Cooking WTF Style- Lamb Meatballs

I have decided to edge out of my comfort zone a little bit.  If you have ever asked me at the Farmer's Market about how I cook lamb or how to cook lamb my normal response is "I let my husband do it!"

 

 

I decided I needed to venture out & actually try to cook some lamb on my own.  I had a customer a few weeks ago who was buying ground lamb to make meatballs so I thought I'll try that.

 

The recipe that I used to help me get started with the meatballs can be found here.

 

I used a pack of ground lamb, mixed in some bread crumbs (leftover baguette from Chef Charles at the Davidson Farmer's Market), 1 egg, beaten, dried parsley, marjoram, salt & pepper.  I combined all the ingredients by hand & put it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes (not 1 hour like suggested in the recipe).  Next, I rolled into balls.

 

As suggested by the recipe I cooked the meatballs in butter (YES, a whole stick of butter) & added the 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil. 

 

 

And here are my lamb meatballs.

 

 

According to the Farmer Lee.....I did overcook the meatballs just a little bit.  But the lamb shoulder chops that I cooked in all the leftover butter he said those were just right!

 

As luck would have it I got an email newsletter that include a recipe for spicy lamb.  So stay tuned.....

Last Turkey Post

 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!  The WTF family sure did.

 

One thing I was really looking forward to this year was using the turkey carcass to make stock.  I have been using our chicken backs this year to make stock & I thought the turkey would be fun to try.

 

Last week I got an email newsletter that included a recipe for Next-Day Turkey Soup.  I did some tweaking to the recipe & this is what I came up with:

 

 Turkey Soup

1 leftover turkey carcass

Water

 Sliced carrots

 Chopped onion

Sliced celery

 Garlic, minced

Salt & pepper to taste

Dried Parsley

 

Place carcass & water in stock pot & bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover & simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Remove carcass.

 Remove meat from bones & set aside.

 

 

 Discard bones, then strain broth & skim fat.

 

 

 Add carrots, onion, celery, garlic, salt & pepper & simmer for 30-45 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

 

 

 Add parsley & heat through.

 

The original recipe calls for adding cubed turkey meat but I left some meat on the carcass so there was no need to add extra. 

Cooking WTF Style-Ham Steak

 

To say that the summer flew by is an understatement.  The start of school means a lot of different things to people for us it means Lee gets a lot more done at the farm because his "farm help" isn't there & for me it means I get back into the cooking groove.

 

During the summer I do a lot of week-end cooking & we do a lot of eating of leftovers thru the week.  Or we eat A LOT of vegetables & other goodies we have gotten from the Farmer's Market.

 

I'm also busy canning & freezing so we have plenty to eat during the fall & winter so I don't feel like cooking!

 

Our menu for the first week of school has been:

 

Monday

 Lamb Burger Sliders (WTF Lamb)

Steamed Broccoli (WTF Garden/Frozen)

Apples (Davidson Farmer's Mkt./Canned)

 

Tuesday

Ham Steak (WTF Pork)

Crowder Peas (WTF Garden/Canned)

Bread (Grocery Store)

served with Butter (Davidson Farmer's Mkt.) & Peach Jam (Peaches & Cream peaches canned by me)

Pickles (Correll Farms cucumbers canned by me)

 

Wednesday

Tacos/Burritos (WTF Chorizo)

served with Funky Pepper Salsa (Salisbury Farmer's Market)

 

 

So we are off to a good start for the school year.

*****

 

 

Now, for one of my easy, easy meals.....Ham Steak.

 

Thaw it, season it & toss it on the George Foreman Grill.  How much simpler can we get?

Cooking WTF Style- Sausage Balls

 

Our oldest son LOVES when I make sausage balls, it is one of his favorites so I try to make them at least once a month.

 

I had a friend who commented one time that she only had sausage balls at Christmas not at the WTF house, we love them!

 

My recipe comes from a church cookbook.  Those cookbooks usually have lot of good tried & true recipes in them.

 

 

 

I don't know why but I could not get the photo to turn. 

 I'll post the recipe at the end of the post.

Simple ingredient list just 3 items.

Sausage

Bisquick

Shredded cheese

Just a quick note here....I use to make my own Bisquick mix but I have found that actually using Bisquick works better than the Basic Mix recipe.

 

 

Also, I prefer to buy block cheese & shred it myself.  I normally use more than 1 cup of cheese since I shred it myself & I don't use 3 cups of Bisquick.  You wouldn't expect me to follow a recipe exactly now would you?

 

 

 

After mixing the ingredients together, roll them into balls & bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Then forget to take a picture until they are all almost gone!

