Unbleached

Several years ago I blogged about my allergic reaction to wheat.  What about being out here on the farm around acres and acres of wheat?  I didn't know why, but our wheat didn't bother me.  I did know that my severe rash and congestion problems were "allergic" reactions, not a gluten intolerance.  Regardless, I have had to eat gluten free to avoid the wheat.

Because of a tip from a fellow traveler, I found that I could eat bread in Europe???  I asked a K-State wheat specialist and he had no idea why.  Said the wheat grown there was the same genetics as here.  Then I came across an article on the Internet about chemicals used to bleach wheat.  Guess what?  These chemicals can cause allergic reactions in some people.  Rashes and congestion. These bleaching chemicals have been outlawed in Europe.  Bingo!

I checked with my friend Kate who has a degree in Baking Science.  She told me that she always bakes with unbleached flower. Said that everything turns out better.  So, Benedryl at the ready, I started eating small amounts of bread made with unbleached flower.  No rash! What a difference this has made in my culinary world!

I know there are others of you out there who react to wheat.  Maybe, just maybe, it.s not the wheat but the bleaching process that is making you sick.  If you do decide to give unbleached a try, be careful.  Whole wheat bread usually also has bleached flour in it.  If a product says "enriched" wheat flour, be skeptical.  Bread products sold as organic cannot have bleaching chemical so are safe.

Tawnya's Mongolian Tacos

This is a recipe that daughter Tawnya and son in law Adam had in their slow cooker when we were there recently.  It smelled delicious.  Turns out ..... It is delicious!  There wasn't a name on the recipe so I get to call it Tawnya's Tacos.

     I made the recipe just the way it was written, with one exception.   I did use hard shell tacos instead of tortillas.  Think I will try those with the leftovers :-)

     Tawnya's Mongolian Tacos

Celebrate Mardi Gras

Feb 9th, 2016.  Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  
So many celebrate around the country.  Some with beads and beer.  Some with Southern cooking.
This Tuesday before Ash Wednesday is also celebrated as Fat Tuesday.  Typically, fat and sugar food items were used up before the beginning of Lent.  That custom continues with pancakes and their sausage & bacon counterparts being  popular ways to clean up that fat and sugar.  
Our family has that pancake meal on Fat Tuesday evening.  I have the pancake batter resting as I write this.  

The recipe that I want to share with you though is one that I made over the weekend.  It's a typical New Orleans, Red Beans and Rice.  The nice part is that it is make in the slow cooker!
I watched Food Network's Valerie Bertinelli make it and it really is as easy as she made it seem.  

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice
8-10 servings
1 lb. dried red beans
1/2 lb. andouille sausage, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped 
1 smoked ham shank
1 med onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbls. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
4 green onions chopped for garnish
 Cook the ham shank in the 2 cups water on low overnight.  Remove bones and gristle then add the beans, andouille, celery, ham, spices brown sugar and chicken stock.  Cook on high 6-8 hours.  
(I had to add more water towards the end to get the saucy consistency that I wanted)  
Serve over cooked rice and garnish with green onions.  

 

Irma's meatloaf 101 .....

Most of us came from families who cooked.  Whether they wanted to or not.  There wasn't much of an alternative.  Family gatherings revolved around food.  For the most part, ours still do!

My grandmother, Irma Elizabeth Boyer VanWey was a busy lady.  While her 3 children were preschool, she taught private piano lessons in her home.  There was a Govt. WPA camp near their farm and she took in uniforms, laundered and ironed them for 25 cents a uniform.  Good money for that day.  Once her children were in school she went back to teaching at the one room school they attended.  Her college major had been Journalism.  She was a newspaper correspondent for many years. 

 She not only kept her farm kitchen meals running smoothly but was a professional cook in the sense that she occasionally cooked for the local grade school and cafe.  

Having milked most of their married life, her home cooking was rich with cream.  Creamed vegetables, gravy, cereal with cream.  Most of you have been at that table :-)

Her three most popular meals were Fried Chicken, chicken and noodles (they raised chickens) and her meatloaf.  It's this meatloaf recipe that I am sharing with you today.

Not a complicated loaf ..... Just a well balanced, moist, real deal. 

Irma's Meatloaf

2 lbs hamburger
2 slices bread, crusts removed
1 large egg, beaten with enough milk to soak into bread
 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp seasoned salt
salt and pepper to taste
catsup for the top   

Pour milk/egg mixture over bread until bread is well soaked.  Beat bread with a 
fork until it is broken up into small pieces.  
Add bread mixture and spices to hamburger
and mix well.  Form loaf onto a deep platter
(there will be juices running off so be sure 
there is enough room for that) or a loaf
pan.  Bake at 350 degrees covered for 1
hour.  Uncover and bake 30 mins.   
Pour a little of that cream into the drippings 
and you have a fantastic tasting gravy!  
 

New year. New Blog

Having maintained my Broken Prairie Tales Blog for nearly 5 years,  I have decided to retire it.  I have had it made into a "put away on a shelf" type book in the hope that someday other family members may find it entertaining.

My new project is going to be a subject that has been my passion for many years ..... food.  I love food and recipes and cooking those recipes.  I especially love that I have a vast collection of family recipes going back several generations.  Most are plain ingredient dishes that have fit nicely on a family farm table.

Over the years I have collected a file of "Not so Ordinary" recipes.  Teaching an international 4-H cooking class opened this file.  Determination to cook some of the dishes Mark and I have been served in restaurants as we travel has expanded the file.  Right now, I am obsessed with learning French cooking.

As with Prairie Tales, this blog will hopefully appeal to my family.  I will include some history and pictures of people and places who have contributed to these recipes.  Hopefully, some of it will interest you all too.