Borouz Woodworking

http://www.thedailymeal.com/dominos-thin-crust-pizza

This is a great starter recipe.  I use Alton’s dough now and we like it better because, well it’s Alton.  Seriously (good eats) because it is firmer but not hard.  So it has a good chew but is never brittle and it can hold up the cheese.  This dough is good but it doesn’t hold up the toppings as well so you might need a fork.  With Alton’s I don’t do the pre bake on the crust but I always did with this one and it worked better that way.  I do stick a cast iron flat pan in the oven while it’s pre-heating and then I put my pizza pan on top of that.  I have a dark pan that is fairly large and sometimes I will put that on top of the cast iron to warm and then put my pizza on it’s pan on top of that.  Making the crust ahead of time is important for developing texture and flavor but you can get by with making it that day and just going for it.  I also roll mine I have tried flipping them and I’m a flipping failure!  I was a flipping failure when I worked at the pizza place and I’m a flipping failure to this day.  We had a rolling machine at the pizza place and I used it, so I use my rolling pin now.  I’ve also found that you don’t need much sauce on the pizza to make it delicious.  So go easy on the sauce.  Here is a trick for ANY tomato based sauce if it seems acidic or bitter add real butter.  I’ve used ground carrots and even just table sugar to try and cut that acidity but butter just smooths it out beautifully.  The sauce from this site is the one I use and then play with.  I like fennel in my sauce so I add some ground fennel and just a dash of red wine.  I also stopped putting the cheese in it.  I went back to doing what we did in the shop, dough, sauce, sprinkle Parmesan cheese on and then add your toppings.

Preheat oven to 350

First I must tell you I have never made this in anything other than the blue roasting pans.  I believe they contain magic which makes anything in them taste better.  Peter I know you hate washing them so you will always believe it is a foul dark magic, not true.

Peel potatoes, rinse and slice.  I like using the mandolin to slice my potatoes (not the musical instrument).  Dad has used the food processor.  For many years I simply used a pairing knife and that works just fine.  The key is to try and make all your slices about the same thickness so that they cook at the same time.  Put a layer of sliced potatoes in the pan.  I season with Lawry’s salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with flour and place dots of butter on the layer.  Now add ham as much or as little as you like.  Cover with another layer of potatoes, flour, season, butter,  ham, potatoes (you should by now be sensing a pattern).  My last layer is typically potatoes, flour, seasoning, butter.  Then pour in milk till it comes about half way up the layers.  Cook till potatoes are tender.

Brown hamburger and drain.  Cook noodles and drain.  Open Campbell’s Tomato Soup.  Combine them all together with a little salt and pepper.  Now I will tell you I have tried making this with other brands of soup and it tasted different.  Actually I’ve never even come close to making this and having it taste like mom used to make.  I like hers better.  We as a family became convinced that the difference was the pan she used to make it in.  The only clear amounts I can give you here are pretty much so wing it.  It really depends on how much meat you want in relationship to the amount of noodles.  How many cans of soup you need depends on how saucy you want it to be.  You can add other seasoning but growing up salt and pepper were the only ones I ever knew existed so…

http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2010/01/old-fashioned-homestyle-chicken-and.html

I play with this because Sam doesn’t like veggies so I don’t always put them in.  I will make a veggie he will eat and serve it on the side.  I’ve used her noodle recipe and it works pretty well and is pretty easy.   Sam also like his chicken pieces cut up into smaller chunks rather than shredded, big sigh.  One of the keys to this I think is the evaporated milk.  This stuff is just really good when it’s cold, when you don’t feel good, when you need the whole house to smell like home.  Warning this will attract neighbors.

http://startcooking.com/how-to-make-gravy

So I admit for over 5 decades I have not been able to make gravy.  Your great grandmother tried to teach me.  Your father tried to teach me.  I was a gravy failure.  Then I found this website and now I too can make gravy!  I do modify this a little bit.  For one if I don’t have broth I use the soup base from a jar.  It’s like 1 tablespoon to 1 cup water, stir to dissolve.  Since it’s salty I don’t add anymore salt to my gravy.  I do add other seasoning to taste like pepper, garlic powder, or whatever happens to fall out of the cabinet at me.  I also add a dash of wine before letting it cook for the 20 minutes.  I’ve used milk to finish and smooth it when I didn’t have half and half or cream.  This stuff is seriously so good you could put it on a flip flop and eat it!

