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Southern-Style Smothered Pork Chops

  • 2 Tbs. Seasoned salt
  • 1 Tbs. onion powder
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 1 tsp. pepper
  • 4 (8 to 10 ounce) bone-in pork chops, 3/4 to 1 inch thick, trimmed
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 2 Tbs. vegetable oil
  • 2 onions, quartered through root end and sliced thin crosswise
  • 1-3/4 cups water
  • 1 Tbs. cider vinegar
  1. Combine seasoned salt, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and pepper in bowl. Cut 2 slits about 2 inches apart through fat on edge of each chop. Pat chops dry with paper towels and sprinkle each chop with 1 tsp. spice mixture (1/2 tsp per side)
  2. Combine 1/2 cup flour and 4 tsp. spice mixture in a shallow dish. Dredge 1 side of chops lightly in seasoned flour, shake off excess, and transfer to a plate.
  3. Using highest saute or browning function, heat oil in multicooker for 5 minutes (or just until smoking). Place half of chops floured side down into multicooker and cook until well-browned on 1 side, 3 to 5 minutes, return to plate. Repeat with remaining chops, transfer to plate.
  4. Stir remaining 1/4 cup flour into fat left in multicooker. Cook, stirring constantly, until roux is color of peanut butter, 3 to 5 minutes. Add onions and remaining spice mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until onions begin to soften slightly, about 2 minutes. Slowly stir in water, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps. Nestle pork chops into multicooker, adding any accumulated juices.
  5. To pressure cook: Lock lid in place and close pressure release valve. Select high pressure cook function and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off mutlicooker and quick-release pressure. Carefully remove lid, allowing steam to escape away from you.
  6. To slow cook: Lock lid in place and open pressure release valve. Select low slow cook function and cook until meat is tender, 2 to 3 hours. (If using Instant Pot, select high slow cook function and increase cooking range to 4 to 5 hours) Carefully remove lid, allowing steam to escape away from you.
  7. Transfer chops to serving dish, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest while finishing sauce. Cook sauce using highest saute or browning function until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn off multicooker. Let sauce settle, then skim excess fat from surface using large spoon. Stir in vinegar and season with pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over chops and serve.
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Steak ‘n’ Gravy

  • 1 pound round steak, trimmed
  • 1 Tbs vegetable oil
  • 1-1/2 cups water
  • 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper
  • 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • Hot cooked rice or mashed potatoes

Cut the beef into bite-size pieces; brown in oil in a skillet. Transfer to slow cooker. Cover with water; add tomato sauce and seasonings. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until meat is tender.

In a small bowl, combine the flour and cold water to make a paste; stir into liquid in slow cooker. Cover and cook on high 30 minutes longer or until the gravy is thickened. Serve over rice or potatoes. Yield: 4 servings

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Slow-Cooked Tamale Casserole

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 1-1/2 cups milk
  • 3/4 cup cornmeal
  • 1 can (15-1/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
  • 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 can (2-1/4 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained
  • 1 envelope chili seasoning
  • 1 tsp. seasoned salt
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

In skillet, cook beef; drain. In a bowl, combine egg, milk, and cornmeal until smooth. Add corn, tomatoes, olives, chili seasoning, seasoned salt, and beef. Transfer to greased slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese; cover and cook 15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 6 servings.

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Savory Chicken Sandwiches

  • 4 Chicken breasts
  • 1/2 envelope onion soup mix
  • 1/8 tsp. garlic salt
  • 1/8 cup prepared Italian salad dressing
  • 1/8 cup water
  • 8 hamburger buns

Pace chicken in slow cooker. Sprinkle soup mix and garlic salt over chicken. Pour dressing and water over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours. Skim fat from cooking juices. Remove chicken and cut into bite size pieces (or shred chicken). Return to slow cooker. Serve with slotted spoon onto buns.

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Class Decorating Buttercream Icing

Stiff Consistency (for flowers with upright petals) Yield: 3 cups

  • 1 tsp. clear vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbs. milk or water (I use water so it lasts longer in the fridge if you want to store for future use)
  • 1 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco is whiter if you want really white frosting)
  • 1 Tbs. Meringue Powder (find in craft store with cake decorating supplies)
  • 1 lb sifted confectioners sugar (powdered sugar) (approx. 4 cups)
  1. Sift the confectioners sugar and meringue powder into a large mixing bowl and set aside. (I never sift)
  2. Cream shortening, flavorings, and milk or water.
  3. Gradually add sifted dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together.
  4. Blend an additional minute or so, until creamy.

Optional

To improve the flavor of this buttercream icing recipe, add 1 tsp. of butter extract and a pinch of salt. Dissolve the salt in the water first.

Note:

To prevent air bubbles do not overbeat or use high mixing speed.

Medium Consistency (for borders, flowers with petals that lie flat)

You can convert stiff buttercream to medium by adding more liquid. Add one teaspoon of milk or water to each cup of stiff icing. Then mix until all the ingredients are well blended.

Thin Consistency (for writing, making stems and leaves, and frosting a cake)

With even more liquid you can make stiff buttercream into thin. Simply add 2 teaspoons of milk or water for each cup of Stiff icing. Then blend well.

