The Rancher's Daughter in the Deep South

Bartlett Pear Salad with Mayonnaise and Cheese

ranch — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:26:04 +0000

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Bartlett Pear Salad with Mayonnaise and Cheese

These are great anytime as a side dish or snack, great for breakfast, too.

Ingredients:

Large Can of Bartlett Pear Halves in Juice (light syrup okay if juice unavailable)
Good quality mayonnaise (plain yogurt can be substituted but mayo tastes better)
Kraft Natural shredded Mexican 4 cheese blend
Maraschino cherries

Directions:

Drain pears; reserve juice or syrup for fruit smoothies or grilling sauce.
Place 2-3 pear halves in each serving dish.
Place a dollop of mayonnaise in center of each pear half, about 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons.
Add a cherry on top of mayonnaise on each pear.
Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to serve.

Large can of pears makes approximately 3-4 servings depending on brand and serving size.

Enjoy!
the Rancher’s Daughter
theranchersdaughter.com

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Rudy’s Farm Sausage Biscuit Dress Up with Egg and Cheese

ranch — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:17:16 +0000

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Rudy’s Farm Sausage Biscuit Dress Up with Egg and Cheese

Ingredients:

Twin Pack of Rudy’s Farm Sausage Biscuits* (the small plain ones)
1 egg (we only use free range vegetarian fed eggs)
1 slice yellow American cheese
yellow mustard
butter
milk
one paper towel

Directions:

Microwave ovens vary, so these instructions may require slight alterations to work with yours.
Remove sausage patties from the biscuits
Set bread aside.
Please patties in microwave for 35 seconds at normal regular cooking level or power.
Remove sausage patties from microwave.
Return patties to biscuits, wrap in paper towel, and microwave another 25 seconds.
Leave in microwave to stay warm.
Whisk egg with 1/2 teaspoon milk; lightly salt and pepper.
Melt small amount of butter in small skillet.
Add egg, but don’t “scramble” in the traditional sense.
Cook it more like an omelet, allowing the egg to “set” without scrambling.
When egg is pretty much “set,” use the spatula to cut the egg in half.
Gently flip each half over in the skillet, allowing it to cook a little longer until egg is done but not too dried out.
Place an egg portion on top of each sausage patty of the Rudy’s Farm biscuits.
Fold American cheese slice in half, placing a piece on top of each egg.
Microwave just a LITTLE longer to melt cheese, but do not cook too long or the bread will become as hard as a rock; we are talking a very FEW SECONDS here.
Serve on a saucer with yellow mustard on the side for dipping.
Enjoy with a bowl of fresh fruit and a cup of coffee or juice.

* You can try other sausage biscuits if you like, but we like the Rudy’s Farm biscuits the best.

Enjoy!
the Rancher’s Daughter
theranchersdaughter.com

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Buffalo Grilled Chicken Wrap – Quick and Easy Meals

ranch — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:11:19 +0000

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Buffalo Grilled Chicken Wrap

Ingredients:

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders cut into 1 inch chunks
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup bottled margarita mix
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 clove garlic minced fine
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
soft fresh flour tortillas
shredded lettuce
1 celery stalk diced
Kraft shredded Mexican five cheese blend
ranch dressing
Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar Wing Sauce – Medium (or as desired)*
butter and vegetable oil

Directions:

Mix marinade in a container with a lid: balsamic vinegar, margarita mix, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, 1 clove garlic minced fine, ground cumin, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
Add chicken and marinate a few hours, preferably overnight.
Add 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1/2 tablespoon butter to skillet.
Place on medium high heat.
Add chicken chunks and cook until no longer pink. Do not overcook as meat will dry out.
Turn off heat and add 1/4 cup of Buffalo Wild Wings Sauce, stirring to coat.
Place desired number of tortillas on microwave safe plate.
Cover with plastic wrap and warm about 30-45 seconds.
Place chicken chunks on tortilla.
Add diced celery, shredded lettuce, more Buffalo Wild Wing sauce, ranch dressing, and cheese.
Dip in additional ranch dressing and wing sauce if desired.

* If you do not have access to Buffalo Wild Wings sauces, you can try substituting another brand or type, but we firmly believe their particular sauce makes a difference here. We use the medium, but you can substitute another flavor or heat as desired.
Enjoy!
the Rancher’s Daughter
theranchersdaughter.com

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Early Spring 2010 – Sprouting Seed

ranch — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:34:41 +0000

Good Friday was April 2 this year, and typically in the south you get your garden in by then.

I don’t worry about Good Friday being a “deadline.” I study the weather, expected rain, and current temperatures. We plant differently each year. This year, we chose to start planting the Monday after Easter, which was April 5.

