  As is usual for out in the country, the internet has been down for a few days and my I-phone has served for emergency web surfing. Yes, there is such a thing as emergency web surfing. One must bare one’s soul on Facebook and email or life comes to a screeching halt! And yes, I do know the definition of addiction. But the I-Phone is no substitute for a laptop when it comes to blog work. And speaking of baring souls, I guess I’ll have to come clean and admit that I can really make a mess of things. Yep. I have done some really dumb things in my life, but I’ll have to say that last week proved that I can top even the dumbest things I’ve done. On Friday, my daughter and her husband asked us to babysit for our little 4 1/2 month old granddaughter so that they could go to a banquet. At 3 in the afternoon, I gathered supplies at their house, placed diaper bag and gear into my car and snapped the carseat, little granddaughter snugly harnessed, into the base which is in the back seat. I tossed my keys into the front driver’s seat to have both hands free and arranged everything to my satisfaction. Aiming to run around to the driver’s side, I slammed the back door shut, only to hear a sickening “click” as my car locked all of the doors with a, “See? Who’s in control NOW, sucker!!” I freaked. It was cool outside, but the sun was shining directly onto the back of my hatchback and so I knew that it was going to get warm really fast in the car. I ran up the steps of my daughter’s front porch and started pounding on the door to catch her before she got into the shower. Now, there is one thing that I have come to realize about grandmotherhood. Your grandchild isn’t your child and so there’s this feeling of extra, extra, extra responsibility that goes with the title of ‘grandparent’. I didn’t even think about the fact that my daughter might tell me that I’m an imbecile or that I shouldn’t even HAVE keys to a car in the first place. My only thought was focused on my poor little grandbaby locked in my child-eating car. It was at the moment my daughter opened the door and was quizically assessing my panicked face that I had the humbling feeling that I would definitely be dropping in my daughter’s admiration of my intelligence. I explained what had happened. Without a word, she was quickly on the phone with a locksmith. Well, did you know that locksmiths don’t unlock cars with babies in them? Something about liability. If they don’t get there on time, then they are liable. The locksmith told my daughter to call 911. Next, I heard her tell the situation to the 911 operator and as she hung up the phone, I could hear the wail of sirens in the distance. Pretty fast! A minute later, the biggest, shiniest, reddest fire truck roared into place in front of my daughter’s house (which is in a neighborhood of many, many nosy neighbors) and I would say that the entire fire department unloaded from the vehicle. I am thinking that they all wanted to see what the dumb, old broad looked like who would lock a precious baby in a car. Using a wedge and this thing that looked like a blood pressure checker, they pried the door of my nearly new car about 1/2″ apart and pushed a rod down to the locking mechanism to push on the unlock symbol. Click. Simple as that. My dear granddaughter, hair starting to mat against her head from sweat, was staring at her stuffed cow, blowing bubbles through her tiny lips and carrying on a conversation that only she could understand. When one of the firemen opened the back door, she grinned at him, face all lit up, as if to say, “You having fun too?!” He commented on what a happy baby she is and that she is awfully cute. We think so. I tried to pay him (he didn’t want a hug) but he said that this was just part of the job. Our heroes rode off in their bright red chariot as we waved them on. I am sure that the neighbors still wonder what that was all about. I have learned a new truth. The only people who can retrieve babies from locked cars are firemen. And firemen do it all the time because there are more idiots around than just me! Other people have automatic door locks too and their cars like to show them who’s boss too! I feel so much better. But I will never let my keys off of my person ever again!! Of course, cooking always strokes my wounded self-esteem and so I decided to do a little inventing to really make myself feel intelligent again. Mr. Fix-It had read about a rosemary-ginger seasoned salmon filet, grilled to perfection at some restaurant and as I could see his mouth watering as he tried to tell me about it, I decided that I might as well take a stab at my own version. I had a number of wild Alaskan salmon filets and so I thawed them and set to work throwing together a savory seasoning to rub onto the surfaces of the fish steaks. About a half an hour later, I had sampled a tiny taste of my mixture and decided it was perfect. It worked great as a rub and the charcoaled filets were perfection if I do say so myself! And Mr. Fix-It said they were too. He was a happy camper. This rub would work great on chicken as well. So if you would like to try something with a fresh and different flavor, here is the rub that I threw together. 3 Tbsp garlic powder 3 Tbsp any bottled garlic and herb mix (I used Frontier’s Garlic and Herb) 3 Tbsp paprika 3 Tbsp dried onion flakes 3 Tbsp dried rosemary 2 Tbsp ground ginger 3 Tbsp sugar 2 Tbsp salt Process first 6 ingredients in the blender until a powder. Add salt and sugar and mix thoroughly. Place in airtight container. Use as rub on fish or chicken, coating both sides, and charcoal.  Ginger and Rosemary make this rub taste so unique  Grinding all of the ingredients, except for the salt and sugar which are added after grinding, makes a uniform rub that can be easily sprinkled and rubbed into the meat.  |
|
|
Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ Company on Facebook
|
|
 |
|
|
Archive for the ‘Meats and Main Dishes’ Category
