Texas Style Lemon Chicken

Chicken cooking

3 large chicken breasts, cut into thick strips
1/2 c. butter, divided
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. Italian seasoning (basil, thyme, oregano)
juice from 1 lemon

Melt 1/4 c. butter in skillet until bubbly. Mix all the seasonings together in a small bowl. Place chicken strips on a plate and season one side with 1/2 of the seasoning mixture. Place chicken seasoned side down in the skillet. Cook on medium heat about 5 minutes.

Dinner is ready, with a side of veggies

Squeeze half of lemon juice in skillet over chicken. Turn chicken over. Season other side with the remaining seasoning. Add the rest of the butter and lemon juice. Cover and cook another 5-7 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink.

I served the chicken over rice, and drizzled quite a bit of the sauce over both. Definitely making this again.

Original recipe courtesy of Stephanie Schmaljohann

Texas Roadhouse Rolls

Plan ahead... lots of resting and rising for the dough...

2 tsp. active dry yeast
1/4 c. warm water (about 110 degrees F)
1 c. milk, scalded then cooled to lukewarm
1/4 c. + 1/2 tsp. sugar, divided
3 1/2-4 c. flour
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter, melted and slightly cooled, more for brushing
1 egg
1 tsp. salt

Dough rising

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water with the 1/2 tsp. of sugar. Mix in the scalded milk, remaining sugar,  and about 1 1/2 c. of the flour. Mix thoroughly. Let stand about 10 minutes until light and fluffy.

Add melted butter, egg, and salt. Beat well. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough out on a slightly floured surface, and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

While dough is resting, lightly grease a bowl. Set aside.

Knead dough until smooth, about 5-10 minutes. Place in the prepared bowl and turn over to coat both sides. Cover bowl and set in a warm place to rise until it has doubled in size, about 1-1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into a rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick. Fold the rectangle in half, the short way, so it's now about 1 inch thick. Lightly roll to seal the sides together.  Allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Rolls ready to bake

Cut the dough into rolls. There should be about 18-21 rolls, depending on how big you cut them. Place rolls on a greased baking sheet. Cover and allow to rise until double in size, about an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Brush with melted butter. Serve with Cinnamon Honey Butter.

Here's a link to the original recipe: http://365daysofbaking.blogspot.com/2012/02/day-343-copycat-recipe-texas-roadhouse.html

Texas Brownies

Brownies:
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. strong brewed coffee or water
1/4 c. dark, unsweetened cocoa
1/2 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Frosting:
1 stick butter
2 Tbsp. dark cocoa
1/4 c. milk 
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla


Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and the sugar. In a heavy saucepan, combine butter, shortening, coffee or water and cocoa. Stir and heat to boiling. Pour boiling mixture over the flour and sugar in the bowl. Add the buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix well using a wooden spoon or high speed electric mixer. Pour into a well greased  17 1/2 by 11 in baking dish.
Bake for 20 minutes or until brownies test done in the center. While brownies bake, prepare the frosting. In a saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa, and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring. Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla until frosting is smooth. Pour warm frosting over brownies as soon as you take them out of the oven. Cool. Cut into bars.

Recipe courtesy of Mama Hess