Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Not the Gub'mint's Mac-N-Cheese

I consider myself a foodie, and I like to think I have a relatively sophisticated palate.  Why is it, then, that my favorite dish in the whole world is Macaroni and Cheese?
Growing up, I never knew we were poor.  The reason that I never knew we were poor is that my mother made macaroni and cheese for us about once a week.  To me, it was the most decadent stuff on the planet, and I knew that we had to be rich to be able to afford such a rich, scrumptious dish. HAH!  It wasn't until I was sitting around with the family, telling stories of our youth  (in my thirties, no less), that I piped up and said how much I loved it, and my brother and sisters agreed and that we were so lucky to be able to have macaroni and cheese so much growing up....well, my mom started chuckling in the way only a mom who has a long-kept secret over her children can chuckle......and when we questioned her, she 'fessed up.
Seems that the US Government had a program for (poor) military families in which they GAVE AWAY cheese and milk.  She told us we were so poor that we had to depend on these offerings because the monthly salary that my dad made didn't last until the end of the pay period, so we couldn't afford meat from time to time. LOL
I never knew......
Anyway, the news didn't dampen my affinity for the Mac-n-Cheese.  No, not boxed mac-n-cheese that you buy in the store.  We couldn't afford that (thankfully).  My mom made it from scratch, and that is what I do.  However, I will say that I have strayed from the original recipe and this is not my mother's Mac-N-Cheese.
Take heart in the knowledge that you will not feel deprived with this version.  Sigh, the Gub'mint's subsidy cheese is not represented here. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Butter
1 healthy tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces Gruyere Cheese, cubed
4 ounces mild Cheddar, cubed
4 ounces Muenster Cheese, cubed
4 ounces Gouda Cheese, cubed
3/4 lb. elbow macaroni (I like Muellers)
2 qts. water
1 generous tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
3/4 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon Butter

Bring water to a boil in a 4 Quart saucepan.  Add salt and macaroni and cook according to directions on the box.  When finished cooking, drain immediately in a strainer or collander.  I cook it al dente and don't rinse my pasta.
In a separate 3 or 4 Quart saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter, add the flour to the melted butter, stir until velvety and cook on low heat until the mixture becomes blonde.  Add milk and cream, and cook on medium heat, stirring almost constantly, until the sauce thickens. Add the cheeses, a bit at a time and let it melt, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.  When the cheese is melted, add the nutmeg, stir to incorporate, and then add the macaroni.  Stir to coat and combine all ingredients fully.
Transfer mixture to a baking dish or baking tin, about 9"x12" inches.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a small dish.  Add panko breadcrumbs and toss to coat evenly.  Sprinkle over the top of the macaroni and cheese mixture.  Bake in a preheated 400*F oven until the breadcrumbs are golden brown and the cheese is lightly bubbling on the sides of the dish--about 15-20 minutes.  You can use this as a side dish for almost any protein or as a stand-alone casserole, like I do.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Garden

Mary,
Yes, society needs to stop putting up with what the government "dictates" we have available to eat. I really enjoy having a garden. The worst part is that the location is in a back field and I have to drive and go past my mother in laws house to get to it. She can be a bit nosy at times. lol AND she lets me know that how I do my gardening is not the way they always did it when she was growing up or even when she put a garden out. I love her, but I like doing my garden my way not hers. She does have good tips and ideas on canning produce which I readily listen to and use.
We have decided that with our garden this year, we will plant extra and donate that to our church. The church has a food pantry and I know first hand that the food received from a pantry is not the healthiest. It is great to have food to prepare and even better to receive food for free. We want to be able to give something to the community that they don't normally get.
I have thought about setting up a stand on the side of the road, but there are so many people who do that. The competition just wouldn't make it worth it. Plus, living as far out as we do it would mean driving a good distance and not only packing up the produce, but plan for enough water, food, etc. to last sitting out in the sun somewhere all day. I just don't have the patience to sit all day like that, especially alone and I know I would be alone.
I like the idea of putting our comments in separate posts instead of commenting on a post. Eventually I am sure that we will have followers. Somebody will catch a glimpse of our blog and tell someone else, and so on and so on. Until then.... I think what we are doing is just fine. We are able to share recipes, thoughts, ideas, and some pretty good tips.
I love the bread recipes! My associate pastor has been posting food that she has been cooking with all the snow days we've had and she is just killing me with all the bread, buns, cookies, and main dishes she prepares. She is Italian and she loves to cook and makes lots of it. I start drooling when I read what she is making. Keep the bread recipes coming. I have never been real big on making bread, but lately have thought about attempting some. I think I have some chicken feathers to pluck off myself first. ha ha
Ready for Spring and plowing and planting!