Original Fish or Chicken Rub
Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
German Cooking
Monday, February 6th, 2012
 Remember!! Comment at the end (below the blog box where it says in little blue letters, “comments” click on that and it takes you to comments and a comment box) in order to enter our giveaway. Drawing is Feb 13th. This time TWO people win one of the two identical packages – Pie tin set and First Out Pie Spatula. So comment early and comment often because every single time you comment, your name goes into the pot!!  Have you ever had one of those days where washing the dishes is such a chore you just want to walk away and pretend they don’t exist?! Today started out as one of those days for me. I was tired when I got up today. Have no clue why – just tired. However, this morning, as I walked into the bedroom and contemplated the as yet unmade bed, a thought swept over me and I had to smile. “Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 4 boneless pork chops or 1 lb boneless pork roast sliced to 1/2″ slices or pork cutlets that have been tenderized at the store 1/4 cup flour 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/8 tsp thyme 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1 egg, beaten 2 Tbsp milk 3/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs – make your own with a couple of slices of bread toasted and ground in the blender 1 teaspoon ground paprika 2 Tbsp canola oil or olive oil + 1 Tbsp butter 3/4 cup chicken stock 1/2 teaspoon dried dill or 1 Tbsp fresh chopped dill 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp corn starch 1/2 cup sour cream or 1/4 cup sour cream + 1/4 cup yogurt 1/4 tsp onion powder 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)  Trim fat from chops. Using a meat hammer, pound the pork chops to about 1/4″ thickness. Make sure edges are hammered nice and flat.  Mix egg and milk in a shallow dish and beat. In a separate shallow dish, mix bread crumbs and paprika and stir to blend.  In a third shallow dish (I use pie and cake pans), add garlic to flour  Add salt  And thyme..mix to blend  Meanwhile, in a sauce pan or skillet, mix chicken stock and cornstarch and bring to a slow simmer. Add sour cream and onion powder and whisk until creamy. Add mushrooms and stir (if using) Continue simmering.  Add dill  Stir until mixture is thickened to a gravy. Cover and leave on warm  Working with one piece of meat at a time, dredge cutlets in the flour mixture to coat both sides.  Dip into the egg mixture on both sides  And coat with the bread crumbs to cover  In a skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil or canola oil and heat on medium high heat. When oil is nice and hot, add cutlets. Brown and allow to cook about 3-4 minutes.  Turn cutlets and brown on the other side and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.  Place Schnitzel onto plates and drizzle gravy down the center. Add a lemon wedge for squeezing juice over the schnitzel. Serve with German potato salad and warm kraut. Of course, a homemade roll on the side isn’t anything to sneeze at!! |
|
|
Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ Company on Facebook
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nutrition In A Roll
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
|
Remember!! Comment at the end (below the blog box where it says in little blue letters, “comments” click on that and it takes you to comments and a comment box) in order to enter our giveaway. Drawing is Feb 13th. This time TWO people win one of the two identical packages – Pie tin set and First Out Pie Spatula. So comment early and comment often because every single time you comment, your name goes into the pot!! Growing up, my parents demonstrated to us girls about the precious gift of “hospitality”. Mom and Dad were ready and willing to open our home to anyone who needed a hot meal or a place to stay. Most of the time, that included students from other countries who were attending the university in our town, which was also my father’s place of employment as a professor. From these visits by young people from all over the world, we girls were introduced to new foods and treats that were authentically cooked or, in the case of the treats, provided from stores overseas.  I remember one of the young women, with whom we became very attached, Mitchiko Kawase, loved to tease us and presented us with a bag of little, dried squares that she encouraged us to try. The squares were dark and salty and as we took a taste, she giggled and told us that it was dried octopus. All of us squealed in horror and she laughed hilariously as she told us that it was really seaweed. I’m don’t remember that we were all that much more impressed! One Japanese food that I love is sushi. I’m not a fan of the raw fish type – more the California roll type – but I put all kinds of stuff in mine and chow down. Mr. Fix-It uses a fork and I use chopsticks. He thinks I’m pretentious! I just think I’m being disrespectful if I use a fork. I thought that in the second of these three posts on some international dishes, I thought I’d share my sushi-making. And you don’t need one of those $19.95 jobs as seen on tv!  You can use a rice cooker or a pot to make your rice. For three large sushi rolls, make three cups of rice. Sushi rice is different from regular rice. It is much stickier. I use a type called Hanmi but you can go to any specialty store and many larger groceries and ask for sushi rice.  Once your rice is cooked, put it into a large bowl. A bamboo bowl is great too. Add two tablespoons of sushi vinegar to the rice. Sushi vinegar has sugar in it and is slightly sweet/sour.  Toss the rice to evenly distribute the vinegar   There are any number of proteins that can be used in sushi. Here, I am using a tempura shrimp and Crab Smart. You can also use scrambled egg that is sliced, fresh crab, salmon, cream cheese and the list goes on. And there is no limit to the veggies! Anything goes.  