Mrs. Knott's Buttermilk Biscuits

Folks-

A couple of summers ago my family went to Disneyland for a week-long trip, driving down Highway 101 past Santa Barbara and Solvang. One of the highlights of the trip was the one day we spent at Knott’s Berry Farm. I actually hadn’t been there since I had been a fairly small child, and had almost completely forgotten what it was like. To my adult tastes, it feels like it needs a bit of an update, but it does a good job of being friendly to smaller children while retaining a rustic charm for adults. Before we left for the day, we wanted to try some of the famous Mrs. Knott’s fried chicken. I remember that when we went there when I was a child, we skipped that part because the restaurant was so crowded. We found the same thing happened the day I went there as an adult, but they had a small to-go storefront next to the sit-down restaurant that we were able to get a bucket of chicken from, as well as biscuits and other sides. We took it back to our hotel room and found out that all of it was fantastic—better than KFC! The biscuits were light and flavorful, and the chicken was wonderful!

After that, I was disappointed that I couldn’t get the Mrs. Knott’s food in my area (they haven’t franchised, even though I think that it would work well as one.) So I started looking for a biscuit recipe to help compensate. I found this one at Meemo’s Kitchen (http://meemoskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/09/mrs-knotts-buttermilk-biscuits.html) and have used it several times. While I tend not to like homemade biscuits nearly as much as baking mix biscuits, these are an exception. They have a lot of flavor, and are light and fluffy. I, of course, modified the recipe a little bit (500 degrees F? That’ll cause my oven to start self-cleaning!) My next test of the recipe is going to involve using dried buttermilk instead of liquid. I’ll let you know how that works!

Enjoy!

2 Cups Flour

1/8 Teaspoon Baking Soda

2 Tablespoons Baking Powder

½ Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup plus 2 Teaspoons Buttermilk

1 Teaspoon Shortening

½ Cup Oil

Mix together flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in shortening. Add soda to buttermilk, then blend into the flour mixture. Roll out dough on a generously floured surface until ¼ inch thick. Cut out with a 2 inch biscuit cutter. Dip biscuits into cooking oil to cover all sides and place immediately on an oiled baking sheet with all biscuits touching. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until nicely browned.

Seafood Chowder

Folks-
This is another "Zap 190 Cookbook" recipe. This one came from my sister, Tammy Barbre. This one is distinct from the Clam Chowder recipe I posted some time ago, so don't confuse the two!

Ingredients:
1 Can Morton's Clam Chowder (for base)
3 Cups Milk or Half and Half
1/2 lb Prawns, any size
1/4 lb small Scallops (optional)
1/2 lb boneless Chicken breast, cut into 1/2" pieces
1/4 lb Ling Cod or Snapper
1 Cup chopped Potatoes
Splash of Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup dried green onions

Saute each of the meats and the potatoes separately, then put the clam chowder, milk, and potatoes in a large pot. Cook on medium heat for a few minutes, then switch to low heat and add all other ingredients. Cook 15 minutes on low heat. Serve with pepper and green onion sprinkled on top.

Easy Ice Cream

Folks-
I made this for the first time today, varying the recipe that I found on a British website. I found following their directions exactly caused the ice cream base to be much too sweet (probably due to differences in measurements.)
You do need an ice cream freezer to make this.

Ingredients:
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 1/2 Cups Milk
1/2 Cup Whipping Cream
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 Teaspoon Salt (added 6/16/2011)
Optional (for Chocolate): 4 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Mix all ingredients together and put into the ice cream freezer and freeze according to directions.
*Edited 6/16/2011: When making this tonight I put in about a quarter teaspoon salt and this improved the flavor. This may now be the best ice cream recipe I've ever tried. At least that's what my kids say!

Adult Grilled Cheese

Folks-
One of my kids favorite sandwiches--actually most kids favorite--is the simple Grilled Cheese. I discovered a while ago that you can turn this simple favorite into a more adult meal through just a couple of simple additions.

My version of the Grilled Cheese for Adults is to use whatever hard cheese is available (usually a cheddar, Jack, or mozzarella), using two slices (or a small handfull of the cheese if grated) and before grilling it, I add thin sliced onion and tomato slices.

Give it a try next time you want a hot sandwich at home at lunchtime!

Ingredients:

2 sandwich-sized slices cheddar, sharp cheddar, jack, mozzarella, Swiss, and/or gruyere cheese

2 slices sandwich bread, sourdough works well, but seeded bread is also good

1 slicing tomato, sliced thinly

1 thin slice of onion, red, white, or yellow, preferably red

Cooked bacon slice (optional)

1 tbsp mayonnaise 

Grated parmesan cheese, if available, optional 

Preheat a pan or griddle on the stove to medium heat. Spread half of the mayo and some of the Parmesan cheese on a slice of bread, and place it in the pan, mayo side down. Quickly assemble the sandwich in this order on top of that bread: cheese slice, onion, tomato slices, bacon slice, cheese slice. Smear the other slice of bread with mayo and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Flip when bottom slice of bread is golden brown and grill until the second side matches.

