Robin's Random Recipes

From The Joy of Cooking

7.5 oz (1.5 cups) flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz (~2 cup) grated zucchini
1.5 cups chopped toasted walnuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350F

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Whisk well to combine.

Combine sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt in a food processor. With the food processor running, add the oil.

Transfer the sugar mixture to a medium bowl and stir in the zucchini and nuts.

Fold the zucchini mixture into the flour.

Makes a single 9x5 loaf (45 minutes), about a dozen muffins (25 minutes), or about four dozen mini-muffins (15 minutes).

Our household is split on the nuts issue so I scoop out half the muffins, then add nuts, then scoop the rest.

(From America's Test Kitchen)

Toppings
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (6 ounces)
mushrooms/olives/pepperoni/sausage/etc.

Dough
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (15 ounces)
1 2/3 cups water (13 1/2 ounces), room temperature
1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons sugar
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Place 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes in fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl (I use a yogurt strainer). Let sit 30 minutes, stirring 3 times to allow juices to drain. Combine 3/4 cup tomato solids, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 1/8 teaspoon table salt. (Save remaining solids and juice for another use.)

2. Mix flour, water, and table salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until no patches of dry flour remain, 3 to 4 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Turn off mixer and let dough rest 20 minutes.

3. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over dough. Knead on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Increase mixer speed to high and knead until dough is glossy, smooth, and pulls away from sides of bowl, 6 to 10 minutes. (Dough will only pull away from sides while mixer is on. When mixer is off, dough will fall back to sides.)

4. Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 tablespoon oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula. Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to bowl and pour 1 tablespoon oil over top. Flip dough over once so it is well coated with oil; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until nearly tripled in volume and large bubbles have formed, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

5. One hour before baking pizza, adjust oven rack to middle position, place pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees.

6. Coat rimmed baking sheet with 2 tablespoons oil. MEASURE THE OIL. I eyeballed it the first time and it stuck badly. Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto baking sheet along with any oil in bowl. Using fingertips, press dough out toward edges of pan, taking care not to tear it. (Dough will not fit snugly into corners. If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 to 10 minutes before trying to stretch again.) Let dough rest in pan until slightly bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes. Using dinner fork, poke surface of dough 30 to 40 times and sprinkle with kosher salt.

7. Bake until spotty brown, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Using metal spatula, remove pizza from oven, spread tomato mixture evenly over surface, and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and other toppings. Return pizza to oven and continue to bake until cheese begins to brown in spots, 5 to 10 minutes longer.

Note that the batter has to rest for an hour before baking. It's not absolutely essential, but it makes a big difference in volume and texture.

When I make a roast I save and render the fat and freeze in ice cube trays for making Yorkshire pudding the next time, since my roast recipe doesn't make much in the way of drippings.

3 large eggs , at room temperature
1 1/2 cups whole milk , at room temperature
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
3/4 teaspoon table salt
3 tablespoons beef fat

1. Whisk eggs and milk in large bowl until well combined, about 20 seconds. Whisk flour and salt in medium bowl and add to egg mixture; whisk quickly until flour is just incorporated and mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Cover batter with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours.

2. After removing roast from oven, whisk 1 tablespoon of beef fat into batter until bubbly and smooth, about 30 seconds. Transfer batter to 1-quart liquid measuring cup or other pitcher.

3. Measure 1/2 teaspoon of remaining 2 tablespoons beef fat into each cup of standard muffin pan. When roast is out of oven, increase temperature to 450 degrees and place pan in oven to heat for 3 minutes (fat will smoke). Working quickly, remove pan from oven, close oven door, and divide batter evenly among 12 muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Immediately return pan to oven. Bake, without opening oven door, for 20 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes longer. Remove pan from oven and pierce each pudding with skewer to release steam and prevent collapse. Using hands or dinner knife, lift each pudding out of tin and serve immediately.

From the Better Homes and Gardens The Complete Guide to Bread Machine Baking, typed up by a friend. Since Eric's not a big nut fan I made one loaf with, and one without. The one with, of course, was better. ;)

I'm not entirely sold on the double spiral, it's more work (having to hold one side while rolling the other) for questionable benefit. Next time I'll do a normal spiral.

As written, the recipe makes one 1.5 lb 9x5 loaf. The amounts in parenthesis are for two 1 lb 8x4 loaves.

3/4 c. milk (1 c.)
1 egg (2 eggs)
3 T. margarine or butter (4 T.)
3 c. bread flour (4 c. - 1 lb 4 oz)
3 T. sugar (4 T.)
3/4 t. salt (1 t.)
1 1/4 t. active dry yeast or bread machine yeast (1 1/2 t.)
1/3 c. chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted (1/2 c.)
1/3 c. packed brown sugar (1/2 c.)
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon (2 t.)
1 T. margarine or butter (2 T.)

1. Add first 7 ingredients to machine according to manufacturer's directions. Select dough cycle. When cycle is complete, remove dough and punch down. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, for filling, in a medium bowl stir together the nuts, brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

3. FOR THE 1 1/2 lb. RECIPE: On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 14 x 9 inch rectangle. Spread with 1 T. butter and sprinkle with filling. Starting from both sides, roll up each side into a spiral toward the center. Place, rolled side up, in a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Cover; let rise about 30 minutes or until nearly double.

4. Bake in a 350 deg oven for about 30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. If necessary loosely cover with foil the last 10 minutes to prevent overbrowning. Remove from pan, cool on wire rack. Before serving, sprinke with powdered sugar.

5. FOR THE 2 LB. RECIPE: Prepare as above, except divide the dough and butter in half. Form 2 loaves; place in 2 greased 8x4 inch loaf pans.

Posted with reservations. This came highly recommended on an internet forum recently and with so many fans I had to give it a try. Eric & A love it, but it's a little too rich for me--and that's saying something. I've I'm going to have that much butter in something I also want it iced in chocolate!

2 packages Jiffy Cornbread mix
16oz sour cream
4 eggs
2 sticks melted butter or margarine

Mix all ingredients together, pour into ungreased 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 30-45 mins until lightly browned on top and sides pull away from the pan.