Lemon Curd

Posted on November 1, 2011 by okieranchwife

You can use this fresh tasting curd as the curd in a lemon meringue pie, on top of a scone (see my recipes) or even on a sugar cookie. It is just that good.

  • 2/3 cup fresh Lemon Juice (4 to 5 Lemons)
  • Grated zest from 2 Lemons
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons Sugar
  • 4 large whole Eggs ( blended throughly in a blender)
  • 3 tablespoons Butter

Place juice, zest and sugar into the top of a double boiler over boiling water. If you don’t have a “real” double boiler, use a metal mixing bowl over a medium stockpot of boiling water.  Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then stir in the eggs. Be careful about the temp of the sugar mixture because it should not be hot enough to make scrambled eggs.  You may need to take the mixing bowl off the boiling water to cool a bit and then mix in the eggs.  After all of the eggs have been mixed in, add 1 tablespoon of butter. Stir over boiling water until melted and add the remaining butter one tablespoon at a time.  Continue cooking and stirring until the curd looks like thick cream. Use immediately or keep for at least 2 weeks.

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Fingerling Potatoes with Lemon Butter Sauce

Posted on October 30, 2011 by okieranchwife

I love those fingerling potatoes that I have been finding in the stores out here. Rose, purple, gold ones! And they are not only confined to place like Whole Foods but I find them in our little local grocery store.  This is a simple side dish that really adds a pop to a meal.

  • 2 pounds Fingerling Potatoes
  • Boiling Water
  • Sea Salt for the boiling water
  • Lemon Butter Sauce

Wash the potatoes. Boil them with the skins on. Cover the potatoes with the water. Boil about 20 minutes or until tender all the way through. Drain, serve with the lemon butter drizzled over them.

Lemon Butter Sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted Butter
  • 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed Lemon Juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried Dill Weed
  • Sea Salt and fresh ground Black Pepper to taste

In a small pan melt the butter and add the remaining ingredients. Serve hot over the potatoes.

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Okra and Shrimp Gumbo

Posted on October 30, 2011 by okieranchwife

With the cold weather coming…. Coming? Heck, it’s here! My friends in the Northeast are covered up in wet snow. I’ve heard of a White Christmas, but a White Halloween? Anyway, this is a hearty gumbo for a chilly day.

  • 1 thin slice Ham or 2 pieces Bacon
  • 4 cups Okra sliced. Use either fresh tender pods or frozen unbreaded
  • 2 cups Sweet onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves Garlic, peeled and pressed
  • 3 teaspoons fresh Parsley, chopped
  • 1 can (8 ozs) Tomato Sauce
  • 2 pounds Shrimp, shelled and cleaned ( I keep the shells and make the shrimp stock)
  • 1 cup Shrimp Stock (Recipe below)
  • 3 cups Water
  • 2 teaspoons Seafood Seasoning (Old Bay, Zatarain’s or my Fuzz’s Cajun Blend)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground Gumbo File
  • 1 teaspoon fresh Thyme
  • 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
  • couple dashes of Hot Sauce (optional)
  • Cooked Rice, use Brown, Basmati or Long Grain White

Shrimp Stock:

After I remove the shells from the shrimp, I put them in a medium saucepot. Add 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Season with salt. Reduce to simmer over low to medium low for an hour or until the water has reduced to 1 cup. Strain out the shells and set aside the stock.

Cut the ham or bacon into small pieces. If using ham, saute lightly in a skillet. If using bacon, cook until done and crispy.  Add okra and saute until brown, stirring frequently. Add onions, garlic, parsley and tomato sauce. Let this mix simmer for about 5 minutes. Add shrimp, shrimp stock, water, seas food seasoning, gumbo file, thyme, salt and pepper and hot sauce. Simmer over low or medium low for at least one hour. Serve over cooked rice.

