Sue's Banana Cream Pie

David loves Banana Cream Pie. Sue makes a simple pudding based Banana Cream Pie and we all know that I'm a sucker for an old family recipe. Especially when that recipe is typed with a typewriter on a notecard that looks like this: 

Banana Cream Pie

2 pies, 2.5 recipes

Scalloped Potatoes (with roux)

Scalloped Potatoes (with roux)

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients:

4 cups thinly sliced potatoes, (Yukon Gold or Russet; about 2 pounds give or take)

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 dash cayenne pepper

1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, , divided

paprika

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 1.5 quart baking dish (8x8 or 9x9 inch baking dish will work).

In a small sauce pan, melt butter and stir in flour.

whisk in the milk and season with salt and cayenne.

Cook sauce on low until smooth and boiling, stirring occasionally with a whisk.

Reduce heat and stir in 1 cup of the cheddar cheese.

Place a half of the sliced potatoes in the baking dish. Pour half of cheese sauce over potatoes. Repeat with second layer of potatoes and cheese sauce.

Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese on top. Top with some paprika for color.

Bake uncovered for about 1 hour at 350°F or longer until the potatoes are fork tender.

Mini Stuffed Meatloaves

Mini Meatloaves
Source: EveryPlate

Ingredients:
Yukon Gold PotatoesFry Seasoning
White Bread
Ground Beef
Shredded Pepper Jack
Dijon Mustard


Directions:
In a large bowl, combine bread and 2 TBSP water. Break up with your hands until pasty. Add ground beef, remaining Fry Seasoning, and a pinch of salt and pepper; mix to combine. Flatten into 3"x1/2" rounds.  Reserving half the Pepper Jack for topping, divide remaining cheese between each round. Fold edges of meat around cheese, sealing to create 1-inch-tall loaves. Place on a baking sheet and bake on middle rack for 20 minutes (we’ll glaze them then).

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine 3 TBSP ketchup, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, and 2 tsp brown sugar (if you don’t have brown sugar, swap with 1 tsp white sugar). Once meatloaves have baked 20 minutes, remove from oven. Brush tops with ketchup glaze, (optional: evenly sprinkle with remaining Pepper Jack.)  Bake until cheese has melted and meatloaves are cooked through, about 5 minutes more.

Optional Side Dish: Potato Wedges
Adjust racks to top and middle positions and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice potatoes into ½-inch-thick wedges.

Toss potatoes on a baking sheet with a drizzle of oil, 1 tsp Fry Seasoning (we’ll use the rest later), salt, and pepper. Roast on top rack until potatoes are browned and crispy, about 30 minutes.

Optional: Smothered Meatloaves

Green Bell Pepper
Yellow Onion
Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add pepper and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and tender, 7-8 minutes. Add 2 TBSP water and cook, stirring, until evaporated and veggies are tender. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in 1 TBSP butter. Turn off heat; cover to keep warm.

Pulled Pork Shepherd's Pie

BBQ Pulled Pork Shepherd's Pie

Source: Delish

Ingredients

(Ranch Mashed Potatoes)
2 lb. red potatoes
1/2 packet ranch seasoning mix
2/3 c. sour cream
(Filling)
1 lb. pulled pork
1 bottle barbecue sauce
1 can corn, juices drained
1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
1 bunch scallions, diced
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Directions
Preheat oven to 400°.
Make the ranch mashed potatoes: Peel potatoes and cut into 1" pieces, then place pieces in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring water to boil and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 10 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl.
Add ranch seasoning and sour cream and mash potatoes until the mixture is thoroughly combined and most of the lumps are gone. Set aside.
Make the rest of the dish: Toss pulled pork with barbecue sauce (as much or as little as you'd like to use). Add it to a large casserole dish, smoothing it to create one even layer. Top with corn, then add a layer of mashed potatoes. Cover with shredded cheese and scallions.
Bake in the oven for 14 to 16 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

Biscuits

 Biscuits

Source: Sugar Spun Run

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
¾ cup whole milk, 2% milk will also work

Directions: 
For best results, chill your butter in the freezer for 10-20 minutes before beginning this recipe. It's ideal that the butter is very cold for light, flaky, buttery biscuits.
Preheat oven to 425F and line a cookie sheet with baking mat. Set aside.

1. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside.

2. Remove your butter from the refrigerator and either cut it into your flour mixture using a pastry cutter or (preferred) use a box grater to shred the butter into small pieces and then add to the flour mixture and stir.

3. Cut the butter or combine the grated butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

4. Add milk, use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir until combined (don't over-work the dough).

5. Transfer your biscuit dough to a well-floured surface and use your hands to gently work the dough together. If the dough is too sticky, add flour until it is manageable.

 
6. Once the dough is cohesive, fold in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten layers together. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again, repeating this step 5-6 times but taking care to not overwork the dough.

7. Use your hands (do not use a rolling pin) to flatten the dough to 1" thick and lightly dust a 2 ¾" round biscuit cutter with flour.

 
8. Making close cuts, press the biscuit cutter straight down into the dough and drop the biscuit onto your prepared baking sheet.

9. Repeat until you have gotten as many biscuits as possible and place less than ½" apart on baking sheet.
Once you have gotten as many biscuits as possible out of the dough, gently re-work the dough to get out another biscuit or two until you have at least 6 biscuits.

10. Bake on 425F for 12 minutes or until tops are beginning to just turn lightly golden brown.
If desired, brush with melted salted butter immediately after removing from oven. Serve warm and enjoy.

Onion Smothered Chicken

 We tried the meal delivery subscription EveryPlate and loved it. Sometimes it's fun to try meal kits like that because it gives me new ideas to incorporate into our meals. This is a great example of that. It's a slightly different flavor profile than I usually make, and the addition of the biscuits and carrots on the side made a big difference. I'm not sure I have ever made biscuits as a side for a chicken dinner - but I definitely will in the future. It was a hit. The chicken tasted so good on it's own, I wasn't sure if we'd enjoy the sauce on top but I really liked the combination of the two. 

Onion Smothered Chicken
(with roasted carrots, and biscuits) 

Source: EveryPlate

Ingredients: 

7-10 chicken tenders

6-8 carrots

1 yellow onion

1 tbs chicken stock concentrate

blackening spice (cajun spice) 

1/2 cup Sour Cream 

Garlic

Flour

3-6 Tbs Butter

1-2 Tbs Vegetable Oil

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits, recipe below. 

(optional: combine hot sauce, softened butter, and a bit of honey to serve on biscuits.) 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel, trim, and cut carrots on a diagonal into 1/2 inch thick pieces. Peel and finely chop garlic. Halve, peel, and thinly slice onion. Prepare biscuits.

2. Toss carrots on one side of a baking sheet with a drizzle of oil, salt, and pepper. Roast on top rack for 12 minutes. (You'll add the biscuits at the midway point.) 

3. While carrots roast, pat chicken dry with paper towels (this ensures even browning rather than steaming the chicken). Season with blackening spice, salt, and pepper. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned and cooked through, 5-6 minutes per side. Turn off heat, transfer to a cutting board to rest.

4.  Once carrots have roasted 12 minutes, remove sheet from oven. Carefully add biscuits to empty side. Return to oven until biscuits are browned and cooked through and carrots are browned and tender, 8-11 minutes more. (Depending on the number of carrots, you may need to leave the carrots cooking and add the biscuits to a second sheet to bake on a second rack.) 

5. While everything roasts, heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for chicken over medium heat. Add onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until softened, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and 2 tbs plain butter; cook stirring until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add 1 tbs flour; cook, stirring, until lightly browned, 1 minute. 

Gradually stir in 3/4-1 cup water into pan until fully incorporated. Bring to a boil; cook scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of pan until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 tbs chicken stock concentrate. Season with salt and pepper. 

