Free 'Double Doozie' Recipe Friday!

Good evening/morning everyone!

Wow, what a crazy day, week, month!

Hope you are having an awesome November so far!

What a great month this is...SO much to be thankful for!

Cooler weather means yummy comfort foods,

so this weeks Free Recipe Friday is a double doozie!

Beef Stew and Fried Cornbread!

In the past few years, I have realized that beef stew recipes

are about as different as chocolate cake.

Chocolate cake means many things to many people.

(thanks to my brother for bringing this to my attention years ago!)

Is chocolate cake a yellow cake with chocolate icing?

Is chocolate cake, chocolate cake with chocolate icing?

See what I mean?!?

But today we aren't eating cake...we're having stew, BEEF STEW ;)

And we are throwing in an extra side of Fried Cornbread for ya!

Beef stew to some people means beef and assorted veggies...

including corn, english peas, tomatoes, etc.

To some it may have hamburger meat as it's beef...but to our family,

that would be called 'beef veggie soup'...THIS particular stew

is basically an Irish Beef Stew...also known as our oldest daughter's

favorite thing...so much so, she requested that it be

the meal served at her wedding. 

So we did...and it was duhhh-licious!

Here we go!

Remember, be flexible and adventurous...

you can use many cuts of beef for this recipe...

roasts, round steak, sirloin, etc.

STEW INGREDIENTS:

(for a family of 6 or more)

2-3 lbs. beef (nicely trimmed of fat and cubed)

appx. 5 lbs. potatoes - cubed into 1 inch chunks

(not red, new potatoes)

appx. 2 lbs. carrots - cut into 1 inch chunks

(if you like more carrots, by all means add more carrots!)

1 yellow onion, diced (optional)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

beef broth (appx 8-10 cups)

(I use beef paste concentrate and add my own water)

veggie oil (appx 1/4 cup)

flour (appx 1 cup)

salt/pepper

water

heavy stockpot

Cube beef, potatoes, carrots into nice sized chunks (appx 1 inch)

Place stockpot onto medium/high heat.

Place flour, salt and pepper in a medium size bowl

and dredge cubed beef and toss to cover well.

Add veggie oil to hot stockpot.

Drop dredged beef, diced onions and garlic into oil immediately.

(*Hint - hot pan, cold oil, food won't stick!)

Lightly brown beef, stirring occasionally.

Next, add in carrots...stir to combine with beef.

Add in diced potatoes, continually stirring.

Once the mixture has a chance to come back up to heat,

add in your beef stock and stir well...

scraping up the yummy browned bits on the bottom of the pan!

Bring your baby stew up to a good boil, then reduce heat to medium/low.

Partially cover with a lid and simmer for as long or as little as you'd like.

Technically, when the potatoes and carrots are fork tender

it is done and you are ready to go.

The longer this mixture cooks the thicker the broth will become.

And as some things usually are, this is better the day after!

MOM'S FRIED CORNBREAD:

2 cups plain cornmeal

(I have no idea what 'plain' cornmeal is...isn't it all plain?

-- my mom dictated this recipe to me from her memory,

I just wrote it down as fast as I could...

and I usually use plain white cornmeal for this)

4 tablespoons flour (plain? ha)

3/4 teaspoon salt

boiling water

veggie oil

iron skillet - because those are the best!

Now here comes the hard part ;)

Put dry ingredients in a medium size bowl.

Pour some boiling water over said dry ingredients...

the amount will vary depending on humidity, etc.

It will take at least one cup...stir really fast...

if it is too dry...pour a bit more in...

you want your mixture to be thicker than pancake batter,

maybe more like brownie batter? 

Next, you need to place an iron skillet on medium/high heat.

Add enough veggie oil to come 1/3 to 1/2 up the sides of the pan.

One great trick to know if your oil is ready to fry in is to

stand a wooden dowel (or the end of a wooden spoon)

into your skillet - all the way to the bottom.

When you see tiny bubbles climbing up the wooden dowel,

it's time to fry!  No bubbles? No fry!

Now place a heaping tablespoon of batter into the hot oil.

Fry on each side until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels.

Pure yumminess!  Great with ANY soups or stews!

ENJOY!

Free Recipe Friday. . . Good Gravy!

Ahh, who wants to go camping?!?

This week on Free Recipe Friday 

we're gonna take a virtual camping trip.

With this amazing fall weather upon us,

it's making us dream of being on a campsite somewhere!

Today's post is a recipe that is a tradition

 for our family on every camping trip.

It is Sausage Gravy.

Ahh, did you hear that???

I think I heard some angels singing or something!

Oh, you didn't hear anything???

Well then, I guess you haven't had

the same Sausage Gravy that WE have had! ;) 

It is also routinely made in the Taylor household

once or twice a month for our big Saturday breakfasts.

So, with camping on our mind,

 it was only fitting to have THE finest Sausage Gravy maker

in the whole United States

to share with us his gravy makin' skills!

A man that takes Sausage Gravy makin'

pretty seriously!

So, let me introduce to you,

the one, the only,

James Taylor! (isn't he cute?)

Ok, here goes...

Get a whisk---

Fry up some ground sausage in an iron skillet

(cheap stuff works well cause its greasy)

(use a wad about the size of a baseball - more if you like).

Chop it up as it cooks into little crumbles.

I usually add a "little" bacon grease at this point but that's me.

Once it's cooked, turn the heat down to medium

and sprinkle in some all purpose flour

until all the crumbles are coated - stirring all the time.

Don't add so much flour that you make a doughy mess.

Just enough that all the sausage crumbles

are coated and the flour is wet with piggy grease.

Now for the tricky part.

Get the whisk-

Fill a small glass with milk

and another larger glass with tap water.

Pour the milk into the sausage first -

slowly while stirring so the sausage doesn't cool off too much.

It'll look all lumpy but don't stop stirring with the whisk.

Now slowly start pouring in the water

a little at a time while your whisking what looks like cement

and your arm starts crampin'. 

You want the gravy to look like smooth pudding

but that comes later. The whisk is the key.

Whisk whisk whisk.

Stir stir stir until it's smooth.

If it's too thick, just add a little more water

and stir stir stir till the water is blended in

and the gravy is smoooooth.

Let it cook for a few minutes while stirring

so the flour doesn't taste raw.

Add salt and black pepper to taste

toward the end as you stir stir stir.

Once it looks all smoooth like pudding

you can turn the heat down to simmer

and wait on the biscuits that you got cookin' to be done.

Great on biscuits or even toast.

Mom used to dip cat poop in it. It's THAT good.

Enjoy,

James

A special thanks to my sweet hubby
for sharing with us this week.
He makes gravy like no other!
Listed below are the things you will need
to make gravy for yourself or your family.
Hope you'll try it real soon!

INGREDIENTS/TOOLS NEEDED

Seasoned Iron Skillet (or other large saute pan)

Whisk

1/2 lb. of pork sausage (or a 'wad')

Extra fat if needed (bacon grease or veggie oil)

Flour (appx. 1/2 cup)

Milk (appx. 1 cup)

Water as needed (usually 2-3 cups, maybe more)

Salt/Pepper to taste

Biscuits or Toast

Now our great family secret recipe is out.

All you have to do is decipher it!

No problem, right?!?

ENJOY!