Crockpot Corn Chowder

By

 

Neil Waring Revered Wyoming Chef, outdoor cooking expert, admired woodsmen, award winning author, retired politician and honored citizen.

 

Make it in five or ten minutes and let it cook from Morning until Supper Time.

 

 The two types of corn add depth and great texture of this one

Ingredients:

·         3 cups frozen corn

·         14 oz. can creamed corn

·         1 onion, chopped

·         2 (14 oz.) cans ready to serve chicken broth

·         1/8 tsp. pepper

·         1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves

·         2 Tbsp. cornstarch

·         3 Tbsp. water

Putting it together

 Mix everything but the cornstarch and water in 3-4 quart Crockpot and stir it up good.  Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until corn is tender. In small bowl, combine cornstarch and water and mix it in; stir into the Crockpot.

Cover and cook on high for 10-15 minutes until it thickens.

 Top with crackers and its ready to go

Makes enough for four (it is really clever using two 4s in a row)

 

Good Ol’ Boy Corned Beef Hash

Got 'er done!

This is now one of your favorite recip                    

Stuff you will need - Ingredients

·      3 tablespoons butter

·      1 large onion, finely chopped

·      2 cups diced corned beef

·      4 cups diced potato

·      Salt and pepper – this really does not need salt but if your BP is good sprinkle a little on

---

 

1. Get out the big old black skillet for this one. I love it when I get to use this one – hunting camp type food – let the calories fly

 

2. Turn heat to medium/high melt the butter toss the onions in hot oil until they soften and turns a nifty golden brown

 

3. Toss in the corned beef and potato. Stir and let them sizzle, don’t let it get too hot, fry until potatoes start to turn soft

 

4. Press the potato mixture down to creating a more compact layer.

 

5. Cook for a few minutes continuing to smash down potatoes (like one large pancake), takes a few minutes to get a nice golden-brown crust, but that’s what you want

 

6. Flip and cook for another few minutes to heat through.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper before serving.

 

*This is great with wild game made corned beef

 

 

Good Ol' Cowboy Food

Good Ol' Cowboy Food

By Wyoming's beloved food writer and free spirit

Neil Waring

Living in a cowboy state and being an old retired history teacher, I thought it might be fun to take a look back at what people ate in the old days, Wyoming cowboy days.

So what did cowboys eat? Well it depended on who was doing the cooking. If it was the cowboy doing the cooking most meals were the same, the three Bs, bacon, biscuits and beans, washed down strong coffee. If he was on the trail, maybe some salt pork and dried meat. If it was ranch cooking or trail drive food it was much more varied and likely tastier.

Here is what you might find in a well stocked kitchen or chuck wagon in the days of the Old West

· Flour

· Coffee

· Tea

· Salt pork

· Bacon

· Dried fruit

· Beans

· Rice

· Dried peas

· Canned tomatoes

· Canned peaches

· Condensed milk

· Corn meal and dried corn

· Sugar

· Molasses

· Vinegar

· Onion/garlic powder

· Black pepper

· Eggs

· Potatoes

· Chickens - around the ranch house and even on the trail

· Other spices such as ginger

· And of course the ranch always had beef and wild game when they could find it. Many ranches also raised a few, eatin’ hogs, even if they did not like to admit it.

Looks pretty good to me. I believe a good cook could do a lot with this list.

Retire and Take Up Smoking

At the young age of 64 I have became a smoker—no not that kind—the other kind.

For years I have wanted to try smoking meat but never wanted to invest the time and effort to learn and do.  This summer I bought an inexpensive smoker* for my retirement and have tried, beef, pork, chicken and turkey so far. I have had more hits** than misses** although some of my work was not of an award winning nature.***

I have now found dozens of good sights to learn about smoking meat and pick what I think will work best for me and go from there. I have now developed my own dry rubs (this took a little time and experimentation).**** This week I am looking into brining**** and will attempt to make summer sausage and Canadian bacon next week for Christmas. Wish me luck!*****

 

*Only looked at Wal-mart, K-mart and Menards (everything is cheap in these stores) didn’t want to say cheap smoker in the above post because that makes me look – well- cheap.

