Beef Jerky

I wanted to make food gifts for my friends for Christmas. I tried to make fudge. I don’t know what I did wrong, but it was grainy and strange tasting. I took it to school. High school students are like black holes, they will devour anything.

My Food Network magazine came in and I was inspired. A recipe for beef jerky sounded easy. I read many other recipes and tweaked them and came up with this. I was nervous because it was a huge pile of meat and what if it didn’t work out? Success! I hope I can keep from eating it all before Christmas!

Servings:  about 20 pieces

Hardware:  Cutting board and knives, measuring cups and spoons, a whisk, a large airtight plastic container, paper towels, foil, 2 baking sheets, 2 cooling racks

Active time: 15 minutes; Marinate: overnight; Cook: 4-5 hours-jerky in about a day

Beef Jerky from the Oven

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds eye of round beef
• 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ cup dark rum
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon liquid smoke

1. You can freeze the beef for about 2 hours and cut it, with a very sharp knife, against the grain into ¼ inch thick slices. Or you can do what I did and ask your butcher to slice it for you.
2. Carefully trim all the fat from the beef. Fat will make your jerky become rancid quickly.
3. Mix all the seasonings together, then whisk in the liquids. Layer the meat with the marinade, making sure that all the beef is covered. Place in the airtight containers and marinate over night.
4. Preheat the oven to 250˚.  Line the baking sheets with foil. Then place the cooling racks over the baking sheets. Use the paper towels to dry the meat. Place the future jerky on the cooling rack so that the strips are not touching.  Place in the oven.
5. Turn the oven down to 200˚. Cook for 4 to five hours our until the desired texture.
6. Store in an airtight container and it should keep for weeks.

Riso Fangoso (Muddy Rice)

Riso Fangoso (Muddy Rice)

Dirty Rice is one of our favorite dinners. It is easy to make, very inexpensive and a great way to use up the end pieces of veggies and meat. Oh, and it is delicious!

I had ½ pound of spicy Italian sausage that I was worried about going bad. So, I decided to fuse my two heritages-Southern and Italian. What a great idea! I had some pepperoni and pancetta. I threw in some oregano and eccolo lì (there it is!) I’m calling it Riso Fangoso or Muddy Rice. Mmmmmm.

Make sure you use the largest skillet that you have. Don’t worry if the meat mixture is a little oily, the rice absorbs that. Throw in anything that you might put as a topping on a pizza (except cheese.) Olives and meatballs would taste great in this rice. You can serve this as a side dish or as a main.

Servings: 5 cups of rice

Hardware:  A cutting board and knives, measuring spoons and cups, a large pot, a very large skillet, a wooden spoon, a strainer

Time:  Active time 20 minutes; Cook: 30-35 Minutes: rice in less than 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups rice
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 + 1 sprig rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 ounces Spicy Italian Sausage, removed from the casing
• 4 ounces pancetta
• 4 ounces pepperoni
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 small tomato (6 ounces)
• ½ small onion (4 ounces)
• ½ small bell pepper (4 ounces)
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• Olive oil for the bottom of the skillet

1.  Put the chicken broth onto boil. Throw in one sprig of rosemary and the bay leaves. When the broth has begun to boil, stir in the rice. Boil for 20 minutes,
2. While the rice is cooking, dice the garlic, celery, onion and pepper, the smaller the better.  Seed and roughly chop the tomato. Set aside.
3. Dice the pancetta and pepperoni. Heat the olive oil over medium high with the other sprig of rosemary and the oregano. Add the meats. Cook and crumble until the sausage is no longer pink. This will take about 6-7 minutes.  Stir often, making sure to break up the sausage. Add the veggies and cook until the onions are soft, stirring often enough to keep anything from sticking. The veggies should finish up at the same time as the rice.
4. Drain the rice. Remove the bay leaves and both sprigs of rosemary. Stir the rice into the meat mixture. Adjust the salt. Serve right away.

You might like my original Dirty Rice recipe.

Make sure you use a LARGE skillet

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

I realize that I always rant about “real food” and the evils of processed food. I realize that I always encourage you to make everything from scratch. However, I’m about to give you a cake mix that involves boxes and bags and all manner of processes. But as the poet Walt Whitman said, “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself. (I am large, I contain multitudes.)” We are allowed to take things back, if only for a while. 

 

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

So, you should eat real food and avoid processed food and make everything from scratch, after you make this delicious, moist cake with a dense crumb. Seriously, this cake was moist 5 days after I baked it. I made a Bundt cake in a silicone pan, so you might adjust your cooking times (probably less) if you use standard cake pans or make cupcakes.

Serves: This makes 2 cake layers, 24 cupcakes or a 10 cup Bundt cake

Time:  Active time 10 minutes; Cook: 30-35 Minutes: Cooling time: varies-cake in a few hours

Hardware: Measuring spoons and cups, 2 mixing bowls, mixer, rubber spatulas, a can opener, and a Bundt pan

Ingredients:

• 1 box of yellow cake mix (16.5 ounces) I used Duncan Hines Classic Yellow
• 1 package of caramel instant pudding (3.4 ounces) I used Jell-O Simply Good
• 1-15 ounce can of pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 3 jumbo eggs
• ⅓ cup water
• 1/3 cup oil
• Flour/butter for the Bundt pan 

………………

• 4 ounces cream cheese
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt
• 3 to 4 tablespoons milk
• Optional: Candied ginger, Candied Maple Pecans

1.      Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour the pan. Set aside. Put the cream cheese out to soften.

2.      Mix the pumpkin, spices, eggs, water and oil until just combined.

3.      Mix in the pudding. Beat on medium for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl.

4.      Beat in the cake mix on low speed for about 30 seconds and high speed for about 2 minutes.

5.      Pour the batter the into prepared pan and bake it, on the middle rack, for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. I found that I need to bake it a little less because I was using a silicone pan. Just know your oven and check the cake after 20 minutes.

6.      Cool the cake in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then cool it completely before frosting.

7.      To make the frosting, mix together the softened cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Then add the milk, a little at a time, until it is the consistency you want. I used sliced candied ginger and Candied Maple Pecans for decoration.