honey (Local is best)

-1 tsp Salt

-3 Cups of Wheat Flour (I like King Arthur)

-3 1/2 C. White Flour, All Purpose

(1) Add warm water and yeast in a mixing bowl, let set for five minutes to proof the yeast.  Add oil, honey and salt to the water and yeast mixture.  Add in the wheat flour.  Add in the white flour.

(2) After mixing well, flour your surface and turn dough out.  *Knead the dough for ten minutes.  Form into a ball, leave in mixing bowl, rub oil over the top of the ball and finally, cover the dough (while still in the mixing bowl) with a clean cloth or plastic and stick in a warm corner.**   Let the dough rise for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes.  

(3)  Once it has doubled in size, PUNCH it down and then separate into two even size dough balls by cutting with a knife or dough cutter.  Flour your surface and knead the dough a few times getting rid of any large dough bubbles.  With a floured rolling pin spread the dough out in to a rough rectangle about the width of the bread pan.

(4)  Tightly roll the dough and pinch the ends into the roll.

(5)  Place the dough in a greased bread pan with the seam down.  Repeat for the second ball.  Lightly rub the top of the dough with a little bit of oil and cover again.  Allow the dough to rise until it has risen about 1" above the bread pan.

(6)  Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

(7) Remove and let cool in the pan for five minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack until completely cooled.  Wrap tightly in plastic and place in an air tight container for maximum quality!

*To knead: you have your dough ball, with the heel of your plams you push down and forward, fold the dough over and turn a quarter to the right.  Repeat. Repeat. Repeat 2 million more times.

**It was a really cold day the day that I made the bread so I preheated my oven to 170 degrees and then turned it off before putting the dough in them mixing bowl in the oven to rest and I propped the door open.

Y'all.  Delicious. I mean, there is absolutely no other way to describe it!  So if you are wondering why my loaves do not actually resemble bread loaves....well because I could never find the pan.  I had to use a smaller casserole dish as an improvisation.  Also - I went for the artisan look.  If you want, you can whisk up an egg white and paint the top of the bread about mid way through your cooking time.  It will be all pretty and shinny.  Another option for a topper is to do the egg white and then sprinkle a mild cheese..mozzarella would probably be a great choice!  Just stay away from a cheddar because you are going to get a really yummy strong honey flavor in the bread and the two together would not be all that great.  In fact, it'd probably be pretty gross.

                                  Save a life.  Make your own bread.
                                  (I don't know, it just sounded funny in my head),
                                                             Traci
                                              Aka:  The Bread Maker

Gettin' A Little Saucey Tonight

So, you know that moment in time when you're like (say this in your best Valley girl voice) 'OMG I'm totes out of Ranch dressing, like, what the heck Beck'.  Then this shiny little light bulb goes off 'ding!!!!' and you think 'well I guess I can mix the little packet thingy with the sour cream stuff and totes not look at the calories'.  THEN you go to the drawer to pull out the 'packet thingy' and there is no packet thingy.  Dilemma!  So you walk over to the ol' laptop, desktop, iPad, smartphone, TV app, or whatever is handy and you hit the information superhighway AND you pray to the sweet Lord Jesus that you have whatever is necessary to make some good ol' REAL Ranch Dressing.  That is when you stumble upon this little valuable piece of information, right....here.....wait for it....wait for it.....

:::Ranch Dressing:::
'The REAL Deal'.  **Adapted from the Pioneer Woman's Ranch Dressing Recipe**
Ingredients:
2 Garlic Cloves with a 1/4 teaspoon of salt to make a paste*
1 C. Mayo (I used homemade mayo)
1/2 C. Sour Cream (I prefer Daisy)
1/4 C. Flat Leaf Parsley, Minced
1 tsp. Dill, Minced
1 T. Chives, Minced
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 t. Black Pepper (Fresh or Pre-ground)
1 t. White Wine Vinegar
1/4 t. Paprika
6 Dashes of Tabasco (or your favorite hot sauce)
1 C. Buttermilk

Mince all your ingredients that are 'minceable' and whisk all ingredients together! Easy peasy! Refrigerate. For best taste, refrigerate overnight.