Thinly slice chicken crosswise, divide among plates along with carrots and biscuits. Top chicken with gravy and serve. 


Biscuits

Source: Sugar Spun Run

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
¾ cup whole milk, 2% milk will also work

Directions: 
For best results, chill your butter in the freezer for 10-20 minutes before beginning this recipe. It's ideal that the butter is very cold for light, flaky, buttery biscuits.
Preheat oven to 425F and line a cookie sheet with baking mat. Set aside.

1. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside.

2. Remove your butter from the refrigerator and either cut it into your flour mixture using a pastry cutter or (preferred) use a box grater to shred the butter into small pieces and then add to the flour mixture and stir.

3. Cut the butter or combine the grated butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

4. Add milk, use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir until combined (don't over-work the dough).

5. Transfer your biscuit dough to a well-floured surface and use your hands to gently work the dough together. If the dough is too sticky, add flour until it is manageable.

 
6. Once the dough is cohesive, fold in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten layers together. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again, repeating this step 5-6 times but taking care to not overwork the dough.

7. Use your hands (do not use a rolling pin) to flatten the dough to 1" thick and lightly dust a 2 ¾" round biscuit cutter with flour.

 
8. Making close cuts, press the biscuit cutter straight down into the dough and drop the biscuit onto your prepared baking sheet.

9. Repeat until you have gotten as many biscuits as possible and place less than ½" apart on baking sheet.
Once you have gotten as many biscuits as possible out of the dough, gently re-work the dough to get out another biscuit or two until you have at least 6 biscuits.

10. Bake on 425F for 12 minutes or until tops are beginning to just turn lightly golden brown.
If desired, brush with melted salted butter immediately after removing from oven. Serve warm and enjoy.

Sweet Chili Pork Tacos

 We tried an EveryPlate subscription and it was probably our favorite food delivery subscription that we've tried yet. This was my favorite recipe from the box. 

Sweet Chili Pork Tacos 
(with red cabbage slaw, zesty crema, and peanuts.) 
Source: EveryPlate

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Pork

10 small flour tortillas

2 tbs Sweet Thai Chili Sauce

1/2 head shredded red cabbage

1/4 cup unsalted peanuts

1 lime, quartered

1/2 c Sour Cream

Cornstarch

2 tsp Ponzu Sauce

Garlic, minced

Salt & Pepper, to taste

1 tsp Sugar

Vegetable Oil

Directions: 

1. Wash and dry cabbage and lime. Zest and quarter lime. Peel and mince garlic. Toast peanuts in a dry pan (the pan you'll use to cook your meat), for 2-4 minutes. You'll know they're done when you can smell their nutty smell and they start to release their natural oils. Roughly chop peanuts. 

2. In a small bowl, stir together juice from half the lime, 1 tsp sugar, and a pinch of salt and pepper until sugar and salt have mostly dissolved. Add 1/4 of the cabbage and a pinch of lime zest; toss to combine.

In a separate small bowl, combine sour cream, 1/2 tsp garlic, a large pinch of lime zest, and salt and pepper. Add water 1 tsp at a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency. 

3. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until browned, 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add remaining cabbage and remaining garlic; cook until cabbage is wilted and pork is cooked through, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 

Add 2tbs chili sauce. 2 tsp ponzu sauce, 1 Tbs cornstarch, and 1/2 cup water to pan with pork mixture. Cook, stirring, until sauce has thickened, 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat. 

4. Warm tortillas on an electric skillet. Divide tortillas between plates; fill with pork mixture, cabbage slaw, crema, and peanuts. Serve with remaining lime wedges on the side. 

