Category: Recipe of the Week

Two Stinging Nettle Recipes from Notutopia Stinging Nettle Pesto Ingredients ¼ lb. young stinging nettle leaves ¼ cup fresh mint leaves 1 garlic clove, minced ½ cup pine nuts, toasted 2 Tbsp. lemon juice extra virgin olive oil ¼ cup firmly packed grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Prep: – Fill a large pot halfway full with water. Add ¼ cup salt and bring to a boil. – For washing the nettles, fill a large bowl with cold water. Using latex gloves or tongs (if you’re allergic to rubber), submerge the nettles in the water and …

Big Ben’s Chicken Asparagus Rice Casserole Sometimes spontaneity can yield a pretty good result.  This recipe was thought up on the spot at fish camp one night, and the result was a quickly emptied  pot.  3 cups Jasmine white rice 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves 2 lbs fresh asparagus spears 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 cup heavy cream 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese   Combine rice and 6 cups water.  Mix in soups and chicken breasts.  Cover and bake for 1 hour on low heat (275-to-325 degrees F), stirring …

Big Ben’s Sausage Lentil Soup 2 lbs mild Italian sausage (mine was homemade, more lean than what you’d get at the store), crumbled 6 cups mirepoix, diced small (that’s 1 1/2 cups celery, 1 1/2 cups carrot, and 3 cups yellow onion, diced to approx 1/4 inch cube) 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) Use 1/4 cup if your sausage will render as it cooks. (Mine doesn’t.) 2 tablespoons (4 to 6 cloves) minced garlic 10 cups water or stock 1 ea 15 oz can diced tomatoes (fire roasted preferable) 1 ea 4 oz can tomato paste 2 sprigs fresh (approximately 2 …

Brad’s Budget Artisan Bread   In the spirit of sharing, I thought I would offer a recipe for bread that high-end bakeries charge a lot of money. You will need the following reusable items (and after these purchases sit is very inexpensive): Baking (aka Pizza) Stone Pizza Peel (The thing you slide pizza into an oven with, but you could use the back or a sheet pan if you flour or corn meal it well so the dough can slide off easily) Food grade container or tub with a lid (not air tight, but so it will keep stuff out) …

Wiley’s Chuckwagon Pecan Pie Recipe Here’s a ranch favorite I love to take to potlucks and calf-ropings. No one has a clue that it’s main ingredient is Pinto Beans!             1 C mashed pinto beans (cooked, unseasoned and well done)             2 C sugar             4 eggs             1/4 lb butter             2 tbs molasses or dark corn syrup             2 tsp vanilla             1/2 tsp salt   Cream sugar and butter. Add well beaten eggs, molasses, and salt. Beat in well-mashed beans (that have been cooked, unseasoned and well done.) Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Pecans may be sprinkled …

I like to shop Costco, they offer a spiral sliced ham for about $20 which kept in the fridge has a very long storage period, however I have found that cooking the ham, and then dividing up serving portions in zip locks works great, the big treat for myself is to leave a portion of meat on the bone and freezing until ready to cook.   My recipe, requires a large crock pot, I unfreeze the ham bone with the residual meat, overnight I soak a large bag of navy beans per directions, I like to prepare the soup early a.m. by starting out putting  …

Martha in Indiana’s Whole Wheat Bread   3 cups warm water 1 1/2 tablespoons dry yeast 1 tablespoon honey Dissolve the honey and yeast in the water in a large crockery bowl. Pray for 5 minutes while the yeast “activates”, becoming foamy. Stir in 3 c. W.W. Flour, stir for 5 minutes to develop gluten. Add 1/3 c. Honey, 4 teaspoons salt, 1/2 c. Applesauce and stir for another 5 minutes. Add flour (6-7 cups) till a stiff dough is formed. Turn out on floured board and knead until elastic and smooth.  A good test to see if it is kneaded enough is to …

