Garlic Butter Bread Sticks

Would you believe these delicious looking bread sticks are made with puff pastry?

Puff pastry is an easy convenience food that we use often to make desserts and savory treats.

Ingredients

• 1 sheet thawed puff pastry (leave out on the counter for 30-40 minutes)
• 3 tbsp Italian garlic butter (or other compound butter)
• 3-5 pinches shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Lay out thawed puff pastry sheet on parchment lined baking sheet
3. Cut into ½ inch strips using a pastry cutter or pizza wheel 
4. Brush melted butter over all the strips
5. Separate & twist each piece; place back on parchment
6. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese
7. Bake 10-12 minutes
8. Allow to cool before moving from baking sheet

This recipe and photo comes from Gina from Kleinworth & Co. 

You can connect with Gina via

Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram & Pinterest. 

Thank you for creating these awesome bread sticks Gina, your creativity is amazing!

Fried Chicken

Doesn't that fried chicken look delicious?

This recipe and photo comes from Taste of the South Magazine, featuring authentic delicious southern recipes.  Check it out, along with their family of magazines.  Awesome recipes!

Ingredients

• 1 (3- to 4-pound) whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon ground red pepper
• Vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

Rinse chicken pieces, pat dry.

Combine flour, salt, paprika, and red pepper.  Mix well.

Heat oil (in a depth of 2 inches) to 350° over medium-high heat in a deep cast-iron skillet or large heavy Dutch oven.  The Captain and I use a deep fryer.

Work in batches! Coat chicken in flour mixture and gently shake to remove excess. 

Fry chicken for 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of chicken registers 180°. 

Adjust heat as needed to maintain oil temperature. 

Drain chicken on paper towels.

Mushroom Swiss Burger Pizza

These type of pizzas are so much fun to make!  All you need is pizza dough and toppings you love. Experiment!  One of the best I've made has pulled pork with a little BBQ sauce as a topping.  Use your imagination!

Another thing I like to do is roll out the dough a little thicker than usual and bake.  Brush with melted butter and some parmesean cheese.  When it is done, cut in half and slice a pocket in the middle.  Fill it with your favorite toppings and top it with cheese and bake about 5 to 10 minutes.  I used to make these for lunch when I was working.  Economical and easy lunch . . . you can make a bunch and freeze the rest.

This recipe comes from Publix Supermarkets.  Looks like a winner! Click on the link for more delicious recipes!

I love their pre-made pizza dough in the bakery section.  It is perfect for those times you don't have the time to make dough from scratch and just as good.  It can even be frozen.  One of my favorite convenience foods!

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef, 7% fat
• 8 slices Swiss cheese (5 oz)
• 12 oz pre-sliced white mushrooms
• 1 large sweet onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 lb fresh pizza dough
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 (.75-oz) packet mushroom gravy mix, divided
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup flour

Directions

Remove dough from refrigerator and let stand one hour (do not remove from bag until stand time completed).

Preheat oven to 400°F. 

Chop onion. 

Combine mayonnaise with 1 tablespoon gravy mix and set aside. 

Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high. 

Place 1 tablespoon oil in pan, then add mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Saute and stir 2-3 minutes or until tender. Remove mushrooms from pan; set aside.

Place remaining 1 tablespoon oil in pan, then add onions; cook and stir 5-6 minutes or until soft and golden. Add meat to pan; brown 4-5 minutes, stirring to crumble meat, or until no pink remains.

Stir in remaining gravy mix, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/2 cup water.  Cook until mixture thickens, about 1-2 minutes. Remove pan from heat.

Pat dough into lightly greased or nonstick pizza pan. (Or turn dough out and roll onto a lightly floured surface to desired thinness.)

First top the dough in the following order:  mayonnaise mixture; meat; mushrooms and cheese. 

Bake 18-25 minutes (bake time depends on thickness of pizza) or until thoroughly heated. Keep an eye on it!

Let stand 5 minutes; slice and serve.

Pasta with Tomatoes, Garlic and Basil

This recipe is very similar to a simple sauce that I make.  The difference is a tiny bit of brown sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes and a handful of parsley.

Make your own variation, adding ingredients you like.  Throw it together and let the stove do all the work!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. pasta
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 28 oz. can whole plum tomatoes, chopped (reserve juices)
• Handful of basil leaves, chopped
• ½ c. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat one tablespoon of oil over medium heat in a saucepan large enough to hold the tomatoes. Add garlic and cook about 1 minute or until softened.

2. Add the rest of the oil to saucepan, then add tomatoes and the reserved liquid.

3. When sauce starts to simmer, lower heat to maintain a slow simmer for 45 minutes.

4. Cook pasta according to package directions.

5. Salt and pepper sauce to taste, toss in basil leaves, stir and pour over pasta. Top with grated cheese.



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