Natchitoches Meat Pies

Helloooo, everybody! I have a fun recipe that probably a lot of you have tried before, but is NOWHERE to be found up here in the Pacific Northwest.

                                                 (Edward was quite the helper chef. He makes a mean chicken turnover!)

 So, a friend of mine had a baby (he's ADORABLE but although I got to cuddle him for a while, I completely forgot to sneak a picture of his tiny, adorable self) and we wanted to bring her dinner.  My girls said they wanted to make chicken turnovers but I wondered if the cream cheese wouldn't be such a hit with the littler kids. I thought we should also make Natchitoches meat pies, which play a role in my book, The Pepper in the Gumbo which is set in (you guessed it!) Natchitoches, Louisiana.
                                         

(We went on a trip recently and my son was completely fascinated with... the pay phone. 

He could get enough of this rare artifact. It was SO BIG.)

Now, I know this recipe has about a gazillion steps but it’s worth the time and effort! It’s a long list of ingredients, but they’re ones you probably already have and you need every one, so don’t skip any. (Except maybe the jalapeño. People argue about that one. I included it here because more people say it should be in there, than it should be out. I personally don’t care for jalapeños, so I leave them out. If you need it a little hotter, adjust the Louisiana hot sauce to maybe 2 tsp instead of just the one.) 

            
Ingredients:

          1 tablespoon  vegetable oil

         1 pound ground beef

           1 tablespoon salt

          1 teaspoon paprika

          1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

         1/2 teaspoon chili powder

         1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

           1/2 teaspoon black pepper

           4 small tomatoes, diced

          1 bell pepper, finely chopped

         1 medium jalapeño pepper, finely chopped     (I didn't add it to the batch because I knew they had little kids who might not appreciate the kick!)

          1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

           5 bay leaves

           1 teaspoon thyme

           1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

          1 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce or similar

          2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

           2 tablespoons water

          ½ cup sliced green onions (I left those out this time because... I didn't have any!)

          Pie dough, chilled 

                                
                                                         

    Combine the meat, salt, paprika, cayenne, chili powder, cumin, and black pepper in a large skillet (even better if it’s cast iron!). Cook the meat over medium-high heat until it is lightly browned and all the ingredients are combined.

  Throw in the chopped tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, jalapeños (or not). Stir well. Add in the bay leaves, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook for an additional 10 minutes or so, until the liquid starts to evaporate. 

                      

 Take out the bay leaves and throw them away. Sprinkle the flour over the meat and add the water. Stir it all together. Adding the flour keeps the mix from getting too runny while it cooks in the pie dough. Add in the green onions and hot sauce, mix well.

                                                            
(Random photo of a book I found in our local library. Isn't that hilarious? Nobody knows what crawfish are here. It would be like asking if they liked pickled quail eggs. But somehow this book ended up in our library, and the little crawfish sings little Cajun French songs and I was IN LOVE.)

     

Roll out the dough to about 1/8 of an inch thick. Then, using a 4-inch biscuit cutter, cut the dough into circles.  Place  about 2 1/2 tablespoons of filling into the center. Fold the circle over the filling to make a half circle. Press the edges closed with a fork and place onto a baking sheet.

 Natchitoches meat pies are traditionally fried but I have this thing about hot oil, so we baked ours an they were DELICIOUS. 

Ignore the radish. I thought it was going to be so good but it was HOT. I felt like I'd taken a bite of horseradish, instead of radish. YOW.

 One more random photo. Our library has been undergoing huge, awesome changes, including a renovated children's section. Instead of a straight chair in the corner, it now has a teepee, a train table, a puppet theater area, lego tables, and LOTS of books. I'm just THRILLED that it's so welcoming to kids now. And here are my youngest two, looking like a pair of puppets on display. I don't know how they got up there, but it made me laugh.
Happy weekend to everyone and I hope you get time for some good books, good food, and family!

Lime Beef and Shiitake Mushrooms

Hello, everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! By now you're probably all tired of mashed potatoes, turkey and stuffing so this dish might be a welcome change. It's fairly simple, but like the last post, has a few ingredients that aren't in the cabinet.

