Rachel's Steak and Shrimp w/ garlic butter sauce

Case and I developed this recipe today for our Christmas lunch! we bought the ingredients for our dinner but, got invited at the last minute to dinner, so it became lunch!

1 Ribeye steak

1 package frozen pre-cooked extra large shrimp

1 stick salted butter (you can probably use less)

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp parsley

1/4 c. chopped onions

monterey steak seasoning.

crisco/butter/olive oil, your choice of oil

First, oil a pan with your choice of oil. Get it nice and hot so you can sear your steak to keep all those awesome juices in. Put your steak in the skillet. You should hear a nice sizzle when you put it in. Sprinkle the steak w/ Monterey Steak seaoning. Let it cook on one size until your desired temp (i.e. rare, med. rare, well done....etc.) Then flip it over and finish it off. When it's cooked how you like, take it out of the pan and put it on a plate to cool. Immediately after you take the steak out of the pan, add the entire package of frozen shrimp. I added 2 pats of butter, 2 cloves of pressed garlic, about a teaspoon of parsley and the chopped onion. I let it all saute in those awesome steak leftovers. It took less than 5 minutes to get the shrimp all hot. When they were finished, I took them out of the pan and put them on the plate w/ the steak. After that, i poured the lefty over juices into a bowl for dipping. For the garlic butter sauce I started with a stick of salted butter, then added a clove of pressed garlic and about a teaspoon of parsley. microwaved it for about 20 seconds so it was about half melted then i blended it all together. I mixed the two sauces together and it was AWESOME!!! We had a lobster with it too.

Alton Brownies

Yeah, I got this recipe from Alton Brown. I call them Alton Brownies and they're really delicious! They are moist and chewy, just right. This ain't no cake like brownie. And here is the recipe:

• 1 1/4 c. cocoa powder
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 8 oz. butter, melted
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 4 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 and grease and flour a 8 inch square baking pan. In a mixing bowl beat eggs, well, but don't over beat them. Add the sugars, vanilla and butter and mix together. Then add remaining dry ingredients and mix until combined, again, don't over beat. Pour into prepared pan and back for about 45 minutes. Use a toothpick to test for doneness.

*note: I used a 9x13 pan and back at 350 until it was done, I don't remember how long though.

Lion House Rolls

I'm just going to copy and paste this recipe into my blog. I got it from the KSL website. I followed this one ALMOST to a 't'. The only thing I did differently was I let the yeast bloom for about 5 minutes before adding the butter, flour, egg and salt. They turned out really well. Hope you enjoy this!

• 2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
• 2/3 cup nonfat dry milk (instant or non-instant)
• 2 tablespoons dry yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/3 cup butter, shortening, or margarine
• 1 egg
• 5 to 5 ½ cups all-purpose flour, or bread flour

In large bowl or electric mixer, combine water and milk powder; stir until milk dissolves. Add yeast, then sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups flour. Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. Add 2 cups flour; mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. (Dough will be getting stiff and remaining flour may need to be mixed in by hand). Add about ½ cup flour and mix again, by hand or mixer. Dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour).

Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about one tablespoon of vegetable oil all around sides of bowl. Turn dough over in bowl so it is covered with oil. (This helps prevent dough from drying out). Cover with plastic and allow to rise in warm place until double in size, about 45 minutes.

Scrape dough out onto floured board. Turn dough over so it is floured on both sides; gently flatten to about 1 inch thick. With rolling pin, roll out to a rectangle about 18 inches long, 8 inches wide, and ¼ inch thick. Brush with melted butter. With pizza cutter or very sharp knife, cut dough in half to make two strips about 4 inches wide. Make cuts through strips of dough every 2 inches, making about 18 pieces of dough.

Starting with short end, roll up one piece of dough, with butter on the inside. Place roll on parchment-lined pan with other short end down on the paper. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Be sure all rolls face the same direction on baking pan. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes, or until light to medium golden brown. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter. Serve with Honey Butter. Makes 1 to 1 ½ dozen rolls.

Helpful Tips for Making Rolls

Always add flour gradually and keep dough as soft as you can handle. A soft dough will produce a lighter roll.

It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour called for in the recipe—add only enough flour to make dough manageable.

To shorten dough's rising time, use one of these methods:

1) When dough is thoroughly mixed, oil bowl and cover dough with plastic wrap. Fill sink or larger bowl with about 2 inches of hot water or enough water to come about half or three-fourths the way up outside the dough bowl. Place bowl of dough in bowl of water and allow to rise until double in size.

