Greek Lamb Shanks

I know it has been ages since I posted anything - and I definitely need to get you all some garden and chicken updates - but I made a great dinner last night and thought I should share the recipe. I modified a recipe from my mom with some ideas I got from a lamb shank recipe by Anne Burrell on Food Network - and viola!

This recipe can be made with beef stew meat, lamb stew meat or lamb shanks – all work well.

• 2 lbs stew meat OR 2 large lamb shanks
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 8 whole cloves crushed
• ½ tsp cinnamon & fresh ground pepper
• ¼ tsp nutmeg & allspice
• 3 cloves garlic
• ½ large sweet onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 5-6 baby carrots
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 14 ½ oz can of diced tomatoes
• 2 c. dry red wine
• ½ pkg whole frozen pearl onions
• 10-20 pitted kalamata olives

In a food processor – purée the sweet onion, carrots, celery and garlic to a paste-like consistency.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Salt the meat well using the tsp of salt. In a large dutch oven heat 2 Tbsp of the oil and brown the meat thoroughly – do not skimp on this – the browning is essential to the flavor. Remove the meat from the pan, dump out the oil and add 2 Tbsp fresh oil to the pan. Add the puréed vegetables to the pan and cook until the vegetables purée starts to brown – do not let it burn – stir it frequently to ensure it does not burn. When it is golden in color add the spices (cloves – allspice) and cook a few minutes more. Then add tomato paste and cook another 3-4 minutes. Add the can of diced tomatoes, red wine, frozen onions and olives to the pan and bring back to a simmer. Add the meat back into the pan. The liquid should come just to the top of the meat or cover it slightly – if it does not – add water to bring the level of liquid up.

Cover the dutch oven and put it in the oven. For shanks – you will need to cook it about 3 – 3 ½ hours. Stew meat should go at least 2 hours to be tender. Check every 45 minutes during the cooking process and add more liquid if the sauce starts to get too thick or brown. If making shanks – turn the shanks over half way through the cooking process to ensure even cooking as the level of the liquid reduces. Be careful not to add too much water near the end of the cooking process, in the end you want a thick luscious sauce.

Either stew or shanks can be made up to a day in advance and warmed up – this stew is even better if it gets to sit for a half a day or overnight.

I like to serve this with a nice crusty bread to mop up the sauce!

Sorry no pictures - I was so anxious to dig in I forgot to take any :)

Smoking time

Smoking time in the new smoker! I got an inexpensive charcoal/wood smoker at Home Depot over the weekend and smoked a shoulder from the pasture raised pig I bought about a month ago. It was my first attempt to smoke something instead of grill it and I think it turned out pretty well. The smoke ring was about 1/2 inch into the pork and it tasted amazing. I meant to take a picture of it but didn't remember that plan once that shoulder finally came out of the smoker and it was time to eat!

Tonight - using the left overs I made some Asian Pork Buns. They turned out really well. I chopped up some of the left over shoulder, cooked down the pan drippings from the smoking process, added a little soy sauce and used that for the filling. I thought about using regular barbecue sauce and making them like pulled pork inside - but the smoke flavor was so good I hated to cover it up with barbecue sauce. The dough is a fairly simple to make -

• 10 Tbsp milk
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 large egg beaten (for dough)
• 2 tsp yeast
• 2 Tbsp warm water
• 2 1/2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 egg beaten (for egg wash)

Warm milk and butter together in a microwave safe bowl just until butter melts. In a medium sized bowl, put the 2 Tbsp water and the yeast and allow the yeast to soften. Whisk the egg in a bowl and add the warm milk and butter to the egg. Add the mixture to the yeast. In a sifter combine flour, sugar and salt and sift into the liquid mixture.

Stir until the dough comes together, then turn out on a lightly floured board and knead. You may need to sprinkle with a light dusting of flour to keep it from sticking - but use as little flour as possible. knead about 5 minutes and then put dough in a oiled bowl (turn to coat the dough lightly with oil), cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour in a warm place.

When the dough has risen and the filling is ready punch it down and divide it in half. Roll each half into a 12 inch log and cut each into 4-6 even pieces. roll the pieces into balls and press them flat and spread them out to about 4 inches across. The dough should be thicker in the middle than around the edges. Place 2-3 Tbsp of the filling in the center and pull the edges up together over the dough into a purse shape and pinch all of the seams together. Put filled bun seam side down on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Continue until all the buns are done. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes. In the last 10 minutes of rising preheat the oven to 350. Before putting the buns in the oven - brush the tops with egg wash. Baking time depends a little on the size of the buns you make - generally 15-20 minutes is all it takes for the buns to become deep golden brown on top and sound slightly hollow when tapped. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before serving.

I have had similar buns with a sweet red bean filling - I am hoping to find a good recipe for those and try them next. The great thing about the little buns is that you can freeze them for up to a month or refrigerate them for a week - simply rewarm in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes and they are ready to pop in a lunch box - no mess and nothing can fall out of the nice neat little package. I am going to experiment with some other fillings too - maybe Teriyaki chicken or ground pork with cabbage and ginger (like pot sticker filling) - I think you could even make lovely ones with grilled veggies inside.