Eat while still hot. Acids in the tomato slices will prevent the cheese from solidifying. These do not keep well for later.

Edited 12/30/2024 to be more specific.

Jim's Chili

Folks- 

Here it is--the second post of the week! Wow! Nothing for months, and then three in a two-week span! 

My dad had never written down his Chili Recipe until a couple of years ago when I wanted to learn how he did it. I still have to get his Lasagna recipe this way.

Without further ado--here's the recipe!

Jim's Chili Recipe

Ingredients

2 Cans (15 oz.) Tomato Sauce 

3 T. Chili Powder 

1 1/2 T. Ground Cumin Seed 

1/2 Large Onion, coarsely chopped 

1/2 C. Water 

1/8 t. Cayenne Pepper 

1 Bay leaf 

1 t. Salt 

3 C. dry pinto beans 

1 lb. cheap hamburger 

1/4 t. pepper 

The night before the Chili is to be served: 

Mix 1 can of the tomato sauce and 1/4 cup of the water with the chili powder, cumin seed, onion, cayenne pepper, and 3/4 t. of the salt and refrigerate. Soak beans with at least 1" of water covering the top. Change the water every 1/2 hour for the first 2 hours, and then leave to soak overnight. 

The day the Chili is to be served: 

Change the water in the beans again and drain. Soak the beans with at least 1 " of water over the top of the beans and simmer over a medium-low heat with the bay leaf for 1/2 to 1 hour. Brown the meat with the remaining salt and pepper. Drain the beans, saving the water. Add the sauce mixture from the night before to the meat and add in the second can of tomato sauce and 1/4 cup of water. Add the sauce/meat mixture to the beans and add in about 3-1/2 C of the water from the beans saved previously to the mixture. Mix and simmer for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally (every 5-10 minutes). Check several times while simmering to make sure it is seasoned correctly. 

Note: To give the Chili a fresher flavor, just before serving stir in a drained can of mild green chili peppers. 

That's it! One of the next posts will probably be one of the recipes from the cookbook I compiled about 20 years ago.

What, ANOTHER blog? And the Smoky Southwestern Pot Roast Recipe

Folks-

Yep, it’s time for yet another themed blog from yours truly. I’ve currently got two other blogs here at Blogspot: My first blog is about my political views; my second is about my art and pictures.

So, why another blog? ‘Cuz I like to cook. This blog is all about my favorite recipes and cooking techniques. Some recipes I’ve created, some are from family members, and some are from other sources. I’ll try to give credit where it’s due. I may even give off-the-cuff reviews of some restaurants or food suppliers (but I won’t commit to that.)

So, in order to usher in the premier of this blog, I’ll introduce one of my wife’s favorite recipes: The Smoky Southwestern Pot Roast. This is one of the first recipes I came up with completely from scratch (I usually enjoy tweaking someone else’s recipe,) and it’s almost freakishly simple. Here’s the history of this recipe: I made my first pot roast about a year before my daughter was born, about 10 years ago. I had found a decent recipe online that used a slow-cooker. The ingredients were simple, just a roast and vegetables, and put them in the slow-cooker on high for several hours. It came out okay, but really my big problem with the recipe was that the meat consistently came out with very little flavor. I’ve since discovered that this is fairly common with roasts, but I digress. I came up with the idea that I would try making the pot roast and adding liquid smoke to give it more flavor, and while shopping, I thought that the next time I would use salsa instead of the vegetables the next time and see how it came out. When I got home, I decided to try both approaches simultaneously, and the Smoky Southwestern Pot Roast was born.

Before you try to make this roast, I should warn you that your entire house will smell like a good restaurant. You should also budget plenty of time the first time you make it just to watch it so it doesn’t burn.

Without further ado, here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Beef Roast, about 2 to 4 lbs.

1 16oz Jar Hot Salsa or Picante Sauce

1-2 T Liquid Smoke

Up to 1 C Water

Combine Salsa or Picante Sauce in a bowl with the Liquid Smoke. Pour half of the mixture into the bottom of a slow cooker. Put the roast in the slow cooker, and cover it with the remaining mixture. Cover and cook on HIGH.

If you like to be able to slice your roast, cook for 5-6 hours. If you want your roast to be so tender that it falls apart, cook for 7-8 hours.

The meat on the outside of the roast will have the most flavor. People with sensitive taste buds should go for the meat in the center of the roast.

That’s it for this time. I’ll have another recipe soon!

-Edly