The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
4-4-2016 column
While April showers bring the yard to life and push daffodils and tulip into bloom, the rainy days also give me a chance to prepare for the spring rush.
Rainy spring days are when I can make a big mess in the kitchen. I’ll try to “stock up” the freezer with baked treats and browned meats for meals on the go when we’re running between fieldwork and barn work.
Since it is a rainy day, the house needs some extra heat to take the chilly edge off without having to turn up the thermostat. Nothing like getting several jobs done at once!
Since we have a freezer full of meat, I’ll pull out several packages of hamburger to brown up on a rainy day. Once it is cooled, I can refreeze the cooked meat and I’m ready to make casseroles, chilli, stroganoff, or tacos in a flash. I will also make a big batch of maidrites to freeze and have on hand for a quick lunch in the fields.
I grew up on a beef farm in western Illinois. We were raised on beef roasts and steaks. Hamburger was a second thought but one year it became the main focus of meals. We had just pulled the bulls away from the cows and moved them to the bull pasture for the rest of the year. A couple of young rowdy bulls decided they were going to take on the lead bull for king of the hill. We figured the young bulls teamed up and pushed the old bull over the creek bank. We found him in the creek with a broken leg. Well, what are you going to do? We hauled him into the locker and made 1,100 pounds of bull burger! What do you do with that much ground beef? You have lots of cookouts, eat lots of casseroles, donate much of it to the football concession stand for maidrites and send it along with kids to sleep overs. (I think my friends’ parents pushed to have me come over because my mom would always send a couple packages of hamburger along with me!) Needless to say, we ate quite a few pounds of hamburger that year!
Little did I realize that working with that extremely lean meat was just preparing me for cooking with lean Holstein meat. I tease Mark that I can still tell the difference in taste between his beef and my beef. We are definitely a split house!
Well, if I’m going to make a mess in the kitchen… I might as well make a big mess. If I’m going to brown a pound of hamburger, I might as well brown up several pounds while I still have a warm pan that I’ll only have to wash once! The mobile ice cream man would stop by our place and try to sell me pre-cooked hamburger with my ice cream order. I figured if they could sell cooked hamburger as a step saver, I could do the same thing and save money! By having the cooked meat in the freezer, I’m already three steps ahead in making a quick meal for the crew.
10 lbs hamburger, browned
2 c. chopped onions
Salt to taste
5 c. ketchup
½ c. mustard
½ c. brown sugar
Brown hamburger. Drain. Add onions, salt, ketcup, mustard and brown sugar. Simmer 1 hour. Makes enough maidrite mixture for 60 buns. (Can put in crockpot on low to simmer.) Best served with dill pickle slices!
I know it sounds like a lot of meat, but you’ll be surprised how quickly it will disappear. You can freeze leftovers. Made this for a neighbor’s bachelor party and it was a hit!
Cooked noodles.
4 Tb butter
1 garlic clove, minced
½ c minced onions
1 lb. browned ground beef
2 Tb flour
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
4 oz can sliced mushrooms with liquid
1 can cream of mushroom soup, diluted with ½ can water
1 c. sour cream
2 Tb. dry parsley
Start water boiling for noodles. While noodles cook, make stroganoff.
Sauté onion and garlic in butter. Stir in browned meat to warm up. Add flour, salt, pepper and mushrooms with liquid. Cook 5 minutes. Combine diluted soup with sour cream stir in meat mixture. Add parsley; simmer 10 minutes till warmed through. Serve with cooked noodles or mashed potatoes.
2 lb. stewing beef, cut in 1” cubes
1 ½ c. chopped onions
1 lb. can tomatoes, cut up
3 Tb. quick cooking tapioca
10 ½ oz can beef broth
1 clove garlic, minced
1 TBSP parsley flakes
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 bay leaf
6 meddium carrots, chunks
3 medioum potatoes, chunks
½ c. sliced celery
Combine all ingredients in crock pot. Cook all day on HIGH. Remove bay leaf before serving. Homemade biscuits taste great with stew!
Forgot to pull out a roast for Sunday dinner? Don’t worry. This recipe uses a frozen roast and will be done by the time you come home from church.
1 frozen chuck roast (DO NOT THAW)
1 can mushroom soup.
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
1 can cola (pop)
Mix together soup, dry mix and pop. Pour over roast. Bake, covered in 300 degree oven for 4 hours. Juices off the meat can be made into a great tasting gravy for potatoes.
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As their 4 children pursue dairy careers off the farm, Natalie and Mark are starting a new adventure of milking registered Holsteins just because they like good cows on their Minnesota farm. Natalie grew up in Stronghurst, daughter of Becky and the late Larry Dowell.
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