The crab sticks are too thick and so I cut them in half.  I make a sauce that I will use over the sushi by mixing 1/3 cup mayonnaise with 1 teaspoon Chinese chili sauce.  I mix until smooth and creamy  And put the sauce in a squeeze bottle like is used for mustard or ketchup. This gives me a nice little bead to design on the sushi rolls.  I use cucumbers and slice them into 1/4 inch thick slices and cut off the seed area  I square off the ends of each slice  I also slice the shrimp in half after baking it and also slice up an avocado.  A sushi mat is made of either flat bamboo slats laced together with twine or with round sticks laced together as well. I like to use Press and Seal on my mats because it keeps them clean instead of pressing rice down between the gaps.  Sushi Nori is actually kelp seaweed and is full of iodine and is one of the highest plant sources for calcium. It is also chocked full of other vitamins and minerals. Some people toast their nori prior to making sushi by spraying a skillet with a light layer of oil, heating and then placing a nori sheet on the skillet for about 30 seconds and then turning. Others just use the nori straight out of the package.  Place the nori on the mat with the narrower end parallel to the lines of the mat  Place 3/4 to 1 cup of rice on the nori. Place a bowl of water next to your work area. You will want to keep your fingers wet to work with the rice to avoid sticking.  Spread the rice evenly over the nori and press down to make an even surface.  Place crab and cucumber at one narrower end of the nori running parallel to the mat, leaving about 3/4″ of nori showing at the end.  Place the avocado on top of the crab and cucumber  I find it easiest to pick up the roll and start rolling the mat at the end with the filling one full roll and then placing it back onto my work surface to continue  I continue to roll, lifting the top edge of the mat away from the roll so that it does not get rolled up with the sushi. I squeeze the mat with both hands as I go to keep the roll tight.  I am lifting the top side of the mat with the Press and Seal away from the roll as I continue to roll.  I continue to tighten the roll  And Voila! There’s my sushi roll.  I wrap it in a wet paper towel and set aside as I continue to make more rolls.  Now then, you can have the rice on the outside of the roll instead of the nori showing outside. And to do that, first I do the first steps of putting rice on the nori and patting it out and then I lift the nori and rice from the mat and set it aside. I spray the Press and Seal with a little olive oil.  Now, I place the rice package with the rice against the press and seal and the nori on top – basically upside down from the first way I showed you.  I add my center, this time using the shrimp instead of crab  I roll exactly like I showed you above on the first sushi roll and here you have the result  To slice these rolls to get the nice little medallions you see in restaurants, you need a sharp, finely serated knife. I keep my knife wet to cut as well.  Slicing the roll with the rice outside is a little trickier than when the nori is on the outside. Also, I keep my hands wet so that the rice does not stick.  Here are a combination of the two rolls put together. You can see that I squeezed the sauce in a squiggle along the top of the roll and sprinkled with salmon rice seasoning and have carrots and pickled ginger on the side.  This is a roll that was made with the rice on the outside and is served with edamame and tempura onion rings  Here are a few things you can serve with your sushi – Soy Sauce, Wasabe and Rice Seasoning. I sure hope you won’t be afraid to try making this!! I know it looks complicated, but really, it goes very quickly and you sure will love the results!! |
|
|
Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ Company on Facebook
|
|
|
|
|
|
Homemade Tamales
Monday, January 30th, 2012
|
Before I get started here, I want to remind all of you to be sure and comment at the end (below the blog box where it says in little blue letters, “comments” click on that and it takes you to comments and a comment box) in order to enter our giveaway. This time TWO people win one of the two identical packages – Pie tin set and First Out Pie Spatula. So comment early and comment often because every single time you comment, your name goes into the pot!! And now, I’ve written in the past about dumb things I’ve done to which I actually admit. I like to think of myself as a normal human being with a modicum of quirks and I am willing to admit – to an extent – what are those quirks. My children read this too and I can’t admit everything as my “perfect mother” status might fall in their estimation. Oh? I ain’t all that perfect in their eyes? Huh. What a surprise. I’m thinking that the time I went to an Atlanta church for my girlfriend’s wedding, was escorted down the aisle to be seated on the bride’s side, and was handed a ‘program’ only to discover that the couple being married WEREN’T my girlfriend and her fiance, probably tops the stupid things I’ve done. Skulking back down the isle and out the back door was humiliating enough, but then finding out that the wedding had been in Murfreesboro, TN just cemented my stupidity. Well, this weekend, I proved to Mr. Fix-It that it is possible that I’m a few gummy worms short of a bag. He was very kind about it, but I really think he was looking for those lost gummy worms. He was really hungry after my flirtation with brain freeze. You see, we had been invited to a wonderful SURPRISE party for our dear friend, Jeff, who was turning that ripe, old age of the big 5-0. The invitation was presented as a cute poem with the date and the location – the nearby church. As it so happened, my birthday was this past week as well – and I turned much older than the big 5-0 – and so, for some