Jerry’s Spicy “Thai” Peanut Chicken

2 cups peanut butter. (great use for the rest of the old jar. Chunky works too.)
2/3 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 limes worth fresh squeezed lime juice
2 tbsp honey (or brown sugar if you have no honey)
2 tbsp sriracha (adjust to your heat level)
1 tsp ginger

1 cup green onions, red or yellow or green bell peppers (any mix ok)
1-5 thai long hot peppers (or long cayenne) SKIP THESE if you don’t need hot and spicy.

2 lbs boneless chicken. (breast is great, a little dark meat is also great)

(If you are skittish about uncooked chicken, feel free to saute the chicken on the stovetop first.)

Assemble the sauce together in the crockpot. place the chicken on top of the mix. turn on and cover. cook for 4-8 hours. fork split the chicken to make it serve-able.

I pair it with my mom’s coconut rice, but any rice will do.

Ray’s Champagne Powder

My friend/boss, Ray Champagne, shared this great powder/rub for steaks. I’ve named it Champagne Powder.

I’ve been using it for everything, substituting it for chili powder in all grilling or baking.

Ray’s Champagne Powder

• 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle chile pepper (the one in a jar in the spice aisle)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

If you are adding it to a steak, (like his recommended 18 ounces trimmed top round steak, preferably grass fed), first rub the steak with a teaspoon of olive oil, and then sprinkle on the powder.

Mom’s Tuna Fish Cakes

This is my absolute all-time favorite meal.

Ingredients

• 2 cans of tuna, drained
• 1/2 sleeve of Ritz crackers (broken into really small crumbs), or 1 cup of Grape Nuts
• 1/4 fresh onion (or onion flakes)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup of milk
• black pepper
• 3 tbsp canola oil

Directions

1. mix everything but the tuna in a bowl
2. let soak for 5 minutes
3. mix in the tuna, and form into cakes
4. heat oil in shallow pan.
5. add cakes. fry in oil until outside is golden brown
6. flip once, fry on other side. They are best if the edges really crisp up.
7. add salt and pepper to taste while cooking (you won’t need much salt if you use crackers)
8. place on paper towel to blot.

Serve with Kraft Mac and Cheese and Green Giant canned sweet peas.

(original recipe from Grape Nuts cereal box in the 70s)

 

 

Slow Cooked Oatmeal

Ingredients:

2 cup steel cut oats
6 cups water
2 crispin ciders
1 apple, brunoised (peeled optional)
1 teaspoons cinnamon
0.5 teaspoons salt

      

Directions:

Step 1: Cooking

1. mix all ingredients together in the slow cooker.
2. turn on low.
3. cook for 3 hours, stirring once each hour.
   

Step 2: Freezing

1. divide cooked oatmeal between large muffin tins (about 1 cup servings).
   
2. freeze muffin tins until solid.
3. dip the bottom of the muffin tin into warm water to release the frozen oatmeal cup
4. store in the freezer in gallon size freezer bags
   

Serving

1. microwave 1 portion for 1-2 minutes.
2. stir
3. heat 1 additional minute.

Servings: 12

Nutritional Information:

• Serving Size – 1 cup
• Calories – 150
• Total Fat – 3 g
• Total Carbohydrates – 27 g
• Protein – 5 g
• Dietary Fiber: 4
• WW Plus Points: 4

Joyce’s Shrimp Pasta Salad

This recipe was introduced to me by Pete’s mom, Joyce. It has become an instant family favorite.

I made if for the first time this weekend, and it was just as popular with a new crowd.

1# box elbow macaroni

• Cook the pasta, drain well

3 cups Miracle Whip
1 white onion

• Peel and dice the onion really small (<1/8″ pieces)
• Mix Miracle Whip and onions into pasta. Coat thoroughly with Miracle Whip, but leave a little dry.

2 cans medium canned shrimp

• Open and drain shrimp.
• Fold the shrimp into the pasta mix. Careful though; you don’t break up the shrimp too much.

1 pint grape tomatos

• Wash the tomatos
• Slice tomatos about 1/8″ thick
• Place tomato slices to completely cover top layer.

2T paprika

• sprinkle paprika over top for color.

There is no need for salt, the shrimp adds more than enough.

For best results, refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

Pete suggested an optional upgrade, which was a ring of Colossal shrimp around the edge of the bowl, for cocktail sauce.

Grandma Masters’ Fried Dough and Grandpa’s Four Leaf Clovers

I can remember standing in her kitchen in their house in Ottumwa, waiting patiently with an empty plate, as the dough boiled on the top of the deep pot of oil. I was next!

She stood there at the stove for 2 hours in perfect humor, never slowing, as we kids ate our weight in fried dough. She must have made 30 of them, with no left overs.

