by jackie | Sep 14, 2024 | Beef, Books, Bulls, Buying Beef Better, Cheese, Eating Local, Food, GRASSFED, Gratitude, Heritage Breed, Local Farmers, Meat, Recipes, Summer, Things We Love
Entertaining or Potlucking? Need a late summer dish for a lazy summer afternoon?
Just got the first Auburn Meadow Farm beef back from the processor, and wowza, did I miss it. Rich, beefy, juicy, and so delicious, when a friend gifted me some beautiful jalapenos and home grown garlic, I knew I had to make armadillo eggs. Armadillo Eggs are a Texas variant of jalapeno poppers, and are usually pretty seasoned up with chiles, seasoned sausages, and bacon. But this beef doesn’t need all that help, and the flavor of the cheese, the jalapeno, the lime, garlic and cilantro is to me perfect for a warm late summer day, especially when served alongside the cool buttermilk dressing and splashes of fresh lime.
As with all things Texas, my go-to inspiration is Lisa Fain of Homesick Texan books, blog, and now Substack. Her recipes are solid, I love her stories, and humble appreciation for the vast history of Texas life and food. Check her out, odds are your public library has a copy of one of her books too. Brief and to-the-point, let’s get straight to it…
Assembling Armadillo eggs
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded yellow cheddar cheese
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tsp cilantro chopped
- 1/8 tsp ground cumin
- 6 medium fresh jalapeños
- 4 pounds ground beef You can also use a combo of ground beef and pork sausage, chorizo would be nice
- 1 fresh lime You can use bottled if you don't have it, but fresh is appreciated
Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
Mix together the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic, cilantro, and cumin until well blended. Taste, add salt and adjust seasonings if needed.
Remove the stems from teh jalapeños and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and then cut the sliced jalapeños in half, horizontally. Note to self: wear gloves and do not touch your face or you may be sorry!
Place about a teaspoon of the cream cheese filling in each jalapeño quarter. Take about 1/3 cup of the sausage, pat it into a 3-inch circle and place the stuffed jalapeño in the center of the sausage. Wrap the sausage around the stuffed jalapeño until it’s completely covered, and form into an egg shape.
Place meat-wrapped jalapeños on the sheet, about an inch apart. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the sausage is cooked. For additional browning on top, you can place the sheet under the broiler for 2-5 minutes. (I like mine as juicy as possible, so I skip this step).
Sprinkle your eggs with lots of fresh lime juice and serve with buttermilk dressing, queso or salsa. I like juicy lime wedges on the side too.
When making this with supermarket beef, I might use a broiler pan wtih a rack to elevate the eggs from the surface of the pan. Supermarket beef won't be dry-aged, so will release more water, and shrink more, and you may get better results lifing the meat so the liquid can drain away.
Armadillo eggs are not worth the making if you don’t also have good buttermilk dressing. Here’s my fave, also Homesick Texan inspired, though lacking the heat. I don’t miss it, tobasco or hot sauce can be added at table for those who like it, and those who don’t will appreciate the cool, flavorful dressing on pretty much everything.
- 1/2 cup prepared mayonnaise I like Hellman's or Duke's. Homemade is nice too, if you're okay with raw eggs
- 1/2 cup thickened Greek yogurt Chobani whole milk Greek style is my favorite
- 1/2 cup buttermilk Marburger's is my go-to, but a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice in whole milk will work too. Allow it to set at room temp to thicken first
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Mix all the ingredients together and let chill for an hour before serving.
Makes one generous cup. Keeps in the fridge for a week, but good luck with that 😀
Armadillo Eggs are an unexpected recipe for a party dish that’s unique, accommodates most non-vegan diets, and stays on the Real Food spectrum, if you’re trying to kick the processed foods. I pretty much guarantee if you’re doing a potluck, you will please most, and copy none.
Beverage-wise, making all-beef Armadillo Eggs as I have here, a crisp, lighter white wine, or pilsner, or lime or lemonade would be my go-to. Mojitos or margaritas are always welcome, the key is light, bright, not too sweet. And, if you’re from Pittsburgh area and would like some Auburn Meadow Farm ground beef for yourself, find the details here.
by jackie | Jun 26, 2020 | DIY, Every Single Morsel, Foraging, Holiday DIY, Homemade Liquor, Pantry, Recipes, Seasonal, Strawberry, Summer, Things We Love, Uncategorized
If I was going to name one skill to master to save money and really intensify the flavors of your home cooking, it would be to deeply start exploring the juices. We throw away so much flavor and nutrition because we don’t value that extra bit of juice in the pan. Yet we will buy a separate spice or sauce to do exactly what that discarded juice will do if you would only recognize it.
Seasonal fruit is a great example of how harnessing the power and flavor of those natural peak-of-freshness juices makes your cooking extraordinary. Most recipes solve the issue of too juicy in pies and jams by cooking the fruits down, and adding thickener. But reverse that thinking, and slow down your process, and I think you will be amazed at the difference.
Got my first strawberries from the local Amish farmer a couple days ago. Plain, simple, straight-up strawberry jam may be one of my very, very favorite kitchen staples. But last year, I made this. And it’s a pretty wonderful way to celebrate that unmistakable flavor of a fresh, ripe, local strawberry in January. And a really excellent DIY gift idea, if you are inclined to think ahead that way.
Strawberrycello
- 2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced, or 1-1/2 pounds frozen strawberries, thawed
- 1-1/2 cups Simple Syrup*
- 1 fifth vodka, 80 – 100 proof
Muddle the strawberries and simply syrup with a wooden spoon in a half-gallon jar. Stir in the vodka.
