Broccoli Pasta Salad

This salad is so good, if I do say so myself. I used broccoli and green onions fresh from my garden. Don't you just love garden time?? This is such a good side dish or if you are like me it is dinner. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek.

1 pound pasta-boiled al dente
1 large head broccoli-broke into florets
4 green onions-chopped
1 cup salted sunflower seeds
1 pound sharp cheddar-shredded
1/2 pound purple grapes-cut in half
1 bottle Cole Slaw dressing-I use Hidden Valley brand
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients and stir until well coated, now refrigerate for a couple of hours. I always save a little bit of dressing to stir in right before serving.

Payday anyone??

If you like Payday candy bars you will love this mix! It is good for a snack or munchin while watching the game. This is What's Cookin (not) on Beaty's Creek.

Needed:
Candy Corn
Salted Peanuts

All you do is mix the peanuts and candy corn 2 to 1. If you want a Baby Ruth candy bar flavor, add a few chocolate chips.

Wishi

What the heck is Wishi you may ask... Hen of the Woods or Maitake are other names for this delicious wild mushroom. Wishi is the Cherokee name for it and I love it! To me this mushroom tastes like meat, no kidding. The old timers would cook their wishi in different types of grease and then the Wishi would taste like whatever grease they had used. Lard would give a pork taste, fat that fish was cooked in a fish taste, I think you know what I mean. We like ours cooked in a little canola oil with salt and lots of coarsely ground black pepper. Where do we get our Wishi?... Well if I told you that I would have to kill you. Around these parts you NEVER give the location of your mushroom patch. I did not take any pictures of the Wishi before it was cooked, that will have to wait for this Fall's crop. They usually are found in October here on Beaty's Creek. Here are a couple of ways to cook this versatile mushroom.

When you gather the Wishi you will take it home and clean it very well. I do this under running water. You will strip the Wishi into 1/2 strips or 3/4 inch strips if you want to deep fry it. Once all of the wishi is stripped you will place it into a large pot,( I use a large dutch oven.) and cover the Wishi with water. Boil for about 15-20 minutes. Your water will have a dark color to it when you pour the water off. Drain Wishi very well, now is the time to either freeze your Wishi or cook it! I do both so we can enjoy the Wishi all through the year.

Fried Wishi:

Coat a heavy bottomed skillet with about a 1/4 inch of canola oil or any oil you choose. Heat oil over medium heat and add Wishi. Salt and pepper to taste. We cook it until it slightly browns on one side and then we turn it and brown the other side. We like ours a little crispy. Now is the time to eat that delicious mushroom!

Deep Fried Wishi:

Needed:
All-purpose flour
Salt and Pepper to taste
Oil

Make sure your Wishi is dried from boiling it. Place about 5 cups of flour in a brown paper bag add salt and pepper to taste and place Wishi in bag. Coat as you would chicken to fry. Really shake off extra flour. Helps keep your oil clean. Heat about 3 inches of oil in a deep pan or deep fryer. Place Wishi in a little at a time. Don't crowd Wishi or it will stick together. Fry until golden brown. Serve right away!

Sun Tea

It is another hot one on Beaty's Creek and I thought of something to make that will not heat up your kitchen one bit! I had never made sun tea in my life but this has been a big hit this summer. Nothing is as good as a glass of sweetened sun tea and a good book to read while your kiddos play in the creek. This is What's Cookin (not) on Beaty's Creek today!

Needed:

7 large tea bags
1 gallon of water
a glass jar with a lid that will hold a gallon of water( I used a sun tea jar)
3 hours of hot sunlight


Place tea bags in water and close jar lid. Let stand in the sunlight for 3 hours. Serve within 24 hours.

Wild Onions and Eggs

Ladies and gentlemen..... Spring has arrived on Beaty's Creek!! You know spring is really here when you cook up a bunch of wild onions and eggs. Nothing could be better, well maybe a few morels(more on that later). The Tulsa World featured me a few years ago in an article about spring greens in Oklahoma. I am not telling all of you to go in the woods and try to figure out what onions are so read this and enjoy the thought of a wild onion and egg dinner. If you live in NW Arkansas or NE Oklahoma I am sure you know where to dig onions, but if not leave me a comment and I will try to help you out.

