AgriMissouri

Friday Fixin's Recipe

This week I've been working on an upcoming Agitourism Conference looking at different web sites for potentail speakers and I came across Van Till Farms. Cliff and Debbie have been AgriMissouri members for several years but I hadn't looked at their web site for a while. They are doing a lot of great things on their farm. I visited a couple years ago and they were just getting going but now they offer catering, gourmet farm dinners on their patio, cooking classes with a personal chef plus the farm store and they go to the farmers market. I don't know how they do everything!

This week's recipe is one of their featured November recipes. My husband traveled in the South for a while so he really likes grits and since I know I've never posted anything with grits before I decided today was a good day to chart new territory. Let me know what you think.

Apple Wood Bacon and Van Till Farms Gouda Cheese Grits
Yield, 6 servings

Ingredients
1/2 pound Apple Wood Smoked Bacon
1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
1/2 Yellow Onion
1 Clove Garlic
5 cups Whole Milk
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp White Pepper
2 cups Quick Cooking White Grits (not instant grits!)
1 1/2 cups Van Till Farms Gouda Cheese

Directions
Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry in a small deep sauce pan over medium heat until crispy. Drain the bacon on paper towels and set aside. In the same pan over medium heat melt the butter then add onions and garlic cook for 2 min until onions turn translucent. Add milk, salt, and pepper and stir until it comes to a light boil. Add grits and stir constantly until it begins to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in cheese and bacon. Cover until ready to serve.

Serve with fried or grilled chicken.

Friday Fixin's

In honor of Halloween today's Friday Fixin's is a tribute to the pumpkin, courtesy of Carolyn's Country Cousins Pumpkin Cookbook.

Carolyn's Pumpkin Mousse

2 c. pumpkin
12 oz. evaporated milk
5 egg whites divided
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 envelope Knox gelatin
1/4 c. cold water
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. vanilla
almond slivers

In a large saucepan, mix pumpkin, milk, 2 egg whites and sugar. Beat well. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside. In a small saucepan, add gelatin to cold water and let sit for one minute. Cook on low heat until gelatin is dissolved. Stir constantly. Add gelatin to pumpkin mixture and allow to cool. In a mixing bowl, whip remaining 3 egg whites and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Add vanilla and continue to beat to stiff peaks. Fold egg white mixture into pumpkin mixture, mixing carefully. Spoon into 8 dessert dishes. Garnish with almonds. Chill until set.

Missouri Apple Pie in the News

Several AgriMissouri members were featured in The Apple of My Pie in yesterday's Food Section of the Columbia Tribune. Below are excerpts including member's favorite apples for apple pie. If you visit the article, you can also print several apple pie recipes and one crust recipe from Pam at Huffstetter's Orchard.

Dan Kelly of Blue Heron Orchard, north of Hannibal, has been growing apples for 18 years. This time of year, he mixes the tart "workhorse of the orchard" Jonathan with a sweeter Gala and a "winy, aromatic Cortland." Then, like Nilon, he adds a sweet elixir: his own boiled-down cider. "I never add sugar to my pies."

Sandy Binder of Binders Hilltop Apple and Berry Farm, in Mexico, weighed in on her favorite apples for pie: York and Rome apples together, she said, because of their flavor and firm texture.

Flickr apple pie photo courtesy of romanlily.

Friday Fixin's

Yea, it's finally Friday! Although I really can't complain because I took off yesterday to take the sheep and my dog to the vet. I was wearing my black and gold Mizzou sweatshirt and my vet said "he was glad to see everyone still supporting the team." Of course we are it's Homecoming! I know earlier this week I gave you a link to MBIC's tailgating recipes so today I thought I would share one of my burger favorites.

Blue Cheese Burgers, now I can claim no credit for this one, the recipe is from allrecipes.com. Here's a link to the original recipe because I reduced the portion to fit my family. If you don't like blue cheese, don't let this one scare you, I'm not the biggest fan of the smelly cheese but I love these burgers. The other great thing about these burgers...you don't really have to measure and you can adjust the recipe to fit your tastes.

Enjoy!

Blue Cheese Burgers

1 pound lean ground beef
1-1/2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons minced fresh chives
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I recommend Happy Dog's Hot Sauce and I use a little extra)
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard (I love mustard so I add a little more of this too)
4 French rolls or hamburger buns

In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, blue cheese, chives, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, salt and mustard. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat grill for high heat. Gently form the burger mixture into about 4 patties.

Oil the grill grate. Grill patties until well done. Serve on rolls or buns.

