Rhubarb Pie

3 cups of chopped rhubarb
1 cup of chopped strawberries
1 Tbs of lime juice
½ cup of flour
1 cup of sugar
½ tsp of chinese five spice
2 9 inch pie crusts

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Mix Rhubarb, strawberries, lime juice, flour, sugar, and spice together and let sit for 20 min.
Unroll pie crust in ungreased 9 inch pie pan.  Place fruit mixture in pie crust.  Unroll second pie crust on top of fruit.  Pinch crusts together, and place slits in top off cust.  lightly brush the top of crust with butter, and sprinkle crust with sugar.  Cover outside crust edge with foil to keep from burning.(Remove foil after 25 minutes). Bake for 45 to 50 min.

Mother of Vinegar Week 2

Well it's week two for my vinegar experiment.  I have my bottle hanging in a tree in my back yard.  There's no bugs floating yet.

Mother of Vinegar

For you who have never had the chance to try home made vinegar.  You are missing out.  Here is a quick and fun way to start your very own Mother of Vinegar.  We are looking to collect some acetic acid bacteria which is an air born natural forming bacteria.  Acetic acid bacteria turns alcohol into vinegar.  So we need to collect some of these bacteria.  Here comes the fun part.  We need an empty 2 liter soda bottle, one banana peel, 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of water and a table spoon of vinegar.  Stuff the banana peel in the bottle and add the two cups of sugar, water and the table spoon of vinegar.  Use a funnel you'll get less sugar on the fool and more in the bottle.  Now we have to go find a nice shady spot to hang our bottle.  You can hang it off a tree branch using a piece of string, or wire.  Make sure you keep the lid off of the bottle we want to get as much air in there as possible.  Don't worry about bugs and such we can pick them out later.  Here comes the part I'm no good at, waiting.  It will take two to three weeks for us to get a good supply of acetic acid bacteria.  It's still fun to check every day to see what kind of critters you trapped in the bottle.  After three weeks you will see a white cloudy mass in the bottom of your bottle.  It looks like someone blew their nose in it.  Now we want to prepare our incubator.  Get a can of beer and pour it in a glass mason jar.  Let it sit for an hour so all of the carbonation has gone.  OK  back to the bottle.  With a knife cut the top of your soda bottle off.  This is not time to be a little princess reach in there and grab a piece of that snot looking goo, and drop it into your jar with beer.  You just need a little bit this stuff produces like the Duggar's.  You want to put the lid on the mason jar very loose and find a dark cool place to put it for the next two weeks.  You can watch your Mother grow it will create a white ooze that floats on the top of the beer.  Now all you have to do is add the mother you grew to a gallon of beer for malt vinegar, wine, or hard cider.  Make sure what ever you add it to has no preservatives this will keep the mother from growing.  That's how you get a vinegar starter of Mother of Vinegar.  After you have a good mother you will never have to buy vinegar again.

Cheers, and Happy Hunting

Hot Dogz

3 pounds short ribs without bones

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon pink curing salt

1 cup ice water

• Grind beef, and mix in salt and water.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 days.

10 feet of natural casings Medium to Small.

1 tablespoon Coleman’s dry mustard

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 tablespoon garlic, minced

2 teaspoons liquid smoke

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

• Mix spices and corn syrup with meat.

• Spread meat on baking sheet and place in freezer for 30 min.

• Prepare your casings. rinse casings inside and out soak in clean luke warm water for 30 minutes changing the water half way through.

• Remove meat from freezer and grind a second time.

• Place meat in food processor and puree.  Do one half of mixture at a time.

• Stuff meat into casings.

• Cure in oven or on stove until internal temp reaches 150 degrees.

• Cool in ice water, and freeze or eat.

Hickory Dick's Smoker

I finally got the smoker in place and smoked a small batch of sausage this evening.

Central North Eastern Southern Fried Chicken

Ingredients
2 -3lbs Unfrozen Chicken parts
4 Cups Butter Milk
4 Tbsp Hot sauce (Franks, Red Hot, or Louisiana Hot work the best)
2 cups four
2 Tbsp corn meal
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp paprika
dash of salt and pepper
Peanut Frying oil ( I’d rather use lard but the Mrs. says no)

Directions
Rinse, and pat dry your chicken parts.  Put your chicken in an air tight container, add the butter milk and hot sauce to the chicken.  Mix well, and make sure your chicken is completely covered.  Place in refrigerator over night.   Preheat oil to 360 degrees.  Make sure to use a thermometer.  Remove your chicken from the buttermilk/hot sauce.  In a large bowl mix your flour, corn meal, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.  Completely coat your chicken parts in the flour mixture. and place gently in preheated fryer.  Fry in the oil until brown, and crisp.  Fry dark meat for 13 minutes, and white meat for 8 minutes.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Ingredients