I had already tilled the planting areas several times throughout the winter, so the dirt was in pretty good shape. We continued to add items to the compost bin throughout fall and winter so we also had plenty of good quality compost to add to the dirt and add around the roots of the vegetables after planting.

I am like a little kid waiting for Santa to visit when it comes to our Spring seeds sprouting.

There have been years when I planted, and big rains came, and I worried it would wash the seeds away or beat the young plants down. Things had gotten really dry here around Easter. The yellow pollen dust was covering everything, and flurries of it were floating through the air from all of the blooming going on.

We prayed for some rain to rinse the trees and clear away the pollen.

We planted okra seeds and zipper peas on Monday. We also planted pepper and tomato plants. The rain came two days after, and it was a nice slow gentle rain that lasted all day. We planted the watermelon, cucumber, cantaloupe, and squash seeds two days after the rain.

The peas and okra sprouted on the 7th day. I love the way the dirt starts to “crack” along the row as the sprouts prepare to break through the ground.

So now we have plenty to tend to making sure the plants are well watered and fertilized. Most of the weeding will be handled by Daisy Mae, the plow. We always leave plenty enough room between rows to accommodate the plow.

The compost bin is going strong and we’ll continue to add to it regularly. Compost will be placed around the bases of the plants throughout the growing season.

In summary, here is what is growing here now:

Lettuce, Cabbage, Peppers, Tomatoes, Zipper Peas, Okra, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Cucumbers, Zucchini and Yellow Squash, and Green Onions

As always, Happy Gardening!

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Ranch Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

ranch — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:36:58 +0000

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I hope you enjoyed the recent article on Loose Leaf Lettuce Varieties.

Lettuce you grow at home just doesn’t compare to the Iceberg variety commonly found at your local grocery store.

There is just no reason not to grow your own loose leaf lettuce varieties because it is just TOO easy.

Now, here’s a great way to enjoy some of the gourmet greens you grow!

Ranch Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

The Salad

* Fresh leaf lettuce
* One small can mandarin oranges (drained; reserve juice) *See note
* Handful of fresh mung bean sprouts
* 1/2 stalk celery, fine dice
* Sliced fresh mushrooms
* Kraft Finely Shredded 5 cheese blend
* A handful of La Choy Crispy Chow Mein Noodles
* Candied or sugared walnuts or pecans, or about 1/8 cup of salted sunflower kernels (NOT seeds; shelled kernels)
* One boiled egg, cut in half lengthwise
* A few crumbles of Blue Cheese for garnish

The Dressing

* 2 Tablespoons orange juice
* 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
* 1 finely diced garlic clove
* 1/2 teaspoon ground sea salt
* 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
* 3/4 cup olive oil
* 2-1/2 teaspoons light brown sugar

The How To

Rinse greens in colander and allow to air dry.

Mix the vinegar with the sugar, juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Place in a shaker or clean used vinegar bottle, add olive oil and shake to blend.

Arrange greens on individual salad plates. Add remaining ingredients except Blue Cheese, dividing ingredients among the remaining salads. No need to toss them, just “scatter” the ingredients in placement rather than clumping altogether.

Once salad is assembled, and be sure to sprinkle with a good handful of the Kraft fine shredded cheese, place a few chunks of Blue Cheese on top of each salad.

If eating immediately, place on table and shake dressing before applying to each salad.

If you need to prepare the rest of the meal, cover salads with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

*Note: always save drained fruit juice and syrup; you can easily freeze it, and it makes a wonderful addition to any grilling sauce, and can also be used to fill an empty soda can and used for beer can chicken, just using fruit nectar instead of beer, OR it can be used to make a fruit smoothie

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Loose Leaf Lettuce Varieties – Growing Your Own Greens

ranch — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:10:19 +0000

Lettuce Varieties

If you want to grow lettuce, you first need to decide what types of lettuce varieties you want to plant.

Crisphead lettuce forms into a round head and the lettuce is all bunched up together; these are your typical Iceberg types of lettuce such as those at your local grocery and are not heat tolerant. There are also upright elongated heads of lettuce, such as Romaine and Cos.

The loose leaf varieties do not bunch together to form a head, although there are some that are termed “loose-headed” such as butterhead.

Loose headed lettuce such as butterhead varieties form small compact heads and are considered by many to be a gourmet treat. Some of these include Bibb, Buttercrunch, Dark Green Boston, and Tom Thumb.

Popular loose leaf lettuce varieties include salad bowl, oakleaf, red sails, mesclun, and black seeded simpson.

Head lettuce is harvested all at once in head form, while leaf lettuce can be harvested multiple times during the season.

Growing Lettuce

Lettuce seeds are very small and hard to plant exactly as directed. Seed tapes are a very useful way to plant lettuce seeds, however they cost more and I have grown accustomed to just planting the seeds as they are.

