What a Morning and Southern Plate's Steak and Milk Gravy

What a morning!!  I had to get up early and take Holland the Wonder Dog to the vet today for his annual check-up.  Holland is an outside dog which is where the trouble begins.  It had rained cats and dogs yesterday, and he was covered in mud.  I got a towel and tried to wipe him down.  In the midst of wiping him down, he started eating the cat food.  I guess I was holding his collar too tight, and he threw up the cat food all over his leash.  I started to gag and almost added my breakfast to the mess.  I kept going though, got his paws wiped off, cleaned up the throw-up and got him in the car.  As I am backing out of the driveway, I hear a commotion on the roof of the car.  I see Mickey the Tuxedo cat shimmying down the hood of the car running for his life.  I have literally driven off with Mickey on the top of the car.  I thought to myself "Maybe I better go back in and just get on the floor in the fetal position and suck my thumb for awhile!!"  I persevered though, and we made it to the vet.  So now I am home thank goodness and will share the latest recipe with you.  Hopefully, that will be less eventful!!  WHEW!!

This is the last recipe I am preparing from Christy Jordan's Southern Plate cookbook.  I honestly wish I could just cook everything from this cookbook.  If you don't have it, dash out now and buy it.  You will not be disappointed.  OK...Here we go....The Game chose Steak and Milk Gravy on page 108.  I was excited about this because I had been craving mashed potatoes and gravy and fresh green beans.  Yummo!  Let's get started.....


Here are your ingredients - All-purpose flour, cube steaks, salt and pepper, and I used canola oil and fat-free milk for Food Police.



I used a 9-inch pie plate and added 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1/4 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper and mixed well.



This is where I MUST work on my photography skills.  What you are looking at is a cubed steak that I have coated with the flour mixture!!  I promise it is there!! 




Heat canola oil in your pan.  In the meantime,  I coated the other 3 steaks, and cooked them on both sides on medium heat until they were that pretty brown color.




I took the beautiful brown steaks out of the pan and added 1/4 cup of flour to the yummy drippings and brown bits.  I also added a little more salt and pepper and started whisking until the flour turned a light brown.



You then add the milk slow and whisk it constantly.  Turn down the heat to low and stir until your lumps are gone and the gravy is thickened.  Let me say...it is hard to take an action shot.  I think I did pretty well though.  But in my hurry scurry, I forgot to take the picture of the steak added back into the gravy.  But once you get the gravy where you want it, add the steak back in and slather (new culinary term)  it with that beautiful gravy.



Here is how I served it...My mouth is watering just looking at it.  The gravy is delicious over mashed taters and the steak is yummy.  But let me tell you about my green beans.  Those are fresh not canned.  My sweet mother taught me how to cook green beans without annihilating them.   She would put a little olive oil in her pot and saute the green beans until they turned a bright green.  She then added a cup of water and simmered them on low for about 35-45 minutes.  They are delicious.  Of course, she would add bacon to flavor, but Food Police would stroke so I added onion and plenty of salt and pepper to taste.  They are wonderful. 


 
I have to tell you where I got my beautiful green beans.  It starts with this box of yumminess.  Food Police told us about a wonderful CSA or Community Supported Agriculture opportunity about 2 years ago.  You join the CSA and for 18 GLORIOUS weeks, you get to go pick up a box this size ( you can get a larger share) once a week at a pick-up point convenient to your home.  It is like Christmas every Thursday evening.  I cannot wait to see what is in my box.  In this box you can see there is yellow and zucchini squash, carrots, bell peppers, blueberries, green beans, chard, etc..  Go check out this CSA's website - www.doerunfarm.com.  They are even taking mid-season memberships as we speak.  They also provide winter shares and what a wonderful thing.  I get swiss chard, kale, butternut squash, and all kinds of other cool weather veggies.  It really has allowed me to eat healthier.  This makes Food Police happy!!

Here is your recipe......

Steak and Milk Gravy

Christy Jordan

Southern Plate Cookbook

Vegetable oil

1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt, plus some for the gravy

1/4 tsp pepper, plus some for the gravy

4 pieces cubed steak

1 1/2 cups milk

Place enough oil in the pan to coat the bottom, and turn the eye onto medium heat.  In a shallow bowl, mix together 1 cup of flour and the salt and pepper.  Coat each piece of steak with the mixture, and add to your pan.  Brown the steak on both sides, and remove to a plate while you make the gravy.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup of flour to your pan with the meat drippings.  Add a little more salt and pepper and cook over medium heat until the flour has turned a light brown color.  This will take a few minutes.  Then slowly pour in the milk and stir constantly.  Reduce the heat to low and continue whisking until the gravy thickens up.  Add the steak back to the pan and coat them with the gravy.  You are ready to serve.

