I MADE SAUSAGE!!!

For Christmas this year my wonderful man friend got me the meat grinding and sausage stuffing attachment that goes on my kitchen aid mixer, and I made my very own sausage! I am not going to put my recipe on here just yet, because I want to tweak it and make it absolutely perfect. Don't get me wrong the sausage I made was very delicious and very rustic, but it was my first attempt at sausage making so I can't wait to try the perfected product. I chose to make two types of sausage, including sage sausage and I made a lamb sausage. I absolutely loved the flavoring in both, the lamb was so amazingly earthy. I plan to make all kinds of weird sausages including rabbit and rattlesnake. 


First thing first, find yourself a good butcher, not only is it important for the quality of meat, but I had no idea going to the butcher could be so fun! If you are ever in the Los Angeles area I would highly recommend the guys over at Lindy&Grundy, probably the hippest butcher ever. Although they don't really carry a lot of the exotic game meats that I want to experiment with other than the occasional rabbit, they are still pretty hip. Anyway check out this link and see how awesome they are! http://lindyandgrundy.com/


The key to making sausage is fat and the second key is to keep everything extremely cold, including your equipment. Sausage making isn't exactly the most attractive process and I wouldn't advise it to happen on a first date, unless you are way awesome, then by all means stuff away. I think it is quite funny that a lot of people don't realize that stuff that is shaping your sausage is actually the thin membrane of the pig's intestine. Being elbows deep in that might turn some of you away, so if your prefer you could just make sausage patties which require no casings. It honestly just feels like a balloon and has no smell, so don't be a pansy and try it! it is a very lengthy process, although I am sure with more practice I might be able to pick the pace up. It was a very fun experience and I am pretty proud of myself! I mean, how many people do you know make their own sausage? Follow my journey on sausage perfection, in the mean time enjoy these pictures of the sausage making process!

Hope you enjoyed the photos, I look forward to making more delicious sausage, stay tuned for recipes, and as always I will see you a little further on down the line!

 

Man's Best Friend

As some of you may already know my family dog Jenny passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 17. She had a special bond with my father so losing her this close to Christmas of course made all of the family feel the loss of our father even more. I chose to look at her passing in a different way. First and foremost, we all die, everything dies, it is inevitable. Jenny lived a long full complete life and my parents spoiled her rotten. I got excited thinking that perhaps my Dad and Jenny had  been reunited for the holidays and were happy. I could just see her sitting on his lap eating a cheeseburger or even a bologna sandwich (my dad always fed her what he ate).
Anyway I was on the way to the beach with Andy and two of our dogs Ellie Mae and Harvey when my brother told me that Jenny wasn't going to make it. Of course I cried, even being so far away from home it is hard because she was such a big part of my life. I was lucky though to have a comforting boyfriend and two very special dogs and the ocean to ease my pain. Andy went off to take some hang gliding lessons and I went down to the water and set up a little spot for myself and the pups to just relax. The dogs absolutely love the water, maybe not so much of being in it too deep but they like the waves crashing on the shore. Ellie Mae is absolutely fascinated by the ocean and also by fire, she stares at it very intently and she is very calm.    
    After we had explored and ran around a little bit I had a father and daughter approach me  and the dogs. The little girl asked if she could pet the dogs and I said yes. Harvey was kind of barking so she was a little afraid of him at first. I found out a lot about this little girl, her name was Alex, she was spending Christmas with her father who said that he would love to have a dog but his place wasn't big enough. Alex told me that her mothers place was big enough but her mothers boyfriend wouldn't let her get a dog. She also said that she always wanted a dog so that when anyone would pick on her, it wouldn't matter because her dog would be her friend. I knew exactly what she meant by that. She was a beautiful little seven year old girl, and for a good 30 minutes her and I chatted and then took the dogs on a walk and running through birds. I was able to capture some beautiful photos. It made me feel great to let this little girl experience the joy of having a dog and to let her father experience the joy of how happy his daughter was. It has to be a great mental image he has of her running and laughing by the water with Harvey. This helped me as well because as most of you know Harvey was originally my dad's dog and I took him after my Dad passed and my brother Ronnie kept Jenny. Harvey has brought me so much joy since I have had him, not a day goes by that he doesn't make me smile. It is OK to be sad, and grieve when someone or something special to you dies, but it is an amazing feeling to be at peace with it and to rejoice the life that was lost, and to remember to keep on living. This story goes out to everyone who has a loved one that they are missing this holiday season, I know personally how hard it is. But you have to remember to keep living, because there are so many beautiful things left to see. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Seafood And Eat It!

