Perfect Panini

Here’s a handy technique for making a perfect panini. The primary cooking tools required are two cast iron fry pans, one larger than the other. Put both pans on the stove and preheat. Butter the outside of the bread. I used the previously blogged “bread machine white bread” for this sandwich. Place buttered bread in the larger preheated fry pan. Top one sliced of the bread with your favorite fillings. The fillings for this sandwich consisted of fried ham, sauteed onions, mushrooms and green peppers topped with shredded pepperjack and colby cheese. Lay the other half of the bread on top of the filling. Then place the smaller preheated cast iron fry pan on top of the panini to both apply pressure to the sandwich and to toast the top of the sandwich. The results are a perfectly toasted, pressed panini without the need of a specialized sandwich press. Who needs one of them cluttering up your cupboard when you already have the tools you need to make a perfect panini? The only limits to this variety of paninis you can create using this technique are your imagination and the contents of your refrigerator. Enjoy!

On a side note... everyone into cooking should invest in a set of cast iron fry pans. I've acquired mine over a period of time here and there until I had one of every possible size. The best thing about them is the more you use them the better the become! Just remember to never, and I mean NEVER use soap on them. Start out by putting good seasoning on them. (You can find instructions on the web). And then just use and use and use them. Pretty soon you have the best, most wonderful pans with great non-stick patinas on them. When cleaning, just rinse them out and scrub with a rag or a a non-stick pan type scouring pad. When extra scouring power is needed sprinkle the pans with salt and then scrub. The salt particles with help remove whatever happens to be stuck on your pan. A good set of cast iron can become a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation.

Scrumptious Seafood Enchiladas

Ingredients:
10 oz Cream of Chicken soup.
1/2 cup onions, chopped
8 oz. crab meat (real or imitation).
1 3/4 c Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded.
4 large flour tortillas.
1 cup milk.
Dash nutmeg.
Dash of pepper.
Directions:
In mixing bowl; stir together soup, onion, nutmeg and pepper. In another bowl, place 1/2 of the soup mixture with crab and 1 cup of the cheese. Set aside. Warm the tortillas to make them pliable. Place 1/4 of crab soup mixture on each tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in a greased baking dish. Choose an arrangement that lets your folded, filled, tortillas cover the bottom of the entire baking dish. Stir milk into the reserved soup mixture and pour over the enchiladas. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. (remove foil last 5 minutes). Let stand for 10 minutes.
Number Of Servings: 4

NOTE: You can also jazz these up a bit. As you can kind of see in the picture I added some chopped mushrooms this particular time.

These scrumptious gooey pockets of goodness will satisfy your cravings on a cold ND night. Maybe everybody has a recipe similar to this... but it is new to me. I've never cooked alot with "Cream Of" soups. ....Yeah I know.. a Minnesotan who doesn't eat cream of mushroom soup!?! That's like someone from Memphis who doesn't like BBQ...

Avis, a friend from work gave me this recipe. (Avis is the biggest ND hockey fan in the world!) She’s not literally the biggest, she is normal size. :) But her love of ND Hockey in craaaaazeee big! She even has the personalized license plates… “NDHKY”.

Deb’s World Renown and Quite Famous Scalloped Oysters

1 pint oysters, drain juice (and reserve).
Stir 2 cups crushed saltines into 2/3 cup melted butter.
Put 1/3 mixture in baking dish (just enough to cover bottom).
Put 1/2 oysters in the dish on top of the cracker layer.     Drizzle 2 T. of Heavy Cream over the top.
Drizzle 2 T. of reserved oyster juice over the top.
Salt & pepper to taste.
Repeat layers.
Take remaining 1/3 of cracker crumbs and put on top, then dot the top with butter.  Place into a 350 degree oven until crackers appear quite brown.  Approximately 30 minutes.

