Arkansas Trip

CHOCOLATE CAKE

Chocolate cake 

2 sticks butter (NOT reduced-fat margarine)
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting:
1 stick butter(NOT reduced-fat margarine)
1/4 cup cocoa
6 tablespoons buttermilk
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease and flour a 15-by-10-by-1-inch jellyroll pan (cookie sheet with sides). Melt margarine in pan. Add cocoa and water and bring to a rapid boil. Remove from heat. Add sugar, flour, soda and cinnamon and mix well. Add buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Pour into prepared bake and bake until done, about 20 minutes. (Cake also can be made in a 9-by-13-inch pan, but it will take longer to bake). Top with Icing.
For Icing: Melt butter . Add cocoa and buttermilk. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and add powdered sugar, vanilla and Pour atop cooled cake. And spread!

Crockpot Roast

Crockpot roast

This is what you need

2-3 lb Beef Roast

1 tbsp Seasoned Salt

2 tsp Pepper

1 tsp Thyme

1 tsp Tarragon

2 tsp minced Garlic

1 lb baby Carrots

2 lb red Potatoes, about 6 potatoes.

1 large Onion

16 oz Beef Stock , or 2 cups

2 tbsp Cornstarch

This is how we do it 

Open carrots .

Peel and cut onions into 1-3″ pieces.

Wash and cut potatoes into 4 pieces.

Mix together salt, pepper, thyme and tarragon.

Rub roast with about 2/3 of spice mix.

Add roast to the crockpot then add remaining spice mix.

Place  vegetables on top of roast .

Pour liquid into slow cooker.

Cook on high for 12 hours til vegetables are tender and meat pulls apart easily.

Transfer meat and vegetables to serving dish.

Add cornstarch to the crockpot and stir until well blended.

Whisk the mix to thicken sauce.

Add meat and vegetables back to the crockpot and place it on warm until you are ready to have dinner.  Serve with your favorite side, Mashed potatoes or white rice, which is what I would prefer.

BIRTHDAY CAKE

 MESSAGE FOR DETAILS

RECIPE MAMMA BISCUITS

Our Favorite Buttermilk Biscuit

YOU WILL NEED

1 stick butter, frozen- I used salted butter 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 cup chilled buttermilk 1 Tablespoon baking powder 2 Tbsp. butter, melted (to brush on top after the biscuits have baked) **** If you don't have butter like me add a tablespoon of vinegar to the milk and stick it in the fridge while the flour is in the freezer 1. Preheat oven to 475°. Grate frozen butter using large holes of a box grater. Toss together grated butter and flour in a medium bowl. Chill 10 minutes in the freezer. THE FREEZING IS A CRUCIAL STEP SO DON'T LEAVE IT OUT!!! THIS HELPS WITH THE FLUFFIRIZATION OF YOUR BISCUITS (I made up that word lol) 2. Make a well in center of mixture. (my mother used to do that) make a hole in the middle.
Add chilled buttermilk, and stir until well blended .Don't stir more than 25 times or you'll have tough biscuits. The dough will be sticky. Don't be alarmed. 3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly sprinkle flour over top of dough. With a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 3/4-inch thick rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches). 4. Fold dough in half so the ends meet. Repeat rolling and folding process 4 more times, a total of 5 times. DO not exceed 5 times 5. Roll dough with a floured rolling pin to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut with a 2 1/2-inch floured, round cutter, reshaping scraps and flouring surface as needed. 6. Place dough rounds, side by side, in a pan. or cookie sheet with high sides (Dough rounds should touch.) Bake at 475° for 15 minutes or lightly browned. Remove from oven; brush with melted butter. Serve immediately. Makes 12 to 14 biscuits.

and you know me , I prefer to sop it up with Alaga or Delta syrup (my husband is from Arkansas)

GENERAL TSO CHICKEN

Z

 General Tso Chicken 

For the Marinade:
· 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
· 2 tablespoons rice wine
· 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
· 3 tablespoons corn starch
· 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch chunks
· For the Dry Coating
· 1/2 cup flour
· 1/2 cup cornstarch
· 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· For the Sauce:
· 3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
· 2 tablespoons Chinese rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar
· 4 tablespoons brown sugar
· 1 tablespoon corn starch
· 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
· 2 teaspoons garlic powder
· 2 teaspoons ginger
· 2 teaspoons minced scallion bottoms (about 1 scallion), plus 6 to 8 scallions, white parts only, cut into 1-inch lengths
· 4 small dried red Chinese chilies
· To Finish:
· 1 quart vegetable, oil for deep frying
· Steamed white rice for serving
Directions

For the Marinade: . Add soy sauce, wine, and whisk to combine. Set aside half of marinade in a small bowl. Add baking soda and corn starch to the large bowl and whisk to combine. Add chicken to large bowl and turn with fingers to coat thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

For the Dry Coat: Combine flour, corn starch, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Whisk until well blended. Add reserved marinade and whisk until mixture has coarse, mealy clumps. Set aside.