Angela in Eastern Oregon’s Stuffed Green Pepper Soup:   1 Lb ground Italian Sausage or 1 can LTS Ground Beef 8 Cups of Boiling Water 1 1/2 Cups White Rice 3 tbls dehydrated Onion Flakes 1 tbls dehydrated diced carrots 1/4 cup dehydrated Celery 1/2 cup dehydrated Green & Red Pepper Flakes 3 tbls Dehydrated tomato powder, add water until it has a paste consistency. 2 tbls Beef Bouillon 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper flakes (optional) 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder   In skillet brown the Italian Sausage (breaking into bite sized pieces), some will want to drain of the excess grease …

Jackie’s Venison Jerky 2 to 2-1/2  pounds venison roast, fat trimmed, sliced very thin  (an electric slicer works well for this) Ingredients for marinade: 11/3 tsp. garlic powder 4 tsp. onion powder 1 -1/3 tsp. black pepper 4 tsp. Lawry’s Seasoned salt 4 tsp. Accent Dash of meat tenderizer 1 cup Kikkoman low-sodium teriyaki marinade and sauce or regular soy sauce depending on how much salt you want to add 1 cup Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce Add dry ingredients to a large bowl. Add the teriyaki sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Stir with whisk until well blended. Add sliced venison …

Ray R.’s Chicken Stew We have a favorite soup recipe, made as follows: Chicken Stew 16 c Water – for a soup instead of a thick stew make this 20 to 24 cups – we use water from our Berkey filter since it tastes better. 16 tsp Knorr tomato/chicken bouillon – adds a great flavor. 25 oz boneless skinless chicken – this can be fresh, frozen, or home canned – it is about a quart of my home canned chicken. 1 c Dry pearled barley – we buy these in 25 lbs sacks at Restaurant Depot which we first learned …

Jo N.’s Oatmeal Bread I like this recipe because it makes three nice loaves with little effort.  You do not need to attend to the bread that closely so you can go off and do other chores while it is rising (2 times) and baking.   Today was bread making day for me, and this is an easy recipe that can be made with supplies we all should have on hand.   Oatmeal Bread (makes 3 loaves) 4 c boiling water 3 c oats (Quaker Oats, not instant) 7.5 to 8.5 c flour (regular is fine and is what I use) …

S.A.’s Hearty Bean Soups First, if your family doesn’t feel that a hearty bowl of beans is a meal, you need to start down this path as soon as possible. In my childhood, even though coming from a comfortable, educated home, every single Saturday, while the house was being cleaned and weekly grocery shopping done, a big pot of pinto beans was on the stove simmering away. My parents, both raised during the Great Depression, descendants from Civil War families, had also lived through rationing during WWII. The pinto beans were served with cornbread slathered with butter. My father would …

Lin H. wrote: “Don’t buy spaghetti sauce in jars or cans since it is easy, thrifty and adaptable to make your own. You know what’s going into it, you can do many different meals with the one basic homemade recipe, and the ingredients are easily kept in your home (and preparedness ) pantry.”   Lin H.’s Easy Red Spaghetti Sauce   1-2 tbs. olive oil (optional, depending on your meat choice) 1/2 lb. meat (ground beef or pork or venison, bulk sausage, diced smoked sausage, cut bacon, Vienna sausage dices, cut pepperoni slices, diced canned ham; the possibilities are wonderfully …

Notutopia’s Creamy Mushroom Soup From Storage Foods 1-1/2 cups dried mushrooms 2 cups hot beef bouillon, make it from powdered or cubed bouillon 4 cups milk, made from powdered milk 6 tbsp. flour, all purpose 1/2 cup dried onions 1/4 cup margarine, or powdered butter 1 tsp. kosher salt Parsley flakes for garnish Directions: Sauté mushrooms and onions in margarine in a heavy saucepan for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Combine bouillon, milk, salt, and flour. Blend until smooth. Add to sautéed mushrooms and onions. Cook over low heat until the mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly. Garnish with parsley. …

Tennessee Guy’s Pancake Recipe Here is my favorite pancake recipe:   1 cup of sour cream   1 cup cottage cheese   1 tablespoon sugar   1 cup of flour   Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.   It is also good to put a heaping  1/2 cup of oatmeal in place of 1/2 cup of flour!   This recipe will give you mouth watering pancakes. Enjoy! Useful Recipe and Cooking Links: H.E. suggested the recipe collection at Everyday Food Storage. Tom in Iowa recommended the 19th Century Recipes Archives at Hearth and Home. …