But I can assure you everyone in the family LOVED them!!

 

 

 

Sausage Balls

3 cups Bisquick

1 lb. sausage

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix ingredients together & roll into balls.  Bake for  15 minutes.

Cooking from the Farmer's Market- Eggplant

 

Eggplant is not something I cook much.  I normally cook it once a year & do my version of Eggplant Parmesan.  But I was trying to branch out a little & try something different.  I got 4 small eggplants from Correll Farms at the the Farmer's Market on Saturday & then googled eggplant recipes.  I came across a recipe called Eggplant Caviar that sounded good & I went from there.

 

This picture is actually from the website not my picture.  While my Eggplant Caviar tasted good it was not as pleasing to look at as this picture.

 

 

I would definitely make this recipe again but I added maybe a little too much garlic so I would not add as much garlic the next time.  But on another note there were no vampires at our house all week-end!

 

 

***Eggplants coutesy of Correll Farms***

Cooking WTF Style- Meatballs

 

I have been trying to venture out some & cook a few "new" recipes instead of our tried & true recipes.

 

Ground beef is something I hardly EVER cook.  While a lot of people use it for tacos I use WTF chorizo or some people use it in spaghetti/lasagna I use WTF Hot Italian or Zesty Italian sausage.

 

I do use it for meatloaf but the kids claim they don't like meatloaf so I decided to modify the meatloaf recipe into meatballs....tricky of me!!

 

So the WTF version of BBQ Meatballs starts with a package of WTF ground beef.

We also need cracker crumbs, milk, eggs & salt.

 

 

If you want you can make your own BBQ be my guest.  I happened to have some Sweet Baby Rays in the pantry so I cheated this time & used that instead.

 

Here is the final product.  It's hard to take a good picture of meatballs so this is an oven shot!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

BBQ Meatballs

 

1-lb. ground beef

1 cup cracker crumbs

1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon salt

 

*BBQ Sauce*

 

1-Preheat oven to 350 degrees

 

2-Mix ground beef, cracker crumbs, milk, eggs & salt in a large bowl.  Roll out meatballs & place on baking sheet with a rim.  Pour BBQ sauce over meatballs.

 

3- Bake for 45-minutes or until meatballs are no longer pink in the center.

 

 

Sausage Quiche WTF Style

I know you think I haven't been cooking lately but I have.....

 

I have taken lots of pictures over the past few weeks of our food but there is only so much I can say about grilling ribs or making meatballs.  Although, I probably will share the meatball recipe in another post....a post where I remember to take pictures of said meatballs!

 

Todays recipe is Sausage Quiche.

 

WTF sells bulk breakfast sausage in mild, mild extra sage, hot & maple.

 

I used mild breakfast sausage in the following recipe.

 

It's a really simple recipe & of course I had to add my own spin on things.  I had some broccoli from the garden that I had frozen.  I chopped it up & added it to the mixture.

 

The other variation from the recipe is that I baked the pie shell in the oven for about 3-4 minutes then poked a few holes in it & put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes.

 

First, we are going to brown the sausage & drain.

WTF Mild Breakfast Sausage

WTF Jumbo Eggs

 

Then combine the eggs, milk, salt & pepper & stir in the sausage.

(this is where you would also add in your extra things like broccoli or mushrooms if you choose)

Place part of the cheese mixture on the pie crust that you preheated

(see my comment above), pour the egg/sausage mixture into the pie shell & cover with the remaining cheese.

 

 

After baking at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. 

 Enjoy!!!



Cooking From the Farmer's Market- Peppers

GREEN SALSA

 

 

The past 3 weeks I have loaded up on peppers at the Farmer's Market. As we have learned I'm not good at following recipes so my recipe for Green Salsa includes what I have on hand.  This week it was:

Tomatillas

Jalepenos

Cilantro

Lime Juice

Garlic

 

Be creative!

If you don't have cilantro don't use it.  If you have some other peppers throw them in there, do it.

 

I have made Green Salsa 3 weeks in a row & each time was a different "recipe" based on what I had gotten at the Farmer's Market or had at home.

 

 

I started with a variety of peppers

Tomatillas

- the husk need to be removed-

 Chop all the peppers & place on a baking sheet.

I also added garlic.

 

 

Then place in the oven under the broiler.

I like mine to get a nice char to them.

 Put in a blender with anything else you want to add such as lime juice or cilantro.

 

 

 

 

And there you have Green Salsa!

 

 

***Peppers provided by Correll Farms***



Cooking from the Farmer's Market- Blackberries

As I mentioned yesterday I did a lot of cooking over the week-end but not many pictures.

