How to Make Old Style Fried Squash

I fried squash for years, but my recipe was not working. I did some w crackers coating, but the kind I love best is just flour, salt, and pepper. Kind of like potato chips but you can actually taste the squash.

 

I started researching. Turns out new farm methods have squash growing super fast and with more water which hinders the flour from sticking. 

 

I could get an old heirloom squash maybe but I have a lot of squash in my fridge.

So here's the hack. 

 

Slice squash. Single layer on paper towel and salt. Let sit around ten minutes. Put a paper towel on top and mash down on all the pieces. Roll like a jelly roll to get more water. Not too tight or hard. 

 

Put flour, a little salt (I like Lowery's at this part), and pepper in a brown lunch bag. Shake good. Put in fridge for twenty minutes. 

 

Heat oil to about thickness of squash slices until hot. Piece of squash will sizzle a bit. 

 

Put one layer of squash. Fry until brown. Flip. Brown other side. 

 

Oil gets icky after maybe two pans of squash. Empty. Wipe. Add new oil. Heat. Repeat. 

 

Drain on paper towel. 

 

Serve.

 

This is the old fashioned way and is quite different from other ways to make it. It is really yummy.

 

 

Chocolate Chip Recipe with Tips from Taste of Home

 https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/the-ultimate-chocolate-chip-cookie/

This link takes you to the article about how different ingredients impact on chocolate chip cookies.

I like more brown sugar and less baking soda so that the cookies are not cakey and thick but not totally flat either.  

Mexican Casserole

 

MEXICAN CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 can Ranch Style beans

1 10-12 ounce bag tortilla chips, crushed (I didn't use the whole bag)

1 can Ro-tel tomatoes

1 small onion, chopped

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 package taco seasoning

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup water

sour cream and salsa for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large skillet, brown meat and drain off fat. Stir in beans, tomatoes, onion, taco seasoning, soup and water. Simmer over medium-low heat until everything is well combined and heated through.

Grease a 9×13 casserole dish. Put down a layer of crushed tortilla chips, followed by a layer of the meat/bean mixture, then half of the cheddar cheese. Repeat layers. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until bubbly.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream and salsa.

How to Make Chicken Broccoli Skillet Dish

 

Broccoli Chicken Skillet Dish

The main ingredients are:             

2 chicken breasts cut in bite sized pieces

Heat 2 TBS olive oil in frying pan.

Mix together in bowl:

1 TBS soy sauce

1 TBS honey

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 TBS cornstarch

Now put the chicken pieces in and stir until coated.

Fry coated chicken in a skillet with olive oil until chicken is done.

Save this mixture.

Heat a little more olive oil in another skillet.

Saute some onion (around ½ cup) and add the broccoli. Put the lid on and let it cook until broccoli is desired doneness. I like mine kind of crunchy.

Combine in small bowl:

1 TBS cornstarch

2/3 cup water

Pour the cornstarch/water mixture over the broccoli mixture and stir.

Add chicken mixture and stir all together evenly.

Serve over rice.

School Cafeteria Rolls from 1960s

 https://www.reddit.com/r/Old_Recipes/comments/122bvoq/comment/lipryif/

 

 manager, Mrs. Johnson, in the late ‘70s.

School Rolls

5 cups flour (1.25 quarts) 1/2 cup sugar 2-teaspoons salt 3/4 cup dried milk 2 cups warm water 1/4 cup yeast (4 packs) 1/4 cup melted butter 1/4 cup oil (vegetable oil)

Sift dry ingredients together. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix butter and oil, add to yeast mixture. Add dry ingredients, mix well. Cover and let stand until double in bulk. Punch down and knead 2-3 minutes. Roll out to 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick. (I prefer I/2”). (May freeze on cookie sheet at this point.). Let rise until doubled in bulk. Bake at 350* for 12 minutes.

Thanks Mrs. Johnson, and my brother who requested her recipe, because we loved those school rolls.

How to Make Cheese Cookies - like southern cheese straws but without a press

 I first tried a cheese cookie in middle school at a 4-H event, and it was love at first bite. Melissa Deal, a 4-H member, gave me a copy of her recipe. I've been making them for close 50 years now.

Cheese Cookies

Ingredients

8 oz cheddar cheese - grated

3/4 cup butter

2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Let the cheese and butter sit out so that it's not so hard.

Grate the cheese.

Use a knife or large fork to mix the cheese and butter together. It's still quite clumpy.

Pour in flour, salt, and cayenne.

Use your hands and squeeze the mixture until it is smooth, yellow, and rolls into a large ball. This takes a while and a good amount of muscle. 

Make little balls out of the mixture. The balls should be smaller than a ping pong ball but larger than a marble.

Put a sheet of parchment paper on your cookie sheet.

Use your fingers to flatten each ball and put on the cookie sheet. I think they are best if you mash them thin. I'd estimate about twice as thick as a quarter. They rise a little  as they bake but don't really spread out, so you can put them close together but not touching. 

Bake at 325 F for 10 to 15 minutes depending on thickness and oven. Watch close - you want them to cook but not to burn or get too dark. When done they are cheese colored and not browned like other cookies. 

Use a spatula to lift them off the pan and on to a cookie rack or on sheets of paper towel.

Let them cool totally before eating. Most cookies are best warm, but cheese cookies taste strange when warm. When they cool off, they are delicious.

Tip: If you like spicy food, you may want to go with 1 teaspoon of cayenne. I'd suggest going lighter to start with to see what you like. You can also sprinkle cayenne on top of some of the cheese cookies before baking so that you have milder and hotter cookies. The cayenne on top is easy to see so that those who do not like spicy foods can avoid the ones with red sprinkles. Go easy on the sprinkle though.

Stir Fry with Chicken - Easy and Very Good

I was wanting stir fry, and it's a half hour to get to town, so I decided to make some. It was delicious, and I don't even want to go to town now. 

rice cooked earlier or the day before and refrigerated- makes it stay separated better

chicken breast cut in one bite sized chunks 

egg or eggs

vegetables - frozen peas and corn and scallions

seasonings

teriyaki sauce

It's best to cut the chicken into inch chunks and have the vegetables cut and ready to go. This recipe makes up fast once you get going.

First, put a little oil in the skillet. I used a 12 inch cast iron pan. Let the oil heat up in medium to med high heat.

Season chicken and put in skillet. Brown quickly until cooked. Then take chicken out of skillet and set to side

Pour in frozen peas, carrots and fresh cut scallions and stir them around until warm.

Sprinkle some seasonings. You can just do salt and pepper or other flavors you like.

Move veggies to side of pan and then scramble an egg or two on the other side.

Pour in cooked rice from fridge and stir that good.

Sprinkle with teriyaki sauce - low sodium

Add chicken in and stir.

Do all this quick.

Ready to serve.