Friday Fixin's

I thought it was so cold this morning when I got in the car to come to work. I know it was only 44 degrees but still it felt like a true, crisp, fall day. This got me thinking about fall foods and I remembered this recipe. It's become one of Doug and my favorites. It takes a little time to prepare so we don't make it all the time but if you've got some herbs that you need to use before they freeze, this is a good one.

(FYI: This recipe is from Rachael Ray, I don't want to get in trouble for not attributing. We've also cut the recipe in half and it still works great.)

Pecan Pesto Roasted Turkey Breasts

1/2 cup pecans (Missouri has a great pecan!)
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus more for oiling pan
1/2 small onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
Zest of 1/2 lemon
6 fresh sage leaves
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 fresh bay leaf
2 tablespoons butter
1 boneless turkey breast half, skin on (about 2 – 2 1/2 pounds)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Oil the bottom of a roasting pan and set aside.

Place small, dry skillet over medium heat, add pecans and cook until toasted, stirring and shaking pan frequently. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

In a food processor, combine the cooled nuts, onion, lemon zest, sage, parsley, salt, pepper and 1 1/2 tablespoons EVOO. Pulse until you have a coarse paste.

Put bay leaves and butter into a small pan over medium-low heat until the butter is bubbling. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Put the turkey breasts on a work surface. Carefully run your fingers between the skin and the flesh from one end, being careful not to pull it completely off, to create a pocket.

Season the turkey breasts generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stuff half of the herb/pecan paste under the skin of each breast, spreading it evenly under the skin. Fold the skin back to cover the pesto.

Transfer turkey breasts to the roasting pan. Using a pastry brush, baste the breasts with half of the bay butter. Place the turkey in the oven and immediately decrease the temperature to 400 degrees F. After 20 minutes, baste the turkey breasts with the remaining butter and roast for an additional 20-25 minutes, until cooked through, and a thermometer placed in the thickest part of the breast registers 170 degrees F.

Remove from oven, transfer to a platter, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

*May need to cover turkey breasts with foil while cooking to avoid burning skin. (We did, otherwise the skin burns badly.)

Rewind: Sarah's First Canning Experience - Part 2

First, I am sorry it's taken me over two weeks to write Part 2 of my canning experience. In case you didn't see the first half (since it was several posts ago), you can check it out here.

Let me bring you up to speed, the apples have been cooked and run through the food grinder to get the peel off. Now you need to fill your canner with water that will be at least an inch over the tops of your canning jars. Put it on the stove and let it heat to a boil. This will take a while because there is a lot of water in the water bath canner.

Now comes the seasoning the applesauce and this is totally to taste. The recipe on the National Center for Food Preservation's web site says to use 1/8 of a cup per quart of applesauce. Everyone has different tastes so I made it to my liking. I would say I probably used about 1/4 cup sugar (my apples weren't very sweet) and I added cinnamon. I have no clue the quantity because I would add a little, stir, taste and repeat until I got it where I wanted it.

After your sauce is seasoned to your satisfaction, then you need to bring it back to a boil. Once it gets to a boil, fill the glass canning jars using the funnel you purchased. (I had never used a funnel before and it really makes filling jars a lot easier.) Leave about 1/2 inch of head space in the top of the jar. This is important so that the jar will seal. Once your jars are filled, take a spatula and run it around the inside of the jar to remove the air pockets. This is tricky and, to be honest, I didn't get all the air pockets out. It didn't seem to hurt the taste of my sauce.

Here's another part that worried me, now you put the canning lid and ring on the jars. All the information I read said don't crank the rings down very tight, just put them on so they are barely tight. These are just holding the lid on and after canning, you can remove the ring all together. I was skeptical but followed the instructions.

The water in my canner was boiling by this time so I set the jars in the rack and put them in the canner. The guide on the Food Preservation web site said to boil my jars for 20 minutes. The time is based on the size of the jar (mine were pints) and your location's altitude. I had to look up the altitude for my city and it fell between 1,001 - 3,000 feet.

Here's where it got a little funny. I have a habit of causing smoke when I cook, not that all my food is burnt but I've usually forgotten that something fell in the bottom of the stove or under the burner from the last time I cooked. Not to break my record, I filled the house with smoke this time too. I think it was a combination of things, I do think something had fallen under the stove burner and, second, the water bath canner is larger than the burner so it sort of hung off the edge of the burner and caused some smoke. It was just for a little bit and it did clear but I wanted to warn you that because it takes 20 minutes in the canner, you need to make sure to clean under the stove burner first. The photo above is the canner prior to the smoke.

Once the 20 minutes are up, turn the stove off and carefully remove the jars from the canner. You should be able to lift them up with the rack, if you didn't use the rack, use the jar gripper tool (it works really well because I put the rack in the canner but forgot to latch it to the side so I could pick it back up).

