MAMMAW'S POTATO SALAD!

For as long as I can remember my family has included potato salad into every holiday menu.  Be it Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, or any big meal.  Having a shrimp boil?  Make potato salad!  Gonna grill?  Make potato salad!  

And my Mammaw always made it for the family.  As I grew up, I learned the art myself.  Funny part?  I can't stand potato salad!  Oh yeah!  You read that right!  I won't touch the stuff!  Because my Mammaw loved me, she'd always take a few of the warm potatoes out of the pan and coat them with butter...just for me.  And then she'd make the potato salad for everyone else.  

So I couldn't think of anything better for our little picnic tomorrow than potato salad.  And it's really so simple to make.  The hardest part for me was actually measuring each of the ingredients, so that I could share them with you.  I normally make this one by sight.  Then I take a little taste to my mother, and she lets me know if I need to add anything else.  99% of the time...I don't have to add a thing.  I also had to make a much smaller recipe than normal.  I'm not used to making anything less than five or ten pounds of potato salad at a time.  

For this batch...my ingredients are approximately 3 pounds of potatoes, 1 boiled egg, 1 cup of chopped onion, 1 cup of chopped pickles, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of lemon pepper, 1 tablespoon of mustard, and 1 cup of mayonnaise.

Go ahead and start the egg to boil.  You want it to be fully cooked.  No runny yolks! Then peel and chop the potatoes.  I use russet potatoes normally, but you can mix it up a bit if you want.  Chop them about 1/2 to 3/4 inches in size.  Not too small.  Put them in the pot, cover them with water, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and start them boiling.  

You'll want the potatoes to be fork tender.  As soon as they're done, drain the water and set them aside.

While they're boiling, you can chop the onions and pickles.  Don't chop them too finely you want nice chunks.  

Put the cooked potatoes, the chopped onions and pickles, and the mayo and mustard in a bowl and mix.  Add about 1/8 teaspoon, or less, of salt, and 1 teaspoon of lemon pepper.  Peel and chop the boiled egg and then we're going to add Mammaw's secret ingredient...1 tablespoon of pickle juice!  

Now stir it all together.  It's ok if the potatoes are still hot when you start this.  And they'll mash a little as you stir.  It's ok!  That's the best way.

Because we're taking this to a picnic, I'm just going to leave it in a transportable bowl and refrigerate it overnight.  But my Mammaw would put it in a pretty boat bowl and sprinkle it with a bit of paprika.  

You can serve it warm, or cold.  Either way...I promise it'll be a big hit!

 

Is a Perfect Pot Roast Possible?

As with everything else in this world, it's always best when we food-lovin' cooks own up to our short-comings.  Come on!  You can do it!  Admit it!  There's something that you just can't master.  I'll start...I have a whole list.  Just don't tell anyone!  Ok?

First...I am horrible with breads.  I can bake any kind of cake, cookie, or pie I set my mind to.  But my bread always turns out like crackers.  And unless you're desiring crackers...that's not a good thing!  In the last couple of years, I've finally discovered the fine art of cornbread.  Which is good...living here in the South.

I also stink at steak!  Doesn't matter what kind, or if it's on the grill, stove or oven.  I simply cannot make an awesome steak.  My husband can.  But don't let that get out...or he'll never let me live it down!

And last (for now!) I have never made a perfect pot roast.  Ever.  At least not anywhere but in my crockpot.  I'm not a crockpot queen.  I don't have a million recipes for it.  But the one thing I know I can make successfully almost every single time...is a pot roast.

The ingredients are so simple, you'll think you're doing something wrong.  My roast, like my steak, I like to keep a true beef flavor.  Nothing fancy.  No overwhelming flavors.  I just use salt, pepper, and at least one whole onion.  That's it!

Before starting, you need to make sure that your roast will actually fit into your crockpot.  If not...your cook time is going to vary greatly.  Experience has taught me this.  If it's bigger than your crockpot, and thicker than you anticipated...you'll have to cook it much longer.  I recently made this particular mistake...and my kiddos had frozen chicken nuggets with their deliciously roasted potatoes and carrots.  Although, when the roast was done...it was PERFECT!

If your roast isn't defrosted.  It's actually a-okay.  Just start the cooking a little earlier, or just be prepared to eat a little later.  A frozen roast will increase the liquid in your pot.

If you are going to cook your roast all day while you're at work, turn the heat on to low.  If you want it done in just three or four hours, go ahead and start it on high.

Thickly chop your onion into chunks.  You're creating a rack for your roast to sit on.  Then salt and pepper all sides of the roast.  It works best if you rub the salt and pepper into the meat.  Just makes it stick better.

Then place the roast on top of the layer of onions in your pot.  Take the remaining chunks of onion and lay them on top of the roast.

