Pepperoni Pizza Ring – A favorite of kids and parents–pizza night with an easy twist…sure to be a regular on your weekly dinner menu! Great for the Big Game too!
We’ve got a recipe that is great as an after school snack or a simple dinner for pretty much any day of the week. It’s a great way to get the kids involved in the kitchen, too, so they’re not snarking at mom or dad to hurry up and make dinner! Our pepperoni pizza ring is definitely a favorite in our house and something that can feed a hungry crowd in under 30 minutes. Just a few items from the grocery store are all we need to whip up a pizza ring.
Preheat oven to temperature as directed on crescent roll packaging. Lightly grease a 12-inch pizza pan or baking sheet with cooking spray.
Unroll both cans of dough, separate along perforated lines into triangles. Overlap triangles at the widest point, with the narrow end pointing outward, to form a circle.
Sprinkle ½ cup of cheese evenly around the ring, then top with spoonfuls of sauce, spreading evenly into one layer. Top with pepperoni slices and remaining half cup of cheese.
Fold pointed end of each triangle over top of filling, tucking dough under the bottom layer to secure. Sprinkle top of dough with Italian seasoning and bake until dough is cooked through and golden brown, about 18-22 minutes. Cool slightly before slicing to serve.
Notes
Add some veggies for extra flavor! Great additions include fresh sliced mushrooms, chopped green bell peppers and chopped onions. You can also brown some ground italian sausage and add that.
Mock Chicken Legs – Born out of desperate times, mock chicken was a way of bringing the luxury of a chicken dinner to those who simply could not afford it. Popular during the Depression for the working class, it came to be known as City Chicken, served in cafes, boarding houses, and available in meat markets for you to take home and cook.
First mentioned in 1908, mock chicken is a mixture of coarsely chopped pork and veal shaped to resemble chicken legs or cubes of pork and arranged on skewers, seasoned and cooked like chicken. Sometimes battered, breaded, or dusted with seasoned flour, it could be pan fried, deep fried or browned and baked, served with pan gravy and a side of potatoes.
Mock Chicken or also known as City Chicken has remained popular in the urban areas where it originated, Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio; Pittsburg, Philadelphia and Scranton, PA; Detroit, MI; New York and as far south and west as Louisville, KY.
Mock Chicken or City Chicken
Mock Chicken or also known as city chicken got its start in the Depression era, when chicken was scarce and more expensive.
Cut tenderloin into three sections; the thick center section and two end sections. Cut the thinner end portion of the tenderloin into chunks. Slice the thick center section lengthwise into even halves. Cut the 2 center sections and thicker end portion into1/2-inch slices.
Thread pork pieces, starting with the smallest pieces and working up to wider pieces, onto each skewer to resemble chicken drumsticks.
Season skewered 'drumsticks' with salt, black pepper, thyme, and cayenne pepper on all sides.
Whisk eggs together in a bowl. Pour flour into another bowl. Put the bread crumbs into a third bowl.
Gently press the 'drumsticks' into flour to coat and shake to remove excess flour. Dip 'drumsticks' into egg and press into bread crumbs. Place finished drumsticks on a plate in a single layer and refrigerate, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Heat oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until the surface of the oil is shimmering. Cook 'drumsticks' in the hot oil until golden brown on all sides and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate; let rest 5 minutes. Season with salt.
Homemade pot stickers are so versatile–you can fill them with anything you want and as full as you want. And the play between the crispy, crusty bottom, and the tender parts, makes for a truly unique dumpling. These are filled with ground pork, green onions, ginger, and cabbage.
Like most foods that have been around for centuries, we’re not exactly 100% certain how potstickers came to be. So while we do know that the actual potsticker origin can be traced back all the way to the Chinese Song dynasty (960 to 1280 A.D.), who invented them and why remains a mystery for the ages
Place ground pork, green onions, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce, sesame oil, and cayenne in a mixing bowl. Top with chopped green cabbage. Mix with fork until thoroughly combined. Tamp down lightly; cover with plastic. Refrigerate until chilled, about an hour.
