Category: Recipes

This past weekend was a whirlwind of fun. My oldest sister came to town.  I asked what she would like for me to make and instantly she said fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy and collard greens. I love that my siblings always know just what they want to eat at my house and let me know they expect it. Now if I could just get those in my house to tell me what they want for dinner daily. Every wife and mother’s dream, right?

Fried chicken is an American classic. While each portion of the US has it’s own style the South has uplifted it and taken it to another level.  Every family has it’s own recipe as well.  I have one myself that only 1 person  has a copy of to give to my daughter upon my death. This person is not my husband but then again he has watched me make it enough he could probably make it and it would be better than mine. While this is definitely a great fried chicken & has some of my secret recipes ingredients, it is not my super secret recipe.

The NCF store has whole cutup chickens for $6.50 lb. Let the work be done for you. We also sell Kefir for $6.50, While there are several flavors we’ll be using plain.  This is a happy accident, I ordered buttermilk, when it didn’t come in I needed a back up plan the kefir was there and it spoke to me. It said I have the lactic acid you seek. So I grabbed it and am so happy I did!

Fried Chicken

• 1 Cut Up Chicken
• 1 pint plain Kefir
• 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup Cake Flour ( It adds a crispier crunch
• 2 tsp ground white pepper
• 2 tsp ground mustard
• 2 tbsp seasoning salt
• Peanut oil for frying

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees place a sheet pan with a rack on top to drain
2. Season chicken with seasoning salt
3. Soak in Kefir for 12-24 hrs do not go over 24
4. Bring Chicken up to room temp for 2 hours before cooking
5. Mix flours in a bowl
6. Remove chicken from Kefir soak, season with white pepper and mustard
7. Coat chicken in flour mixture
8. Set chicken on a rack for at least 20 minutes to cure
9. In a deep cast iron pan (I use my dutch oven to help prevent splash back) heat 3 inches of oil to to 330 degrees at minimum but not hotter than 350 degrees
10. Cook each piece 7-10 minutes breasts will take about 15 minutes until the temp is 165 degrees with a thermometer
11. If you’re not frying much chicken place on paper towels it drain if you are cooking if you are frying more or need to keep it warm place in the 350 degree oven till serving.

Every Sunday, my Grandmother was quite predictable she either made us a Pot Roast or a Beef Stew. My Grandmother was one of my main cooking teachers growing up. Both of my Grandmothers were really, they both believed I had a special talent and would instruct me from behind as I began cooking. This Beef Stew has varied little from the time my Great-Grandmother Rumsey taught my Grandmother Hill.

Beef Stew is an American tradition, every family has its own special recipe and this is mine. Unfortunately few pictures were taken of this dish as it was Halloween and the family descended on the pot before I remembered I didn’t have a final picture. The recipe provided below few 5 adults and 2 children with no leftovers.

The Boneless Beef for Stew price at the NCF store is $8.99 lb. Combined with the veggies you’re running about $15 for a meal that easily fed 7 with no empty stomachs afterward. Boneless beef for stew can take time to become tender. Long cook times are recommended. The processor uses leftover that is not being turned into ground beef to make boneless beef for stew.

*make sure to not pepper until the end of this dish*

Beef Stew

• 1lb NCF Boneless Beef for Stew
• 3 TBS EVOO divided 2/1
• 8 cups beef broth
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 lb carrots
• 1 julienned large yellow onion
• 6 minced cloves of garlic
• 8 oz sliced baby bellas
• 2 cups peas
• 2 chunked ribs of celery
• 2 medium russet potatoes chunked
• 1/3 cup flour
• 10 sprig of thyme or 2 tsp thyme leaves or 1 tsp ground thyme
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut Beef into bite sized chunks
2. Season beef with salt and pepper
3. Flour beef
4. In a stock pan or dutch oven on med heat heat 2 tbsp of Evoo
5. Brown Beef and remaining flour about 5 minutes 
6. Remove beef to bowl add in remaining 1 tbsp of EVOO lower heat to med/low
7. Add in garlic, onion and mushrooms season with salt cover and cook for 7-10 minutes until onions are translucent 
8. Add in apple cider vinegar
9. Scrape bottom of pot getting .p all the little crispies
10. Turn heat up to med. & bring to a simmer
11. Once simmering add in beef broth & thyme cover and lower heat back to low/med or low cook for 45 minutes
12. Add in carrots, celery potatoes cook for 20 minutes
13. Add in peas cook for 5 minutes
14. Check seasoning, add pepper
15. Serve

Last week left me without much time to cook. Due to Hurricane Matthew most meals were eaten at friends houses or out. Then the end of the week was so busy with obligations that dinner was out once again.  Now the evenings are longer and cooking is something I want to fill our home as well as our stomachs.