reason, the week just got kind of discombobulated. (like that word? – fits the week) Since I had promised to provide a snack of substance for Jeff’s party, I made plans for making a large batch of oriental sweet and sour meatballs. No party is a party without meatballs, don’t you know?! On Saturday, I spent the day putting together several batches of my homemade sweet and sour sauce, cooked meatballs, added sauce and pineapple chunks and piled those into a crockpot on low to keep them warm. I pushed Mr. Fix-It to leave the love of his life, Ellie (our mini long-haired dachshund), to get out of his jeans and into newer jeans so that we could at least appear as decent as that couple in the painting, American Gothic. I grabbed the meatballs and we headed to the church. Seeing a couple in the front entry of the church, I carried my meatballs up to the lady and inquired about which room was sponsoring Jeff’s party. She looked at me with kind of a half smile and choked back a laugh as she informed me, “Jeff’s party? That was last night, honey.” Well, great. And so, the meatballs went to Jeff and his family that night, as I crawled to their door in total humiliation. No birthday present is complete without meatballs. In order to repair my reputation, I have decided to prove that I CAN do something right and so I think I’ll do these next three posts with some international recipes that will wow your family and guests and that are not your usual fare. The first two are a family staple for us. The last one is a newer recipe for me. Today, we will start with homemade tamales – one of Mr. Fix-It’s favorites. The nice thing about tamales is that if you are willing to take a Saturday afternoon to cook, you will wind up with enough tamales for quite a few meals. The extras can be frozen or canned. So get your pork roast ready and follow the directions below: 2 lbs boneless pork roast, or boneless chicken breasts or boneless beef roast 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tablespoon chili powder salt to taste 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 onion finely chopped water Masa Harina Dough  Cut roast into cubes and place into a large pan, just cover with water and bring to a boil on medium-high heat.  While heating, add cumin  Add chili powder  Add salt according to your taste  And add garlic.  Add onions and stir. Boil for 30 minutes.  Place the meat into a covered casserole dish or dutch oven and place into a 350º oven to bake for about an hour to an hour and a half or until meat is very tender and comes apart easily.  While the meat is cooking, soak corn husks in very warm water. You can find these at any grocery store in the international food section or in the produce section. Some of our stores even have them hanging on endcaps.  In a large bowl, mix masa flour with baking powder and salt. Set aside  In another bowl, mix shortening with 1 tbsp of the beef broth.  Beat broth and shortening until you have a fluffy mixture  Add the shortening mix to the masa mix  Cut in shortening mix. Add more beef broth, stirring, to form a spongy dough.  Either shred the pork with a fork or put it into a food processor for a finer shred. (Mr. Fix-It like’s it “pre-chewed” shredded.  Press dough onto center left side of a corn husk, a little under 1/4″ thick. This is the way I like to roll them because it makes allowances for short or misshappen husks. However, if you want to make your tamales in the traditional rectangle, move the square of dough down to one end and to the left side.  Place at least a tablespoon of meat onto the center of the dough.  Spread the meat out into a long rectangle down the center of the dough  Roll tamales by moving the left side toward the right and rolling until right empty husk is covering the seam of the right side. If doing the traditional flatter tamale, you will still roll the same way.  Rolled tamale  I tie the two ends with strips of corn husk, but if you are doing the flatter ones, you will fold the empty half of your corn husk over the full half of the corn husk roll and tie around the middle with a longer strip of cornhusk.  Clip the ends of the tamale to shorten.  Steam tamales for 45 minutes to an hour (depending how many you are serving). Freeze unsteamed extras in a freezer bag. I will show how to can them in another post.  I only serve 5 tamales for our meals – two for me and three for Mr. Fix-It. We love ours with my canned, homemade chili, heated and served over the tamales and topped with lots of cheese – and sour cream and guacamole if we are feeling really daring! |
|
|
Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ Company on Facebook
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vintage Cooking Pt IV
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
|
That is the title of the last section of recipes, regarding meats, in Austin’s Domestic Science Books 1 & 2, my grandmother’s 1914 home economics book. I thought that, as the last installment in this line of posts, it would be fun to share some of this information from the past and give you a little bit of history. 2 cups flour 4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 – 3 tbsp shortening 3/4 cup milk a quantity of cold roast beef or beefsteak (I used a quart of home canned rump roast) 1/2 onion 1 cup sliced potatoes water to cover potatoes beef stock 2 tsp corn starch salt and pepper to taste If using fresh beef, cut into cubes and cover with beef stock to boil until tender. Slice potatoes and cover with water in a second pot. Parboil for 8 minutes. Drain potatoes  When beef is cooked, strain from stock and add onions to boil.  While onions are boiling, put flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl.  Cut in shortening until it looks like small granules  I used my canned rump roast for the beef. Beef should be tender and shredable.  Take out a little beef stock to cool. Add some water to cool faster. Add cornstarch and blend. You can also add a tbsp of brown gravy mix if you would like for a richer flavor.  While stirring the simmering broth, add corn starch and broth mixture and stir to thicken slightly.  Add milk to the flour mixture and stir to form a dough ball. Add more milk if the dough is too dry.  Roll the dough out into a rectangle and cut for sides leaving enough to use as a top crust.  Place dough around the edges of a greased baking dish. Do not put any on the bottom  Fill the baking dish with meat  Add potatoes and salt and pepper  Pour the thickened broth with onions over the meat and potatoes  Place dough on top and crimp for appearance if you like. Make a few slits through the top of the crust. Bake at 425º for 30 – 35 minutes or until browned  The crust browns nicely for an appetizing pie  Serve with salad and veggies and you’re right back into the early 1900’s!! |
