From Chef John at AllRecipes.com, we have Perfect Prime Rib for your special occasions. He uses simple math to figure how long to roast your prime rib roast to perfection. However, you must have a full-sized, modern oven with a digital temperature setting that indicates when it is preheated. Older ovens with manual controls can vary greatly, and the doors may not have the proper insulation, so says Chef John. I might just chance it with my older oven!
This Sukiyaki from our friends in Plains Pot Pourri, from Plains, Georgia, is wonderful. Don’t overcook the beef. Served over rice, it is delicious, and you might want some warm bread to go with it for a complete meal.
I fix chicken breasts in my little countertop Cuisinart oven. It is a rare night I don’t use this wonderful convenience. Of course, you CAN fire up your big oven if you want. I timed it from start to finish. It took a little over an hour from freezer to dinner plate! I timed it: 20 minutes to defrost in water (sealed); 20 minutes to marinate; 28 minutes at 375 degrees to reach 165 internal degrees. Labor might have been five minutes. I LOVE my Taylor digital temperature gauge. I used to overcook chicken. What a grand treat chicken is when it is not overcooked. Delicious, tender, juicy, flavorful. And since I only ate one, I have the other sealed in a Ziplok for supper some night very soon.
Sandy Bove’s Roasted Potatoes and Blue Cheese recipe is from Preserving the Big Potato, the lovely publication from the Apopka Historical Society. Thank you, ma’am.
Dell’s Corn Casserole comes to us from Carolyn Cartmill in Northside Baptist Church’s cookbook. Using canned Niblets Corn and cooking up a pot of rice first, it should be easy.
For dessert, Mae Clayton’s chewy cookies will satisfy your sweet tooth. We found this recipe in New Vision Community Church’s Feeding the Flock.
Sally Hummer’s Apricot Bread is shared by our First Presbyterian Church friends from Punta Gorda in their publication, A Taste of Heaven. Apricots have such a lovely sweet and tangy taste, they make wonderful bread. The recipe says to soak the apricots in warm water, but the apricots today may not need soaking. They are already quite moist, unlike when I was a child.
CHEF JOHN’S PERFECT PRIME RIB
Recipe from ALLRECIPES.COM
Chef John from AllRecipes.com says to have your prime rib out of the refrigerator for six hours at least to come up to room temperature. The math won’t work if the roast is cold. Multiply the weight of the prime rib by 5 minutes. If your prime rib roast weighs 4 pounds, multiply by 5, which equals 20 minutes; 5.5 pounds 27-1/2 minutes rounded up to 28 minutes. Have your oven preheated to 500 degrees before putting the meat in the oven.
Mix in a bowl, 1/4 cup room-temperature unsalted butter and herbs de Provence (rosemary, thyme, and other Mediterranean herbs) along with a tablespoon of black pepper. Spread this softened, seasoned butter mixture all over the surface of the room-temperature roast; sprinkle kosher salt all over the buttered roast. Put your roast into the 500-degree oven for however many minutes you have figured, then turn off the oven after that many minutes. Leave the roast in the hot oven. DO NOT PEEK! Don’t even touch the oven door. Set your timer for two hours. Leave the roast in the oven for those two hours to finish cooking. Then you can take it out of the oven. It will be warm for serving. You don’t have to let it sit for more time. It will be a perfectly cooked medium-rare prime rib roast.
Chef John says, however, you must have a full-sized, modern oven with a digital temperature setting that indicates when it is preheated. Older ovens with manual controls can vary greatly, and the doors may not have the proper insulation.
BURDETTE COLEMAN’S BEEF SUKIYAKI
Recipe from PLAINS POT POURRI, Food Favorites of Plains, GA
Heat:
2 tablespoons of salad oil
Brown for 3 to 4 minutes:
1-1/2 to 2 pounds bite-sized pieces of steak
Combine:
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup water
Pour over steak.
Add:
1 chopped onion
1 8-ounce can of bamboo shoots (drained)
Cook 5 to 8 minutes.
Add:
1 14-ounce can bean sprouts (drained)
1 8-ounce can water chestnuts (drained)
1 4.5-ounce jar of mushrooms (drained)
Cook for 5 minutes. Serve over rice.
NANCY’S QUICK OVEN BAKED CHICKEN BREASTS
Recipe from Reader of The Apopka Chief and The Planter
2 chicken breasts, defrosted
2-3 tablespoons Moho Criollo
1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Butt Rub Seasoning (spicy and salty)
1/4 teaspoon Montreal Seasoning (salty)
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon dehydrated onion
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Defrost, rinse, pat dry each breast. For marinade, mix together seasonings, except olive oil. Place marinade (minus oil) in quart-size Ziplok along with the chicken. Marinate for 20 minutes, then add a couple tablespoons extra virgin olive oil to the bag and squish it all around. Place marinated chicken on oven rack over foiled oven pan. Dribble excess marinade over the chicken. Place the tip of temperature probe in fattest part of the chicken breast. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. I used the convection bake setting. Bake to internal temperature of 165 degrees.
SANDY BOVE’S ROASTED POTATOES
AND BLUE CHEESE
Recipe from
Apopka Historical Society’s
Preserving the Big Potato –
A Collection of Potato Recipes
12 small Yukon gold potatoes
2-1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/8 freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
4 slices applewood-smoked bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled
1 tablespoon minced chives
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place potatoes in large saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Add 2 teaspoons salt and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. Cool and slice a small piece from the top and bottom of each potato. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl. Toss with oil and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Place potatoes on a baking sheet. With a paring knife, score top of each potato. Top each with equal amounts of blue cheese and bacon. Bake until cheese melts, 5 to 7 minutes. Sprinkle with chives and serve.
CAROLYN CARTMILL’S “DELL’S” CORN CASSEROLE
Recipe from Northside Baptist Church’s cookbook
2 12-ounce cans Niblets Corn, drained
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 stick margarine
2 cups cooked rice
1 can mushroom soup
1 small jar pimiento, chopped
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup grated cheese
Saute onion and pepper in margarine. Combine all ingredients except cheese. Pour into a 9 x 13-inch glass dish or pan. Bake 30 minutes, or until bubbly. When almost done, top with grated cheese.
MAE CLAYTON’S CHOCOLATE CHIP CHEWEY COOKIES
Recipe from New Vision Community Church’s Feeding the Flock
4-1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 packages instant vanilla pudding (3.4 ounces)
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir flour and baking soda together and set aside. Cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until well blended. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Blend in flour mixture a little at a time. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
Drop cookies by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until edges are golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks for cooling.
SALLY HUMMER’S APRICOT BREAD
Recipe from First Presbyterian Church of Punta Gorda, A Taste of Heaven
1 cup snipped dried apricots
2 cups warm water
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
3/4 cup chopped nuts
3/4 cup orange juice
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Soak apricots in warm water for 30 minutes. In mixing bowl, cream: sugar, butter and egg. Stir in orange juice. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir into creamed mixture just until combined. Drain apricots well. Add apricots and nuts to batter. Pour into 9 x 5 x 3-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes until bread tests done when toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool ten minutes in pan before removing to a wire rack.
