Monday, August 22, 2016

Tonight's Supper -- in Cute Casserole Dish from Caleb & Maria

Caleb and Maria gave me this ceramic casserole dish for Christmas.  Isn't it cute?
Loren gave us the roast frozen.

Spices on it:  
Weber Steak 'N Chop Seasoning, Schilling Celery Salt, Spice Islands Crushed Sweet Basil, and sea salt.  It's been in the oven on low heat for an hour and a half now, and the aroma is just starting to drift through the kitchen.  Mmmm...

I hunted high and low... and then I hunted low and high -- even looked in the freezer for a bag of fire-roasted vegetable blend from Schwan's from which I might be able to steal potatoes... but it seems we haven't a tater in the house.

But!!! -- I do have Hungry Jack potato flakes and country gravy mix.  So... Hungry Jack and country gravy it is!


Sunday, July 31, 2016

Farmer's Almanac Peach Cobbler

This afternoon I picked about 10 gallons of peaches from our tree.


Don't they look good?


Mmmmm; they are good.

So... what shall I make with them?  I know, I know!  I'll make our favorite Peach Cobbler!
At our house, we call this recipe 'Lura Kay's Peach Cobbler', because my sister Lura Kay gave me the recipe about 30 years ago from an old Farmer's Almanac.  But let's call it 'Farmer's Almanac Peach Cobbler'.




Farmer's Almanac Peach Cobbler


Filling:
1 ½ T cornstarch
¼ - ⅓ C brown sugar
½ C water
4 C peaches
1 T butter
1 T lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375°.

Mix cornstarch, brown sugar, and water in a pan.  Add peaches, butter, and lemon juice to sugar mixture.  Cook over medium heat until it thickens, about 15 minutes.


Cobbler topping:
½ C flour
½ C sugar
½ t baking powder
¼ t salt
2 T soft butter
1 egg beaten slightly

Beat together cobbler topping ingredients until smooth.  Pour peaches into 8” pie or cake pan.  Drop rounded spoonfuls of flour mixture onto peaches. 

Bake until golden brown, about 30-35 minutes.


For another variety, use a mix of blueberries and raspberries with your peaches.  And put a dollop of ice cream or whipped topping on it.  Mmmmm, mmm!




Monday, July 25, 2016

Crustless Zucchini-Broccoli Quiche with Philly-Swiss-Mushroom-Stuffed Deer Brats


What do you do when a friend gives you a giant zucchini from his greenhouse, and you don't want to make 101 Loaves of Zucchini Bread, nor do you like it simply sliced and sautéed in butter?  I've never been particularly fond of Lone Zucchini.

Well, in order to decide, I peeled it... sliced it... and tasted it.

Amazingly enough, I liked it.  It was yummy!  It's always a good thing when the first ingredient of whatever dish you're preparing tastes good.

I cut the zucchini slices into small wedges, put them into a big pot with a small amount of water, turned the burner on medium-high, and generously salted and peppered them.

Next, I pawed through the freezer, and came out with a bag of broccoli and a package of fat Philly-Swiss-Mushroom-Stuffed Wild Game (mostly venison) Brats.  The broccoli went in with the zucchini, and the brats went into a pan of boiling water.

When the brats were nearly done, I took them out of the pan, sliced them, and put them into the pot of zucchini and broccoli, after draining most (not all) of the water.  When the vegetables were alllllmost done to my liking (I don't care for overdone, mushy broccoli), I tasted it to make sure there was enough salt and pepper.

Then I added about 8 eggs, gave them a good stir, set the burner on medium, and put the lid on for 3 ½ - 4 minutes.  Another good stir (making sure nothing was sticking to the bottom), and then I added five slices of Velveeta pepper jack cheese, stirring until it was all melted in.

There you are, crustless Zucchini-Broccoli Quiche with Philly-Swiss-Mushroom-Stuffed Deer Brats.  Or you can cook just the brats, drain them, and then assemble sliced brats and uncooked vegetables into a deep-dish crust, layering with the cheese, pour beaten eggs over the works, and bake at 350° for 45 minutes, or until it is light golden brown on top.

For the rest of the menu:
Dark sweet cherries
Apple pie with black cherry frozen yogurt





Mmmm, good.