Laura's New Year's Day Smothered Steak

Laura's New Year's Day dinner was absolutely delicious. We will long remember our delicious meal of smothered steak, collard greens, Heidi's black eyed peas, and gluten free cornbread. They were all the best we had ever eaten.

http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/a-good-smothered-steak/

http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/smothered-steak/ (just ingredients)

A Good Smothered Steak

"Rich, beefy smothered steak is comfort food, with a long simmering time. It’s Friday food here at our farm, as long as there’s round steak in the freezer, although we make exceptions for guests and serve it on other days if the guests are special enough."

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: varies

Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 2-3 hours

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter or vegetable oil
round steak, cut in sections
1 cup flour
salt, pepper, garlic to taste

[Change Rita and Laura made to the recipe: we cooked a chopped up onion and added it to the gravy as we finished it to simmer]

ROUX and GRAVY:

2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
beef broth or water (2 to 3 cups)

Directions

Set a large skillet to medium heat and melt about a half stick of butter. (Use olive or canola oil if you’d rather, or whatever shortening you prefer for browning meat.) While the butter’s melting, cut the round steak into sections, removing as much as the fat and connective tissue as you can. I start by cutting out the bone (and tossing it to the most deserving dog). Then I separate the round steak along the natural dividing lines in the meat, cutting out the tougher connective tissue as I go.

Sometimes I leave the sections large enough for single servings, and sometimes I divide those into halves or thirds. It depends on what I’ll be serving with the smothered steak, how it’ll look on the plate, and what I’m in the mood to do.

Add salt and pepper to taste to about a cup of flour–garlic, too, if you like–then generously coat the meat with the mixture.

When the butter’s sizzling hot, place the floured meat in the skillet to brown. The floured portion has a tendency to stick, so use a metal spatula and scrape under the meat carefully when you turn it. I can usually tell when the first side’s about done because the meat juices will have soaked through most of the flour that’s stuck to the uncooked top. Note–you might need to lightly grease the skillet when you turn each piece if there’s not enough butter or oil left to sear and sizzle the uncooked side.

Remove each piece when both sides are browned but not thoroughly cooked. The meat should still be oozing pink juices at this point.

This next stage is optional. I like a bit more sauce with the smothered steak, so prepare a roux for a gravy base at this point. To do this, melt another chunk of butter, maybe 2 tablespoons. Add an equal amount of flour, stir together, and let cook until the mixture bubbles nicely. Slowly add beef broth (or water), and stir until a smooth thin gravy forms.

Slide the meat pieces into the skillet on top of the gravy. Add more broth or water until the meat is mostly covered. Even with my biggest skillet, I usually have two layers of meat in the skillet at this stage. I make sure the bottom layer is completely submerged in the gravy and the top layer is nicely surrounded but not covered. (If you’ve opted to skip the ‘extra gravy’ stage, just arrange all the meat in the skillet and add about two cups of broth or water.)

Turn the heat down to a very low simmer. Cook covered for at least an hour, although two hours or even more is better. The goal is a long, slow cooking time to tenderize all those tough muscle fibers and whatever connective tissue couldn’t easily be cut out.
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We like this served Southern style with buttered rice.

Salty Honey Pie

Salty Honey Pie

By Melissa and Emily Elsen

Makes one 9-inch custard pie.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Have prepared one pre-baked pie shell of your choice. We use an all butter crust. Recipe below.

For filling:

1/2 c butter melted

3/4 c white sugar

2 Tbsp white cornmeal

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c honey

3 eggs

1/2 c cream

2 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla paste

1 or 2 Tbsp flake sea salt for finishing (Maldon is a good choice)

—

All of the mixing can be done by hand, or with an electric mixer.

Melt butter and combine with the sugar, salt and cornmeal to make a thick paste. Add the honey, vanilla and vinegar and mix together. Fold in the eggs, add the cream and blend.