Cinnamon Breakfast Cake (Coffee Cake)

Cinnamon Breakfast Cake 
Source: adapted from Lil Luna

Ingredients: 
1 cup oil (Sometimes I substitute this with sour cream)
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 - 1/2 cup butter melted

Directions: 
In a large mixing bowl. combine oil, eggs, vanilla and milk together.
In a medium bowl, blend together sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.
Combine egg mixture with flour mixture. Pour half the batter into a lightly greased 9x13 pan.
In a medium bowl, prepare streusel by combining brown sugar and cinnamon.
Sprinkle half of streusel on top of the batter. Top with remaining batter and then sprinkle the remaining streusel on top.
Drizzle with melted butter (you can do less and use 1/3 cup butter or up to 1/2 cup butter melted).

Bake, covered with foil at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Take off foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Chicken Ranch Pitas (with homemade pita bread)

Chicken Ranch Pitas

Source: https://www.landolakes.com/recipe/17589/chicken-ranch-pitas/



Ingredients:

8 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast strips
1/2 (1-ounce) envelope dry ranch salad dressing mix
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 (6- to 7-inch) pita fold breads (Recipe Below) 
4 cups torn Romaine or Green Leaf lettuce
1/2 cup red bell pepper strips
4 red onion slices, halved, separated

2 tablespoons miracle whip
1/2 (1-ounce) envelope dry ranch salad dressing mix


Directions: 
STEP 1
Heat oven to 350°F.

STEP 2
Coat chicken pieces with 2 teaspoons salad dressing mix.


STEP 3
Heat oil in 10-inch skillet. Add chicken pieces; cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned. Cover; continue cooking 5-7 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Uncover; cool slightly.


STEP 4
Wrap pita breads in aluminum foil. Bake 4-5 minutes or until heated through.


STEP 5
Combine lettuce, red bell pepper and onions in bowl.


STEP 6
Stir together miracle whip and remaining salad dressing mix in another bowl. Pour mixture over lettuce; toss lightly. Add chicken; toss gently to coat.


STEP 7
Spoon chicken mixture into warm pitas. Fold in half; secure with toothpicks, if desired.

Pita Bread

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients: 
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 teaspoon salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (see note)

Directions: 
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the water, yeast, salt and 1 1/2 cups flour. Beat to form a soft batter-like consistency. Add additional flour until the dough starts to come together. 

Add enough flour to form a soft dough that clears the sides of the bowl (but is still slightly tacky to the touch - see the note above) and knead for 4-5 minutes with an electric mixer or 8-9 minutes by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured countertop and divide the dough into six equal pieces. Roll the dough pieces into a ball shape. Lightly cover the balls of dough and let them rest for 10-15 minutes. Roll each dough ball into a thin disc, about 1/4-inch thick. Do your best to keep an even thickness throughout the entire disc of dough since this helps the dough puff in the oven (among other things). Let the pita rounds rest, lightly covered, for 30-40 minutes until they are slightly puffed.

While the pita rounds are resting, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. There are two methods for baking the pita bread. 1) Use a baking stone. Preheat the stone in the oven for 30-40 minutes (while the pita rounds are resting). When ready to bake, gently lift a pita disc, with your fingers or a large spatula, and flip it onto the hot baking stone (if your stone is large enough you can bake more than one at a time). Flip the dough so that the side that was resting on the counter is now facing up. You want the the side that has been exposed to air (the dry side) to be down on the baking stone and the side that is more doughy and moist to be facing up - this helps the pita puff up. If you bake one or two and they aren't puffing, spritz the top of the pita round with a light mist of water before baking. 2) If you don't have a baking stone, preheat the oven like normal and then when the pitas have rested, gently flip two of them onto a large, rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Again, make sure you flip them so the side that was resting on the counter is now facing up. Spritz with water, if needed.

Bake the pitas for 10 minutes, until they are starting to brown very lightly on top and they have puffed several inches high. Keep in mind, though, that it won't be unusual to have some pitas that just refuse to puff. Still take them out after 10 minutes - they will make great flatbreads and will still taste delicious even if they don't have the magical pocket inside. 

Make sure the dough isn't dry on top when it goes in the oven (hence the reason for flipping the pita onto the baking stone or baking sheet. Don't get discouraged if your pitas don't all puff. Sometimes they won't.