Old Time Cowboy Food

Many cowboys ate four identical meals every day, especially cowboys of the American southwest.

The first requirement for such meals was frijoles, a Mexican dish in which pink or black kidney beans were first soaked in water and then boiled, mashed together with oil and onion to form a lumpy puree and finally seasoned generously with salt and fried in bacon fat. Much like today’s canned refried beans, but a little more flavorful.  Three to six fried eggs was then placed on top of the beans. The meat most commonly served with such meals was mutton and, if the cowboy was lucky enough to have a large plate the meat would be placed alongside the beans and eggs. Cowboys much preferred beef but settled for mutton although some were served pork if it was available.

If cowboys had small plates everything was piled on top of other things, if they had a large plate food items could be placed beside each other. Seems like this would get a little old to me but when cowboys went to town they often ordered the same thing and maybe a single shot of red-eye.

Out on the range cowboys often ate canned peaches and canned tomatoes to supplement whatever they could hunt or to help make the ever present jerky taste, at least, palatable.

Burn That Hot Dog - or Not

 

Ever heard someone say, “come on over we’ll burn some dogs on the grill and crack open a few beers”?

Well maybe not. But I do like my hotdogs on the grill, very well done, OK, burned. I like the crunch and I like them after they split and some of the juice escapes. Made me think about other foods I like burned-not many.

The top of a Pizza is nice burned as is the top of Lasagna and baked Mac and cheese. When we were kids we loved starting marshmallows on fire, blowing out the flame then eating the black charred mess. Grand kids love them still.

Don’t have anything else today-too hot, but I wanted to touch base with my readers. Can you think of any foods you like burned?

Ice Cream Bread

The web, mostly Facebook, has been full of this recipe the past week or two, thought I would give it a try.

-Here’s Your 2 ingredients- 

*2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened, I let it set out until I could work it easily.

* 1-1/2 cups self rising flour (or 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt, which makes self rising flour, or pretty darn close)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Use an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pan and spray  ‘ er up with baking spray.

2. In a big ol’ bowl, stir ice cream until smooth; mix in flour, not too much, just a little stir. Ladle into the sprayed up pan.  Bake 45minutes, check with the old toothpick trick, stick it in the middle and when it comes out clean-wala- cake is done, could take a minute or two or three more.

3. Cool a little while, I don’t know how long, just some, dump cake out, might take a bit of knife work around the edges. Eat is right away, it is really good warm.

4. You can add in fruit or even vegetables, if you are nuts, or add nuts, might take a might longer to bake depending on how much you put in.

My observations, this is a very palatable cake, moist with good flavor, not one of my all time favorites, but pretty good, fun and easy. Good one to make with the grand kids. Now if someone could just come up with a delicious, two ingredient apple pie.