Fizzled Festivals...

HOOTIN' AND HOLLERIN' '09!  WOOOOOHOOOO.

(Saturday-day, anyway.)

Lick Creek Bridge, J Hwy, 9/19/09

reproduced with express consent under the first-cousin has rights to all photos clause

thanks, Alica!

I had meant this post to be full of sunny photos of funnel cakes, pictures of kids on bouncy rides, wooden toys, old-time costumes, bluegrass bands, and family folks; however, nature did not cooperate.  

Friday was great - we got to see everyone, the weather was perfect; and me in my infinite wisdom decided to save the camera-lugging for Saturday.  Better lighting, I told myself.  Don't ever take me to Vegas, man.  It's something. One could almost call it a gift. If one were trying to be very, very facetious. 

This shot is a picture looking out across the lawn of Alic & Chris' house (aka "The Mome Home").  This post, as some will inevitably be, is for those in the know of Ozark Co., J Hwy, & Lick Creek Bridge.  For the unfamiliar, let me just say - this is unbelievable amounts of water... 

And thanks Alic for letting me steal these! 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the road. It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and we were headed home.  

It was dark.

And stormy.

And this was as close as I got you to Hootin' and Hollerin' this year. 

But I TOLD you I'd get photos! 

Hee.

EATS! Baked Beans. As promised! Classic & pretty darn good.

There's a lot of really really good baked beans recipes out there. I call this my "best" because they're simple. They're classic. Nothing untoward getting between you and your beans.  This is a great tweaking recipe, just make 'em how ya'll like 'em!

Another recipe I'll have to post some time is my Aunt Jack's Meaty Baked Beans - crowd pleaser for sure!

Meanwhile, give this one a try.

Classic Baked Beans

• 2 cans pork and beans, or sub 1 can kidney
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 2 teaspoons mustard
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 6 slices bacon
• ½ cup brown sugar
• dash salt, go very easy
• pinch black pepper, to taste
• dash hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon liquid Barbecue Smoke

FOR AWESOME MAPLE BAKED BEANS SUB REAL MAPLE SYRUP FOR SUGAR
Fry bacon lighlty, fry 2 pieces well; saute onions and bell pepper in bacon drippings. Mix beans with mustard, brown sugar, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce and seasonings in baking dish. Add onion and bell pepper, and 2 slices crumbled/chopped bacon. Place remaining bacon on top. Bake at 350* for 45 minutes.

Also can bake over medium indirect heat while grilling other foods (we rarely have enough room on our grill, though). Make sure you keep the grill lid on as much as possible.

NOTE: I usually make these without any veggies, for some reason the guys around me are picky.  I sub 1 t dried onion flakes or even onion powder because sometimes even the flakes don't fly with some characters! You can use dried pepper flakes, diced chili peppers, pimentos, or just omit the pepper entirely.

Man, this is turning into a food blog fast.  I need to get out of the kitchen.  

Might not hurt my thighs, either.

But, hey!  Enjoy the Eats!

EATS! or DRINKS! "Sun Tea". Or, "Summer in a Mason Jar, Part I"

Aaaaahhhh.

All the hype about Sun Tea has really got me riled.  I mean, who didn't grow up drinking sun tea?  I've NEVER heard of someone getting sick from sun tea.  Who are these chumps?  And really, does someone have to tell you not to drink tea that is, and I quote here, "...thick and syrupy.  Those ropy strands are bacteria."  

I mean, eeeeyewwwwwww.

So for all you lily-livered, yella-bellied, nancy prom queens out there, here's a warning and some really insane precautions you can take, if you must:

http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/suntea.asp

For those of us that usually keep our containers clean using hot, soapy water, and honestly, think that cleaning something with bleach is a bit much, this is what ya' do:

Get a large, 1 gallon container.  A clean container.  One made of clear glass.  I'm very fond of this one:

Then grab 5 family size bags of tea, we're fond of this kind:

Now, fill the jar with cold, fresh water.  Set the jar in blazing, brilliant sun for about 5 hours (or until your desired strength).  Then remove bags and refrigerate immediately.  The one caution I know is that sun tea, or any tea for that matter, should not sit out for any length of time after brewing. 

And enjoy!