 

We had some friends coming over on Saturday evening so I wanted to use some of the vegetables & fruit that we got at the Farmer's Market.

 

Our menu was WTF hamburgers & chicken wings prepared by Farmer/Chef Lee.

 

He had also purchased some cheese at the Davidson Farmer's Market from Cold Water Creek  Farms which we used on our hamburgers & our guest brought focaccia from Millstone Meadows Farm.

 

I then sliced squash, zucchini & onions from Correll Farms added salt, pepper & butter & placed them in foil packs on the grill.

 

I also had tomatillo & jalepenos from Correll Farms that I used to make a green salsa.  Stay tuned next week for that recipe.  It was awesome so I will remember to take pictures next week & post the recipe!!!

 

For dessert I used Peaches n' Cream blackberries to make a Blackberry Cobbler.  The Phillip's Family sells at both the Salisbury Farmer's Market & the Davidson Farmer's Market.

 

The recipe I used for the cobbler can be found here.

 

I'll do better next week at taking pictures!

 

 

Stir Fry WTF Style

I start out with good intentions.....

 

 

I had big plans for this weeks food posts!!

 

 

I got lots of goodies from the farmer's market like squash, zucchini, tomatillos, jalapeno peppers, fresh herbs, peaches & blackberries.

 

See all the things you are missing if you don't go the farmer's market!!

 

 

Today's post was going to be WTF Stir Fry actually it's still WTF Stir Fry but sadly I was so busy in the kitchen I only took 2 pictures & they were both before pictures not after pictures....

 

 

But I can tell you that Wild Turkey Farms sells both pork & beef kabobs.  In my stir fry I used pork kabobs.

 

I then used squash, zucchini & onions from Correll Farms and organic mushrooms (which were bought at Harris Teeter).

 

I tossed my vegetables in first with a little oil over medium- high heat, then added the pork & a little soy sauce.  You want to cook the meat thru until it is no longer pink & the edges are browned.

 

Then serve over rice.

 

 



Cooking from the Farmer's Market- Summer Squash

If you have been at the Farmer's Market the past few weeks you have noticed all the summer squash. 

 

Did you know there was a difference between summer squash & winter squash?

 

Summer squash such as zucchini or patty pan is thin skinned while winter squash such as acorn squash has a hard, thick rind.

 

When squash is in season I have to make a couple of batches of fried squash.  I will admit that I am NO GOOD at frying things.  But this time I rocked it!!!

 

 

I started with fresh squash from Correll Farms.

 



I cut the squash into slices.

 

 

As we have learned I don't always measure but my batter consisted of flour, yellow cornmeal & season salt. 

 

My wash was milk & 1 egg.

 

After dipping the squash in the wash & then dredging in the batter mixture I put them in the frying pan.

 

This is where I think I accomplished what I am referring to as fried squash awesomeness.  Normally, I would have the heat up too high on the stove but this time I had it on medium lo (4.5 if your stove is digital like mine) & just check out the picture of my awesomeness!!



********

This is a special treat because there are going to be 2 recipes with this post.  And believe it or not this is actually a time that I follow a recipe!

 

Many years ago when we were first married & we had zucchini out the wazoo I was trying to figure out what to do with it & I found a recipe for zucchini bread.  This recipe has become a family favorite.  I have used this recipe the past 2 weeks & I'm sure I'll be making it a few more times.

 

You can also shred zucchini & freeze it so you can make this bread in the fall or winter.

 



I love cookbooks.  Especially cookbooks from organizations or churches because these are usually tried & true recipes.  My zucchini bread recipe comes from the Open Your Heart For Closed Eyes cookbook.  We were visiting friends in Pennsylvania back in 2003 & a family member was selling these cookbooks so my mom got me one.  It is definitely one I use a lot.

ZUCCHINI BREAD

3 eggs

2 c. sugar

2 c. shredded zucchini

1/2 c. oil

2 tsp. vanilla

3 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c.chopped nuts

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves (optional)

 

Heat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease bottoms only of two 9x5 or 8x4 loaf pans.  In large bowl, beat eggs until foamy.  Stir in sugar, zucchini, oil & vanilla.  Blend in the remaining ingredients by hand: flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves & nuts.  Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans.  Cool completely.  Makes 2 loaves.

 

 



***Squash & Zucchini provided by Correll Farms***

Cooking from the Farmer's Market- Cauliflower

 

 

What do you get if you cross a dog with a daisy???

 

Cauliflower......

As a child I detested cauliflower.  As an adult I have tried to eat cauliflower because I have children & I want to set a good example for them.  That being said I needed to find a recipe that the boys (make that me) would actually eat.  So, I had heard about substituting cauliflower for potatoes thus making mock mashed potatoes or cauliflower mashed potatoes.

