Lemon Bread

06 Sunday Jun 2010

Posted by ruthep in breakfast, dessert, lemon, lemon bread, Recipe

This quick bread has a very mellow lemon flavor. It is pretty moist and tasty.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grease the bottom and 1/2″ up the sides of an 8″ x 4″ loaf pan.

Ingredients:

1-3/4 flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
1/2 cup chopped almonds or walnuts- optional
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon sugar

In a bowl mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set to the side.
Combine the egg, milk, cooking oil, and 1 Tablespoon lemon juice in another bowl. Add all at once to the flour mixture and stir just until moistened.
Fold in the lemon peel and the nuts, if you are using.
Pour into the loaf pan.
Bake for 50-55 minutes until it tests done with a toothpick or cake tester.
While the bread is baking, mix the 2 Tablespoons lemon juice and 1 Tablespoon sugar.
After taking the bread out of the oven, brush the lemon juice sugar mixture over the top. Do this before you remove the bread from the pan.
Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes.
Loosen and turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Wrap in foil or plastic wrap overnight before serving.

Choosing a Baking Pan

05 Saturday Jun 2010

Posted by ruthep in choosing a baking pan, dark finish, dull finish, shiny finish

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When it comes to baking different foods, the finish can make all the difference in the world.

For baking cookies, a shiny finish will give you the best result. Your pan should be with no or very low sides to allow the heat to fully surround the cookies.

For baking brownies, breads, and cakes, a dull finish is the best.
A shiny finish reflects the heat and is a poor conductor.
A dark finish will cause the baked goods to cook much faster than it should.

Pies bake best in a dark finish. They also do well in Pyrex, ceramic, and stone.
Shiny pans don’t produce the best crust. They don’t really brown and don’t seem to crisp up as well on the bottom.

If all you have is a pan with a dark finish, decrease the baking temperature 25 degrees for cakes and breads.
For cookies, they may cook faster so check them a few minutes before the first baking time stated in the recipe.

For baking pies in a shiny pan: one way to make the bottom crust crisp up well is to preheat the oven with a baking stone or a cookie sheet and bake the pie on that.
It will still have a lighter crust, especially if it is a shortening crust.
If you have shiny cake pans they will still make a good cake, but when it comes time to get news ones, buy ones with a dull finish.

Mini Meatloaves

05 Saturday Jun 2010

Posted by ruthep in ground beef, main dish recipe, mini meatloaves, Recipe

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Mini meatloaves are one of my favorite meat foods. There isn’t much to making them.
You can mix them up and bake them all in an hour.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ baking pan.

Ingredients:

1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup oatmeal, preferably quick cooking but regular works too
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound ground beef
2/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon mustard

In a bowl mix the egg, milk, cheese, oatmeal, salt, and ground beef.
Form into 8 loaves and put into baking pan.
In another bowl combine the ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. Spoon that over the mini meatloaves.
Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.

Serve.

Making Chocolate Curls and Chocolate shavings

02 Wednesday Jun 2010

Posted by ruthep in chocolate curls, chocolate shavings

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Using chocolate curls and chocolate shavings as a garnish is a simple way to make a dessert look very elegant.

To make the curls you will need a vegetable peeler or a paring knife.
To make shavings you will need a paring knife, preferably serrated.

You will also need either gloves or something to wrap around the chocolate to keep the heat from your hand from making the chocolate soft.

Take a piece of chocolate, either a candy bar or a square of baking chocolate and put it in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes prior to shaving it or making curls.

Now, to make the curls, run the peeler or knife along the edge as if you were peeling a potato. As you peel it, the chocolate will naturally curl.
If the chocolate starts to soften, stick it in the fridge to firm up again.

To make shavings, use your knife to cut through the chocolate, getting as close to the edge of the bar as possible. If it is cold and firm enough, the chocolate should come off the bar in little shavings.
Just like making curls, if the chocolate starts to soften firm it back up in the fridge before shaving anymore.

Make sure to have the gloves on or something protecting your hand from the chocolate. You might think, you don’t want to make much so the chocolate won’t soften or melt, but it does not take long.

3 egg white Meringue

01 Tuesday Jun 2010

Posted by ruthep in meringue recipe

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This is a recipe for a meringue for pies.

You will need a mixer for making this.

Ingredients:

3 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
6 Tablespoons sugar

In a large mixing bowl combine the room temperature egg whites, vanilla extract, and cream of tartar.
Beat with a mixer on medium speed about a minute until soft peaks form.
Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, beating on high.
Beat for about 4-5 minutes until stiff peaks form.
Spread over hot pie filling and seal to edge of pastry.
Swirl the top to make it really pretty.
Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15 minutes.
The meringue will be lightly browned.

Tips for Making a Really Great Meringue For Your Pie

01 Tuesday Jun 2010

Posted by ruthep in baking pie, meringue, tips

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Making a meringue for a cream pie can be intimidating, but it really is pretty simple.

