2 Hour No Knead Bread

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups (430 grams) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1 teaspoon honey or granulated sugar

1 (7-gram) packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

1 1/3 cups warm water (about 110°F)

Instructions:

1. Stir together the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl until combined.  Add in the warm water and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until the dough is evenly mixed and no large flour streaks remain.  (The dough will look quite loose and shaggy, which is ok.)

2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or beeswrap, and let the dough rest at room temperature for 1 hour.  (It should double in size during this time.)

3. Shape the dough.  Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface.  Fold the dough on top of itself — pulling the outer edges up and into the center a few times until the dough feels a bit tighter and holds its shape — to form a round dough ball.  (If the dough is sticky or feels too loose at any point, just keep sprinkling on extra flour as needed.)  Lightly flour the top of the dough ball, and then carefully flip it upside-down onto a piece of parchment paper, so that the smooth side is on top.  Use your hands to shape the ball into an even circle.  Lightly flour the top of the dough ball, then loosely cover it with plastic wrap or beeswrap to rest while the oven heats.

4. Heat the oven and Dutch oven.  Place the Dutch oven inside of your oven*, then set oven to 450°F.  Wait for 20-30 minutes for the oven to heat, while the dough continues to rest.  (If the dough rises and spreads out more than you would like during this time, just use your hands to shape it into a tighter ball once more just before baking.)

5. Bake. Very carefully, use oven mitts to remove the Dutch oven from the oven.  (It will be extremely hot!)  Lift the edges of the parchment to carefully transfer the dough ball (along with the parchment) to the Dutch oven.  Cover with the Dutch oven lid and bake for 30 minutes.  Then carefully remove the lid and bake for 10-20 more minutes, until the crust of the bread reaches your desired level of doneness (as light or as deeply golden brown and crispy as you prefer).

6. Serve. Remove from the oven, uncover, and then carefully lift up the edges of the parchment to transfer the bread to a wire cooling rack.  Cool for at least 30 minutes, then slice, serve and enjoy!

Variations:

Add in garlic: Mince 1-2 cloves of fresh garlic and stir them into the dough during Step 1.

Add in herbs: Chopped fresh herbs (such as rosemary, tarragon or sage) or dried herbs (or herb blends such as Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence) would be lovely additions to this bread too.  Just stir them into the dough during Step 1.

Add everything bagel seasoning: One of my personal faves — stir 1 

tablespoon everything bagel seasoning into the dough during Step 1.

Add freshly-cracked black pepper: Sounds simple, but tastes so good.  Just stir into the dough during Step 1.

Add in Parmesan: Stir 1/4 to 1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese into the dough during Step 1.

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/no-knead-bread/#tasty-recipes-71740

Margarita and Sour Mix

 Margarita 

2 oz. tequila

2 oz. sweet and sour mix

½ oz. triple sec

Splash of OJ

Grand Marnier Floater

Sour Mix

¾ cup Sugar

¾ cup Water

½ cup lime juice

½ cup lemon juice

Make Simple Syrup by microwaving water for a minute and a half then add sugar after sugar is dissolved add lime and lemon juice. Store in fridge for 2 weeks. 

Ridiculous Chocolate Cake

 CAKE

• 1 (15.25 ounce) box chocolate cake mix

• 1 (3.9 ounce) box instant chocolate pudding

• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream

• 3 eggs

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 1/2 cup water

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

FROSTING

• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature

• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1/4 cup heavy cream

________________________________________

Instructions

CAKE

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Liberally grease a 10- inch bundt pan with butter or shortening and lightly dust with flour. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine all the cake ingredients. Mix on low for 30 seconds until combined and then on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until the cake is set. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert the pan onto a cake plate. Cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed beat the butter, cocoa powder and powdered sugar until combined. Add in the vanilla and cream and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

2. Frost the top of the cake and garnish with more chocolate chips if desired. 

 https://cookiesandcups.com/ridiculous-chocolate-cake/

Picadillo

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion (appx 1 cup)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper , adjust to taste

1 teaspoon oregano

1 small green or red bell pepper (appx 1 cup)

15 oz can tomato sauce

¼ cup datil pepper sauce

½ cup (125ml) broth or water

2 packets Sazon to taste or use beef or chicken bouillon

1 can Rotel

1 4oz can of green chilis

Instructions

Brown the ground beef, then add all the other ingredients and cook on low for 2 to 3 hours.

Beef/Chicken Gravy

 1 chicken stock cube / bouillon cube (sub 2 tsp powder) (Note 1)

1 beef stock cube / bouillon cube (sub 2 tsp powder) (Note 1)

2 1/4 cups (565ml) boiling water

4 tbsp butter , unsalted

4 tbsp flour , plain / all purpose

1/2 tsp onion powder (ok to omit or sub garlic powder)

1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper

Pinch of Poultry Seasoning

Salt , if needed

Crumble cubes into boiling water, mix to dissolve.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

Add flour, onion powder and pepper. Mix into butter with a wooden spoon or whisk.

While stirring, slowly pour in half the liquid. Once incorporated into the flour butter roux (it will thicken quickly), add remaining liquid and mix.

Stir for 1.5 - 2 minutes until it thickens to a gravy consistency (it's quick as water is already hot). Taste, add more salt and pepper if needed.

Beer Cheese Dip

 2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup beer

1/2 cup whole milk

1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (smooth or grainy)

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)

2 cups (8 ounces) freshly-shredded cheese (I used half sharp cheddar, half smoked gouda)

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Make the roux. Heat butter in a large saucepan or sauté pan over medium-high heat until melted.  Add flour, and whisk until completely combined.

Add the remaining ingredients.  Add in the beer, milk, Dijon, Worcestershire and smoked paprika.  Whisk until smooth.  Continue cooking until the mixture has thickened (and has nearly reached a simmer).  Add cheese and whisk until smooth.

Season.  Reduce heat to low.  Taste and season the dip with salt and pepper, as needed.

Serve.  Serve immediately and enjoy!  (Dip will thicken a bit the longer it sets.)

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/beer-cheese-dip/

SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP - Slow Cooker

 1 (10-ounce) bag fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped

1 (13-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, chopped and drained

1 (8-ounce) brick low-fat cream cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 cup light sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup finely-chopped white or red onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients.  Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a small slow-cooker and toss briefly to combine.

Slow cook.  Cover and cook* on low for 2-3 hours or on high for 1 hour, until the cheese is completely melted.

Stir and season.  Stir the dip until evenly combined.  Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Serve.  Serve warm, accompanied with whatever dippers you prefer.

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/slow-cooker-spinach-artichoke-dip/#tasty-recipes-64040