Butter a small baking sheet. Spread pecans in a single layer. Heat butter and brown sugar to boiling in a heavy saucepan, stirring constantly for 7 minutes (note – you MUST stir quickly and constantly or it will easily burn and don’t shorten the amount of boiling time). Immediately spread mixture over pecans on baking sheet. It cools quickly, so get is spread – you might have time to help it cover, but use the back of spoon – it’s too hot to handle. Sprinkle chocolate chips over hot mixture and quickly cover with a plate or tin foil. Let melt, then using that spoon, spread melted chips in an even layer. Refrigerate until firm. Break toffee into pieces.
Tip – clean up your pot as soon as possible or the toffee really sticks.
So cold outside right now, i just set outside to cool vs refrigerating. It’s amazing how hot the stone pan got with the toffee so i set it up on a baking rack.Pops out easily and breaks nicely into pieces. Ready to eat!
Experience the Holidays: Traditional English Toffee! So often we have those cherished childhood memories of homemade candy and cookies that accompanied holiday celebrations. They stick with us for life. I can remember being in eighth grade and determined to replicate a batch of my mother’s English Toffee. I waited for her to go into town and then pulled out her secret recipe. You know, the ones scratched on a 3.5”x5” card. More often than not, they showed a list of ingredients with instructions that simply said, “Bake at 350° for 30 minutes”. Let’s face it, that’s pretty vague compared to what we explain nowadays. As you can imagine, I melted the butter along with the brown sugar and stirred. And stirred. And stirred. So how come it wasn’t turning into this crisp crunchy texture of rich golden butter that fueled my addiction? What could I possibly be doing wrong? There…
Sandra Best from her days of preparing food for the sheep shearing crew in Longreach, Queensland, Australia
INGREDIENTS:
5 lb rolled rump roast
4 1/2 quarts of water
2 lbs coarse salt
DIRECTIONS:
Heat water to dissolve salt then let cool completely. Stab thawed roast about 60 times with a long-tined meat fork. Pour salt water into a #2 ceramic crock and submerge roast into it. Weight down the roast with a brick or whatever. Place crock in a cool place and cover with kitchen towel. Let sit for 9 days. (I found some recipes, which called for turning the roast everyday, but we forgot to do that and it worked fine).
To cook:
Rinse roast, then place in a stockpot filled with enough water to cover roast 1 inch. Bring to slow boil, then pour off water, rinse out pot and refill with enough water to cover roast 1 inch. While water is heating add 2 tablespoons brown sugar, two bay leaves, 1 onion, quartered, 2 teaspoons nutmeg, and 1/4-cup vinegar. Cover and bring to slow boil, then simmer until meat falls off of a fork or skewer. (about 3 hours).
Serve with mashed potatoes or for an easy potluck, break up the meat and stir into potatoes and serve in a crock pot. Or let cool and slice off for sandwiches to take to work.
It’s zucchini season and time to pull out the plethora of excellent recipes to use this bountiful summer squash. If someone secretly leaves zucchinis in your car or at home, be thankful!!
A bountiful number of bread and dessert recipes are found in cookbooks and internet and i will share a couple of our family favorites, but i’m focusing more this year on casseroles and main dish recipes. Here’s one i just developed sort of combining two recipes I already have. It turned out fabulously!!! Not like pizza or anything, but definitely ranks high enough that it can remain in the regular lineup of meals.
ZUCCHINI-EGG-SAUSAGE CASSEROLE
From the kitchen of Tauna M (Falconer) Powell
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups shredded zucchini
½ lb cooked beef sausage or beef brats* cut in small pieces
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon mustard
¼ tsp black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup grated Parmesan
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325˚F. Layer half the zucchini, onion, sausage, and cheddar cheese in a buttered oblong baking dish, 11 x 7 x 1 ½ inches; repeat. Mix eggs, milk, mustard, pepper, and salt very well, then pour over the layered ingredients. Sprinkle over top with Parmesan cheese. Cook uncovered in oven until set, 45 to 50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes then cut into squares for serving.
Note: Once assembled, this casserole can be covered and refrigerated up to 24 hours before cooking.
*I use all beef brats from Coleman Farms grassfinished beef. However, it will also be good with my own home made beef sausage.
I cut the brats into small pieces using scissors, then cook gently in a cast iron skillet.
I accidentally put the Parmesan on before i poured the milk and egg mixture over top. Oh, well…..
Out of the oven after 50 minutes. Let stand about 10 minutes before cutting into serving sizes. YUM!
Our daughter introduced us to chia seeds a couple years ago, but then we did without since she left again, this time for Hanoi, Vietnam. However, I’m creating some protein bars made without toxins, preservatives, etc, ad nauseam, and needing some additional protein. Flax seed fits that bill, but flax also has a laxative affect (that’s right, you do not need to consume synthetic harsh laxatives) that is not comfortable for some people, (though they are higher in protein and lower in carbs). SO, chia to the rescue! (Chia seeds are also absorbed by the body unlike whole flax seeds which generally pass through which is why they need grinding before ingesting for best results). Both flax seeds and chia seeds are good for us, they have different nutritional values, making neither better than the other, so i include both in our diets.