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup butter (the real stuff not the stuff that is only one molecule away from plastic and at room temp not melted or rock hard)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups quick or old fashioned oats uncooked
• 12 oz butterscotch flavored morsels
• 1 pkg vanilla pudding

Preheat oven to 375.  In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, pudding, and cinnamon; set aside.

In large mixer bowl, beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until creamy.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in oats and butterscotch flavored morsels.  Drop by measuring tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake 7 – 8 minutes for chewy cookies.

I bought air bake cookie sheets about 25 years ago.  I’m not even sure I could make a cookie on a regular cookie sheet anymore.  I love these things to the moon and back.  I also started using a small ice cream scoop to dole out my cookies so that they are all pretty much so the exact same size.  The size cookie it gives me is pretty much so perfect for the temp.  We all tend to like a soft chewy cookie more than crisp.  Also if you put a piece of plain white bread in with your cookies in a close container they will stay soft longer.   This recipe is from Nestle but I added the pudding.  Because many years ago Kathy Rugie and I were at some friend or relative of hers.  She had just made oatmeal cookies and they were the best ever!  I asked what her secret was and low and behold it was vanilla pudding mix.

• Chicken
• Bisquick
• Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 350.  First of all I’m not sure that your great grandma Buck knew that seasoning existed.  She may have used salt and pepper but that might be pushing it.  If you decide to be risky you can use seasoning, any seasoning you enjoy.  Some I would suggest are garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, basil, oregano, sage, etc…  You can mix them in with your Bisquick and then shake the chicken to coat.  Or you can season the chicken before you coat it with Bisquick.  Put the chicken in a baking pan and cook till done.  She may also have put some kind of grease in the pan but I never did.  You can turn this into chicken and gravy by frying the chicken before you put it in the pan.  Brown both sides.  Then use the pan drippings to make your gravy.  Pour the gravy over the chicken and bake till done.  This is how she made her steak and gravy too.

As many pork chops as you can eat, shake and bake original pork chop coating.  Just shake them and bake them according to the box directions.  Peter you will want to make some stove top stuffing and put that in the pan with the pork chops while they are cooking.  You can dispose of it after they are done.  I would really suggest in getting a good meat thermometer and using that to check for done.  I always overcook pork, okay any meat.  But you may want to eat yours rather than use them for shoe leather.

• 4 Chicken breasts (cut chicken in half so chicken is nice and thin)
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup of dry Marsala wine (or Marsala cooking wine)
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup of water
• 2 chicken bullion cubes (I prefer the paste)
• mushrooms
• onions

Flour both sides of the chicken breasts, brown in olive oil.  Once you have flipped the chicken add the above ingredients.  If you are adding the mushrooms and onions put them in with the chicken before adding the wine or water.  Once the Marsala wine is added cover and cook till the chicken is done.  This recipe also works well with pork chops.

• 1/2 cup cheese whiz
• 3 cups white rice
• 3 cups water
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can chicken gumbo soup
• 4 chicken breasts
• poultry seasoning
• lawry’s seasoning salt
• 2 bay leaves
• garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350.  Put chicken breasts in oven safe dish, add broth and seasonings.  Cook at 300 for 1/1/2 hours or till chicken is done.  Add rice and water and cook till tender.  Add both soups and top with cheese whiz.  Cook till warm through.  Actually for a long time dad made this without any cheese whiz or gumbo soup.  He would just use two cans of whatever cream soup we had on hand.  Also many times we didn’t have broth handy so he made it without that as well.