Cabbage Soup with Ground Beef and Veggies

Posted on by January 6, 2024

1/5/2024 – This turned out great and was inspired by a recipe on Facebook.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3 cups cabbage, chopped
1 cup green beans, cut in half
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1 qt. homegrown and canned tomatoes
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
3 cloves minced garlic
1 Box (2 lbs) of Swanson’s Beef Broth
Jasmine rice

Instructions:

  1. Cook ground beef until done and place in the slow cooker.
  2. Place in all the vegetables, and top with the stock, and tomatoes.
  3. Add the spices, cover and simmer.
  4. Serve over rice

Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries, Bacon, & Pecans

Posted on by January 7, 2024

This was a great dish that was very flavorful. It was inspired by the recipe at https://juliasalbum.com/brussels-sprouts-and-bacon/

Ingredients

  • 12 oz Brussels sprouts ends trimmed, yellow leaves removed
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 4 slices bacon cooked and chopped
  • 1 cup pecans
  • ½ cup dried cranberries

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
  2. Slice all Brussels sprouts in half.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine halved Brussels sprouts, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and salt, and toss to combine.
  4. Place Brussels sprouts on the baking sheet cut side down.
  5. Roast in the oven at 400 F for about 25 minutes. During the last 5-10 minutes of roasting, turn them over for even browning, the cut sides should be partially charred but not blackened.
  6. While the sprouts are roasting, fry the bacon to crispy then chop it into ½-inch pieces.

Toast Pecans

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add pecans in one layer.
Toast the pecans for about 5 minutes (maybe a bit longer) in the preheated oven at 350 F until they get darker in color and begin to smell good.

Prepare Dried Cranberries

Briefly soak the dried cranberries in hot water. 1. Bring a small pot of water to boil. 2. Add dried cranberries to a medium bowl. Pour hot water over the cranberries and soak them for about 10 minutes says the original recipe but that turned ours too soft. Should have been 3 minutes or less. Drain.

Assembly

In a large bowl, toss everything together. The olive oil from Brussels sprouts and fats from bacon should be enough to coat the ingredients. If not then add EVOO.

Rib Roast Like Ina’s

Posted on by December 30, 2023

12/29/2023 – Rouce’s had a $10 Off coupon just before Christmas for a Rib Roast so I bought a 2-bone, 3 lb. roast. Dry brined it on 12/24/2023, wrapped in plastic on the foam tray and it brined in the outside refrigerator until 2 PM today. Pulled it to warm up at room temp per this recipe courtesy of Ina Garten. It was tender, as much as almost raw meat can be, and the flavor was ok. Not worth the extra cost.

Ingredients:

  • One 2-rib roast that weighed 3 lbs whereas she had a 3-rib standing rib roast (7 to 8 pounds).
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • Mustard Horseradish Sauce, recipe follows

Directions:

  1. Two hours before roasting, remove the meat from the refrigerator and allow it to warm up
  2. Place our large oven rack in the second lowest position.
  3. Preheat a very clean oven to 500°.
  4. Place the roast in a pan large enough to hold it comfortably, bone-side down
    • Spread the top thickly with the salt and pepper.
    • Roast the meat for 30 minutes. She said 45 minutes for her large 3-bone.
    • Meanwhile, make the sauce.
    • Without removing the meat from the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and roast for another 20 (she said 30) minutes.
    • Increase the temperature to 450 degrees F and roasted for about 15, until the internal temperature of the meat was at 125 degrees F.
  5. Remove the roast from the oven and transfer it to a cutting board. Cover it tightly with aluminum foil and allow the meat to rest for 20 minutes. Carve and serve with the sauce.
  6. The meat was very dark red in the center and right for Mary but too rare for Tom.

Mustard Horseradish Sauce for her 3-bone roast. See the notes below before making it again.

  • 1 1/2 cups good mayonnaise
  • 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
  • 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustards, horseradish, sour cream, and salt in a small
bowl.

The sauce was ok but not what we like. Likely missing the Worcestershire Sauce and too much Mayo. Next time reduce the mayo to ½-cup and increase the sour cream by 1 cup.