|
|
Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ Company on Facebook
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vintage Cooking Pt 2
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
 I’m really having fun going through my grandmother’s “Domestic Science Books I and II” book. Having been published in 1914, you can imagine the photos of women in their sleeved, long dresses and taylored, floor-length, white aprons, primly tied at tiny waists. I feel very happy to see that my short, work-worn fingernails look exactly like theirs. Evidently, women, back then, didn’t worry about French tips or painted designs on their fingernails, either. At the beginning of book II of this wonderful home living manual, I came across the following poem, by Owen Meredith. It is so ridiculous, I have to post it. Obviously, this Owen guy would have benefitted from today’s Overeater’s Anonymous. He seems to have been so focused on eating that all else was trivial to him! You be the judge: O hour of all hours, the most bless’d upon earth, Blessed hour of our dinners! * We may live without poetry, music, and art, We may live without conscience, and live without heart; We may live without friends; we may live without books; But civilized man cannot live without cooks. He may live without books – what is knowledge but grieving? He may live without hope – what is hope but deceiving? He may live without love – what is passion but pining? But where is the man that can live without dining? – Owen Meredith Makes you hungry, huh? Well, I’ll solve that problem and share another lesson in recipe from days gone by, which would be easy to cook on your wood cook stove! You can pretend! I will be giving the recipe for their dumplings, which are the type that are fluffy and soft. We southerners like flat dumplings or oval ones that are more like noodle dough. And so, while I’ll give you the recipe the book suggests, I’ll show you the pictures and recipe for the dumplings that I make. And of course, at the end, just as in the book, I’ll post those rules for table manners ala 1914. So stoke up the fire….  3 lbs beef – preferably round roast 1 tblsp butter 2 tblsp flour 2 onions sliced 1 carrot 4 potatoes water or beef stock salt and pepper 1 turnip (optional) Dumplings 2 cups flour 4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 3/4 cup water or milk Sift the dry ingredients together; add the liquid gradually. Drop by the spoonful upon the stew and cook until done. 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 egg 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 cup water or milk  Cut the roast into 1″ cubes and toss meat in flour. I used my canned rump roast (what can I say? Rump roast was on sale, cheap!) and cubed that. Sauté onions in butter and add beef to brown.  Add water or beef stock (I used stock) and simmer for at least an hour to an hour and a half until meat is tender. Add chopped carrots, potatoes and chopped turnip (optional) and cook 45 minutes longer.  Mix ingredients together for dumplings, using just enough water to form a dough ball. Roll out onto your Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ and slice in 1″ strips. Slice strips across to form 1″ squares.  Bring stew to a boil and place dumplings on top of broth.  With spoon, gently press dumplings into broth to cover. Simmer for 20 minutes until tender.  Serve with salad and cornbread or fresh bread and dig in. It’s simple! Table manners: Do not hold the knife and fork upright on the table. The knife and fork when used for cutting should be held with the fork, tines down, in the left hand and the knife in the right hand, the handles in the hollows of the hands. Do not open the mouth to receive food until the food reaches the mouth. Always eat or sip from the side of the spoon. The napkin should never be tucked in the collar. |
|
|
Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ Company on Facebook
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vintage Cooking Pt 1
Monday, January 9th, 2012
|
Some call it “pretending” but I like to call it “supposin’ ” when, every so often, I whisk myself back (in my mind of course) to the late 1800’s and early 1900’s wondering what it would be like to do back then, what I am doing at that moment. For example, in 1992 I broke my leg and ankle in five places and as I lay on the couch with leg encased in plaster of Paris, elevated and throbbing, I immersed myself in a book entitled ‘And Ladies of the Club’. Transported back into the time of the Civil War and then the Victorian age, I read that my situation would have been quite dire indeed. Instead of a cast, I would have had my leg cut off and could have died of gangrene. Lovely. Made me appreciate 1992 all the more! But I do see the good of those eras with the slower way of life and simpler way of doing things. It is an encouragement for us to slow down and simplify as well.  