In the kitchen by Frankie

Dry Onion Soup Mix
4 tsp. beef bouillon granules (or crush four cubes)
8 tsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp seasoned pepper

Mix well and store airtight.

The quality of your bouillon makes a huge difference. Please don't buy the run of the mill cubes or powder from the grocery store! They are full of unpronounceable, poisonous ingredients, including MSG. Frontier Natural makes a great, healthier alternative. I buy it through my food co-op: Azure Standard.

In the kitchen by Frankie

I just love this sauce...You can make it then cook a pork roast in it, then pulled the pork and serve on sandwich buns. You can do the same with beef. Or you can just use it as a BBQ sauce. Versatile and easy. just what I like!

The Best BBQ Sauce

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until smooth and hot, about 10 minutes:

1/2 cup sugar
8 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp minced onion
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 cups ketchup
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup butter, cubed
6 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
4 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp prepared mustard

YUM!

In the kitchen by Frankie

Here's a yummy summer dinner. It's easy to put together and uses the abundance of cherry tomatoes many of us will have soon. I double this recipe for my family, and I don't begin cooking the pasta until the meat is halfway cooked. I serve it hot and don't want cool pasta.

3/4 lb farfalle pasta (bowtie)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 lb hot Italian sausage
3 tablespoons garlic, chopped
1 bunch fresh basil, leaves torn into pieces
1 lb cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
sea salt and pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente.
2. Drain and toss in olive oil. Set aside. Meanwhile, preheat a large skillet.
3. Squeeze sausage from casing into pan, crumbling it into small pieces.
4. Add garlic and cook until sausage is browned and cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes.
5. Toss cooked sausage with pasta, basil, tomatoes, cheese, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve hot or at room temperature.

In the kitchen by Frankie

re's a meal you can make from entirely farm-grown/farm-made goods.

Extreme Veggie Scramblers

½ cup butter
¼-½ c chopped veggies: onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, celery, zucchini, garlic
12-18 eggs
½ cup milk
½ cup chopped tomatoes
½ cup fresh shredded cheese

Saute veggies. Combine eggs and milk. Add veggies, salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir in tomatoes when the eggs are nearly done. Stir in cheese. Serve hot.

In the kitchen by Wardeh

Hello! Mrs. Joe asked me to share my handy grain cooking chart with you! I keep it printed and taped to the inside of a cupboard and refer to it almost daily. Enjoy!

Looks like the table format won't be preserved by cutting and pasting, so I'll have to refer you to my blog post, which will look good when you print it. Just hit Ctrl-P and print and it will be automatically formatted (no sidebars, etc.)

http://gnowfglins.com/2009/07/06/grain-cooking-chart/

In the kitchen by Frankie

We love cool pasta dishes on hot, summer days. This one is excellent!

BLT Pasta

1 pound shaped pasta, cooked and drained
8 slices bacon, cooked, drained, crumbled
1 cup mayo
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp sugar
1 large tomato, seeded, chopped
1/4 cup green onion, sliced
2-3 tsp chicken bouillon powder
4 cups lettuce, thinly shredded

Combine the mayo, lemon juice, sugar and bouillon powder for the dressing.

Combine all remaining ingredients, except the lettuce. Chill if desired.

Just before serving, stir in the lettuce.

In the kitchen by Frankie

I enjoy the convenience of home canned beans. They taste ever so much better than store bought, and are super easy and inexpensive. I am canning another batch right now, so I will show you how it's done.

First, decide how much you want to can. I am making 14 quarts. Measure out 7 pounds beans (or 1/2 pound per quart) and soak overnight. I didn't take a picture of the soaking. I'll assume you know how to do it. I use a five-gallon bucket to soak this amount of beans.

Drain the beans and place them in your biggest pot, covered with fresh water. Bring them to a boil and boil, gently, for 30 minutes. This plumps the beans to just about their full size.

My husband set up this nifty outdoor kitchen for me to work on. Ain't he great!!

Put clean jars in the oven and bake them at 250 for 20 minutes or so. This sterilizes the jars. You can also run them through the sterilize cycle of the dishwasher or boil them.


Gather your ingredients and place into each dry jar:

1/4 cup tomato sauce
2 Tbsp chopped onion OR 1 tsp dried onion
1/2 Tbsp chili powder
a heaping 1/2 Tbsp chopped jalapenos
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp oregano

Put rings and lids into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Let simmer until needed, but DO NOT BOIL.

Fill each jar with three cups of the beans and then add the hot cooking water to 1" headspace. If you run out of cooking water, plain boiling water will suffice. Use a small rubber spatula or other tool (I use a chopstick) to stir around the spices. Wipe rims with a clean washrag carefully to assure a good seal and top with lids and rings.


Add the appropriate amount of water to your pressure canner, add jars and process at 10 pounds for 90 minutes.


When done, allow pressure to dissipate naturally, then allow jars to cool on counter overnight before removing rings and storing.

All done!