Not Everyone is Amused by Amusement Parks {Recipe: Knott's Berry Farm Buttermilk Biscuits}

Growing up I had an uncle who lived near Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm and I always found it funny that he never set foot in either of them. Although he did enjoy was taking us to Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant when we would visit, and I loved it when he did! The biscuits were my favorite thing on the menu. 

Knott's Berry Farm Buttermilk Biscuits

This recipe is from the Knott's Berry Farm Cookbook published in 1976.

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder (double acting)*
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon solid shortening
pinch of baking soda (1/8 teaspoon)
1 cup buttermilk

cottonseed or vegetable oil

In an electric mixer, combine flour, baking powder, salt and shortening and mix until consistency of course meal. Combine baking soda and buttermilk in a separate bowl and beat with a spoon until foamy and thickened. Add buttermilk mixture to flour and beat until well blended. Do not overbeat. Mixture will be sticky.

Turn out onto a well-floured board, sprinkle top of dough with flour, and pat until one-inch thick. Pour enough oil into jelly roll-type pan (approximately 11"x7") to measure 1/4 inch (or about 1/4 cup oil). In second pan pour and equal amount of oil. [I found that 1/8 cup oil is best for the second pan for baking, otherwise they are a little too oily for my tastes.] Cut biscuits with cookie cutter**or drinking glass and roll each biscuit in the first pan of oil, then place in second pan. (Oil will cling to dough which is desirable.) Continue cutting and rolling in oil until second pan is filled. Biscuits should be touching each other. Pat top of biscuits with oil from first pan. Bake in preheated 500°F oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. 

*Make sure that the baking powder is fresh. Baking powder loses its effectiveness when stored for a long period of time. 

**Makes approximately 18 [I got 15] 2" or 20 1 3/4"biscuits

Quick Bread with a Little Sass, Molasses That Is {Recipe: Molasses Wheat Bread}

The first time I made this bread I was pregnant with my son; it's packed with fiber and nutrition. The original recipe calls for blackstrap molasses, which can be hard to find, but regular molasses works well. While I was pregnant I made sure to use blackstrap molasses because it has more vitamins and minerals, but it also more bitter than regular molasses. My family prefers this bread with regular molasses.

Molasses Wheat Bread

This recipe is adapted from one found in a Martha Stewart Magazine several years ago. It is not very sweet which makes it perfect bread for sweet jams and jellies. It's even better with nut butter and jam!

4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1/4 cup flax seed meal
2/3 cup toasted wheat germ

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray two 9x4 1/2" loaf pans with cooking spray or lightly grease with canola oil; set aside. 

2. In a large bowl, whisk together whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, canola oil, and molasses. Add to flour mixture and stir until well blended. Stir in flax seed meal and wheat germ. Divide batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Even out the tops with a spatula. 

4. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool for 10-15 minutes, then remove from pans. Store in refrigerator for up to one week, or double wrap in plastic wrap and freeze up to 3 weeks. 

Makes 2 loaves. 

Enjoy!

Papa's Pride {Recipe: Brown Sugar and Mustard Glazed Ham}

My father didn't cook much, but he always cooked the meats for holidays. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, he cooked turkey, and for New Year's Day and Easter, he cooked ham. He took a lot of pride in the meats he prepared, but he never wrote down what he did. Everything he made was probably a little different from one time to next, because he always added "a bit" of this, "a handful" of that and "a touch" of whatever. No measuring was ever involved, but I'll admit, everything he made was good.

I do have a written record of his instructions for preparing ham. Years ago I wanted to prepare a ham for a holiday get-together, so I called him for help. While going through my old recipe file, I just came across the notes I jotted down while I was talking to him. A couple of things he was adamant about: 1. Remove the rind and any excess fat,  2. Soak the ham for 5-6 hours in 2 quarts of apple cider vinegar, adding enough water to cover the ham. He believed by soaking the ham, it would be less salty. I don't know if there is any validity to this, but it does make for a tender and tasty ham. Other than "score it," the rest of the instructions are about as clear as he ever was, "mix brown sugar, mustard, and a touch of molasses; spoon over."

Since this is the only written record that I have of something my dad (or Papa, as his grandkids knew him) prepared, I wanted to pass it on. I did my best to guess the measurements. It did turn out quite well.

Brown Sugar and Mustard Glazed Ham

1 ham shank, smoked or cured (I used a 9 pound, smoked bone-in ham shank)
2 quarts apple cider vinegar
water
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mustard (I used Dijon)
1 tablespoon molasses

Remove rind and trim any excess fat off the ham. Place ham in a non-reactive container (I used a large pot lined with a jumbo zip-lock bag), pour apple cider vinegar over the ham and add enough water to cover the ham; cover (or zip bag closed). Place in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours. Take the ham out of the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking to bring it to room temperature. While ham is coming to room temperature, line a roasting pan with foil.* Also, mix together brown sugar, mustard, and molasses. This makes more of a paste than a glaze; set mixture aside. Once ham has come to room temperature, preheat oven to 325°F.  Remove ham from the vinegar solution and rinse well. Score the ham. Spread the flat side of the ham with the brown sugar mixture and place the flat side down on the rack of the roasting pan lined with foil. Spread about 1/3 of the brown sugar mixture over the rest of the ham. Place in the oven and bake about 15-20 minutes per pound. Occasionally spread the remaining glaze a time or two while cooking. If glaze starts browning too much and the ham is not done, tent with foil to prevent further browning. The ham is done when a meat or instant read thermometer reaches 140°F. If you want the glaze to brown a bit more, remove the ham from the oven, turn oven temperature up to 425°F, return the ham to the oven for about 10 minutes or so, until desired browning is achieved. Remove ham from oven and let rest for 15 minutes before carving. 

*Note: the glaze is very difficult to clean off a roasting pan, that is why you want to cover it with foil. I made the mistake of having a seam that the glaze seeped under-it was a pain to clean off the roasting pan!

Enjoy!