Yummy Beef Jerky

A recipe from my husband

Dry Ingredients

• 1 t. celery seed
• 1 t. chili powder
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1 t. brown sugar
• 1 t. cayenne pepper
• 1 t. black pepper - fresh ground - you can skip or change any of the peppers
• 1 t. white pepper - can substitute red pepper flakes
• 1 t. onion powder
• 2 t. salt - if you reduce or add amount of water you must change salt with it

Wet Ingredients

• 1 t. liquid smoke
• 6 t. worcestershire sauce
• 1 t. (tabasco habanero tabasco (optional)
• 1 t. Suchi Chef Mirin Sweetened Sake (optional)
• 1 1/4 c. Water

This is not baking, so you don't have to be real accurate with your measuring spoon. I just pour into measuring spoon over a bowl large enough to mix ingredients and meat in. Mix ingredients with your hand and taste mixture before adding meat. That is how your jerky will taste.
Slice meat real thin and you get real thin jerky. This is hard to do. I like it a little thicker like the stuff I gave you, like thick-cut bacon 1/8 - 3/16". The important part is that all the pieces are the same thickness when cut into strips so they dry at the same rate. Do this before putting meat into marinade. Less messy and meat seasons better. Thin jerky dries faster than thick jerky meat.

• Before adding meat to marinade cut into strips. Don't put meat into marinade until all strips are cut or it can get messy. Use about 4 lbs. non fatty beef under $4/lb. like sirloin tip roast or whatever is on sale.
• Put meat strips into marinade and mix well in bowl
• Dump into 2 gallon double ziplock baggie, get out air, and put in refrigerator for 6-24 hours (Longer marinating imparts more flavor.). Flip bag every time you go in fridge.
• After marinating 6-24 hours pull out only the meat that will fit in your drier. (It never all fits.) Keep extra meat in marinade until the first batch is dry. Put meat strips in strainer over a bowl to catch drips. (Messy!) Blot meat strips between paper towels before putting on drier racks.
• Run Drier on high. It will smell wonderful and take 6-12 hours depending on your drier and how dry you like your jerky. Start looking at the jerky at about 8 hours.

Split Pea and Ham Soup in Crockpot - makes about 8 pints

Layer in Crockpot

• 1 pound dried green split peas, sorted and rinsed
• 5 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 4 medium celery stalks, diced
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms diced
• 1 large onion diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. tyme
• about 1 pound smoked ham diced, or smoked ham bone, or 2 ham hocks
• cover  with water

Cook over night or during the day for about 6-8-10 hours on low. Pretty forgiving recipe.
Can drain off clear fat on top or mix it in.

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Dakota bread for bread machine

This is a chewy dense bread with a thick, crispy crust.

Basic bread 3 hour cycle setting for bread machine. Doesn't seem to need the french bread or whole wheat bread setting. I've only made this in winter up to this point so might need to modify for hot humid summer.

• 3/4 cup 8 grain hot cereal mix, put in bread maker pan
• 1 cup hot water (heated in microwave like for tea about 2') - pour over cereal, let stand for 10'
• 1 T oil, pour over paddle
• 1 T honey, pour around edges

Once 10 minutes are up and cereal is softened

• 1 3/4 cup bread flour to make floating mat over top of hot cereal mixture
• 1/2 t instant or fast rise yeast, make small divot center of flour mat and place it there
• 3/4 t + 1/8t salt put around edges 
• 2 Tablespoons buttermilk powder (optional)

Turn on bread maker. I use the basic cycle for my Regal Kitchen Pro collection Breadmaker Model No. K6725. It works really well. Takes about 3 hours to process.

I usually look at the dough while it's kneading. Last 2 batches looked wet so I added

• 1 tablespoon of bread flour.

In 40' the timer goes off and if you want you can add

• 1 T pepitas (raw, unsalted, pumpkin seeds)
• 1 T sunflower seeds

Then about 1 hour 15' before the end. if you want to, you can brush top off loaf with

• beaten egg so seeds stick (I keep forgetting this part and the seeds don't stick very well)

and sprinkle on a mixture of

• 1 1/2 t pepitas
• 1 1/2 t sunflower seeds
•  1/2 t sesame seeds
• 1/2 t poppy seeds

(Or you can skip the egg and try to add the seeds earlier so they sink into the dough)

Notes: Best if ingredients such as flour and cereal are at room temperature. I usually store mine in the fridge.

This recipe came from a TV show where it was made by hand. I tried it. Too much work!
So revised the recipe for bread machine. Could only get Bob's Red Mill 8 grain hot cereal so used that successfully. Probably could just use oatmeal or another hot cereal if you can't get a multiple grain hot cereal. I like buttermilk so I added that.

5/24/16 Tastes good even without the seeds. I make it quite a bit and many times I miss adding the seeds. I haven't been adding the 1 T of bread flour. I just start my bread machine and forget about looking at the dough.