Lettuce is a cold weather crop. Some varieties are more heat tolerant than others, but hot weather will make the lettuce bitter and cause it to bolt (go to seed).

Your lettuce growing season is largely dependent on where you live. You can start your lettuce seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last expected frost date and harden them off outdoors a few days when they reach 3″-4″ tall, then plant.

I plant lettuce seeds directly in the garden in late January and early February. I sometimes also start some late season lettuce when the weather cools off in the fall.

I use a planter that can be covered if necessary to protect against a frost. It is April 8 here now, and I have a good stand of Mesclun, black seeded simpson, bibb lettuce, and salad bowl.

Some lettuce will germinate in soil that is around 35 degrees, but best germination temperature is 55-75 degrees. Lettuce plants can withstand a frost if the plants are strong and established, however I personally won’t chance it and cover my plants if frost is predicted.

Optimum growing temperature is 45-75 degrees. Lettuce can handle a few 80 degree days if the nights are cool. Here in the deep south, that does not leave us with much of a growing period for lettuce.

Our late spring starts to bring some sweltering hot days, and in July and August it is not uncommon for us to see days above 100 degrees, and lettuce will not tolerate that heat.

I plant my seeds and do not worry so much about spacing between plants. I can easily thin the lettuce, and the thinnings are a delicious addition to a salad. As far as spacing in between rows, your seed packet will provide those details, but typically 18″ between rows is sufficient.

Lettuce needs plenty of water and will tolerate a good bit of shade. Lettuce, again, is not very heat tolerant so a bit of shade serves to cool things down. Many folks do not realize that lettuce is actually around 95% water, which is why it is not a candidate for preserving and should be eaten while fresh.

I do not use pesticides on most of the plants in my garden, particularly lettuce. I will use pesticides only in very severe cases, and it is usually on tomato plants.

My lettuce is in a bricked up planter that is about 3′ deep. It was originally filled with a good grade of potting soil and homemade compost. Once the lettuce is planted, I water daily unless it rains. Once it germinates, I continue to water daily using the shower setting on my hose nozzle.

While the seedlings are young and tender, I will cover them with a large sheet of plywood to protect them in the event of hard driving rains.

The soil in my planter is a very good quality dirt that is enriched with compost each year. I fertilize the lettuce with nitrogen rich fertilizer, alternating between Miracle Gro, Monty’s Plant Food, and fish emulsion.

Soil testing is a good idea if you have the time, patience, and proper supplies. Then you can adjust your fertilizer application accordingly.

Harvesting Lettuce

You can harvest the outer leaves when they are 3″ long and continue to do so throughout the season until the plant bolts and goes to seed. An alternative method of harvest is to take scissors and cut the leaves off at about 1″ above the dirt surface, continue to fertilize, and wait for new growth. You will be able to harvest about 4 times before the plant requires replacement.

I do not usually replace the plants after the first harvest unless they were planted in January because it gets too hot here in the spring months.

If I do manage to get my lettuce out in January, I start new seedlings indoors about 2 weeks after the first planting so I will have seedlings to replace harvested plants. I then start a few additional seedlings 1 week after that, and a few more an additional week after so that I will have staggered seedlings to plant.

Different lettuce varieties may produce better harvested one way as opposed to another, so you might want to experiment with the varieties you plant.

On the loose headed varieties, you can harvest some of the outer leaves, allowing the head to continue growth until harvest.

Saving Seed from Bolted Lettuce

As with most all of our vegetables, at season’s end we try to let plants go to seed so we have seeds for next year’s planting. You may encounter problems, however, if the lettuce variety is a hybrid when it comes to retrieving seeds for next year. It is best to plant non-hybrid varieties for the purpose of getting seeds.

Again, it is early April here in Alabama, and I have a good stand of lettuce. Just yesterday, I carefully planted pepper plants among the lettuce, as they will grow taller and provide some shade for the lettuce as the weather warms.

After I harvest all of the lettuce, I will then use that space for later season tomato plants that I start from seed. That way we’ll have early tomatoes from the many plants we have already out and established, and later tomatoes from those we will plant in place of the lettuce.

Ranch Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

Now, for a great salad recipe to use with your fresh harvested lettuce, check out our Ranch Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing.

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Slap Yo Momma Chicken Salad Sandwiches – No Kidding!

ranch — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:35:49 +0000

I made chicken salad sandwiches for lunch today on toasted bread. They were really good. (I’ll post the recipe in the next few days, it is REALLY GOOD chicken salad).

Anyway, I served up everyone’s sandwich as usual, and showed up at the table with a knife. I then cut my sandwich in half diagonally. I always do that.

LB and Magpie don’t — but I do, I think it makes it taste better. So what is the big deal?