 

I'll go ahead & warn you (if you haven't figured it out already from previous posts) I use most recipes as a guide but I never follow the recipe exactly.

 

I went to allrecipes.com & cooks.com and read through several recipes trying to find the right one for my family.  In the end my recipe was very simple because I used what I had at home.  Some recipes used sour cream, others used cream cheese & some simply mashed the cauliflower & added olive oil, salt & pepper.  So here is the WTF version of mashed cauliflower.  Hope you enjoy!

 

Cauliflower from the Farmer's Market



After cutting the cauliflower into smaller pieces.  I placed in a stainless steel saucepan & boiled for 10-12 minutes.  Then drained the water & mashed the cauliflower (just like you would potatoes).  I added milk, salt, pepper & cheese.



I baked in a small dish at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes added some more cheese on top & baked until the cheese melted.

It didn't fool the kids.  They realized it wasn't potatoes.  I was hoping the cheese would help but they tried it......

 

It definitely does have a stronger flavor then normal mashed potatoes but I would make it again maybe this time add some herbs or different seasonings to it.

 

My good friends at Correll Farms have a cauliflower pizza crust recipe I'm hoping to try soon.  So stayed tuned for that one!

 

 

***Cauliflower provided by Correll Farms***

BBQ Chicken WTF Style

 

Let me warn you before you go any further this post contains pictures of raw chicken!!!  But the finished BBQ chicken is so worth it!

 

As I have mentioned before part of selling at the Farmer's Market is being able to help customers with cooking ideas or if they show up at 11 o'clock and all the chicken breast are gone & they say "But I don't know what to do with leg quarters."  That's when I can give them a tried & true recipe.

 

 

Leg quarters (leg & thigh)

We sell them 2 to a pack.

This time I removed the skin but you don't have to.

Place the chicken in a baking dish.



Then add your sauce of choice.

I love Carolina Treet Sauce 

which is probably evident due to the size of the container

Slather it on your chicken.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Check temp with a meat thermometer it should be

165 degrees for poultry.



The result is BBQ chicken that is finger licking good!

This was Sunday lunch for us along with mashed cauliflower(from the Farmer's Market), Black-Eyed Peas (canned from our garden) & fresh strawberries (from the Farmer's Market).

 



Cooking from the Farmer's Market- Bok Choy

 

 

I will admit that just a few years ago I had no clue what Bok Choy was, how to cook it (did I even want to cook it) & how it would taste.

 

Through the years I have experimented with Bok Choy to see what we like & what we don't like.  My old stand by recipe of course is to roast the Bok Choy.

It doesn't take many ingredients.  I just use Kosher salt, Olive oil & Pepper.

Spread the Bok Choy that you have tossed with salt, olive oil & pepper in a single layer on a baking sheet.  

Roast at 400 degrees until leaves are crispy & begin to blacken.

Bok Choy courtesy of Correll Farms

Stuffed Peppers WTF Style

Most Saturdays at the Farmer's Market I am giving out recipes that I use in my own kitchen.  Since like most of you I am busy working mom I need quick & simple recipes. This isn't one of my quickest recipes but it is so good...and it uses things that you will find at the Farmer's Market (maybe not next week but soon).

 

 

I started with WTF Cajun Sausage which I remove from the casings but you could use any of our sausages.

Next, I browned the meat & cooked some rice.

 

The bell peppers that I used  this time had been frozen from last year but you can also use fresh bell peppers.  I suggest boiling them about 5-7 minutes.

 

I also used tomatoes that I had canned from last summer.

 

 

I mixed the cooked Cajun sausage, cooked rice & tomatoes together & then stuffed  the bell peppers.  I always have extra "stuffing" so I place it in my glass baking dish & then nestle the peppers in the meat mixture.  Don't forget to add some cheese.

 

I then cook at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes



Then they come out of the oven looking like this! Yum!!



Happy Cinco De Mayo

In honor of Cinco De Mayo I decided to share one of our all-time favorite meals at the WTF house!

 

First, you start with WTF chorizo (we now have HOT chorizo for those of you that like a little more heat!).

 

Just cook up the chorizo, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spread out your tortilla chips & cover with chorizo & your other favorite toppings.

Chorizo & Chips

 

Our nachos include WTF Chorizo, Correll Farms lettuce, Funky Pepper Salsa, along with cheese & sour cream.

WTF Nachos

 

 

The chorizo is already seasoned so there is no need to add anything to it.  It is also good for tacos, burritos or to go along with some WTF eggs for breakfast.