Potatoes are one of my absolute favorite foods, no matter how they’re cooked, baked, fried, mashed, or chowderfied. This is a variation of my mom-in-laws recipe.
Ingredients:

5 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cubed (I use brown/golden potatoes)
4 stalks Celery, diced
1 tsp Onion Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1/8 cup Chicken Soup Base (or two billion cubes)

4 cups Half and Half
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1 1/2 lb Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp Paprika

**Optional**
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (for spice fiends like myself)
Four strips of bacon, chopped and fried to a crisp
Small Sour Dough Bread Rounds

Add potatoes, celery, onion salt, pepper and soup base to 1 quart water. Water should just cover the potatoes. Bring to boil. Boil approximately 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Add Half and Half, Cream of Celery Soup, Cheese, and Paprika (Cayenne Pepper optional). Cook over medium low for another 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

We love the sour dough bread bowls. Slice off the top of the round, pull bread from immediate center, not too close to the crust (we place that bread around the plate to dip in the chowder), fill with chowder, top with bacon.

YUM

To comment on Patricia Potter’s recipe, click here.

I call this dish Bunkhouse Stew because it will feed a bunkhouse full of hungry hands.

It’s really a version of Brunswick Stew, a southern/southwest delicacy. Its origins go back to early frontier hunting. Those returning with game would throw their bounty in a large pot along with any available vegetables. I’ve seen photos with huge pots prepared for community gatherings.

There are many versions throughout Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and the Carolinas. Some are more soup than stew, others more stew than soup. I’ve taken parts of different recipes for my own version and always serve it at large family gatherings. It makes a great dish with Texas toast or hot loaves of bread.

A warning: I cook to taste rather than by recipe. In other words, I keep tasting until I find the right mix, especially with spices. I also always make a large recipe because I freeze what is left in individual portions and enjoy it all fall. For a smaller stew, you can halve the ingredients.

Two-third pound of ground chuck or ground round.

One-third pound of ground pork

One large onion (chopped)

Four ears of corn (shave kernels from cob. Better than canned corn).

Three large baked potatoes

Eight or nine large fresh tomatoes or four cans of stewed tomatoes. Optional: other vegetables such as lima beans and carrots

Spices: two tablespoons of garlic powder/Cajun seasoning to taste/a pinch of basil and oregano. I also use one jalapeno pepper (optional).

Chicken broth.

I use a large crock pot. Wash the chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook on medium heat until meat is falling from bones and there’s several inches of broth. Debone the chicken while leaving the broth in pot. Cut the chicken in small pieces and replace in pot. While potatoes bake, brown ground beef, pork and onions with a little garlic and seasoning in frying pan and add to crock pot.

Add the tomatoes/stewed tomatoes, other vegetables, garlic, salt and pepper, basil, oregano and Cajun seasoning to taste. When potatoes are baked, cut them up and add to crock pot. Allow to simmer for several hours. Add chicken broth as needed.

If my company is coming early in the afternoon, I often cook the chicken the evening before and reserve both it and the broth in the fridge. I then heat both up in the crock pot in the morning before adding the other ingredients. I add chicken broth if the stew gets too thick.

To comment on Cheryl Pierson’s, recipe, click here.

4 Teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/2  cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 cup shortening

Sift flour with sugar, baking powder, and salt; stir in cornmeal.  Add eggs, milk, and shortening.  Beat with rotary or electric beater till just smooth. (DO NOT OVERBEAT.) Pour into greased 9x9x2-inch pan.  Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Butter and serve warm.  Good with soups, chili, beans–ANYTHING.

Corn Sticks:  Spoon batter into greased corn-stick pans, filling 2/3 full. Bake in 425 degree oven 12-15 minutes.

Corn Cakes: pour onto hot griddle as you would pancake batter.