Place flour and kosher salt in a mixing bowl. Slowly pour in hot water. Stir with a wooden spoon until mixture forms a shaggy dough. Flour your hands and transfer dough to a work surface. Knead dough until it becomes smooth and elastic. If dough seems too sticky, sprinkle with a bit more flour, about 3 to 5 minutes. Wrap dough ball in plastic, and let it rest about 30 minutes.
When dough has rested, divide into 4 equal pieces. Cover 3 pieces with a dish cloth while you work the first piece. Roll into a small log about the thickness of a thumb, about 3/4 inch. Divide each log into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a thin 3 1/2-inch circle on a lightly floured surface to form the pot sticker wrappers. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.
Lightly moisten the edges of a wrapper with your wet finger. Place a small scoop of the ground pork mixture onto the center of a wrapper. Fold up the 2 sides and pinch together in the center. Pinch together the remaining edges, forming "pleats" along one side. Tap the pot sticker on the work surface to slightly flatten the bottom; form a slight curve in it so it stands upright in the pan. Transfer to a well-floured plate. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
Mix together seasoned rice vinegar and soy sauce in a small mixing bowl for the dipping sauce.
Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Place about 6 or 7 pot stickers in the hot oil, flat side down. Cook until bottoms are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drizzle in water and quickly cover the pan; steam for 3 minutes. Uncover; reduce heat to medium. Continue cooking until water evaporates and bottoms are browned and crunchy, 1 or 2 minutes. Transfer to a warm serving dish. Repeat with remaining pot stickers. Serve with dipping sauce.
Notes
You can spike dipping sauce with things like hot sauce, garlic, minced green onions, ginger, etc.From Allrecipes.com
The history of the dish is debated, with some believing that it originated during the Revolutionary War while others trace the dish to Southern Appalachian lumber mills in the 1800s, hence the name sawmill gravy. Its readily available ingredients and hearty nature made it an affordable staple for the low-income working class.
Although the recipe is Biscuits and Gravy it really is a recipe for Country Gravy. I recommend using Bisquick for your Biscuits. Simply follow the instructions on the box and bake while you making this delicious gravy.
In frying pan cook sausage until brown over medium heat. Remove sausage from pan an drain and pat dry to remove as much oil as possible.
Return the sausage to the pan and add flour stir to coat the sausage. Then add milk slowly cooking over medium heat. Cook and add milk until you reach the desired thickness.
The word ham derives from the Old English hamm and refers specifically to a cut of meat from the hog’s hind legs. China takes credit for curing the first pork leg back in 4900 B.C. Enthusiasm for ham spread throughout ancient Europe with the Romans, who likely learned of the practice while trading with the Chinese.
Red Beans & Rice – When we were stationed in New Orleans this was a very popular dish with the locals.
Origin
The origins of this iconic dish are believed to trace back to the Haitian Revolution when red kidney beans were brought to New Orleans by those fleeing the uprising.
1lbmeaty ham bone or 1 pound meaty smoked pork hocks
1cuplarge onion chopped
2bay leaves
1/2tspground red pepper
12ozsmoked sausage chopped 2 1/2 cups
4cupscooked rice
Instructions
rinse beans. In a large pot combine beans and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil. reduce heat.
Simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour.
Drain and rinse beans.
Return beans to pot. Add ham bone or pork hocks, onion, garlic, bat leaves, red pepper and 6 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and cover. Simmer 2 1/2 hours or until beans are tender. Stirring occasionally. Add additional water during cooking if necessary.
Remove from heat. When cool enough to handle cut meat off bone, coarsely chop meat. Discard bone. Return chopped meat to pot.
Stir in sausage return to boiling; reduce heat Simmer uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes or until thick gravy forms. Stirring occasionally.
Remove bay leaves. Serve over cooked rice and season to taste. Garnish with cut green onion if desired.