Chicken N Dumplins

1 - 2 lbs. Chicken - whatever you prefer to use (dark meat gives the dish extra flavor)
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, diced
carrots, diced (use whatever amount you prefer, I like carrots so I use a lot)
salt & pepper to taste
1 1/2 tsp. basil
2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. rosemary

flour, shortening, water, milk - for dumplings

Put the chicken and veggies in a pot of water and boil until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Remove the chicken and let it cool. Once the chicken is cooled enough to handle, pull it, chop it, tear it into small bite-size pieces.

Mix your dumpling mixture just like you would for making biscuits (I always get my husband to do this because he is the bread maker in our family).

While the liquid is boiling (before adding in the chicken) add in your seasonings then drop in spoonfuls of the flour mixture one at a time. Take time not to crowd your dumplings or drop them on top of each other. Once all your dumplings are in and have had about 3 - 4 minutes to boil add in your chicken pieces.

The hardest part of this dish is waiting for the chicken to cool.

Happy cooking and good eating!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

My Favorite Bread Recipes

Speaking of bread, Momma T (for those readers who are new to the blog, yes, Momma T. did mention bread in her comment on the post, "Not Quite a Recipe...."),  for many years I was afraid of making bread from scratch.  When we lived overseas, one of our closest neighbors used to bake bread rolls, called "pan" (pronounced, pahn) for the market, and though I never helped her bake, her house always smelled SO good.  And we always had fresh-baked bread.  She was always in the kitchen, so I thought that baking bread was a really difficult process.  And when we came back to the States, my recollections of anyone who baked bread was stories of how they "slaved away in the kitchen all day over the loaves, but all the effort was worth it for their families".  They lied.  It is not so difficult!  In fact, I wanted to bake my own bread so badly, but I was so traumatized by the stories that I had to ease into the breadmaking adventure by asking for an automatic breadmaker for Christmas to make that intermediary step!  LOL
Basic bread recipes are so easy, and so cheap, that you will wonder why you ever bought a loaf of bread.
Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt. Mix, Knead, Rest, Shape, Bake.
You have Bread.
What could be easier??

BASIC BREAD RECIPE

3 cups of bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1pkg. (2 tsp.) activated dry yeast
1-1/8 cup lukewarm water (about 110-120*F)

Mix the ingredients together in a large bowl (I prefer glass bowls)
If it is too wet and won't come away from the sides, add a little more flour (about 2 tbsp. at a time).  If it is too dry to form a ball, add about a tablespoon of water.
Take the dough out of the bowl, and put on a flat counter surface that has been liberally dusted with flour.  Knead (give it a deep-tissue massage) for about ten minutes.  the dough will become elastic and feel like Silly Putty (you remember that stuff from childhood, right?)  Return it to the bowl, and let it rise until it is twice as big as it was when you finished kneading it.  It should take about an hour and a half.
Punch it a few times to deflate it, then re-cover it and let it rise for about another hour.
Preheat the oven to 375*F.
Take the dough out of the bowl, put it on a large cookie sheet and shape it into 2 equal sized loaves.  You can make it any shape you want--round, long and skinny, oval, etc.  Make a couple of shallow scores (slice it in a couple places on the top, about 1 inch deep).
Place the loaves on the cookie sheet in the center of the preheated oven, and let cook for approximately 45 minutes.  The time will vary a little depending on what shape you have it in, but the crust should be brown and when you gently thump the loaf, it should sound a bit hollow.  Let cool completely, slice and enjoy!

