Kate's Pasties

Kate's Pasties

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Crust:
1 c. White Flour
1 1/2 c. Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 c. Sugar
Dash of Salt
1/2 c. Chilled Cut Up Butter (2 Sticks)
Cold Water

Mix everything but the water in a mixer or by hand. Add water until it barely sticks together. Turn out on a solid surface. Make into two large balls and stick in the fridge for a half hour to chill.

Filling:

This is a little less measured so be flexible and play with it.

With some olive oil in a pan (I use my large cast iron skillet and fill it with ingredients so I can just stir the cream sauce in carefully when it is all done) on medium heat add a few cloves of minced garlic and diced onion (one large or two small). Heat until translucent just starting to brown. Add meat. Cook until brown and strain (spoon out) excess grease but leave a little. Add veggies, frozen or fresh. Stir regularly until cooked. I like corn, green beans, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and celery. Add a little salt and pepper and herb of your choice. I LOVE thyme with my pasties. Set aside off heat while you make the sauce.

Sauce:

This is out of the Betty Crocker’s New Picture Cook Book circa 1961. It was my great aunts and it is awesome. Although I do find myself adjusting many of the recipes it is a great platform. This is the Cheese Sauce recipe found on page 387. I double it. Here is the single recipe.

2 tbsp. Butter
2 tbsp. Flour
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Pepper (I use more)
1 c. Milk
1/2 c. - 1 c. Shredded Sharp Cheddar
(Betty suggests you also add1/4 tsp dry mustard, I don’t)

1. Melt butter over low heat in a saucepan. A wooden spoon for stirring is helpful.

2. Blend in flour and seasonings. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly.

3. Remove from heat. Stir in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil one minute. Makes 1 cup.

4. Stir in cheese to white sauce.

Construction:

Mix cheese sauce with filling. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

Take dough out of fridge. It may be a bit hard but throw some elbow grease into it and star kneading it a little bit so it rolls out nicely on a floured surface with a rolling pin. Roll out until it is pretty thin but you can still pick it up without it ripping. Take a bowl for medium size pasties or a drinking glass for smaller pasties as a cutting device. Place bowl/glass on dough, push down and twist. Repeat.

Transfer circles to ungreased cookie sheet. Place some filling in the center of the circle. Top with another circle. Press down edges. Fork the edges. Poke holes in the top with fork.

Place in oven. Again not an exact science, cook until the bottom of the edges are just turning brown.

Pull out and let cool a few minutes before transferring to a flat brown paper bag to continue cooling.

Repeat and Eat.

Note: They are amazing with a side of my tomato jam!

Grocery Day

Grocery day was yesterday. This time of year it is much more that just going to a grocery store.

We went to the wonderful Ann Arbor farmers market first. The kids bought $1 snow cones from a lovely woman Carol who just shined with pleasure at giving the kids this cold yummy treat. I made three trips to the car, having to drop off produce so I could go get more. Cabbage, Apples, carrots, radishes, leeks, raspberries, lettuce, two dozen eggs, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, patty pans, onions, potatoes, melon and of course apple cider.

Then we went out to the garden. My intent was to just get more kale (to make kale chips of course!) but I found more tomatoes, melon, zucchini, green peppers and a few beets. I made sure I walked right past the ever producing jalapeno plants. I still have a whole big bowl in the garage fridge to process.

Finally it was off to Trader Joe's for the rest - Milk, cheese, chips, salsa (the kind the kids will eat), and a few other things. Although we may sign up again for home Calder Dairy delivery... we miss Stan the delivery man and the great milk, sour cream, cottage cheese.....I am drooling just thinking about it. If you live in SE Michigan and you have not tried Calder products you are missing out on some Michigan greatness!

When I got home it took me almost two hours to put away and clean up all the food to be stored. It was lovely.

When I was done I felt so good and full and blessed. Good food makes me happy.

Tonight for dinner - sauteed patty pan with carrot, onion and garlic with a side of tomato mozzarella basil salad. Happy Happy Happy.


(and I whipped up two jars of raspberry jam- yummy!)

Pantry Cooking: Black Bean Goodness

Pantry cooking is the art of being able to make something amazing out of random ingredients found in the pantry or refrigerator. As a habit I put off grocery shopping until we are really down to the bare bones. My family is not fond of this strategy but it keeps down the grocery bill.

Today's Pantry Fare is some Black Bean Goodness:
(I do not use measuring utensils when cooking so I will guestimate the best I can)

In a small sauce pan warm up a bit of (2Tbs. - ish) olive oil. Add more if you feel like it needs it. Take 2 small cooking onions and chop up. Toss in oil on medium low heat. Stir up occasionally. Cook until a wee bit brown. Add one can of drained and washed black beans. Add 4-6 Tbs chopped roasted red pepper. Add a dump of (1 Tbs.) cumin. Stir it up and serve this yummy goodness with a side of chicken, watermelon and two slices of bacon for desert.