You can also use a cast iron skillet.  My grandmother used to pour a small amount of oil in the bottom of a cast iron skillet, heat it in the oven, then when it began to smoke, pour the batter into it.  It will bubble up around the edges, and this makes it “crusty” on the bottom and sides.  Then put it into the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or so. If you do this, make this easy substitution: rather that using 1/4 cup of shortening, use 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the batter, and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the bottom of the cast iron skillet when you heat it.  This is equivalent to 1/4 cup of shortening. 

(My mom used to break up leftover cornbread into a glass of milk for a treat and eat it with a spoon. This was a habit from when she was growing up–in her large family, their “dessert.”)

To comment on Stacey Kayne’s recipe, click here.

Love and Laughter in the Old West

Confession time:  Cooking is not my thing.  I came to that realization the day my then five-year-old daughter rushed home from kindergarten raving about the cafeteria food.  To add insult to injury she couldn’t believe that the Jello kept its shape.  That was the day I stopped slaving over a hot stove and took up writing, instead. She’s now a certified professional chef and has cooked for U.S. presidents.  This only proves one thing; if you want to raise a chef, stay out of the kitchen.

Which brings us to recipe week at Wildflower Junction: My daughter saved the day (and probably national security) by generously offering to whip up a recipe to share.   You and your health provider will be glad she did.  Incidentally, if you need help with menu planning, holiday party tips or simply have a cooking question, you can reach Chef Robyn at www.chefsline.com.  Just mention burnt orange juice.  She’ll know her mom sent you. 

Fool’s Gold Salad

By Robyn Fennessy  C.C.

Ingredients       

2 medium cans of black beans, drained and rinsed in cold water

2 medium cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed in cold water

2 cups frozen corn (Trader Joe’s has frozen roasted corn). Use either white or yellow.

*If roasted corn is not available: place corn in skillet. Heat and stir until roasted.

1 medium red onion. diced

1 medium tomato, diced

1/8 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

2 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

2  teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

¼ cup red vinegar

¾ cup of salad oil

2 whole limes (squeezed)

1 whole avocado diced

Method:

Gently toss beans, corn, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro together.  Combine vinegar, oil, limes, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper in a jar and shake well.  Pour over bean/corn mixture.  Toss until all ingredients are coated. Chill.  Add avocado just before serving

A Suitor for Jenny (A Rocky Creek Romance) 

When looking for a husband it’s best to go where the odds are in your favor.

The stew I want to share today is absolutely the easiest recipe ever created.   Whether you’re cooking for just you and your DH or the church choir, hopefully, it’ll become one you’ll add to your recipe box.  How many of you still have recipe boxes anyway? 

Texas Tamale Stew

Serves 2 to 200 … depending on the size of the cans used.

Put the following, with juices, in a heavy stew pot:

1 can               Chili

1 can               Tomato (crushed or diced)

1 can               Pinto Beans

1 can               Corn, whole kernel

1 can               Hominy (optional)

Heat until it’s hot, then add:

1 can               Tamales, cut into bite size

 Heat only until tamales are hot or they will break down.

Serve with cornbread.

Can Size Number                 Volume of Food         Weight of Food

No. 1 picnic                             1 1/4 cups                   10 1/2 to 12 ounces

No. 300                                    1 3/4 cups                   14 to 16 ounces

No. 303                                    2 cups                                     16 to 17 ounces

No. 2                                        2 1/2 cups                   20 ounces

No. 2 1/2                                  3 1/2 cups                   27 to 29 ounces

No. 3                                        5 3/4 cups                   51 ounces

No. 10                                      3 quarts                       6 1/2 pounds to 7 pounds and 5 ounces

I love to cook (it’s the cleaning up after part I hate!).  And I confess, too, that I like to experiment in the kitchen.  I call it being creative.  My less generous friends call it my inability to let well enough alone. <g>    Anyway, I especially like hearty dishes that I can make a big batch of and freeze portions of for later use.  The recipe below is one such.

Gumbo is, of course, known as a cajun favorite, and every cajun cook has her own recipe.  For instance my momma’s gumbo was quite different from my grandmother’s, and mine isn’t like either.  And this version is different from any of the above.  For this one, I’ve added a bit of chili powder and tomato paste to give it a little western twist (not entirely my idea – I saw the concept in a magazine and then added my own spin to it). 

