homesick texan

buttermilk biscuits for the soul

by Patricia on February 2, 2010 · 38 comments

biscuits

As much as chicken soup is lauded as a cure for what ails you, and is perhaps the quintessential comfort food (it even has its own series of books for goodness sake), I’d like to disagree. You see, to me soup is fine when you have the flu and are eating mostly liquids, but when your soul needs soothing, soup is a little too light duty.

I had a severe case of the blahs last week. I felt uninspired, bloated, and a couple of shades of blargh. Holly Golightly would have called it the Mean Reds. Whatever you call it, you know it is not fun. So there I was, prostrate on my couch watching Pride and Prejudice for the 4th time in 3 days when I realized I needed to eat. I had a kitchen full of vegetables and fruits and healthy options but at that moment I wanted none of it. Ten in ’10 be damned, I wanted biscuits.
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Bread and butter pickles

by Patricia on July 10, 2009 · 9 comments

Welcome to Day 10 of What have I gotten myself into? (aka NaBloPoMo). I’m actually surprised that I’ve found something to post everyday without struggling. Then again, I did have a lot to share from the 4th of July which helped. But I woke up this morning and thought “I got nothing”. What to do? Worry not, dear readers. My disorganization came to the rescue. Fact: anything I put away for safe keeping will be lost…. at least temporarily.

Which brings us to the pickles.  I actually made these bread and butter pickles in May.  I took pictures too. But I didn’t want to post it then because they had to sit for four weeks before I could taste them. So I left them on my hard drive for a later day. The pickles have been tasted and shared. And I forgot that I had those pictures and had not shared them… until this morning. I was not-quite-desperately looking through my photos to see if there was something I could use today (I almost used a cat picture but you were saved by the pickles… tomorrow though, you may get cats unless I get creative between now and then).

bread and butter pickles

We ate an entire jar of these on the fourth of July. One friend told me she doesn’t normally like pickles but went back for seconds.  The recipe came from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving. I’ve also made strawberry jam from this book (for the Bakewell Tarts). I did not have mustard seeds so substituted dry mustard which I wasn’t too sure about at the time, but it worked. The main difference is the brine turned cloudy rather than clear.

I’m really happy with the results and with the fact that I still have three jars left.  I would like to try some other pickles as well but probably the next one will be a quicker pickle, something like pickled grapes (as seen at Smitten Kitchen. Recipe from Molly Wizenberg‘s book A Homemade Life) or bread and butter jalapeños (on Homesick Texan, scroll down toward the bottom for the recipe). I’m also curious about pickled watermelon rind… have you ever tried it?   I’m really into pickles and jams this summer…

Bread and Butter Pickles
(adapted from Ball Blue Book of Preserving)

2 pounds 4 to 6 inch cucumbers, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 pound onions, thinly sliced
< 1/4 cup canning salt (I halved the recipe, which means it took about 1/6 cup…ish)
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard (mustard seeds would be better probably)
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1 1/2 cups vinegar

1. Combine cucumber and onion slices in a large bowl, layering with salt.
2. Cover with ice cubes and let stand 1 1/2 hours.
3. Drain, rinse, drain again.
4. Combine remaining ingredients in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil.
5. Add drained cucumbers and onions and return to a boil.
6. Pack hot pickles and liquid into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
7. Remove air bubbles. Put on 2-piece lids.
8. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.
9. Allow 4 to 6 weeks for flavors to develop (This was the toughest part).
* Makes about 4 pints

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Pot resurrected (and a roundup)

by Patricia on April 19, 2009 · 2 comments

Last week I told you about my artichoke disaster that ended in a horribly burnt pot.  I am happy to report that after a little vinegar and baking soda magic, it is as good as new:
good as new.

The best part?  It didn’t require elbow grease or harsh chemicals or super-scratchy scrubbers.  Nope, I just followed these instructions on e-how.  Yep, just baking soda, vinegar, and a little patience and all of that char came off easily.  In the e-how instructions it says to bring a pot of water with a bit of dishwashing liquid to a boil, but I didn’t find this to be effective at all.  But soaking it with a baking soda-water paste and then adding a vinegar-water solution and heating it and soaking that overnight was magic.  I’m not sure you need to soak it overnight because the char bits came off just from boiling it.

Anyway, now for a roundup…

* These oatmeal cookie pancakes from Joy the Baker look divine.  I seriously wanted some this morning.  I’m a little unsure about putting raisins in my pancakes but I think that’s just one of my things.  I don’t dislike raisins, I just don’t like the idea of raisins sometimes. shrug.

* I am seriously in a meat mood lately.  I don’t know if it’s because it’s almost summer and summer to me means barbecue and grilling… and ribs.  Mmm.  But these are the things that really jumped out at me this week:

- Lamb barbacoa from the Homesick Texan.  Yum.  That taco looks good enough to eat.  And then eat another.  Maybe wash it down with a little cerveza and then have another.

- So this recipe is from David Lebowitz.  And it’s from 2007.  But I just read it today so it’s new to me.  It is a recipe for carnitas.  Which is my absolute favorite… well, if you’re talking about Mexican food.  A little crunchy crust on the outside and tender pork on the inside.  Mmm.  Burrito.

- And last, but certainly not least… another older post.  This one is from 2008 and Smitten Kitchen.  Dry rub ribs.  Can I tell you how much I miss good ribs?  It’s not that I haven’t had good ribs in California, I just haven’t had good dry rub ribs.  I like the mopped style ribs just fine.  But a good dry rubbed rib… it’s pork nirvana.  I seriously need to stop drooling over these recipes and go make some ribs.

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