 So, I was watching Japanese cooking tutorials on youtube again. Seriously, there's everything on youtube. I'm a hands-on type of learner so I really like looking of 3D tours, TED talks, sketching techniques, etc. Watching someone cook is probably the best way to learn, no matter how great the recipe and instructions, so don't be afraid. Youtube is your friend!

 Now, I wanted another seasonal dish that was simple, quick and didn't take a genius. I watched about ten videos before I realized that ginger,cilantro, lemongrass and chili pepper was a common combination. How odd! I can see cilantro and peppers, or ginger and lemongrass, but all four? So, I went looking in my grocery store and surprise... it's so common, I found it in this super handy little squeeze tube. It lasts forever in the fridge, is already chopped and ready. Nifty!

 So, shiitake mushrooms are also called "winter mushrooms" and are consumed in large quantities in Russia. (File this under things you never needed to know, but are glad you do.) Because they can be grown and eaten fresh even under limited amounts of light, they make good winter staples in countries where the growing season is short.

 The mushrooms are a good source of Vitamin D2 and are a great source of Vitamin B5 (400% of your daily needs). For people who suffer from the winter "blahs", mushrooms can help fight off the brain fog that happens when they don't get enough sunshine.

 You can use any kind of cream (heavy cream, light, half and half, etc.) but this was on sale, so hey. Crema Casera, it is!

 Ok, in a skillet or cast iron pot, put in 2 TBS of the ginger, cilantro, chili pepper and lemon grass mix. (How easy is that??) A tbs of olive oil and a few ounces of chopped red onion. (I usually use sweet onions but this recipe called for red, so that's what I got. I'm glad I did. The flavors are pretty intense and I don't think you'd be able to taste the sweet onion under all the mushroom, herbs, beef.)
                                                    
There's that dried garlic again! I'm really starting to like this stuff. I usually use fresh minced, but I think I'll start keeping this on hand, too.

 After sauteeing the onion for a little while over medium-high heat, put in the shiitakes, stem side down.

 After about four minutes, roll them over and let the tops soften. The video I watched added a few tablespoon of water and it seemed like this helped keep everything from burning. This wasn't a long step. Just about 6-8 minutes, tops.

 As the shiitake are cooking, put another 2 TBS of the herbs in a hot pan, plus half a squeezed lime. Mix thoroughly.

 Add a few ounces of cubed beef. I used some beef I withheld from the stew I'd made the day before. The dish is mostly mushroom, not beef, so keep the proportions in mind. I thin American usually cook heavy on the meat, and add a few other ingredients. This was definitely a mushroom dish, with some beef. Cook over high heat until browned. Add half a cup of the cream to the beef as soon as it's cooked through. Stir well, but don't let it boil because the lime can curdle the cream.

 The video I watched had noodle as a base, but we'd just used all our stir fry noodles so I cooked some white rice. Ladle a bit of the beef mixture on top. Select a few of the shiitake mushrooms and some of the red onion. I nibbled an edge to make sure they didn't need any more salt, and the combination of the herbs really gave it a great flavor. You can salt them if you want, but I didn't think it needed anything else.

And finally a bit of the dried garlic as a topper. I also had sesame seeds, so I tried that, too, but maybe I'm just a garlic fan, I preferred the bit of crunchy garlic to the sesame seeds.
 I'd give this dish about 8/10. It was easy, but I used two pans and hey, sometimes that's one pan too many, haha. Definite points for a great combination of flavors, those vitamins we need in winter, and NOT being pizza.
Take care everybody and I'll see you next week!

Meat N' Potatoes

Hello, everybody! I thought I'd try out some little Pinterest recipes. 

 I've heard these called hasselback potatoes but my friend says they're not hasselback if you don't add the bread crumbs. Which I didn't. So, get a large russet, slice very thin but not all the way through.

 Drizzle olive oil, making sure to get in between each slice.

 Add salt, pepper, any kind of seasoning. One of my kids wanted theirs with Seasoned Salt and that was really tasty. I opted for salt and pepper.

 Place them on a sheet with foil, into the oven at 425F for 40 minutes.

 They turned out perfectly! Crispy, salty, savory. And all in one piece. For once, not a Pinterest fail!