Halfway through lunch, LB, who was really in top form today with his sarcasm and jokes says,

“Every time I see you cut a sandwich in half like that, I want to go over and slap your momma for spoiling you that way.”

You believe this? My momma cut my sandwich in half cause I liked it, and it was spoiling me? How?

I am just sitting there, enjoying my sandwich, the way I like it, and Wham, my momma gets hurt.

So I take another delicious bite out of my sandwich and say,

“Well, you should go see her on the day that I cut the crusts off of my egg salad sandwich and THEN cut it in half.”

I do cut the crust off sometimes, I just LIKE it that way. I give the crust to the birds out back, they love it, no harm done. It is a win win situation.

Momma, look out. If LB shows up at your door, DUCK! And DO NOT, under any circumstances, cut his sandwich in half the way you did mine. Cause apparently, it makes me special in certain circles.

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White Cheese Dip Recipe

ranch — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:19:02 +0000

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Mexican restaurants often offer a white cheese dip that is simple in ingredients, but very flavorful. It is often served with tortilla chips, or drizzled on tacos, nachos, burritos, and chili rellenos.

I’ve tried it alone or combined with sliced jalapeno peppers, and either way it is delicious. You can make your own at home. The secret is in the cheese you use. I’ve seen many recipes for white cheese dip calling for different cheeses. Experiment with several and see what you like best. Favorites include Asadero, Manchego, and white American cheese. Our recipe will use Asadero cheese.

Take note there are different qualities of Asadero cheese. Cacique Asadero is the cheese that is used in this recipe.

Adjust quantities based on how much dip you need. This makes a little over a cup of dip.

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded Cacique Asadero cheese
2 diced freshed jalapeno peppers or sliced peppers in jar
1/4 cup Half and Half
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin powder
salt and pepper to taste
homemade tortilla chips or Tostitos corn tortilla chips

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except the tortilla chips.
Heat just until melted over low heat.
Use a double boiler or non-stick saucepan, watching closely.
Do not leave unattended and do not cook on high heat.
As dip cools, it will thicken, simply rewarm as needed.
Serve with tortilla chips or drizzle on nachos, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, or chili rellenos.

Enjoy!
the Rancher’s Daughter
theranchersdaughter.com

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Cheese Quesadilla Mexican Food Recipes

ranch — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 02:14:22 +0000

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Craving Mexican food tonight? Make these easy cheese quesadillas. They are delicious and incredibly simple. Serve with an ice cold Corona in a chilled mug along with a lime wedge, and you’ll swear you are in the cantina.

I am picky about some things when it comes to food. I freely admit it. I want fresh milk, soft bread, and fresh tortillas. I plan my diet carefully, and the ingredients that comprise it as well.

When selecting tortillas, pick up the package, and toss it up and down, see if the tortillas are “pliable” and soft. If you bend them slightly, and they crack, they are dry and you will not enjoy them. Check package dates and look for the freshest and most pliable tortillas.

Here is another option; make your own flour tortillas. I own a tortilla press, and it takes a little practice, but you can learn quickly and make the freshest tortillas in no time at all. I’ll make a note to post a “how to” for making your own flour tortillas.

The quality of food you create is only as good as the quality of ingredients you use, so fresh is best.

Ingredients:

Soft 8″ flour tortillas (Mission or Chi-Chi’s or Homemade in your tortilla press) The FRESHER the BETTER!
PACE picante sauce (medium is our favorite or homemade when garden bounty provides)
Hot jalapeno pepper slices (optional)
white American cheese
pepper jack cheese
Sargento or Kraft shredded Mexican cheese blend (I’m picky about cheese too)
Olive oil spray
1 Tablespoon room temperature butter (NOT margarine!)
Optional: Ice cold Corona, a chilled beer mug, and a fresh lime (cut into wedges)

Directions:

