Pico de Gallo

I think this is the Mexican form of Bruschetta, except you serve this as a side or with chips and not bread. I like it on eggs, baked potatoes, chips, crackers, and can eat it with just about anything. Give this a try the next time you have some fresh from the garden tomatoes. This is What's (not) Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:
5 vine ripe tomatoes-chopped
3 homegrown jalapenos-diced
1 white onion- chopped

Mix all of the ingredients together and serve with tortilla chips or tacos.

Homegrown Goodness--Tomatoes

The best thing out of a garden in my opinion are tomatoes. I have several varieties growing with some old and some new to me. My grandparents raised Jet Star tomatoes and I can still taste those tomatoes warm from the garden. My husband's grandparents raised Arkansas Travelers, this tomato will bear until frost. In addition to the old favorites I also have a few heirloom varieties. One of the heirloom varieties are Big Zebra, a green tomato with darker green stripes that is great tasting. My husband has to close his eyes when eating them though. He likes a tomato to be red and that is all there is to it. The other heirloom I have in this picture is the Old German and it is yellow with pink spots throughout and tastes similar to the Arkansas Travelers. I have some Cherokee Purple growing too but they are not pictured because they aren't quite ready for picking. No matter what variety of tomato you raise, plant a tomato plant and you will be so pleased with yourself and the best tomatoes in the world.


I like tomatoes semi-pure, meaning salt and pepper only. This is What's Cookin (not) on Beaty's Creek today.

Zucchini Bread

My husband does not care for zucchini too much but he does like this bread with cream cheese on it. This bread keeps well in the fridge and taste so good cold! This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek on this beautiful morning!

Needed:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 T cinnamon
3 eggs-beaten
1 1/2 cups oil
3 cups sugar
1 T vanilla
2 cups finely grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Sift dry ingredients together. Beat eggs and sugar together until creamy looking and now add oil and vanilla. Now is the time to add dry mixture a cup at a time until all is added. Add zucchini and nuts. I baked mine in loaf pans and this recipe will make 3 loaves. Bake at 325' for 1 hour. Let cool completely before removing from pans.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

My garden is putting out quite a few zucchini squash right now and I am so glad. See, I am not a person who raises a million squash and then tries to find a home for all of it. I raise a good share but not like people you hear about who raise truckloads. I freeze a good portion of mine but we also like to enjoy them while they are fresh. This cake is so moist and chocolaty that your kiddos will never know that there is anything "good" for them in it. You can ice the cake to make it even better but we like ours without icing. This is the only time I will ever type that, we like our icing around here... This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

4 eggs-I use free range
1 ½ cups oil
2 cups sugar
3 cups finely grated zucchini
3 cups flour
1 ½ t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t salt
1 bag of milk chocolate chips-melted



In a bowl of mixer, beat eggs until creamy and light yellow on medium-high speed. Add oil and sugar and beat another minute. Add the zucchini, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nuts and melted chocolate. Beat on low speed for 1 minute or until combined. Bake in a 9x13 greased and floured pan for 1 hour at 350'.

Brussel Sprouts with White Truffle Oil

Doesn't this recipe sound fancy? I've never had truffle oil before, that is until Marx Foods sent me a bottle. Let me tell you, I will never be without it again! I can eat brussel sprouts raw, with bacon, with nothing and I still love them. We usually raise them in the garden but this year they just did not do what they are supposed to....GROW. Anyway to the grocery store I went. This is a super easy recipe that will be a pleasant surprise for your dinners. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

3 pounds fresh brussel sprouts
7 T white truffle Oil
Salt and Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Peel outer leaves off of sprouts. Slice sprouts in half and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Coat with oil and salt and pepper liberally or to taste. Now place in a 450' oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, stir and place back in oven and continue to cook for 10 minutes. They should be slightly browned but still crisp. These make a great side dish.

