South Dakota Magazine Recap

It is time once again for an update of my recent submissions online at South Dakota Magazine.  I have been contributing articles and recipes to their website every couple of weeks for just over a year and have really enjoyed the process.

Some of these recipes may have already appeared On My Plate, but they are tried and true favorites that have really fit into my menus (and I hope yours).

In November, one second grader was spot on when he told me that I would be hungry later because I didn't finish my lunch. If I would have been feasting on an Open-Faced Hot Chicken Sandwich with Mushroom Gravy, nobody would have had to told me twice to clean my plate.

South Dakota Public Radio noticed another story I shared in November about holiday letters. The accompanying recipe for Green Salad with Pomegranate and Mandarin highlights the juicy bits unlike some seasonal greetings.

December brought a revival of a classic craft that while great as Christmas ornaments could be adjusted to any holiday with the proper cookie cutter shape. Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments smell so good that they shouldn't be limited to just the Christmas tree.

Garlic and Lemon Salad Dressing is my stand-by for quick salads and has helped me keep off the 10 pounds that I lost during my tonsillectomy. Tip: It is also a great marinade for chicken.

For about two seconds, I considered brewing my own beer from my Christmas tree, but instead used a really flavorful ale to make Beer Brined Pork Chops with Onions.

I gave my endorsement to silly food holidays and celebrations with Brownie Cherry Cheesecake. It really is a party in your mouth.

My most recent South Dakota Magazine submission promotes the great works of Dakota Dachshund Rescue. Our family expanded with the adoption of two more little wiener dogs, and our waist lines are expanding with Deviled Chili Cheese Dogs.

As I look ahead at recipes and ideas for future articles, I wonder what you would like to see? Have a local delicacy that you think deserves to be shared state-wide? Add your suggestions in the comments, and I will see what I can do.

Baby's Got the Blues

I started this post yesterday and was feeling quite down. Hubs and I don't have children, but do have 2 miniature dachshunds. Those pups love us, and we love them. Ace and Sissy are our family.

During a routine vet appointment a few months ago, Sissy was diagnosed with a significant heart murmur. At the time, I acknowledged the doctor's concern and noted the symptoms he listed as possibilities. However, a real issue seemed far off as she continued to tear around the yard, roll in the leaves, chase her brother, bark at the neighbor kids, cats, and squirrels, and insanely lick my toes every time she passed me at my desk.

Since then, there were a few episodes of lameness in her front leg and some heavy panting after exertions, but our lively Sissy was for the most part, still her wild, crazy, and very vocal self.

Until this weekend.

Late on Friday night, Sissy did her usual charge up the stairs to her kennel at bed time. When I caught up with her, I found her hind legs frog-legged behind her as she sprawled helplessly on the floor. She was dazed, breathing heavily, and lethargic. Her whole body shook as she attempted to take in air. After a bit, she did seem more coherent, but her breathing remained labored. Even though we had experienced the trauma of spinal issues with our first dachshund, Rudy, it was, honestly, quite scary...especially as the heaving with every breath continued into the next day.

Saturday, there was was a call to the vet and meds followed by an emergency trip on Sunday when Sissy still gasped for each breath. New meds have been started to help alleviate the fluid that the congenital heart failure has caused to build up around her heart and lungs.

Yesterday, when I started this post, our little lady still didn't have any energy and hungrily gulped for the oxygen her body needs. I was blue. Very blue.

However, after a worry-filled but calm night, she was much better this morning. The diuretic means she is making frequent trips out through the puppy door, and with each trip, she seems a bit more herself. Earlier today, she was barking her fool head off at a piece of trash the wind had blown into the fence. While there is no cure for her condition, I do think this is a sign that we are on the mend.

It hurts to see the baby of the house struggle. I feel helpless, but will do my best to make her comfortable and ease her suffering. I owe her that and so much more.

Bleu Cheese Dressing

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise

juice of one lemon

a healthy squirt of Agave syrup (about a tablespoon)

a splash or so of Half and Half (or milk)

Kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup bleu cheese, crumbled

Combine sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and Agave syrup.
Whisk in just enough Half and Half (or milk) to develop the desired salad dressing consistency.
Season with salt and pepper.
Crumble bleu cheese into the dressing and stir to combine.
Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours for flavors to blend.

All-American

'Tis the season that "Baseball, Apple Pie, Hot Dogs, and Chevrolet" will be pushed aside for "Football, Hot Dogs, and Homecoming." Today, high school homecoming is being celebrated in my small town. Alumni are returning in droves, and the streets are overrun with green and white football jerseys and horses. If you aren't from here, you are probably wondering why horses? We are the Cowboys. Horses have to be a part of homecoming. What else would the royalty ride in the parade?

It doesn't get more All-American than small town celebrations. It also doesn't get more All-American than a couple of garden creations I canned up this year, Homemade Ketchup and Dill Pickle Relish. Facing baskets and baskets of tomatoes to use, I added Homemade Ketchup to my tomato repertoire. A friend dropping off a black trash bag full of various sizes of cucumbers led to a day of pickle making and some jars of Dill Pickle Relish. It's been a busy canning year for me, and my pantry shelves will soon be full of lots of All-American staples for winter.