Go have a great day!!

I Almost Cheated...Southern Plate's Slow Cooker Apple Butter

Okay...I must confess.  When I performed "The Game" (this is how I will refer to Eeny Meeny Miny Mo from now on) on Christy Jordan's Southern Plate cookbook again, "The Game" selected her Slow Cooker Apple Butter.  I about laid down in the floor and quit.  The devil side in me thought "Oh no...there is no way you can do this.  You have never made a jam or a jelly much less apple butter in your life.  You could just go to Cracker Barrel and buy some of theirs.  You are going to have to cheat.  Just pick another recipe...no one will be the wiser."  But then my angelic side said "You idiot!!  You promised that you would not cheat on the game.  Reread your first post.  This is why you are doing this whole food blog thing.  You wanted to try new things that normally you would not have considered cooking!  Good grief!!  Quit whining and get on with it"  So obviously, I listened to my angelic side and forged ahead.

As I read through the recipe, it said that you could either can the apple butter or just put it in the refrigerator.  When I saw the word "can", I about laid on the floor again.  WHAT??!!  But then that brought back wonderful memories of standing in the kitchen with my Bigmama helping her make muscadine jelly and peach preserves. Those are some of my favorite memories of her.  After we finished, she would bake homemade Bigmama biscuits, and we would sit down, slather the biscuit with butter ( Oh yes Food Police.. you would have loved it) and those homemade peach preserves, and all was right with the world.   I remember, though, that she had a pressure cooker doing all this, and it would whistle and steam, and I thought "Oh my gosh!!  That is going to make me hot!  I cannot do this!"  I also remembered a lecture from Nursing School 30 years ago about botulism and home canned foods.  I didn't want to give botulism to my family and friends.   AGH!!

So I called my Friend-In-Law - Patricia.  A little back story...Food Police is married to her son Kyle ( I need a nickname for him) so that makes her a Friend -in-Law - Right??   I am so blessed to have she and her husband - Rayford -  as Friends-in Law.  I could not have picked better Friends- in-Law.  Patricia and Rayford have a beautiful vegetable garden, and they can all their garden goodness.  She promised that she would help me with the canning process, and we would not have to use a pressure cooker and get hot or get botulism.  Also, on a side note, I did find that Christy Jordan has a wonderful tutorial showing how to can on her website at http://www.southernplate.com/.  But I had more fun canning with Friend-in-Law!!

So let's get started!

You need applesauce, Granny Smith apples, sugar, apple juice, cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground allspice.  I thought where is the butter?  Remember I have never made this before!!!

You add all the ingredients into the crockpot and then peel your apples.  It was very therapeutic peeling all those apples. 

I chopped those apples into little pieces.  It was very therapeutic chopping all those apples.

You put all those apple pieces into the crock pot with the other ingredients, mix well, and cook on low for 8-10 hours. I almost thought I was not going to have enough room in my crockpot, but it worked.   I did this at 10:00 pm at night so that when I woke up the next morning. I would smell the deliciousness.  It smelled like Christmas morning!!

Oops.  I forgot I took a picture of it all mixed up.  Here you go.  You can see how full the crockpot is!! 

Once you let it cook 10 hours on low, you take the top off and let it continue cooking to get some of the liquid out.  I had already started putting some in cans when I took this picture, but you can see that it cooked down about an inch from where we started.  The color is glorious, and the smell is beyond belief, and the taste is ..... I can't think of an adjective that would do it justice plus I can't figure out how to work the thesaurus on this blog.  YUM!!!

Look at it in those little pint-sized Mason Jars.  Friend-in-Law did all of this for me.  I would have messed up if Friend-in-Law was not here.  She said because the apple butter was so hot, if we had put it in the cold jars, they would have cracked.  So we added some water to the jars, heated it up in the microwave, poured it out, and added the apple butter to the jar.  I just watched and took pictures. 

Once you get them all filled, you put on the little seals and rings, and place them in the almost boiling water bath.  I can't remember why it was almost boiling but not boiling.  I will have to ask.  You bring it to a boil and let it go for 10 minutes.

All done...  Aren't they beautiful? What is so much fun is that you get to hear the little thunk when the can seals.  That means we won't get botulism.   I didn't have to lay down on the floor at anytime during this process.  It really was pretty easy.  I even think I might could do it by myself.  These would be awesome to give as Christmas gifts.   

