Lion House Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:
2 cups warm water
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
2 T dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter
1 egg
5 to 5 1/2 cups flour
Vegetable oil

Directions:

• In large bowl or mixer, combine water and milk powder until milk dissolves
• Add yeast, sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups flour
• Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed
• Add 2 more cups flour
• Mix on low speed until wet, then medium speed for 2 minutes
• Add about 1/2 cup more flour - dough should be soft, not overly sticky or stiff
• Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about 1 T vegetable oil all around sides of bowl
• Turn the dough over to coat in oil, cover with plastic, and let rise until double in size
• Sprinkle flour on cutting board or counter
• Place dough on floured surface and flip over, so dough is floured on both sides
• Gently flatten dough to about 1 inch thick
• With rolling pin, roll out to rectangle about 18 inches x 8 inches and 1/4 inch thick
• Brush top of dough with melted butter
• Cut lengthwise into two 4-inch strips, then cut strips into 2-inch-wide pieces
• Gently roll each piece from one short end, with butter on inside
• Place each piece on parchment-lined pan with other short end down on the paper
• Cover with plastic and let rise until double in size
• Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes
• Brush immediately with melted butter
• Serve warm with honey-butter
  

Apple Syrup

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 T corn starch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups apple juice
1/4 cup butter
1/2 T lemon juice

Directions:

• Mix sugar, corn starch, and cinnamon in saucepan
  
• Add apple juice and lemon juice
• Bring to a boil and cook for one minute
• Lower heat and add butter, cooking until melted
  

Lemon Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 T unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Grated zest from 2 lemons
1 cup berries (optional)

Directions:

• Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl (except lemon zest)
  
• Whisk wet ingredients together in a separate bowl
• Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and gently whisk together
• Fold in lemon zest (and berries)
  
• Cook pancakes on preheated griddle
  

Creme Brulee French Toast

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 T corn syrup
1 loaf Texas Toast bread (extra thick)
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups half & half
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
pancake syrup

Directions:

• In saucepan, melt butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup, stirring constantly
• Pour mixture onto large, greased cookie sheet and spread evenly
• Place about 12 slices of bread in a single layer on the pan
• Mix together eggs, cream, salt, and vanilla
• Spoon mixture over each piece of bread
• Cover and refrigerate overnight
• Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes
• Serve, sugary side up, with syrup

Sweet Potatoes

When we went to the Milletts last year for Thanksgiving, another family brought some fantastic sweet potatoes. Anna never really liked sweet potatoes...until now. So this year, we got the recipe from them and made a big batch (with a couple "secret" ingredients) for Thanksgiving this year. If you only pick at candied yams for the marshmallows, I dare you to not like this version!

Ingredients:
5 lb sweet potatoes
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon

Topping:
1 c brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans (can also use praline pecans for extra yumminess)
1/4 cup butter

Maple syrup (or even better, butter pecan syrup)

Directions:

• Peel sweet potatoes, cut into large chunks, and boil until tender
• Mash in large bowl and mix in the rest of ingredients above with a mixer
• Place in casserole dish (9x13) or pie tins
• In a separate bowl, mix together topping ingredients
• Crumble topping mixture over top of sweet potatoes
• Drizzle a little maple syrup over the top
  
• Cook at 350 for 30-45 minutes
• Serve hot or cold (cold is your classic "sweet potato pie," but warm is best, we say)
  

Coconut Coriander Chicken / Homemade Naan

I made this combination for Annamaria just before my dreaded four-day trip to Florida a couple of weeks ago. It turned out very nice. The naan is really easy to make, other than waiting 1 1/2 hours for the dough to rise. It doesn't get as poofy and bubbly as at a restaurant, but it tastes delicious.

I followed both recipes pretty closely, so I'll just link to them here. One major change: We have tons of cilantro growing in our garden, so I added quite a bit to both recipes. Add one or two big bunches of cilantro to the paste in the curry recipe, and add a bunch of chopped cilantro and coriander powder or garam masala with the garlic to the naan dough after letting it rise the first time.

Coconut Chicken Masala from Sailu's Kitchen
Grilled Naan from Allrecipes.com

Sara Millett's Minestrone Soup

We got this great recipe from our good friend Sara Millett in Round Rock. We switched it up a little bit, using spinach instead of Swiss chard, using the fresh herbs we happen to have in the garden, and adding a little meat. Enjoy!



Ingredients:

1 white onion, chopped
6 cups chicken broth (can be from bullion)
4 cloves minced garlic (or 1 tablespoon)
1/2 pound ground beef or turkey
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
2 cups chopped spinach
1/2 cup whole grain pasta (macaroni or mixed pasta)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon)
1 sprig each fresh basil, oregano, thyme (or 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or paprika
Salt and pepper

Directions:

• In large saucepan, brown ground meat.
• Add onions and 3/4 cup chicken broth, cook over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until onions are translucent.
• Add garlic and another 1/2 cup broth, cook 5 minutes.
• Stir in tomatoes, rest of broth, garbanzo and kidney beans, spinach, pasta, and red pepper.
• If using fresh rosemary, add sprigs whole (remove before serving).
• If using fresh basil, oregano or thyme, chop finely or use food processor.
• Add herbs and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer 10-12 minutes, or until pasta is tender.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with whole grain bread and butter.