Those are the basics.......

Now, there are certainly ways to make the bread taste better, and be healthier for you.   Experiment.  Be Free!  What is the worst that could happen?  It doesn't rise?  It doesn't taste good?  Oh well, try again.  The most costly thing you will have wasted is time.
When I was first learning to make bread without my breadmaker, there were slight missteps, but I never made a loaf that was inedible, and experimenting helped me to develop the recipe that I will share with you now.  It has some "expensive" ingredients in it, but it only costs me about $1.37 per loaf to make!  That is about half of what an over-processed, preservative-ridden, who-knows-when-it-was-baked loaf of bread will cost you at the store.  And it freezes very well, which is good, since you should probably slice and freeze it if you aren't going to use the whole loaf within 48 hours, because it WILL go stale and/or mold.  :-)

MARY'S MULTIGRAIN BREAD

2 cups bread flour+1 cup for adding to dough while kneading
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup coarse corn meal
1/3 cup bulgar wheat
1/3 cup flax seed (whole), and I like the dark seeds for contrast in the crumb
1/3 cup pearled barley
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. honey
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp. salted butter
2 tsp. gluten
1 egg white, plus enough water to make an eggwash
Rolled Oats to sprinkle on top of two loaves
Approx ½ cup of water (to pour into a skillet in oven for steam)
Mix corn meal, bulgar wheat, flax seed, and barley in a 2-quart pot, and add enough water to cover +2 inches.  Bring to boil on stovetop, turn down heat to simmer for about 20 minutes.  Do not leave unattended, stir often.  It should be like soupy cream of wheat (or grits, for us southerners, LOL).  If it gets too stiff, add more water (these ingredients will soak up water, and that is the idea.)
Remove from heat, and allow to cool.
Put enough oil or butter to coat a large stainless steel or glass bowl, combine the flour, cooled grain mixture, salt, honey, egg yolk, butter, gluten and yeast, and mix well.
If the mixture is too dry, use the ¼ to ½ cup of water to get it to the right consistency for turning out of the bowl and kneading, if it is too soupy, add some bread flour—these measurements vary quite a bit from loaf to loaf; I was surprised.
Turn dough out of bowl onto a well-floured surface.  This dough is typically very sticky at this stage, so don’t worry about over-flouring the surface….add as much as you need to as you knead.
Knead until the dough becomes elastic and you can shape it into a ball, usually about 5-6 minutes.  Be careful not to over-knead it.
Shape into a ball, cover and let rise until it doubles.  Be patient (I’m not).
Punch down, separate dough in half, shape into loaves (no loaf pans needed as long as you have a stone, or a cookie sheet), score the loaves diagonally with a sharp serrated knife
After shaping, let the loaves rise for approx. 40 more minutes
While the loaves are rising, put a clean, dry cast iron skillet on the bottom shelf of your oven.
Prepare an egg wash with the egg white and water.  Just before you are ready to put the loaves in the oven, brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle the top of the loaf with rolled oats—Quaker Quick Oats is what I use.
Turn on oven and preheat to 450*
Slide loaves into the oven, and pour 1/2 cup water into the cast iron skillet and immediately close the oven door to trap the steam.  Bake loaves for approx. 30 minutes
Remove loaves from oven, let cool for at least 30 minutes.  Slice and Enjoy!