Before I give you the recipe, I have to tell you a quick story about Husband Fred and the Apple Butter.  He gets up at 5:00 in the morning to go to work.  I told him he could get some of the Apple Butter and try it out on some toast.  I told him it would be a little runny, but it would be ok.  He came home for lunch that day, and I asked him how he had liked it.  And he says.....Well, you forgot to get bread when you went to the Grocery store so I.....ARE YOU READY?... put it over cereal."  WHAT???  Food Police and I both asked him if the cereal had milk in it.  He looked at us like we were growing horns out of our head.  I looked at him like he was growing horns out of his head.  He said "Of course not!"  He said it was delicious over his Special K Almond Crunch cereal.  So you know if it tastes good on cereal, it is good.

Here is the recipe....

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

Christy Jordan

Southern Plate Cookbook

Two 3-pound (50 ounce) jars unsweetend applesauce

3 pounds Granny Smith apples

4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups apple juice

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground allspice

Peel and cut the apples into thin slices.  Place all the ingredients n a slow cooker and stir.  Cover and cook on low overnight for 8 - 10 hours.  Remove the cover and keep cooking until some of the liquid has gone.  ( I did mine on High after removing the cover, and let it go another hour or so).  Pour into jars and either can or refrigerate.

Christy said hers made 8; mine made 7 probably because Husband Fred poured out a bunch on his cereal!!

Go have a great day!!

I Am On It!! Southern Plate's Kathy's Country Casserole...

Hello All....I chose as my next cookbook - Southern Plate by Christy Jordan.  I discovered Christy in Southern Living Magazine, I guess, about a year ago.  The article mentioned her website - http://www.southernplate.com/ - and I immediately ran at breakneck speed to the computer and checked it out.  I went crazy over the site and Christy.  I ordered her cookbook which is a wonderful collection of family recipes and more.  Everything I have tried from this cookbook and her website is soooooooooo good.  I would recommend that this be your next cookbook purchase. 

She is more than just a cookbook author and website though.  She is a wonderful story-teller with roots here in Northern Alabama.  She has such a positive spin on life and is an excellent role model for showing her readers how to be grateful for all that has been provided us.  I would love to meet her. 

On to the recipe....The Eeny Meeny Miny Mo Game chose.....drumroll please.........Kathy's Country Casserole on page 202.  I don't know who Kathy is, but she did a great job on this recipe. 

Here is a picture of the cookbook.  I tried a new strategy on my photography.  Move to the counter with more light!!  Still not the best but not too bad for an amateur.



To make Food Police happy, you will notice I used 2% cheddar and fat-free milk.  It tasted great.  Speaking of Food Police, she wants me to start sending her food diaries so she can critique my eating habits!!  I love having a dietitian for a daughter!! Wink wink!!

OK...Here is another beautiful shot of 4 chicken breasts that I poached and shredded.  I know the Barefoot Contessa says she roasts her chicken for better flavor, but I didn't want to get hot with the oven on 400 degrees.

Add 2 cups of small shell pasta, cooked and drained!

Add 2 cups of mixed vegetables.  As you can see there is frost on the veggies, and as I read the recipe NOW (WHOOPS!!), I see where Christy said to cook and drain the veggies before adding.  Obviously, I did not do that which is one of my pitfalls - not reading the recipe completely but hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes - but it still tasted awesome.

Add 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese.  I used 2%.  I cannot use fat-free cheese.  It just doesn't melt right!! I know Food Police is shaking her head right now! 

Add 1/2 cup of french-fried onions.  Now we are talking!!  I love those things!!

Add one 10.5 ounce can of cream of chicken soup, undiluted.

Add 1/2 cup of milk, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder.  I took a picture of one of my favorite things.  I got this from Paula's website.  It is a little wood box that holds my salt and pepper, and I keep it right by the stove.   Love it love it love it!! 

Mix well and spoon into a 9x13 casserole dish.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  The casserole dish is another of my favorite things.  You can order this line called Temp-tations from QVC.  You would not believe all the different products they offer.  It is awesome.  It also comes in all different colors to match your kitchen. 

After you bake for 25 minutes, you top with the remaining onions and cheese and bake until the cheese melts which was about 5 minutes or so!! YUMMO!!!  The kitchen is smelling awesome right about now and of course, here comes Husband Fred.

I served it with a green salad and can I say, it was some good eating!!

Here is another view.  Look Food Police - My vegetables take up 2/3 of my plate!!!  I am learning!!  They have gotten rid of the Food Pyramid and gone to the Food Plate I am told.