NCF carries pork osso bucco for $4.50 lb. Osso bucco comes in all sizes, from small to large. Personally I prefer the smaller more delicate cuts.They take less time to cook and are very flavorful. Fortunately we carry all sizes in the store.  The tomatoes, potatoes and sage came from the NCF garden making this a fairly inexpensive dinner for our family. Ragout is a french stew of vegetables usually served with meat.  I served the Ragout on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes although rice polenta or noodles would serve wonderfully.

Pork Osso Bucco Ragout

• 3 lbs Pork Osso Bucco
• 2 Tbsp EVOO
• 1 Tsp + 2 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1Tsp + 1 TBSP (divided) fresh ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp Dried Sage Leaves (Not Rubbed)
• 1 cup Sherry
• 1 cup unsalted Beef Broth
• 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 cups diced tomatoes – I used frozen tomatoes from our summer garden it was about 1/2 cherry tomatoes and 1/2 beefsteak tomatoes.
• 1 large yellow onion sliced
• 5 crushed cloves of garlic

1. Preheat oven to 280 degrees
2. In a 6 qt dutch oven heat EVOO on med heat till glistening
3. Add Onion, Garlic, 1 Tsp salt, and 1 tsp black pepper cook until onions start browning .                                  
4. Remove onion & garlic to a spare bowl
5. Turn burner up to med-hi
6. Salt & Pepper pork with remaining S&P
7. Brown Pork on each side about 3 min just until it releases from pan.                                                                                                                                         
8. Remove pork to spare plate
9. Deglaze pan with Sherry
10. Add in broth & Apple Cider Vinegar

Now we are going to stack our ingredients

1. Into the liquid place the  onions and garlic
2. Place the Pork Chops
3. Cover with dried Sage leaves
4. Cover with tomatoes
5. Place lid on dutch oven and place in stove for 2 hours
6. Remove pork
7. On a med lo burner place the dutch oven on it uncovered let simmer and reducing until reduce by 1/2
8. Add pork in simmer for 10 min
9. Remove and serve over a starch of your choice.

Fall has finally arrived here in North Carolina, the past few days I have been at the NC Choices Women in Meat Conference. The Conference was held at a camp over in Efland, NC. There the leaves were beginning to change slightly. I came back with many new ideas full of inspirations from the talented women I was surrounded by.

With cool mornings and crisp sunsets it is time for some heavier flavored dishes. Lamb can be a finicky creature but the shanks are a great part to start with as a beginner. They can take a bit of abuse with cooking times and still turn out melting in your mouth.  Lamb Shanks are a cool weather treat when braised with Carrots & Prunes. My braising liquid will be Red Wine. The wine lifts the flavor of the lamb and the prunes add a sweetness without leaving the savory realm.

In the NCF Store we carry Pasture Raised Lamb from High Rock Farm and Thistle Down Farm. The shanks are priced at $10 lb. The dish I am making with the shanks pairs well with Rice, Quinoa or Roasted Potatoes. Each Shank should yield about 1 1/2 servings and are packaged in twos. Dinner for 4 will run about $25 making it a great alternative to a leg of lamb if you have a small family. And at this cost you don’t need an occasion to make it. Lamb warms your soul with its depth of flavor.

Braised Lamb Shanks with Red Wine

• 4 Lamb Shanks
• 2 TBSP EVOO
• 2 6″ sprigs of Rosemary
• 2 cups red wine (for cooking I rely on Rex Goliath Pinot Noir)
• 1 cup diced prunes
• 1/2 cup  diced carrots
• 4 crushed garlic cloves
• Salt & Pepper to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 350
2. In a Dutch Oven heat EVOO on med hi heat
3. Season shank with salt & pepper
4. Working in batches of 2 shanks brown shanks on all sides
5. Remove shanks to cutting board
6. Reduce heat to medium add in prunes, carrots & garlic,  brown about 3 minutes
7. Pour in red wine deglazing the pan ( run a heat proof spatula or wooden spoon along the bottom of the pan to get up the crispies)
8. Add in the lamb shanks
9. Rest Rosemary on lamb shank cover and place in oven
10. Cook for 60-90 min.  Lamb shanks size are dependent on the lamb if smaller they will cook faster. You want the meat to pull away gently with a fork. If it is not place back in stove and check in another 15 minutes. Lamb shanks take abuse of heat easily so do not fret if you are new to this.
11. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.