 

 I'm sticking this here because it's a bit too simple for its own post. My friend told me she makes delicious oven fries and the simple trick is to rinse in ice cold water to get off the starch that the potatoes leak when you cut them, pat dry and then put on the oil and salt. WOW. Big difference!

Yummy.... I cooked mine with a big piece of Kielbasa sausage and then sliced the sausage into individual servings. With some honey mustard and a big red pepper, my husband thought it was pretty tasty. Not a real vegetable in sight!

                                                    Until next time!

Bisquick Sausage Balls

Hi everybody!!   I needed to make some finger food for a party recently. Someone else had already snagged the veggies and dip, so what was a girl to do???

  

 I thought about an antipasto plate, but the last time I tried that, it was really expensive and no one ate any of it. I got to munch through two pounds of mozzarella balls marinated in olive oil and herbs. Yay, me!

 

So, I decided to make some yummy sausage balls I remember my college roommate making wayyyyy back in the good days. I mean, those days when I could eat twenty of these and not get heartburn or gain five pounds. The good days are gone. Don't ask me how I know this to be true.

 

Now, my roommate was from.... Can you guess?? :D  I'd been to the South before I met Gail, but I hadn't actually known any Southern people. We all know you can't have the South without Southerners. Those accents! The history! That food!

Awesomely delicious sausage cheese balls. (I don't think that's the real name, but we'll go with it.)

2 lbs good breakfast sausage.
4 cups Bisquick mix
2 pounds good sharp cheddar

MIX.

We have a local organic cruelty free meat provider. (I wondered about that cruelty party, because... the pig is dead. And we're gonna eat it. But apparently it has to do with the before-the-killing part.)

 

I had to go buy some of this. Who knew you could make so much with Bisquick??

                 Grated sharp cheese. YUMMY. I could just eat this whole plate.

Mold into two-inch balls and cook at 350F for about 10-15 minutes. Ours cooked really quickly, so check them after ten by cutting one open to make sure the pork sausage is no longer pink.

They look a little weird and lumpy but they are amazingly SOFT and full of flavor! I think you can dip them in some of those fancy mustards, but I prefer the standard plain ol' hotdog mustard.
    So, quick and easy and cruelty-free (no Bisquick was harmed in the making of this finger food).

In other news, I got an old dresser and was determined to bring it back to life.

Here it is, alligatored with age. Solid oak, super cheap yard sale item. Can it be saved???

I got one drawer stripped and added gloss. I like the way this is going....

But then, tragedy! Something had stained the bigger drawers, only two of them and only halfway. So when they were stripped, they looked... awful. Not clean. Not the tiger oak I was expecting. *SOB*

Miss Hilton Steele gave me good advice (as always) and told me to troll Pinterest. And two tone furniture kept popping up. Would it work??

So, taking a leap of faith (Wheeeeee!) I started. Cream colored, easy to distress, chalk added paint.

I really loved that tiger oak on the side and was so glad to be able to preserve a little of it!

And then I searched for a two days on all the knob sites. Who knew there were so many beautiful creations?? Glass, pottery, brass, wood, antiqued iron birdies... My head was whirling...
Then I remember I had a whole bucket of knobs I picked up at a garage sale. There might be something.... And there was! Big brass knobs, perfect for little hands!

 

I have another writing project happening so I'll see you writer types at the 1k1hr group! (Like that tumbler picture? Yeah, that's me on the left, with the fireworks...)

Until next time, my friends!

 

 



Tikka Masala

Helloooo, everybody!  Our Farmer's Market makes me SOOOOO excited! Fresh, local food!

Maria and Jose Martinez always have a great crop of sweet onions, garlic, and beets.

                                Fehrenbacher Farms has lamb meat and wool.

 Our Daily Bread bakery and Zerba Farms have the bread and honey covered...

I'm so ready for some fresh, local food. It seems like this winter  has been extra, extra long. We try to eat locally as much as possible after I read a book called "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" (the web site is here).

 

This book changed the way I saw my family's eating habits, the way we planted our garden, what we bought at the grocery store, and made me aware of how my own eating choices changed the world around me.
  So, YES, Farmer's Market, here we come!! But first... one last random dish. Locally grown chicken. Some spices. Some canned tomatoes. You know... DINNER.

