36 rolls of TP, 10 pounds of cheese and a bag of dove chocolate

We grilled steaks a week ago Sunday.  Snow last Thursday.  60 degrees today, warm, windy, thunderstorms, tornado warnings.  18 degrees expected for tonight.  55 degrees next Sunday. 



So, we will probably get slammed soon.  In anticipation I did the blizzard stock up - 36 rolls of TP, 10 pounds of cheese and a bag of dove chocolate.  Probably should stash a few bottles of wine as well.


Kroger was sampling Aidell's Sausages when I went in with Nate to pick up a few things.  He sampled each one, even the Andouille, which I warned him about.  I did pick up a garlic sausage that will be perfect for this Cassoulet style dish.

                      Pork Sausages with White Beans

Serving Size  : 6 
6        tablespoons  unsalted butter
2             ounces  bacon -- diced
1 1/2   cups  onion -- finely chopped
3         cloves  garlic -- minced
1/2      teaspoon  thyme leaves -- dried
1/2      cup  dry white wine
1 1/2   cups  diced tomato -- 14.5 oz can
1 1/4   cups  chicken stock
29       ounces  white beans, canned -- 2 cans, drained and rinsed
2         pounds  cooked pork sausages
5         cups  homemade bread crumbs -- 1/2" pieces (coarse)
1/4      cup  parsley -- chopped

1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter in a large braising pan, add bacon and cook until crisp.
3. Add onions, cook until tender.  Add garlic and thyme, sweat 1 minute.  Add wine, cook 1 minute.
4. Add tomatoes and cook until the sauce is thickened slightly. 
5. Add the stock and bean, bring to a simmer.
6. Add sausages and Bake in oven for 30 minutes.
7. Toast breadcrumbs in the remaining butter in a clean skillet.  Add parsley and season with salt.
8. Scatter breadcrumbs over the sausage mixture.  Broil, if desired for 1-2 minutes.

I have made this with chicken thighs (cooks covered in the oven for about an hour) and with regular smoked sausage.  Even better is chicken thighs with a little smoked sausage. But with the Aidell sausages this should be great.

Where did my garden go?

 Over a month of temperatures in the 90's and no rain to amount to anything and my poor garden is a parched wasteland. 

The jalapenos did produce like mad until the past week.  I managed to make 8 half pints of jalapeno jelly and 5 half pints of pepper relish from the production of just four plants stuck in a bag of composted manure.

The tomatoes came on strong then the fruit got smaller and smaller.  I still have green tomatoes on the plants but they are about golf ball size.  And the plants are drying out.  All told we only canned 4 pints of salsa.

This flower is the one of the best reasons to grow okra.

 The okra is about 4 feet high and if I don't check everyday we find one the size of a banana.  We pickled two pints of okra, which is selling in the store for almost $5.  And the seed was saved from last year.  So I have no investment in the okra other than space and it has given me both gorgeous plants, lovely flowers and lots of tasty little green pods which we have steamed, stewed, fried and sauteed.

Another lovely okra blossom

 Among the tomatoes that I had started from seed was a cucumber plant.  The seed just hitchhiked in when I was setting out the little seedlings.  This plant has managed to get into everything and produce nothing until last week.  We found an almost perfect 6" cucumber lurking under the base. 

I had done 4 successive green bean plantings.  The first and second produced well. The third and fourth were flops.  The first planting is still setting beans but the dry weather hasn't been doing them any favors.

I lost all my squash and the majority of my cucumbers to squash bugs and blight.  The squash bugs were fierce this year.

The Swiss chard is puny but still going.  Hopefully we can cut that into the frost.

The sneaky cucumber

Tonight I am cooking pinto beans and cornbread, a recipe I got from Ree Drummond's website  Pioneer Woman.  She will have her own show on Food Network starting this weekend!

Summer Kitchen

We are in for a long spell of heat.  So I have broken out the crock pots for porch cooking.  There is a tradition in the south of a "summer kitchen".   And with the help of the crock pots that is what I am going to do with my back porch.

Today I made 2 lbs of pinto beans in one crock pot, and green tomato chow-chow in a smaller one.  I will admit that the chow-chow was an experiment because I still had some green tomatoes in the freezer from last year.  And you know how I hate to waste anything.

I did cook the cornbread in the oven but it was only on for 30 minutes.

                             Tomato Chow Chow - I halved this recipe and it still seemed a little runny.

  2               cups  apple cider vinegar
  1                cup  sugar
  1         tablespoon  dry mustard
  1         tablespoon  turmeric
  1         tablespoon  mustard seeds
  1         tablespoon  celery seed
  1           teaspoon  cayenne pepper
  1              piece  ginger -- (1-inch) peeled, grated or chopped
  2             pounds  firm green heirloom tomatoes -- cut into quarters
  2             medium  onions -- diced

Combine everything in the crock pot and simmer for 3-4 hours on high. Allow to cool to room temperature. Place in a serving bowl and serve.
                     
                           Beans and Cornbread

                        Bean Ingredients:
  4               cups  Pinto Beans ( one 2-lb bag of dried beans)
  1           Ham Hock
  1           teaspoon  Salt
  2          teaspoons  Ground Black Pepper
 1           jalapeno pepper, scored
4            Tablespoons  minced onion

 Cornbread Ingredients:
     1/4          cups  Shortening
  1                cup  Yellow Corn Meal
     1/2          cups  All-purpose Flour
  1           teaspoon  Salt
2            Tablespoons  sugar
  1                cup  Buttermilk or soured milk
     1/2          cups  Milk
  1              whole  Egg
  1         Tablespoon  Baking Powder
     1/2      teaspoon  Baking Soda

BEANS: wash beans and place in the crock pot with the ham hock, salt, pepper, jalapeno and minced onion.  Cover with water to 1" above the beans.  Turn to low and set to cook.  After 4 hours check the water level and add more if needed.  When the beans are tender, remove the ham hock and pick the meat off the bones and fat.  Return the meat to the pot.


CORNBREAD: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat shortening in an iron skillet.  Combine dry ingredients, whisking to combine.  Combine wet ingredients.  Pour wet into dry and mix.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes.   Pour into hot pan, smoothing surface with spatula. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.


We ate the beans on top of the cornbread, garnished with the chow-chow and some diced vidalia onion.  It was very, very good.  And the house stayed cool.