Hatch green chilies

It is Hatch green chili time! So today when the kids and I went to the store and smelled the roaster going outside I knew one of my favorite times of year was here!

I bought a bag of the roasted mild chilies and haven't figured out what to do with all of it, but tonight with dinner I decided we should have some fresh homemade Hatch chili cheese bread.

It turned out to be a little too spicy for the kids - even with the mild chilies - but I loved it :) My daughter liked the flavor but the heat was a little much for her - so I am sure when she gets a little bigger she will be a Hatch chili girl like her mom :)

I haven't decided what to do with the rest of the chilies - so I need to come up with some ideas. If I can't think of anything else then I will probably make a few more loaves of the bread - or maybe make it into rolls - and freeze it for later this fall to have with chili. Of course I guess I could always use the rest to make chili - maybe with white beans and some ground pork from my freezer..... hmmmm - I may have to work on that idea a little more. Thinking about it is making me hungry even though I just ate dinner!

Here is the recipe for the Hatch Chili Cheese Bread

• Roughly 1 c. of roasted, peeled, seeded Hatch green chilies - chopped
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1/4 c. warm water
• 1/2 c. milk (I used skim)
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 3 1/2 - 4 c. flour
• 3/4 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 egg yolk combined with 1 Tbsp water

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm water and let stand about 5 minutes until yeast has softened. Warm milk and butter in the microwave or in a small sauce pan to about 110 degrees - so the butter melts but not too hot or the heat will kill the yeast. Add the milk and butter mixture to the yeast. Next stir in the chilies, salt, sugar, cheese and about 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Stir until combined and sticky (a dough hook on a mixer works well for this but I usually just do it by hand). Once the dough is combined - turn it out on a floured board and knead in the remaining flour. The total amount varies - it depends on the humidity and other things - but basically I knead in flour until it is no longer sticky and it becomes smooth and elastic. Once it reaches that stage - about 8 or 9 minutes of kneading, form it into a ball and put it in an oiled bowl and toss it around so that it is lightly oiled on all sides. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until doubled - about an hour.

Punch down the dough, turn it out and knead it just enough to release the air from the dough - 2 or 3 minutes. Shape the dough into a loaf and place it in a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise again for about 45 minutes. When the dough is nearly done rising - preheat the oven to 375.

Brush the loaf with the egg wash and bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes until the loaf is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on top. Remove from the oven, turn out of the pan and let cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Mmmmm Fredericksburg peaches

In addition to the chicks moving out, I got a few other things done over the last few days. I finally got the kids out to Fredericksburg to pick some peaches. Those of you who aren't from Texas who have never had a Fredericksburg peach may have had delicious peaches in your lives, but there is nothing like a peach from the Texas hill country! We picked close to 13 pounds of peaches in just under 2o minutes. It was a hot day so the fast results were fine with me! I am sorry to say I did not take a picture of the cobbler I made - I was so amazed with it that we dug right in and didn't think about pictures until after the fact. I will share the recipe with you though - it was so easy it is amazing.

• 4 cups sliced fresh peaches
• 2 cups sugar (divided)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk

Preheat the oven to 350. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into a bowl. Stir in 1 cup of the sugar and set aside. In a medium sauce pan, combine the peaches, 1 cup of sugar and the water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. While the peaches are cooking put the stick of butter in an oven safe casserole (I used an 8x10 casserole dish) and put it in the oven. When peaches are cooked remove them from the heat. Stir the milk into the flour mixture and combine thoroughly. When the batter is combined, remove the hot casserole from the oven - being careful not to burn yourself. Pour the batter into the hot butter - DO NOT STIR. Spoon the peaches over the batter and drizzle on about a cup of the cooking liquid - DO NOT STIR. Put the whole thing back in the oven and cook for 35-45 minutes or until the batter has puffed up around the peaches and has turned a golden brown. Remove the cobbler from the oven and let cool about 10 minutes and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

I have seen this recipe called "floating peach cake" and "canned peach cake." It was so good that I really want to make it again but knowing the peaches won't be available for long I decided to can my own in cobbler recipe portions :) So the three jars in the picture at the top will be used to make cobbler in a month or two when there are no more fresh peaches available. Somehow I think that when my birthday rolls around in November I will make myself a cobbler for my cake :)

I also made the nesting box for the chickens over the weekend. It is in the garage for now - until the new chicks are out of the kennel and then I will move it into the hen house. There are two nest boxes - chickens share so two should be enough for 6 chickens. I also had enough black eyed peas to make some ham hock and black eyed pea soup and I got a nice squash from my only remaining summer squash, a cucumber and a few small cloves of garlic. I may plant a few more squash but it is pretty hot here now so I may need to wait until late August or early September to get the second harvest planting started. I may try starting some in my living room in a few weeks and try moving them outdoors when they are a little bigger.

Rafters and Corned Beef!

