The Pioneer Woman - Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Original Link: https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a37598987/twice-baked-potato-casserole-recipe/

Ingredients

• 4 lb. medium sized russet potatoes - should yield between 2 1/2 to 3 lbs of mashed baked potatoes. 
• 12 oz. bacon, divided or 16 oz pork sausage (breakfast or regular)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream 
• 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tbsp of crushed minced garlic or garlic paste
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 8 oz. cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup of panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan 
• 3 Tbsp of dried chives

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Prick each potato with a fork 3 to 4 times all over, then place on a sheet pan. Roast for 55 to 70 minutes until the potatoes are tender when pressed. Remove the potatoes from the oven and lower the temperature to 375ºF.

Meanwhile, working in two batches, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until golden and crispy, 6 to 8 minutes. Let the cooked bacon drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Once cool, crumble or chop into small pieces. If using the pork sausage, cook it up until browned with crispy bits throughout the meat.

In a large bowl, place the melted butter, cream cheese, warm milk, sour cream, salt, pepper, garlic and chives. Carefully whisk or blend with beaters the mixture together. It will incorporate into the mashed potatoes better if you do this first. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half lengthwise, and scrape the flesh out of the skins and into the bowl. Tear or chop up three of the potato skins and add them to the bowl. You can also skip this and use the potato skins for a different purpose later. Use a potato masher or spoon to mash everything together. Fold in the half of the bacon or sausage, half of the cheddar cheese, and parmesan.

Grease a 3-quart (9x13) casserole dish with butter. Transfer the potato mixture to the baking dish. Cover and bake for 35 minutes until the edges are bubbly. Combine the remaining bacon, cheese and panko bread crumbs in to a mixture. Top the casserole with the mixture and bake uncovered until warmed through and lightly golden on top, 20 minutes more. Let rest 10 minutes and serve. 

Corn Salsa

At our house, we don't sport. So we don't watch the Superbowl.
But sometimes it matches up with Groundhog Day and we do observe that, haha!
A few years ago we started making "game food" to eat while we watch the movie Groundhog Day. 

This year, we decided to try some new recipes, that ended up worth keeping. And making notes of. 

First up- Corn Salsa! The recipe came from HERE. 

That link will tell you that you need: 
- 2 cups cooked corn, or 3 cobs worth (which can be grilled, or fresh, or frozen)

- 2 small tomatoes, seeded and diced

- 1/2 cup red onion, diced

- 1 scallion, diced

- 1 jalapeno, diced (and seeded for milder flavor)

- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro

- juice from one fresh lime

- salt and pepper to taste 

My husband knows how to cook and cannot just follow a recipe without doing his own thing, haha. He started by broiling the frozen corn. He broiled and tossed til the corn started getting a bit of char on it.

He used two limes worth of juice. He also added some olive oil and this Mexican seasoning to it.  

His only complaint was that it was very dry. Maybe next time he won't seed the tomatoes, and just include the whole thing? However, it was well received, so we'll keep the recipe. 

Very easy, just a lot of chopping. 
And we just ate it with tortilla chips. 

Pizza Dough - Sponge Method

Yield makes eight 9-inch pizzas servings

Sponge Ingredients

• 1 cup lukewarm water (110°F to 115°F)
• 1 tsp active dry yeast, divided
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour, divided

Dough Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water (110°F to 115°F)
• 2 teaspoons table salt
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 to 2 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• Yellow cornmeal for dusting pizza peel

Sponge Preparation

Step 1 - Place 1 cup lukewarm water in large bowl of heavy-duty mixer. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon yeast, 1 tbsp flour, and 1 tbsp sugar over water. Gently whisk to combine. Let stand until yeast dissolves and mixture looks spongy, about 4 minutes. Add remaining flour and whisk until smooth; scrape down sides of bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sponge rest at room temperature in draft-free area overnight (about 12 hours; sponge will look bubbly).

