Texas Country Cooking

Texas Country Cooking

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Introduction to a New Blog

This is a new blog for me.  There are lots of food bloggers out there so I decided to join the fun.  I love cooking and have lots of recipes that I use and my family enjoys (which you will be able to see when I finally get a picture taken of my recipe box!) and I obnoxiously love Texas.  I also am often asked for my recipes when I take food to different events - church, work, social groups.  In light of these, I hope to post a couple of recipes a week and may occasionally include menu planning, holiday specials and tips for new cooks.

Today's dinner was actually the inspiration for the blog and honestly, it was super easy to prepare.  Sunday is a day that I look for things that can be done ahead of time and can cook while we are at church.  I started with a bone-in chuck roast.  In a large dutch oven on the stove, I heated olive oil on high heat and seared both sides of the roast.  (Searing just means browning the roast).  Then, in the same pan covered, into the oven at 275 degrees it goes.  It cooked for about an hour then I added about 3 cups of Red Mud Barbecue Sauce (http://www.redmudbbq.com).  This sauce is awesome and is produced by friends of ours in the Panhandle of Texas!  Love, Love, Love this sauce - just a little spicy with excellent flavor!  Then just let the juices and sauce do their thing with the roast for about 4 more hours or until you're ready.  The low temperature allows the roast to cook and the sauce helps to keep it nice and moist and very tender.  It was falling off the bone when lunch was ready and had such great flavor but was not dry at all.  The roast was from beef we purchased from Cattleman's Choice Feedyard (http://www.cattlemanschoicefeedyard.com).  They have excellent beef and anyone may purchase beef from them.  The link is to their website.

To go along with the roast, I served Bacon, Cheddar Chipotle mashed potatoes (Ok - I admit - they were instant Idahoan potatoes but they were excellent).  You can prepare your own by peeling, cutting into chunks, cooking and mashing potatoes; then add bacon bits, cheddar cheese and a chopped chipotle pepper with adobo sauce.  To round out the meal - fried okra (my spouse's favorite).  I do not like the prebreaded okra from the store and actually prefer fresh okra but it is not available at this time of year.  I used frozen cut okra from the freezer section of the store and prepared my own breading.  

Breading Recipe
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup flour (may need more or less - start with 1/2 cup and add tablespoon at a time)
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1 tsp salt

Beat egg slightly; add milk and stir.  Add baking powder and flour; whisk until smooth.  Add corn meal and salt and continue to whisk.  Add the frozen or thawed okra and stir to coat the okra.  Heat 1 1/2 cups of shortening in large skillet.  Be sure there is enough oil in the pan before adding okra.  Add okra to hot oil by spoonfuls.  Cook over medium high heat, using a spoon to break apart as it cooks.  Be sure you keep an eye on the okra as it will burn quickly once it is cooked.  Use a slotted spoon to take okra from pan once it is browned and crunchy.  Be sure to get all the crunchies in the pan - they are the best!

If you have any questions, give me a shout!

Dessert - Buttermilk Chess Pie - next post :)