The last two days have been very busy so I only had a few hours this evening when I was able to work on the coop - but I got another part of it checked off the list! Today was my first time using a Skill Saw and I think I did OK - I was able to make the cuts needed for the rafters - and I only cut into the saw horses once! I have to say Skill Saws really kick up a lot of sawdust. I don't have safety goggles so I just wear my sunglasses - but I would be willing to bet that is the first time someone has worn Prada sunglasses while running a Skill Saw!

I'm having some friends over for my annual St. Patty's Day bash tomorrow - so probably no coop work until Sunday - but I am hoping to get the roofing on and MAYBE some of the wire on - but it all depends on how fit I am for work after a night of Guinness and Irish festivities! In case anyone else is going to make their Irish dinner this weekend - I have a great Corned Beef recipe to share that is adapted from one found in Sunset magazine many years ago.

Recipe (Serves 12):

• 2 very large sweet onions
• 8-10 large carrots, peeled
• 2 heads green cabbage (enough to cut into 6 wedges each)
• 3 Lbs small (2 in.) thin skinned potatoes - I like red potatoes for this
• 6-8 Lbs Corned Beef
• 2 c. malt vinegar
• 2 large cans Guinness (the kind with the nitrogen cartridge in the can)
• 1 Tbsp mustard seed
• 1 Tbsp coriander seed
• 1/2 Tbsp black peppercorns
• 1/2 Tbsp dill seed
• 1/2 Tbsp whole allspice

You will need a very large stock pot - 15-20 quarts. Using a sharp knife cut away as much of the fat on the outside of the corned beef as you can - this keeps the dinner from ending up very greasy. Put the prepared meat into the pot. Coarsely chop up enough carrots and onion to make 1 cup chopped of each and add it to the pot. Add vinegar, Guinness and all the spices to the pot. If the liquid does not cover the meat you can add water to cover - but I personally like to add more vinegar and Guinness - sticking to roughly the same proportions listed above. Cover the pan and put it over high heat (it will take about 20 minutes to come to a boil). Simmer for about 3 hours until the meat is tender.

While it is cooking, cut the cabbage and onion into wedges so that you have at least one wedge per person. Cut the carrots into 3-4 inch long pieces and scrub potatoes. Once meat is tender - add onions, carrots and potatoes to the pot and put the cabbage in on top of everything. Bring back to a boil (about 20 minutes); reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the cabbage and potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

Remove everything to a platter, cut the corned beef on the diagonal across the grain and serve with coarse grain or Dijon mustard (some people like both - I prefer coarse grain).

SLAINTE!! (cheers in Irish)

On the chick front they are growing so fast it is hard to keep up! They nearly empty a quart feeder full of food and also a quart of water a day - its really amazing they can eat so much. Of course, some of it gets spilled into the bedding in the brooder, but I think they eat the majority of it. I put the last food in today so I HAVE to go to Tractor Supply tomorrow and get another (bigger) bag than the one I got when they arrived a week and a half ago.

I did some checking on the backyard chicken forum and everyone seems to think the chicks being skittish is still pretty normal - they said we just need to keep at it and do our best to make time to hold each one for a little time each day.

So tomorrow I am off to the farmers market in Leon Springs to check out the produce, then Tractor Supply and then the whirlwind to prep for the party begins. I should have more coop pics by the end of the weekend!

Coop Recupe Martini!

A long hard day today - so I decided the best way to recuperate was with a nice rosemary, lemon and pear martini! This one is great for parties or just to mix for yourself! Love the way the blue flowers from the rosemary look floating on top!



Recipe (serves 2):
1/2 c. chilled vodka
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp pear brandy (also called Poire William - look for the bottle with a whole pear inside - NOT pear Schnapps)
4 Tbsp Rosemary simple syrup


Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice and pour into a chilled martini glass!

To make the rosemary simple syrup combine 1/2 c. sugar, 1/2 c. water and 1 sprig rosemary (about 6 inches long) in a saucepan and bring to a boil, boil until sugar dissolves, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Remove the rosemary sprig and chill syrup. The rosemary syrup can also be used combined with lemon juice and seltzer water to make a non-alcoholic rosemary lemonade fizz!

So why am I tired and in need of a martini? Well I worked my tail off this morning on the coop! I followed the instructions very carefully and managed to build the main frame of the chicken coop. The front and rear walls are 10 ft long and 6 ft high, and the end walls are 6 ft wide, so the coop will have 60 sq ft of run space. Having the 4 main walls done sounds like I would be nearly done, but unfortunately I'm only about 5 pages into a 25 page set of directions! But I am really proud of myself - I did it all myself - with just a little help from the kids to do some sanding and move the finished walls into the garage to keep them out of the elements until I can get them stained.

I am hoping that tomorrow I can get them all sanded and stained and with luck if I am not too tired I will start work on the roof supports.

So last but not least, a chick update! The babies are all doing well - tonight we hand fed them small pieces of strawberries and you should have seen the hilarity that ensued! They leaped and ran around and chased each other like mad all trying to steal whatever piece of strawberry that someone else had. All this even though there was a whole dish of strawberry pieces - more than enough to go around!