NeuFutur Recipes For example, cooking is one of the skills that I know a little bit about. I have to emphasize a little bit, as my mother knows probably about fifteen different facts for the one fact I might be able to help out with.

Right now, though… here are a few recipes that I created or found from other sources. If there are any confusing bits of terminology, I’ll try to dissect them for those that might not know much about cooking. The first recipe is for the type of bread my mother makes.

Herb Bread

3.5 cups flour
2 Tbsp (tablespoon) sugar
1 tsp (teaspoon) Oregano, Basil
½ tsp Salt, Garlic Powder
1 Packet Rapid-Rise Yeast
2 Tsp butter (margarine)
1 cup hot water

Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, oregano, basil, salt, garlic powder, and yeast). Place the butter / margarine in the water, and cook the water for around 40 seconds (this time is dependent on the power of the microwave you put it in). Make sure the water is 120-130 degrees Farenheit (a candy thermometer is cheap and can be found at any chain supermarket), and mix in the water to the dry ingredients. Use a big spoon or other stirring implement (a mixer works well if you start it at a low speed and keep the top of the bowl covered with wax paper), and mix the ingredients together for 5 minutes. Let this mix rest for 10 minutes, and then knead it down for another minutes. Cover the dough with a warm, wet paper towel or cloth and let it rise for 30 minutes. Put the dough in a greased pan of your choosing, and cook it at 350 for 30-35 minutes, or until the top of the dough is golden brown. Pull the bread out of the oven, and stick something long and pointy into the bread (a long match, skewer, or a needle) If there is nothing sticking to the pointy thing, the bread is ready.

Cocoa Crinkles

2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup cocoa powder
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar

Combine granulated sugar and oil in large bowl; add cocoa, beating until well blended. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to cocoa mixture, beating well. Refrigerate until the dough is not tacky. The recipe says to wait 6 hours but realistically, as long as you can form the dough until balls, you are fine. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheet. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in powdered sugar to coat. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet. Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched lightly and tops are crackled. Cool slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. This makes 4 dozen cookies.

EXTRA NOTE: For example, individuals may not want 48 cookies (the amount that the previously-mentioned recipe makes). What can be done is portioning the recipe – where you divide all the amounts my 2 or 3 to yield less finished product. The only tip I would have here is to make sure that the measurements are as exact as you can get them when portioning the recipe. The ratios may be the same, but the dish could be put off-kilter much easier if you make the recipe smaller.

Chicken and Rice Dish

Rice:

¾ cup rice
2 Tbsp hot sauce
2 Tbsp garlic powder

Chicken:

½ chicken breast
1/4th large onion
2 Tbsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4th green pepper
2 Tbsp Fivespace (Garam Masala works well for this, too).

Directions: Put the rice in a pot or rice cooker with 1.5 cups of water (2 to 1 is a good ratio for water to rice, regardless of how much you use). Cube the chicken breast (for those who do not know, full breasts come in pairs [no shit, right?] and a half breast is one-half of the full set. Put the chicken and all other ingredients in with a cup of water to a skillet or saucepan (whatever you have), and turn it on high. Cover it (if you don’t have a cover for the dish, you could put a non-meltable plate over it, or some tin foil – we just want to make sure the juice does not escape), and let it cook until the rice is done.

To ensure that the chicken is done, cut the largest piece in two, and if the chicken cuts easily and is white (not pink) in the middle, it is done. Put the rice and chicken/onion/green pepper in a bowl, and garnish however you like (more garlic, add some mushrooms or bamboo shoots, whatever floats your boat).

NOTE: Recipes can approximate those created by fast food chains, oftentimes tasting remarkably like the food that they were intended to mimic. The internet has a number of these recipes, and sites like http://www.recipezaar.com can be tailored to provide recipes based on items used, specific keywords, or various ethnicities that you would like to cook in for the night.

The Best Breadstick / Pizza Dough Ever

I was using this recipe for its intended purpose – Mini Garlic Naan (Indian flatbread), and thought that the texture was perfect for pizza. It was!

1 packet rapid-rise yeast
1 tsp sugar
½ cup warm water
1 cup flour
½ tsp flour
1 ounce butter

As with the bread, mix the dry ingredients together and heat the water/butter mixture until it is 120-130 degrees. Blend together the wet and dry and mix for about five minutes and then let it sit underneath a warm, wet cloth for about a half-hour.

NOTE: Most of the sticks of butter/margarine that I’ve dealt with have measurement lines on the wrapping itself. Each “line”, for example, is a half-ounce (it actually says something different, but this is the measurement that I was able to translate it to for this recipe).

This recipe has two different duties for me; when I’m feeling up for breadsticks, I can just go and put the dough in a greased baking pan (can use Crisco, vegetable oil, or olive oil for this) and make breadsticks, or I cani gussy up the dough until it is a servable pizza. Either way, the bread is light, airy, and tasty.

EXTRA RECIPE: Pizza Hut replica shaker cheese mixture.

When I feel like I am in a breadstick mood, I go and make up some Pizza Hut cheese mix (like the type they sprinkle on their breadsticks). Here’s the recipe for that.

1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp parsley (might want to vary the green herbs)
½ tsp garlic powder

Put these ingredients together, seal them in a bottle, and shake the crap out of them. After they are properly blended, just go and sprinkle on your finished breadsticks.

[JMcQ]