Blueberries are NON-Stop!!!

 Hello Foodies!

Our blueberries are still going strong here in the coastal side of North Carolina.  I have baked with them, preserved them, made my famous B.O.B. jam with them, my freezer is so full of freezer bags of these little beloved orbs.  We have blackberry bushes too, but they are not netted, so I am in competition with our neighbors in flight.  I did manage to get enough of them to make my B.O.B. and get a few in the freezer but mourned when they were overtaken by ants during some big rainy weeks.

Anyway, how are your blueberries?  Still producing?  Finished?

My Beef Kale Stew

It's been awhile!   No, I haven't stopped cooking on the fly, just got really really lazy.  However, I am going to get back on this blog and show you some more things that I can do.   New equipment is coming soon, I first have to learn how to use them.   

Anyway, here is my recent offering.  The family loved it and it is on the "do it again" list.  I just realized that I forgot to label the first step.  

Start off with 1 lb. of ground beef and a medium onion diced.

  Enjoy!

 

Turkey and Chicken Stock and the Soup

It's the day after Christmas and all through the house there's that waif of the Christmas turkey bones boiling on the stove.  Well, the smell was amazing and the thought of the soup that will be rendered from it later in the evening was comforting.  I always have homemade chicken stock on hand and rarely buy store brands, it is the easiest of processes in  the kitchen, and really.  Here's how I do it.  Turkey has an obviously stronger flavor, so I usually just put peppercorns and carrots with a bit of salt in the water for turkey stock.  You decide how flavorful you want it.

Rotisserie Chicken Stock

1 rotisserie chicken, boned
2 quarts of water
1 medium onion
2 carrots
2 cloves of garlic
12 peppercorns, whole
1 bay leaf, optional
Salt to taste

In a large stock pot, add the carcass, roughly chopped vegetables, peppercorns, and bay leaf.  Pour the water to cover the bones completely.  Bring to a boil then lower the heat to simmer for at the minimum one hour, up to 3. The longer the simmer the more reduced the stock and the richer the flavor.

The Christmas turkey was amazing this year as my husband, through the years, has honed his craft at roasting the family turkey to perfection.  This year he brought home a 16 lb. gobbler and after everyone had their fill, we made turkey soup the next day.  Here is how we did it.

Christmas Turkey soup
1 turkey carcass
 2 quarts of water
12 peppercorns, whole
celery, onions from the roasting, no new adds

Add all together the ingredients and bring to a boil, simmer for at least an hour, up to 2 hours.  Drain the stock and set aside. 

Next:
1 cup of unsalted butter
1 cup of flour, all purpose
1 large onion
3 medium carrots
1/3 of a large cabbage
1 cup of rice
1 Tbsp table salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Melt in large stock pot, the butter, add the flour and whisk for 5 minutes, until the roux is buttery colored, add the roughly chopped vegetables and cook for 10 minutes stiring frequently.   After 10 minutes, add the 2.5 quarts of turkey stock, rice, and salt and pepper and bring to a boil.   Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the rice is fully cooked. 

 The cabbage was so tender and the carrots were so sweet that the soup was just perfectly seasoned.  It was a thick soup, almost a chowder, so the next day we added a bit of water when reheated it for lunch.  It was great!

Enjoy and See you next year!

Kashi Treats, OH MY!

We have been blessed with a sweet little grandson and I have him for a few hours each morning.  After feeding him the same thing everyday, I was getting bored...and so was he!  Now I was raised with rice crispy treats and made them with my own children, but we don't keep rice crispy cereal in our pantry anymore....what shall I do!??    Luckily, the hubster purchased some Kashi cereal last week and I had an idea!

What goes best with chocolate, peanut butter, and Kashi??   You bet, maple syrup!  OK, so you didn't think that was the answer, but you will definitely have to try this one.  Here's the recipe:

Kashi Treats
1 cup Kashi Cereal
1/4 cup uncooked oatmeal, original, not instant
1/3 cup of blister fried peanuts, (regular would do as well)
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup of Kashi cereal

Mix these three ingredients together, then
1 cup peanut butter, creamy or chunky
1/4 cup of pure maple syrup
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Mix these together and then add to the dry ingredients with a spatula until combined.  Line an 8" baking dish with waxed or parchment paper and press the mixture in.  Refridgerate for at least 30 minutes, if you can wait that long.   Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie (Pi day) a day late! But, I'm on the fly!

Chicken Pot Pie, my way

Here's what my family has always liked about chicken pot pie:  Cheese and BACON!

Yesterday was March 14th, Pi day, now I am not a math person, but am surrounded by science people.  My husband is a microbiologist and I have one daughter who is a biology teacher at the local high school and another daughter who is pretty brilliant in math among other topics.  I cook, bake, sew, and other arty things, so math has never been my knack.  In fact, if you asked me where to find math books in the library or book store, I'd tell you the horror section!

Well, anyway, here is my recipe for chicken pot pie for all those who like their pie for all other days of the year, along with Pi day.