Seal the jar and put it in a cool, dark cabinet until the liquid smells and tastes strongly of strawberries, about 7 days.
Strain the mixtue with a mesh strainer into a clean quart jar. Do not push on the solids to extract more liquid – it will make your Strawberrycello cloudy.
Note: If you feel your berries may have been a little overripe, and the flavor of your liquor seems a little flat, add a Tablespoon of strawberry or raspberry vinegar to restore the balance.
Seal and store in a cool, dark cabinet. Use within 1 year.
Perfect for sipping on a summer day, for spiking a cosmo, mixing with a summery white wine like Prosecco – don’t forget to chill the glass!
From the very fun book, Homemade Liqueurs and Infused Spirits by Andrew Schloss.
Martha will show you how to make herb sugar here.
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by jackie | Jun 20, 2020 | Blog, Eating Local, Father's Day, Food, Heritage Breed, Pastured Pork, Pigs, Recipes, Summer, Sunday Supper, Things We Love
Tomorrow is Father’s Day, have you got a plan? Steak, steak, steak, kind of expected. But these unique burgers are something everyone will like, are less expensive, still fun and special, and pretty foolproof. Oinkers are made from unseasoned ground pork mixed with ground smoked & cured ham – a spin off that classic rural family favorite; ham loaf.
Traditional ham loaf is a little sweet for me, but I knew there was something modern and extraordinary there. So, by eliminating a lot of the sugar, substituting saltines for the traditional graham cracker binder, adding the smoky flavor only a charcoal grill can create, and topped with a spicy pineapple salsa, I am pretty pleased with this incarnation.
A brioche, or other soft white, bun is great, white American cheese is perfect, and basting the burgers with Stubbs Original BBQ sauce added a nice, tangy, peppery flavor, though I loved the plain, unabated burgers just as much.
I actually don’t eat my burgers on a bun – I prefer a bed of chopped salad or slaw with the salsa and rice. All straight from the fridge is a nice cold lunch for a sweltering day. See? No rules. Just like the best kind of summer day.
Ingredients:
- 1 slice bone-in cured ham, 1.5#
- 1 pound unseasoned ground pork
- 1/3 cup crushed saltines
- 2 large eggs
- 1 TBS spicy brown mustard
- BBQ sauce – optional
- White American cheese slices – optional
- Buns and your favorite burger fixings – shredded lettuce, tomato, etc. I used shredded lettuce, scallion greens, and pineapple salsa.
Directions:
Cut the ham into chunks, removing the bone, and pulse in a food processor until finely ground. Mix with the ground pork, cracker crumbs, eggs and mustard in a large bowl until well combined – but don’t overword the meat. – and refrigerate at least an hour, or overnight.
Form the meat into six to eight patties. On a greased grill* rack at medium high direct heat, grill the burgers for 5-6 minutes, flip, and gril another 2-4 minutes. Baste with your favorite BBQ sauce if you wish to add another layer of flavor, I liked the peppery flavory of Stubbs Original, but the plain oinker was pretty great.
Add cheese and melt, remove burgers from the grill when the internal temp is 160° F.
Assemble and serve.
by jackie | Jun 18, 2020 | Cool, DAIRY, Grab-and-Go, Recipes, Seasonal, Soup, Summer, Things We Love
Summer is time to put buttermilk on the menu.
I have never been one for drinking big glasses of butermilk, but I LOVE the variety of buttermilk and spring veggie soups. So refreshing, so easy, and something you can prepare big batches of ahead, so you can pull out a chilled glass jar of refreshing soup when you need it later. And, I would not lie about this – a pint of this soup for lunch will literally cool you down, and keep you working.
Did you know too, that cucumbers are amazingly nutritious? Cucumbers are naturally low in calories, but high in vitamins, minerals, fiber, electrolytes, and water. So do something your future self will thank you for, and put that summer protein buttermilk to work for you this year.
A glug here, some easy home made buttermilk dressing there, a great natural marinade for meats like pork and chicken, plus cornbrread just is not cornbread without buttermilk. And let us not forget buttermilk chocolate cake, and buttermilk pie. It will not go to waste.
Here in Pittsburgh, we have a couple local, easily sourced, independently owned and bottled choices for excellent, delicious, buttermilk. If you can, Pasture Maid Creamery is a single-farm choice in glass returnable bottles, and is low temperature pasteurized to retain the most nutrient density from the milk. Supermarket ultra pasteurized will last longer, but many of the nutrients are destroyed by the high temperature used in the pasteurization and homogonization processes.
Here’s my favorite, super-simple Martha Stewart-inspired recipe. Whenever there are very few ingredients, it pays to use the best quality ingredients you can find.
Martha serves hers in bowls, garnished with cucumber slices, but I measure mine into pint Mason jars, and store them in the fridge for a grab-and-go lunch when things get hot. The frosted glass jar somehow makes it all more refreshing and delicious.
2 cucumbers peeled, halved, and seeded, plus thin cucumber rounds, for serving
2 cups buttermilk
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil, for serving
1/2 tsp granulated garlic (optional)
Roughly chop or grate the cucumbers. Place roughly chopped cucumber in a food processor or blender with buttermilk and granlulated garlic if using. Blend until smooth, 1 minute.
Season with salt and pepper. Divide soup among four bowls and stir in diced cucumber, or portion into mason jars – the plastic lids are extra nice.
To serve, top with cucumber rounds, a drizzle of oil, chopped herbs, or more pepper, if desired.