Now you need to set the jars in an area where they won't be bumped or moved for 24 hours so they can cool. You aren't suppose to even tap the top to see if the seal is sealed, so I didn't. The picture at the left shows the three jars I canned right after coming out of the canner and being dried.

Sarah's Post-Canning Bits of Wisdom:
1. It was fun! I can now say that I am a successful canner. My applesauce tasted great.
2. I only had 3 pints of sauce when I was done. I should have cooked another batch of apples because it is a lot of work for 3 pints.
3. Follow the instructions!!!!! Even if they don't seem right, the slightest deviation could lead to disaster.
4. I can't wait until my next canning project! I've got some new apples and thinking about jelly for Christmas gifts.

I hope you enjoyed my experience, the good, bad and the ugly. I would love to hear others canning experiences, tips or tricks. So email me and tell me your stories.

-Sarah

Friday Fixin's: Tenderloin, Cranberry & Pear Salad

This past Wednesday I got to attend a food focus group at the Missouri Beef Industry Council office. As we talked about nutrition, food pairings and food safety we put together this great salad. I have to be honest, just looking at the recipe it's not something I would have picked but it was really great.

A couple side notes:
We used a flat iron steak and marinated peppercorn shoulder tender instead of tenderloin steaks. Both of these can be found in your meat case pre-cut and sealed in air-tight packaging. I preferred the marinated peppercorn shoulder tender to the flat iron.

If you are in a hurry (and who isn't) try Gibbons Honey Dijon Poppyseed Salad Dressing or Ott's Honey Mustard Salad Dressing. I tried the dressing we made and then put the Gibbons on my salad because I thought it had more flavor.

Tenderloin, Cranberry and Pear Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
25 minutes

		Ingredients:
4		beef tenderloin steaks, cut 3/4 inch thick (4 ounces each)
1/2		teaspoon coarse grind black pepper
1		package (5 ounces) mixed baby salad greens
1		medium red or green pear, cored, cut into 16 wedges
1/4		cup dried cranberries
		Salt
1/4		cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1/4		cup crumbled goat cheese (optional)
		Honey Mustard Dressing:
1/2		cup prepared honey mustard
2 to 3		tablespoons water
1-1/2		teaspoons olive oil
1		teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/4		teaspoon coarse grind black pepper
1/8		teaspoon salt
		Instructions:
1.		Season beef steaks with 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Place steaks in skillet; cook 7 to 9 minutes for medium rare to medium doneness, turning occasionally.
2.		Meanwhile whisk Honey Mustard Dressing ingredients in small bowl until well blended. Set aside. Divide greens evenly among 4 plates. Top evenly with pear wedges and dried cranberries.
3.		Carve steaks into thin slices; season with salt as desired. Divide steak slices evenly over salads. Top each salad evenly with dressing, pecans and goat cheese, if desired.
Makes 4 servings.
		Nutrition information per serving: 321 calories; 14 g fat (3 g saturated fat; 7 g monounsaturated fat); 67 mg cholesterol; 434 mg sodium; 21 g carbohydrate; 3.3 g fiber; 26 g protein; 7.6 mg niacin; 0.6 mg vitamin B6; 1.4 mcg vitamin B12; 2.4 mg iron; 30.0 mcg selenium; 5.1 mg zinc.

Friday Fixin's

This year at the Missouri State Fair, AgriMissouri partnered with the Missouri Beef Industry Council to provide AgriMissouri products for recipes demonstrated on the Beef Showcase Stage. Below is a recipe demonstrated that featured Lettuce Lizzie's Thai Peanut Ginger Dressing.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Oriental Express Wraps

1 1/2 lb. 95% lean ground beef
1 c. Lettuce Lizzie's Thai Peanut Ginger Dressing
1 medium cucumber, seeded & chopped
1/2 c. shredded carrot
1/4 c. torn fresh mint leaves
salt & pepper to taste
12 large Boston lettuce leaves (about 2 heads) or iceberg or romaine lettuce
Fresh mint leaves to garnish

Brown ground beef in large nonstick skillet over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes or until beef is not pink, breaking it up into small crumbles. Pour off drippings. Stir in Lettuce Lizzie's Thai Peanut Ginger Dressing; heat throughout.

Just before serving, add cucumber, carrots and torn mint; toss gently. Season with salt and pepper. Serve beef mixture in lettuce leaves. Garnish with mint.

To find more recipes featuring beef, visit the Missouri Beef Council web site.

Rewind: Sarah's First Canning Experience - Part 1

OK so the technical term is 'food preservation' but canning is what I've always heard it called. I decided it was time to practice what we preach about preserving local foods so you can enjoy them year round. The rest of this post is a written and pictorial description of my first canning/food preservation experience. (FYI-It is actually the next two posts because I got a little windy in my description.)