Well there comes a time in ones life when you NEED to know how to steam shrimp. It is so easy to do, and I don't think enough people realize that you can have a simple seafood dinner at home and not even need utensils to eat it. This is my forks free easy seafood dinner. I hope you enjoy.

FORKS FREE EASY SEAFOOD DINNER

Tartar Sauce                                 Cocktail Sauce

Mayonnaise                                     Ketchup   

Dill Pickle (diced)                            Brown Sugar   

Lemon Juice                                    Prepared  Horseradish 

Onion (diced)                                   Lemon juice

Salt and Pepper

I wish that I had exact measurements for this but I kind of just threw it all together, just keep mixing until it tastes right. Some people use sweet relish instead of the dill pickle, but I am sweet enough as it is and prefer my dips to be savory. This sauce is so easy to make, just combine ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate until you are ready to use it. 

For my tartar sauce I used the juice of half a lemon and I diced half an onion and about 4 mini dill pickles and then just added salt and pepper to taste, it was delicious. The same goes for the cocktail sauce I would put maybe 1/4 teaspoon of brown sugar in there, and I used the juice from the other half of the lemon, two tablespoons of horseradish and then I just mixed in ketchup. Again do this to taste, obviously if you want it sweeter add more brown sugar and if you want it spicy add more horseradish and less ketchup ya big dummy. 

Boom! Super simple tartar that tastes way better than that crap in a jar that you get in your seafood isle.

And Just in case you have never seen a bottle of ketchup or horseradish here ya go. 1,2,3 cocktail sauce. 

Corn on the Cob

corn on the cob (however many you want)

So I don't have anything really special to say about corn on the cob, it's a no brainer just cook it slather it with butter and enjoy. But for those of you that have never cooked it before I will give just a few tips. Corn is so easy to access and it's fairly cheap. I like to get corn that is fresh and still has it's husk on it because that husk actually acts as a delicious little oven for your ear of corn. Just to get my corn nice and juicy and tender I soak it in water for about 15 minutes, then I toss it in the oven, straight on the shelf without a pan and just roast the corn in their husk for 45 minutes to an hour on 350. It's that simple, take your corn out of the oven, remove the husk season with salt and pepper and butter it up, you are good to go. 

Remember for extra juicy morsels soak under water!

So now lets get down to business, two more things to prepare for this dinner hush puppies and steamed shrimp. If I were you I would go ahead and get your hush puppy batter ready and the refrigerate it while you heat your oil . Drop your puppies in the hot oil while you steam your shrimp. That way everything comes out at the same time, and super hot  and delicious. Now I had a couple of ideas for the hush puppies but as it turns out  Harvey had a few tricks up his sleeve as well. So here, by popular demand, Chef Harvey presents hush up dem puppies.

Harvey's Hush Puppies

First you'll need an awesome wiener/meerkat/fruitbat/dog named Harvey

if you don't have one of those then just stop and ask yourself why you hate animals. 

If you do indeed hate animals then get the hell off of my page and maybe you should start reading Michael Vick's blog . 

1 and 1/2 cups self rising cornmeal

1/2 cup self rising flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 bunch green onions chopped

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg lightly beaten

3 cups vegetable oil

1)Using a deep sauce pan preheat your oil to around 350 you can tell when your oil is ready by just dropping a few crumbs in the oil and seeing if it sizzles if not your oil isn't hot enough. 

2) Using a mixing bowl combine all of he dry ingredients including the onion. In a separate bowl mix together your buttermilk and egg. Next pour your buttermilk mixture into your dry ingredients. Mix until blended

3) Drop Tablespoon fulls of the batter into hot oil. Fry until browned turning over in the process.

4) Enjoy

Well, first make sure you got all of the ingredients listed above.

Again make sure that you got the RIGHT ingredients unlike myself who got some weird cornbread mix with dehydrated corn in it rather than just plain Jane cornbread. It also already had baking soda so I didn't need to use that. However the weird dehydrated corn was a pleasant addition to my puppies but I would suggest adding canned corn to this recipe if you decide you want some corn up in your hush. 

Remember to chop up your green onions, you could also add a small yellow onion diced. The green onion really makes a beautiful pop of color.

Next mix all of your dry ingredients and green onions. 

