Brrrr.... It's cold outside :)

Hope everyone is keeping safe and warm this winter. :)
I know Oklahoma has had it's share of cold and ice the last few days....

My windmill is in need of repair ( busted well rod) so I've been chopping a lot of ice on the pond for the cattle and horses. :)
I'm thankful that I have the little pond, sure beats hauling water to the livestock. :)
Hopefully I will be able to fix the windmill this weekend.


One thing I've learned in life....be thankful for what you have and no matter how bad things might seem at times, they could always be worse. :)

Irish...Happy Birthday!

A belated Happy Birthday to my good friend Irish. Hope you had a wonderful day and kept outta trouble. lol :)

Smoked Chicken Chile Rellanos

These are one of my favorites. They take time to make, so I make extras and freeze them for an easy meal. :)

I start by smoking a chicken, then letting it cool....

I remove the chicken meat from the bone........ mince about 1/2 cup of onion, one jalapeno and shred some queso campesino cheese.


I combine the chicken, cheese, onion and jalapeno....

For milder rellanos, do not use the chopped jalapeno.

I like anaheim peppers...they are my favorite.
I blister the peppers over fire. A grill works great for this....I used a burner on my stove...

After blistering the peppers, I let them steam in a baggie. This makes them easier to peel.

I wash the peel off the peppers, slit them down the side and remove all seeds.

Then stuff with the smoked chicken/cheese mixture....

I give the peppers a light dusting of flour....

For my batter.... I whip 4 egg whites....

Beat my yolks in a separate bowl....

Combine the egg white and yolk with 4 TBS of flour....

I dip the stuffed peppers in the batter and fry in oil til golden.......

Let them drain on a paper towel....

I make a sauce for the rellanos.... http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2007/12/sauce-for-chilies-rellanos.html

The smoked chicken and melted cheese are tasty......

Breakfast

I am getting a light dusting of snow this morning. After feeding the animals and checking their water, I decided to make myself a nice warm breakfast....


My road.....

I dipped some of my homemade scrapple into flour and fried in a bit of butter until crispy...

Picked out two fresh eggs....I went for a brown one and a light blue one. :)

Baked a batch of hot biscuits and topped with my prickly pear cactus jelly.....

It was tasty and warmed me up. :)

The taste of the cactus jelly reminds me of summer :)

Goofing Off

I went for a drive last night......headed for my favorite low water bridge...



It's a great spot for deer watching ........and skipping rocks.... :)

It's also a nice little summertime fishing hole .....

The sunset was nice....

Not a cloud in the sky.

I enjoyed watching the sun set even though it was pretty cold out... the thermometer in my pickup read 18 degrees. Brrrrrr....... :)

Anasazi Beans with Jalapeno Bacon

I love pinto beans and anasazi beans are a close second. :)
They are a bit sweeter than a pinto and do not take as long to cook.

I washed them.....then soaked the anasazi beans in water overnight....




I fried up a few slices of my homemade jalapeno bacon....

The jalapeno bacon post.... http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2008/12/making-bacon-part-3-cold-smoking.html

Sauteed some onion, and garlic in the bacon drippings....
I did not use peppers, the jalapeno bacon flavor was just right.....

I added the sauteed veggies to the pot of beans....

Covered the beans with chicken broth....

Added a pinch of thyme, oregano, basil and a few red pepper flakes....

After simmering the beans until tender, I added kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste.

Then served the anasazi beans with a hot fresh tortilla slathered with butter. :)

They are pretty tasty beans!! :)

Simple Cactus Salad

This is one of my favorite salads. Really easy to make and you can add any of your favorite veggies...
I start with about 1 cup of cactus, cooked and cut into strips.
You can use canned, just rinse and drain.

Here's where you can get creative..... lol..... Add anything you like.

I use corn, minced onion, black beans, tomatoes. and diced jicama.

I mix my dressing ...
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2/3 cup light oil
1 TBS dijon mustard
salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder to taste.
You can use minced garlic instead of powdered.






Mix with salad and chill...

Mix again before serving... It's kinda tasty :)

For Ken in the Carolinas

Ken,
Here is a link to the Morton Salt site... http://www.mortonsalt.com/store-locator/index.html

You might be able to use their store locator to find Tender Quick in your area.

Hope this helps! :)

Andouille....

Made some andouille sausage for my smoked duck and andouille gumbo.
I used part of the sausage for the gumbo and stuffed the rest into casings for future use.

Should be tasty on the smoker. :)

The gumbo and sausage recipes...
http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2009/01/smoked-duck-and-andouille-sausage-gumbo.html

I'm being watched :)

Not sure if you can even see the 4 deer....
They were watching me smoke my duck and andouille sausage. :)



One deer above the red gate....


Three heads peeking up along the top of the fence.....