**Hit meaning we ate at least some of it, miss meaning we tossed it out and the raccoons left it alone

***I have never actually won a cooking award but I dream about them sometimes

****This means I spent a small fortune and threw out a lot of good spices – WARNING-most online recipes for rubs include Chili Powder, leave it out. The good rubs don’t use it. Unless you are rubbing it on your chili, then of course rub-it-in.

***** I need it and I like the look of ***** in a post, kind of dresses it up.

Oh and Ho, Ho, Ho and Merry Christmas

S’mores, Smoke and other Stuff

By Neil Waring
Revered Wyoming Chef, outdoor cooking expert, admired woodsmen and honored citizen.

Nothing reminds me more of summer camping than s’mores, that delicious kid treat that I still love in retirement. And what’s good about it? Everything, it’s gooey, chocolaty, (not sure that chocolaty is really a word, just think - melted Hershey bar in the middle of marshmallows and graham crackers - you get the idea), and they are warm and delicious.

Ingredients-enough to make six S’mores

*12 Graham Crackers, one on top one on the bottom

*15 Marshmallows two in the middle of each s’more and three to snack on as you work making these babies

*7 Chocolate Bars (I prefer Hershey’s, the plain with the cool little breaking squares) one per s’more and one to snack away on as you work.

Did you know that s’more first showed up in 1927? A Girl Scout hand book/cookbook entitled, “Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts”. They called these mouth waterers, (I may have made up a second word there) some more, since you really could not eat only one. Later with a mouth full of food it likely sounded like they were saying s’more instead of some more, although this sounds more like something I would have said (the talking with the mouth full) in my Cub Scout days, or maybe last week.

Build a great little camp fire or use your propane grill but the campfire cannot be beat if you have a place plus hot dogs over an open fire are delicious, no matter how old you are.

The rest is simple lay out the bottom graham crackers, unwrap Hershey bars and place on top of graham crackers then roast marshmallows over the fire, as soon as they catch fire pull them back, blow out the fire, (hum Happy Birthday if you wish) drop on chocolate bar, slap on the other cracker and eat immediately.

Great summer treat and best if eaten and made with grand kids in a great/favorite picnic area.

Hamburger Stroganoff

-Here is what you will need-

*1 lb. ground beef (we say hamburger at our house) - brown in skillet, don’t chop it up too tiny
*1/2 c. chopped onion ( chunks about a half inch square)
*1/4 tsp. paprika (nice color and flavor)
*1 c. sour cream (this makes it stroganoff)
*1 c. cream of celery soup – ( most use mushroom soup, but I hate mushrooms, if you like um, us it) Do not measure – dump in a can
*3 Table spoons bacon bits or three or four slices of bacon
* Pinch of salt (no more than ¼ teaspoon)
*Dash of pepper (to taste)
I love recipes that say a pinch of this and a dash of that— this will give you a chance to make it your own)

-Here is how you fix it-

-One cup -Old fashioned noodles (cook just until they are soft, drain and melt in a quarter stick of butter (not margarine) set aside and save

-Brown hamburger, add bacon bits the last few minutes
-Add onion and cook until soft
-Add seasonings –you a few pinches or dashes of this or that, I add a little sage, and some thyme
-Stir in soup
-Cook slowly, uncovered for about 20 minutes (I usually crank it up on high and cook about 8 or 9 minutes, civilized cooks use twenty minutes and simmer) simmer is another good cooking term-not sure what it means but do remember people telling me to simmer down when I was a kid.
-Stir in sour cream – right at the end of the simmer
-Heat and serve over the hot buttered noodles from above

This stuff is good – we serve with diet cola or ice tea and corn bread, raw vegetable tray on the side

Looking At Other Cooking Blogs

Been traveling through a bunch of cooking blogs the past few days, know what I found—a lot of stuff I would never eat. Who really cooks like this at home?

