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!!

Fried Cornbread

Yes, I said fried cornbread. Nothing is better with mustard greens in the fall or a salad fresh from the garden with bacon and vinegar dressing in the spring. Give this one a try and you will be surprised how easy and good it is. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

5 cups white cornmeal
3 cups boiling water( give or take, may need a little more or less)
Caste iron skillet
Oil

Mix cornmeal and boiling water until you have thick batter. It will be easy to handle in your hands too. If it is better to have it too dry than too wet, you can always add water but not cornmeal. Not sure why but when you add cornmeal it never turns out right. So start off with a cup of boiling water at a time until you get the right texture.Form into a ball and flatten the ball out. Now heat your skillet over medium heat until a bit of the batter sizzles when added to the oil. Cook as you would pancakes, brown on one side and then turn and brown the other. Drain on paper towels and serve. Sooo good!

Moosewood Pound Cake

My Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen is well worn and well loved. The copyright date is 1977 and it is a hippy type of cookbook. All of the recipes are hand written but one thing is for sure, all are good! I have not made one recipe from this book that was bad or one that the family did not like. Try this pound cake with some strawberries, bananas, and homemade whipped cream and you will make your family happy! This is What’s Cookin on Beaty’s Creek today.


Needed:

1-pound sweet unsalted butter-at room temperature
3 cups white sugar
6 eggs-at room temperature
1-cup milk
2 t vanilla extract
1 T baking powder-I use Rumsford
1/2 t salt
4 cups unbleached white flour

Cream butter, and sugar in your Kitchen Aid at high speed until light and fluffy, now add your eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Sift together dry ingredients. Mix milk and vanilla together. Add 2 cups dry mixture and mix well, add milk mix well, now add last 2 cups of dry and mix well again. Pour into a bundt or tube pan and bake for 1 hour (I cook mine for 1 1/2 hours) at 350’ or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cake for 10 minutes turn it onto a plate. Cool completely before cutting.

Cole Slaw

This is a favorite side dish with many of my recipes. We like ours a little on the sweet side with a special ingredient you will learn about shortly. This is great eaten alone with some crackers too. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek.

Needed:

1 head of cabbage-shredded and chopped really thin
1 T salt
2 T garlic powder
3/4 cup white sugar
3 cups mayo
1/2 cup milk

Mix mayo, salt, garlic powder, sugar, and milk together until mixed very well (or until sugar is disolved). Now pour this mixture over cabbage and stir until all of the cabbage is coated. Place in fridge for a couple of hours or overnight.

5 Cup Salad

This is one my husband's favorites. It is good the next day also. I make my salads the night before Easter or Thanksgiving. The fridge gets crowded but it makes life easier on the big day. I finally got around to adding a picture to the post. Enjoy...

3 cans Fruit Cocktail-drained
2 large cans of Mandarin Oranges-drained
1/2 bag small marshmallows
1 cup coconut
2 tubs cool whip

Place first four ingredients in a bowl and mix well, add cool whip and fold gently. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and put in fridge. How easy is that???

Pineapple Casserole

This is soo good with ham. Sean does not like pineapple on ham so this is the next best thing. Give this one a try on Easter. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek.


Needed:

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs-I use free range
5 slices white bread, torn into bite size pieces
1 can crushed pineapple-with juice

Preheat oven to 350'. Butter a medium-sized casserole dish.
In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar, now beat in eggs one at a time. Stir bread and crushed pineapple into this mixture. Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish.
Bake 1 hour,or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Green Chili Soup

I love visiting New Mexico and love the food there. This is my rendition of green chili soup. We like it with fry bread or flour tortillas. This is a soup you can start in the morning in a Crock Pot and have dinner waiting for you when you get home. It really gets better the next day. Raven likes it on flour tortillas as a taco of sorts. Either way it is good! That is What's Cookin today on Beaty's Creek.

Needed:
1 pork roast with some visible fat
4 cans Rotel
2 cans green chilies
Water
Salt ane Pepper- to taste

Place roast in a crock pot or soup pot, pour Rotel, chilies and enough water to cover roast by 3 inches. You may have to add more water when using a soup pot as the soup cooks throughout the day. I salt and pepper my soup pretty heavy, meaning I use about 1/8 cup salt and 1/8 cup pepper, but it is really up to your taste. Cook all day on high in a crock pot or on medium on your stove top. Serve with fry bread or tortillas.