My answer to Momma T's comment

I started writing this post in response to the comment Momma T. made on the blog post “Not Quite a Recipe…”, but it got kind of long, and I also thought that our readers might see it more esily if we morphed into making our major comments into individual blog posts here….what do you think about that, Momma T?
In response--Kudos to you Momma T; a lot people that have a childhood that didn't offer good nutritional choices don’t seem to try to make the adjustment to eating healthier.  My early exposure to good quality food was kind of accidental.  We were really poor, but since we lived “in the country” (in a foreign country, at that) and poor people HAD to live sustainably, we actually ate healthier by default than a lot of our more affluent friends.  Go figure! 
Our early experiences are usually the foundation of our choices as we become adults.  I know people who won't even try vegetables...they think dinner means a hamburger from a fast food joint; that to eat healthy means to order the grilled chicken filet sandwich at the drive thru, and that french fries are a vegetable! One leaf of iceburg lettuce on their hamburger is the only green they get (and that is if they don’t order it without!).
I absolutely agree with you about the corporations, too!  For years, I have wondered what was going into our store-bought food because it just didn’t taste like the food I grew up on, but only lately has there been enough of an increased awareness (and research and news sources) for me to get educated enough, and angry enough about it to work at making changes in my own life to grow, shop and eat more healthy (and more sustainably, and support the small, local farmer). 
The corporations have so much power over everything from what and how our food is produced (scary), from legislation on what they grow (scarier), to what they are allowed to do to it (even scarier!), to controlling our politicians on every level of government to driving out any competition from the small farmer!  You would be astounded at the ways that corporations prevent competition from the local farmers!  For instance, a small farmer produces a steer that he wants to sell.  If he is not a USDA-inspected facility (which means paying big bucks to the government), he has to sell that cow to no more than three people.  That means each person has to buy at least 1/3 of a whole cow at a time.  Most people do not have enough freezer space for that much meat at one time, and have trouble using that much meat, and have to buy cuts that they may not really want (although we should teach ourselves to use ALL parts of the animals).  It is also difficult to butcher a cow into thirds fairly.  And buying half the cow is even more expensive.  And a whole host of other problems that I won't go into. 
Bottom line, the big corporations and the US government have become so entangled that we can't prove who is controlling whom, and the food production, distribution and handling laws are so perverse, that the small farmer's overhead is artificially high.  So to make a living, he has to find customers that can accommodate the way the government dictates that he has to sell, and he has to charge more per pound (unless you take all the parts of the animal) than the grocery store.  The good news is that there are small farmers who are so passionate about what they do, and honestly care about their neighbors (you know, the ones that they sell their products to, that their kids are friends with, that live in the same city, county, state that they do).  This gives them accountability.  And accountability is the one thing that corporations and our government fear most.
Government also hasn't yet been able to prevent the home gardener from planting (almost) whatever they want.  Growing a garden is something I am looking forward to when we move up to Mentone permanently!  You are lucky to have one, Momma T.  Of course it is difficult to grow a good and diverse garden, too.  I don't think that people who don't have gardens appreciate just how hard it is!  And you can have the garden all year long if you ‘can’ your produce.  Canning tomatoes, green beans, okra, etc. is pretty straightforward, but you can ‘can’ lots of other stuff as well!  And with practice and learning some techniques, the veggies taste almost as good as straight from the garden!  Freezing also works very well, and will maintain the texture of some kinds of veggies better (providing you have freezer space left after you buy that 1/3 cow. LOL). 
I have an idea for you, Momma T.  Since you grow a garden (and I assume that you don't use ALL that you grow), why don't you ask around as to who else plants a garden, what they are planning on producing, how much they expect their yield to be, and maybe you can start your own local Farmer's Market! 
You can even make a little money from the vendors if you are willing to do the organizing and procure a busy street-corner (lots of businesses will allow you to do it free in their parking lot), or park, or other site (make sure you check with your city/county government for any permits needed). And charge the vendors a fee.  Our farmer's market organizer makes a salary at it.  Of course, it is a lot of work to organize everything, but as I remember, Momma T., you are a good organizer and not at all afraid of hard work!
I believe that more and more Americans are going to be willing to make the effort to live sustainably, and turn away from the big corporation method of buying.  At first, it will take effort on the part of both our local producers and our consumers, but with hard work, awareness, and spreading the word, it will get easier. 
I think there are lots of opportunities for people as soon as they quit thinking that they have to be rich to be happy. That is one of the ways that the big corporations seduce us into unquestioning obedience and reliance on them.  Big corporations are the reason the economy is in the mess it is in.  Think about it.  Let's not let them get away with it.  I know this is a cooking blog, but we also have to be socially conscious.  We are all intertwined.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Hearty Beef Tail Soup

