The Zombie...

If you attended high school in the Mount Diablo Unified School District, you were privileged at brunch and lunch to be able to purchase a Zombie for $.50.

What is a Zombie? It is a buttery yeast roll about five inches in diameter stuffed with Velveeta Cheese, and sometimes they would have ham.

Just the word Zombie, makes many alumni’s mouths water and evoke memories of friends, school events and great times.

So for all of you, who might have been deprived of these little balls of butter yeast, filled with warm gooey cheese that kept your hands warm on cold days, this one is for you.

I have made these several times over the past few years and have had several variations in the recipe. The one below is the easiest I have found and too all the Ugly Eagles out there don’t get mad since it came from an Ygnacio Valley High School Blog!Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 Cups warm water
1½ Tablespoons yeast
6 Cups bread flour
¼ Cup sugar
1 Teaspoons salt
¼ Cup butter

Small box of Velveeta Cheese cut into 1 ½ to 2 oz portions

Directions:
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add remaining ingredients and mix with dough hook about 10 minutes until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.
Dough should be soft and pliable.

Let dough rest a few minutes then divide into 1-pound portions. Roll the portions into logs. Cut each log into 5 equal pieces.

Place your favorite filling on top of each dough slice, then pull dough up from the sides to cover filling. Pinch closed very carefully.

Place zombies pinched side down on parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet pan (parchment works best). If desired, brush with egg wash.

Let rise until almost doubled in size.

Bake @350 degrees until brown on top, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Ham Tetrazzini...

I went looking the other day for a recipe to use up the last bit of ham from Christmas. I came across a recipe for Ham Tetrazzini. I made the recipe tonight for dinner and ended up adding a lot more to it.

 I did not think the family would like it, so I doctored the recipe a bit more adding milk, spices, frozen peas and cream cheese. I did not make a salad or bread to serve with this dish. I sort of figured, they would turn their noses up and not eat it… Silly Mommy!

They of course loved this dish and I about had a riot on my hands when they found out there were not seconds… whoops!

 When I told my husband I needed to go write down the recipe, he said, “Uh yeah, it would be really nice to have that meal again.”

Lucky for me, I made a banana cream pie for dessert and was able to pacify them with it.

I would suggest if you have any white wine, you might add a tablespoon or two. I think it would really bring out the flavors and make it seem like you slaved all day in the kitchen, when in reality you spent less than forty-five minutes!

Ingredients:

Small onion, diced

1 Tablespoon butter

1 – 10.75 oz of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup

½ cup water

½ cup milk

1 ½ cup diced ham

¼ to ½ cup of frozen peas

2 oz cream cheese, cut into cubes

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 Tablespoons dried parsley

1 Tablespoon dried rosemary

1/4 teaspoon of crushed red peppers

black pepper to taste

6 oz spaghetti noodles

Directions:

Cook spaghetti noodles according to package

In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and sauté onion and parsley until tender

Stir in cream of mushroom soup, water, milk, cheeses, garlic powder, rosemary, peppers and garlic.

Stir until all the chesses have melted

Stir in ham and peas, turn off burner and cover for five minutes

Portion out noodles and ladle one-cup portions of sauce over the noodles.