Homemade Ketchup

(adapted from Simply Canning)

12 cups chopped tomatoes (I don't peel or seed, because I run through a food sieve {food mill would work, too}.)

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped sweet pepper (I used green peppers.)
1 1/2 cups of vinegar

1 tablespoon celery salt

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3/4 cup sugar

1 stick of cinnamon

Combine tomatoes, onion, sweet pepper in a large stock pot.
Simmer until vegetables are soft.
Press tomato mixture through a food mill or sieve to remove seeds and/or skins.
Add vinegar, seasonings and cinnamon stick.
Bring to a boil in a stock pot. Continue to boil rapidly until thickened, stirring often. 
Reduce quantity by half. This may take an hour or so. (I have a ruler that I place in the pot to measure how deep the sauce is...just keep measuring until it is half of starting quantity.)
Reduce heat and cook until thickened to your desired consistency. Again stirring often. This may take another hour or even several hours.
Remove cinnamon stick.
Ladle into jars (I used half-pints.) and seal.
Process for 10 minutes in hot water bath.
(If you are unsure of the canning process, there are many informative sites online. I am not a canning authority.)

Dill Pickle Relish

(adapted from Tasty Kitchen)

3 pounds cucumbers
1 whole large sweet yellow onion

1/4 cup pickling salt
3 cups white vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dill seed
2 teaspoons mustard seed
2 teaspoons celery seed

1/2 teaspoon tumeric

Finely chop the cucumbers and onions. (I used my food processor.)
Place the chopped vegetables in a large nonreactive bowl and sprinkle with the pickling salt.
Stir well and allow to stand for 1 hour.
Drain the cucumber mixture in a colander; rinse with cold water and drain well. (You might have to push or "wring" out the extra moisture.)
In a large pan, bring vinegar, sugar, garlic, dill seed, mustard seed, celery seed and turmeric to a boil over medium high heat.
Add the drained cucumber and onion mixture and return to a boil, stirring frequently.
Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes.
Ladle into sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space and seal.
Process for 10 minutes in a water bath.(If you are unsure of the canning process, there are many informative sites online. I am not a canning authority.)

Not Fair

Fair foods. Do you hit the stands for deep-fried Twinkies? bacon-wrapped-beer-battered hot dogs on a stick? fried Coca-Cola? deep-fried bacon? fried Kool-aid? fried butter? chocolate-covered bacon on a stick? or is it some of the tamer selections that you crave, like corn dogs, cotton candy, and candied apples?

I haven't been to a fair in ages, but Hubs hit the agriculture-centered DakotaFest this week. He didn't come home with tales of wild fair foods, just a bag of Kettle Corn. 

*sigh* Not fair. 

Don't get me wrong. I love the salty and sweet combo of Kettle Corn, but I also get a hankering for all those things that are just so bad for me. Fried things sometimes call my name. I was hoping to live vicariously through Hubs' gastric fair adventures.

Oh well. I will just have to make some Deep-Fried Green Beans with a Zesty Dipping Sauce. They aren't as wild and crazy as some fair food, but they are a fairly tasty treat.

Deep-Fried Green Beans

(adapted from Taste of the South)

vegetable or peanut oil (for frying)

1 cup flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1 pound green beans, trimmed

1 cup buttermilk

In a large dutch oven, add oil to a 2-inch depth.
Heat to 375 degrees.
In a shallow bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, salt and peppers.
In a second shallow bowl, pour buttermilk.
Dip green beans into buttermilk.
Then, dredge wet beans in flour mixture to coat.
Fry beans in oil, in batches, until golden and crisp, about 3-5 minutes per batch.
Remove from oil; drain on paper toweling.

Zesty Dipping Sauce

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

Whisk together all ingredients.
Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

In a Jam

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that this would become a canning blog, but I guess for the month of October, it has. I have always dabbled with a few jars of salsa from the garden tomatoes and made many attempts at pickles that just didn't quite do it for me, but I have never considered myself the kind of cook that straps on an apron and sets in to fill the pantry for winter.

The endless production of tomatoes (not only from my own garden, but also the garden at the farm) has changed that. I have found myself with so many tomatoes that I just didn't know what to do with them all. One can only use so much salsa, pasta sauce, plain sauce, pizza sauce, and tomato soup. I found myself searching for something else to make use of these glorious, red orbs and landed on Tomato Jam.

I will admit that I was a little leery of the unknown (to me) Tomato Jam. I have seen it featured in recipes as a topping for gourmet burgers (instead of ketchup), but had never tried it myself. However, with a mountain of tomatoes threatening to topple from my table and bury me (flashback to a crazy episode of Hoarders that is burned into my brain), I decided to give it a try. The result? Of course, I loved it, or I wouldn't be blogging about it. :-)

The flavor of this Tomato Jam is reminiscent of chili sauce. It is a little sweet, a little sassy with the cinnamon and ginger, and then the pow of the red pepper flakes hits you and your mouth grins in happiness. I loved it with cream cheese on bagels, but plan to try it on my favorite turkey burger recipe, as well. I also think it would be a good addition to a plate of sharp cheddar cheese and crackers for snacking. Nobody is in a jam with Tomato Jam On My Plate.