Tikka Masala (I can't say it without thinking of the Lion King song and if you want to have it stuck in your head, go ahead and click the video link. :)

Ingredients. Lots of jars and processed foods and *gasp* white rice. But that's okay, because the FARMER'S MARKET is tomorrow!! (In case anybody forgot and needed reminding.)

So, mix in a heated skillet
2 TBS olive oil
2 tsp garlic, chopped
1/2 an onion
MMMMMMMMMMMM! Smelling good!
Add

Chopped chicken breast into the skillet. Brown.

Mix in 1 tsp  Garam Masala seasoning
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
2TBS lemon juice
Now it's REALLY smelling YUMMY!

One large can of tomato sauce, simmer and stir constantly for about five minutes so all the spices are mixed well.

Turn up the heat and add 2 cups rice and 2 cups water. Get it to a rolling boil, then turn it down to a simmer. You can either let the rice cook without the lid, or put on the lid. I prefer the lid-less method because I tend to forget about the food and it burns. Yuck.

Serve with fresh lettuce and tomatoes. That black stuff sprinkled on top? Red pepper. This is hubby's plate and it just won't have any flavor without some red pepper.

All right everybody! I can't wait to see what we find tomorrow. Something fresh, delicious, LOCAL. MMMMMM!
 Stay tuned!

Until then, you can gaze at this lovely picture of one of my little guys. He was drinking hot chocolate and gave himself a uni-brow. I think it's quite charming. I might give myself the coffee version. I can be a literary Frida Kahlo.

 

You know she did a lot of her painting laying in bed? I think I'll start writing in bed. But I'm afraid my eyes will be closed most of the time, which might defeat the purpose.

Until next time!

Ham Quiche with Hashbrown Crust

Hellloooooo, everybody!!!

Irma S. Rombauer wrote in the Joy of Cooking that "one definition of eternity is a ham and two people."
We have more than two people in this house, but there is something about left-over ham that makes me wonder what we can possibly do, besides eat cold ham sandwiches for the entire week.
I remembered a  friend of mine made a delicious quiche with a grated potato crust and I wondered if that might be one possible reincarnation of Easter ham. So, we set to work...

My kids had a great time grating potatos, with the skins. Here's approximately seven potatoes, or 6 cups. I think the original recipe was 3 cups of hasbrowns per pie plate. You can use prepared hashbrowns. Add 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper and 4 TBS of melted butter. I was wary of adding salt because I knew the ham would be salty.

(Oh, excuse me. We have a call. A very important call on the banana phone. See his brother giving him the 'whaddya doing' look. Big brothers have no appreciation for the importance of produce communication. One must answer, speak politely, and pass it to the mother... who then must answer, listen intently, and take instructions for a play date at the park. That is the way of the banana phone.)

After pressing the grated potatoes into your pie pan (it covered several pie pans and one small casserole dish), put in an oven that has warmed to 450F, for about 20 minutes. I was afraid it would burn so I took it out as soon as the crust was cooked, but the edges were only slightly crispy at 15 minutes. Next time I might leave it longer. I nibbled just a bit at it and YUMMY. Anyway, we're tryin to use up the ham...

Lay cooked ham in the bottom of the potato crust.

About 3 cups of cheddar cheese. The original recipe was 1 1/2 cups of cheese, but I was making a big batch. Add 8 eggs and 1 cup milk (or 4 eggs and 1/2 cup milk). Mix well. Add 1/2 tsp salt a dash of tabasco sauce, and sprinkle of pepper.

Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes until puffy. I was afraid this would spill over, so I set it on a cookie sheet. But everything was fine. I think, all in all, I prefer this potato crust over the usual quiche crust, but I might make a more traditional Quiche Lorraine (with Swiss cheese). It seemed very cheesey with the cheddar. The kids devoured it, and husband ate it (that's all we can ask for, he's not a fan of cheese), but I'm imagining broccoli-Swiss-mushroom version in my future.

 

 

And now I must be off. Someone is calling on my banana phone. I wonder who it is? And after we're done, I'll be singing this song by Raffi. Click it. You won't be sorry. Unless it gets stuck in your head...

 Until next time! And Edna waves hello! She's made a wonderful friend and they will be taking over the blog next week to show off their skillz in the kitchen. It's a combined effort... No, I'm not telling, so stop asking.