Feeding Hay

This NOT how a bale ring is supposed to work.....

But he doesn't mind.....

Barn Hop

Sausage and Potato Casserole

This makes a lasagna pan's worth of food, or 2 smaller casseroles.

Ingredients
4-6 lbs of potatoes, peeled and sliced.
1 onion, diced

1/2 lb cream cheese or nuefchatel
1/2 lb of queso fresco **
1/2 lb farmer's cheese
2-4 TBS prepared mustard
4 TBS coconut oil
4-6 TBS gelatin
2 eggs
8 TBS cane sugar
Sea Salt, a lot.....2 TBS?
Cream of tartar as needed

1 lb Sausage, bite sized

1. Prep potatoes and onions and set aside
2. Combine sauce/filling ingredients until smooth.
3. Correct seasoning, should be slightly saltier/zestier than needed as the potatoes will neutralize some of the taste when it's all cooked together.
4. Combine sauce with potatoes and onions and pour into a coconut oil greased pan/s.
5. Add bite sized sausage evenly over the top.
6. Cook for about an hour at 350*-375*, cover, if needed to prevent burning.  
7. Check for softness of middle potatoes.  Adjust cooking time as needed.
8. Cool for about 20 minutes and serve.

This was a big hit the first time around.  It doesn't reheat well, as is. I used the leftovers as a soup by adding broth, some tomatoes and a little extra gelatin and salt. Traveled very well in my thermos. Fabulous!


**Queso fresco is ricotta-ish, without the additives usually found in commercial ricotta.

Hunk of Meat Monday 
Hearth and Soul Hop 
Fat Tuesday

Jalapeno & Cheese Baked Potato

I just LOVE great globs of melted cheese.


Ingredients
Leftover baked potato/s
White cheese of choice (I used Jack)
Pickled Jalapeños peppers, sliced and drained.
Sea Salt


Run some slices through the potato so it can absorb some jalapeño juice and salt.  Salt the potatoes and add peppers to the middle.  Add a slice of cheese to the middle, then cover cross ways with more cheese.


Bake at 300* for about 20-30 minutes. (I used my toaster oven.)


See Ya In The Gumbo 
Monday Mania 
Pennywise Platter Thursday 
Gluten Free Wednesday
Real Food Wednesday
Fat Tuesday

Onion Rings

This was breakfast! 

I have had a love/hate thing with onion rings.  I love onions and nothing smells better than onion rings....but I stopped eating them because they regularly disappointed me.....all batter, no onion.  I have never made onion rings myself before.  I have deep fried onions when already making fries, without batter, and they're tasty, but not the same.  These were light and crisp and just the right balance of batter and onion.

Ummmm, I think I need to go make some more....

Ingredients
1 medium Onion
1 medium Egg
Rice Flour for coating (or corn masa)
Salt
Coconut Oil for frying

1. Heat oil in deep pot.  Make sure to leave room from the top for bubbling oil.
2. Slice onion in rounds perpendicular to the stem/roots ends.
3. Remove skin and ends and save for broth in freezer.
4. Beat egg in small bowl.
5. Pop rings out of onion rounds.
6. Put some flour in a small, wide bowl or plate with sides.
7. Add some salt to the flour or egg at this point.
8. Dip rings in egg, then dip in flour, coating thoroughly. 
9. Place coated rings aside until oil is hot.  
10. Add coated rings in small batches to hot oil.
11. Cook for a few minutes, until desired color, but not too dark.
12. Strain out of oil and place on baking sheet or other wide, oven safe container.
13. Salt more.
14. Keep warm in oven until finished with all the batches.

Bonus step:  When you are finished making onion rings, add the remaining flour to the egg and add some sugar and possibly salt and cream of tartar, if needed.  Drop little balls of dough into the hot oil and fry up the extra.  They cook up fast, so don't turn your back. Oh, and don't forget to turn OFF the oil when you are done cooking.

See Ya In The Gumbo 
Monday Mania 
Totally Tasty Tuesdays 
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
Gluten Free Wednesday 
Real Food Wednesday

Sirloin and White Hominy Stew

I can be a very lazy cook sometimes.  This morning I grabbed a few packages of frozen bone in sirloin steak from the freezer and plopped them in the slow cooker.  I piled on a diced onion, some gelatin, some tomatoes and green chilies, a handful of salt and a small chunk of bacon grease.  (You just can't go wrong with the aroma of bacon.)  Nothing was measured.

I got curious and added a can of white hominy.  Never had it before, smells like a soggy tortilla.  I wanted to know if it would be good for power outage food.  After cooking on high for a couple hours, I checked for "pull apart."  Pull apart is when the meat just pulls off the bone and the bones are used for broth one more time, given to the dog (depends on the bone and the dog) or the chickens/garden.  It needed a little longer as not all the meat was submerged, so the top pieces were still clingy.  An hour or so later and the meat fell off  while I removed the bones with my tongs.

So hominy in this dish kind of reminds me of bland, mini gnocchi....more of a soft texture than a taste. The sirloin is butter tender, but less interesting after the tongue.  Ummm...and I over did it on the salt a tad, so corrected with a little sugar and cream of tartar and .....Bingo!  It all came together just right.

Hmmmm....I bet some pineapple would substitute just fine for the sugar/cream of tartar flavor wise......

Fat Tuesday
Scratch Cookin' Tuesday
Hearth and Soul Hop
Barn Hop
See Ya In the Gumbo
Hunk of Meat Monday
Gluten Free Wednesday