PEACH KUCHEN

This is delicious!! It could be served as a breakfast coffee cake or for dessert with ice cream.

1 1/2  cup shortening.
3 cups white sugar (divided)
6 eggs
3 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2  tsp vanilla
6 generous cups of sliced peaches (either canned or fresh)
1 1/2  tsp cinnamon
3/4 c  c chopped pecans or walnuts.

Cream shortening and 1 1/2 cup of sugar. Add eggs, then beat. Add flour, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Mix well.

Spread half of batter in greased and lightly floured 9 x 13 pan. Cover with peaches. Drop remaining batter over peaches.

Mix remaining 1 1/2 cup sugar with cinnamon and nuts. Sprinkle over cake. Bake at 350 for 45- 60 minutes.

GARLIC ROASTED POTATOES

3 lbs small red or white potatoes
1/4 c olive oil
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp minced garlic ( 6 cloves)
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cut the potatoes in half or quarters and place in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Toss until potatoes are well coated. Transfer the potatoes to a sheet pan with sides ( drain excess oil before putting in pan) and spread out in 1 layer. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour ( until well browned and crisped) Flip twice with spatula during cooking.

FLATTENED PAN ROASTED CHICKEN

This is an excellent chicken recipe. Very easy to make. I served it with oven roasted potatoes. My whole family loved it.

Ingredients

• 1 (3 to 4 pound) chicken
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 4 cups hot water
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon whole black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 4 cups ice water
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions
To prep the chicken:

On a work surface, place the chicken breast-side down with the neck of the chicken facing you. Using kitchen shears, cut along the length of the backbone on both sides and remove. Turn the chicken over, breast-side up. Open it on the counter and flatten the chicken as much as you can with your hands.

In a large metal bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, and hot water, until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Add the onion, peppercorns,  garlic, spices, ice water. Stir well. Add the chicken to the brine. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or more.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the chicken from the brine and dry well with paper towels. Set the chicken aside. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil to the hot skillet,(I used a cast iron skillet) and then place the chicken into the skillet skin-side down. Place another heavy pan (I used a second cast iron skillet with a red brick in it)  on the chicken pressing it down firmly to get maximum skin contact with the hot skillet. Reduce the heat to medium and cook under the weight for 8 to 10 minutes. Once browned, remove the weights; turn the chicken skin-side up. Place the chicken in the oven until the meat is 160 degrees F, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let the chicken rest 10 minutes before serving.

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Ingredients

• 1 (3 to 4 pound) chicken
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 4 cups hot water
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
• 2 sprigs fresh tarragon, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 4 cups ice water
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

To prep the chicken:

On a work surface, place the chicken breast-side down with the neck of the chicken facing you. Using kitchen shears, cut along the length of the backbone on both sides and remove. Turn the chicken over, breast-side up. Open it on the counter and flatten the chicken as much as you can with your hands.

In a large metal bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, and hot water, until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Add the onion, peppercorns, tarragon, garlic, ice water, and wine. Stir well. Add the chicken to the brine. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the chicken from the brine and dry well with paper towels. Set the chicken aside. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil to the hot skillet, and then place the chicken into the skillet skin-side down. Place another heavy pan on the chicken pressing it down firmly to get maximum skin contact with the hot skillet. Reduce the heat to medium and cook under the weight for 8 to 10 minutes. Once browned, remove the weights; turn the chicken skin-side up. Place the chicken in the oven until the meat is 160 degrees F, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let the chicken rest 10 minutes before serving.

Delicious Apple Pie

Delicious Apple Pie

This is the best apple pie that I have ever eaten. I adapted the recipe from All recipes.com.

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 8 apples. I used Granny smith, Macintosh and Cortland

Directions

1.                   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.

2.                   Mix the apples with most of the syrup. Reserve some to drizzle over the top.

3.                   Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the syrup over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.

4.                   Cover the crust edges with aluminum foil to keep it from overbrowning.  Bake 25 minutes and remove foil. Bake about 45 minutes more.

5.                    Next time I may add raisins or nuts.

Streusel Filled Coffee Cake

This is a great coffee cake. Steve absolutely loves it. Can't stay away from it.

Cake Batter:
3 cups flour
2 TBSP baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 cup butter or crisco ( I used butter)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
4 tsp vanilla

Streusel Filling
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts optional

Preheat oven to 375
In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in the butter/shortening until the mixture is like fine cornmeal.
 In a small bowl beat the eggs with the milk and Vanilla. Blend into the dry ingredients and stir just until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the mixture.

For filling In a medium bowl mix the sugar, flour and cinnamon together. Blend in the melted butter and nuts. Mix well.

Greased and floured 9 x 13 baking dish. Spoon half the batter in the baking dish. Sprinkle with half the streusel mixture. Spoon the remaining batter over the top of the streusel, gently smooth it out, then top with remaining Streusel. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes. Or the unbaked cake can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight if you want to bake it in the morning. Remember to bring it out of the fridge and back to room temperature before baking, or reduce heat to 350 and bake an extra 15 minutes if it goes into the oven cold.

Kevin's Pizza Dough

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast   If doubling the recipe don't double the water amount.
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 c very warm water
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP olive oil
3 1/3 C all purpose flour.

In a large bowl, dissove the yeast and brown sugar in water. Let sit for 10 minutes
Stir the salt and oil into the yeast mixture. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of flour
Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, cover with a cloth. ( **At this point I have put it in the refrigerator until I was ready to use it later in the day). Let the dough rise until double, this should take about an hour. Punch dough down and form a tight ball. Allow dough to relax a minute before rolling out.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. I have baked it on a pizza stone or a pizza pan. If using a pan, I grease it with olive oil. No need to preheat your pizza stone.
Bake in a preheated oven , until cheese and crust are golden brown  about 15-20 minutes.
This makes one 12" pizza. I usually double it. Enough for 2 regular size pizzas with a little left over.

** The dough will rise will in refrigerator. Let warm to room temperature.

Cheese Blocks

This recipe has been in my family for years. It was one of my mothers favorites. Very simple to make. They go get with soup, chop suey, and much more. You may be turned off by the thought of velveeta cheese but these are really good.

1 pound velveeta cheese
1/2 pound ( 2 sticks oleo or butter)
1 loaf homemade bread unsliced.
Let both come to room temperature. Beat throughly.
While cheese mixture is beating cut up bread. Remove all crusts except bottom crust of bread. Cut in half lengthwise. Turn on side and cut lengthwise. Cut loaf into 16 pieces.
Spread mixture on all sides except bottom. Place on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with paprika.
Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and browned.