Farm Girl Friday -18 January 2013

Sigh, you gotta love living in Ontario.  Wasn’t it last week that we were in the middle of a January thaw and Ella was outside without hat or scarf?

Today we woke up to -25C and frozen door windows.  This time of year really reminds us that we need to put new doors on the ‘to do’ list.  Our doors are original to the house (1905) and are single pane glass.  Needless to say we never wonder where the drafts are coming from.  The ice (on the inside of the glass) does make a pretty picture “like leaves” as Ella said this morning.

A lovely friend gave Ella this beautiful chess set just before Christmas.  It has no markings on it or anything but it seems to be made of marble.  Ella loves playing chess, though I need to brush up on the rules to make sure we are doing it right.  Here she’s playing with Lula -and Lula almost won!

I’m fairly certain I’ve vented here before about my frustration with Starz in Motion up in Petawawa and how they weren’t teaching Ella actual highland dances.  Ella was up there for 2 years and didn’t know ONE dance, all they learned was ‘choreography’ for the recital.  Luckily I found Pamela Reid in Renfrew and we love it there.  Ella already knows TWO highland dances and as you can see they are starting on the sword dance (which will be 1000 years old in 2026 -cool).  In fact, they are dancing at the Robbie Burns supper in Eganville tomorrow.

Daddy and Ella playing ‘Angry Birds’ on Ella’s new tablet.  Colin really doesn’t ‘get’ just how happy pictures like this make me.  He has some idea what things were like with my dad growing up.  But unless you were there and lived through it, it’s really hard to truly understand.

The Farm Girl is still trying to come up with ways to use eggs, so I came up with this recipe.  Boy was it yummy!

Egg and Potato Pie

Grease a 10 inch deep dish pie plate (I like Pam with flour)

Ingredients:

2 slices bread, cubed                             1/4 c butter

8 eggs, beaten                                            1/4 c milk

salt & pepper                                             1 clove garlic, minced

1 large cooked potato, large dice       3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 sm onion, finely chopped (I use dehydrated onions because they don’t upset Colin’s tummy)

1 c cheese, I used combo of mozzarella and Monterrey jack

Melt butter in a frying pan and fry up the bread cubes.  Remove cubes and saute the onions and garlic.  Combine everything and pour into pie plate.

Bake 350F for 30 minutes or until eggs are set as you like (we don’t like ours runny).

Read Full Post »

Farm Girl Friday -9 September 2011

Any Farm Girl worth her salt should be able to make pie.  Apple pie is one of our favourites.  Here’s my easy recipe:

Pastry   this recipe makes about 4 shells, depending on the size of your pie plate

4 c flour                                  1 t sugar

1 t salt                                      1 t bk powder

1 1/2 c lard                            1 t vinegar

1 egg                                         1/2 c cold water

Mix together the dry ingredients.   Then cut in the lard, fairly finely.  Add water, egg and vinegar.  Mix to make a dough.  You can let the dough rest in the fridge but I find that unnecessary.  I roll it out as soon as it’s ready.

Half a recipe makes a two crust pie in my 10×2 inch pie plate.
Filling

enough sliced apples to fill the pie plate

1 c wt sugar, depending on sweetness of apples

1 T cornstarch                 1/2 t cinnamon

I always mix the apples with the cinnamon sugar, but you can just pour over the apples if that’s how you like it.

Bake 375F for 40-45 minutes

This pastry is very forgiving.  It’s not half as difficult to make good pie as the ‘professional’ chefs like to make it seem.  In fact, Ella helped make this pie.

Read Full Post »

Recipes

It’s been a while since I shared a recipe so here are a couple from this week’s menu.

German Hamburger

1 lb ground beef                             1 c fresh bread crumbs

1/4 c milk                                         1 t salt

1 T parsley                                        1 egg

1 onion, chopped fine

Soak bread in milk.  Add everything else and mix by hand.  Shape into patties and fry.  Good served in winter with gravy.

This also makes a good meatloaf.  Just put into a greased loaf pan and bake 350F for about an hour.

Scottish Bridies   –these are like a Cornish pasty but without any vegetables

Pastry:  5 c flour                              pinch of salt

1/2 c lard                            1 c butter

enough water to make a dough

Filling: 2lb steak blade or rib make good choices  -to do this right, use Angus beef

1 onion, finely chopped

salt, pepper and prepared mustard

Cut lard and butter into flour and salt.  Add enough water to make a pastry type dough.  Cover and refrigerate.

Meanwhile, cut meat up into bite-sized cubes.  Mix in onion.  Season with salt, pepper and a bit of mustard.

When ready, divide dough into 8.  Roll out into ovals and place 1/8 of the meat filling on half the oval.

Fold pastry over filling, pinch and fold over edge to seal.  Make a couple slits in the top.  Brush with egg wash.

Bake 400F for 10 minutes and then lower oven to 350F for another 30-35 minutes.

Tonight I made a meat and vegetable goulash.  It was so good I had two helpings!!  It was easy to put together and just simmered alone in the oven.

Meat and Vegetable Goulash

2 lbs stewing beef or steak, cubed into 1 inch pieces

salt and pepper                                    3 T cornstarch

1 onion, finely chopped                    1 -28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 c beef broth                                        1 T sweet paprika

4 carrots, sliced                                   1 lb potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 small can green beans                    1 small can corn

You can brown the meat if you want, but it turns out fine without browning.  Put everything (except canned vegetables) into a casserole (love my Kitchenaid ones) and cover.  Simmer 350F for 40 minutes.  Stir and add other vegetables and simmer another 40 minutes.  Check to make sure potatoes are cooked.  Adjust seasoning if needed.