Dough Preparation

Step 2 - Add 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 tbsp yeast to sponge and turn dough mixer. Add 4 cups AP flour, 1 cup at a time, beating with dough hook to blend after each addition. Add one cup of bread flour, then 1/4 cups of remaining one cup one at a time. Dough should be moist and slightly sticky. Continue to knead with dough hook until dough is smooth, comes cleanly away from sides of bowl, and is only slightly sticky to touch, scraping down bowl occasionally. Total time should be about 5 to 10 minutes. If dough is very sticky, beat in more flour, 1/4 cupful at a time. Scrape dough onto floured surface; knead into smooth ball. Continue to knead by hand if needed. Dough should be stretchy without tearing easily and pass the window pane test.

Step 3 - Brush inside of large bowl with oil. Add dough; turn to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; chill 6 hours, kneading dough down when doubled (after 2 hours). Only punch down once.

Step 4 - About 1 1/2 hours before baking, dust 2 baking sheets with flour. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead gently; shape into 16-inch log. Cut into 8 equal pieces. Weigh dough if possible and divide total grams by 8. Knead each piece into smooth ball. Arrange 4 balls of dough on each sheet. Cover loosely with kitchen towels and let rise until almost doubled, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Step 5 - If using pizza stone, place in oven.

Step 6 - Preheat oven to 500°F for 45 minutes. Working with 1 dough ball at a time, dust dough with flour. Press into 5-inch round, then gently stretch and roll out to 9-inch round. For tips on kneading and rolling out pizza dough, see our video Kneading and Forming Pizza Dough or our tip How to Roll Out Pizza Dough.

Step 7 - If using pizza stone, sprinkle pizza peel or rimless baking sheet with cornmeal. If not using pizza stone, sprinkle large baking sheet with cornmeal. Place dough round on cornmeal; brush lightly with oil. Top as desired. Slide pizza onto stone or place pizza on baking sheet into oven.

Step 8 - Bake pizza until sauce is bubbling and crust is crisp and brown, lifting edge of pizza to check underside, about 14 minutes.

Step 9 - To speed things up, you can bake two pizzas at the same time. To ensure even cooking, be sure to reverse the position of the baking sheets after 8 minutes. Baking two pizzas at once may take longer than 14 minutes.

Slightly modified from this recipe. 

