Amish Oatmeal Bread

This is our favorite bread recipe from an Amish cookbook I checked out at the library. I've checked the book out several times and I always make this bread. It's delicious!

Amish Oatmeal Bread
3 1/2 c. boiling water
2 c. quick oats
1 c. honey (I usually do part brown sugar and part honey)
2 T. salt
1 c. warm water
2 T. active dry yeast
4 eggs
3/4 c. oil
4 c. whole wheat flour
8-10 c. all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, mix boiling water with oats, honey, and salt. Let stand 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lukewarm (this will happen faster if you pour it out and spread it on something like a plate). Mix yeast with warm water. Once it is foamy, add to the oatmeal mixture with the eggs and oil; mix well. Mix in wheat flour. Add enough white flour to make a soft dough; knead until smooth. Cover and let rise until double (or at least rest for 15 minutes). Form into 4 loaves and put in greased loaf pans. Allow to rise until almost doubled. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Altered slightly from Gather Around the Amish Table by Lucy Leid

Mom's Maple Butter

I recently happened to notice this recipe that Mom put in the old Columbine First Ward cookbook. We tried it tonight on some biscuits and it's yummy!

Maple Butter
1/2 c. butter, softened (no substitutes)
2 T. maple syrup
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together well. If you keep it in the refrigerator, remove it and let it stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before using.

SLOW COOKER ENCHILADA ORZO

This is a really quick (hooray) and tasty dinner.  Watch it toward the end, or you might loose too much liquid (just add some more chicken broth if you do).

SLOW COOKER ENCHILADA ORZO

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 (10-ounce) can Old El Paso™ mild enchilada sauce
• 1 (4.5-ounce) can Old El Paso™ chopped green chiles, drained
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth, or more, as needed (or chicken broth)
• 1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
• 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed (I added a whole can)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
• 2 cups uncooked orzo pasta
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place diced tomatoes, enchilada sauce, green chiles, vegetable broth, corn and black beans into a 6-qt slow cooker.; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir until well combined. Top with cream cheese.
2. Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.
3. Uncover and stir until cream cheese is well combined. Stir in orzo. Cover and cook on high heat for an additional 15-30 minutes. Add more vegetable broth as needed until the desired consistency is reached.
4. Serve immediately, garnished with cilantro, if desired.

Oma's Cheese Spatzle

This was another dish served at the Eve-Eve dinner.  It called for Emmentaler cheese but that was really expensive so we used Swiss cheese instead.  I also bought some European egg noodles because I knew there wouldn't be time to make the Spatzle noodles from scratch and I wouldn't been annoyed if they didn't turn out, since I've never done them before.  :)  We also omitted the onions because there were lots of onion haters at dinner.  :)

Oma's Cheese Spatzle

3-4 C. cooked Spatzle (12 oz. dry Spatzle)
2-3 C. shredded Emmentaler or Swiss cheese
2 Tbsp butter or olive oil
2 small onions, sliced
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 325°.  Heat butter (or oil) in skillet and saute onions until tender and lightly browned, about 5-10 minutes.  Butter casserole dish.  Begin by layering with 1/2 of the Spatzle, season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with 1/2 of the cheese.  Repeat, ending with the cheese.  Top with the sauteed onions, if using.  Bake, uncovered, about 20-30 minutes, or until bubbly and slightly browned on top.
Serves 4-6

Recipe from justlikeoma.com

Classic Chicken Schnitzel

This is the recipe that we used for the Chicken Schnitzel on our Christmas-Eve-Eve dinner and it was yummy.  We served it with a  mushroom sauce but Steven made that and I'm not sure which recipe he used, so one of us will have to post that later.

Classic Chicken Schnitzel

2 large eggs
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp parsley flakes
salt and pepper
1 c. breadcrumbs
1/2 C. grated Parmesan cheese
4 chicken breasts, pounded to an even 1/4-inch thickness
olive oil

In a small bowl, add eggs, garlic, parsley and salt and pepper and beat until combined.
In a separate small bowl, mix bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.
Dip your chicken into your egg mixture, then directly into the crumb mixture.  Heat some olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, and cook chicken about three minutes on each side, until golden brown and no longer pink in the middle.
Serve warm with mushroom sauce.

recipe from prettyprovidence.com

Butter Grog

This is a delish non-alcoholic drink very similar to the wassail recipe that we all like.  We served this at our German themed Christmas-Eve-Eve.  It called for 2 tsp rum extract but we left that out because really, there's not need for it.

Butter Grog

1 1/2 Tbsp butter
4 C. apple cider
1 Tbsp brown sugar
4 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
peel from 1 lemon
peel and juice from 1 orange
1" piece ginger root, sliced

Melt the butter in a medium-size saucepan.  Add the cider, brown sugar, cloves, cinnamon, lemon and orange peels, orange juice and ginger.  Bring the liquid to a simmer, and then remove pan from the heat.  Let the mixture steep for at least 30 minutes.  Strain and reheat to serve warm.

Recipe from: http://community.qvc.com/t5/Blogs/Butter-Grog-A-German-Christmas-Drink-Plus-What-s-Your-Favorite/ba-p/1854027

Artisan Bread

Ok, I didn't make this, Mandy did, but I watched and it was super easy and very delicious.  ;)
You do have to plan ahead because it has to sit for 8-24 hours but otherwise, it's easy-peasy.
Mandy's note: Because this is a really soft dough, it's way easier to shape the bread on some floured parchment, then you can just pick the parchment up and put it in the pan.

Artisan Bread
3 C. all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. yeast
1 1/2 C. warm water

In a bowl, stir the flour, salt, yeast, and water until combined.  Cover with plastic wrap and set at room temperature for 8-24 hours.  Turn dough out onto well floured surface and form into a ball.  Rest for 30 minutes.  In the meantime, place baking dish with high sides into the oven and preheat to 450°.  (Mandy used a cast iron skillet.  We weren't sure if it would be good to preheat a glass dish and then add the cooler dough to it...we didn't want any kitchen adventures. ha ha!)  Slash "X" on top of bread, carefully transfer to baking dish and cover.  Bake 30 minutes; uncover and bake 10-15 minutes more until golden brown.  Cool before slicing.

Recipe from itsalwaysautumn.com