Meat Pies

INGREDIENTS 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 lb ground beef 4-5 Tab. Beef gravy flavoring 1 tbsp salt 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp smoke paprika 1/4 tsp ground white pepper 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 1 small yellow onion chopped. 1 green pepper cored, seeded, and chopped. 1 tsp dried thyme 4 fresh bay leaves 1 tsp. Italian seasonings  1 C breadcrumbs 2 tbsp water 1 bunch of scallions or onion thinly sliced, about 1/2 cup. Pie Dough 1 egg. Vegetable oil for frying INSTRUCTIONS Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, dried thyme, bay leaves, and cook, stirring for an extra 15 minutes, until most of the juices have evaporated the veggies have softened. mix the salt, cayenne, paprika, white pepper, and black pepper. Add beef and cook in a large skillet on medium high heat heat for about until meat if done. Remove from stove, adde breadcrumbs to the meat and add the water. Stir in the scallion.   Section your dough, putting some in the refrigerator to keep it cold. Dust your counter with flour and roll out the first section until it's just under a 1/4 inch thick. (If using bread or pizza dough, a little oil on the dough will help) Use a 4-inch biscuit cutter (or a lid of a jar) to cut the dough into rounds. Lightly brush the outer edges of each round with the egg wash. Place 1 to 2 teaspoons of the filling in the center of each round. Fold the circle over the filling to make a half circle. Using the back side of a fork, press at the edges to seal the pie. Transfer the pies to the prepared baking sheet. To fry the pies, heat your deep fryer, or, 2 1/2 inches of oil in a large case iron skillet to 350 F.  Heat your oven to 350° F.

Pop Pop’s Chili

2 pounds ground meat
3 pounds beef cubes (cut small)
1 Green pepper

1 Red pepper

1 yellow

Kidney Beans (dark red)

1 can Black

1 can Pinto

2 vadalia onion chopped

3 Tab-chili powder

1 Tab garlic powder

2 pkg. Wick Fowlers Chili Kit (contains: salt, onion, garlic, chili pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano, paprika and Masa powder (thickening)

(Wicks comes in mild to 2 Alarm....)

Cook meat

Add spices and 1 onion

Add beans, cook one hour, add second onion and peppers

Cook 1 hour

I usually buy mild and then add more cayenne to taste.

Putting a bottle of hot sauce on the table works too.

French Toast Casserole 

(simplified from:  http://sheldonrachel.blogspot.com/2009/03/french-toast-bake.html)
 

(Two 9 x 13 pans)    Texas Toast is double thickness bread

Ingredient Checklist

2 cup brown sugar
1 C. melted butter
2 loaf Texas toast
8 eggs
3 cup milk
2 teaspoon vanilla
powdered sugar for sprinkling and adding to egg mixture

                        

            

   Directions                 

                    

• Melt butter in microwave
• Add brown sugar & stir together
•  Pour mixture into two 9 x 13 pans
• Spread evenly to cover bottom of pan
• Beat eggs on low
• Add milk & vanilla to egg mixture
• Add 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar to egg mixture
• Spread even layer of Texas Toast on butter/sugar layer
• *I cut off the crusts...this is optional
• After you have 1 even layer, ladle on 1/2 of egg mixture
• Sprinkle brown sugar & cinnamon before next layer
• Spread second layer of Texas Toast
• Ladle second half of egg mixture
• Spread thin layer of butter
• Sprinkle lightly with white sugar & cinnamon

The the butter & sugar help give the final product a crusty top....

- Refrigerate overnight

- Bake at 350 for 45 minutes
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar
- Top should be crusty, middle should be soft & moist, & bottom is just glorious!

**eating it upside down is the way to go.....that way you don't waste any of the sticky bits of heaven on the plate. Layering pan first with parchment paper will help in removing from pan.

Baked Candied Sweet Potatoes

Baked Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes quartered (approx. 4 pounds)
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water (one third)
1 1/4 cups butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1 bag whole marshmallows
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
maraschino cherries for garnish
cinnamon and nutmeg for garnish

Preparation:

Boil potatoes until slightly underdone. About 15-20 min.
Drain and peel
In saucepan (preferably a heavy one) combine brown sugar, 2 cups marshmallows, cinnamon and butter until all is melted
Mash two potatoes with a fork and stir into sauce, cut the remaining potatoes into slightly larger than bite size chunks.
Butter a large baking dish and place cut potatoes on the bottom. Pour sauce over the potatoes.

Bake for 20 min.

Remove from oven and add more marshmallows (cut in half this time) over the top with cherries, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Place back in oven and bake until golden brown.

Quiche Lorraine

Ingredients:

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single pie crust 12 slices bacon 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese 1/3 cup minced onion

4 eggs, beaten 2 cups light cream 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon white sugar 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2.	Place bacon in a large skillet, and fry over medium-high heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels, then chop coarsely. Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onion into pastry shell.
3.	In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, salt, sugar and cayenne pepper. Pour mixture into pastry shell.
4.	Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and bake an additional 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Allow quiche to sit 10 minutes before cutting into wedges. Variation: Replace Swiss cheese with provalone and use part bacon and part sausage (This is actually my favorite)