Misadventures in Baking Cinnamon Rolls

One fine Saturday morning I got the idea to make homemade cinnamon rolls. The canned stuff just ain’t good enough for me. It’s too sweet, trans-fatty, and artificial tasting. And too easy… I like a challenge.

Plus I had this amazing leftover cream cheese/whipped cream frosting I used it to frost a cake, but it actually came out of a cinnamon roll recipe from pinterest. So, that needed to get out of the fridge before I started eating it with a spoon every time I opened the door.

When my alarm went off the only thing that got me out of bed was the idea of making these. Quickly enough, those optimistic dreams quickly went down the drain…

Recipe:

¾ cup milk

half stick butter

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3 ¼ cups AP flour

¼ cup sugar

1 packet dry active yeast

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup water

1 egg

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1 stick butter

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 cup packed brown sugar (I didn’t have any, so I used white sugar)

Heat the milk in a saucepan until it bubbles. Remove and stir in butter. It will melt in the milk. Let cool slightly.

In bowl, combine 2 cups flour, the sugar, yeast, and salt. Mix it up well.

Add milk mixture, water, and egg. Beat well.

Stir in the rest of the flour, about half a cup at a time.

Easy, right? Yeah well this is where it started to fail very very fast.

Place dough on lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. No photo for these next couple steps due to being elbow deep in sticky dough.

Place back in bowl and cover with a damp cloth to let the dough “rest”.

Confession: I’ve never used yeast for anything and was very afraid. I had no clue. Like the student I am, I just followed directions exactly. Somewhere along the way I messed up, but guess what? It turned out alright.

Meanwhile, melt your stick of butter; mix in the tablespoon of cinnamon and 1 cup of sugar (or brown sugar if you actually have what you’re supposed to. I didn’t)

Mmmm

Take the dough after about 10 minutes and roll out to a rectangle type shape.

This wouldn’t work.

Dough was everywhere. Under my nails, stuck to the counter, smeared on the cabinet, on Cessna’s fur.

And it was SO sticky.

And it wouldn’t flatten nice at all.

I wanted to cry.

Next, spread the butter cinnamon mixture over the dough. No photo for this either because at this point, I thought this was a lost cause.

I attempted to roll the dough up like you’re supposed to, but all it wanted to do was stick to the counter. Sigh.

Frustrated, I plopped the blob into my pan.

Shoot, I forgot to grease it.

Stick in the oven for 25 minutes.

Crap, I should take a picture.

Take it out when it looks like this:

Anxiously smell and poke. It seems okay? It’s just not in roll form, but who cares, right?

Taste. It’s heavenly.

Cut a piece out. It’s like a hybrid of cinnamon roll, coffee cake, and monkey bread. Yum.

Plop a nice spoonful of frosting on top. It will do that sexy melt into all the cracks thing.

Smile because it wasn’t a failure.

So, while the end product wasn’t what I originally wanted, it was SO GOOD. I recommend trying it.

Chicken Enchiladas

My dearest friend Chelsea Lee is a Mexican. Not really. She’s Caucasian. But her grandmother is Mexican. Therefore, Chelsea does not speak any Spanish, but she sure can cook some mean ethnic food. She was kind enough to teach me this recipe, which my boyfriend loves very very much. It’s easy to keep the ingredients stocked in your pantry for one of those days where you don’t know what to make. Plus, they taste so yummy and authentic, Haley once described it as, “It tastes like you cooked it in your cast iron skillet over open flame in your hut with dirt floors while your 7 children ran around chasing the chicken whose head you have to cut off.”

I think that’s her way of saying it’s good.

Anyways,

Measurements are not super specific here. That’s the beauty of it. You can make this your own style.

1 package chicken breast.

2 10 oz cans enchilada sauce. (They come in hot, medium, and mild. I use 1 hot and 1 medium because dear boyfriend enjoys it spicy. This is up to you.)

Packet taco seasoning.

Can of corn. (Optional.) I like Green Giant Mexicorn because it has some red and green peppers in it.

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Vegetable oil

Corn tortillas. (The small kind. Ole brand is the best for this, but good luck finding them. Mission is good. So are Aldi brand. One time I got some other brand and they kept falling apart. Not cool.)

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Mexican or Taco shredded cheese

Trim and boil your chicken.

Shred it. The finer your shred, the better. Don’t be afraid to use your fingers here. We’re getting down and dirty. But wash your hands first! We’re not getting THAT dirty.

Place chicken, 1 can sauce, half packet seasoning, and corn in pan. Cook over low/medium until the chicken soaks up all the sauce. No need to stir too often, you’re just letting it simmer and hang out. This is how it looks when it’s done.

In a separate pan, fill to about an inch with vegetable oil. Heat it over medium until it makes a couple little bubbles. Watch out, because if you make it too hot it will pop and burn you! Ouch. Trust me.

Drop your tortilla in, for about 30 seconds. You know it’s time to flip it over when it begins to rise and bubble up like a pancake. Use tongs to turn. Don’t overcook, or they will get crunchy! I should have gotten a picture of this. I was on the phone. As usual. You’re gonna want to make a big stack of these.