You can find different recipes for making meringue.
They are pretty much the same.

But no matter the recipe, there are some things you can do to make sure your meringue comes out great every time.

First thing is to make sure you have ABSOLUTELY no yolk or shell or any bit of fat in the bowl you are using to make the meringue.
The whites need to be free of fat to get fluffy and white like you want.

Let the egg whites warm up to room temperature before beating them. The will get bigger if they are at room temperature.

When it comes time to add the sugar, add it slowly. Just one tablespoon at a time. If you add too much sugar too soon, the egg whites don’t hold up as well and the meringue will not be as smooth and velvety.

Make sure the meringue is beat to very stiff peaks.

When putting meringue on pie, make sure the pie filling is hot.
Also make sure to seal the filling in well with the meringue.
If it isn’t sealed in well, the meringue will end up shrinking and than weeping.

Homemade Hamburger Buns

01 Tuesday Jun 2010

Posted by ruthep in bread baking, hamburger buns, Recipe

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I know you are probably thinking why make hamburger buns when they are just so easy to buy.

For a few reasons.
You have the ingredients to make the buns and want hamburgers but have no hamburger buns in the house.
You just feel like making them.
The taste. I love homemade buns over store bought anytime.

The dough comes comes together pretty quickly.
And if you are lucky enough to have a stand mixer with a dough hook it will come together even quicker and easier.

With rising times, mixing time, and baking time it will take about 2 hours.

Ingredients:

4-1/4 to 4-3/4 cups flour
1 package(2-1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 beaten eggs

In a large bowl mix the yeast with 2 cups of the flour.
In a medium saucepan heat the milk, sugar, salt, and butter just until butter almost melts.
Add the milk mix and eggs to the flour and yeast.
Beat with a mixer on medium for about a minute. Scrape down sides and beat on high speed for 3 minutes. If you have a stand mixer, beat for a couple minutes on medium speed.
If you have the stand mixer or mixer with a dough hook, add the rest of the flour, switch to the dough hook and knead the dough til velvety smooth.
Otherwise, after beating the dough on high speed stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead til dough is smooth and elastic. That will take about 5 minutes or so.
Grease a large bowl and put dough into it.
Cover and let rise until double in size.
That will take about an hour.
Punch down the dough. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Divide the dough into 12 pieces and shape into balls.
Grease a couple cookie sheets.
Put the balls onto the cookie sheets and flatten the balls into buns about 4″ across.
Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes until they are double in size.
While the buns are in their final rise preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bake the hamburger buns for 12-15 minutes until golden in color.
Cool on a wire rack.

These freeze really well.

Baking With Honey

31 Monday May 2010

Posted by ruthep in baking with honey, honey, honey/sugar substitute

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Honey is a great substitute for sugar in many recipes.

Honey is better for you and has a lower glycemic index than sugar so it won’t cause as much havoc with blood sugar- especially if you need to be watching it for health reasons such as diabetes.

Raw honey is better for you than pasteurized, since the heat will destroy many of the healing properties in raw honey.
So, baking with raw honey may destroy some of the healing properties. But, maybe not all.

So raw or pasteurized in baking doesn’t really matter much.
Just your preference.

The taste of honey in baked goods is a bit different, but it is very good.

You can find recipes calling for honey or you can choose to substitute.

When a recipe calls for sugar, you can substitute 3/4 cup honey for every cup of sugar called for.
You may also need to reduce any other liquid in the recipe by up to 1/4 cup.
If no other liquid in is the recipe- like for cookies-, add up to 1/4 cup flour.

Grilling a Great Bacon Cheeseburger

31 Monday May 2010

Posted by ruthep in burger, grilled bacon cheeseburger, grilling

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There is nothing like a grilled burger or a bacon cheeseburger. So, why not cook it all together on the grill. No more cooking the bacon separate and putting it on after the hamburger is done and cheese is added.
Here is my method for making a great grilled bacon cheeseburger.
By the way, this is the way I cook them on the stove too.

Preheat your grill to high.

First of all, divide one pound of hamburger into 3-4 patties.
You will need two strips of bacon for each patty.
One slice of your favorite cheese per burger.
Salt and pepper to season.

Making a criss-cross wrap two strips of bacon around each hamburger patty. This is how your bacon wrapped hamburgers should look.
Season each side with salt and pepper.
Lay the burgers on the grill and cook for 20-30 minutes, depending on the patty size.
Turn occasionally so the bacon doesn’t burn.
The hamburger should be done when the bacon is nicely browned.
Lay a slice of cheese on each bacon wrapped burger and let it stand for a minute or so.

Remove from the grill and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Ruth's Yummy Stuff

~ Here are some recipes and tips I'd like to share with you.

Lemon Bread

Choosing a Baking Pan

Mini Meatloaves

Making Chocolate Curls and Chocolate shavings

3 egg white Meringue

Tips for Making a Really Great Meringue For Your Pie

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Baking With Honey

Grilling a Great Bacon Cheeseburger