For the Sauce: Combine soy sauce, wine, vinegar, sugar, and cornstarch in a small bowl and stir with a fork until cornstarch is dissolved and no lumps remain. Set aside.

Combine oil, garlic, ginger, minced scallions, and red chilies in a large skillet and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until vegetables are aromatic and soft, but not browned, about 3 minutes. Stir sauce mixture and add to skillet, making sure to scrape out and sugar or starch that has sunk to the bottom. Cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens, about 1 minute. Add scallion segments. Transfer sauce to a bowl to stop cooking, but don't wipe out skillet.

To Finish: Heat 1 quart vegetable, oil in a large wok or Dutch oven to 350°F and adjust flame to maintain temperature.

Working one piece at a time, transfer chicken from marinade

to dry coat mixture, tossing in between each addition to coat chicken. When all chicken is added to dry coat, toss with hands, pressing dry mixture onto chicken so it adheres, and making sure that every piece is coated thoroughly.

Lift chicken one piece at a time, shake off excess coating, and carefully lower into hot oil (do not drop it). Once all chicken is added, cook, agitating with long chopsticks or a metal spider, and adjusting flame to maintain a temperature of 325 to 375°F, until chicken is cooked through and very crispy, about 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Add chicken to empty skillet and return sauce to skillet. Toss chicken, folding it with a rubber spatula until all pieces are thoroughly coated. Serve immediately with white rice

CREAMY CHICKEN AND RICE

Ingredients

8 chicken legs

8 cups of water

1 cup of long grain rice

1 Tablespoon of lemon pepper season 

2 cans of cream of chicken soup.

1 Tablespoon of season salt 

Instructions

Place the water in a pot, WITH THE LEMON PEPPER AND SEASON SALT ,add chicken legs, and cook for 1 hour on high heat.

Remove chicken to cool and remove skin.

Remove the broth water from the pot, leaving 2 cups of broth in the pot.

Add 1 cup of rice to the pot and bring to a boil.

After the rice is at a boiling point. Turn burner down to simmer , cover with a lid and set the timer for 20 minutes 

While the rice is cooking, remove the skin from the chicken and the bone

• Place the chicken inside the pot one the rice is done cooking.
• Add 2 cans of chicken soup 
• Mix together the rice, chicken soup and chicken 
Serve immediately

LEMON CHOPS

Lemon pepper chops

* 1 teaspoon of lemon pepper seasoning per chop.
* 6 pork loin rib chops about 1-inch thick
* Teaspoon of paprika 
* Teaspoon salt
* Teaspoon black pepper
*
Directions
* 1. Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
* 2. In a small bowl, add the Lemon pepper, together with the salt, pepper, and paprika and mix well. Liberally sprinkle the porkchops on both sides with the seasoning mixture.
* 3. Arrange the chops on a baking sheet or tray with a rack. Bake the pork chops for 20 minutes, remove from oven turn over once place back in oven another 20 minutes then remove and Serve immediately.

CABBAGE ROLLS

Ingredients

• • 1 large cabbage(with)• 
• 1 1/2 lb  ground beef (you can sub ground pork for half if you like)
• • ¾ cup instant rice
• • 1 egg
• • 1 stick of butter, melted
• • 1 cup freshly chopped parsley (loosely packed)
• • 1 medium onion sliced thin
• • 1 28oz jar of crushed tomatoes
• • 1 cup homemade beef stock 
• • 2 tsp salt
• • 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• • ½ tsp cayenne pepper 
• .1 Teaspoon of garlic powder
• 
  

• Instructions

• Take out a nice sized cooking pot and fill it half way with water
• Salt it well and bring it to a boil
• Turn down the heat to a simmer
• While you’re waiting for the water to boil, put the ground beef, rice, egg, melted butter, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne, in a large bowl.
• Mix until very well combined
• Now that your water is simmering away, it’s time to get the cabbage ready. Make sure you have a large bowl of cool water near the stove to place your cooked cabbage leaves in. 
• First cut out the core, really get in there. You want the leaves to come off easily
• Rince the cabbage well
• If the outer leaves look a bit ragged, feel free to peel them off and use those to layer the bottom of the pan
• Now, taking a pair of tongs, gently lower the WHOLE head of cabbage into the pot of simmering water. I
• You will quickly notice that the outermost leaf is beginning to soften and magically come off! Let the leaf continue to simmer for about 45-60 seconds
• Once the leaf is nicely pliable, take it out with the tongs and place it in the bowl of cool water to hang out for a bit
• Keep repeating this process, gently and carefully rotating the cabbage in the pot until all the leaves are done. If you ripped a few, that’s okay! We’re still going to use them as mentioned above.