Put the lid on it.  And cook for about three to four hours on high, and six to eight hours on low.

Wanna add some carrots and potatoes?  Ok!  That's easy too!  Just peel and chop them and toss them into the crockpot on top of the roast.  Add about 1/4 teaspoon of salt sprinkled onto each of the vegetables.  Cook them as long as you're cooking the roast, or add them during the last two hours of cooking time.  Either way, they'll be delish!

Sometimes, because I have so many in my family and we all LOVE our carrots, I just add the potatoes to the crockpot.  And I roast the carrots in the oven as described in a previous post about side-dishes.

Just keep in mind...when you're cooking in the crockpot, it's not an exact science.  Your cooking times can be different depending on the size of your roast, if it's still frozen, does it have more or less fat, or how many extra veggies you put in.  Be prepared for these variances and leave yourself plenty of time.

And by all means...don't try to over season the roast!  I'm a purist!  You might possibly add a little garlic...but don't over do it.  Keep that flavor real!  I promise...you'll appreciate it!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

It's Monday!  And Cinco de Mayo!  And while we really don't celebrate it as a family holiday, this is Texas...and quite frankly...it's celebrated pretty big here!  So make an easy, light, Mexican themed dinner tonight!

Many years ago, my family lived in a small town.  The only decent Mexican restaurant was Casa Ole.  Really.  I promise.  But we loved it!  And they made the best tortilla soup I've ever tasted.  So over the years, we've experimented and played with the recipe until I feel like I've finally gotten a tortilla soup that I love just as much.  And now we eat it at home regularly!

If you do this right, you can keep the recipe very low fat and low carb since it's all meat and vegetables.  And where most Mexican restaurants use chicken in their soup, I prefer mine with beef.

So here's the ingredients:  pre-cut stew meat, beef stock, 4 or 5 carrots, 2 zucchini squash, 1/2 onion, cabbage, frozen corn, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, chili powder, and cumin.

First you'll finely chop the onion.  I use a sweet yellow onion in almost all of my recipes.  Toss these in the pot with either a tablespoon of butter or of vegetable oil.  Let these saute on low heat while you prep the rest of the vegetables.  You only want them to become translucent.  Don't let them brown.

Now we're going to peel and slice the carrots.  For a soup or stew, I like to slice them into very thin rounds.  They go much further and cook faster this way.  You'll want to put them into a large mixing bowl once they're sliced.  Chop your zucchini squash.  Cut both ends off, then slice it long ways twice.  Now you'll slice these so that you have small quarter pieces.  Place these into the mixing bowl on top of the carrots.  Next you'll chop about a quarter of the head of cabbage.  I like to have mine in squares.  Just because it looks pretty!  These pieces will go in the mixing bowl on top of the zucchini.  Set this bowl aside until you're done with the meat.

Our next step is to chop the pre-cut stew meat.  This accomplishes too things...first it will help the single package of meat to go much farther  Second, it will cook much faster.  Seeing a theme here?  I like to stretch my dollars and cook quickly!  The meat should be 1/4 inch squares and as soon as it's chopped, toss it in the pot with the onions and turn the heat up!

Let the meat brown on high heat, adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  You'll also add 1 1/2 tablespoons of ground cumin.  

As soon as your meat is browned, add the cabbage and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  Stir the cabbage around with the meat until it starts getting a little clear around the edges.  About a minute or two is all this should take.  Then you'll add the zucchini squash and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Do the same thing with this...stir it around with the meat to get that good beef flavor incorporated.  The green of the cabbage and zucchini should be very bright right now.

Last vegetables to add are the carrots and frozen corn.  I like a lot of corn in mine, so I use a full 12 ounce package.  You can cut this down if you prefer.  Don't forget to add 1/4 teaspoon of salt for each of these vegetables.

Now, it's time to add the beef broth.  A 26 ounce carton of beef stock goes in.  Then I fill the carton again with water to increase the liquid in the pot.  You can use beef broth instead, it's just not quite as rich a flavor.  The last two ingredients to add are one can of tomato sauce and 1 tablespoon of chili powder.  This isn't a spicy soup, so don't use too much of the chili powder.  But you can increase it a little if you want.

Bring the whole pot to a boil and cover it with a lid.  Turn the heat to medium high so it's still bubbling, just not a heavy boil.  Cook it for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until the carrots are soft.  They're a good indicator of when the entire soup is finished.

Make sure you have a fresh bag of tortilla chips...that's what makes this "tortilla soup!"  Dish up the soup and set out the chips.  Then everyone can add their crushed tortilla chips to the soup and enjoy!

It's a very easy recipe, but the flavor is so rich and tasty!  Everyone, from my Mother down to my three year old, will eat a second bowl.  And the kiddos think it's fun getting to crush their chips to add for themselves.