I love soup.  I love making soup.  And I love experimenting with tastes and textures, developing new recipes (or at least, new to me).  I am sure that my "experimentation" paths have already been covered by many cooks and chefs, but it pleases me to think that I have come up with something new. I bought some pasture-raised, hormone/antibiotic free beef from Wright Family Farms in Rome, GA, and one of the packages I bought was beef tail.  It was amazing in this recipe!
So, on to my "new" hearty beef tail soup recipe:

Ingredients:

Beef tail pieces (about 2lb. including the bones)
6 cups water
1 medium sweet onion (Vidalia is good and pays homage to Georgia), chopped
8 oz. baby carrots (or chopped carrots)
1 lb. baby gold potatoes, cut into quarters
2 cups Rioja Tempranillo wine (robust Spanish red wine)
16 oz. plum Tomatoes, blanched and peeled
1 can tomato paste
2 cloves chopped garlic
4 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. celery seed
1 tbsp. ground dried sage
Cracked black pepper
Sea salt
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Preparation:
Put the water in a stock pot and bring to a boil over high heat. 
Heat a large sauté pan over medium high heat.  Add 1 tbsp. olive oil and let pan get pretty hot, but not smoking.
Sprinkle the tail pieces with sea salt, cracked pepper and half of the cumin evenly to coat.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil, and rub cumin all over the meat.  Add to the sauté pan and sear on all sides.  When meat is seared, add carrots, potatoes and onion to the sauté pan for about 3-4 minutes and let them get almost carmelized.
Add the meat and vegetables to the boiling water and turn down the heat to a soft boil/simmer.  Let this mixture cook for at 1-2 hours. 
Add the garlic, the rest of the cumin, sage, celery seed, tomatoes and tomato paste, stir and return to soft boil.  Add the wine, and return to soft boil.  Let this mixture cook for at least 2 more hours, reducing the liquid by about half.  If the tomatoes don’t fall apart by themselves, use a masher to gently smush them.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the bones and larger meat pieces that haven’t fallen apart yet.  Put them on a cutting board and cut them into bite sized pieces.  The meat should fall apart and off the bone very easily, and should be very tender.
Add the meat back into the soup, and add the chopped broccoli.  Allow the soup to cook for about ½ hour more to cook the broccoli.  Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed at the very end of the cooking time.
Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a sprig of parsley if desired to make the dish pop, and serve with a crusty baguette and a glass of the Rioja.  Enjoy!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Not Quite a Recipe, But...