I loved this recipe.  I can see where you could take it to a potluck or to a new mom who has just had a baby, or just enjoy it for an easy weeknight supper.  It is DELICIOUS.   Christy also notes in her cookbook that it freezes well too.  There you go!!

I plan to do a couple of more recipes from this cookbook.  I love it, and I am loving my game.  It is making me try new things!!  Now go have a great day!!

Here is the recipe:

Kathy's Country Casserole

Christy Jordan

Southern Plate Cookbook

2 cups small shell pasta, cooked and drained

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, cooked and drained

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup french-fried onions

2 cups shredded cooked chicken (you can use canned chicken)

One 10.5 ounce can of cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine everything in a large bowl, reserving half of the cheese and half of the french fried onion for topping later.

Spoon into a 9x13 casserole dish.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Top with remaining cheese and onions and bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes longer.



Finally...Summer Vacation and Paula Deen's Hawaiian Chicken Salad

I am like a kid.  It is summer vacation FINALLY!!!  I think I am most excited about working on my food blog than anything else I have planned for this summer!!  Hope you had a great Memorial Day.  It was scorching hot here in good old northern Alabama - heat indexes of 100 and more.  Combine that with the hot flashes, and I had steam coming off the top of my head.  In spite of the heat, Husband Fred and I planted 4 flats of annuals - impatiens and periwinkle, cleaned off the deck and gazebo, and counted the tomatoes on my container tomato plant.  We have 4 little green tomatoes.  That is by far the big news of the day!! 

On to the recipe....I decided I would choose another recipe from Paula Deen's cookbook - The Lady and Sons Too.  I performed the Eeny Meeny Miny Mo Game and walah (I don't know if that is how you spell that), it chose Hawaiian Chicken Salad on page 33.  So let's get started.....  Again I digress...  It may be the hormones but as I have gotten older, I think I have major ADD.  I was loading pictures from the camera and found my Easter pictures.  I have to show you my Easter Centerpiece.  I made the Peep Nests from one of my favorite blog sites - Mommy's Kitchen.  She has a lot of great ideas like this on her blog plus just good food.  I have a link to her blog on my home page.  Shout out to Mommy's Kitchen. 



I thought these were so cute!!  They tasted wonderful!!  Pretzels coated in white chocolate make the nest and then add the Peeps and jelly beans for the eggs.  I need grandchildren!

 

I loved the tulips. 


On to the recipe.....

Here are the ingredients...  Note the hydrageas in the background...Those are from my back yard.  I still have to work on the picture taking skills.  AGH!!

 I poached 4 large chicken breasts and then chopped and shredded them.  Isn't that the most beautiful picture??  HAHA!!

Add one cup of chopped celery...Paula called for two cups, but I am not the biggest fan of celery!!

Add one cup of sliced almonds!!

Add one cup of mayonnaise and mix well.  I used Light Mayo as directed by the Food Police.

Looks good so far but wait!!!

Drain and add two 11- ounce cans of mandarin oranges..


 

                                     Drain and add one 20-ounce can of pineapple tidbits...

Add one pound of seedless grapes, cut in half...Paula called for green grapes in the recipe, but I couldn't find any at Publix so I substituted.  Gently fold in all the ingredients.

Check out the finished product.  Yum!!!  Also check out the picture of Food Police and Me meeting the one and only Paula Deen at a book signing.  Notice who got to stand by Paula!!  BOO on the Food Police!!  I told Paula she was a dietician and Paula laughed and stated "I bet she likes my cooking better than those old salads!"  Oh Paula!!!

I served the Hawaiian Chicken Salad on a bed of Romaine Lettuce.  It was delicious!!!  Great for this hot hot weather!!

This recipe was a winner, and again I don't think I would have tried this if not for my little game.  I will definitely make this again.  It would be perfect for a luncheon, a brunch or like us, a dinner on a hot June night.  OK...  I have picked my next cookbook.  It is written by a wonderful lady - Christy Jordan from Northern Alabama and is called Southern Plate:  Classic Comfort Food that Makes Everyone Feel like Family.  More to come!!!!!!!!!!  Go have a great day!!

Hawaiian Chicken Salad

Paula Deen

The Lady and Sons Too Cookbook

4 cups cubed cooked chicken breast (4 large chicken breasts)

2 cups diced celery

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup sliced almonds

Two 11-ounce cans mandarin oranges, drained

One 20-ounce can pineapple tidbits, drained

1 pound seedless green grapes, cut in half

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, celery, mayonnaise, and almonds, and mix well.  Gently fold in the oranges, pineapple, and grapes.