Ree Drummond of The Pioneer Woman.com has some wonderful recipes, including one called Sausage Breakfast Casserole. This one is an “easy make-ahead breakfast casserole.”
We have a recipe from Gullah Geechee Home Cooking, Recipes from Emily Meggett for Okra Gumbo. You can use fresh or frozen okra. She cooks on a wood stove, but we’ll forgive you if you don’t. She puts a little sugar in the recipe and says it helps to cut the acid from the tomatoes. You can serve this gumbo alone or over a bed of white rice.
Here is a recipe for Country Fried Cabbage from The Original Country Cookbook. As it calls for bacon fat, you may choose to replace it with butter or vegetable fat. This cabbage recipe is from the little paperback cookbook that a friend gave me more than 40 years ago! It was published by Paragon Products, Inc., in Pompano Beach in 1976. The introduction says, regarding the recipes, “They come from a period in America when work was hard and appetites big. All have been tested and edited carefully for accuracy. These recipes call for basic natural ingredients and do not need today’s artificial this and imitation that!”
For dessert, try Darlene Brammeier’s Cherry Torte. It appears to be fairly straightforward; she won’t make us do any backflips. Our thank you goes out to Northside Baptist Church for their cookbook where we found Darlene’s recipe.
Also from Northside Baptist Church, we have Bonnie Milliken’s Pizza Dough recipe. This is another basic instruction you can use to exercise your “exploratory” gene to have some fun in the kitchen, especially with the kids.
SAUSAGE
BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
Recipe from
ThePioneerWoman.com
Butter or nonstick spray
1 pound breakfast sausage, such as Jimmy Dean’s
4 scallions, chopped, white and green parts divided
1 red bell pepper, chopped
10 eggs
1-1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons hot sauce, optional
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided (8-ounce
portions)
1 30-ounce package frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
1) Grease 9 x 13-inch (or other 3-quart) baking dish with butter or nonstick spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2) Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and break up into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook the meat until no pink pieces remain, about 6-8 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and white and light-green parts of the scallions, and cook 3 more minutes. Transfer to a plate to let cool slightly. 3) Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, mustard, hot sauce, salt, black pepper and about one-half of the remaining green parts of the scallions (save the rest to sprinkle on top of the casserole once baked.) Gently fold 1-1/2 cups of cheese, the hash-browns, and the sausage mixture into the egg mixture. Transfer all to the baking dish and smooth into an even layer. 4) Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes. Remove the foil, and top with the remaining 1/2-cup of cheese. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees and finish baking until the center of the casserole is set (not jiggly) and the top is slightly golden, 10-15 more minutes. Let rest 10 minutes, top with the remaining green parts of the scallions, then serve.
EMILY MEGGETT’S
OKRA GUMBO
Recipe from Gullah Geechee Home
Cooking by Emily Meggett
3/4 pound salt pork, cut into
1-inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 28-ounce can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
3 pounds okra, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, or 2 pounds frozen cut okra
Crushed red pepper
Gold Medal seasoning salt
1 tablespoon sugar, plus more
to taste
1 15-1/4 ounce can corn, drained, or kernels cut from 2 ears fresh corn
1-1/2 pounds small shrimp, peeled and deveined (optional but
recommended)
1) In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, fry the salt pork over medium heat until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté together for 5 to 7 minutes, until translucent. 2) Add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Rinse out the tomato paste can and refill the can with water. Pour the water into the pot. Repeat this process two more times. Bring to a boil over high heat. 3) Turn down the heat to medium and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more water. Add the okra, crushed red pepper, seasoning salt to taste, and the sugar. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes. 4) Finally, add the corn and shrimp, stir, and cook the gumbo over low heat for about 10 more minutes. Serve with rice or eat plain.
COUNTRY FRIED CABBAGE
Recipe from Paragon Products, Inc.,
The Original Country Cookbook
1 small head green cabbage,
shredded
3 tablespoons (or more) bacon fat
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
Salt to taste
Wash cabbage and shred by cutting into quarters, then making thin slices across the cut sides of the cabbage. Discard the core and any tough ribs. Heat bacon fat in iron Dutch oven, put in the cabbage, and stir until it is all glistening. Lower the heat, add pepper flakes, and continue cooking and turning until it is barely tender.
DARLENE BRAMMEIER’S
CHERRY TORTE
Recipe from
Northside Baptist Church cookbook
Pastry:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Mix and press into 9 x 9-inch pan. Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Crumble after cooling and press back into pan.
Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 ounces whipped topping
1 can cherry pie filling
Cream together cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Fold in the whipped topping. Spread over the crust. Top with can of cherries. Chill. Serve.
BONNIE MILLIKEN’S PIZZA DOUGH
Recipe from
Northside Baptist Church cookbook
1 cup warm water
1 package yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups flour, and additional 1-1/2 cups flour, approximately
Sprinkle yeast into warm (not hot) water until dissolved. Add sugar, salt, and oil.
Add 2 cups flour, a little (1/2 cup) at a time. It will be a very stiff dough. Turn out onto floured flat surface and knead in the remaining 1-1/2 cups flour until dough is smooth and elastic.
Place dough in greased bowl. Brush or pat top with oil. Cover and let rise in warm place (85 degrees). In the rising process, keep in a place that is free from drafts until dough is double in bulk. It will take about 45 minutes (30 minutes or less if you use the Rapid Rise Yeast). Punch down the dough and divide in half. Knead slightly and press each ball of dough into pizza pan.
Top with ‘whatever,’ i.e.; 1 cup tomato or pizza sauce, 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese, cooked Italian sausage, cooked hamburger, slivers of onion, green pepper, olives, pepperoni, etc.
Bake at 400 degrees about 20 to 25 minutes in preheated oven.
Dough can be refrigerated or frozen before rising. Defrost or let dough come to room temperature before first step in rising. It can be refrigerated or frozen after adding the toppings or after slightly baking (10 to 15 minutes).
