Stewed Chicken

Everyone in the family likes this recipe and is it pretty simple to make. Just a few steps and dinner is on the table. You can serve this over rice or noodles, we like rice better but it is up to you and your family. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek.

Needed:
1 chicken- cut up
5 celery stalks-stripped and chopped
1 onion-chopped
1 green pepper-chopped
3 T cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
All-Purpose flour-to shake chicken in and 1/4 cup for roux
Oil


Place flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper in a paper bag, now add chicken and shake until well coated. Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a heavy bottom soup pot. When heated add chicken and brown on all sides. Once browned remove chicken and add all of your veggies, cook until softened slightly, now add 1/4 cup of all purpose flour to oil and veggie mixture, (this is your roux) brown slightly, once browned add 1 1/2 quarts of water and add chicken back to pan and cover for 2 hours. You may need to add a little more water but I only needed 1 1/2 quarts. Serve over rice or noodles with cayenne pepper sprinkled over the top.

Grape Dumplings

Grape dumplings are a family tradition in many a Native's home. My husband's grandmother made the best I have ever eaten. Grape dumplings are a dessert of sorts. In the old days they were made with Possum Grape or Winter Grape juice. I can still remember eating dumplings made with them. Possum Grapes are hard to find now days but we have a good supply along Beaty's Creek. You can use store bought grape juice and the dumplings will still taste oh so good! This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek tonight!

Needed:

2 quarts purple grape juice or if you are lucky 2 quarts of possum grape juice
2 cups sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1 1/2--2 cups water
*1 T cornstarch-mixed with 1 cup of cooled juice


Pour grape juice into a soup pot and bring to a slow boil, now add your sugar and stir. Simmer while you are making dumplings. To make dumplings you will sift flour and baking powder together in a large bowl and make a hole in the middle of flour mixture(this is where you will pour your water.) Pour in your water and with your hands mix flour in a little at a time until dough comes together. You may need a little more water or a little more flour. I know this sounds weird but once you feel the dough in your hands you will know what I mean. Once dough comes together roll out to a 1/4 inch thickness on a well floured rolling board. Now take a pizza cutter and cut into 1 inch squares. Once all of the dough is cut up bring your grape juice to a rolling boil and drop a few dumplings in at a time, I stir each time I drop a few. Boil for 10-15 minutes, *I like to add a little cornstarch to a 1/2 cup of cooled juice and add it back to the pot.* We like a little thicker sauce with our dumplings. This is so good with vanilla ice-cream.

Raine's Birthday!!!!

I can't believe Raine is 2 years old, boy time does fly by. I also cannot believe this is my last cake this month!!!! I am a little sad about this but only a little. But after 3 kiddos and my mother's b-day all in June, my hands do need a break. Raine is all about Blue's Clues so I did a "Clue" cake for her. There is a little Tasty Freeze of sorts in a nearby town and they have paw prints all over their building. Each time we drive by it we must stop because Raine is yelling, "a clue, a clue." This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Homemade Waffles

We love waffles around here. I am not always ready to whip up waffles early in the morning so this recipe comes in handy. These waffles come out of the freezer and then to toaster and to plate and taste as good as fresh made. Give this recipe a try and freeze a ton so your family can have waffles anytime they want them. This is What's Cookin on this HOT June day on Beaty's Creek!!

Needed:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 stick butter-melted
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk


Sift dry ingredients together. Now pour wet ingredients in dry and stir until it just comes together. Don't over mix or you will have tough waffles. Cook in waffle iron according to your waffle maker's directions. I cool mine completely and then freeze on Ziplock bags. The kids take them out of the freezer and pop them in the toaster. Soo good and easy!

Happy Birthday Moma!!!

Today is my mother's b-day, I will not tell you how old she is but I will tell you she is just as much of a spit-fire as she ever was. I am making my mother this cake because it is one of her favorites and she has a lot of favorites. As I told you before, she is an ant reborn in a humans body. Enjoy and have a great day mom!!!

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.