Tuscan Shrimp with Creole Seasoning

Posted on by December 28, 2023

12/27/2023 – This was a great dish inspired by the recipe at Julia’s Album here. The protein could be chicken or fish.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb raw shrimp (large, peeled, and deveined – 16 or 20 count per 1 pound of shrimp)
  • Creole Seasoning
  • 5 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Creamy Tuscan sauce

  • 4 oz sun-dried tomatoes chopped (about ¼ cup)
  • 14 oz artichoke hearts drained and chopped (1 can or about 1 cup)
  • 4 oz fresh spinach
  • 1 cup Half-n-Half
  • salt to taste

How to sear the shrimp

  1. This recipe uses 1 lb of large raw shrimp seasoned with Creole Seasoning.
  2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high heat in a large skillet until hot. Add shrimp and minced garlic, and cook for about 2 minutes per side.
  3. Remove from heat. Remove shrimp to a plate.

How to make Tuscan sauce

  1. To the same, now empty, skillet, add chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and chopped artichokes. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute on medium heat.
  2. Add fresh spinach. Cook until the spinach wilts, for a couple of minutes, on medium heat.
  3. To the skillet with sautéed vegetables, add 1 cup of Half-n-Half and paprika. Bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 1 minute, stirring. Season with salt, if needed. Adjust seasoning.
  4. Add seared shrimp to the skillet with the cream sauce.
  5. Spoon the sauce over the shrimp, and simmer for about 2 minutes (or more), until the shrimp is warmed up and completely cooked through.

Smoked Salmon Patties

Posted on by December 27, 2023

We smoked a large salmon fillet yesterday for Christmas dinner with the Creels. Tonight we made salmon patties with 1 lb. of salmon inspired by a recipe here.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 lb. smoked salmon skin removed and flaked. Smoked in the Recteq yesterday using Recteq’s Texas Pellets (oak and mesquite)
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup finely minced red onion
  • 3 large cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup Blue Plate mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 ex-large eggs
  • 1 tsp dried dill although she used 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
  • 1/2+ cup pre-grated Parmesan Cheese
  • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil to fry the patties

Dill Mayonnaise – She served it with this but we had fresh Tzatziki and that went well with the patties.

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Stir everything together and shape with your hands into 3″ diameter patties about ¾ inch thick.
  2. Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Fried gently in a No. 8 Cast Iron skillet until golden brown on both sides.
  3. Made 7 patties.

Next Time – Add 1.5 tsp of creole seasoning to the mix. Then sprinkle some on patties before frying and after they are removed from the oil.

Asparagus Baked with Cheese and Bacon

Posted on by December 30, 2023

12/25/2023 – Mary made this for the first time on Christmas Day 2023 when Digger and Carol Creel came for lunch. It was fantastic and was inspired by the recipe here. Go there for lots of advice and photos.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb asparagus
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ of a fresh lemon
  • 1 cup mixed Asiago and Parmesan cheeses, grated [the original recipe called for shredded Gruyere and Parmesan]
  • 5 slices bacon, fried and chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
  2. Trim asparagus by breaking off the tough end. Place asparagus in a medium-size casserole dish sprayed with PAM, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Top with minced garlic.
  3. Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven at 400 F for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.
  4. Squeeze ½ fresh lemon over the asparagus
  5. Sprinkle half of the shredded asiago + parmesan. Then, add chopped cooked bacon. Top with the remaining half of shredded cheese.
  6. Bake for 10 more minutes, uncovered at 400 F. Serve immediately while the cheese is nice and melty!
  7. Important note: Pay attention to how thick (or thin) the asparagus stalks are. Thinner asparagus will cook faster. Thicker asparagus will take longer to cook. The cooking times should be adjusted accordingly.

Thanksgiving 2023 at the Farm

Posted on by December 29, 2023

We hosted the family and friends Thanksgiving and had 25 attendees. This was the first Thanksgiving that Susan Combs attended and helped a lot. Below is some of what we prepared.

Cranberry-Jalapeno Relish

Pimento Cheese Dip – Same as last year

Shrimp Dip – of course

Smoked a 14 lb. Turkey that had been:

  • spatchcocked and dry-brined Tuesday at about noon.
  • Injected with Tony Chachere’s Creole Style Butter Marinade injection mix as recommended by Meat Church.
  • Rubbed on EVOO and seasoned with our Creole Poultry Seasoning.
  • Smoked it in the Recteq at 325 until the breasts were at an IT of 160° and the legs were 180°. The smoke time was about 3 hours.
  • Pulled it, cut it into two pieces, and added pats of butter. Then wraped it in foil to rest in the small blue cube for about an hour.
  • Results – Everyone said it was good. It was moist with a light smoky flavor in the skin. It would have been great if we could have made it to our level of spiciness with some cayenne.

