Sauerkraut with Carrot and Jalapeno

Posted on by February 5, 2019

1/12/2019 – As today’s first tasting of the last batch–made with carrot and 1.8% salt–was good, and we have four heads of cabbage, this was made with the same percentages plus about 1.5% diced jalapeno. The seeds and pith from the pepper were not included.

grams w/ carrot
Cabbage 1237.0 123.7
0.2% caraway seed = 2.5 2.7
0.5% yellow mustard = 6.2 6.8
1.8% salt 22.3 24.5
10% Carrot-diced 123.7
Jalapeno @~1.5% 18.6 No seeds or pith

2/4/2019 – Mary and I both found it crunchier than past ferments and nicely so. The jalapenos were not noticeable although it has an overall nice flavor tone. This recipe is going in a good direction. The higher salt percentage is good.

Fried Rabbit with Gravy

Posted on by January 10, 2019

This was our first-ever rabbit cook and Mary followed the recipe in the Cash and Carter Family cookbook on page 121.  We bought a 1.84 lb. dressed whole rabbit (largest one in the case) at South Alabama Custom Meats. It was $4.99 per lb. Cut the four legs at the joint and split the carcass along the backbone. Chopped the halves into sections that were of similar thickness.

Mary liberally seasoned the pieces with 6POGS about noon. Put them into a 1-gallon ziplock and poured in buttermilk to marinate for the afternoon.

About an hour before cooking took them out of the fridge and rinsed them off. Let the meat drain for a bit then seasoned with sage, granulated garlic, salt, and pepper.

In a medium-sized bowl combined milk, 2 large eggs, and Crystal’s hot sauce. Lightly dusted the meat with all-purpose flour before frying.

Using a #10 cast iron skillet, heated bacon grease and a blend of oils (Crisco blend). Added enough to the skillet to pan fry–not deep fry–the meat.  Fried until done and placed on a baking rack to let the grease drip off.

Removed excess grease from the skillet and made gravy the way my Mom taught me.  Brown the flour, add a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Add enough milk….slowly…..until it thickens. Keep adding milk till it is just right.

Our first fried rabbit.  It was great! Not sure if we liked the rabbit or the gravy better. Had not made gravy in a while. It brought back a lot of great cooking memories from my Mom’s kitchen.

Ingredients – from the original recipe – sometimes changed in amounts to meet our taste.

1 frozen rabbit, cut into pieces
~1/2 cup buttermilk
6POGS – OUR BLEND
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
Dash(es) of Crystal hot sauce
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage (not nearly enough)
salt, pepper, garlic salt (used granulated garlic) to taste
3 cups vegetable oil, for deep frying – used bacon grease and Crisco blend – pan fried not deep fried

Gravy
5 Tablespoons reserved oil from frying rabbit
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 cup milk
Salt, pepper to taste

Paella with Chicken, Sausage and Shrimp

Posted on by January 12, 2019

12/28/2018 – Mary was inspired by the recipe for paella on page 144 of our copy of The Cash and Carter Family Cookbook. It is a bit different but similar and was VERY good. The ingredients below include some struck out that they used and we did not have.

6 chicken leg quarters, cut into pieces with skin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon paprika (use hot paprika if you prefer an extra kick)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped hot and spicy sausage
1 Spanish or white onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup chopped 1/2″ yellow bell pepper – did not have red
1 cup chopped 1/2″ green bell pepper
1 large bunch Italian parsley chopped from the garden, divided
4 cups Spanish rice with saffron – Used about 2 cups of rice because of the pan size
2 tablespoons salted butter
6 cups chicken broth – used about 4 cups – reserve some to add if needed
1 (16-ounce) can diced tomatoes drained
4 cup green peas
substituted frozen corn for the green peas because we had corn and no frozen peas
Pinch of Spanish saffron
6 Littleneck Clams
6 mussels
8 ounces fresh shrimp, heads on or headless, deveined, and peeled
2 cold-water lobster tails, removed from the shell and deveined
8 ounces sliced calamari

  1. Coated the chicken with the seasonings and fried it in bacon grease and some oil. Set aside.
  2. Browned the sausage. Set aside.
  3. Sauteed the vegetables in the drippings of the fried chicken and sausage.
  4. Add the rice to the vegetables and cook til the rice is browned.
  5. Add diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add back the chicken and sausage.
  6. When almost done added the shrimp.
  7. Turned off and let sit until we were ready to eat.

Smoked and Seared Pork Belly Slices ToTry

Posted on by December 27, 2018

This is inspired by Jeff at https://www.smoking-meat.com/february-1-2018-smoked-pork-belly-slices.

What You’ll Need

  • 3-4 lbs pork belly slices (¼ thick is perfect)
  • Kosher salt (for the dry brine)
  • Jeff’s original rub recipe
  1. Dry brine both sides of the 1/4″ thick slices for 2 hours
  2. Apply rub
  3. Smoke at 240 until they are at 200-205
  4. Let cool for about an hour
  5. Sear in a medium heat CI pan

Christmas Lamb 2018

Posted on by December 24, 2018

We bought on 12/22/2018 two pieces of lamb ribs that weighted 2.76 lb. and 2.3 lb. at South Alabama Custom Meats. On Christmas eve, after they have thawed in the refer for two days, we salted the (dry brine) and an hour later rubbed with fresh toasted Corriender seeds (toasted whole in a cast iron skillet) and fennel (not toasted) that was all ground fine in the coffee grinder and shaken on the lamb.