 Tomato Jam

(from Food In Jars)

5 pounds tomatoes, finely chopped (DO NOT peel or seed)

3 1/2 cups sugar

8 tablespoons lime juice

2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon red chili flakes

Combine all ingredients in a large, non-reactive pot.
Bring to a boil and then reduce temperature to a simmer.
Stirring regularly, simmer the jam until it reduces to a a proper jammy consistency (about 1 to 1.5 hours).
When the jam has cooked down sufficiently, remove from heat and ladle into jars (I used the tiny 4 oz jars, but 1/2 pints would be good, too.), leaving 1/4 inch of head space.
Process in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes.
Store jars in a cool, dark place for up to one year. (Yield: 4.5 - 5 pints)

Some Like It Hot

Some like it hot. I don't. I usually shrink from arguments. I might state my opinion, but I don't try to force it upon others. I might have some choice words for someone that is being an arrogant jerk, but I have to be pushed pretty hard before I will let them spew out into an ugly argument. I tend to try to stay out of the fire. I don't like the heat, but some like it hot. That is their choice. I don't have to be a part of it.

Some like it hot in food, too. I do like spice flavoring up my dishes, but I am not a fan of heat that burns off my taste buds. I think that there is a balance to properly seasoned food. Some cooks get it; others don't. Heat just for the sake of heat isn't good flavor; it is just another episode of Man Versus Food. (Which honestly, makes me feel ill if the remote lands there. I can't watch that man stuff his face with one gastric disaster after another.)

When I canned up some of my garden tomatoes into salsa, I tried to find that proper balance. We like really flavorful salsa. I love the melding of sun-ripened tomatoes and spicy jalapenos on my tongue. I like the smokiness that almost comes across as heat in the back of my throat when I add a little cumin to the mix. Chopping and stirring and simmering and processing vegetables into beautiful jars of salsa to carry some of the wonderful summer heat into winter is such a satisfying task. I like it. It is a heat that I really enjoy to put Basic Salsa for Canning On My Plate.

Basic Salsa for Canning

8-10 jalapeno peppers, chopped finely (I don't seed or pull out the spines. We like that kick.)

12 cups chopped tomatoes (I don't peel, but you could, if you prefer.)

2 cups chopped onions

2 cups chopped green peppers

6 cloves garlic

1 (5 ounce) can tomato paste

3/4 cup vinegar

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon salt

Combine all the ingredients in a large (heavy) pot, bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes.
Ladle into sterilized pint jars; seal.
Process in hot water bath for 20 minutes. (5-6 pints)

In a Pickle

It seems that I left you high and dry for the month of September. Even though I attempted to revive my posting momentum with a supposedly weekly feature (Fridge Fridays), I still found myself in the pickle of life taking precedence over blogging. Maybe it is time that I quit apologizing for my absences and just take them in stride. I blog when I can and not necessarily when I want. Isn't that true of so much of life? Why would this online journal of what is On My Plate be any different?

The month of September was filled with out-of-state visitors, delivery of my new fridge, my first cycling event in 2 or 3 years, a milestone birthday, a wonderful birthday gift, canning and preserving, and daily sighing and repentance because I was neglecting the blog. September has been a pretty good month, but I am going to give up the sighing and repentance. This blog is what it is. I don't need to feel that I am in a pickle if I don't have time to post something. That's life.

It is the same life that brought me a bounty of pickling cucumbers from a friendly neighbor lady. Last year, I had made a ton of refrigerator pickles that we liked, but found impossible to use in the proper time frame. This year, I decided to hot water bath with another recipe and make shelf-stable pickles with most of the cukes. I haven't yet tried them, but they look very pretty. I will have to report back if they are fabulous, as my last attempt at canning pickles didn't produce the flavor or crispness that I wanted. *Fingers crossed for this one.*

Of course, one pickle recipe wasn't enough.  I had to try another small batch of refrigerator pickles. I only stuffed 2 pint jars full of sliced cucumbers, onions, and a few red peppers from my garden to play with Alton Brown's Refrigerator Pickle recipe. They are slightly sweet...like a bread and butter pickle would be...but dill, garlic, and hot peppers kick them up a lot. We have been enjoying them on burgers, sandwiches, and straight from the jar. Nobody is in a pickle with My Version of Alton Brown's Refrigerator Pickles On My Plate.

 My Version of Alton Brown's Refrigerator Pickles

1 onion, thinly sliced

4-5 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced

2-4 cloves garlic, peeled

2-4 small hot peppers

2-4 sprigs of dill

2 cups water

2 cups cider vinegar

3 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1/2 teaspoon pickling spice

Drop a clove or 2 of garlic into each of 2 pint canning jars. (I use wide-mouth for ease of packing.)
Layer onion and cucumber slices in jars, adding a couple small hot peppers and sprigs of dill between the layers.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil. 
Simmer for 4 full minutes to meld the flavor.
Slowly pour the hot pickling liquid over the onion and cucumber slices, completely filling the jar. 
Refrigerate for 24 hours before serving.
Use within 2-3 months. (Yield: 2 pints)