Pour the filling into a pre-baked pie shell and bake at 350 F for 45 to 60 minutes. The filling will puff up like a marshmallow and the center will be just slightly wobbly. Once cooled (at least one hour), finish with a sprinkling of flake sea salt. Slice and serve with freshly whipped cream.

This recipe makes one double crusted, 9-inch pie.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

8-10 tablespoons ice water with cider vinegar, or more as needed (combine 1 cup cold water, 1/8 cup cider vinegar and ice)

Whisk the dry ingredients together and blend with a hand-held pastry blender the chopped, cold butter, being careful not to overwork during this step. The butter should be in pea-sized chunks, not too big, but not completely incorporated.

Slowly add the ice water and vinegar mixture and bring the dough completely together by hand, again being careful not to overwork. Aim to create a marbleized effect, so that the butter is still visible.

Divide into 2 discs, wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour or more before use.

To pre-bake a crust for a custard pie: Roll one disc of crust out to fit a 9-inch pan, about 1/4 inch thick. Place in a buttered pie pan, and crimp the edges as desired. Allow to rest and cool in freezer or fridge for at least 20 minutes.

Line the rolled-out crust with tinfoil or unwaxed parchment paper, add pie weights or about a cup of dry beans if you don’t have pie weights. Distribute them evenly.

Bake in a 375 F oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before filling with custard.

Collard Greens, New Year's Day 2017

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/51803/kickin-collard-greens/

1 hours 10 minutes    6 servings         127 calories

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 slices bacon

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

3 cups chicken broth

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1 pound fresh collard greens, cut into 2 inch pieces

Directions

1.     Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add bacon, and cook until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, crumble and return to the pan. Add onion, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, and cook until just fragrant. Add collard greens, and fry until they start to wilt.

2.     Pour in chicken broth, and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, or until greens are tender.

Cream of Peanut Butter Soup

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
8 cups Chicken Broth, homemade, canned or low sodium (with more as needed)
1 medium Sweet Onion, chopped
2 medium Carrots, peeled and grated
Sea Salt or Kosher Salt and White Ground Pepper to taste
½ to ¾ teaspoon ground Red Cayenne
½ cup cooked Brown or White Rice
½ cup Creamy Peanut Butter
Fine chopped salted or dry roasted Peanuts to garnish

In a medium soup pot, heat EVOO over medium heat. Add onions and carrots and sauté about 5 minutes. Stir often so they don’t brown. Pour in chicken broth. Increase heat to high and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring often.  Using a blender, food processor or immersion blender puree the onions and carrots.  Return  puree to soup pot and add cooked rice, seasonings to taste and the cayenne powder. Simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in peanut butter. Ladle into bowls, garnish with chopped nuts. Serve with hearty country style bread.

https://survivalblog.com/recipe_of_the_week_92/

Apple Bread with Brown Sugar Icing

This bread freezes beautifully in a freezer ziploc bag. (It is recommended storing without the icing. Just defrost the bread and make the icing before serving.) 

• 1 cup sugar
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, beat above ingredients on low speed until thoroughly combined.

• 2 cups flour (I use half whole wheat and half bread flour)
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp salt

Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Gradually add dry ingredients into large mixing bowl, stirring until just combined.

• 1 1/4 cup chopped, peeled apples
• 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Hand stir apples and pecans into the batter. Pour into greased 9×5” loaf pan. Bake 1- 1 1/2 hours, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool while making icing.

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

In a saucepan, combine the butter and brown sugar and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring very often. Once it boils, reduce heat and let boil gently for one more minute. Add cinnamon and stir thoroughly. Remove bread from baking pan and drizzle the icing on top. Cool, slice, and serve.

https://survivalblog.com/apple_bread_with_brown_sugar_icing_-_anonymous/

Pizza Dough

Total “Flour” component should be about 3-cups, but make sure at least 2-cups are a quality bread-flour, or else you get more of a granola-bar than pizza-dough.

