Homemade Hamburger Buns

When I made the homemade sloppy joes my husband said that the french bread rolls were to chewy so I went on a hunt to find a great bun recipe and I came across this one on A Chow Life. T test it out I made sloppy joes and eagerly waited for the feedback and it was a huge thumbs up from everyone. I've also used it for meatball sandwiches, cold cut sandwiches and breakfast sandwiches. Every time it's delicious. So if you are looking for a good bun, here you go.

Hamburger Buns
1 and 1/2 cups milk
8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
4 and 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
5 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. kosher salt
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water
Sesame seeds for sprinkling (optional)
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and butter and heat until the butter is melted, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to 105° to 115°F. Add the yeast and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Let stand for 10 minutes. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the 4 cups flour, the sugar and salt and beat on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the milk mixture and knead until the dough forms a ball, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the mixer bowl, oil the inside of the bowl and return the dough to the bowl.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 10-by-7 1/2-inch rectangle. Using a ruler as a guide, cut the dough into 2 1/2-inch squares. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, spacing the buns evenly apart, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 400°F.
Remove the plastic wrap from the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the buns with the egg mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake until the buns are golden and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a bun registers 190°F, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer the buns to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut in half and use as hamburger buns. Makes 12 hamburger buns.

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Mmmmm... Sloppy Joes

My husband loves sloppy joes but the only kind I've ever had are the ones where you brown ground beef and add a can of sauce and it heats and you put it on a bun and dinner is served. I am not a fan of this meal. The only nights we had it were the nights that I had dinner plans so I wouldn't have to eat it. Until I decided to go on a hunt for a delicious sloppy joe recipe.

I love the internet. You can type in something as basic as Homemade Sloppy Joes and you get hundreds of websites. Thank you to AllRecipes because I now love sloppy  joes.

I made my own hamburger buns (recipe to follow) and they were delish.  Quick and easy. Plus they were so nice to take as leftovers. It is also a great freezer meal just reheat over med-low heat so it doesn't burn.


Sloppy Joes
adapted from AllRecipes

*The recipe calls for  smoky BBQ sauce but all I had was Sweet Baby Rays so I added a teaspoon of liquid smoke and it was amazing.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
2 ½ pounds ground beef
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2/3 cup smoky BBQ sauce
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
8 to 12 potato rolls

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until they start to turn translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the beef and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat, until it is finely crumbled, the liquid boils off and the meat begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Drain the grease off the meat and onions. Stir in the tomato paste, and keep stirring until the meat is coated. Add the BBQ sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire, soy sauce, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce is slightly thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. You can make the sloppy joe meat up to 2 days in advance and reheat it over low heat or in the microwave.

Wrap the rolls in aluminum foil and warm in the oven for about 10 minutes. Serve the sloppy joes hot with the warmed rolls.

Pretty much the best Spaghetti and Meatballs ever.

I love Italian food. Actually I love all food but there is something so comforting about Italian food. I want to say it's because of the house I grew up that it reminds me of home but we had a wide variety of food growing up including Moussaka (still not a fan). 

It might be because I am a self proclaimed carb-aholic. Is there even such a thing? If there is I am one. I can eat a whole loaf of bread in one day. I can eat and eat and eat pasta and never tire.


My Mom's marinara sauce usually consisted of some combination of onion, mushrooms, and carrots so it was surprising to me to see that this was a very basic sauce and it had incredible flavor. It is a great meal to make when you have someone coming over or if you are giving someone a meal or want some leftovers because this makes a lot of food. I am not complaining though because I could eat this every day and three times on Sunday.

Spaghetti and Meatballs
 adapted from Fine Cooking 


Frank's Marinara Sauce
3 28-oz. cans tomatoes, whole or crushed
1/2 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, lightly smashed
1 Tbs. kosher salt; more as needed
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried oregano

If you're using whole tomatoes, put them in a large bowl and crush them with your hands. Discard any cores.
In a 7-quart or larger sauce pot, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté until lightly golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 45 min. to 1 hour; the sauce will reduce and thicken slightly but shouldn't get too thick. Stir in the basil, pepper, and oregano. Taste and add more salt as needed.Continue on with the meatballs or refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Meatballs 
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork
1/2 lb. ground veal
1 Tbs. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced, plus 1 clove garlic, lightly smashed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup finely grated imported Locatelli Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano (or half and half); more for serving
1-1/2 cups plain dry breadcrumbs, preferably 4C brand
1 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 cup olive oil or vegetable oil; more as needed
1 lb. dried spaghetti
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
 Place meats in a large bowl. Add the salt, pepper, minced garlic, eggs, grated cheese, breadcrumbs, 1-1/2 cups water, and parsley. Mix with your hands until everything is nicely distributed, but don’t overmix. Shape into twelve meatballs by gently scooping up a handful of meat and rolling it into a nice even ball; each meatball should weigh about 4 oz. and be about 2-1/2 inches in diameter. I like to take out my scale because I can never get them uniform.