Cheap EATS!!! Red Beans & Rice. Dang.

This recipe could only be described as one of our country's oldest go-to recipes. Actually this is a Creole dish, not Cajun (as has become the more common term for southern Louisianan cooking in other parts of the country). The wealthy planters who fled the slave uprisings in the Caribbean and settled in New Orleans brought this dish with them, and the people there just tweaked it to perfection, das right. 

Served on the traditional laundering day of the South, Mondays, it often included the leftover meats, ham specifically, that had been served during the Sunday feast.  Sausage has become the most common addition I've seen in LA, sometimes served on the side but mostly included to flavor the beans.  

We always sprinkle some file ("fee'-lay", pardon the lack of accent mark) powder, the green powder you can barely see above, on the rice for flavor and a little texture.  These are just ground sassafras leaves, believe it or not, and introduced to the Cajuns by their Native American brethren.  The file is a Cajun addition, and not strictly true to the Creole dish; but hey, if somebody hadn't tweaked the original red beans & rice, we wouldn't have this beauty recipe, now would we?

Below the recipe I've made some notations on how to cheapen the dish further.  This recipe is actually the "deluxe" version, but still comparably thrifty.

Red Beans & Rice

1 pound red beans, or 2 cups, dried

14 cups water, divided

2 bay leaves

1/2 t oregano

1/2 t basil

1 T paprika

3 t chicken bouillon granules

dash red pepper, to taste

dash white pepper, to taste

dash black pepper, to taste

salt, to taste (at the end only)

1/2 c chopped bell pepper

1/2 c chopped celery

1 c chopped white onion

pinch salt

1/4 c bacon grease

1 pound smoked sausage, sliced 1 inch thick, on the diagonal

1/2 cup dry white wine or sherry, optional

For serving:

Cajun Boiled Rice (click to go to link)

Lousiana hot sauce (or Tabasco, Boone says)

file powder, optional

sourdough French bread, not optional

room temperature (or whipped) butter

1. You can soak the beans overnight, or do what I do: sort the beans for broken pieces, or little stones and things. Rinse well in a colander.  Place in a pot with 8 cups COLD water.  Bring to a full, rolling boil and boil 2 minutes.  Cover the pot, remove from heat, and "quick soak" for 1 hour. 

2. Drain, and rinse the beans lightly.  Cover with 6 cups of HOT tap water, and place on medium/low, and simmer uncovered.  Add herbs and seasonings.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 1 1/2-3 hours (depending on how you like your beans).  Red beans are usually kept fairly firm, with just a little "gravy" being produced by the beans. 

3. Meanwhile, just after the beans start simmering, saute the chopped veggies slowly (these are known as "the trinity" in LA cuisine) in the bacon grease until very, very soft and just starting to brown, sprinkling with a little salt while cooking. Remove with slotted spoon and add directly to beans.  Raise the skillet heat, add sausages till they just start to sizzle and brown (overcooking causes them to be tough). Remove with slotted spoon and reserve on plate, covered. Drain the grease from the skillet into the beans. 

4. If you have 1/2 a cup of wine, or a little sherry or something, toss that in the hot pan and scrub the bottom with a spoon to deglaze, pour that directly in the beans as well.

5. Add the sausages about 45 minutes before serving, adjust seasonings and thickness to taste.

Okay, that concludes the full, fancy "deluxe version". 

Here's the CHEAPEST EATS!!! version.

Soak 2 cups

in 8 cups cold

overnight.

Drain, cover with 6 cups cold 

Bring to boil, reduce to simmer.

Add:

[bacon grease. hyello.]

and some

to taste.

Really, you need some, okay, lots of

but I understand if ya' just. don't. have it.

Serve over, alongside and/or under:

Click on "Cajun Boiled Rice" for a great recipe. Or just scroll down.

Ta-Dahhhhhhh!

CHEAPEST EATS!!!

EATS!, CHEAP EATS!!! Cajun Boiled Rice. Trust me.

or...Cajun Bwahyled Rice. Actually.

This is a recipe I saw Justin Wilson make on like, PBS, or something YEARS ago.  I haven't had even a wisp of a desire to measure out the ingredients.  I'm superstitious like that.  But I've NEVER had this recipe not turn out.  I garontee.  