Marinade

1 cup yogurt

1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons salt
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

Sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons garam masala.
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (8 ounce) can diced tomatoes
dash of salt to taste
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons garam masala,  cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 2 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate over night.
2. Preheat a pan for high heat. Cast iron perfered.
3. Lightly oil the pan. Cook until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.
4. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons garam masala, and a dash of salt. Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve over rice.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients
 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
 2 teaspoon honey
 1 1/2 cups warm water
 1 teaspoon salt
 2 tablespoons olive oil
 4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and honey in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Mix the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in the flour.
3. Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball.  Use for your favorite pizza recipe.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
5. Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Smoke house?

I may be taking this to far but I just can't help it.  I'm going to try to build a smoke house this weekend.  I'll document everything with pictures to post later.

Pap Wilson's Polish Sausage

7lbs of fresh pork shoulder ground fine
2Tbs of salt
1tsp of pepper
1Tbs of ground mustard seed
3 toes of garlic minced
natural sausage casings



Mix spices in a bowl with a ¼ cup of boiling water.  Let steep until cool.
Mix spice mixture into ground pork.  Stuff in casings.  To cure the sausage layer in baking pan and place in oven at it’s lowest temp until clear juices cook from sausage.  You can also place in pot of water at 160 degrees for 1 hour.  Make sure it don’t boil or your sausage will get tough.

Easy Ham Loaf

Ingredients
3lbs pork shoulder or roast
7lbs of country smoked ham
1 cup of brown sugar
½ cup of vinegar
1 Tbs of ground mustard
10 eggs
4 cups of bread crumbs

Directions
Grind your pork and ham fine.  Mix in brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, eggs, and bread crumbs.  Fill loaf pans with mixture and bake for 2 hours at 300 Degrees.

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies w/walnuts

Ingredients
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven.

Old fashioned Ketchup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped medium
1 clove garlic, minced
1 28-oz can tomato puree
1/2 cup fire roasted diced tomatoes
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
¼ cup of molasses
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add in the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned.  Add in the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomato puree, diced tomatoes, brown sugar, vinegar, molasses, tomato paste, salt, mustard, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, and cayenne pepper and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened to the consistency of ketchup, 45 to 60 minutes. Puree in blender and strain into returnable beer bottles.

Never Buy BBQ Sauce Again BBQ Sauce

Ingredients
2 cups ketchup
1 cups tomato sauce
1 cups of fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 1/4 cups red wine vinegar
1/2 cup molasses
4 teaspoons liquid smoke
¼ cups dark Karo syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix together the ketchup, tomato sauce, roasted tomatoes,  brown sugar, wine vinegar, molasses, Karo, liquid smoke and butter. Season with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, paprika, celery seed, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and pepper.
2. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for up to 20 minutes. For thicker sauce, simmer longer, and for thinner, less time is needed.

Turkey Pumpkin Chili

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large chopped onion
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 chopped yellow bell pepper
1 cup chopped bokchoy
1 clove garlic, minced
1 15oz bag of frozen corn
2 pound ground turkey
16 oz can of red beans
2 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 30oz can pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 dash salt
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream


Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Stir in the turkey, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, and mix in tomatoes, corn, bok choy, beans and pumpkin. Season with chili powder, pepper, and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve topped with Cheddar cheese and sour cream.

I tried my best to keep the pumpkin the star of the show. Be careful it's so easy to over season chili. With this recipe less is more.

Sweet Amish White Bread

Ingredients
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
2/3 cup white sugar
2 packets of active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour


Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes.

Use Kraft singles or generic to make the greatest grilled cheese you ever had. I love fresh sliced tomatoes, and crispy bacon on mine.

Ham Loaf

I need a ham loaf recipe.  I'll publish with pictures, and royalties..

I'll try to post a new recipe every day.

Please send me comments.  You can also send me recipes to try and post.

How to peel them pesky Hard Boiled Eggs.

Here's the trick.  Make sure you cool your eggs in an ice bath for at least 5 min.  Add a table spoon or two of baking soda to the water.  Now crack each egg on the top and bottom and return them back to the ice bath for an hour.  Make sure you keep adding ice.  You want to keep your eggs as cold as possible.  Peel away.