bacon grease

I've always been frugal, but my current economic situation makes me take it just a step further.

When I made broccoli salad, I was shocked at how much grease came from the bacon that I fried up. I was frustrated because I don't buy the cheap crap - I got it on sale, but I got the kind without nitrates, not so processed, from "natural" farm. When I fried up the whole package, there wasn't that much bacon to use and freeze, and that bummed me out. But there was a whole lot of grease.

I tried to throw the grease away but when I put it in a plastic container of course it melted the container and spilled all over my back porch. So I poured it into a glass container, but then I got to thinking ... and next thing you know, I'm cooking eggs and vegetables in it. I haven't yet baked with it as an ingredient, but that might be next. The thing is that butter and oil are expensive, especially if you're trying to avoid GMOs and rGBH and THC and TNT.

Next time I'll think it through and drain it through a paper towel. Honestly I very rarely cook bacon, but this might make me more willing.

And yes, I feel like a proverbial Plains Indian, using all of the buffalo.

soups for chilly winter days

Sometimes it's shocking to me the things that I've never eaten. Going to the retreat last weekend was a great opportunity to try and share new things with people - I changed L's life by teaching her how to make her own bread, and K changed mine by bringing white chili. She uses a base/flavor packet from where she works, but a quick look on the internet reveals a number of possible recipes that I can make from scratch.

Here's Paula Deen's white chili recipe, and probably what I will try first with a few tinkers. In fact, I think I'll make it tomorrow since I think I have everything on hand. Yummm ...

And here's her lasagna soup recipe, which another member brought and it was SUPER yummy too. I don't think it would freeze well because of the pasta, but would be a great casual dinner with others, especially with a good French bread or crostini.

It's rainy and dreary and chilly, so more soup it is!

borscht

This was long a stand-by for me - I love me some root vegetables, and then learned how to make it for real when I lived in Russia. But somehow it fell by the wayside. Yesterday when I went to the farmers' market, though, the beets called out to me provocatively. "Hey baby, you know you want to take us home." And there they were, so beautiful, so robust, so vibrant, so beety. And now they are in my fridge (and don't get me started on how upset I am that 2009 is The Worst Gardening Year Ever). So, back to borscht I go (though, there's there AMAZING beet/potato cold salad we used to eat in Russia that was to die for - that may be next).

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Beef (or goat) meaty bones (make broth from them in slow cooker, drain fat, then add):

3 medium beets, peeled and diced

1 diced carrot

3 medium potatoes, cubed

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium head cabbage, cored and shredded

can diced tomatoes and/or small can tomato paste

1 T lemon juice or vinegar
1 1/2 tsp dried dill (if don't have fresh - which is really far superior)
salt and pepper to taste

Toss it all in the slow cooker, give it a good stir and cover with water if necessary (and maybe a little beef bouillon if the broth doesn't look rich enough). Don't cook it too long or it'll all get mushy (I've never slow cookered it before, though I like not having to stir regularly).

[That's the easy & quick way; better to saute onion & garlic first and then toss it all in.]

Serve with sour cream or yogurt (сметана would be best but I've never seen it for sale here) and dark, grainy Russian bread.

goat stew

Modeled after this. Used to have really excellent goat stew (called soup) in Ghana but I want to put some vegetables in it. I think the important things are the tomato, a little peanut butter, chilies and garlic, and cooking the goat a long darn time.

1 lb of goat
1-2 large onions (include the trinity of celery & pepper if desired)
2-4 cloves of garlic
a jalapeno or small chilies
2-3 T peanut oil
2-3 T tomato paste
a bay leaf or two
1/8 tsp of cloves
1/8 tsp of ginger
1 dash of cayenne
salt and white pepper
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups of beef stock (I'll use bouillon) (add more water as necessary)
2-4 carrots (or some pumpkin or a yam), in chunks
1 pound okra
2 T peanut butter

Peel and dice the onions, and slice the carrots (or pumpkin).

Crush the garlic and chilies with mortar & pestle.

Heat up the butter to medium heat and saute the meat and onion, garlic, chilies for a few minutes (till onions are translucent). Put them in a crockpot.

Then add tomato puree, spices, lemon juice, and the stock.

Cook several hours in the crockpot (about 5 hours on high).

About an hour before serving, stir in vegetables and peanut butter.

Check the seasoning. I like it with white rice.

***
This turned out really good, though I'd go lighter on the cloves. It has a rich, deep flavor. Other vegetables would be really good too, such as green beans and zucchini (though added late, to make not mushy).

Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

Recipe from here.

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 cups granulated sugar (I put in 1 1/2 c but less than that and I worry they won't harden)
* 1/2 cup evaporated milk (or regular milk, or diluted half and half)
* 2 tablespoons cocoa (or more like 3 for me)
* 8 tablespoons butter
* 3 tablespoons peanut butter (2-3 T - I like PB as backdrop, not central flavor)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans
* 2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats (I use regular oats, up to 3 c until it seems right)

PREPARATION:
Combine sugar, milk, cocoa, and butter in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly; boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla, peanut butter, and chopped nuts.

Add oatmeal and stir to blend thoroughly. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper. Makes about 4 dozen no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies.

Survey

How does everyone feel about buying special ingredients for one recipe, knowing that the extra ingredients will probably not get used beyond the one recipe? Does it deter you entirely from making the recipe in the first place?

stewed okra

I admit it: I'm a complete okra fiend. If I had to choose between chocolate and okra, I'm not sure which would win. It might be on my top 10 list (see Jenny's prior post), though I have a really hard time conceptualizing my diet like that.

One of the key reasons I love it so is that it grows like a weed in my backyard. For a few months of the year, it's the key vegetable of my diet. Because it's soooo darn good. And while I may be a Yankee by birth, I'm all Dixie in the kitchen.

Today's stewed okra was born of necessity: I'd been hoping to save up enough okra to pickle some more, but with the cooler weather I'm not harvesting enough. I had a bag of maybe 50 pods that was going down hill fast, and it needed stewing 911. And it is amazing. I meant to eat it with rice and white beans tonight, but it won't last that long.

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In a cast-iron skillet, heat some peanut oil. If said skillet was recently used for sauteing andouille, bacon, or other such meats - so much the better. Erica at Bacon Concentrate waxes poetic on her love for pork fat, and let me just say: she's not wrong. But one of the best parts is that a little goes a long way.

Saute the trinity and garlic over low heat. (However, today I had used all the garlic, bell pepper, and celery in the beans and had none left. So it was just onions, which I had frozen when I got onions on sale months back.)

Add in the okra, sliced to about 1/4" thickness (or larger). I like a variety of sizes for a variety of textures. Stir it up good, let it heat up.

Add in a can of diced tomatoes. Sprinkle some Creole seasoning on the top. Stir well, and let it stew, stirring occasionally.

I probably let it cook for about 20 minutes, but then some okra stuck to the pan so it was done.

And soooooo good!!