And I still have a crush on Justin Wilson.  I garontee.

Cajun Boiled Rice

long grain white rice

water

2 t salt

Place as much rice as you need in a heavy pan. Cover with water until, when your fingertip just touches the top of the rice, the water is middle-joint of the middle finger-deep above the rice. I friggin' love this guy!

Add salt to taste, about 2 teaspoons. Place over hottest flame, bring to a rapid boil, UNCOVERED. Boil in this fashion until you can't see water bubbling in the holes that will appear in the surface. It looks like it will boil over, it won't, or maybe just a tiny bit.  Trust the man.

Then, turn heat to simmer, and with LID ON simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Do NOT peek until you're ready to serve. Set aside to rest 5 minutes, then fork to fluff lightly (this rice WILL mush easily) and serve.

I garontee.  

No. 

No, I won't ever stop saying that.

Enticing Economical CHEAP EATS!!! A new cOzyOzarks feature?

I was thinking today how much budget cooking I've been doing lately.  Our family used to so easily fall into the routine of, What sounds really good?  What's the fastest?  What's the easiest?  What do you want on your pizza, yeah, and an order of breadsticks, okay.

Well, dire straits (single income nowadays) have demanded I try to pick up a little slack in the outgoing funds department. I started with some internet research, and whilst carefully picking my way through some really scary nuclear survivalist sites peppered with some even scarier fundamentalist religion sites (although both groups did have some pretty good recipes), I finally have amassed a couple weeks worth of pretty decent eats.  

One really rough week, we (big-eating family of three) literally had a total weekly bill of $45.  For us, that's good.  Three meals a day, not counting spices and maybe a couple staples we had, milk, eggs, bacon, bread, etc.  Not saying that week was GOOD EATS! but they was CHEAP EATS!

But, seriously, what we have found is that just a few of these budget-friendly standbys shuffled into your recipe cards, and you've got a little extra dough now and again.  I couldn't think of a less-painful way to save money: cheap AND good? Okay. Hit me.

So, tomorrow I'll be posting our first "Cheap EATS!!!", a good ole Cajun standby, Red Beans & Rice.  Man what those Cajuns can do with cheap food is mind-boggling.  And we're grateful, very grateful.

EATS! Ribs. Va-va-va-Voom.

Um hmm,  and that's a "before" shot...

I just got chills.

These ribs are fast becoming Boone's speci-ayh-lity.  They're perfect. No weird flavors, no fancy cooking technique.  These are hickory smoked ribs on a charcoal grill.  And they are so INCREDIBLE.  People make moaning sounds and breathe through their noses so they can stuff their mouths with these ribs.  

And when I say, "people", I swear I do not refer solely to myself.  I swear.

Point of fact: I have never gotten any "after" shots of these ribs.  All summer. 

Number one, the shots at night never seem to come out quite right, they're shot inside and the artificial lighting gives a grainy, yellow cast that even Photoshop (in my novice hands) can't fix.

Number two, no one else (I've asked), is willing to break out the camera. And I'm all, outta my way, making a beeline to these puppies. Hence the action shots below.  I think these were actually a second round on Boone's part.  And me, I'd HAD to have a plate before I was willing to take these. Sorry, folks.  One day I will.  Another promise, these shots DO not do these ribs justice.  Next time, in daylight (the only way the camera grain wouldn't overpower the shots), I'll fork them open, then take a shot.  

The texture is outta this world.

To be quite honest, the ribs always cook differently.  Different rack of ribs, different weather, different fire all add up to different cooking times.  And just between you and me - the grill ain't the only thing that's lit, if ya' know what I mean.  I don't blame the guy - what sane soul grills sober? But when someone's having to remind the cook to put down his microphone and go check the ribs and the fire temperature, well, you get my drift on different cooking times. 

This recipe is a spinoff of Steve Raichlen's (our hero), but we found the salt overpowering in the original, and wanted more hickory flavor.  Raichlen also uses an optional mop sauce that we found to be too much.  We're simple folk.  But, the mop sauce may make it for you, as well as the legend of the liquid of some sort in the drip pan for more moist cooking (didn't do much for ours, but you may think it makes all the difference) - I've heard of bourbon and apple juice, beer, dropping some liquid smoke (hickory flavoring) in just water, etc.  Whatever floats yer boat and makes yer skirt fly up.

