Soft Pita Bread

Makes about 8-9 breads
3 to 3 1/4 cups (12 3/4 to 13 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) boiling water
1/2 cup (5/8 ounces) potato buds or flakes
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) vegetable oil
1 teaspoon instant yeast*

Mix water and potato buds together.  Add to bread machine along with remaining ingredients.  Place on dough setting.


Divide the dough into 8 pieces (each about the size of a handball, around 3 ounces), cover, and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes. Roll each piece into a 7- to 8-inch circle, and dry-fry them (fry without oil) on a griddle or frying pan over medium heat for about 1 minute per side (I cooked mine about 2-3 minutes per side and they didn’t dry out), until they’re puffed and flecked with brown spots. Adjust the heat if they seem to be cooking either too quickly, or too slowly; cooking too quickly means they may be raw in the center, while too slowly will dry them out. Transfer the cooked breads to a wire rack, stacking them to keep them soft. Serve immediately, or cool slightly before storing in a plastic bag.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Don't even begin to contemplate how many calories this has in it, just enjoy!

Crust:
16 oreo cookies
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Combine cookies and butter in food processor until sandy.  Press into pie plate.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place crust in refrigerator for 20 minutes, then bake for 10 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Peanut Butter Filling:
1 cup whipping cream
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form and set aside.  Beat together cream cheese, peanut butter, condensed milk and vanilla until fluffy.  Fold in whipping cream.  Spoon into oreo crust.  Freeze 3 hours, or until firm.

Chocolate Ganache:
8 oz. semi-sweet (or bittersweet) chocolate
1 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp. corn syrup

Soften choclate and whipping cream together in microwave.  Stir until melted.  Add corn syrup.  Pour over frozen peanut butter layer.  Refrigerate until firm.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

I used frozen meatballs that I cooked in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes.

For the sauce:
1 20 oz. can pineapple tidbits, undrained
2 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. seasoning salt
3 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
3 green bell peppers, diced

Combine above ingredients together in large pot.  Bring to simmer and cook 15 minutes over medium heat.  Add meatballs and cook 20 minutes. 

3 cloves garlic, minced

Stir in garlic, simmer 5 minutes.  Serve over rice.