My Chicken Pot Pie

The white sauce

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (I use White Lilly)

1-1/2 c whole milk

1 pinch of nutmeg

1 tsp of Beef stock

salt and pepper to taste

 Filling

1 recipe of white sauce

1 package of mixed vegetables

2 TBsp diced onion

1 12.5 oz canned chicken

1/2 c plain Greek yogurt

Crust

1 cup of biscuit mix (I use Pioneer Brand)

1 egg

 

1/2 c grated cheddar cheese

1/2 c whole milk

1/2 c plain Greek yogurt

 

 

Directions

Melt butter in medium size sauce pan, add flour and whisk until smooth over medium heat for 1 minute to make sure flour is cooked.  Meanwhile, heat milk in microwave for 1.5 minutes to speed up the thickening process with the sauce.  Add half of the milk at a time to butter mixture until thickening and then the rest of the milk and cook until the sauce is thickened, but not too thick!  Add the seasonings and cheese.  When the sauce is completely mixed through and smooth, add beef stock and finish stirring until all smooth.   In a casserole dish, lightly grease the bottom with butter and add the chicken, sauce, and onions.   In a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients together and pour over the filling.  Sprinkle bacon bits over the top and bake for 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Serve with a salad and voila, Dinner!

 Enjoy! 

 

A country breakfast staring biscuits with Deep Run Roots

Country buttermilk biscuits made with 3 ingredients thanks to chef Vivian Howard, the Chef's life PBS series and her new cookbook, "Deep Run Roots" of which my sweet husband gave me for Christmas.  I have always made the Southern Living recipe of "Mile High" biscuits with egg, sugar, shortening, milk and they are truly a delicious delicacy, these are really good in a whole different way.   The eggs were cooked on the cast-iron skillet in olive oil using a very simple technique of spooning the oil gently over the yokes while they cook for a more evenly set egg.  They are also not as greasy as you may think..just lovely, actually.  The bacon we bake in the oven.  Ever since my husband learned that you can bake bacon in the oven and get the same crispy result he has been in  charge of the bacon prep.  Now for the biscuits:

Chef Vivian Howard's
 ENC-style Buttermilk Biscuits  (Eastern North Carolina)
(makes 10 biscuits)

1/2 c lard plus more for greasing the pan
2 1/2 /c all purpose flour, (I use Martha White)
4 tsp baking powder
2/3 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk

"Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Using your hands as both scoop and spatula, grease a baking sheet liberally with lard.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl and make a deep and wide well in center.  Add 1/2 cup lard followed by the buttermilk, taking care to keep both contained in the well for now.  If you're right-handed, take your right hand down into the lard-buttermilk goop and start bringing that together with your fingers.  You want to make that as much of a homogenous mixture as you can without bringing too much flour into the fold just yet.  Once you get it together, start moving the wet mixture back and forth, to and fro into the flour.  Turn it over and do the same.  Turn it over again and introduce more flour with each movement.  Once I get it going, I like to do a little motion that feels like a one-handed knead, using my thumb as if it were the other hand.  It's a real gentle, but it pushes new flour in with each movement.  Continue introducing flour until the dough is not sticky but still very soft and tender.  You will have about 1/2 cup of flour left in the bowl.  ......

Pull off a large golfball-size piece of dough and roll it up with your hand, pinching the bottom together.  Put in corner of greased baking sheet and press down to 1/2 inch thick.  Follow with next biscuit.  All sides of the biscuit should be touching other biscuits.  It's okay if you don't fill up the entire tray; it's more important that they are crowded.

Slide the tray onto the rack in the lower third of the oven and bake for 18 minutes.  Rotate the tray to the top rack and bake an additional 7 minutes.  The biscuits should be golden brown and crisp on the bottom, a little less brown on top.  Let them cool if you can for 2 minutes before eating.

Enjoy!

Fish Cakes on Friday!!

It's Lent here in my household and we are not fond of fishsticks from the grocery freezer, SO, I have to get creative and sometimes we do meatless/fishless meals, sometimes we do a soup and salad meal, or a breakfast dinner with eggs and toast, and sometimes I do a seafood of one sort or antoher.  There is one recipe that I found from Ina, Barefoot Contessa, that my husband especially enjoys:  Salmon cakes!  We never have all the ingredients, so here is what I do.


Salmon Cakes, courtesy of Ina Garten...with a few substitutions

Canned Salmon, or Canned Tuna, which ever you have on hand.
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
4 tbsp unsalted butter, (Always cook with UNsalted butter, that way you can season better!)
3/4 c red onion, I usually have yellow onion mostly, until summer with hamburgers!
4 small stalks of celery, I didn't have any celery....you can skip this ingredient.
1/2 c small-diced EACH of red pepper and yellow pepper...I had half of a green pepper on hand.
1/4 c minced fresh flat-leaf parsley,  I had dried, so to half or less....I put in 2 Tbsp
1 Tbsp drained capers
1/4 tsp tabasco.....I don't like it, so we don't add this, my husband keeps it at the table for his use.
1-1/2 tsp crab boil seasoning
3 slices of stale bread, crumbed
1/2 c Mayonaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 extra large eggs...... I get farm eggs, so 3 small/medium eggs will do.

Add all the ingredients into a bowl, mix thoroughly.  Mixture will be loose almost like pancake batter.  We used a 12" castiron skillet with Olive oil heated.  Pour the mixture into the pan with a 1/4 cup measure and cook 3 minutes on each side and are golden brown

Serve hot and enjoy!