Needed:

2 hand fulls of wild onions cleaned and chopped into bite size pieces
Salt to taste
Oil
3 cups of water
5 eggs-beaten

Coat the bottom of a skillet with oil and saute your wild onions until softened a bit, now add your water and cook over a slow boil for 20 minutes, let some of the water evaporate. Now add your beaten eggs and stir like crazy until eggs come together and are done. We love the broth that you get from the onions, so good with crispy cornbread. That is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

King's Cake

I have always wanted to make a King's Cake but never had until 2 years ago. The kiddos loved it and so did I. It is not that hard to make but finding all of the colored sugar around Beaty's Creek was not an easy thing to do. I colored plain granulated sugar for the yellow with gel food coloring and it worked just fine though. You can eat King's cake from January 6th until Fat Tuesday, not a day before or after. You must place a baby somewhere in your King's Cake. Raine was more than a little skeptical about the baby part but was okay with it once we explained it to her. If you are lucky enough to find the baby in your slice of King's Cake, you must throw a party next year. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek this Fat Tuesday!


Needed:


2 T active dry yeast
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 cup warm milk
5 large egg yolks
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 t salt
1 t canola oil
2 T cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 plastic king cake baby or a pecan half
4 cups powdered sugar
5 T milk
2 vanilla beans-scraped
Purple-, green-, and gold-tinted sugar sprinkles

Combine the yeast and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the melted butter and warm milk. Beat for 1 minute. With the mixer running, add the egg yolks one at a time, then beat for 1 minute. Add the flour, salt, vanilla and beat until everything is mixed well. Increase the speed to high and beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball.
Remove the dough from the bowl. Using your hands, form the dough into a smooth ball. Lightly oil a bowl with the canola oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn it to oil all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Meanwhile, make the filling. In a large mixing bowl, combine the 2 cups of sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using your rolling pin roll
into a rectangle about 24x6.


Filling:
2 cups sugar
2 T cinnamon

Sprinkle the filling lengthwise over the bottom half of the dough, then flip the top half of the dough over the filling. Seal the edges, pinching the dough together. Shape the dough into a circle and place it on the prepared baking sheet with seam side down. Shape the dough into a ring and pinch the ends together so there isn't a seam. Insert the king cake baby or pecan half into the ring from the bottom so that it is completely hidden by the dough.

Cover the ring with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm, draft-free place. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour in my kitchen.


Brush the top of the risen cake with 2 tablespoons of the milk. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes at 350'. Cool completely on a cooling rack.

Icing:
Take the 4 cups of powdered sugar, vanilla bean scrapings, and milk and stir until thick and creamy. Ice cake evenly and then sprinkle with purple, gold, and green sugar.

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Fat Tuesday is soon Ya' All!! Time to eat some good ole Cajun Food!!! Raven loves this with lots of cayenne pepper on top, she loves spicy food. I really like it with crispy cornbread sticks. This is What's Cookin today on Beaty's Creek where winter is still knocking on the door.

Needed:
4 boneless chicken breasts
5 stalks of celery-stripped and chopped into bite size pieces
1 green pepper-seeded-and chopped into bite size pieces
1 large yellow onion-peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
oil
2 pounds of Andouille or smoked sausage-cut into bite size pieces
1 large can tomato sauce
1 large can whole tomatoes-chopped and mashed
2 cartons chicken broth
3 garlic cloves-minced
1 T cayenne pepper (we like 2)
Salt and pepper to taste
White Rice

Oil the bottom of a soup pot with a 1/4 of oil add the following, sausage, celery, green pepper, onion, and garlic. Saute all until the sausage is slightly brown, now add tomatoes. tomato sauce, chicken, and broth. Cook over medium heat for at least 4 hours, now you will add the rice, I add about 3 cups of rice but it is really up to you. (Just remember that 1 cup of rice turns into 2 cups of rice.) Continue to cook until rice is done. Serve with cornbread sticks.





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