Deviled Eggs with Shrimp and Bacon – Made our usual deviled eggs [sans the usual amount of cayenne pepper] and added finely chopped roasted shrimp. The shrimp were lightly seasoned with our Creole Seasoning before roasting at 400°. Made with shrimp as Piper liked them a lot last year in a cajun restaurant in Houston. It would have been great if we could have used cayenne in the filling.

Green-Bean Casserole – This was the first time we made this southern traditional dish.

Green Bean Casserole

Posted on by November 29, 2023

We have not made this dish in a long time so found an inspirational recipe here. It was very good as it was rich. Plus, Susan’s stirring made it special. We made this for the 2023 Thanksgiving Meal at the farm.

Ingredients

  • 4, 14.5-ounce cans of Whole Green Beans
  • 1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
  • 8 strips of thick-cut bacon, cut into small dice
  • 1 medium-sized yellow onion, diced small
  • Heavy cream – enough to fill the can of mushroom soup
  • 1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
  • black pepper
  • 1 can of crispy fried onions

Instructions

  1. Drain green beans.
  2. Dice your bacon strips very small and add them to a skillet. Cook until crispy and golden brown. Remove and drain. Set aside. Drain some of the bacon grease from the skillet reserving some for step 3.
  3. Add your diced onions and sauté until golden brown and soft.
  4. Add the can of Cream of Mushroom soup. Fill can with heavy cream then add it to the soup and onion mixture. Stir until it is a smoother gravy consistency, add in your cheese. Remove from heat and stir until the cheese is melted.
  5. We used a 9 x 13 inch casserole aluminum pan. Add the beans, and spread them evenly. Pour the sauce over all the beans. Then sprinkle the crumbled bacon over the whole thing. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes in the center of the oven.
  6. At the 30-minute mark, sprinkle the whole casserole with the onion bits and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. The whole thing will be bubbly. Let rest for 10 minutes minimum before serving.

We made the recipe through step 5 then reheated on Thanksgiving Day with the onion bits on top. It was definitely the best green bean casserole we have made to date.

Ina Garten’s Cognac Gravy Recipe

Posted on by November 22, 2023

11/22/2023 – Homemade Make-Ahead Gravy

Recipe by Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa from here. This is Mary’s traditional Thanksgiving recipe. There is another one that uses red onions. Mary always makes this one.

Makes: About 4 cups

Ingredients

  • ¼ lb. (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1½ cups chopped yellow onion (2 onions)
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 cups chicken stock, beef stock, or pan drippings, heated
  • 1 Tbsp. Cognac or brandy
  • 1 Tbsp. heavy cream (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large (10- to 12-inch) sauté pan, cook the butter and onions on medium-low heat for 12 to 15 minutes, until the onions are lightly browned not burnt. Don’t rush this step; it makes all the difference when the onions are well cooked.

2. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and whisk it in, then add the salt and pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock or pan drippings (or half and half etc) and if using, Cognac or brandy, and cook, uncovered, for 4 to 5 minutes, until thickened. Add the cream, if desired, and serve.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: You can store the gravy, covered, in the refrigerator for several days. Heat it slowly before serving.

Jambalaya Thanksgiving Wednesday 2023

Posted on by November 4, 2025

11/22/2023 – We made a double batch for dinner with the Hughes and Leonards as they arrived late afternoon. We generally followed the usual recipe for Chicken and Sausage jambalaya but Mary said it was the best one we have made and there were a few differences. Therefore, this post attempts to ID the basic ingredients and quantities in a narrative format.

  1. Chopped 6 cups of yellow onions, 3 cups each of celery and bell peppers so we had a 2:1:1 ratio.
  2. Fried 10 lbs. of cleaned-up leg quarters (small ones that had been on sale). Before frying the quarters had been salted to dry brine for 24 hours then seasoned just before frying with Kit’s Creole Seasoning. Removed the meat with the fried skin. Had 4 lbs 2 oz. of meat from the 10 lb. bag.
  3. Chopped about: 18″ of Alabama Specialty Meats Sausage; 8 oz. andoulli sausage; 4 oz. of tasso. Lightly sauteed them then removed them.
  4. Sauteed the veggies in the frying pot and added in stages until the first was beginning to have soft edges. Added about ½ cup of garlic.
  5. Simmered for about 15 minutes.
  6. Added two large cans of Blue Runner Jambalaya Mix stirred to blend and heat up.
  7. Added the meats and simmered for about 30 minutes.
  8. Adjusted the spices.
  9. Turned off and covered to rest until everyone arrived; i.e. about 5 hours.
  10. Served over Jasmine Rice.