Happy New Year!

Here we are well into the first day of 2008. I have my black-eyed peas cooking on the stove. Yup, I remembered this year. But as I looked back at the recipe I posted this time last year, I realized I have two different recipes for Hoppin’ John. The one I’m making as I type came from an old Southern Living cook book (1981). I’m going to post the recipe as it appears in the book. But I did not use the quick-soak method the recipe suggests. I soaked the black-eyed peas the NT way, 12-24 hours with 2 tbsp whey added to the water. Without further ado:

• 2 cups dried black-eyed peas
• 1/2 lb ham
• 2 quarts water
• 1 cup uncooked regular rice (I use brown rice)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I used 1/2 tsp basil and 1/2 tsp oregano)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Sort and wash peas; place in a heavy saucepan. Cover with water, and bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let soak 1 hour; drain.

Combine ham and 2 quarts water in a large Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add peas; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 45 minutes. Add remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer an additional 30 minutes or until black-eyed peas are done.

Remove ham; cut into small pieces. Stir ham into pea mixture. Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

One other thing I did differently than the recipe above: I sauteed the onion and celery in the 2 tsp. butter until just tender, then added that mixture to the peas after their 45 minute simmer. I used a couple of ham shank pieces for the ham, so will have to remove the bones when everything is done. And, the brown rice will likely require 10-15 minutes longer than the 30 minutes allotted in the recipe.

Whatever it is you may eat or do this New Year’s Day, I wish you a wonderful year. Happy New Year!

Uala Maoli

I found my recipe for Hawaiian Sweet Potato Casserole. I post it here in case anyone is searching for something a little different to complement their Thanksgiving dinner. It came from Hawaiian Cookbook by Roanna and Gene Schindler – given to me as a birthday gift from my sweet husband in 1991.

• 6 large sweet potatoes (2 1/2 pounds), parboiled and peeled OR 1 40 oz can
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 bananas, sliced
• 1 cup brown sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 can (16oz) crushed pineapple
• 1 cup pineapple juice mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons honey

Slice sweet potatoes 1/2 inch thick. Grease a heatproof casserole dish with a little butter (or coconut oil). Arrange in alternate layers starting with the sweet potatoes dotted with butter and salt, then the bananas sprinkled with brown sugar, and then the crushed pineapple. End with the sweet potatoes or the crushed pineapple. Combine the pineapple & lemon juices and honey and pour over mixture. Bake in 350 F preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until browned on top. Serves 6-8.

Kamailio (alternate suggestions):

This I have not tried. “If you like the refreshing taste of ginger root, mince and add it to the pineapple juice. Or use orange juice in place of pineapple juice. . . The recipe can be prepared in advance and refrigerated for 2 days or frozen. Shorten baking time to 25 minutes. Reheat in oven at 300 F until hot.”

Not Your Everday Stuffed Potato

I picked up some ground lamb the other day and decided to see what I could do with it for dinner this evening. I hadn’t tried anything with ground lamb before, so did my usual internet searching for recipes. I figured I’d probably do something with rice. Was I ever surprised when I found a recipe for Lamb Stuffed Potatoes.

Now, being a Texan, I am quite familiar with stuffed potatoes – from BBQ to chili to even brocoli and cheese. Oh yeah! But this Mediterranean twist on an old favorite had me really intriqued. Stop the presses, the search is over. This is what we’re having for dinner!

Oh, and it was as good as it sounded. I am very happy to say that there are some leftovers that I get to have for lunch tomorrow. You absolutely must go back up to the first paragraph and click the link. This recipe is definately a keeper.

As usual, I didn’t have everything the recipe called for. Let’s see, I used raisins for the dried fruit. The recipe states you can use water or juice instead of the wine. I used Cranberry/Grape juice. And, I didn’t have any tomato paste. What did I use? [Looks around to see if anyone else is listening] Shhhh. [whispering] I used ketchup. Hey, it’s organic! But who cares – the end result was delicious! And I can’t wait to eat the leftovers.

So, if you haven’t done it yet, go check out the recipe. Definately put it on your must-try list.

Spaghetti Squash Pictures

First: Huge apology on the delay in posting these pictures. It’s been a whirlwind around here as my husband wrapped up at the Academy and we went house hunting. We’re preparing to move on to new adventures in central Texas.

