Recipe for really outstanding hot cocoa:
- 4 cups milk
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
Put it on the stove and stir until hot and dissolved. It is very rich and exceptionally chocolaty.
Recipe for really outstanding hot cocoa:
Put it on the stove and stir until hot and dissolved. It is very rich and exceptionally chocolaty.
Fage Total whole milk plain yogurt with home made peach jam.
Zech and Ezra made hard candy from scratch. I thought it was great. Next time they will try different flavors.
This has become one of our favorites for breakfast. Perfectly cooked eggs and toast and roast beef… all on a cast iron griddle. This is the breakfast that will power your day…
A touch of butter on a properly seasoned cast iron griddle… medium heat… eggs…. firm up… flip over and press down… finish up to perfect doneness.
Served with pan fried bacon and toasted english muffins.
The dogs chewed my toaster cord in half so until it is repaired, I’ve been toasting on a flat cast iron griddle. I actually like it a lot better.
Golden potatoes, black pepper bacon, onions, green peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, and adobo — topped with cast iron fried eggs. A most excellent breakfast.
Fudge version 2. (Version one wasn’t good enough to write about).
This is a cross between two recipes that I learned about. I made use of some of the techniques but did not follow the recipe that Alton Brown explains so well in his episode “Fudge Factor” at https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/good-eats/episodes/fudge-factor
… start with …
2 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 stick butter
1 cup milk
… and later …
1/2 stick softened butter
1 tbsp real vanilla extract
… and if you want…
Cocktail peanuts (or walnuts or whatever)
Put the “start with” ingredients in a saucepan over high heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until boiling. I tried covering it as Alton Brown said, but it just tried to boil over, so maybe I did that wrong?
Turn heat down to medium low and DO NOT TOUCH IT. As soon as the temp hits 232F, turn off heat and just let it set there. Place a small amount of butter on the top to prevent it from drying out. Let it sit undisturbed until it is 110F…. then…
Dump in the “and later” ingredients and stir it AS HARD AS YOU CAN with a wooden spoon. When it starts feeling like it’s time, maybe losing it’s sheen, maybe starting to get stiff, it’s time to dump it into a parchment paper lined 8×8 pan before too late.
I then poured the peanuts on top and worked them down in with a spatula. I though it was ruined, because it just wasn’t setting up.
But I got up the next day and sure enough it was perfect.
Ezra cured pork belly and after 9 days vac-packed in the fridge, smoked it. Every time he does this it reminds me how good bacon can be.
We cooked it in cast iron along with some eggs and pancakes for breakfast.
Lodge Cast Iron makes some nice products. They are quality cast iron, made in the USA, and sold at incredibly good prices. Here is a link http://shop.lodgemfg.com/
I was at Walmart the other day to restock up on Corelle dinnerware (which is also great – they just don’t play nicely with a tile floor – and my numbers were dwindling). I noticed this Cast Iron Grill pan:
I never saw the point in these before, but then again, never used one… But the price was less than $20, so I figured I’d get one…. well I liked it so much I ended up with two :)
So far I’ve cooked Pork Chops and Chicken Tenderloins. Here is a picture of the chicken from lunch today. I must say, some of the best chicken I’ve ever eaten. Perfectly seared, drizzled in salt, pepper, lemon, and butter, it was cooked completely but soooo tender and juicy.
This deserves a longer post, but I’ll put the rundown here for reference:
Enjoy!
Another “experiment”… Thanks again to Ezra, I had some fresh KC BBQ Rubbed Smoked Chicken Breast in the fridge.
Frozen, sweet white corn, in seasoned cast iron on high heat until perfectly done (stirring constantly). Chopped up smoked chicken breast in. A little Adobo (which is made from salt, pepper, garlic, spices) for seasoning and a few tablespoons of heavy whipping cream to meld it all together.
Served with On The Border corn chips and fresh salsa. Mmmm. It was outstanding.