In a  medium skillet, heat the olive oil and the lightly smashed garlic clove over medium heat (You want enoough oil that it comes halfway u the meatball.). When the garlic is lightly browned, the oil should be hot enough to start frying. (Remove the garlic from the oil once it becomes fully browned.) Gently set six of the meatballs in the oil and fry until they’re lightly browned on the bottom half, 5 to 6 min. Carefully turn them over using a slotted spatula and brown the other side. Drain the meatballs on a few paper towels to soak up excess oil. Fry the remaining six meatballs the same way.

When the marinara has finished its initial simmer and you’ve seasoned it, add the meatballs to the simmering sauce and cover the pot. Simmer them together for 30 min. to let the sauce permeate the meatballs and the meat flavor infuse the sauce.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When the meatballs and sauce have been simmering for about 20 min., add the spaghetti to the boiling water and boil until it’s just about al dente.
When the spaghetti is done, drain it and return it to the pot it was cooked in. Add the chopped fresh basil and a couple of ladlefuls of the marinara sauce to the spaghetti. Put the pot over high heat and, with a wooden spoon or tongs, constantly toss the pasta until each piece is coated with sauce, about 1 min. Transfer to serving bowls and ladle more sauce over the spaghetti, along with two to three meatballs (or transfer the meatballs to a serving platter and set it on the table). Serve with grated cheese.
 

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

My Dad is a bread baking genius. Ever since I could remember he has baked his own bread. I don't know why I never learned from him. It was probably because he was very... particular about his bread. I can still remember getting in trouble for not slicing even pieces of bread. Even in my house, without my Dad present, I used to get nervous about cutting the bread but then I remembered it was my house and I (sometimes) purposefully cut uneven slices. Sorry Dad I guess I still have some rebellious teenager left in me.

I have now found the love of making my own bread. The house smells amazing and no mass produced bread can hold a candle to home made bread. It is delicious.

I found this Cinnamon Raisin bread recipe and loved it. It is a much drier loaf than I am used to but this last weekend we made french toast with it and it was divine. I have made it no less than 6 times since I found the recipe a couple weeks ago and there is always a loaf in the house. It is easy and delicious.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 tsp, plus 3 tblsp. sugar
2 and 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
5 tblsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1/2 cup water
1 cup raisins

Stir the yeast, warm water, and 1/4 tsp sugar together in a small bowl. Let the mixture stand in a warm location until the yeast starts foaming, 5-10 minutes.
Combine the flours, remaining sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Stir well. Stir the yeast mixture, butter, and water into the flour mixture. Then stir in the raisins or work them in by hand. Let stand 10 minutes.
Knead in machine for 4-5 minutes.
Lightly oil a large bowl and turn the dough in it to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl loosely with a kitchen town and let the dough rise in a warm location until it is doubled in size, 45 -60 minutes.
Oil a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Punch the dough down and shape it into a loaf. Press the loaf into the prepared pan and, again, cover it loosely with a kitchen towel. Let it rise in a warm place until it nearly fills the pan, 45-60 minutes. Do not over rise. This bread should barely peak out of the top of the pan.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the bread until the top is browned and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped with your finger, 30-35 minutes. Remove it from the pan and let it cool on a rack.

Homemade Marshmallows

I love Etsy. I love to just search and find fun little shops. I've order my fabric. Presents. Patterns. Jewelry. Treats. TREATS! On a website made from in a commercial kitchen. While I was browsing I found this little shop and have fallen in love. My fav item is the fleur de sel caramel and it sometimes takes a bit of time to receive your treats but it is worth the wait. Once on a whim I ordered their marshmallows and they were amazing. They taste better than store bought and have an amazing texture. I didn't even know you could make marshmallows so I started on a recipe hunt to see how hard they would be and I found this recipe and at first it seemed a little daunting but I tried it and loved it! I make them all the time and except for the gelatin I had everything else in my pantry. 

We have had them in smores, hot chocolate, rocky road brownies. Soon I am remaking the Cookie Cutter type chocolate marshmallow cookie with these marshmallows. So if you are up for a little bit of fun and a whole lot of deliciousness try these.

Also try these with them. 

Lastly, do not try and stick your fingers in to taste or scrape the bowl clean. You will make a big, sticky spider-weby mess.

 

Homemade Marshmallows
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen that got it from Gourmet, December 1998

1 cup confectioners’ sugar (give or take a little)
3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold water, divided
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla

Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan thoroughly and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar.
In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften.
In a heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.
With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer.
In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters beat egg whitesuntil they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla (or your choice of flavoring) into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan (do not scrape it clean because you will get a huge sticky mess. Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.
Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes.Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.