Sauerkraut with Carrot

Posted on by July 7, 2020

12/23/2018 – Made this different than the first time I made it with carrot as there is far less carrot (~10:1) and included the caraway and dill like German kraut. The cabbage to carrot ratio is about 10:1. The salt level is much higher than the 1.4% I usually use as the last batch was at 1.6% and I liked it.

grams
Cabbage + carrot -
1856+192		2048
0.2% caraway seed =4.1
0.5% yellow mustard =10.2
1.8% salt37

1/12/2019 – The first sampling of this was enjoyed by me and Mary. Crunchy and not salty as feared. The carrots seemed to add a touch of sweetness but not in a sugar sort of way.

 

French Onion Chicken ToTry

Posted on by December 22, 2018
This recipe was inspired by one with the same name at Dixondalefarms.com.
Ingredients
3 tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 tsp. chopped thyme
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 3/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1″ pieces
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. low-sodium beef broth
1 c. shredded Gruyère
Chopped parsley, for garnish (optional)
Directions
1. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Add onions and season with salt, pepper, and thyme. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally until onions are caramelized and jammy, about 25 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Turn off heat and remove onion mixture. Wipe skillet clean.
2. In a large bowl, season chicken with salt, pepper and oregano, then toss with flour. Heat remaining oil in the same skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until golden on all sides and mostly cooked through, about 8 minutes.
3. Add beef broth and return cooked onions to skillet. Bring mixture to a boil, then then educe heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through and beef broth reduces slightly, about 10 more minutes.
4. Add Gruyère and cover skillet with a lid. Cook until cheese is melty, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and garnish with parsley. Serve warm.

Citrus Rosemary Cornish Hens

Posted on by December 20, 2018

Inspired by Jeff Phillips here.

What You’ll Need
  • 4-6 Cornish hens 18-20 oz. each
  • Citrus rosemary marinade (recipe below)
  • Jeff’s Texas-style rub
Instructions
  1. Make the marinade by adding 3 cups of olive oil to a medium sized mixing bowl. Zest about ? cup each of the oranges, lemons and limes. Squeeze the oranges, lemons and limes to get about 1 full cup of juice. Add the zest, juice, chopped rosemary, minced garlic, salt and pepper to the olive oil and stir well to combine.
  2. Halve the cornish hens by removing the backbone and the keel bone along the breast.. Add the half chickens to a lidded container and pour the marinade over the chicken to cover. Place the chicken in the fridge for 12 hours.
  3. Do not rinse when finished. Sprinkle a thin layer of Jeff’s Texas style rub onto the skin side of the chicken halves.
  4. Set up your smoker for cooking at about 275°F if possible using orange wood, or any citrus/fruit wood or even pecan, oak or hickory if that is all you have.
  5. Place the chicken on the smoker grates skin side up. Cook the cornish hens for about 1 hour and 15 minutes at 275 °F or until they reach 165 °F in the thickest part as measured by a meat thermometer.

Simple Etouffee ToTry

Posted on by December 17, 2018

From the Deep South Dish to serve over blackened catfish and her Cajun rice pilaf.

Prepare the etouffee first by melting the 1/2 stick of unsalted butter in a large skillet over medium heat and stir in the flour; cook and stir for about 4 minutes or until caramel colored.

Add the onion, bell pepper and celery; cook another 3-4 minutes or until tender, add the garlic and cook another minute. Slowly stir in the stock or broth until fully incorporated. I had a carton of Kitchen Bouquet vegetable stock in the fridge I needed to use up so that’s what I used here. Isn’t it beautiful and rich?

Add the pepper and Cajun/Creole seasoning. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to a medium low simmer, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the crawfish tails, cook and stir until crawfish is heated through. Since I’m using this as a sauce, I’m only using about 1/4 pound of crawfish, which makes it a little more economical. When we have a crawfish boil or pick some up already boiled, I always peel and set aside some to freeze.

Stir in the parsley and green onion, reserving a bit for garnish. Hold over very low simmer.

  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup of diced onion
  • 1/2 cup of diced green bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup of diced celery
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 2 cups seafood or chicken stock/broth
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon Creole or Cajun seasoning
  • 1/4 pound crawfish tails
  • 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/8 cup sliced green onion

Instructions

  • Prepare the etouffee first by melting 1/2 stick of butter in a large skillet over medium heat and stir in the flour; cook and stir for about 4 minutes or until caramel colored.
  • Add the onion, bell pepper and celery; cook another 3-4 minutes or until tender,
  • add the garlic and cook another minute.
  • Slowly stir in the stock or broth until fully incorporated.
  • Add the pepper and Cajun seasoning. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to a medium low simmer, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the crawfish tails, cook and stir until crawfish is heated through; stir in the parsley and green onion, reserving a bit for garnish. Hold over a very low simmer and prepare the blackened fish.