Labor Day weekend I was actually at home so we went to my parents for a barbecue. While we were there my parents loaded my husband and I up with all sorts of produce from their garden. Among our loot we received green beans, tomatoes, zucchini and apples, lots of apples. I knew I was leaving the following Tuesday and would be gone for two weeks so I had to figure out what to do with the apples. I love applesauce so I decided to make my own.

I've made and froze applesauce before but we didn't have enough room in our freezer because I stocked up on blueberries and Swiss Meat & Sausage Company brats this summer. So I decided to give canning a try.

My first step was to listen to the Food Preservation podcast again. Then I checked out the National Center for Home Food Preservation web site. This web site is must to bookmark because it has tons of information. I found the guidelines for basic canning and a recipe for making and canning applesauce.

Next, I organized my equipment. The photo at the left shows my boiling water canner, food grinder, jars, utensil to pull the jars out of the boiling water, funnel and apples (of course). I must have left the cinnamon and sugar out of this photo but you'll need those too.

After all the equipment is assembled, you will need to slice the apples. I used an apple corer and then cut them into pieces and put them in a large stock pot. Add a little water, this is not exact, about an inch in to the pot and put the apples on the stove to cook. Don't worry about peeling the apples, we'll deal with that in the next couple steps.

You'll need to stir the apples frequently to keep them from burning. I tried to pull the ones from the bottom of the pot to the top when I stirred so that they would cook more evenly. You have to cook the apples until they are soft. I think it took 15-20 minutes but it depends on the size of your stock pot. Mine was only 4 quarts, 8 or 9 would be better. I did have a burnt spot at the bottom of my pan but the apples didn't taste burnt.

After your apples are soft and, maybe mushy, remove them from the stove and affix the food grinder to a bowl or pot. See the photo on the right.

Then you will grind the apples, peel and all, with the food grinder. I had to grind in small batches because I kept picking out the peel. This step is really quite easy but I will tell you, it took my second batch before I realized that if I reversed my grinding direction, the grinder would scrape up the peel for me so that I didn't have to use a fork. Just letting you know so it's easier for you.

Here's a photo of the apples while I was grinding. I still have a lot to share but that's all for now. I'm off for the rest of the week on some needed vacation but I will share the rest of my canning story with you next week.

Friday Fixin's

Another great post from Katie.

On my last day at the Department of Agriculture we had a load of snacks.  Shelley brought in Gooey Butter Cake and it was AMAZING!  I don't know how many of you have had a chance to enjoy this sinfully good cake, but if you haven't... you should! 

I went out to www.allrecipes.com and found this recipe for Gooey Butter Cake to share with you.  It's great for a birthday, dinner get-together, or just for an indulgence that you won't soon forget!  Here you go!

GOOEY BUTTER CAKE

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup butter
2 cups confectioner's sugar
8 ounces cream cheese

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter one 9x13 inch cake pan.

Melt the butter slightly. Mix it with 2 of the eggs and cake mix. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Mix the remaining 2 eggs with the cream cheese, and the confectioner's sugar. Pour this mixture evenly over the first mixture. Do not stir.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes.

And if you aren't in the mood to bake anything, or you want to have this dessert featured at a party or wedding be sure to check out AgriMissouri member Gooey Louie!  They are located in St. Louis but you can order their cakes off of their website!  Here's what they have to say about their cake:

From scratch. In a time and place where there is mass production at every turn and things just keep getting faster, we try to slow down and make a really great cake.

That means no shortcuts. We sift our own flour to make our crusts. We don't take a fast shortcut and use any pre-made mixes. No sir or baking madams!

However, we will credit grandma for her inspiration for Gooey Louie. It was in her kitchen 30 plus years ago where family members gathered and devoured her gooey butter cakes. While she used the tried and true box cake, we do believe she would definitely approve of taking her recipe to the next level.

Because our cake is all-natural, we are proud to announce Whole Foods Market is the only gooey butter cake you will find at their Town and Country store. Please visit this beautiful store and try a Gooey Louie if you're in the West County area!

You can get the dessert in bites for any dinner party or you can get them in individual squares for wedding favors or any bridal/baby shower that you're throwing.  You can also buy whole cakes if you're just looking for a quick dessert without having to bake anything!  They also do custom boxes that would be great for any of the wedding events or corporate meetings.  You could really WOW your clients by offering them great cake in a personalized box! 

Either way, be sure that you check out the Gooey Louie website; www.gooeylouiecake.com. ENJOY!

-Katie