Gumbos are very versatile – I just use whatever meats I have on hand (For instance, it’s a great way to use leftover turkey from those holiday meals!)

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 cup butter or vegetable oil
• 2 tblsp flour
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped bell pepper
• 5-6 cups chicken or seafood stock (can substitute water if this is unavailable)
• 1 can (12-15 oz) diced tomatoes (if you’d like an extra kick, use the kind with chopped green chilies or southwestern style)
• 1 can (6-8 oz) tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespons Worchestershire sauce
• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 lb sliced okra (best if sauteed separately with ½ teaspoon vinegar until ‘slime’ is gone)
• 4 lbs meat – any one kind or a combination of your favorites.  Meats that work well in a gumbo are Sausage (cut into ½ inch slices), deboned chicken or other fowl, pork, shrimp, crawfish, crab or even game meats
• Tobasco sauce or liquid crab boil to taste (optional)

Directions:

• Use flour and oil or butter to make a roux. 
  Do this by combining the two ingredients in a heavy saucepan and cooking over a low heat,  stirring constantly until the mixtures turns the color of a copper penny (about 15-20 minutes).
• Add garlic, onions, green onions, celery and bell peppers.  Cook until tender
• Add the remaining ingredients EXCEPT okra (and shellfish if applicable) and bring to a boil. 
• Reduce heat, cover and cook for 30 minutes
• Add okra (and shellfish if applicable).  Return to a boil. 
• Reduce heat and simmer for another twenty minutes.
• Remove bay leaves, skim excess oil, and serve over rice.

Leftovers (if there are any!) can be frozen for later consumption.

I’ve got a true frontier bread recipe for you to try today. I wish I could claim this was handed down from mother to daughter from my great-great-grandmother, but I can’t. Since Linda beat me to biscuits, and Cheryl has a delicious-looking cornbread recipe coming on Friday–and I rarely plan far enough ahead to make yeast rolls–I had to go hunting. Luckily, there are some excellent cowboy cooking sites on the internet. So here’s Frying Pan Bread, from the Legends of America site, to go with Pam’s Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup and Elizabeth’s Stampede’s Comin’ Chili. I added a few suggestions of my own [in the brackets], but the link for the original recipe is at the end. Enjoy!

Frying Pan Bread [also called Bannock]

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Water

Thoroughly mix dry ingredients. Add just enough cold water to make a stiff dough. [something under ½ cup for me]. Now let the dough rest while you heat up your skillet to medium, then add a little butter or bacon fat so the bread doesn’t stick.

Working dough as little as possible, form a 1-inch thick cake. Lay the cake on a greased, pre-warmed skillet. Brown the bottom of the cake lightly and flip or turn with a spatula to brown the other side. When both sides are lightly browned, prop the skillet in front of the fire [or slide it into a 375-400 degree oven] and let it bake [for 10-15 minutes]. Test for doneness by thumping the cake with a spoon handle or stick. A hollow ringing sound indicates doneness. An alternative test is to jab the cake with a twig or matchstick. If the twig comes out clean (no clinging dough), the cake is done.

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-frontierrecipes4.html#

This recipe is fast, easy, healthful and tasty.  I keep the ingredients on hand for unexpected company.  My family loves it.

1 pound ground meat (I like ground turkey, but beef works)

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 16 ounce carton fresh cut salsa (I like Rojos Garlic but your favorite will do)

2 16 ounce cans low sodium beans with liquid (1 can red, 1 can black is nice) 

Brown meat with chili powder, drain off fat.

Add salsa, beans, and a little water if needed.  For variety you can add some frozen corn.

Mix and simmer about 20 minutes.  Mash some of the beans with a fork or potato masher to thicken and flavor the liquid.

Serve and enjoy (you won’t believe how good this is).

