Parmesan Garlic PullAparts

This recipe is one that I pieced together from a few different recipes I have seen online lately.  I made this for supper recently and my kids devoured it.  They raced to eat their main dish so that they could eat as many of these cheesy, garlicky bites as they could.  I love that this recipe comes together very quickly using the baking mix posted previously.

Photos by ME.

 

Parmesan Garlic PullAparts

• 2 1/2 cups baking mix
• scant 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon basil

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two 9 inch baking pans.
*Pour melted butter into prepared pans.
*Mix baking mix and milk in a mixing bowl until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms.
*Shape dough into small balls (smaller than a golf ball).
*Mix together Parmesan cheese, garlic, oregano and basil in a bowl.
*Toss dough balls in Parmesan cheese mixture until well coated.
*Place dough balls in prepared pans in a single layer (there should be a little room around each ball for it to rise but not so much space that they won't touch when risen).
*Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown on the bottom.

Enjoy!

-C :)

Baking Mix

For years I always made a biscuit mix in which I mixed the dry ingredients and then added the milk and butter.  For some reason I found that to be too much work.  I also kept coming across recipes that call for Bisquick...  I hate using store bought junk like that, so when I came across this baking mix recipe I was a happy camper!

Picture by ME.

Baking Mix
(from Kitchen Simplicity)

• 5 cups flour (I use 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white)
• 1/4 cup baking powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter

*Mix all ingredients & store in freezer. (I freeze my butter and shred it on my grater to mix it in easily.)
*To make biscuits add 1/3 cup milk to 1 cup of baking mix.  Bake at 450 on an ungreased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes.  (makes 6 biscuits)

*(You can also make pancakes with this mix - use 2 cups mix with 2 cups milk and 2 eggs.  Cook as usual.)  I haven't tried this yet but will soon.

I make the mix and store it in a bag in the freezer.  When I need it, it is handy just to scoop out what I need and save the rest for next time.  I've used this to make biscuits numerous time and love it.  I find I need to add extra milk sometimes.  I have also used it to make cheddar garlic biscuits by adding shredded cheddar and garlic powder.  It makes a great chicken pot pie topping too.

Enjoy!
-C :)

Linked to The Sweet Details: Savory Sunday

Parmesan Orzo

Generally speaking I am not one to create recipes.  I like to find a recipe and adapt it to suit my taste and my family.  On Saturday I was planning to serve pork tenderloin (marinated in the Korean Chicken marinade), some sort of rice and veggies as a side dish.  Suddenly the day was gone and supper needed to be served.  With no time to cook rice (we are brown ricers around here) I pulled some orzo out and boiled it while scanning my head to see what I could add to it to make it taste good...  A few minutes later Parmesan Orzo was born.

I was very impressed with the taste of this dish.  I was even more impressed with Sam and Gabriel's reaction...  They GOBBLED it up!  Score!

Parmesan Orzo

• 1 cup orzo pasta (uncooked)
• 2-3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• milk or cream or half and half

1.  Boil the pasta as usual.
2.  While draining the pasta melt the butter in the cooking pot.
3.  Add pasta back in and stir to coat with butter.
4.  Sprinkle with parmesan (add more if needed).
5.  Pour in some milk (start with 1/4 cup) and stir.  Keep adding milk until a creamy sauce is made.  Leave on warm burner to heat.
6.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

The recipe is open for play.  I didn't measure as I was cooking, so definitely taste as you are going along.  You could add some parsley for color or go crazy and saute some onions and garlic.  I needed something quick so I just stuck to the basics.

The boys ate this too fast to take a picture of!  I'll re-post with a picture once I make it again.

Enjoy!
-C :)