 

School is back in session full swing & while we homeschool year round  this means our school year activities are keeping us busy.

Monday – Friday afternoons we race from horse back riding, girl scouts and art lessons.  That mean we need dishes we can prepare ahead of time then throw in the oven while the little one takes a bath & we do evening chores. It’s a farm ya’ll, there are always chores.

Tonight’s dinner is one to make ahead. Usually on Sunday afternoons I like to chop my veggies for the week so I can toss and go when I’m cooking. Potatoes won’t brown if placed in cold water in the fridge. That trick is only good for about 24 hours though so I still cut mine fresh.

The other thing I have playing in my favor is the green beans I planted the end of July are now ready to harvest. The NCF whole cut up chicken is a great convenience item at $6.50 lb leaving me a few extra minutes. I go for about a 3.5 lb chicken or as close to it as I can get. The total cost with all of the veggies is about $30 and much healthier than the drive thru calling your name on busy nights.

Lemon Chicken Bake

• 3.5 lb cut up chicken
• 3 lemons 1 sliced thin, 2 juiced
• 1 lb green beans
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms
• 2 sliced bell pepper (go for color)
• 1/2 of a red onion thinly sliced
• 1 lb small red potatoes
• 5 cloves of minced garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Place veggies,sliced lemon. onion, garlic, and Olive Oil in a deep baking dish, add salt & pepper then mix well.
3. Move potatoes to outer edge of pan.
4. Pat Chicken dry with paper towels
5. Place chicken on veggies
6. Drizzle entire dish with lemon juice
7. Salt & Pepper Chicken
8. Bake for 1 hr or until golden brown. (If relying on a thermometer the center of the chicken breast should be 165 degrees)
9. Once again rest for 5 minutes before serving allowing the juices in the chicken to redistribute.

 

 

 

 

A few years ago one of those boxed dinner companies came out with seasoning packets. You were just supposed to throw it in your meat and pasta or rice and poof dinner is served.  Upon looking at the ingredient list I was mortified. And then I looked at the nutrition. Whew! Who knew so much sodium could be packed into a couple of tablespoons.

A few months back the NCF Store started carrying flavored Goat Cheeses from Celebrity Goat Dairy. Since then I have been playing around with them and having a blast. The little tubs sell for $5 each and are loaded full of flavor.  The flavors are Chocolate(hello adult s’mores anyone), mango, chipotle, garbo (herb), dillamon (dill with lemon pepper), chevre (plain), jalapeno, and curry.  Commonly I add goat cheese to dishes, it packs a punch of flavor  while low in fat.

The next few meals I present are easy dinner on the run. Currently these 4 weeks are packed to the gills with activity. And if I ever schedule this much at once again… well lets just hope I don’t. The amount of time I have doesn’t allow for dinner out and fast food is being phased out of our house unless we are traveling.

Here we go, the NCF Chicken Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast is $11 lb, Garbo Goat Cheese $5, Peas-$1.69 (broccolli or carrots can be substituted), and Pasta $1.89 16 oz box.  Tell me can you feed a family of 4 at a fast food place for under $20? I can’t and keep everyone happy but I can with this and it’s done in 15 minutes.

Ingredients

• Gemelli Pasta
• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast cut into bite sized pieces
• Garbo Goat Cheese
• 1 Cup frozen Peas
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 2 TBSP EVOO

Directions

1. Prepare Pasta to package instructions. Reserve 1/4 of pasta water
2. Season Chicken with Salt and Pepper
3. Over Med-Hi heat EVOO.
4. Once heated brown seasoned chicken
5. Add Pasta water & Peas cook for 2 minutes
6. Add Pasta and Garbo Goat Cheese mix thoroughly
7. Serve immediately

There are a few ways to dress this up and down if you have time. Mushrooms & Onions for instance. However on over scheduled nights I recommend this dish to meet the Carb, Veg, & Meat criteria many of us try to have for a meal.