Mustard Greens

Mustard greens top my favorite list of Fall veggies. I love to eat these greens along with fried cornbread, nothing else is really needed. This year Ransome decided he likes them also and actually asked for seconds... He was sick earlier in the week, maybe still hallucinating, not sure. I will, however, need to pick lots more to meet our ever growing mustard green need. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

2 Walmart bags full of fresh cut mustard greens-cleaned
Water
Canola Oil
Salt to taste

I wash my greens 3 times. I fill my sink with greens and then cover them with water, dip and then remove from sink and repeat this process 2 more times. I hate grit in my greens so I wash them extremely well. I then cover them in a pot with water and cook them for 30 minutes. Next drain the greens of most of their water and add about 1/2 cup oil and salt to taste. Continue to cook for 30 minutes. I cut mine greens with a metal spatula as they soften. Eat with fried cornbread.

Pickled Jalapenos

Our jalapeno plants went absolutely crazy this year. This is good when you want to make fresh salsa but when you want to preserve them, you must pickle them. We love pickled jalapenos with a pot of beans and they are great with fried chicken also. Try these if you have not, you'll be pleasantly surprised. This is What’s Cookin on Beaty’s today.


Needed:

4 pounds of jalapeno peppers
4 cups white vinegar


Pack jalapenos tightly into your jars. I used quart jars because we eat a lot of pickled jalapenos. Boil vinegar and pour over jalapenos in jars. Seal and process in a hot water bath for 12 minutes.

Fried Green Tomatoes

When the Summer's bounty of tomatoes starts to wain it is time for fried green tomatoes!! I like fried green tomatoes with just a hint of pink because they are not so tart and have a fuller flavor in my opinion. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

10 green tomatoes-sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups white cornmeal
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 egg
1 cup milk
Oil for frying

Mix egg and milk together. Now sift flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper together. Dip tomatoes into milk mixture and then into cornmeal mixture. Pour a 1/4 inch of oil into a skillet and heat over medium heat until a bit of flour sizzles. Now place tomatoes in a single layer in your oil. Fry on each side for 4 minutes or until golden brown. Drain cooked tomatoes on paper towels. We like ours with ketchup (so wrong but taste so right) but plain they are great too!

Zucchini Bread-Paula Dean style

If you are anything like me, you can use as many zucchini recipes this time of year as you can get. This one is so moist and sweet that you will be glad you made it. I like this toasted with cream cheese and a hot cup of tea. I bake mine in loaf pans but you could just as easily bake this in a 9x13 pan. This is What’s Cookin on Beaty’s Creek today.

Needed:

3-¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ t salt
1 t nutmeg
2 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1-cup vegetable oil
4 eggs-beaten
2/3-cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 t lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Mix dry ingredients (except for nuts) in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients. Fold into dry, and add nuts. Bake in 2 loaf pans at 350’ for 1 hour, or until done.

Jalapeno Jelly

This jelly is so good poured over some cream cheese on your favorite cracker...Yummy! Be careful when you make this, the fumes from the vinegar and peppers will take your breath away. I left my kitchen exhaust fan on high. This is What’s Cookin on Beaty’s Creek today.

Needed:

2 pounds of jalapeno peppers
1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar
6 cups of sugar
1 box pf pectin

Cut tops off of peppers and place jalapenos in your food processor and process until fine. Now add your vinegar and process a little more. Now place this mixture in a heavy bottom pot and add pectin, mix very well. Now you will add your sugar and boil for 2 minutes. Watch your jelly very carefully because it can boil over quickly and oh what a mess that is. Ask me how I know this….. I strained my jelly but you don't have to. I like jelly opposed to jam in this case. Pour into sterilized jars and seal. Process in a hot water bath for 12 minutes.

Crock Dill Pickles

This recipe comes from a friend that I went to middle school with. Hi Tammy! I changed a few things around to suit our tastes. It is so refreshing when you find out people share the same interests as you do. Tammy and I both are home canning moms and we also homeschool our children. This recipe is so much like those store bought refrigerator pickles that you will feel silly for not making them all along. I know I did. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.


10 lbs cucumbers(I quartered some of mine because of their size.)
4 T dill seed
4 T pepper flakes
1 1/2 c pickling or canning salt
2 c white vinegar
16 c water
12 garlic cloves

In a large clean crock or glass or food-grade plastic container place cucumbers, garlic, and spices. Now heat to a boil the vinegar, salt, and water. Once boiling remove from heat and let cool completely. Pour over cucumbers. I placed a plate on top of mine to weigh them down. Cover with plastic wrap to keep any air out. Let sit in brine for 2- 3 weeks at 70'-75'. Mine were done in 2 weeks but my friend Tammy, the one who gave me the original recipe for these pickles, is still waiting on hers after 3 weeks. Temperature really does make a difference on curing.