Awhile back, I posted an account about my parents’ life-changing move to a retirement community. The process was emotional for all of us because of the sale of their home and their move to another state. But going through all of the boxes holding their nearly 62 years of marriage, passed on to each of us four girls and our children, was bittersweet indeed. One of my boxes held a number of very old cookbooks. My parents know me well! Some of these books are just amazing and precious. The oldest one and truly my most precious of cookbooks, is the 1914 first edition, high school textbook for Austin’s Domestic Science (we called it Home Ec) inscribed with the perfect penmanship of my Grandmother Johnson, then Margaret Allen, Class IC – my mother’s mother. Recipes recorded by her with an inkwell and pen, obviously lessons from class, cover pages nestled between tiny print of early 1900’s etiquette, rules, ingredients and recipe lessons. The book is a treasure, as are some of the others, and I thought that I would do a series of posts using a few of the vintage recipes, instructions and lessons in etiquette. Skimming the book, my eyes fell on the title, “Hamburg Steak”, and immediately, I decided to make that my first endeavor. I’ll give you three guesses what is Hamburg Steak! The recipe was brought to America by German immigrants where Hamburg Steak was a meal of the poorer classes. It wasn’t until 1916, two years after this textbook was published, that the Hamburger Bun was introduced by a fry cook named Walter Anderson, who co-founded White Castle in 1921. I have to tell you that I did not think this recipe was going to be all that great, but Mr. Fix-It loved it and asked for the leftovers the next day!  I had to consider the fact that most people did not buy freshly ground meat in 1914 and so the instructions in the recipe to purchase round steak, to remove the bone and gristle and to cube and grind in the hand grinder should be no surprise. I, however, DO buy ground meat today and so I skipped that process even though I have a hand grinder, have capable shoulders and used to grind meat as a butcher’s assistant! There is only so much “supposin’ ” I’m willing to initiate these days. Anyway, I wonder if they called it Ground Round back then. I was struck that most of the beef recipes in the book called for either round steak, ground, or round roast, sliced or whole. Evidently, that was the cut of meat most popular. It totally explains to me why mother, when first married and with very little money, stunned my father when she brought home the expensive ground round from the store. She says that her mother only served ground round, and never any of the cheaper ground meats, so she did not know there were any other types of ground meat. Obviously, Grandmother had learned well about her meats in Class IC of Domestic Science! So fire up your 1914 wood stoves (or if you were rich, the newly introduced fancy gas stove) and get out your cast iron skillet. The recipe is simple and really yummy. Be sure and note the etiquette rule about your after dinner coffee or tea at the end. 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg dash of pepper 1 lb round steak, boned, cut into cubes and run through a meat grinder (1 lb ground round y’all) Gravy: 2 tbsp butter 2 tbsp flour 1 cup beef broth  Add finely chopped onions to ground meat  The recipe did not call for garlic, but I have to have my garlic and I think that it made a huge addition. Either chop or press your galic clove.  Add beaten egg  Add salt  And pepper  Mix ingredients until well incorporated  The recipe called to form into patties 1 1/2″ in diameter and 3/4″ thick, but I think mine were more 2 1/2″ diameter and 3/4″ thick.  Add tblsp of butter to a heavy skillet on high heat and spread across the surface to oil. Place patties into the skillet to sear for about 30 seconds. Turn and sear on the other side and reduce heat to medium. Continue to turn patties until cooked all the way through. Do not press them or pierce them because the juices are trapped inside and make the patties tender and tasty.  Remove patties to a warming plate to keep warm. Wipe skillet lightly to remove beef fat and add two tblsps butter to melt on medium heat.  Add flour  and stir quickly to form a ‘roue’   Pour in beef stock and stir to form a gravy.  Served with au gratin potatoes, green beans and fresh bread, this meal made Mr. Fix-It very happy! The following is an etiquette lesson from the book that all should know for sure!!  Austin’s Domestic Science Book One and Two, page 170: “At a formal dinner, very strong coffee is made and served without cream, but with or without sugar as the individual prefers. Such coffee is called café noir, or black coffee. It is served in very small coffee cups, or after-dinner coffee cups. When cream and sugar are served with coffee, many think the flavor of the coffee is improved if they are placed in the cup before the coffee is poured in. TABLE MANNERS: Coffee, tea and cocoa should be drunk from the cup. The spoon is used to stir coffee or tea and sip it in order to ascertain if the flavor is right, but should not be otherwise used with coffee or tea. It seems unnecessary to state that these beverages are never to be drunk from the saucer.” |
|
|
Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ Company on Facebook
|
|
|
|
|
|
Blackened Tilapia with Creamy Lemon-Butter Sauce
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
|