 Next make your dog do this

Seriously if you do not do the above step then you can just count on your hush puppies tasting like doggy doo. Next add your buttermilk and egg  mixture. This is what it should look like.

Wait until they get crispy brown and delicious, REFRAIN from sticking your hands in the hot grease for a sample because you will burn your wittle fingers. 

After you remove your puppies from the hot grease let a paper towel soak up most of the excess oil, pop open and enjoy. I like dipping mine in the tartar sauce. Harvey however likes dipping other things in tartar sauce. 

P.S. Onions are very toxic to dogs, so don't feed your dog any of these unless you omit the onion. 

As Easy as 1,2,3, P.B.R. me A.S.A.P. steamed shrimp

You will need a 12 pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon 

a head of garlic cut in half

1 cup of water

2 pounds of raw shrimp

Old Bay

Salt

1) In a large pot bring 1 and a half cans of PBR, 1 cup of water, and a head of garlic chopped in half  and bring to a boil. 

2) Season your shrimp with Old Bay and salt. I personally use a lot of Old Bay because I love it.

3) Lower your steamer basket in the pot, add shrimp and cover. Steam the shrimp until they turn a bright pink orange-ish color. Because it is two pounds worth of shrimp I would toss them around a bit so that the shrimp on the top get as much steam as the ones on the bottom. Steaming should only take 10 minutes or less, you be the judge. 

4) Add all of these ingredients together for a tasty, tasty, easy seafood dinner. 

So, here is the list of your ingredients just double check that you have everything you need. Now you may have been wondering why you need a 12 pack of PBR when you only use 1 and a half of the beers for cooking. Well the answer to that is to get drunk silly, do it I know you are an alcoholic, indulge. 

Next bring your beer, garlic, and water to a boil. Go ahead and drink that other half of the beer, no need in alcohol abuse, seriously be responsible. 

 Next season up dat scrimp, you can never apply too much old bay.

I actually got this new steamer basket the other day and I love it, this was the first time I used it. It is collapsible and looks like a space ship sitting on my kitchen windowsill when it is not in use. 

Your shrimp is ready when it looks like something you can't wait to eat. 

Talk about a TV dinner. Go get you some, enjoy!

Well that ends this portion of food making, I hope you enjoy your seafood dinner, I know we did! Harvey says hello, until we meet again friends, a little on further down the road. 

Tennessee cooking in a California Kitchen

 I guess I started cooking at a very young age with my Dad. Anytime he made biscuits he asked me to help. It was fun making biscuits with my Dad and after all of the biscuits were cut with glasses and placed on a baking pan all of the left over dough would be braided together to form what my Dad called a "curly-q" and that would be my special biscuit because I helped make it. I remember being so proud as I ate my special deformed biscuit and I would glance over at Dad who was proud of me for helping make them as well. My father was a special kind of cook, he would just "throw" things in to see what it would taste like. We made so many different kinds of biscuits and I use to love sitting in the kitchen watching him and Mom make all sorts of things. I remember being 17 and my Dad asked me to help make biscuits but I just wanted to watch t.v., he said that he guessed I was all grown up now. I wish he could see me now, and taste the biscuits I make, which I happen to believe are delicious. I think he would be proud. My mother and I swap recipes, and I recently gave her my beer can chicken recipe. I might put that up here later. Anyway enough with the back story, I just wanted you to know how much I love cooking and how special it is for me to share some delicious recipes with you. Hope you enjoy!


COUNTRY GIRL PECAN APPLE PIE


Basic Pie Crust
1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick)  cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1 Tbsp white vinegar
2 Tbsp ice cold water


This is a fairly easy pie crust and very basic all you need is a food processor and you will need to make two of these crusts. I have a very small food processor so I had to do this recipe twice but no worries like I said it's pretty basic.


1) In a food processor combine the flour,sugar and salt. Add the butter (remember to cut up into small pieces first) and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.


2) Add the vinegar and cold water and pulse until the dough is crumbly and sticks together. Your food processor will tell you when it's done because it will start to slow down and grumble a little. Don't over mix. 


3) Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap that is lightly covered with flour and shape the dough into a 1-inch thick disc wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 2 days. 


4) Roll out as directed


I have always been a fan of step by step pictures so I will now give you a visual of just how easy this pie crust is to make.




First here is a visual of the ingredients, to obtain the "ice cold water" I simply put a couple of cubes of ice in a glass with water and left it in the refrigerator until I was ready to use it. 