To can:

Strain brine. You will pack your cucumbers into sterilized jars and cover with strained brine. You need to heat your strained brine to a roiling boil and then pour over cucumbers and seal with your lids. I processed mine in a water bath for 15minutes.

Ratatouille

This is a recipe that uses everything fresh from my garden. I made this for Raven’s lunch and everyone ended up eating it. I used whole-wheat pasta but your favorite pasta is fine. This is What’s Cookin on Beaty’s Creek on this cool summer day.



Needed:

¼ cup olive oil
1 purple onion-peeled and diced
2 eggplants-peeled and chopped into 2 inch pieces
4 zucchini- trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
4 tomatoes-peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves-minced
Salt and Pepper to taste
¼ cup chopped basil


In a large skillet heat oil over medium high heat, to that add onion until slightly softened. Now add garlic, eggplant, zucchini, salt, pepper, and tomatoes add cook covered until veggies soften up. Pour over pasta of your choice and top with basil.

Bread and Butter Pickles

Bread and butter pickles are Raven's favorite pickles and I love them too. A girlfriend and I had a bread and butter war a few years ago and yours truly won. How you may ask???? I know the secret to a crisp bread and butter pickle. Want to know my secret??? Ice and salt, that's it. You MUST ICE YOUR SLICED CUCUMBERS AND ONIONS DOWN WITH KOSHER SALT. If you do this I promise you will have crisp bread and butter pickles. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.


Needed:

25 Kirby Cucumbers-sliced 1/4 inch thick
5 white onions-peeled and cut into 1/8 inch thick rings
1 cup kosher salt
5 cups sugar
5 cups apple cider vinegar
4 T mustard seed
2 T turmeric
Lots of ice!!
Jars


Wash and slice cucumbers and onions. Let stand 3 hours in the ice and kosher salt. Now mix vinegar, sugar, spices and heat until hot, drain cucumbers and onions and then pack into hot jars. Pour enough syrup in to cover cucumbers and seal. Process in a hot water bath for 12 minutes. Let pickles set for about 2 weeks before eating.

Garden Green Beans and New Potatoes

I love green beans with new potatoes and bacon. What combo is any better?? I cannot believe how many green beans my garden has put out this year. I canned like crazy at first and then I saved the last harvest to eat! Weird I know but that is what I do. We eat ours with crispy cornbread and that is it. Nothing else is needed, well maybe some cukes from the garden but that is it. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:
3 pounds of green beans-cleaned and snapped into 1 inch pieces
2 pounds new potatoes-cleaned, but left whole
1 pound bacon-cut into 2 inch pieces
Water
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place green beans into a large pot and cover with water. Now add bacon and salt and pepper to your tastes. Cook over medium heat for 3 hours, now you will add your new potatoes and cook for another hour. We eat ours with crispy thin cornbread.

Fried Zucchini

I love Summer and all it has to offer in the garden. My MIL brought over zucchini squash this morning and the kids could not wait for lunch. My squash are about a week away from being ready to pick but my MIL's are going strong. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:
4 zucchini squash-slice into 1/4 inch rounds
3 cups all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil

Place sliced squash in a bowl and salt, let sit until you see water form on slices. Now put flour, salt and pepper in bowl with squash and flip squash around in the bowl to coat evenly. Now heat oil over medium heat, when heated add squash so they do not touch in the pan. When browned on one side flip and cook until golden brown. The kids like to eat their pieces with ketchup.

My Garden 2009

Everyone has been talking about their garden and now I can finally show you a little something from my garden. I come from a very long line of gardeners, so does my husband. This is the first harvest and doesn't it look tasty?? I am baking a crusty french baguette and have some freshly made butter to eat my french breakfast radishes with and oh, some really good sea salt. I can eat green onions with almost anything. I am making a veggie tray for lunch tomorrow and they will certainly be on it. Well this is not really cookin but it is What's Cookin today. Try growing some veggies, your kids will love it and so will you! Everyone grows flowers so be different, grow veggies!!