Now, without further adue, here are the pictures of the Spaghetti Squash Casserole from the last post:

 

Spaghetti Squash

I usually just serve spaghetti squash like spaghetti, with a marinara sauce, Parmesan cheese, some salad, and perhaps a bit of garlic bread. But this time I got a bee in my bonnet and decided to try something different. That, and I was out of marinara sauce and didn’t have enough tomatoes to make my own.

In searching I found what sounded like a lovely casserole, but of course, had next to none of the ingredients (except the spaghetti squash, of course). Do check that one out and let me know if you try it. It does sound very good. And, it inspired me to see what I could pull together from what I did have in my kitchen.

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 bunch chopped green onion
• a couple Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• salt & pepper
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar
• bread crumbs

Bake the squash whole at 350 degrees for about an hour. Cool enough to handle, then cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Scrape out the stringy squash with a fork into a mixing bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients (except cheese and bread crumbs) in the squash and transfer to casserole. Sprinkle cheese on top, then bread crumbs. Drizzle a little olive oil over the crumbs. Bake in 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Pictures to follow (I actually took a couple).

It turned out quite good and we ate it up gladly. But I think I might add more tomatoes and mix some of the cheese in with the squash next time around.

Roasted Chicken

The roast chicken I mentioned in the previous post came from this recipe from my Southern Living Easy Weeknight Favorites.

• 4-5 pound roasting chicken
• salt & pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon-pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large garlic clove, minced

Remove giblets from chicken. Rinse and drain chicken; pat dry. Sprinkle cavity of chicken genersously with salt & pepper.

Combine lemon-pepper and remaining 5 ingredients. Rub mixture all over chiken, coating the top well. Place chicken, breast side up, in a 4-quart electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 to 5 hours or on LOW 7 to 8 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker, and let cool to touch. Remove meat from bones, and chop. Yield 4 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken.

This is good enought to just eat on its own, along with a side dish or two. It also goes well in a Ceaser type salad. I mentioned in the previous post trying it in chicken salad spread. And, of course, it makes great roast chicken sandwiches. I love recipes that are simple and versatile.

Pizza Night!

As part of my menu planning, I’ve decided that Friday will be Pizza night. I figured I could make some good, wholesome, pizza, have some folks over, and play some games – stuff we don’t do often enough. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that doesn’t like pizza, so that’s a pretty safe bet for inviting folks over.

Last week, I tried this recipe for whole wheat pizza crust. Notice I did not blog about it. But I think I’ll try it again. The dough was supposed to double in size – it did not. So, I don’t know if my yeast was too old or what. Though it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great, either. And it only made one pizza, so we wound up ordering Dominoes as we had a couple of folks over.

This week, I didn’t invite anyone. I felt I needed some practice with the pizza dough. I decided to modify a recipe from my 1989 Betty Crocker cookbook. By George, it turned out pretty good. My husband must have declared at least three times how good the pizza was. Now that’s an accomplishment. And I didn’t do anything fancy. It was just some Newman’s Own Cabernet Marinara, grated (organic) mozzarella cheese, and some Boars Head pepperoni. I suppose the crust does matter. Here’s what I did:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cup unbleached white flour
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon organic sugar (found at Costco!)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water in 2-quart bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients; beat vigorously 20 strokes (really, I didn’t count). Let rest 5 minutes.

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Divide dough into halves. Pat each half into 11-inch circle on greased cookie sheet or 12-inch pizza pan with floured fingers. Spread sauce over circles (or whatever shape you make), to within 1/4 inch of edge; sprinkle with cheese and toppings of your choice. Bake until cheese is light brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

We’re planning to have company again next week, so I’ll probably use this recipe again. But I am dieing to try the yogurt dough from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. Now that would be wholesome.

A Red Pepper Quiche

I decided to make quiche for dinner yesterday and tried the quiche recipe in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. I didn’t have all the ingredients that Sally Fallon laid out in her recipe. So, I’ll put it here how I made it. I did use her flaky pie crust recipe for the crust, but you can probably use any crust recipe you want. That particular recipe compromises the basic principles by using unbleached white flour. gasp.

• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into a julienne
• 1/2 of a sweet onion, finely sliced
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 egg yolks (cage free if you can)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• sea salt & pepper
• roughly 1 cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese

Roll out your dough (if you’re making your own) and line a 10-inch pie dish. I used my Pampered Chef stoneware pie dish. Half bake the crust accordingly. Saute peppers and onion in olive oil until soft. Beat yolks with sour cream, salt & pepper, and half of the cheese. Place peppers/onion in the crust and pour the egg mixture over those. Top with remaining cheese and bake at 350 degrees for about 1/2 hour.

The crust wasn’t real pretty, but it sure was some kinda good. I served it up with a mixed fruit salad. Even the 4yo ate some, with coaxing, of course. This will be added to my recipe list for those menus I’m working on.

Leg of Lamb

While we’re on the subject, I like to make lamb on Easter Sunday. Since I still haven’t made my meat order (doing that next) I’m not certain we’ll have any in time this year. But, usually it only takes two days to arrive, so I should be OK, if they haven’t run out altogether at the ranch.

Well, Barb from My Sister’s Kitchen requested a Leg of Lamb recipe. I posted a simple crock-pot recipe as a comment on this post. But here is another recipe that I have used that is very good.

Leg of Lamb with Roasted Potatoes

• 6ish pound lamb leg, whole
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• olive oil
• salt
• 3 pounds medium-sized potatoes
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1. Place lamb leg, fat-side up, on small rack in large roasting pan (about 17″ by 11 1/2″).
2. In cup, combine chopped parsley, lemon peel, oregano, pepper, 1 tablespoon olive or salad oil, and 1 teaspoon salt. Rub mixture over lamb.
3. Insert meat thermometer into thickest part of lamb, being careful that the pointed end of thermometer does not touch bone. Roast lamb in 325 degree F oven until meat thermometer reaches 160 degrees F for medium or until of desired doneness, 2 to 2 1/4 hours, basting lamb occasionally with pan drippings.
4. Meanwhile, cut unpeeled potatoes into 1 1/2-inch chunks. In large bowl, toss potatoes with 1 tablespoon olive or salad oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. AFter lamb has roasted about 30 minutes, arrange potatoes around lamb in roasting pan. Roast potatoes with lamb, turning them occasionally and basting with pan drippings.
5. When lamb is done, place on warm large platter; arrange potatoes around lamb. Let lamb stand 15 minutes for easier carving.
6. While lamb is standing, prepare gravy: Remove rack from roasting pan. Pour pan drippings into a 2-cup measuring cup; let stand until fat separates from meat juice. Skim 1 tablespoon fat from drippings into 2-quart saucepan; discard any remaining fat. Stir 1 cup water into roasting pan to loosen brown bits; add to meat juice in cup.
7. Into fat in saucepan over medium heat, stir flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt until blended. Gradually stir in meat-juice mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until gravy thickens slightly and boils; boil 1 minute. Pour gravy into gravy boat. Serve gravy with lamb.

My printed copy does not reference where I found this recipe. But I do have the following information: serves 12, cook/prep time 2 1/2 hours. Per serving: 440 calories, 24 g fat, 120 mg cholesterol, 405 mg sodium.

My Favorite Meatloaf

I suppose meatloaf is one of those dishes you either love or hate. I happen to love it. Of course I try to use grass-fed beef whenever I’m using beef in a recipe. I believe that makes a huge difference in whether it is healthy or not. To learn more about the difference between 100% always and only grass fed beef, and feed-lot grain fed, check out EatWild.com in my links.

When I do make meatloaf, this is my absolute favorite recipe. I think I printed it from a recipe program on the computer, which I can’t think of the name of. It is not installed on our current computer, so I’ll have to look for it to give proper credit. In the meantime, here’s the recipe.

Flavorful Family Meatloaf

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I use sea salt)
• dash pepper
• 1/2 cup corn kernels (I use frozen)
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 3 tablespoons barbecue sauce
• Salsa

Mix all ingredients, except salsa, well. Bake in small loaf pan 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, or until cooked through. Slice the loaf and spoon salsa over the slices. This makes 4 servings. To make a large, 10 serving, meatloaf, use 2 1/2 pounds ground beef and double the rest of the ingredients.

Enjoy!