I’m sharing these recipes over at Miz Helen’s Full Plate Thursday.

Read Full Post »

New Recipes

Here’s one of Colin’s favourite dishes.  I made it last night for our company.

Balsamic Pork Tenderloin -supposedly serves 10

4 lbs tenderloin (I had 2 tenderloin but I have access to bigger ones)

4T (each) balsamic vinegar and olive oil

8 garlic, crushed

steak seasoning/rosemary/thyme

Drizzle and rub with vinegar/oil.  Slit pork and stuff in garlic.  Sprinkle with spices.  Roast 350F for 35min or until done to your choice (165F is good).

Leftovers make good sandwiches and happy husbands  🙂

My apple pie nearly got me a marriage proposal!

Pastry -makes 2 ish double crust pies (depending on plate size)

4c flour                  1 t sugar/salt/bk powder

1 1/2 c lard          1 t vinegar

1 egg, beaten        1/2 c water

Mix all t he dry ingredients.  Cut in lard.  Add liquids and mix until forms pastry, I usually give it a bit of a knead.

Apple Pie

Peel, core and slice enough apples to heap in your pie plate.  I like to use a firm apple.  I’m making pie not apple sauce.  Last night I used a mixture of red delicious and spartan-yum.  Pour in 1 c wt sugar, 1 T cornstarch, 1/2-1 t cinnamon.  Mix.  Pour apples into a pastry lined pie plate.  Dot with 2 T butter and sprinkle with 2T milk.

Bake 350F for 40-45 minutes.

 

Here’s my favourite company potato dish.  It’s delicious but is great because it can be made the day before and cooked later.

Potatoes Supreme

3lb potatoes

2c shredded cheese                               1+ c sour cream

1/4c butter, melted                             green onions (I use dehydrated)

salt & pepper

Peel and slice and cook (I steam) the potatoes.  Put them through a potato ricer (no lumps).  Then stir in all the other ingredients.  Pour into a buttered casserole.

Bake 350F for 30 minutes.

If you made this the day before, be sure to take it out of the fridge with lots of time to come to room temp.

Read Full Post »

Easy Puff Pastry

This is actually an old recipe for ‘rough puff pastry’, which is just another name for a quick and easy puff pastry.  I’ve made proper puff pastry and it takes all day.  You have to refrigerate the pastry between rollings.  This recipe is much easier.  And it turned out quite nice.  I’m not sure I would use it for something that depends on the puff pastry.   But it works quite nicely for my Bavarian beef pie or tarts.  In fact, it was nicer than the frozen store-bought stuff.

Rough Puff Pastry

8 oz flour

6 oz  cold butter, cut into smallish cubes

1/2 t lemon juice

pinch of salt

cold water

Toss flour, salt, and butter together.  Make a well in the centre.  Add the lemon juice and enough water to make a stiff paste.  Roll out into a long strip.  Fold into 3, like a letter.  Make a quarter turn and roll and fold again.  Do this a total of 4 times.  Try not to use too much extra flour and if the room is too hot, you may have to refrigerate the dough to keep the butter from getting too soft.  This dough can be frozen after rolling.

I forgot to weigh the dough, but I would say it’s enough dough to make a 2 crust 9 inch pie.

Read Full Post »

Recipes

Here’s a couple of my new favourite recipes.  And, other than the puff paste, I have all the ingredients in my house at any given time.  They are easy to make too.

Corn Chowder

makes about 8 cups
2 T butter or bacon fat
1 c chopped onion
1/2 t salt and pepper
1/4 t paprika
11/4 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced fairly small and cooked
2 c milk
2 14oz cans cream-style corn
1 c cheddar cheese, shredded -or to taste

Melt butter or bacon fat, add onion and cook until starting to caramelize but not too brown.  Add seasonings.  Add potatoes, milk and corn.  Stir until heated through.  But don’t boil.  Stir in cheese until melted.

If you have leftover potatoes this goes together really quickly.  It’s very yummy and freezes well.

I’ll mention one of my favourite kitchen ‘gadgets’.  It’s called the Simmer Mat and it’s from Lehman’s.  It allows me to simmer things, like cream soups, without having to worry about it sticking and burning.  My gas stove only goes down so low before it goes out, so the mat is heaven-sent.  I actually have 2  🙂

Bavarian Beef Pie

pastry for a 2 crust, 7-8 inch pie pan (I used a French tart shaped pan)

1 lb stew beef, cut into 1/2 inch cube
2 t oil and 1 T butter
1 small potato, cut into 1/2 inch cube
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 c shredded apple
1 clove garlic, minced
2 t flour
1 1/2 t beef bouillon granules
1 t parsley
1/8 t celery seed, dill weed, thyme, and pepper
1/2 c water

Brown beef in oil.  Remove.  Melt butter and saute onions, potatoes and apple for 2-3 minutes.  Stir in garlic and flour.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Add seasoning, beef broth, beef, and water.  Cook and stir until thickened.

Pour into a pastry lined pie pan.  Cover with pastry.  Cut slits to let out steam.  Bake 375F for 30-35 min.

Read Full Post »