Shred the white American and Monterey Jack pepper cheeses; the finer the shred, the best melt.
You’ll find that a cheese or chocolate rotary shredder like those used at Olive Garden work best, but if you don’t have one, use a standard shredder. (and make a note to order a Zyliss Rotary shredder cause it is an amazing and versatile kitchen necessity)
Have a dinner plate allocated for each cheese quesadilla eater.
Place one fresh and very pliable (I cannot stress this enough) on each dinner plate.
Sprinkle some of each cheese (White American, Montery Jack Pepper Cheese, and the Kraft or Sargento Mexican Cheese blend) onto each tortilla.
Be careful not to concentrate in the middle of the tortillas; spread the cheese evenly and to within 1/4 inch of edge.
Strategically place jalapeno pepper slices on top of the cheese, maybe 4-8 per quesadilla (optional).
Put a top layer fresh tortilla on top to make a “sandwich.”
LIGHTLY spray a non-stick skillet with the olive oil spray.
Place 1/3 tablespoon butter in skillet; melt on medium.
Add quesadilla “sandwich.”
Don’t get tempted to start flipping and flipping, okay? Don’t do that.
Let the quesadilla cook. Using a spatula, lightly “mash” down on the top layer to see how cheese is melting.
When cheese appears to be melting, wait a minute or so longer, and lift up the quesadilla to check browning on bottom outside tortilla layer.
You want to get a gentle “brown” on the underside before turning. If you need to add a BIT more butter (not too much) to make this happen, or increase the heat a little, then do it.
When cheese is partially melted and underside of tortilla is lightly browning, carefully flip the quesadilla.
Immediately lift quesadilla, and place a bit of butter underneath, holding quesadilla up enough to allow butter to be “swished” to cover pan bottom.
Lower quesadilla back into pan.
Watch CLOSELY.
When quesadilla sides are sufficiently browned, remove to dinner plate.
Slice with pizza cutter or knife into “pie wedges”
Serve tableside with guacamole, sour cream, and Pace Picante Sauce for dipping.
For an even more authentic experience, add a chilled beer mug, an ice cold Corona, and a squeezed lime in the beer.
Serve fresh tortilla chips (Tostitos or make your own) on the side with Pace Picante Sauce or Salsa.

Enjoy!
the Rancher’s Daughter
theranchersdaughter.com

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Dreamy Creamy Pasta Salad

ranch — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:13:15 +0000

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Tired of rice or potato side dishes? Here’s a delicious side that is so easy, and your family will love it.

Ingredients:

8 ounces of pasta (I mix elbow macaroni, piccolini, and colorful rotini)
Red and/or yellow bell pepper
Green onion bulbs
Celery
Black Olives
Bacon
Salt, Pepper, Italian Seasoning
Mayonnaise
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Cook bacon and set aside to drain.
Dice all of the vegetables. Total of all vegetables is 1 cup per 8 ounces of pasta, no need to get too exact here.
Assemble the vegetables on a plate, sprinkle with Italian Seasoning, salt and pepper, and set aside.
This pasta dish is best served warm, so finish other dinner preparations.
About 15 minutes before dinner, cook pasta according to directions.
Drain pasta, DO NOT RINSE.
Add vegetables and crumbled bacon to pasta.
Add mayonnaise to pasta and stir, use about 1/2 cup per 8 ounces of pasta, or according to taste.
Stir gently with rubber spatula.
Add grated Parmesan Cheese to top and pepper again.
Serve immediately.
Be creative with this recipe. You can add leftover meats like chicken, beef sausage, cheddar cheese, green or snow peas, diced yellow or zucchini squash, diced tomatoes, whatever you have available.

Enjoy!
the Rancher’s Daughter
theranchersdaughter.com

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Savory Meat Loaf With Sweet Ketchup Bacon Topping

ranch — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:37:31 +0000

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Meat loaf is most always served at my table with homemade mashed potatoes and brown gravy, English peas, and soft white loaf bread slices. If there are any leftovers, they are used to make meat loaf sandwiches the next day. The meat loaf can be prepared early in the day and refrigerated prior to baking. Add another 15 minutes to baking time if meatloaf has been refrigerated.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 pound of lean ground pork (I prefer ground pork instead of pork sausage because sausage has so much fat; ask your butcher); if you cannot get ground pork, you can use 2 pounds total ground beef instead
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground mustard (not prepared mustard)
3/4 cup minced onion
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
2 cups fresh homemade bread crumbs (see separate recipe)
1/4-1/2 cup Quaker oatmeal
1/4 cup milk
2 large eggs, beaten
1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon sweet basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup parsley
4 slices lean bacon, each slice halved
3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cloves

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together ketchup, brown sugar, cider vinegar, allspice, and cloves. Blend well and set aside.
Place onions, green pepper, meat, horseradish, salt, mustard, and other spices in a bowl. Mix well.
Whisk together eggs, Worcestershire, and milk; add to meat mixture.
Work everything together thoroughly using your hands.
Add bread crumbs and oatmeal, continue mixing.
You can test seasonings by frying a small patty of mix in a skillet and tasting; adjust seasonings accordingly.
Place meat mixture in a 13×10 baking dish or jelly roll pan.
You want a loaf about 5 to 5-1/2 inches wide.
Slather the top with the ketchup mixture.
Lay bacon pieces across the top.
Bake at 350 degrees until meat is cooked through, about 1 hour. If meatloaf was refrigerated at time of baking, add another 10-15 minutes. You can test for doneness using a meat thermometer.
I prefer to pour off any excess grease in pan.
Let meat loaf sit at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Serve with choice of vegetables; I serve with mashed potatoes and brown gravy, soft white loaf bread, and English peas. I often substitute a green salad in lieu of the English peas.

