Backyard Farming: Homesteading: The Complete Guide to Self-Sufficiency - Kim Pezza (2015)

RECIPES

Enjoy these recipes using ingredients from your farm or garden.

Egg Casserole

8 slices bread

1 stick butter

2 cups milk

7-8 eggs

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

2 cups ham, diced

2 cups Velveeta cheese, grated

A dash of red pepper, paprika, and garlic powder

Put bread in a greased 9 × 13 inch pan. Melt butter, and mix together with milk, seasonings, and beaten eggs. Pour over bread, sprinkle with diced ham and top with grated cheese. Refrigerate overnight and then bake for 1 hour at 350°F.

Crock Pot Potato Soup

5 medium potatoes, diced

3 medium onions, diced

5 cups water

1 tablespoon parsley

1 stalk celery, diced

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups chicken broth

4-5 tablespoons butter

1 (13-ounce) can evaporated milk

Black pepper, to taste

In a slow cooker, combine potatoes, onions, water, parsley, celery, salt, pepper, chicken broth and butter. Cook on low heat until done, 10-12 hours, or on high heat for 3-4 hours. When done, add milk and reheat. Serve plain or put mixture in blender for a smoother soup. Reheat if necessary.

Garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream and chives, if desired.

Fruit of the Day Smoothie

1 can of Mandarin oranges, including syrup (or swap out for homegrown tangerines)

2 frozen bananas, peeled and sliced

2 cups frozen strawberries

1½ cups milk

Add all ingredients in the order listed above to the blender. Blend on low speed for 30 seconds, making sure to hold down the lid. Blend on high speed for 1 minute. Pour into a glass and enjoy!

Succotash

A different take on the traditional recipe (you can leave out the pork for a vegetarian version).

1 pound pickled pork (optional)

2 quarts shelled Lima beans

24 ears of corn, cut off the cob

2 tablespoons sugar (optional)

2 tablespoons butter

Pepper, to taste

If using pork, cover pork with water and parboil it. Add beans, and then add corn, sugar, butter, and pepper, to taste. After corn is added, watch carefully to keep from scorching. Serve. (In some recipes, a chopped red bell pepper is added.)

Basic Jam Recipe

A good quantity of soft, fleshy fruit (like strawberries, peaches, cherries, plums, blueberries, brambles)

1 cup sugar (or sugar with added pectin) for every 2 cups fruit (3 cups for bitter or sour fruits)

¼ cup lemon juice, or less

½ teaspoon butter

Clean the fruit, removing any stones (pits), leaves and such, then wash. If the fruit is not a small berry, cut it up into small pieces and crush.

Sprinkle fruit with lemon juice and butter and stir well. Pour the mixture into a large cooking pot (traditionally a copper pot is used, but any other cooking pot will do). Bring the mixture slowly to a full rolling boil, stirring regularly. Add sugar; depending on the fruit, you will need to boil the mixture for about an hour.

The jam is ready when it is thick. Check this by pouring a drop of the jam onto a cold plate. It should turn sticky, and not be too runny.

To preserve the jam, pour it into glass jars that have been sterilized by boiling them in water. You can also pasteurize the containers, rings and lids by washing them with boiling water. The jam should be poured rapidly into the still-hot containers. Release any air bubbles (as discussed briefly in Chapter 7) and then cover with lid and ring. Proceed with remainder of canning process.

Rosemary Garlic Baked Potatoes

4 baking potatoes

4 tablespoons olive oil

2-4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon dried, crushed rosemary (or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped rosemary)

¼ teaspoon salt (sea salt or crystal salt can be used instead)

⅛ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Heat oven to 400°F. Wash potatoes and pierce all over with fork. Lay each potato on an individual piece of aluminum foil, large enough to wrap up the potato.

Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil on each potato, making sure the entire potato skin is coated in oil.

Sprinkle a quarter of the chopped garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper over the entire potato.

Wrap each potato in aluminum foil and place the foil-wrapped potatoes on a cookie or baking sheet (to catch any leaking olive oil).

Bake for 1 hour. These potatoes may also be done on a grill, but cooking times will vary. Makes 4 servings.

Dill Cucumber Salad

½ cup sour cream (can use reduced-fat)

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

¾ teaspoon garlic powder

¾ teaspoon dill weed

½ teaspoon salt

3 medium cucumbers, sliced

½ cup sliced onion

Combine the first six ingredients. Add cucumbers and onion, and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Serve with a slotted spoon.

Grilled Radicchio with Bacon Dressing

4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 large radicchio, quartered

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Toss radicchio with ¼ cup olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place on a medium grill and cook until marked on all sides and heated through.

Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar and mustard. In another bowl, combine oil and fat. Combine the oil mixture into the vinegar mixture slowly, while whisking continuously. Drizzle dressing over radicchio and sprinkle with bacon. Serve warm.

Tomato and Onion Salad

Salad

6 tomatoes, chopped and diced

1 red onion, diced

1 white onion, diced

Spring onion, chopped finely

Sliced black olives

Lebanese cucumber, peeled and diced (or substitute another seedless variety)

Dressing

1 teaspoon vinegar

Squirt lemon juice

Ground black pepper, to taste

Sea salt, to taste

Mix all salad ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix together dressing ingredients and stir into salad. Serve with flat bread and feta cheese.

Tuscan Soup

1 small onion, chopped

1 small carrot, sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 (14.5-ounce) cans chicken broth (may also use vegetable broth)

1 cup water

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 (15- to 16-ounce) can kidney beans or great northern beans, rinsed and drained

⅔ cup uncooked small spiral pasta

3 cups fresh escarole or spinach, thinly sliced

In a 2-quart saucepan, sauté onion and carrot in oil until onion is tender. Add broth, water, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Stir in beans and pasta; return to a boil.

Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until pasta and vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Add escarole or spinach and heat through.

Note that this is a meatless variety. To make this recipe totally vegetarian, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

Tomatoes with Cheese Stuffing

Instead of throwing away stale bread, use your food processor or blender to turn them into bread crumbs!

6 tomatoes

1 cup bread crumbs

1 cup grated cheese

½ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons butter

¼ cup hot water

Select medium-sized tomatoes and hollow out the centers, reserving the pulp. Mix the crumbs, cheese, salt, pepper, butter, and hot water with the pulp from the centers of the tomatoes.

Fill the tomatoes with this stuffing. Place in a pan and bake in a moderate oven until the tomato can be pierced easily with a fork.