This is slap your mama good.  Sorry mama.  I said, "I'm sorry mama"....don't ever say I haven't sang for you because this recipe just had me busting out the Eminem.

Then I thought, hmmmm, I might as well go ahead and make the other two macdaddy of dressings, right?  We are going all homemade so let's get er' done!

**Garlic Paste:  mince your garlic into tiny pieces, add salt, rub your knife blade back and forth, clean mixture off your knife and add back into pile...rub back in forth, mash, smear, combine into a paste.  For the love of God do not, I repeat NOT cut your finger off!

 :::1000 Island:::
Ingredients
3/4 C. Mayo (Again, I prefer homemade)
1/2 C. Ketchup
1/3 C. Sweet Pickle Relish
1 1/2 T. Prepared Horseradish
1 t. Red Wine Vinegar
Hefty Pinch of Salt
Hefty Pinch of Pepper

Combine and whisk!  You'll never buy store bought again!


:::Italian Dressing or Marinade:::
Ingredients
1 C. Olive Oil
1/2 C. Red Wine Vinegar
2 tsp. Garlic, Minced
2 Garlic Cloves, Whole
3/4 tsp. Fresh Italian Parsley, Minced
1/2 tsp. Celery Salt
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1 tsp. Minced Onion
1/4 tsp. Onion Powder
1/8 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Pepper

Combine all ingredients.  Whisk.  Taste a sample and adjust seasoning accordingly.

Okay - I have to admit.  I'm not big on Italian dressing; it is number 2,985 on my list of top 2,985 dressings.  Just sayin'.  This recipe is AMAZING as a marinade.  Take a couple of steaks and marinade them over night or at least for a couple of hours.  Magnificent!

ALL Dressings will last up to a month!  Make sure if you use store bought ingredients that you check expiration dates.  Each recipe made between 1 1/2 cups to 2 cups total.



So that is it for the SAUCIEST story of the week! Ha! See what I did there?  Check back in a few days for homemade recipes on mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard....ya know you want too!

                                                                         Go get your sauce on!
                                                                                Traci Silloway

Maple Glazed Oven Roasted Pork Chops

In our attempt to rid the kitchen of all the prepackaged convenient items we are getting down to the bare minimum.  I had a pack of pork chops that I purchased a few days back and as I was cleaning out the massive collection of spices that I have accumulated over the past year or so, I found some rather tasty pure Maple syrup.  I thought, what the heck.

Maple Glazed Oven Roasted Pork Chops

1 Pack of Chops, Whichever tickles your fancy...I used a bone-in pack of 12.  

Olive Oil

McCormick's Grill Mates Smokehouse Maple Seasoning

1 T. Butter

1 Small Onion, Minced

1 tsp. Garlic, Minced

1/2 Cup of Good Maple Syrup

1/2 Cup of Water

1 T. Soy Sauce

2 T. Brown Sugar (Light or Dark)

1 t. Chili Powder

In a skillet heat a smidgen of Olive oil (you can use what ever oil is handy) over medium heat.   Preheat over to 375 degrees. Take the maple seasoning and rub into both sides of each pork chop.  Once the oil is ready begin searing off each side to a light golden brown, do not cook all the way through.  As you sear all the chops place them on a lined deep sided cookie sheet or casserole.

In a small sauce pot add in the butter.  Once the butter has melted add in the minced onion and cook for one minute over medium heat, add in garlic, cook an additional three minutes until onion is translucent.  Do NOT let the onion or garlic burn.  Once the garlic and onion have sweated add in the maple syrup and water.  Bring to a boil.  Add in soy sauce, brown sugar and chili powder.  Stir over medium high heat at a boil for about four minutes until the sauce is well combined and begins to reduce.  Reduce heat to low in order to reduce further for about 8 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Take a barbecue brush or mop and mop each pork chop with the glaze. 

Cook for ten minutes at 375 degrees, turn over and mop again.  Cook for an additional ten minutes.

Remove from over and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.  There will be additional sauce in the cookie sheet or casserole dish that can be spooned over the chops while resting and at service.

Yumm-o.

I need to apologize in advance for the picture....the kids attacked the food and I could only take a picture of the leftover 2 chops (out of 12).

                                                                                                Peace, Love and Broccoli Rabe-

                                                                                                            Traci