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Three Sisters Stew

Posted on October 29, 2011 by okieranchwife

Since Oklahoma began as the Indian Nations Territory, I had to add a stew that used the Three Sisters of Native American’s diet. The Sisters are corn, squash and beans. This stew is best paired with cornbread, corn fritters or even flatbread.

  • 2 cans (15 ozs each) Beans of your choice, Pinto, red or white kidney beans or Garbanzo, drained and rinsed. 
  • 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
  • 1 small Red Onion, sliced
  • 2 cloves Garlic, peeled and pressed
  • 1 cup Celery, chopped
  • 2 cups Butternut Squash or Acorn Squash
  • 1 can (8 ozs) Mexican Style Corn
  • 1 medium Jalapeno, cored, seeded and minced (optional)
  • 1 can (6 ozs) Tomato Paste
  • 2 teaspoons Cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground Coriander
  • 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
  • 1 Tablespoon Oregano

Peel and deseed the butternut or acorn squash.  Cube and place in a large Dutch Oven with enough water to cover by at least 2 inches. Salt water to taste. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes. Drain cooking water and set aside. Place squash in bowl. In the same Dutch Oven, heat the EVOO over medium heat. Saute onions, garlic, celery and jalapeno until tender about 8 minutes. Add  squash, corn, tomato paste. Stir in enough cooking water to cover. Add seasonings, sea salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cook uncovered for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add more reserved cooking water if needed. Serve warm. Can garnish with sour cream if desired.

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Halloween Baked Apples

Posted on October 29, 2011 by okieranchwife

Here is a tasty recipe for the Halloween weekend. Heck, it’s good anytime of the year.

  • 4 Red Sweet Cooking Apples, Rome, McIntosh etc, unpeeled
  • 4 teaspoons Brown Sugar
  • 4 teaspoons Butter, softened
  • 4 teaspoons Nuts of your choice, chopped (I like Black Walnuts)
  • 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground Nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Core the apples and halve them. In a small mixing bowl mix the sugar, soft butter, nuts, cinnamon, nutmeg.  Take 4 pieces of tinfoil, big enough to fully cover an apple. Place one half  of an apple (white cut side up) on the foil. Fill the hollow core of the apples with butter mixture and place the other half of the apple on top. Wrap the filled apple with the foil. Continue with the other 3 apples. Place the wrapped in a small rimmed baking dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The apples should be tender. You can spoon any left over butter mixture on the apples right before serving. These are wonderful with ice cream.

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Celery Coleslaw

Posted on October 27, 2011 by okieranchwife

This is another rif on coleslaw. If you are looking for something else other than a cabbage slaw, try this.

  • 1 unpeeled Granny Smith Apple, cored and chopped
  • 3 cups Celery, thin sliced
  • 1/2 cup Carrots, grated
  • 1/2 cup Olive Oil Mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoon Sugar or Sugar substitute
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
  • Black Pepper or Red Pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Celery Seeds

Combine the celery, carrot and apple in bowl. In a small mixing bowl, mix the mayo sugar, salt, vinegar and celery seeds and fold into the celery mixture. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

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Creamy Mushrooms with Bacon

Posted on October 27, 2011 by okieranchwife

Yum! Everything is better with bacon. These creamy mushrooms are wonderful on their own and even better over mashed potatoes!

  • 2 pounds fresh Mushrooms
  • 1/4 stick Butter
  • 1 medium Sweet Onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon All Purpose Flour or Wondra
  • 1 cup Sour Cream
  • 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
  • Black Pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon fresh Parsley, minced
  • 3 pieces Bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled

Wipe mushrooms clean with a dry paper towel or a mushroom brush. Cut off the stems and mince. Cut the caps into quarters, if large. Halves if small. Over medium heat, melt butter in a saute pan. Add mushrooms and saute until brown. Add onion and cover. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and stir. Add sour cream, salt, pepper and heat through. Do not boil. Place into serving dish and garnish with parsley and bacon. Serve immediately.

