Week 3

Be sure to check out Episode 5 of the podcast to find out some of our Dad’s tried and true tricks to making these homestyle classics!

Pinto Beans with Smoked Ham Hocks with Greens and Cornbread

Serves 6

1 pound Dry Pinto Beans-Just soak them overnight (some say parboil)

1 or 2 Smoked Ham Hocks (any ham with a bone in will work but hocks are best)

1 onion, diced

1 Qt Chicken Stock

1 Qt Water

1 tsp Pepper

1 tsp Garlic Powder

Salt to taste before or after cooking

  1. Add the soaked beans, chicken stock, water, onion, and ham hocks to a large stock pot.
  2. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover with a lid, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are nice and tender, about 1 hour 30 minutes (longer is always better-cook all day in a Dutch oven or crock pot if you like).
  3. Season with pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Serve.
  4. Optional: 1 or 2 tsp juice from a jar of jalapenos

Accompaniments:

Collard (or other greens)

My dad likes the canned collard greens he is able to find as it is sometimes hard to get fresh ones in Wyoming. Feel free to start from scratch here if you are able to find raw collard greens. Either way take his advice and serve warm with a cruet of vinegar at the table to add to the greens.

Southern Style Cornbread (required)

2 cups stone-ground cornmeal

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs

6 tablespoons reserved fat, such as rendered bacon or chicken fat (schmaltz)

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk the cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a large bowl. Whisk the buttermilk and eggs together in a medium bowl. Fold the wet ingredients into the cornmeal mixture until just combined; set aside.
  2. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over high heat. When the skillet is smoking-hot, turn off the heat and add the fat, carefully stirring it around the pan as it melts. Pour the melted fat into the cornmeal batter and stir to combine. (Do not wipe out the skillet.) Pour the cornmeal mixture into the hot skillet (batter will sizzle) and bake until the edges are golden brown and the center bounces back when pressed with a finger, 18 to 20 minutes.
  3. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Skillet Chicken and Rice Dinner

Serves 4

1 Chicken Breast

1 Green Pepper

1 Onion

4 Cups Cooked Rice

3 Eggs

1 Tbsp Olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Soy Sauce

  1. Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces
  2. Cut onion and green pepper into ½ inch strips
  3. Cook chicken in medium hot olive oil until almost done (about 5 minutes), add green pepper and onion on top of chicken and allow it to cook another 2 minutes before stirring it all together, season with a bit of soy sauce, salt, and pepper
  4. Scramble the 3 eggs in a small skillet and add them to the chicken mixture
  5. Cook the rice and add it to the mixture and serve. Add soy sauce to taste at the table.
  6. Serve with french bread toasted under the broiler with butter and garlic salt.

Beef Stew Meat with Mashed Potatoes or Noodles

Serves 6

1 or 2 lbs Beef Stew Meat

Flour

Salt ,Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste

16 oz can Beef Stock

  1. Put the beef in a 1 gallon ziploc bag, Add 1 cup flour, salt, pepper and shake to coat
  2. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a Dutch Oven (if you don’t have a Dutch Oven you can use a pan with a lid-just add some weight to the lid), brown the beef in batches that only cover the bottom. Remove the beef as it is browned. Don’t worry about the sticking and slightly burnt flour/meat juices on the bottom because that is where the flavor kicks in later.
  3. After all the meat is browned and removed from the pan. It is time to de-glaze. Keep the heat on and add either red wine, dark beer or bourbon to the pan and scrape the browned bits off the bottom (if you don’t want to use alcohol Coors Light or Bud Light will also work)
  4. Add the meat and at least half of the beef stock back in and cook for at least 1 hour. Add beef stock as you cook to get the consistency you like. The flour on the meat and with the scraped goodies will provide plenty of thickener.
  5. Serve over mashed potatoes (peel potatoes, cook in boiling water until tender, mash to desired consistency, and add butter, milk, and some sour cream to taste.
  6. Noodles-Wide or Extra Wide Egg Noodles. Cook according to the directions on the bag, and when in doubt just cook the whole bag and you will have leftovers (for a while;)