Ingredients:

• Approximately 1.5 cups warm water (100-110 F degree’s; use a thermometer as too hot/cold matters.)
• 2 tsp. Salt
• 1 package dry yeast (live yeast also suitable, vary instructions as needed).
• 2 tsp. Olive Oil
• 2 tsp. Sugar
• 1/4-1/2 stick butter, softened (usually whatever was left out on the counter from breakfast)
• Approximately 2-cups Bread Flour (It’s best to use due to extra gluten protein, but any other type is suitable in the right situation.)
• Approximately 1-cup “extra” flour (This may contain some/any mixture of the following in 1-cup total volume):
  • Whole Wheat Flour/Wheat Germ
  • Flax Seed/Flax Meal
  • Sesame Seeds
  • Almond Flour
  • Sunflower pieces
  • Cornmeal
  • Just about any other nutty, dry, nutritious product you like. Experiment by adding sparingly at first. You can use about a cup worth before the mixture looses its resemblance to pizza dough. Oily products, like seeds and nuts (especially the almond flour), will make crust crispier and more oily (as will adding extra butter!)

For my 1-cup of “extra” flour, I typically add about 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour and 1/2 cup of flaxseed and ground flax meal, with a pinch of some other seed for texture.

Other spices and flavorings worth considering throwing in: dried Oregano, dried/fresh Basil, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Parmesan cheese. Use a Pinch to a Tablespoon; your tastes will guide you. Incorporate it as part of your 1 cup ‘extra flour’.

Pre-heat oven to 425-degrees F., though 400-450 may be more to your liking, depending on dough, elevation, and oven. Experiment as needed. Heavier doughs will need more heat to cook through.

Instructions:

1. Fill Measuring cup with 1.5 cups warm water (around 100-110 degree’s F). Add 1 tsp. of sugar, a dash of bread-flour, a few drops of olive oil, and the dry yeast; mix well with a fork. Live-yeast users can skip this step, and simply add yeast and water to other ingredients at step 3. This will “awaken” the dry yeast. The sugar, flour, and oil supplies their food and gets them turned on to your dough-mix. Within 5-10 minutes, you should see activity (bubbles forming). Lack of activity is a problem; dough will not rise properly. If no bubbles, the yeast is likely inactive/dead. May take up to 20-minutes. Too cold/warm water or old yeast are usually the culprit. Old yeast can revive, but takes longer.
2. While yeast is “waking up”, combine remaining dry ingredients in a large bowl. (A stand mixer with dough hook works best.) Mix to homogenize; if hand-kneading, make an indentation in the center to hold liquid.
   I typically like to add about 1/2 Tsp. Dried garlic powder (b/c I like garlic!), and several good shakes of Parmesan cheese to the mixture as well. A good pinch of Oregano is also nice.
3. After about 10-minutes, your yeast should be bubbling along nicely. Add this and all remaining ingredients to the dry, and mix on low-speed for about 6-10 minutes. Hand-kneading will take longer. See instructions for hand-kneading dough elsewhere if unclear. The dough should be slightly sticky on the edges of the bowl, but still pull away cleanly. Add more warm (not hot) water/flour ingredients as needed to get right consistency. (I know, it’s a challenge your first few times). A “wet” yet silky bread-dough consistency is what you’re looking for. Trial and error work best, but it should stick to your hands a little. The extra moisture will work off during the rise process, but don’t make it too wet.
4. After mixing, cover dough with plastic wrap or a moist towel, and place in a warm area to rise. Rubbing some olive oil on exposed surface helps in dry environments; just use your hands and cover liberally, excess will incorporate into the dough. Sunlit window sills work well. Check dough every so often and punch-down when it reaches the edges of the bowl (or about doubles in size). You want the dough to rise at least twice (rise, punch down = once; repeat for second rise.) More is OK, depends how active your yeast is. (Rapid-rise usually not required.) You will need at least four hours to rise. Depending on conditions/temperature, more time may be needed. I typically make dough after breakfast for use at dinnertime. You can make dough at night and store in refrigerator overnight. Remove to the counter-top in the morning and follow same steps. This usually generates an additional rise overnight, and is what most pizza-shops do. (The last kitchen chore before the night’s clean-up is making tomorrow’s batch of dough.)
5. When ready to roll, I typically break up into two balls of equal size. This yields us three pizza’s (one regular crust, two thin crust– I break one of the dough balls into 2 pieces for 2 thin-crust pizzas). Grease or flour your pan (square cookie sheets work well too!), and roll dough on floured kitchen table to uniform thickness about the size of your pan. It should be springy and snap-back, so it may take 5+ minutes to roll. Sometimes it helps to roll for a few minutes, then let dough rest for a few, before rolling some more. Cold dough rolls poorly, as does dough that is too wet (add flour as needed). You will develop a feel after 10 batches of the stuff, so don’t lose hope if the first one doesn’t turn out. Roll dough to about the same size as your pan, making sure it is loose on the rolling surface. (It may tear if it sticks.) Transfer dough from rolling surface to baking pan, use your fingers to pinch an edge that holds it shape; roll some more if it keeps springing back, or stretch by hand. If you want to try for stuffed-crust, roll about 2-inches past edge of pan. Tuck in a pinch of mozzarella cheese and roll it over back to the size of the pan! I like to lightly sprinkle garlic salt, or cracked white pepper around the crust when I’m done putting it on the pan. If you’re real good and the dough has good elasticity, you can see through your thin-crust dough, and it will bake up like a cracker. This takes about 1/4 of a dough-ball. That took me years to learn, however, they don’t last more than 10-minutes out of the oven!
6. For thick/regular crust, I bake dough @ 425 for 8-10 minutes before topping. I like a crunchy-dry crust, not wet and limpy. YMMV.