Next simply cut the butter up into small pieces.

Then add the cut butter into your food processor with the flour, sugar and salt.

Pulse away friend, pulse away. 

After you have pulsed to your little hearts content your mixture should resemble coarse crumbs, like so. 

Next add your vinegar and your ice cold water and pulse some more until your mixture now looks like this. DO NOT OVER MIX, you pulse crazy person you.

Finally put a little flour on a little plastic wrap and shape into a 1-inch thick disk then wrap tightly and refrigerate for at LEAST an hour. 

And there ya have it folks, easy pie crust. Made from scratch and will cost a lot less than buying them in the store. Put on an apron and bake!




Country Girl Pecan Apple Pie (cont.)


Mmmm Pie filling...
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2lbs. Golden delicious apples
2lbs. Granny Smith apples
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup Pecan halves
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs beaten
1 Tbsp raw sugar
1/4 tsp salt


 Now I am not going to lie and tell you this is as fast as the pie crust. No bueno this recipe takes about 2 hours plus cooling time, so you have to be patient and don't eat all of the apples like I almost do. First though there is a little prep, remember you have already made two pie crusts which are chillin in the refrigerator. Next you are going to need to peel all 4 pounds of apples, which in my experience equals about 9 to 12 apples, depending on how big they are. It is useful to have a helper at this point. I enlisted the help of my boyfriend, Andy. After you have peeled all of the apples  slice them to about a half an inch. Now lets start cooking!


1) Melt the butter in a large pan, I used a Wok, set on medium high heat. Add the apples and 3/4 cup dark brown sugar and cook tossing occasionally  until tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. CAUTION THE APPLES WILL LOOK DELICIOUS, REFRAIN FROM EATING THEM!


2) In a small bowl combine the cornstarch and remaining Tbsp of brown sugar. Sprinkle over the apples and cook until thickened about one minute. Remove from heat completely and add the pecans and vanilla extract. Toss occasionally until the apples have cooled to room temperature which in my case took about 40 minutes. 





4.) Next bring out  the other pie crust and again roll out on a floured surface or parchment paper until it forms a 12 inch disc. next cut ovals in the shapes of leaves in the crust (or to make your life easier find some sort of leaf cookie cutter, which I will be doing next time) start 1 inch from the edge and cut 1 row of 4 leaves all the way across. Cut out additional leaves around those at least a 1/2 inch apart (figure to cut out about 22 leaves total). Using a wooden pick score the leaves to look like veins. 


5) Spoon the cooled filling into the crust in the pie plate and carefully place or slide the chilled cutout crust on top. Be careful not to stretch the dough. Fold the top crust under the bottom crust to create a thicker crust seal; crimp as desired.


6) Brush the entire pie  with some of the egg and sprinkle with raw sugar and salt. Brush the underside of the leaf cutouts with the egg and place them gently around the edge of the pie,gently pressing them to adhere. Brush the tops of the leaves with the remaining egg and bake until the crust is golden brown 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before serving. 


Again her is a visual guide to the making of the filling for this delicious apple pie, enjoy.


First make sure you have all of the ingredients listed above

Next peel your apples and get them ready to be sliced. 

After your apples are sliced add them to a large pan with the melted butter and brown sugar.

Cook on med high heat, 8 to 10 minutes until tender and all ooey and gooey looking like this. REFRAIN FROM SNACKING!

Next sprinkle apples with Corn Starch and remaining brown sugar mixture

After the mixture has thickened take off of heat and toss pecans until your apples reach room temp. About 40 minutes.

Next roll your pie crust out and shape it into a 9 inch pie dish

After that roll out your 2nd pie crust and begin cutting leaves into it, saving the cutouts on a side                                      plate for the edges of the pie.

                                                                       MMMM....PIE!

Next put your chilled apple and pecan mixture into your bottom pie crust in the pie dish.

Slide top pie crust on top, trying not to stretch the dough add the leaves brush with egg and sprinle with salt and raw sugar.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, let cool EAT with vanilla ice cream!

Well there ya have it folks. Take some time out of your day and bake something, you will be amazed at how much better you feel! Until we meet again friends, a little on further down the line.

*As much as I would like to take full credit for this recipe , I actually found it in November's issue of Woman's Day. I tweaked it a little to add more of a southern touch, including more butter and brown sugar. I hope you enjoy making it as much as I did, and I am glad I was able to share with you!