My family likes to spread mashed potatoes on their plates, place a slice of meat loaf on the potatoes, and pour brown gravy on top. They then dip their white bread into the gravy mixture. For a beverage, you cannot go wrong with sweetened ice tea served in mason jars; my family loves tea in mason jars. It just seems to taste better for some reason!

Leftovers are used for making meatloaf sandwiches next day. I’ll post that recipe separately.

You can use ready-made bread crumbs if you wish. I make my own bread crumbs and will be sure to post a link here to that recipe soon.
Enjoy!
the Rancher’s Daughter
theranchersdaughter.com

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Rancher Daughter’s Meatball Hoagies

ranch — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:12:23 +0000

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Meatball Hoagies are delicious anytime, and these are so easy to make.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (made fresh see separate recipe)
1 tablespoon parsley
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
a few dashes Tabasco sauce
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil (do NOT add to meatball mixture)
1 jar spaghetti sauce (try Bertoli or Ragu and Prego mixed together)
Cobblestone Mill Philly Style Hoagie Rolls
Sliced cheese of choice (whole milk mozzarella, provolone, pepper jack); a variety of white cheese is recommended

Directions:

Mix first 10 ingredients by hand until thoroughly blended.
Shape into sandwich size meatballs.
Cook meatballs in salad oil in skillet until brown on all sides and done in the middle.
Drain on paper towels.
Gently press any remaining grease from meatballs using paper towels.
Place in warm crock-pot on low and pour spaghetti sauce on top. Place lid on crock-pot.
Allow meatballs to cook in sauce on low for about one hour.
Slice open hoagie rolls, and place meatball halves on hoagie bottom layer.
The sandwich is easier to handle if the meatballs are halved.
Pour sauce over meatballs.
Sprinke with freshly grated Parmesan cheese if desired.
Place cheese on top, place in oven or microwave to melt cheese.
Place hoagie top half on sandwich.
These are a little messy, so have napkins or paper towels handy.

You can use ready-made bread crumbs if you wish. I generally make my own croutons and bread crumbs and will be sure to post a link here to that recipe soon.
Enjoy!
the Rancher’s Daughter
theranchersdaughter.com

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Southern Style Baked Beans

ranch — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:23:44 +0000

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Southern Style Baked Beans are great with my Stadium Style Hot Dogs and Homemade Coleslaw. They also go great with ribs and potato salad. Barbecue baked beans are a delicious southern staple, so give them a try!

Ingredients:

10 bacon slices
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 large cans (31 oz size) Van Camp’s Pork and Beans
3/4 cup Heinz barbecue sauce flavor of choice (we like original or sweet & smokey)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2-1/2 teaspoons yellow prepared mustard
1/2 pound of lean ground beef, cooked and drained

Directions:

Lightly spray 13×9 casserole dish with olive oil cooking spray.
Heat oven to 325 degrees.
Cut bacon into pieces and partially cook in skillet until you have 1/8-1/4 cup of bacon drippings.
Remove from pan and drain.
Add peppers and onions to skillet and gently sautee for about 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine cooked peppers, onions, (along with drippings), beans.
Add remaining ingredients except bacon (barbecue sauce, brown sugar, mustard, cooked beef, and vinegar).
Stir to blend, then add to prepared casserole dish.
Top with bacon.
Place in 325 degree oven, and cook slowly for two hours until warm and bubbly.
Turn off oven. Cover with foil and leave in oven until ready to serve.

Do not forget to try this with my stadium style hot dogs. I have that recipe published elsewhere, but will add it here shortly and will add a link back on this page.
Enjoy!
the Rancher’s Daughter
theranchersdaughter.com

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Laura Brown’s Homemade Coleslaw

ranch — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:29:08 +0000

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Good homemade coleslaw is something special to me. I cannot stand the taste of that “stuff” some restaurants have the audacity to call coleslaw, that tasteless mound of white glob.

I do not put onions in my slaw, you can if you want to. I store my slaw for 1-3 days for various things, and onions stored in a salad or slaw mixture take on an “odor” that doesn’t make for tasty left-overs. You can always use your own best judgment and adjust my recipes to your liking.

Use this slaw with my Stadium Style hot dogs, alongside Fish ‘n’ Chips, with hamburgers, or with mashed potatoes and fried salmon patties.