So while this recipe is a GREAT jumping off point, with a lot of things we wish we'd known when starting out, (note the peeling off of the skin on the underside of the ribs - HUGE difference) you just have to get out there and give it a try and get in your own rhythm, with your own grill, your own rack of ribs, your own rub, and your optimum level of revelry-while-grilling (from what I understand this is required).  Another requirement that we don't consider optional (we did taste-tests) - you must marinate these in the rub OVERNIGHT. So be sure and plan ahead. 

h a p p y   e a t s !

before...

after!!!

Here's the rub.  ha. 

• Boo's Hickory Ribs. Yum.
  
• 
  
• For the rub
  
• 4 tablespoons paprika
  
• 2 tablespoon black pepper
  
• 2 tablespoon dark brown sugar
  
• 1-½ teaspoons salt
  
• 3 teaspoons celery salt
  
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
  
• 2 teaspoon dry mustard
  
• 2 teaspoon cumin
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• 
  
• 4 cups hickory chips or chunks, soaked in cold water for at least an hour
  
•       and... last but not least:
  
• 2 racks baby back ribs (4 to 5 pounds)
  
• • 
    

Don't ask me what those weird blobs are above, or how to remove them, hope you can still see the amounts!

1. Wash the ribs and blot dry. Remove the thin papery skin on the back of each rack of ribs. (Pull it off in a sheet with your fingers, using a corner of a dish towel to gain a secure grip.)

2. Combine the ingredients for the rub (the paprika, black pepper, sugar, salt, celery salt, cayenne, garlic powder, mustard, and cumin) in mixing bowl and stir with your fingers to mix. Rub 2/3 of this mixture on the ribs on both sides. Transfer the ribs to a roasting pan and let marinate overnight.

3. Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium (about 325 degrees). Place a drip pan in the center. If using a gas grill, place all the chips in the smoker box or smoker pouch and preheat the grill to high. When smoke appears, lower the heat to medium. If using a charcoal grill, toss half the wood chips on the coals.

4. Place the ribs on the grill over the drip pan and cover the grill. Cook the ribs until cooked, 1 hour. If using mop sauce of some kind, start basting with mop sauce after 30 minutes, basting every 20 minutes. If using a charcoal grill, replenish the coals after 1 hour, LOWERING THE TEMPERATURE TO 275 and adding a handful of chips as well. The ribs are done when the meat is very tender and it has shrunk back from the ends of the bones, ours take usually another 2-3 hours depending on the fire.

5. Transfer the ribs to a cutting board or platter. Mop one final time with mop sauce and sprinkle with the remaining rub. Let rest for 5 minutes and serve with your favorite barbecue sauce on the side.

NOTE: We have successfully held these ribs for serving wrapped tightly in foil in a 200 degree oven with a small pan of water to keep the environment moist.  

 

 

And.

Coming soon...

The BESTEST EASIEST BAKED BEANS. 

Yum.

A Bear. Where? Over There.

Growing up in Arkansas, I remember working in my Grandma's garden late one afternoon, bent over a long row, sweating.  Suddenly, a couple rows over, in an amazed, hushed voice, Grandma tells us kids to keep still and be quiet, and to look down at the tree line.  A mere 30 yards away, down a small slope from the garden, lumbered a mama sow bear and her baby cubs.  She walked right along the trees, then as we watched she stood, sniffed, looked our direction, dropped back down and moved her babies along. 

I'm guessing I was 12 or 13 at the time, this was the first bear I'd seen in the Ozarks, alive and in the wild.  It was special.  I don't know why I didn't feel fear.  We have black bears.  After camping a week in the Smokies in my early twenties and attending the Ranger's slideshow on "Bear Aware", I know what they can do to a car, and a human. 

This bear was photographed by a friend near his food plot last month in Texas county, Missouri, I think; he's set up a camera to shoot what deer are in the area for this season. We live in southern Missouri now, and this is a big sign that they're getting more and more common again. 

 But I'll just take this sign that the wild will hopefully never fully leave my cozy Ozarks.