My Fried Green Tomatoes

I've never thought to mention where I get my green tomatoes for frying during the winter until someone asked me recently.

When the growing season ends, I like to use some of my green tomatoes for pickles, but I always save some for frying.
I slice the larger tomatoes about 3/8" thick, stack them in quart canning jars. Add 1TBS of lemon juice to each jar and a pinch of salt..then cover with water leaving 1/2" head space.
I process them in the water bath canner for 40 minutes.



To serve, I drain the tomatoes and cover them with a mixture of seasoned flour and panko bread crumbs. The panko gives the fried tomatoes a nice crunchy coating. :)

The are a nice treat during the winter....

Smoked Cured Pork Chops with Jalapeno Cornbread Stuffing

I cured a few pork chops the other day using tenderquick and turbinado sugar....I just let them cure for 3 hours, rinsed and stuffed.


The cured chops...



I made a stuffing using some jalapeno cornbread. The cornbread already has jalapenos, onions and whole corn, so I just added a few seasonings, butter and a bit of chicken broth to keep it moist.

The cured chops...locked and loaded...also sprinkled with cracked black pepper...

Onto my drum smoker with some apple and olive wood.....

The chop with jalapeno cornbread stuffing, some turnip greens, salad and a couple of fried green tomatoes.

It was pretty tasty!

I'm still here

Sorry I have not posted for awhile..... I'm still here! lol

Still without gas, but doing fine. I'm getting used to it. :)

Love cooking outdoors anyway!

Hope everyone is keeping warm and well.

Smoked-Baked Steak with Biscuits and Gravy

I smoked some baked steak for supper last night. Made extra for leftovers this week. :)

I seasoned the tenderized steaks with salt and pepper, then dredged them in flour...

Lightly browned them...

Made a creamy pan gravy with the drippings....

Rehydrated some morel mushrooms...

Covered the steaks with the gravy, morel mushrooms and a few slices of onion....

I split a couple of potatoes open, added a slice of jalapeno bacon, onion, butter and seasonings...

Whipped up a batch of biscuits....

Everything into my drum smoker.......

I enjoyed a couple of Coors Lights. :).......

Poked the steak to see if it was tender.....

The baked steak topped with morels..... biscuits and gravy..... smoked potato with jalapeno bacon and salad...

It was pretty tasty!

Shrimp Scampi Over the Fire

This is a recipe shared by a friend named Smoken Yankee.
Since I still have no gas to cook with.... I cooked the shrimp over a small wood fire.

Smoken Yankee's recipe...
4TBLS. oil
3TBLS butter
1TBLS minced garlic
20-40 pelled med/lg shrimp
1/2tps crushed red pepper
1tps oregano
1/2tsp salt
2TBLS flour
1/2 cup white wine
3/4 cup chicken broth
and 1tsp lemon juice

I combined my wine, chicken broth and lemon juice in one container so it would be easier to carry outside. lol
The flour, red pepper, oregano and salt....



I sauteed my minced garlic in the oil and butter...


Added the shrimp, red pepper, oregano and salt...

Then stirred in the flour....

Added the wine, broth and lemon juice and let it simmer for 10 minutes...

The finished shrimp scampi...

Served over rice.....I really loved the scampi! I'm sure it is delicious made in the house, the smokey flavor of the wood fire added a lot too. I'll be making this again for sure....Thank you for your recipe Smoken Yankee!

Frog Legs and Jalapeno Bacon Wrapped Dove

I smoked some dove breasts that I harvested this fall....wrapped them in some jalapeno bacon.
The frog legs were a gift from a friend in exchange for fresh eggs.




First I used a marinade on the dove breasts..then wrapped in strips of bacon...



Seasoned the frog legs with a bit of my seasoned salt and lemon pepper....
Then onto the smoker with the jalapeno bacon wrapped dove...

I basted all with garlic butter....

The Frog legs, garlic butter and jalapeno bacon wrapped dove breasts with a cold beer.....

This was my finger food supper... It was kinda tasty. :)

My New Best Friend

Gas for heat is still being repaired....I purchased this nice little space heater and it's doing a great job of keeping me warm. :)

Venison Hash

I fried up a batch of venison hash for breakfast using the venison pastrami I made the other day....

The venison pastrami recipe... http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2009/02/venison-pastrami.html




Fried the venison with potatoes and onions....



Scrambled some fresh eggs....


Served on a hot biscuit then topped with creamy gravy.....



It was a pretty tasty breakfast. :)

Happy Valentines Day!

Hope everyone has a nice Valentine's Day. Give your loved one a hug and be thankful that you have each other. lol :)

Brrrrrrr....again! :)

lol Some of you are aware that my heat has been off since Monday.
My farm uses natural gas from a well located on this section of land. When they shut the well down Monday for simple repairs I was told the heat would be back on before nightfall. lol

It's Friday now and still no heat. I'm not complaining though. I borrowed a friend's space heater and I have my nice little sleeping bag to snuggle into at night.

To make a long story short...please send any extra sunshine and warm thoughts my way. It's going to dip down to 18 degrees tonight.

I've already decided to buy myself an electric blanket for Valentine's Day. lol

Venison Pastrami

I made a bit of pastrami using a roast from that little buck I got this deer season.

For my dry cure, I used...

5 tablespoons Tender Quick

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground paprika

1 teaspoon ground bay leaves

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

This is enough for 5lbs of meat.

I combined the cure, rubbed it into the venison, I shake the venison to remove any excess cure........then wrapped the meat and set it in the fridge to cure for 5 days....

After curing, I rinsed it off and let it soak in fresh water for 2 hours....

Before smoking, I rubbed the meat with a mixture of allspice, garlic, crushed bay leaves, crushed juniper berries, onion powder, black pepper and mustard seeds....

I smoked with a bit of hickory...

After smoking, I placed the pastrami into a foil pouch and added some beef broth. I let this sit and steam for about 30 minutes. It makes the pastrami tender and moist.

I like it with spicy brown mustard, melted cheese and some twangy green tomato dill pickles.