Ingredients:

Head of fresh cabbage, outer leaves removed
Good quality mayonnaise (don’t get me started, be sure to visit the mayonnaise poll
salt, Hungarian paprika, onion powder, celery flakes, and freshly ground black pepper
yellow prepared mustard
Vlasic dill pickle slices (I am picky about crunchy high quality dill pickles, crunchy is way better than limp and lifeless; ever see a jar of pickles and have to wonder what color of “green” that is?
granulated sugar
apple cider vinegar
carrots and celery (optional)

Directions:

Using the old style of hand grater, grate the cabbage into a large bowl. This can be messy, so use a bowl large enough for the entire grater to fit inside. (do not use a kitchen grinder or other appliances – it is better if the cabbage is hand grated). The core of the cabbage does not taste good, so turn the cabbage head and get the good tasting part of the cabbage and discard the core. One half of a head of cabbage makes plenty of slaw for 3-4 people.
If using celery and/or carrots, dice fine and add to slaw mixture.
Chop a handful or so of Vlasic dill pickle crunchy slices and add to mixture.
Lightly sprinkle with apple cider vinegar, don’t over do it; we are not wanting to “liquify” the slaw
Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the slaw mixture.
Add salt, pepper, onion powder, and celery flakes. (I don’t measure, I hand sprinkle from the spice jar.)
Shake the mustard well so you don’t get a big blog of water in your slaw. Squirt in about a teaspoon or so of yellow mustard.
Add two globs of quality mayonnaise (don’t use crappy mayonnaise). I use Hellman’s.
Mix with a rubber spatula. You may need to add more mayonnaise. Because of the way I cook, I cannot really tell you exactly how much. You just have to get a feel for it. You do not want watery slaw, but you want plenty of mayonnaise. That is the secret.
Keep tasting it and adjusting spices and mayo until you get it right.
Before I serve or store my slaw in the refrigerator, I place it in a colander and let the excess “liquid” drain off. I do NOT mash it and try to remove the liquid, I let any excess drain off naturally. Then I place in a plastic container and refrigerator until ready to serve.
My mother always sprinkled the top with paprika because she said it made it look pretty. So I do that, too. My favorite paprika of all time is Hungarian paprika, I use it all the time in stews, soups, beans, boiled shrimp, and many other things.

Important things to remember: do NOT use the cabbage core, hand grate the cabbage, and use plenty of good quality mayonnaise.

Do not forget to try this with my amazing stadium style hot dogs. I have that article published elsewhere, but will add it here shortly and will add a link back on this page.
Enjoy!
the Rancher’s Daughter
theranchersdaughter.com

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Pinto Beans and Cornbread

ranch — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:18:53 +0000

Dedicated to my momma…
Juanita Laura Johnson Maness

PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION IS coming shortly….

While I did primarily grow up in the city in my younger years, my parents were born and bred country folks, through and through. My mom and dad grew up on dried beans, corn bread, and homegrown garden fare because that is what they had. While many associate dried beans with a poor man’s diet, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Surely you have at one time in your life heard the saying, “She’s as country as cornbread.” If not, you have not ventured far below the Mason Dixon line.

This recipe is dedicated to my momma, who truly loves pinto beans and taught me growing up that simple things can very often be amazingly good things. Food does not have to be gourmet or expensive to taste good. My momma and daddy believed in good country comfort foods: simple, affordable, and delicious.

Growing up in a family of 7 (yes 7, there are 5 kids in my family), my mom and dad had to stretch a dollar as far as they could. We never went hungry, and we grew up healthy and strong.

Beans are loaded with protein, and are quite tasty served up with diced sausage, rice, cornbread, sliced tomatoes, onion chunks, or those beautiful delicious green bulb onions, oh my I am getting hungry.

My husband and I are big chow chow and hot tomato relish fans, so we usually top off our beans with a big heap of hot chow chow or tomato relish. Beans are affordable, and they are easy to cook. Leftovers have so many uses such as burritos, nachos, tostadas, soup, and taco salads.

I love pinto beans served along with southern sauteed cabbage, heavily peppered and cooked in bacon grease. I KNOW it is not healthy, but you HAVE to taste it just once. I will go find that recipe after this so I can be sure to post it. Yummy.

Down Home Style Southern Pinto Beans and Cornbread

First of all, THE PINTO BEANS

Ingredients:

Dried Pinto Beans
Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Salt Pork, Thick Sliced Bacon, Ham Hock, Diced Ham Chunks
Water

Directions:

Wash and sort beans. Be sure to remove any stones or rocks; these are common in raw agricultural products.
Place in a large stock pot, cover with water and soak overnight.
If you do not have time to soak overnight, then place in pot early in the day. Heat to boiling, and boil for 1-2 minutes. Let sit and cool down for an hour or so before beginning the cooking time.
Don’t over do it on the water, just keep an eye on them while they cook. You want to have SOME liquid, but not a pot full of it.
The beans will absorb water during their soak period, after that just keep enough water to produce what my momma calls “soup beans.”
General rule of thumb is to maintain about 2″ of water above the beans.
Slice your bacon or salt pork and add to beans.
If using ham hock, place the entire hock in the beans. You will later remove the hock, salvage any meat left on the bone, and return it to pot.
I tend to think the bacon makes for a tasty pot of beans, so I usually go that route. Use about 4-5 slices of thick bacon.
As the beans simmer, check them often, adding water as needed.
Beans require sufficient time to cook. Always test the beans to see if done. A cooked bean will be mealy and mushy. An uncooked bean will be crunchy. You do not want crunchy beans.
You want to end up with a pasty thickened soup liquid at the end; I usually take a few of the cooked beans (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup) and “mash” them up and return to the pot to thicken the “soup.”
When beans are nearly done, and the liquid is about the way you want it, add salt and pepper to taste.
Pinto bean “season” is optional, it is simply a “blend” of spices usually containing: onion, chili pepper and other spices, salt and garlic. If you use this seasoning, remember that it contains salt so don’t add too much extra salt.
When beans are the way you want them, cover them and let sit warm on the stove until time to eat.

Serving Suggestions:

Crumble cornbread in bowl; ladle soup beans on top; add chow-chow and chopped diced onions.
Top hot pinto beans with cheese, sour cream, and jalapenos, and chopped onions.
Serve a large green onion with a nice size bulb alongside. Take a bite of beans, a bite of onion, and so on.
Place warm cooked rice in bowl; add beans to bowl along with diced Hillshire Farms Hot Links and stir. Top with Hot Chow Chow.
Make refried beans out of leftovers. Use in burritos, tostadas, nachos, or as a side dish topped with melted quesadilla cheese.

Second of all, THE CORNBREAD

My momma taught me to have one pan for cornbread and nothing else. I use Old Mountain Pre-Seasoned Iron Skillets. It is best not to wash your cornbread skillet with certain soaps, abrasives, etc. as it will affect the seasoning; (don’t gross out, just read the manufacturer’s directions).

Based on how you use your skillet, it is most likely you will, at some point, have to re-season it. It is not hard to do, just follow the directions that came with your iron skillet. I have one iron skillet for JUST cornbread, and other skillets for frying, blackening, etc.

In case you lost your directions on how to re-season your iron skillet. I’ll make a note to add a post on how to do that very thing.

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup whole or lowfat buttermilk
1/2 cup white sweet milk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Arm and Hammer baking soda
1/4 cup melted Crisco shortening
2 tablespoons Crisco shortening for prepping skillet (I prefer Crisco; I’m a brand freak with some stuff)

Directions:

Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Combine everything in a mixing bowl, except the 2 tablespoons Crisco. Make note the 1/4 shortening should be MELTED prior to adding.
Place 2 tablespoons Crisco in your cornbread only iron skillet.
Place in oven to heat.
Don’t leave and go watch TV or wander off outside. Shortening CAN CATCH FIRE!
You want to get the shortening hot enough not to BURN or SMOKE TOO MUCH, but hot enough to “fry” that cornbread mixture when it is added to the pan. This takes practice, but is not hard once mastered. It should make a nice, sweet, SIZZLING sound.
Once heated sufficiently, again practice makes perfect, CAREFULLY (don’t get burned) pour your cornbread mixture into the hot iron skillet.
Use a spatula or wooden spoon to gently spread in the pan evenly if necessary.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Remove from oven, and use a butter knife or spatula to “loosen” the cornbread edges from skillet. I have also been known to take a spatula and slide it “up under” my cornbread to make sure it plans to release properly.
CAREFULLY, I cannot stress this enough, place a plate on top of the iron skillet larger than its diameter, and flip the skillet.
Hopefully, again practice makes perfect, your cornbread releases perfectly onto the plate.
If it does not, it is absolutely fine. It won’t hurt the bread, the plate, you, or the skillet.
Just maybe your pride cause you wanted to be like those waiters and waitresses at that restaurant called “Cock of the Walk;” they came to your table and threw the cornbread up in the air, perfectly every time.
NEWS FLASH… I am suspecting that their cornbread got released in the kitchen before they came to your table?
Their skill lay in the fact they could throw and catch. The release came from inside the kitchen. I don’t know for sure, I never worked there.

Serving Suggestions:

Slice cornbread, insert room temperature butter (NOT margarine) inside slices, and close cornbread back to allow butter to melt.
Crumble cornbread into a chilled glass of buttermilk (THIS is living. You either LIKE or DON’T LIKE buttermilk.) Can’t say you hate it til you try it. You can also crumble it in a glass of sweet milk if you do not like buttermilk.
This is more of a VARIATION than a serving suggestion: instead of cooking cornbread, I fry it like pancakes in a hot skillet. Cornbread “fritters.”
Another variation, I see this as a separate post, and that is my homemade Hush Puppies! Too GOOD!

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Dedicated to my momma… Juanita Laura Johnson Maness

Dedicated to my momma…
Juanita Laura Johnson Maness