Canned Garden Green Beans

I was weeding my garden and was so surprised when I found my green beans ready to be picked!! I grow Kentucky Wonder bush beans and boy do they produce a bunch of beans. I canned 6 quarts and will have about 10 more before the green beans give out. As I have said in past posts, how much I love opening my jars in the Winter and eating something really yummy from my garden. Warms me up on a cold winter's day. Well we are far from that on this hot Summer's day. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:
1/2 bushel green beans
6 quart jars with rings and flats
Boiling water
Salt

Clean and snap your greens beans. I snap mine at about 1-2 inches but snap as you like your beans. Prepare your jars by pouring boiling water into them and pouring it out, Now pack your jars tightly with green beans and add 1 t salt to each quart of green beans. Now is the time to fill the jars with boiling water. When you can like this it is called "cold pack" canning, meaning your beans are not cooked first. Now place your flats and rings in a pan and simmer for about 5 minutes, now place on top of your jars and close. Now place jars in your pressure cooker and process for 20 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure. Be sure to date your jars so you will know when you canned them.

Raven's Birthday Cake

Raven's birthday cake went from chocolate cake with butter cream to a banana cake with peanut butter-butter cream icing and then to a cake with 2 chocolate layers and 2 vanilla layers with butter cream. Can you tell Raven is my daughter??? I hate making decisions and so does she. I cannot believe it was 15 years ago tonight, 8:11 to be exact, that little Raven was born. She will be my baby forever but my is she growing up. Her 15th birthday cake is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today. Actually I baked it yesterday and iced it today.

Cabbage Rolls

I had some cabbage left from making kraut and wondered what to do with it. Cabbage rolls sounded good so that is what I made. It was a hot and humid day so it was a little warm with the oven on but the cabbage rolls were enjoyed by all. I know my grandmother cooked every night without air conditioning and I cannot imagine how hot she was. I get so hot cooking with the air conditioning that I don't think I would be cooking much without it. That being said, you cannot grill every night. I used cabbage from the garden and I think it really tasted great. I am a big cabbage fan but fresh from the garden really is better than store bought. But of course use what you have. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek

Needed:
2 heads of cabbage
3 pounds ground round
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cloves garlic-minced
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 cups of cooked rice
2 eggs

Core cabbage and place in a large soup pot with 2 inches of water in the bottom. Cover and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, remove from pot and let cool completely. Now mix together the following ingredients, ground round, eggs, rice, 1 can tomato sauce, salt, pepper, and garlic, mix very well with your hands. Separate the cooled cabbage leaves and fill with about 1/4 cup of meat filling and roll ends in and roll as you would a burrito. Now pour the other can of tomato sauce in the bottom of a roasting and place cabbage roll in pan. Once pan is filled pour diced tomatoes over the top of rolls and cover with either a lid or parchment lined foil. Cook at 350' for 1 hour.

Oven "Fried" Chicken

This is my husband's favorite way to eat chicken. The way I make this "fried" chicken is to really season the crumb mixture. I hope you give this a try before it is too hot turn on your oven. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek.

Needed:
4 cups cornflakes-crushed
2 T garlic powder
1 T cayenne pepper
2 T salt
2 T pepper
1 whole chicken-cut up

Mix together cornflakes, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper in a large Ziploc bag. Once mixed well add one piece of chicken at a time to the bag and shake. Bake chicken on a parchment lined baking sheet at 425 for 35 minutes.

Okie Steak AKA BBQ Baloney

Nothing is better with potato salad than Okie Steak. Give it a try instead of hamburgers the next time you grill. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek tonight. Better get it done quick because the summer thunderstorms are brewing.

5 pound stick of baloney-sliced 1/2 inch thick
Grill
Barbecue sauce of your choice.

Grill on each side then slather with sauce. Place "steak" between hamburger buns and eat!!

Ransome's Birthday Cake

Ransome decided he wanted a guitar cake this year and I thought to myself, how hard can that be??? Well let me tell you finding the pan was the easy part of this cake and it was not all that easy. After the cake pan was found, the flavor was picked and said flavor was baked into a guitar shape so the real work could begin. See I don't know a guitar set up from a radio set up, see the problem?? Thank goodness Sean and Raven were here to assist me. My hand is still sore from all of the squeezing and my mind is sore from thinking. I hope you think this cake is as cute as Ransome did on his big day. Cannot believe he is 8!! Time sure does fly. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek tonight.