Well, the New Year has arrived and we are back to work after a lovely week and a half sort of vacation. Christmas was a blast with a houseful so packed that the noise and bodies got a little claustraphobic, but isn’t that what family is all about?! Of course, part of the noise was coming from that new little grandbaby who is just the cutest baby on the earth. You know she is!!  After Christmas, I had the pleasure of starting my canning and dehydrating classes at Red Dawn in Midwest City. If you are in the area, the classes run from 6 pm until 9 pm. You can call the store at 405-732-0717 for information. Sure would love to see you there!! And then, New Years Eve rolled around and Mr. Fix-It and I had a really wild party. He, I and Ellie (our miniature, long-haired dachshund) watched The Help, since Mr. Fix-It had not seen it, and then ushered in midnight with the 1956 movie, The Solid Gold Cadillac, with Judy Holliday and Paul Douglas. We toasted the New Year with lead crystal flutes of Miers Sparkling Chablis (nonalcoholic white grape juice because we are so wild and crazy) and stood on the front lawn to watch the fireworks displays of nutty neighbors who evidently haven’t figured out that we are so dry, a minute spark could start an inferno!! Yes, it was an exciting night of revelry. The one thing I DID do to celebrate the evening was to make a very special dinner for my Mr. Fix-It. There is nothing that does his tummy more good than to serve up something blackened, ala Cajun cooking. I don’t care if you serve him liver – if it’s blackened – he’ll chow down. And so, I had fun with the recipe that follows. It is really very quick and easy and if you serve it to guests, they’ll think you are a chef extraordinaire. However, be warned. You’ll have to open windows and get the exhaust fan going because when you blacken something there IS smoke involved! I hope you’ll try it! The dinner was topped off with a homemade pecan pie (and I’ll put that up later) and we made ourselves sick. Gonna be a good year!! Serves 4 4 Tilapia filets (Salmon or Flounder will work too) 12 large shrimp 2 tbsps butter 2 tbsps Cajun Seasoning (my homemade is found by clicking on the link) Lemon Butter Sauce 1 – 14.5 oz can chicken broth 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped onion 1 tblsp butter 1 tblsp flour 1/2 cup heavy cream 4 tblsp butter Juice from one lemon  Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat  Stir in flour until a creamy roue is achieved  Slowly pour in chicken broth while whisking to incorporated roue with no lumps. Boil until sauce is reduced by about a fourth.  While the broth is cooking, add onions. I am using dehydrated here (of course) but fresh onions are fine.  When the sauce has reduced, add cream while stirring  Add butter and stir in until melted and mixed  Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Now comes the fun part. Take a cast iron skillet and place it upside down over the large eye of your stove. Turn the eye on High. Watch carefully and as the bottom of the skillet starts to smoke, quickly turn it over and drop in 2 tbsps of butter, which will melt really fast and start to blacken, and then sprinkle 2 tbsps of cajun seasoning across the surface.  Place filets into skillet. I only made two on New Year’s Eve, but if you are doing all four, use a larger skillet that will accommodate that many. Turn the heat down to medium-high and cook the tilapia for about 2 minutes on that side.  Turn fish and cook for about three minutes. Cover and turn heat down to medium to finish cooking until flaky. If using salmon, this will take longer.  In the meantime, have a pot of water boiling and drop shrimp into the water. Immediately remove from heat and let stand until shrimp are white all the way through. This does not take but just a few minutes for large shrimp.  Place a filet on each plate, top with shrimp and then pour sauce over both. Serve with rice and veggie. Here, I am using Zatarain’s Dirty Rice. So Happy New Year to you all. I hope to post some different kinds of recipes that aren’t normal Okie cooking in the next year, along with that regular stuff! Nothing like trying something new!  |
|
|
Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ Company on Facebook
|
|
|
|
|
|
Game Day Chicken Fingers
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
|
Apple Time Giveaway Not a soul in Oklahoma is away from the television when OU and OSU come together to fight it out at “Bedlam” when the Red and White intermingles with the Orange and White. Mixed marriages of OU and OSU alumni have been known to need police protection on the premises. This year, Bedlam is the last game of the OU season and though my dear son-in-law is of the OSU variety, I have to cheer the Sooners on, singing Boomer Sooner at the top of my lungs. Fortunately, Mr. Fix-It and I are of one mind and he tolerates my screams at the television set, my jumping up and down and my offers to Coach Stoops the expertise that can only come from a woman who has never played football or had a son who had any interest in playing football. Both of our sons played drums and guitar, but I see a similarity to the passion needed in a team, so that makes me qualified to coach from a standing position in front of the television in Mr. Fix-It’s line of sight. Of course, there is always food for a game and one of Mr. Fix-It’s favorites are boneless chicken fingers dipped in a variety of sauces. This recipe is especially for you new cooks who are just getting started and is very elementary. But it’s quick, easy and yummy and it is my own recipe. So get out those big, foam fingers and get ready for your favorite big game. It doesn’t matter who wins – at least you’ll be full! (this recipe can be doubled or tripled, etc for larger groups) 1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken tenders or breasts cut into strips Milk 1 to 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1/2 tsp black pepper 1 package Liptons Cream of Chicken Cup-a-Soup Oil for frying Directions:  In a large, plastic bowl with a lid, add flour and spices and mix.  Mix in powdered soup  Place pieces of chicken into the bowl with the flour mixture and cover tightly with lid.  Shake until all pieces are well-floured  Place floured pieces of chicken one at a time into the hot oil.  Brown and then turn to brown the other side. Only brown, it doesn’t matter if the chicken gets done all the way through.  