I don’t reckon most cowboys in the Old West had ever heard of tortellini, and I’d bet my favorite western it was never eaten out on the range.  But I do know sausage and pasta has been a favorite through the ages, so here’s a soup I’ve made for my family many times over that I’d love to share with you.  Add some crusty bread or  garlic breadsticks for a delicious meal!

1 lb. Italian sausage

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 – 14 1/2 oz. cans beef broth

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup dry red wine

28 oz. can Roma tomatoes

1 cup sliced carrots

1/2 tsp. basil leaves

1/2 tsp. oregano

8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 pkg. tortellini, cheese or meat

1 green bell pepper

1 cup zucchini, sliced

Parmesan cheese

If sausage is in casing, remove.  Brown sausage in 5 qt. Dutch oven.  Remove from pan, reserve 1 Tb. drippings in pan.  Saute onion and garlic in drippings until tender.  Add next 8 ingredients, plus sausage.  Bring to boiling, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Stir in tortellini and green pepper.  Simmer until tortellini is cooked.  Add zucchini last 15 minutes.  Top with Parmesan cheese.

Note:  1 can of sliced carrots may be substituted.  Use the water in the can and omit the 1/2 cup of water listed.  Also, 3 cups of bow-tie or spiral pasta may be substituted.

At least I’m hoping that it’s better late than never.  A family emergency has had me in its grip for the last 48 hours and so I was supposed to post one of my most favorite recipes in the whole world today.  But up until this very moment, there’s not been an inch of time.  So bear with me if you please.

What I’m about to share with you is an old southern recipe for chicken and dumplings.  My mother was a southern bell (I still think the wrong side won the Civil war) and she used to make this meal often — and I loved each and every one of those meals.  So you ready?  Here we go.

The secret of wonderful chicken and dumplings is in the broth.  This was very well known to the Indians of old, who always had a pot of soup boiling day and evening.  But the broth is what makes chicken soup so nourishing — it’s also what gives chicken and dumplings its taste.  It can’t be manufactured with chemicals, though I suppose some would try.

Okay enough said.  This is called bone broth soup — an American Indian staple of the past.  Start with a chicken — a whole one — cut up or not — it doesn’t matter.  I use a crock pot to make my broth, but you can make it over the stove.  Wash chicken and put it in a pot and cover with filtered water.  Add 2 tbls. of vinegar and let sit for a little while — maybe 15-30 minutes — the vinegar helps to pull the nutrients out of the bones and into the soup.  Add celery (3 stalks) and carrots (3).  You can also use onionns, but I generally leave these out because we have cats and dogs that I feed this broth to sometimes and onions can be a little poisonous for them.

Bring to a boil and scrape off the form that rises to the top and then simmer this for about 24 hours.  (This is why I use a crock pot.)

It will make lots of broth.  I use what ever I need for the dumplings and freeze the rest in mason jars.

After cooking the broth, bone the chicken and throw away the bones and veggies.  Add broth (about 6-8 cups) in a large pot and add cut up chicken that you just cooked from the broth.  Add a couple of stalks of celery, onion and carrots — this time I use onions as I don’t usually feed this to my animals.  Add about 2 teaspoons of salt, about 2 teaspoons of Thyme and about 1 teaspoon of Sage.  Simmer.

In the meantime put 2 cups of whole grain (hopefully sprouted) flour – or unbleached white flour if you can’t find any other, but know that white flour isn’t very good for you —  in a pan and add 1 teaspoon salt, a little parsley and about 1-2 teaspoons of baking soda.  To this cut in 4 tablespoons of butter.  Add anywhere from 3/4 to 1 cup milk — just enough to hold it together. 

Drop teaspoon fulls of the dumpling mixture to the simmering broth and cover.  Let cook for 20 minutes without lifting the cover.

Serve in bowls.  Usually my family eats this up immediately and there’s always people asking for more.  Another southern tradition is to serve the chicken and dumplings over mashed potatoes.  Oh my gosh, is that good!

Hope you’ll enjoy and excuse this very late post.