www.bonappetit.com/recipe/overnight-pizza-dough

Glazed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

I made these in 2020 and 2021 for sure.... and this is a keeper! 
~~~

Found here: https://www.laurenslatest.com/soft-glazed-pumpkin-sugar-cookies/
(also pinned to Tried & Approved)

Ingredients

• ▢1/2 cup softened butter
• ▢1/2 cup vegetable oil
• ▢1/2 cup pumpkin puree canned pumpkin
• ▢1 cup granulated sugar
• ▢1/2 cup powdered sugar
• ▢1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• ▢2 large eggs
• ▢4 cups all purpose flour
• ▢1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• ▢1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• ▢pinch of cloves
  
  

for the glaze-

• ▢3 cups powdered sugar
• ▢4 tablespoons water
  1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and set aside. In a large bowl, stir butter, oil, pumpkin, sugars, vanilla and eggs together until incorporated and smooth.
• Slowly mix in all dry ingredients until completely incorporated.
• Scoop onto prepared baking sheet using 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop and flatten to 1/2 inch thick using the bottom of a glass. If the dough is sticking to the glass, press the bottom of the glass in granulated sugar before flattening. Bake 8-9 minutes.
• While cookies bake, stir all ingredients together for glaze until smooth.
• Once cookies are finished baking, cool 3 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to cooling rack. Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons glaze over each warm cookie. Let glaze harden 2-3 hours before serving. OR eat them warm with lots of runny glaze
• 
  
  Yeah, soo my cookies baked 9 minutes. They were too puffy to put the glaze on top, so I flipped them over and glazed the bottom!! My dad's grandmother did that with her sugar cookies so why not? It worked great! 
• Also my glaze was 2 cups powdered sugar, 4.5 tbsp water and at least 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice... Next time i'll use milk or cream.
• I got 57 cookies, plus dough out of this batch.  69 out of the second batch (smaller for sure)

Six Sisters Monte Cristo Sliders

 I saw an Instagram post for THESE sliders and thought they looked delicious- even if the ingredients sounded like they should not go together... 

When I served it for dinner, the initial results were mixed, ha. My middle could not gag down cheese and jam in the same bite. My youngest picked off the parts she liked and just ate that. However, I continued to make it (ha!) and now people eat it willingly, on occasion. It is now a favorite dinner for my youngest. So, thanks, family, for trying something new taht looked bizarrely tasty to me! 

Ingredients: 

12 Hawaiian rolls (I actually get them from Sam's so I use a pack of 16)
1/2 cup raspberry jam

1/2 lb deli turkey (I buy sliced!)

1/2 lb deli ham (again, pre-sliced)

6 slices Swiss cheese

1/2 cup butter melted - divided! 

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp mayonnaise

Powdered sugar for garnish

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325*

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. 

Slice rolls horizontally, keeping them as connected as possible. Put the bottom in the baking pan.
Spread jam on the open bottom half of the rolls. 

Layer turkey, ham and cheese over the jam. I start with whole slices and then cut halves to make sure the whole thing is covered in all three.

Whisk together 1/4 cup melted butter, egg, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and mayo. Spread that mixture on the top of the open rolls. Place the roll tops on the meat and cheese, to make sandwiches.
Brush remaining 1/4 cup melted butter on top of the rolls.

Bake 15-20 mins, or until the cheese is melty.

Remove from oven, sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar and cut into individual servings.

I usually don't use all of the egg-mustard mix. I have put the rest in the fridge, but I don't ever make a second batch soon enough to use open egg... 

 

Zucchini Banana Oat Bread

ETA: I will only make this in two of my smaller loaf pans, ever. lol. 

I tried this recipe six years ago and pinned it to my "tried and approved" board. Today I made it again and shared it with a friend. It is SO yummy! You can find the original post HERE. 

From the comments, someone suggested adding in chocolate chips, so today one loaf had none and the other two loaves had maybe 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

The loaves are very short, splitting the batter into three pans. I might try using just two, larger bread pans... I don't know how much that would effect the baking time. But for three loaves that are less than 2 inches tall, it baked 40 minutes in my oven.

I am linking it here and copying over the recipe because the original post is eight years old and I don't want it to disappear. Also, I refer to this blog way more often than I look at Pinterest for food ideas. I get too distracted on Pinterest! And this is a keeper! 

Zucchini Banana Oat Bread
from Amanda Rettke at I Am Baker.

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 3 cups shredded zucchini
  
  INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Heat oven to 350°F and prepare loaf pans. (I used three small loaf pans.)

  2. In large bowl add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and oats. Stir together.

  3. In a smaller bowl combine sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla, and mashed banana.
     Pour sugar mixture into the flour mixture and stir by hand. Add in zucchini and mix until well incorporated.

  4. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until bread pulls away from sides of pan and an inserted toothpick is removed clean.

Burt's Potato Salad

• 6 Russet Potatoes, about 2 to 2 1/2 lbs, baked or pressure cooked whole and refrigerated until cold, pealed and chopped into chunks that are about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch.
• 8 hard boiled eggs, refrigerated till cold, peeled and chopped
• 1 red onion finely minced
• 3/4 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 3 tbsp mustard, regular, Dijon, deli, whatever you have
• 1 1/2 tsp dill weed
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sprinkle with paprika to garnish

Combine chopped potatoes, chopped eggs, and minced onion. Stir to combine. Sprinkle on salt, pepper, and dill weed. Stir again to even distribute seasoning. Combine Miracle Whip, mayo, ketchup and mustard in a bowl and mix to together. Dump dressing onto potato mixture then stir to combine. Sprinkle on the paprika to garish. Cover and put into the fridge for a couple of hours to chill and let the flavor combine.