Assembly

To assemble your stuffed cabbage rolls, you will need to trim the leaves a little bit. To do this, begin by

1. Cutting off the tough stem
2. Then run your knife along the stem to make it thin and pliable
3. ***If you don’t trim the stem you won’t be able to roll the cabbage or chew thru it.
4. Take the meat mixture and divide it into even portions. If you have 10 or more nice cabbage leaves, you should make 10 portions of meat mixture. so....10 little cute stacks.
5. Take a leaf and lay it down so that the leaf curls towards you (not wrong side out)
6. Take a portion of meat and lay it in the leaf closest to the stem
7. Shape the meat into a long loaf. This will make it easy to roll
8. Now roll the leaf over once, tuck in the sides, and roll it over a second time
9. Be sure not to roll these too tight or they will pop during cooking!
10. Now that you have your rolls assembled, it’s time to get them in the pan.
11. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
12. Line the bottom of the pan with a few failed cabbage leaves
13. Sprinkle on half of the onion slices
14. Spoon half the crushed tomatoes over the top and season with salt and pepper
15. Layer half of the rolls (Usually 5-6 can fit nicely) and top them with the other half of the sliced onions and crushed tomatoes
16. Season again with salt and pepper
17. Now pour in the beef stock and lay the cabbage rolls on the pan. 
18. Cover with a tight lid or foil paper and put in the oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes
19. Once the timer goes off, take the pan out and check the rolls. if they are not cooked to your liking cook another 15 minutes.

Spaghetti Lasagna

INGREDIENTS
•       16 Ounces of Spaghetti Noodles
•       1 Large Yellow Onion , Chopped
•       1 teaspoon garlic powder
•       1 1/2 Pounds Ground beef
•       3 teaspoons Dried Italian Seasoning , divided
•       2--24 Ounce Jars Spaghetti Sauce
•       8 Ounces Ricotta Cheese
•       8 Ounces Cream Cheese , At Room Temperature
•       1/4 Cup Sour Cream
•       3 Cups Mozzarella , Shredded-Divided
•       1/4 Cup Margarine
        1/4 cup of sugar optional
,
INSTRUCTIONS
1       Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2       Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package, drain well and return pasta to original pot. 
Add 1 jar of prepared spaghetti sauce and mix well. then Set aside.
3       In a large skillet, over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and ground beef and cook until the beef is no longer pink and the onion begin to soften, about 20 -30 minutes. Add Italian Seasoning to skillet, . Drain well. Add 1 jar of spaghetti sauce to skillet,after you have drained it then margarine and sugar .combine the spaghetti and , mix well and Set aside.
4       In a medium mixing bowl, ricotta cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, 1 cup mozzarella, and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning. mix well..... Set aside.
5       Place half the spaghetti in a 9x13 baking dish. Spread  then spread cheese mixture evenly over spaghetti. Spread remaining spaghetti over cheese mixture. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
6        bake in preheated oven until casserole is heated through, about 45-60 minutes.
you can cover it for 30 minutes and uncover for the last 30 minutes.

CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE

• 3 sticks of butter, softened not microwaved.
• 1

  8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 3 c

  sugar
• 6 large

  eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp

  vanilla extract
• 3 c

  all purpose flour or cake flour
• 1/8 tsp

  salt

  
  

  
  

  1. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until creamy
  2. . Gradually add sugar, beating 5 to 7 minutes
  3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.
  4. Add vanilla mixing well
  5. Combine flour and salt, gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended after each addition.
  6. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Fill a 2-cup, ovenproof measuring cup with water; place in oven with tube pan. Fill a 2-cup, ovenproof measuring cup with water; place in oven with tube pan. This will help keep the cake moist.
  7. Bake at 300°F for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan, and cool completely , Remove from stove. do not leave on stove to cool..
  8. USE WITH CARAMEL SAUCE RECIPE

CARAMEL SAUCE

Caramel sauce

Ingredients
•       1 cup stick of butter flavored crisco
•       1 cup light brown sugar
        1 CUP OF WHITE SUGAR
•       2/3 cup heavy cream



Instructions

1       In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add BOTH sugars and heavy cream; whisk continuously over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
2       Bring to a boil and allow to boil for only 3 minutes, while stirring (do not overcook). Remove from heat and allow to cool.
3       Store in refrigerator for up to one month.