They’ll look like this. Not too dark, ok? Layer each one on a paper towel to soak the grease.

Now, fill each guy with a couple spoonfuls of your chicken mixture. Not too full, or they wont roll up nicely. If you didn’t have much chicken, you can stretch it but filling them up less.

Roll them up and place them ‘tab-side’ down. Line your little enchiladas up in the pan. Cover in a can of sauce. Or less than a can, it’s really up to you. I like to douse mine but SOME people think they’re too saucy. SOME people are boring. Also, I was trying to fit a lot in this little dish. You don’t have to squeeze them together so much.

Cover with a hefty amount of cheese. We love cheese. Being born so close to Wisconsin and all, I think it’s in our blood.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

YAY! Homemade enchiladas. Serve with some Mexican rice, chips and salsa, and Chelsea’s homemade flour tortillas. Maybe she can teach you about those one day. 

Beer Bread

This bread is SUPER easy. I really mean it. It’s delicious. Anybody can make it. It goes with everything. And I bet you already have the ingredients. What are you waiting for?

3 cups flour, sifted. (All Purpose works just fine here, I promise. I used Gold Medal’s “Better For Bread” flour and it turned out even better than before)

¼ cup sugar           

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspon salt

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1 can beer. (12 oz) Room temperature. (If you want a strong “beer flavor”, use a hearty dark beer like Sam Adam’s Boston Lager. For a more subtle flavor use a normal kind, as long as it’s not “light”.)

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Stick of butter, melted.

Okay, ready?

Combine all your dry ingredients. It’s very important you sift your flour; otherwise it will end up with a hard, brick-like crust. You can really just do this with a fork or a whisk, no need to get fancy. Also, I added Parsley here. You can experiment with whatever kind of herbs or seasoning you want to put in. If you want to do cheese, stir that in after the next step.

This is the flour I find works best. But up until my discovery, All-Purpose was doing me good.

Pour in your beer. Mix.

VERY IMPORTANT: Do not over-stir. You really just need to get the flour wet. If you see dry flour on the edges of the bowl or whatever, don’t worry about it. If you stir too much you will also get that yucky brick we were talking about.

At this point if you are adding cheese, stir it in

Grease your loaf pan. I like to rub it with butter.

Dump your dough in. It will be very wet. No need to smooth it out or anything either.

Pour the melted butter all over the top. This gives it a nice, scrumptious, buttery crust.

Pop it in your oven at 375 for an hour.

Take the bread out and let it cool for 20 minutes. If you cut too soon the middle might not be done yet. I know it smells good. Your patience will be rewarded.

See? I told you it was easy.

Chicken Parmesan

While shopping at Aldi, J picked up a frozen chicken Parmesan meal. Wait. Before I start I need to inform you about Aldi. If you haven’t been to one, I highly suggest checking it out. Back in Chicagoland there’s one in every town. It is seriously the best place to shop for groceries. Everything is “store brand,” but is identical (if not better) than brand name. And for about half the price. Aldi also owns Trader Joe’s, so that gives you a good idea about their quality. When I moved to Auburn I was devastated I had to dish out so much money at Walmart for my food bill. The closest Aldi was in Birmingham or Atlanta. When we moved to Clarksville we were thrilled to have one back!

Anyways, when J wanted to get this frozen preservative hormone filled crap, I laughed and told him to put it back. I could make that from scratch and it would taste a thousand times better.

So, I picked up a few ingredients and set out to prove my claims. Let me show you how!

2 chicken breasts, halved

1 egg

1-2 cups breadcrumbs

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

8 slices mozzarella cheese

Half jar plain marinara sauce

Parmesan cheese (I’m a firm believer in the refrigerated grated kind. Not the powder Kraft stuff)

First, trim the chicken and pound it out to about half its original thickness. How much you pound it is completely up to you. The thinner it becomes, the more surface area there is to bread and be yummy, so thump away. I didn’t have any utensils to help me with this, so I went old school and used my fist on the counter. 

Next, whisk your egg and and dip your chicken. Make sure to get a good coating.

Cover the breasts in breadcrumbs. I used plain, but I think next time I’ll go with Italian for a little more flavor.

Heat your olive oil in a skillet. I made the mistake of putting too much oil in and having to dump some. You just want a small amount to brown up your crumbs.

Cook the chicken a few minutes on each side until it starts looking dark golden and real pretty. Don’t worry about the center of the meat not being done, because you’re going to bake it for more than enough time.

Enlist the help of a Border Collie to clean up your crumbs

Now lay your chicken in a baking dish. I’m sure a 9x13 pan would be appropriate, but at the moment our supplies are limited. As you can see, they wouldn’t fit, so I had to use two pans. Ugh.

Use a single layer, unlike my picture =)

Layer your slices of mozzarella over the chicken.

Then pour the sauce over. Next time, I’ll use more mozzarella and less sauce. We really like cheese. Sprinkle a hefty amount of Parmesan over the sauce.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cheese looks niceeee and bubbly.

Serve with a side of spaghetti.

The verdict? It was undoubtedly better than that yucky frozen stuff. The chicken was tender and juicy, and the bread coating and cheese was so yummy. Jon said it might possibly be his new favorite meal. Success!