Kale Chips

Kale Chips is what you do when you have kale here, kale there kale EVERYWHERE!

I have enough kale blanched and frozen to last us all winter. Although I may be the only one eating it - yummy yummy with a little Frank's Red Hot Sauce.

I thought I may have a better chance of my family embracing kale in chip form. Everyone in my house loves chips. Green chips, do you think they bought it? Um, no. But I am in love.

So being that I am not a recipe person most of the time here is how I did it.

1. Wash kale and check for bugs n' stuff. Spin or pat it dry.

2. Remove the leaves from the center stem.

3. Tear up into pieces about the size of a chip, like a tortilla chip not a Frito or chocolate chip.

4. Toss them in a big bowl with a enough olive oil to lightly cover (less than you think so be careful) and a dash of salt or garlic salt. You can get creative with cumin, or chili powder as you get used to making it.

5. Lay out one layer on a cookie sheet.


6. Place in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 10 minutes or so. Until the edges are just starting to turn brown. Be aware that if you pull it out too early it will be soggy and not chippy.

7. Remove from sheet onto paper towel to soak up some of the excess oil.

8. Present on a colorful complimentary plate and EAT UP!




Check out eatmorekale.com for your own kale t-shirt!

Distracted By Food

This is why we did not do our daily routine this morning -

My son and husband tell me often that I cannot save all the food but I choose not to believe their naysay ways. I can and will make use of all these gift that the dirt has given us even if it means eating pesto and tomato jam all darn winter.

I was not planning on this bounty. Honestly I thought I was done harvesting food for the year but the small city plot we had was dying off and many of the tomatoes were rotted in saddness from my lack of visitation to them and my friend had an overflow of her yard garden to share.

So friday schooly activites are bumped to Sunady family time, which may upset the troops since that is MarioKart time if Big Daddy is around, but I cannot let a drop of this goodness go to waste.

My husband tells me that folks may be a bit disappointed to get tomato jam for the holiday but I poopoo the thought. What is better than a gift of food that was made with loving hands and an obsessive heart?

Here is a wee glimpse into what I did with my summer -

Book Suggestion:

The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest by Carol W. Costenbader

“Remember how grandmother’s cellar shelves were packed with jars of tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes, pickled beets and cauliflower, and pickles both sweet and dill? Learn how to save a summer day – in batches – from the classic primer, now updated and rejacketed. Use the latest inexpensive, time-saving techniques for drying, freezing, canning, and pickling. Anyone can capture the delicate flavors of fresh foods for year-round enjoyment and create a well-stocked pantry of fruits, vegetables, herbs, meats, flavored vinegars, and seasonings.”

Mater's

Oh the year of the tomato.

I still have a fear of canning tomatoes so it has mostly been a lot of freezing and salsa and Tomato Glut (which is awesome ~ it is the perfect hamburger helper!)

This week though I came across the mother of all tomato recipe's thanks to one Monica P. It is the recipe for Tomato Jam. YUM!

It is as follows:
what i used:
• 1 pound tomatoes
• 1 cup sugar... Read More
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/8 broken stick cinnamon
• 7 whole cloves
• 1/4 tsp whole allspice

what i'm doing:
• Wash, peel and cut tomatoes.
• Put them in a saucepan and add vinegar, cloves, allspice, sugar and cinnamon.
• Simmer, till thick, keep stirring.

-------

I made 4pound of tomatoes and it took quite awhile for it to boil down but patience is a virtue and damn worth it. Holy mother of Pete is all i have been able to say all day. I have one jar in the fridge and three in the freezer. I will be looking for more tomatoes soon because I want to be stocked all winter on this deliciousness!

Here is the best find of the day. 10 frozen bananas in my freezer which ended up being a triple batch of banana bread. Take the banana bread and goober on that lovely tomato jam, add a side of a wonderful medium sharp cheddar and you have found heaven in your mouth.

Culinary Genius!

a jar full of honey

We came home today from a great night camping at the inlaws visiting, finding caterpillars, eating smores, getting quizzed on my vegetable identification, feeding the bunnies and shooting some guns (a secret pleasure of mine). We headed home early afternoon Sunday to hang out with our old neighbors that we miss. They were awesome and got great news that it isn't as far as we thought to go visit them so I hope next month or September to trot on down to really get more than a fleeting hour to see them.

As we get older I am realizing good folks that you connect with well are harder to find but when you do it is good.

When we did arrive home from the in-laws before our old neighbors showed up I noticed there was a bag on the table of gifts for our birthdays from old friends. Eggs, a mix CD (which is another one of my not so secret pleasures) another cd of pod casts and the cherry on top was ....... a jar of honey. nothing warms my soul than a present of a ball jar of honey.

I am suprised and pleased at the pleasure I get from a jar of honey.

Oh, how I love my jar of honey.