Pickled Beets

I really love pickled beets, I can eat a whole jar in one setting if I don't watch myself. If you have never tried pickled beets you are missing out. This recipe is so simple you must give it a try even if you have never canned anything before. This winter you will not believe how good home canned food tastes! I love to open a jar of something I have canned from my garden in the winter, brings a little Spring back to Beaty's Creek. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.





50 beets
2 cups beet boiling water
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 t cinnamon

Remove beet greens and save to use later. Wash beets very well and place in pot covered with water. Bring beets to a boil and boil for 20 minutes or until fork tender. My beets were not real large, (I like small beets for pickles) so they cooked for about 15 minutes, size matters on how long your beets will cook. Once boiled let beets cool and then remove beets skin. Remember to wear gloves or you will have purple hands. Now get your jars ready to go, I use pint jars for pickled beets, I like the smaller jars for pickles but you can use quart jars if you wish. Prepare your jars as you would for canning anything. Once ready pack with your beets. Now bring beet water, vinegar, sugar, and cinnamon to a boil and pour over beets in jars and seal with a flat and ring. You will process beets in a hot water bath for 12 minutes. Let pickled beets sit for a couple of weeks before you eat them.

Rub

This is my rub recipe for most meats before smoking.


2 cups brown sugar
1 cup chili powder
1/4 cup cayenne pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 black pepper

Mix very well. That is it.

Soft, Moist and Gooey Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe comes from AllRecipes.com I really like this website. I am always looking for another good homemade cinnamon roll recipe. This one is soft and very moist. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek.



Needed:

1-cup milk
1 egg-beaten
4 T melted butter
½ (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
4 cups bread flour
1 T white sugar
½ t salt
2-¼ t bread machine yeast
½ cup butter-softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 t cinnamon
1 t milk
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
4 T butter-softened
1 t vanilla

1. In a bread machine pan, place the milk, beaten egg, melted butter, water, vanilla pudding mix, bread flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in the order recommended by your bread machine manufacturer. Select the dough cycle.
2. When cycle is finished, remove from pan, and knead for 3-5 minutes. Roll out to a large rectangle. I had to use about ½ cup of additional flour due to sticking.
3. Mix together the softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Spread over dough. Starting with the widest end, roll the dough into a log. Pinch to seal seams. Cut into ½ to 1 inch slices, and place in a greased 9x13 pan. Place in draft-free space and let rise until doubled.
4. Preheat the oven to 350’. Bake for 15-20 minutes. To make frosting, mix the milk, powdered sugar, softened butter, and vanilla in a small bowl. Spread over warm cinnamon rolls.

Whole Wheat Date Bars

When I read this recipe in Martha Stewart's Cookie cookbook, I thought it would make a good breakfast bar for Raven and it did. I love dates and eat them by the handful but was not sure if Raven would like them. She said they were great but Ransome did not care for them, he is not into "health food." This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:
for the filling:
2 1/4 cups dates
1/4 apple cider

for the dough:
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/4 t course salt
1/4 t baking soda
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 t finely grated lemon zest
10 T room temperature butter
1 egg
1/4 applesauce

1. Make filling: Bring dates and cider to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until dates are soft and almost all of the liquid has reduced, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely and then transfer to a food processor. Puree date mixture until smooth.

2. Make dough: Whisk together both flours, bran, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Put brown sugar and zest in a bowl of your Kitchen Aid mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add butter; mix until combined, about 1 minute. Add egg and mix until fluffy. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with 2 batches of applesauce. Now divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic; shape into a rectangle. Refrigerate until firm, about two hours.

3. Preheat oven to 375'. Roll out one piece of dough between two pieces of floured parchment paper and place into a 9x13 pan. This is what I did because it was much easier. Now place date mixture on top of dough and place in the fridge until very firm. Now roll out the rest of the dough and place on top of date layer. I had to use flour dusted on parchment when I rolled the dough out. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Side note... Martha says the dough is a sticky one and this is true. She also says to fold the dough over on itself with the filling inside but I thought this was just too hard for me. This why I say a layer of dough, then dates, then dough in a 9x13 pan. To me, this method just worked better.