A little butter (or was it oleo?) and a little sprinkled powdered sugar from an old tin shaker, and it was perfect. Cinnomon sugar was also a popular option. What did the twins call it? “Shilly shally”?

We learned to go stand in the backyard while devouring the fried dough, so we didn’t get the powdered sugar all over the kitchen.

Grandpa sat at the kitchen table, leaving his post only to join us in the backyard, study the ground for a second, bend over, and stand up with yet another four leaf clover.

We had a passel of kids who studied the ground for an hour, and he found 5 clovers in less than a minute each, right at the feet of each searching kid.

How did he DO that?

The smell of desert sage and juniper after a rain

One of my absolute favorite memories.

Lying awake under a tarp in the desert at about 3 am, looking up at the stars, savoring the smell of sage and juniper after a fast-moving summer thunderstorm, listening to a herd of wild horses about a half mile away.

I was camping just off the road somewhere northwest of Pyramid Lake in northwestern Nevada. I simply pulled off the dirt road I was on and set up camp just before dark. The thunderstorm started about 2 a.m. and lasted about an hour, but I could see it moving in for hours. I was a little worried that my tarp strung over a piece of rope between two poles wouldn’t stand up to the storm, or that the lightning would be an issue, but I was fine. I have used that setup dozens of times, and had pitched it on a slight rise, so flash floods were never an issue.

I could hear the horses forever as they moved closer and away all evening. They seemed to know just where I was.

Once the storm had cleared, I was amazed at the brightness of the stars, and how much I could see even in the dark. From my bed, I could see a dozen rabbits hopping in every direction.

Capturing this experience would be the country song I wish I could write.

Grandma Johnson’s Sloppy Joes

Dad has got this recipe down cold, but the credit and all the glory goes to Grandma. This is a recipe even Zeb will eat.

Grandma’s Sloppy Joes

[12 hamburger buns]

• BROWN hamburger, onion

2# ground beef

1 large onion, diced

salt – about 1 tsp. but salt to taste

• Prepare sauce in small bowl

2 cups ketchup

1 tsp dry mustard (1 Tablespoon reg mustard can be substituted)

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

• Drain grease, leaving browned hamburger mixture in skillet
• Add sauce, stir well
• Simmer uncovered for at least 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally, allowing sauce to cook down.
• Serve on hamburger buns.

(depending on your group, you can divide or double, this recipe — be creative, and add your own spices or condiments)

Judy’s French Stew

Here is the official recipe for Judy’s French Stew. I tend to put a little more beer, and cut the root veggies into smaller pieces. And serve it with rustic artisan bread with heavy cream butter and dark beer.

One note: count your Bay leaves when you put them in, and make sure you get that many back out.

5# onions, peeled and sliced thinly

•     cook onions slowly on low heat (but do not brown) until onions are translucent, and soft — no crunch left)

3# stew beef

  4 T flour

  1 tsp salt

  1 tsp pepper

• Mix flour, salt & pepr in brown bag or gallon size baggie
• divide beef into 3 portions and shake in bag with flour, salt & pepper
• Using hot skillet with about 3 T oil, in single-layers, sear dredged beef, until uniformly browned  (not cooked through, however).  Remove and hold until all is browned.

• In very large stew pot, stir together the following:

Cooked onions

Browned stew beef

1 can beer

1 T catsup

2 bay leaves

10-12 carrots, sliced into 1 to 1-1/2″ thick slices

8-10 potatoes, quartered or approximately  2″ cubes

• Simmer slowly on low-heat, covered (or use crock pot) for 6-8 hours, or until onions have disappeared.  [appearance of french onion soup with stew vegetables and beef].
• Stir occasionally, being sure to stir to bottom of pot, so bottom doesn’t scorch.]
•  Allow to sit 10-15 minutes before serving; Remove bay leaves before serving.

Serve with hot rolls.   Serves 6-8.  Great left-overs.

[Thanks to mom for sending this, and thanks to Judy for discovering it.]

Mirror Lake, Oregon

One of my favorite weekends ever was an overnight campout on Mirror Lake on the road up to Mt Hood from Portland.

The hike up to the lake was great, through pine forests dripping with a light rain, and crossing raging streams. By the time I got to the lake, the rain had stopped, and I was able to set up camp just above the lake.

There was a Boy Scout group also camping at the lake, and at the far end some conservation crunchy-types.

Over the course of the evening, we all met and ended up eating dinner together. The Scout leader was a gourmet chef, and after we caught dozens of crawfish in the lake, he cooked them up in a creole stew, adding in contributions from all of the campers.

We stayed up well after dark, singing campfire songs, and retired to our tents in the cool of the late evening.

The next morning, I was invited to hike towards Tom Dick and Harry mountain, and help the conservation group release juvenile Peregrine falcons into the wild.

What a wonderful experience.