Home Decorating Buttercream Icing

Follow class decorating buttercream icing recipe, except make the following substitution: for 1 cup of vegetable shortening, substitute 1/2 cup shortening and 1/2 cup softened butter or margarine.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Follow home decorating butter cream recipe. Add 2 ounces of melted buttersweet chocolate. If a darker color is desired, add brown paste color.

Buttercream for Frosting and Filling

Make up a full recipe of stiff consistency home decorating buttercream icing, then add 2 Tablespoons of light corn syrup and mix the ingredients until they are thoroughly blended. The addition of corn syrup results in a smooth, moist texture that’s ideal for frosting and filling cakes.

Buttercream Icings

Buttercream icings are the best tasting of all decorating icings, and they’re creamy textured and easy to manage. When you use buttercream icing, you can make decorations in advance, then freeze them until it’s time to decorate the cake.

The class decorating buttercream icing keeps it’s consistency for several hours without refrigeration.

The home decorating buttercream icing contains butter to improve it’s flavor, but you must refrigerate to keep it stiff enough for decorating.

These icings may be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2 weeks and in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reuse, let the icing come to room temperature. Then rebeat on medium speed to restore it’s original consistency.

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Lemon Loaf

  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sourdough starter
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel (we never had lemons so we used 2 Tbs. lemon juice)
  • 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans (we never added nuts and thought it was great)
  • Troy wrote in the recipe 1/2 tsp. baking powder. It as been so long since we made this, but figure we wanted it a little lighter and fluffier.
  • Lemon Drizzle, see below

Generously grease 1 9″x 5″ loaf pan or two 7 1/2″x 4″ loaf pans; set aside. Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, cream together shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs until fluffy. Stir in sourdough starter, milk, and lemon peel; set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt (and baking powder if you want to add that). Add to sourdough mixture. Beat 1 minute with electric mixer on medium speed. Fold in nuts if desired.

Turn into prepared pan or pans. Bake in preheated oven for 40-60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Prepare Lemon Drizzle. Puncture baked loaf 10 or 12 times with a sharp object. Pour Lemon Drizzle evenly over hot loaf. Let stand 5 minutes. Turn out of pan or pans. Cool top side up on rack.

Lemon Drizzle

  • 1/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup lemon juice In a small bowl, stir sugar into lemon juice until dissolved.

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Stuffed Artichokes

  • 4 artichokes
  • 1 lb ground sausage
  • red and yellow bell pepper, chopped
  • onion, chopped
  • seasonings maybe salt, pepper, season salt, garlic, Parmesan cheese
  • I saw Tiffany Haddish do this recipe, but she didn’t give amounts of anything.
  1. Cut about an inch off the tops of the artichokes and cut off the stems to make a flat bottom. Use kitchen shears to trim the sharp tips off the leaves.
  2. Bring a large pot of salt water to a boil. Add the artichokes and place a heat-safe dish on top of them to keep them submerged in the water. Boil for 15 minutes. Remove and set aside upside down to drain and cool.
  3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  4. In a large bowl, mix together the Italian sausage,peppers, onion, seasonings, until just combined. Do not over-mix. (Or I saw you can cook the sausage then add the peppers and onions to saute. Then add the seasonings. This way you can taste test since we don’t have a recipe)
  5. Once the artichokes are cool enough to handle, dry them with paper towels, gently pry open the center leaves, and use a spoon with a twisting motion to scoop out the fuzzy choke inside. Place the artichokes into a baking dish, facing up.
  6. Stuff each artichoke with the sausage mixture, making sure you get some between all the leaves and in the center. Sprinkle the artichokes with Parmesan cheese.
  7. Cover the baking dish with foil. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the sausage is cooked through (to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F (74 degrees C)) and the outer leaves are easy to remove.
  8. Remove the foil. Set the oven to broil and place the stuffed artichokes under the broiler for a couple of minutes to brown the cheese. I think adding some mozzarella would be good at this point too.
  9. Pull leaves off with sausage mixture on them and eat.

Let me know if you try this and how it works. I combined recipes I found online.

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Roasted Cauliflower

  • 1 head cauliflower cut into bite-size florets (about 2 pounds, 8 cups)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 5 cloves garlic, rough chopped
  • 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
  • 2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped (we used dried and it was fine)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

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Reese’s Peanut Butter Layer Bars

  • 1 pouch (17.5 oz.) Betty Crocker double chocolate chunk cookie mix
  • oil, water, and egg called for on cookie mix pouch
  • 3/4 cup (14 oz. can) sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup (from 8 oz. package) Reese’s mini’s peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup Reese’s peanut butter chips
  • 1/2 cup cocktail peanuts
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom and sides of 9X13 inch pan with cooking spray.
  2. In large bowl, mix cookie mix, oil, water, and egg with spoon until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan. Bake 15 minutes,
  3. In small bowl, mix condensed milk and peanut butter. Pour evenly over baked crust, carefully spreading to edges. Sprinkle chopped peanut butter cups, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and peanuts over top. Bake 18-22 minutes or until bubbling along edges. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 1 hour. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.