When browned, place pieces of chicken onto a cookie rack that has been placed over a shallow cookie pan. Place the rack and pan of chicken, uncovered, into a 350º oven and bake for 20 minutes. This cooks the chicken to tender and also removes much of the oil while leaving a nice crust.  Remove chicken from the oven and let cool slightly. Now you can cover pieces in different sauces. I like to toss some of the pieces in honey.  And then add our favorite barbeque sauce to make a honey-barbeque. I coat the pieces evenly by putting them into plasticware dishes with lids and then covering and tossing in the sauces.  Of course, I HAVE to have my hot wing sauce!  Leave some plain to be served with white gravy or chicken gravy and you have a nice variety! As I said, this recipe can be increased for however many people you plan to entertain.  And IF you have any left-overs, lunch or dinner the next day is yummy indeed with a nice salad of organic greens, cranberries, sunflower seeds and plum tomatoes topped with the cubed chicken and blue cheese. |
|
|
Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ Company on Facebook
|
|
|
|
|
|
Homestead Revival
Paratus Familia
Rural Revolution
Wings of Champions
Friday, February 17th, 2012Here in Okie Land, there is only one thing that we Okies would rather do than eat…and that’s watch sports. Sports is the one way that we can bring our large neighbors to the south – Texas – down a notch. There is a reason that the OU Sooners vs the UT Longhorns is called the Red River Rivalry. Sports is the way that we little southwest nobodies can whoop up on some northerners like the Boston Celtics or some west coast smarty-pants like the Lakers. It looks like we have the number one pro basketball team both in the Western Conference and the nation, you know! And even here in Prairie Country where winter lasts all of a month, we have a professional hockey team with its own ice arena. Shoot, on the Oklahoma River in downtown Oklahoma City, we have boat houses where teams from all over the country suit up to compete with rowing teams on those long, skinny boats that look like something out of the Middle Ages powered by chained prisoners!
I have to say that I get pretty engaged in a good game if I have an interest in one of the teams. The Thunder’s games have become a regular show at our home and during the Fall with football weather, OU, OSU and Baylor (my niece attends Baylor) grab my attention. I am known to jump up and down and scream on occasion and Mr. Fix-It seems not to mind. He’ll let go with a shout every so often, but he is such a patient man.
One of my favorite pastimes concerning sports, however, is to write down the really stupid things that sports casters say. It’s like they have to be yammering throughout an entire game and don’t even realize that they sound really ridiculous. Here are some that I have heard in the past and also caught just recently at the Super Bowl and a few basketball games:
• “He’s not a normal human being!! Normal human beings don’t make a living of trying to get killed.” (I’ll second that)
• “He’s gonna fall off and drop back.” (Sounds like a recipe for injury to me!)
• “I wanna know what’s going on in that locker room!” (And then proceeds to tell us exactly what the coach is saying as if the sports announcer is really there!)
• “We can move the football.” (Doesn’t look like it so far, buddy!)
• “We have to move the football.” (That’s the object of the game!)
• “Look!! Look! He passed with his left hand!! He’s amphibious, you know!!” (Somebody hand him a dictionary!!)
• We’re going to get a double crack (That sounds painful)
• “It’s all about getting the ball down the court.” (Well, duh)
• “It’s about making points. If they don’t make those points, they don’t win.” (Another, “well, duh”)
Get out your pencil and pad and keep track of your own “Stupid Sports Comments” and you’ll get double the entertainment watching any particular contest! But as I said, second to sports in Oklahoma is eating, and so I thought I’d show you how I fix hot wings for Mr. Fix-It to munch on while he quietly holds in the normal male urge to jump up and scream as his OU quarterback races down the field for a touchdown. Someday, he’s just gonna let go and be just like me!!
Brine
3 cups water
1 tbsp salt
Coating
1 1/2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
Milk
2 to 3 dozen chicken wing portions
In a large container, mix salt into water to make a brine. Place the chicken wing portions into the brine and soak in the refrigerator for several hours.
Meanwhile mix flour with spices and stir until thoroughly mixed.
Drain the chicken (but do not dry) and place into flour mixture.
Toss to coat all chicken wing pieces
Fry pieces in oil that is about 1/4″ deep. You can use canola oil, olive oil or coconut oil for healthier oils.
Turn pieces and brown on the other side. Don’t worry if the chicken is not totally cooked when browned.
Place wing pieces on a rack (I am using old cookie racks) over a cookie sheet. Place in a 350º oven and bake for 35 minutes. This is a very important step. It helps to take out a lot of the grease from frying, cooks the chicken all the way through so that it just falls off the bone and seals the crust.
Remove wings from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes. Place into a large bowl.
Pour your favorite hot wing sauce over the wing pieces. Put just enough that when you toss the chicken, it will be covered but not saturated. I am using “Wing Time” brand Buffalo Wing Sauce (medium heat).
Toss the wing sections in the sauce, gently, with a large spoon or spatula
Place the coated wing sections back onto the rack and place back into the 350º oven for 15 more minutes.
Serve the chicken with blue cheese dressing and celery as a game snack. Or serve for dinner with mashed potatoes and the works!
Tags: basketball, commentators, football, hot wings, sports, tasty snack, Wing Time Sauce
Posted in A Day In the Life Of An Okie, Humorous, Meats and Main Dishes | No Comments »