This project is really inspiring me to try new recipes.  My former boss and current buddy from the Independent shared this recipe with me.  She always raved about it and so she should have!      It is delicious!  The luscious creaminess of the oysters when they are baked within the buttery cracker crumbs is too much to resist.  The oyster stew prepared by my dad on xmas eve use to be my favorite oyster dish, but this surpasses it.  My dad would of gone nuts for this. :) 

WARNING:  Not recommended for picky teenage girls.

 

 

2010 Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup shortening
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups bread flour
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, bowl, beat together the white sugar, brown sugar, oil and shortening until smooth. Stir in eggs and vanilla, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt, stir into the sugar mixture. Finally , fold in the chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto an unprepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-11 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.  Place on plate and deliver to daughter.

This a new recipe I made for the first time tonight. It’s similar to a recipe we use to make when the kids were little.  The cream of tarter is what makes these cookies unique.  Kinda crumbly (in a good way).

Beer Batter

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

1 cup beer

Mix dry ingredients. Add egg and beer.

Dip your "whatever" in this wonderful batter and deep fry.

I've used this on mostly fish and onions rings. It gives anything you coat in it a nice substantive coating. Not the healthiest option for cooking food... but every once in a while you just gotta have it... it's good for the soul.

Rhubarb Dumplings

2 Tbls. butter

1/3 - 1/2 cup sugar

2 cups diced fresh rhubarb

dash of salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 cups boiling water

2 Cups Bisquick

Combine butter, sugar, rhubarb, salt, cinnamon, and boiling water in a skillet. Bring to a boil - reduce heat - simmer 5 minutes.

Prepare dumplings, using 2 cups of Bisquick.

Drop over sauce. Cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes on low heat.

Cover and steam gently for 15 minutes longer (do not open cover).

Remove from heat. Serve warm.

This dish is one of my ultimate comfort foods. Its good as a main course, a dessert or just because.... hot or cold... it's YUMMY! And I suspect it's choc full of vitamin C and it is rumoured to have mysterious cathartic powers. This is another recipe that was handed down from my mom. If there was going to be an official "Dombek Family Food"... this could be it!

Bread Machine White Bread

1 1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 cups white flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoon bread machine yeast

This is a trusty old fall back for the bread machine..... After much tweaking I've finally got it where I want it for my current bread machine (Oster 5834). I'm good until my Oster gives out and I have to purchase a new machine. I've found that every bread machine has it's own personality and each recipe must be tweaked to fit each machine. This makes the most wonderful toast in the world.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

3 cups shortening
2 cups brown sugar
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 T. vanilla
6 eggs
1 T. soda
1 T. salt
Combine above ingredients and add:
6 cups flour (I ususally use bread machine flour for all my recipes)
3 cup oatmeal
12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips
Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until brown.

This is an old favorite cookie recipe. Originally made by my ex when our kids were little, I found it buried in some old files. I can remember that they were awesome, but it's been a long time since I've had them.

Easy Polish Pierogi

12 oz. container of cottage cheese, drained
4 eggs beaten
1 small onion, minched
1 T. plus 1 tsp. salt
About 1 1/2 cups flour
3 T. butter

In large bowl mix cottage cheese, eggs, onion and 1 tsp. salt. Gradually add enough flour for the batter to just hold together. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add remaining 1 T. salt. In batches, drop batter into water by tablespoon fulls and boil for 3 minutes. With a slotted spoon transfer piergoi to a colander and rise with cold running water. In large skillet, melt 1 1/2 T. butter over medium heat. Cook half the pierogi in until lightly brown, turning occaisionally. Repeat with remaining pierogi & butter.

This is a recipe my dear mother found somewhere and I've since claimed it as my own. Everyone I've ever made these for has loved them. They are called pierogi, but they are not true pierogi.... BUT they are DELICIOUS and if you like pierogi you will LOVE these... plus they are must easier to prepare than tradtional pierogi.

Hmmmm

My plan for this pseudo blog is just to be an online repository of my favorite recipes. Will it turn into more... I don't know...?