I just got back from a trip to our northern home in Alabama.  We had a White Christmas.  It was the first white Christmas in Mentone, AL in recorded history.  That made it all the more special for us.
Pictured at the right is our house.  We have 66 acres on top of Lookout Mountain.  We love it there!
Anyhow, I know this is a cooking blog, but in the first days of this New Year, I wanted to say a few words about how I eat, rather than what I eat in this post.  I hope it will stir up a discussion about a topic I am rather passionate about.
I grew up as an Air Force brat, and lived in Europe as well as several states in this country.  In Europe, people shop much differently than we do in this country.  Refrigerators were scarce, and people went to the market daily.  Small agriculture was the way of life, and you bought your groceries from the people that grew and raised them.  You bought meat from the guy that raised it....you bought vegetables in open markets from the people that grew them.  It was the standard way of life.  We were enlisted (not officers), so by American standards, our family was poor, but the people that we came in contact with daily were the salt of the earth.  They could not have been nicer, or more welcoming, or treated us more fairly.
So I grew up appreciating food.  Nothing was foreign to omy tastebuds, and I was very adventurous.  At six years old, I would walk through the woods, and at lunchtime, someone would invite me into their home to eat the midday meal with them.  They would kill a chicken from their yard, and prepare it right there, or they would have me accompany them into the woods to look for wild asparagus, or mushrooms, or snails (free escargot!! LOL) Then we would prepare what we caught or gathered together, eat lunch, and they would siesta, and I would be on my way.  I met many wonderful people.
I tell this story to give you an understanding of how I came to understand that there are a lot more edible things than most Americans are aware of, and there is very little in this world that will actually kill you.  However, I always was taught what to gather, and what to leave (for instance, mushrooms come to mind--there are some that WILL kill you, so I never collected mushrooms unless an adult was with me to confirm that they were good 'shrooms).
I also gained respect for using the entire animal.  Almost every part of an animal is edible, and most of the parts that Americans discard (heart, kidneys, liver, feet, sweetbreads, membranes, bones, etc.) are quite delicious when properly prepared!
Which brings me to my point.
Americans are starting (through either education or necessity) to question our current "mega-producers"; I think the recent ecoli and salmonella recalls have pricked the collective nerves of our people.
People are also becoming more willing to spend the time to shop at Farmer's Markets, and local butchers, and are taking a little more interest in how their food is produced.
I am thrilled!  I have always been aware of the difference in how we produce our food in America, and have often commplained about lack of taste, or an off-taste to our meats and vegetables, but never could pinpoint it.  Food, Inc. (the movie) should be required watching for every American.  It is available through Amazon.com.  There are also some other movies which are similar in nature to this one, educating us about how our government and the big corporations "feed America and the world".  It is a balanced documentary, in my opinion, although the big corporations have called it a scare tactic.  Watch it and decide for yourself.  You don't even have to buy the DVD.....you can rent it or check it out of most libraries.
I wish people would buy exclusively from Farmer's Markets (or your next door neighbor, or plant your own garden, or buy into a co-op, or a CSA).  And find a local farmer who practices sustainability, humane raising of meats, hormone and antibiotic-free raising of proteins.  And the local small fisherman who practices sustainable fishing.  There are SO many sources out there.  You never have to want for anything. 
I found my sources online, and through networking.  I buy vegetables, eggs, cheese and some proteins (free-range chicken and turkey, some goat meat) at Farmer's Markets.  And I have found two sources of pasture-raised/finished, antibiotic and hormone-free, humanely treated beef, pork, lamb, goat, buffalo, elk, rabbit, pheasant, quail, chicken, and turkey where I can visit the farm, and make sure with my own eyes that what they promise, they deliver. 
It takes a bit of work to find these growers, and to make sure that they are really practicing what they say they are, and you will pay more (per pound) than at the grocery store.  But the payoff is tremendous.  You are eating healthier food across the board.  That food tastes better.  And it takes less to fill you up.  I know this because I live this way.  I didn't always, but I do now, so I know both ways.  I like this one better.  So does the earth.
I hope people will post their own opinions about this!  Momma T--any thoughts?
Here are some links to the places I buy my food:

http://www.southerncomforteventing.com/wrightfamilyfarms.html
This is Wright Family Farm in Rome, GA, which is about 30 minutes from my home in Mentone--

http://www.laurelcreekmeat.com/
This is Laurel Creek Meats, in Maryville, TN.  I buy from them when I am visiting my friends in Tellico Plains. They have a very established farm which offers a wide variety of animals!

http://www.pickyourown.org/gafpfm.php
This is the biggest Atlanta Farmer's Market, right off I-75 just south of Atlanta (exit 237).  I also shop at a ton of small farmer's market in AL, GA, TN and FL.  I love farmer's markets....the open-air ones, not the glorified grocery stores that are high-priced.  Just do a google search for "farmer's market <insert city>".

Also, if anyone has their own favorite spots, feel free to leave a link in the comment page!!