2) Just before mixing dough, turn oven on lowest possible temperature. Place a pan of hot water on bottom oven rack. When dough is thoroughly mixed, place in oiled bowl. Cover dough with plastic wrap; place in oven. Turn oven off, shut oven door, and allow dough to rise until double in size, about 50 to 60 minutes. Shape or cut into desired rolls. Place rolls on greased or parchment-lined pans and allow to rise until double in size. Bake according to recipe.

Brush top of rolls with butter when first taken from oven.

How to consistently make attractive, good-tasting rolls? Practice! Practice! Practice!

Peach Cobbler

This recipe is pretty good. I think I'll try doing some variations to the recipe next time. My husband loves peach cobbler, I just like it. When I make it, it's because I love him! Lol. This recipe was from Foodnetwork.com, by Paula Deen. Usually her desserts have A LOT of sugar. This one wasn't so bad because I didn't add sugar to the peaches, and I didn't use fresh peaches, because It's not peach season here yet. This is where Paula's recipe is found and here is my variation:

• 1 large can of Peaches in heavy syrup
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 1/2 cups Self-Rising Flour
• 1 1/2 cups Milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 8 Tbl Butter or Margarine

First get your 9x13 baking dish and put the butter in the bottom. Turn on your oven to 350 degrees and put your pan in the oven to melt the butter. In the mean time, in a medium mixing bowl add flour and sugar and mix well, then add your milk and vanilla. I used a whisk to get out all the lumps. By the time you have the batter mixed up, your butter will be melted and your oven up to temp. Pull out the pan and open your can of peaches. Pour the batter into the pan w/ the melted butter and spoon the peaches over the top evenly, then pour the reserved syrup evenly over the top. Put your pan back into the oven and bake it for 30-45 minutes, until the top is golden, brown and delicious! Serve with whipped cream, ice cream or even plain!

I think next time, I'm going to keep an eye on the cobbler in the oven and when it's starting to look done, but not yet golden on top, I'm going to sprinkle sugar on top to and then bake it till it's golden. I think a crunchy, sugary crust would be delicious. I think next time, I'm going to use fresh peaches or home canned peaches, I think the flavor will be richer. I might add cinnamon next time, like Paula's recipe calls for. *shrug*

Rachel's Chili

So, I'm making chili on my own for the first time, from scratch! I hope it goes well!

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 medium salsa
• 1 tbl chili powder
• 1-28 oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 cans kidney beans
• 1 can of tomato sauce
• 1 can green chili's
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• parsley
• salt and pepper

First brown the ground beef with green pepper, garlic, salt and pepper. Add everything to a large pot and let it simmer. Add your spices to taste. I also added a shake of red pepper flakes. :) So far, so good!

Crepes

Alton Brown has the best crepe recipe and it's really easy. It always takes me two crepes to remember how to cook them, and I decided I would double the recipe whenever I make them, because I like leftovers! Big fan of leftovers! Here is his recipe: *hint, I added a little extra water (about 1/4 cup) to make the batter thinner, I think it worked better.*

• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• Butter, for coating the pan

Directions

In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.

Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to the cutting board. Lay them out flat so they can cool. Continue until all batter is gone. After they have cooled you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months. When using frozen crepes, thaw on a rack before gently peeling apart.

*Savory Variation Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, spinach or sun-dried tomatoes to the egg mixture.

*Sweet Variation Add 21/2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of your favorite liqueur to the egg mixture.

We filled ours with fresh strawberries w/ sugar and bananas and topped them with chocolate syrup.

Super Moist Banana Bread

So, this recipe has the Casey Seal of Approval, otherwise known as CSA. Last night after I took it out of the oven, he wasn't sure if he liked it. But today, after it had cooled, he loved it. And I quote "This is really good!" So, here is the recipe, it's soooooo basic and it's a variation of the banana bread recipe I found on Simply Recipes. I only made some small changes to the recipe.

• 3-4 bananas, mashed
• 1/3 c. vegetable oil
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• pinch of salt.
• lemon juice

Peel your bananas and place them on a plate and drizzle lemon juice over them. I used about 1/4-1/2 tsp. I didn't measure it, so I can't be sure how much I used. I then mashed them with a fork, there were still some medium sized bits. I poured the mashed bananas in a mixing bowl and added the sugar, egg and vanilla and mixed well. I then sprinkled the soda and salt over the banana mixture and mixed it in well. Then I added the flour and mixed it until it was all combined. I didn't want to mix it too much because I didn't want it to have too much gluten, which would make it tough and chewy. I poured the batter into my pampered chef loaf pan and baked it for 1 hour at 350 degrees. It was sooooooo good!