Topic: In The Kitchen
11 for dinner… this was Easter at our house. We were fortunate to have a house full of family and here’s what we served:
Peanut-Apple Salad with dressing of balsamic vinaigrette and honey served on a bed of lettuce leaves with a sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese.
Potato Salad
Deviled Eggs
Veggie Tray of grape tomatoes, cucumber slices, baby carrots, and radish flowers.
Rolls
Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Stuffed Mushroom Caps with minced ham and cheddar cheese, baked
Rolls
Apple Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream
Breakfast for 4 of us was Ham and Cheese Omelets and Caramel Pecan Cinnamon Rolls.
Everything was very tasty and I thought I’d share the recipe for the Cinnamon Rolls and the Apple Crisp that I developed by combining and making changes to some others that weren’t quite what I wanted.
CARAMEL PECAN CINNAMON ROLLS
In bread maker pan add the following ingredients in the order listed – ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons of lukewarm water, 2 tablespoons softened margarine, 2 ½ cups bread machine flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon bread machine yeast.
Set bread maker to make dough only. While it is being processed by the bread maker stir together 6 tablespoons softened margarine, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ cup brown sugar. Spread evenly in the bottom of a buttered 9 x 9 inch square pan. Arrange 36 pecan halves in the pan. Set aside.
When the dough is ready, turn out onto floured surface and use floured rolling pin to roll into a rectangle 13 x 17 inches. Mix together ¼ cup softened margarine, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg. Blend well and spread evenly on the rolled out dough. Sprinkle with ½ cup chopped pecans.
Roll from the narrow end up the length. Dip serrated knife in flour and cut dough into 9 even sections. Place into the 9 x 9 inch pan on top of the pecan halves. Set pan in warm place until doubled in size – roughly 1 hour.
Bake 35 to 45 minutes in oven preheated to 350 degrees. Immediately invert pan so rolls will release and the caramel drips over them.
APPLE CRISP
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In small bowl combine 1 cup regular rolled oats, 2/3 cup packed brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine, 3 tablespoons apple juice. Mix well and set aside.
Into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish, slice 8-10 cups of peeled apples - I use a mix of Honeycrisp, Gala, Braeburn, Fuji, or Granny Smith.
Make a mixture of 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon and a dash of salt. Sprinkle this over the apples. Pour 1/3 cup apple juice over both. Then sprinkle the whole with the oatmeal mixture and bake for 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Let stand for at least 15 minutes before serving.