Top your pizza as desired. 99-cent jars of spaghetti sauce doctored with extra Oregano, Basil, and a dash of sugar are what we use. White/Garlic pizzas are also popular with the non-tomato kids in the house. 1/2 stick butter and a good spoonful of diced garlic (2-3 cloves?) on low in the nuker until melted, spread as you would red-sauce. Cheese as desired, but don’t forget the Parmesan! Back in the oven for another 8-10-minutes, or until cheese/toppings start to brown. Thin-crust pies do not get pre-baked, throw the toppings on and right in the oven.

I have found a few gluten-free dough recipe’s that are decent. Cook your gluten-free pizza’s first, while rolling out the gluten ones, and you shouldn’t cross-contaminate in the oven. We have two diet-restricted people in our house, and get a tub of the Pillsbury Gluten-Free pizza dough from the store on pizza night. It’s a family favorite, healthy, and economical. Kids love helping decorate their pie, and it encourages them to try different toppings.

Tips, tricks, advice:

• Play with the temperature. If the cheese is burned and crust still raw, pre-cook the crust longer, or try rolling it thinner (more flour, less “stuff”, helps too), increasing temp sometimes helps as well. You also may want to alter the water/fat content. However I find using two kinds of fat (oil and butter) produces a better crust than only one of the two (oil alone is better; butter gives it that crunchy crackling texture and lots of flavor).
• Slice toppings thinly. Veggie’s get crispy and crunchy and taste so good. Too much grease can be a problem, too, so use meats sparingly, especially if making homemade sauce. Too many toppings are a moisture problem, too. Remember, it’s a pizza, not a deep-dish pie.
• Adding extra yeast, or using the fresh variety, will help w/ a lighter and more airy crust. Adding up to 1/3rd of the volume in heavier flour-like products really makes things dense. If you find you don’t like it, cut back to 1/2 cup of “extra”, and add 1/2 cup additional bread-flour, for 3-cups total flour.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment with favorite herbs and spices, or get creative w/ the sauce ideas; for the dough it’s pretty generic: Olive oil, garlic, and Rosemary with shredded grilled chicken is to die for. Boss-Sauce/Frank’s Red Hot with shredded chicken tastes like Buffalo-Style Wing’s. Taco-pizza is every kid’s favorite (taco-sauce instead of pizza-sauce, add taco-meat instead of pepperoni). Pineapple and many other fruits go surprisingly well with anything (Chopped Ham!), just watch the juices. Dough can also be used for Calzones, and many other ideas as well.