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Sooner Black Bean Soup

Posted on October 24, 2011 by okieranchwife

The fresh high notes of the lime and cilantro are excellent in this soup. You can use either dried beans or a can (16 ozs) of black beans in this soup. I prefer using the dried, soaked beans.

  • 16 ozs dried Black Beans
  • 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
  • 2 medium Red Onions, chopped
  • 4 Jalapeno Peppers, seeded and minced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh Ginger, peeled and grated
  • 4 cloves Garlic, peeled and pressed
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme
  • 8 cups Water
  • 2 medium Sweet Potatoes, peeled nad cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Sea Salt
  • 1 bunch Green Onions, chopped
  • 1 bunch fresh Cilantro, chopped

In a large saucepan heat beans in enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes and take off heat. Let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse. In a large saucepot, heat the oil and saute onions until tender about 10 minutes. Add jalapeno, ginger, garlic and thyme. Cook about 3 minutes. Add beans and water to the pot. Heat to boiling and reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.   Add the sweet potatoes, brown sugar and salt. cook for an additional 30 minutes.  Take 1 cup of the bean soup and puree in a blender or use an immersion blender. Add back to the saucepot as a thickener. Just before serving serve in the green onions and cilantro.

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Oklahoma Corn Spoonbread

Posted on October 24, 2011 by okieranchwife

This corn casserole has a kicked up taste with some red cayenne pepper and some green chiles. This is a nice side for this harvest time of the year.

  • 2 large Eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 package (8 1/2 ozs) corn muffin mix
  • 1 can (8 ozs) can cream-style Corn
  • 1 can (8 ozs) whole Kernel White Corn, drained
  • 1 can (4.5 ozs) Green Chiles, drained
  • 1 container (8 ozs) Sour Cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon Red Cayenne Pepper powder
  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) Butter, melted
  • Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine all ingredients, stirring just enough to until the muffin mix is moistened. Pour batter in a lightly greased 11X7 baking dish.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes depending on your oven temperature. Serve warm.

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Beef and Wheat Berry Chili

Posted on October 23, 2011 by okieranchwife

I wish I could take credit for this recipe but it is a Good Housekeeping one. This is a good weekend recipe since the cook time is at least 2 hours. This is a tomato recipe cooked in cast iron. Some people have concerns about tomatoes in cast iron but I have never had a problem in cooking.

  • 4 teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
  • 2 pounds Boneless Chuck cut into 1 inch stew pieces
  • 2 medium Sweet Onions, chopped
  • 3 cloves Garlic, peeled and pressed
  • 3 tablespoons ground Ancho Chili, (Ancho powder is dried Poblano Peppers. Can substitute chili powder)
  • 2 teaspoons Cumin
  • Sea Salt
  • 1 can (14 ozs) Rotel style diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies
  • 1 can (15 ozs) Beef Stock
  • 2 1/2 Cups Water
  • 1 cup rinsed Wheat Berries
  • 1 bottle (12 ozs) Dark Beer (Guinness or Beamish is great)
  • 2 slices Bacon
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • Sour Cream, Green Onions and grated Cheddar Cheese for garnish

In a large cast-iron Dutch Oven heat 2 teaspoons EVOO over medium high heat. Working in batches brown the meat in the hot EVOO. Set aside browned meat in a large bowl. Heat the remaining EVOO in the same Dutch Oven. Add the onions and cook until golden brown about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Stir in chili powder, cumin and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook for one minute. Return the meat to the Dutch Oven. Add tomatoes and broth. Heat to boiling. Reduce to low heat and simmer. Cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours.

In a different saucepan combine water, beer, wheat berries, bacon, bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and heat to boiling. Reduce the heat and simmer covered 1 1/2 hours. Drain wheat berries and reserve 1 cup of cooking water. Discard bacon and bay leaf.

Add the wheat berries and 1 cup cooking water to the meat mixture in the Dutch Oven. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or until wheat berries are tender. Garnish with sour cream, green onions and cheese if desired.

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