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

Beef Tongue Tacos and Broth

The dogs are so NOT getting the tongues anymore.
 
I don't know why it took me so long to get around to cooking one. Tongue is so tasty and flavorful...now I'm wanting mutant animals so I can get more than one tongue per steer.  And the broth from the skin...wow...wow....ummmm, wow!

There are quite a few methods for preparing tongue.  I got impatient and used the pressure cooker.  It was a 1.35 lb tongue and I cooked it at 8 lbs of pressure for a half hour.  I used a trivet and about a half cup of water on the bottom.  I used the natural release method.

While the meat was cooking, I heated the coconut oil for deep frying some white corn tortillas.  While that was heating, I dissolved some gelatin/sugar/cream of tartar/salt in some diced tomatoes and chilies.  The tongue is a high gelatin muscle, like rib eye, but I always like to make sure I am getting enough.

When the pressure was out of the pressure cooker, I grabbed the tongue with some tongs and ran it under some cold water.  When it is cool enough, the skin is SUPPOSED to just release.  I guess I was too impatient again and ended up cutting it off until I got to the tip.  The skin at the tip pulled right off with ease.  I diced the meat into small cubes and put it in with the tomatoes.  In hind sight, it would have been down right decedent to fry them up a little first, fajita-ish, then put them in the sauce.

The only thing needed now was the taco "shells".  I tried "draping" the tortillas on the end of a wooden spoon.  They didn't drape well and the hot oil actually made the sides float up.  Then I tried tongs, holding onto them on one half while pressing them against the side of the pot.  That worked better, but then they puffed up a lot while being held under.  I stopped at 2 tortillas per person.  They weren't pretty but it's the thought that counts, right?

Ok, so the end product was a fresh fried tortilla, yummy meat topping and a glop of sour cream.  A fabulously messy meal that we all enjoyed immensely!

But that's not the end......

No, now I had this delicious smelling liquid at the bottom of my pressure cooker and tongue scraps, mostly skin, but some meat on there too.  So out comes the gallon bag of frozen onion skins and leftover bones/gristle from other meals.  I took the trivet out and emptied the contents of the bag into the pressure cooker.  I added water and some vinegar and salt to 2/3 full.  It's a 6 quart cooker.  I brought it to pressure and cooked for 45 minutes according to the instructions.  I let it the pressure come back down naturally and strained the big stuff out  of the broth with a slotted spoon into a strainer over the pot.

Total yield 3/4 of a gallon of double strength, very gelatinous broth.

The broth has become a simple potato soup, sausage and potato soup, and potato and cheese soup.

See Ya In the Gumbo
Barn Hop
Hearth and Soul Hop
Fat Tuesday
Weekend Gourmet Carnival
Monday Mania 
Scratch Cookin' Tuesday
Gluten Free Wednesday
Real Food Wednesday 
Full Plate Thursday 
Totally Tasty Tuesdays
Southern Sundays 
Melt In Your Mouth Monday

Simple Potato Soup GF, DF

Simple Potato Soup
Pot of potatoes (peeled and diced, cubed or sliced)
Broth/water to cover (Homemade is best, if you've got it)
Unflavored beef gelatin
Saturated Fat (Coconut oil, butter, tallow, bacon grease etc.)
Salt

Fill a pot with peeled and cut potatoes, add broth and cover with extra water, if needed, to cover.  Sprinkle gelatin on top for extra protein and as needed to balance any meat in the meal.  Add some salt and some kind of fat, depending on your needs.  Bring to rolling boil and then simmer for 40 minutes to an hour.  Correct with more salt, as needed.

Excellent as a base for other ingredients or as a easy to digest meal for healing/recovery/stress.  I like it with globs of melted cheese, leftover sausage or steak works too.


Simply Delish
Pennywise Platter Thursday
Monday Mania 
Superfood Sunday 
Real Food Wednesday

Banana Bread & Muffins - GF

Adapted from the Joy of Cooking: 

Banana Bread & Muffins
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup coconut oil  or butter
1-1 1/4 cup bananas mashed

 1 3/4 cup rice flour
2/3 cup cane sugar 
2 TBS unflavored gelatin
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped apricots (optional)



I haven't had any bananas for YEARS. Cooked bananas do not cause discomfort like raw ones do though.  I could not resist the bargain of a huge bag of bananas for $1...and had a get together coming up.  I peeled the bananas and stuck them in the freezer until needed. 

Mix ingredients in order.  I use a potato masher or ricer for the banana and leave it on the chunky side.  I used Sucanat for the sugar, the caramel ish flavor goes well.  1 loaf recipe makes about a dozen muffins using an ice cream scoop for measuring.  Bake at 350*  for about 25-30 minutes for muffins, 1 hour for a loaf.  I used my toaster oven, so no preheating necessary.  Use a greased pan or tin or use liners.

The muffins were a huge hit and we actually had leftovers too. They freeze well and make a nice snack on the go....or a light meal with a glass of milk.

See Ya In The Gumbo
Melt in your Mouth Monday
Hearth and Soul Hop
Fat Tuesday
Totally Tasty Tuesday
Gluten Free Wednesday

Potato Salad with Pickled Eggs

Ingredients:

Cooked potatoes

Diced Beet Pickled Eggs

Mustard 

Diced Butter Pickles or Relish

Pickle Juice or ACV

Sour Cream

Cane sugar/Cream of tartar to taste

Salt to taste

I thought I had posted this a while ago, I guess it got lost in the shuffle. 

I know I used a Russet type potato and adding the pickle juice gave it the right moistness.

Adjust proportions to your personal tastes...I kept adding stuff until it tasted "right"....and I can't remember what I did anyway.....

See Ya In The Gumbo  
Fat Tuesday 
Hearth and Soul Hop

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie

I make a mean fruit dip.  I love it for dipping strawberries and it goes great as a brownie topping too.  I got my recipes confused the other day and put WAY too much gelatin in the dip.  Seriously, dip should not be slice-able.


Directions:
I added 2 slices too firm cheesecake dip to 2 eggs in the blender and whipped. Much to my delight, the gelatin dip actually did blend in. I was concerned I would get a chunky smoothie....like adding coconut oil that turns gritty in the cold, ewwww.  I added OJ for liquid as needed and a large handful of frozen strawberries. "Seasoning" was some salt, cream of tartar, cane sugar and homemade vanilla extract.