https://survivalblog.com/recipe-of-the-week-pizza-dough-by-k-m/

Crockpot Pumpkin Nut Bread

This recipe is to be made in a 1 pound can in a crock pot.

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups flour
• 1¼ tsp soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 2 tbs soft butter
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Sift flour, soda, salt, and spices.
2. Combine pumpkin, sugar, buttermilk, and egg in a mixing bowl.
3. Add dry ingredients and butter; beat until well blended.
4. Stir in nuts.
5. Spread in a well-greased and floured 4 to 5 cup mold or a 1-lb coffee can; cover with foil.
6. Place your rack in your slow-cooking pot.
7. Pour 2 cups of hot water in the pot.
8. Place covered bread container on the rack.
9. Cover pot and cook on high 3 to 4 hours.
10. Turn out on a cooling rack.

You can serve this warm or cool.

Cranberry-Orange Bread

This bread recipe is great to double and then freeze what you don’t eat right away. The recipe makes two medium loaves of bread, or one tube cake pan.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup butter (or butter flavored shortening)
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 orange, rind grated and then juiced with seeds removed (juice is for optional icing)
• 2 cups frozen cranberries, coursely chopped
• 1 cup pecans or almonds, chopped (optional)
• 1 cup powdered sugar (for optional icing)

Instructions:

1. Grease and flour two medium bread pans or a tube cake pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar; set aside.
3. Cream butter (or shortening) and sugar until fluffy.
4. Stir in eggs, one at a time; beat until fluffy and airy.
5. Gently, add buttermilk, vanilla, and orange rind.
6. Gently stir in flour mixture, just until combined.
7. Fold in cranberries; also fold in nuts, if you want nuts.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan(s).
9. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 60-80 minutes, or until done in the middle.
10. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before removing from the pan.
11. Let the bread cool.
12. (Optional) Combine the orange juice and powdered sugar to make an icing. Drizzle over the top of the bread. Serve.

Eggs Ole, from Karol Branine Pykiet

A recipe from a h.s. classmate, Karol Branine Pykiet, who recently died suddenly.
http://www.prairierosefuneralhomes.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=4026371&fh_id=10276

Serves 6

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6 eggs beaten

1 8 ounce carton of sour cream with chives

1/2 pound cubed ham

2 tablespoons chopped green chiles

1/2 pound processed cheese (Velveeta)

1 stick melted butter

Beat eggs and add all the other ingredients. Mix and pour into an 8 by 8 glass baking dish. Bake for 50 minutes.

This recipe can easily be doubled.

The Iowa Housewife: Southwest Cheese Soup

The Iowa Housewife: Southwest Cheese Soup: This nice hot soup is quick and easy – simple enough to prepare while the cornbread is baking.  I used home canned corn and black beans...

This looks really yummy! She recommends using half of the cheese recommended in the recipe.

Southwest Cheese Soup

  1    Pound  Velveeta -- cubed (I used 1/2 pound)

  1    Pint  Corn -- whole kernel, drained (or 15 oz. can)

  1    Pint  Black Beans -- rinsed and drained (or 15 oz. can)

  10  ounces  Rotel Tomatoes -- undrained

  1    Cup  Milk

In a 4 quart Dutch oven, mix all ingredients.

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted and soup is hot.  Garnish with cilantro if desired.

Serve with hot cornbread.
4 Servings

  "Betty Crocker Soups and Breads p24"