Sure, we knew of chia seeds, but primarily as a novelty!
Incredibly (and thankfully), i discovered that chia seeds are grown here in the United States, though they are native to Mexico and Guatemala. This one producer is Heartland Chia – seeds are grown, harvested, packaged in Franklin, Kentucky.
Here’s a link to the published Pumpkin Chia Granola Bars. But for now, since i have an abundance of home canned unsweetened applesauce, i replaced pumpkin with it. (Until this fall, when my winter squashes should be ready and i’ll make these with pumpkin)
Applesauce Chia Granola Bars
INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 cups rolled oats (Grain Millers, St. Ansgar, IA)*
Press firmly into the pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes. I cook mine for 25 minutes. Seems to be a good balance between chewy and crunchy.
These easily lift out of the pan.
Allow to cool completely. I use a raised cookie screen to aid in cooling. Since they don’t have preservatives, I will individually package and stick them in the freezer. The guys have a quick and healthy snack to take to the field. (see how beautiful even these bars are. HA HA).
Cold, windy, blustery, and a bit of snow flurries. Forecasted up to 5 inches, but i sure hope we miss that!
Beef Chili
Ingredients:
2 lbs grass finished ground beef
1/3 cup dried minced onion flakes or one large fresh onion chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder ((optional)
2 tablespoons dried cilantro or parsley flakes (double for fresh)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic (or up to 10 cloves of fresh garlic)
6 cups water or beef broth
1/2 cup dried red kidney beans
1/2 cup dried navy beans
1/2 cup dried black beans
45 ounces or so tomato sauce
Directions:
In a 6 quart kettle, brown the 2 lbs ground beef; drain if necessary. Add all ingredients except tomato sauce, to pot and bring to boil, stir, cover, and lower heat to slow boil. Simmer at least 3 hours or until beans are softened.
Stir in 45 ounces or so of tomato sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Notes: adjust ingredients as desired – flexibility is key in cooking – use whatever combination of beans you like. Chopped tomatoes work as well and gives a different texture to the chili. (see cover photo)
Add the butter and flour to a small sauce pot. Heat and whisk the butter and flour together until they become bubbly and foamy. Continue to cook and whisk the bubbly mixture for about 60 seconds.
Whisk the milk into the flour and butter mixture. Turn the heat up slightly and allow the milk to come to a simmer whilst whisking. When it reaches a simmer, the mixture will thicken. Once it’s thick enough to coat a spoon, turn off the heat.
Stir in the shredded cheddar, one handful at a time, until melted into the sauce. If needed, lace the pan over a low flame to help the cheese melt. Do not overheat the cheese sauce.
Once all the cheese is melted into the sauce, stir in the salt and chili powder. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. If the sauce becomes too thick, simply whisk in an additional splash of milk.
Enjoy this nacho cheese plain…..
or add a bit of red pepper, garlic, or whatever your fancy!
Cooking time: about 4 hours Servings: 12-24 servings
INGREDIENTS:
2-3 lbs stewing hen (you’ll need about 6 cups of ground meat)
2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon sage
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper (optional)
2 teaspoons black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Slow cook stewing hen until tender. Remove meat from skin and bones and cut meat into pieces. Place meat back into cooking water with sage and cayenne pepper and simmer 2 to 3 hours. Drain and reserve stock.
Chop meat with a knife or food processor, being careful not to grind it too fine. Set aside.
(Note that i had already done all the above and just froze ground meat separately from plain chicken stock – i only add spices when ready to make this recipe)
Measure 5 cups of stock and return to pot. Bring to a simmer, add meat, cornmeal, salt, and peppers, then stir constantly until thick and smooth – about 15 to 30 minutes.
Pour mixture into 2 loaf pans and refrigerate until completely chilled. Un-mold scrapple. Slice and fry until golden brown and crispy on both sides.
Whilst stirring, you may need to break up clumps of corn meal
Whilst stirring, you may need to break up any clumps of corn meal.
The mixture needs to be thick to hold together once you’ve removed from pan.
Refrigerate or cool outside like i did here since it’s colder outside than in the frig anyway!
No need to grease or butter the loaf pan, but definitely sliding a knife around the edge to loosen really helps it ease out of the pan.
I’m using beef fat here for frying, but butter or olive oil works just as well.
Fry on low-medium heat, then carefully flip to reveal this crispy brown side, fry the other side, then ready to serve.
Philadelphia Scrapple with egg – this is just a terrible photo, but you get the idea. Notice the pale yolk on our farm egg – that’s a winter egg. No green grass out there now.
Despite the savory aspect of scrapple, you may enjoy just a smidgen of syrup on this. Try it on just a corner. We are so fortunate to buy pure maple syrup from our neighbor – Coyote Orchard, Purdin, Missouri.