Xmas cookies, rice krispie treats, pecan caramel meringues, pb cookies, chocolate covered pb balls

I give these to the young adults in our family. They really like them. Most of the cookies are too sweet for me and if I was to make them for myself I would experiment with cutting back the sugar a lot or maybe skipping the sugar.
All of these cookies can be gluten free if you use gluten free ingredients and work in a gluten free kitchen

Rice Krispie Treats  
13x9 pan, well buttered
Make in Very Large barely fits in the microwave safe bowl
(Rice Krispies are not gluten free so would need to substitute a gluten free puffed rice cereal)
note: 2 bags of marshmallows + 2 boxes cereal makes about 3 pans of cookies.

• melt 3 T butter in micro about 45 seconds
• 40 marshmallows, coat with melted butter, then microwave about 1'10" to melt. Stir till smooth.
• 6 cups cereal, mix into melted marshmallows. spread into 13x9 pan. allow to cool.

Pecan Caramel Meringues (Can use any nut actually)
Al foil or parchment
heavily buttered, cookie can be very sticky and hard to get off

• 4 egg whites, beat till stiff
• 1.25 cup brown sugar, slowly add to egg whites and mix till thickens
• 1.5 cups pecans ground with 1 T sugar, fold in gently to egg white/ sugar mixture

drop small spoonfuls, bake 10-15' at 325-350F till slightly browned.
Sometimes easier to peel off aluminum if cookie somewhat warm. Cookies might not stick if you butter heavily enough and the cookies don't flatten.

Peanut Butter Cookies 10-15' at 325-350F
mix together, little balls, flatten with fork

• 1 cup drier peanut butter (16oz jar is about 1.5c)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls
Mix together and form into balls

• 1 cup ground walnuts
• 1 cup ground dates
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter

Dip in melted chocolate made from 1  bag of chocolate chips

I use my food processor to grind everything but in the past I used to just chop finely with knife.

Ginger Dressing

Process till smooth in cup blender (need to increase amounts if make in pitcher of blender)

2 T finely chopped carrots
1 T finely chopped ginger
1 T mild flavor olive oil
1 t brown sugar
1 t lemon or rice wine vinegar
1/2 t soy sauce
1 - 2 T water

I looked at several recipes. It appeared that the ratio of carrots to ginger ranged from 2:1 to 4:1. The carrots gives color and a sweeter flavor. I used mild flavor olive oil. I thought that stronger flavored oils, like sesame seed and peanut oil, might overpower the ginger flavor.

I think equal amounts sweetener to vinegar/lemon juice works best. Soy sauce provides salt. Add water for enough liquid to process.

To keep the recipe simple with fewer ingredients I didn't try adding onion, garlic, mustard, ketchup, celery or tomatoes but any of these could be added.

Recipes that I looked at:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/light-carrot-ginger-recipe.html
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/famous-japanese-restaurant-style-salad-dressing/
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/japanese-ginger-salad-dressing/
http://foodbabe.com/2013/05/23/japanese-restaurant-style-carrot-ginger-salad-dressing/
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Benihana-Ginger-Salad-Dressing-Copycat-Recipe.html


link to my experiments

Green soup (previously chicken soup) converted to Jumblelaya

Start heating up the remaining soup from yesterday.

Fill a medium small metal bowl half full with deveined frozen shrimp in the shell, add cold water, let sit about 20 minutes or so to thaw.

Add following chopped/sliced veggies to soup

• 2 celery stalks
• rhubarb
• green pepper

Make a medium brown roux. (use metal pan & spoon.)

• about 2 T butter
• about 4 T flour (I make a drier roux. Can do equal amounts butter/flour if you wish.)

Then add liquid from soup to roux make a smooth gravy with no lumps then add back to soup.

Take off shells from thawed shrimp and rinse shrimp.

Slowly bring soup to boil to let it thicken.

Add equal amounts of

• white pepper
• red pepper
• black pepper

(Start with 1/4 tsp of each. May need more if you like spicy hot. May get spicier hot as it sits.)

Then add shrimp. It will immediately turn pink.

Turn heat off or down. You are done.

Serve over rice.

If it gets too spicy hot you can cool down with plain yogurt or cottage cheese.

Chicken soup converted to green soup

Add to left over chicken soup**

• 1 can navy beans
• browned & sliced italian sausage
• sliced onion, browned
• several cloves of garlic pressed through garlic press

Then add and cook until soft

• A big bunch of thinly sliced greens such as Kale, Swiss Chard, Spinach, and/or Collards

Season with generous amount of fresh ground black pepper
Salt if needed

**
If you don't have leftover chicken soup use

• 1 can chicken broth 
• 1-2 cans of water 
• 3-4 diced potatoes cook till soft

Then add rest as normal

When rhubarb is in season I add it to the soups too.