I want good food that does not take much time. Oh- and not from a box or package from the freezer section. Over the years my wife and I have found some swell stuff we can put together in only a few minutes. I don’t actually use the word swell but thought it sounded funny. Back to the subject-quick good food in a reasonable time-

My next three blogs—maybe four, will cover my favorites.

Can’t hardly wait, can you?

Happy eating

The Best Ice Cream EVER

By Neil Waring
Revered Wyoming Chef, outdoor cooking expert, admired woodsmen and honored citizen.

We have a small, inexpensive ice cream maker, not sure where or when we got it, but more than likely I bought it somewhere along the line because it was setting in a store display to catch shoppers like me. But it really works. My wife is convalescing after major surgery and today wanted Ice cream, not from the store, but my good old home-made. And you know what? It tastes great, every time.

-Ingredients (2 Quart tabletop maker)-Ours is a Rival but there are many great little makers today.

1cup milk (1%, 2% or whole, doesn’t matter, who can tell the difference anyway)?

3/4 cups sugar (most reciepes call for a cup or more—but trust me, this is enough and tastes best)

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups half and half (I use cream if I have it for ½ of this)

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract (I use the fake stuff—cheaper)
And that’s it-add flavors through the hole in the top a few minutes after starting, Today’s flavor at our house was strawberry. The frozen berries are great for this.

Hint for us guys who hate doing dishes—I dump the ingredients straight into the maker and let-er-rip, no need to use a bowl or your very fine Waring blender to mix before stating. Saves time too, and the wife will say, “how do you do that so fast?”
You will smile that wry, cowboy smile and say, “I am the world’s greatest Ice Cream maker.”

-Joke to follow-

Old guy walks up to an Ice Cream booth at the local fair, "What kinds of ice cream do you have?”

"Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry," the young girl behind the counter wheezed as she spoke, patted her chest and seemed unable to continue.

"Do you have laryngitis?" the guy asked sympathetically.
"Nope," she whispered, "just vanilla, chocolate and strawberry

Today - Eat Like A Kid

My lunch today

Peanut Butter and Jelly on wheat toast & Chicken Noodle Soup

-Here is what you need-

Jelly – (my homemade chokecherry—and it is some fine tasting stuff)
Peanut butter - (I like the super junk)
Bread-2 slices (I buy the cheap stuff, my wife finds better, doesn’t matter, toasted and covered, cheap seems good to me)
One can chicken noodle soup (I like Campbell’s, because it is really salty tasting – not sure that is a great endorsement)
Anyway—toast 2 slices of bread –and then the tricky part, peanut butter on one, and jelly on the other. Smush um together. (My spell checker did not like that last sentence-a-ur-fragment)
Now the soup—the secrete- opps- secret, use only half a can of water—yes really! (One exclamation per recipe, no more)
Turn the stove as high as she will go and make the soup boil as fast as you can.
Add crackers to soup (I really like the little round ones made from oysters)

-Eat like a kid and enjoy-

Baked Brook Trout Wrapped in Green Crested Wheat Grass, Sautéed in Stream Rinsed Wild Raspberries.

Today - camp food—this one is especially good for mountain fisherman.
This is your step by step guide to living the good life while roughing it in the back country mountains.
1. Gather several grapefruit sized stones (ten or twelve should be about right)
2. Stop and rest for a short time
3. Gather fire wood (about two good armloads should do it)
4. Stop and rest for a short time
5. Using your best outdoor instincts build a large fire inside the fire pit surrounded by the ten to twelve grapefruit sized stones.
6. Stop and rest for a short time
7. Let the fire die down to red hot coals before getting out the box of aluminum foil
8. Double layer the aluminum foil (I still call it tin foil) directly on the red hot coals
9. Soak burned hands in cool stream
10. Stop and rest for a short time – let hands regain some semblance of feeling
11. Put new tinfoil on the coals replacing the piece you threw in the stream after burning yourself
12. Get a big stick and roll the rocks onto the foil to prevent it from ever going anywhere again.
13. Spray the foil with a generous amount of cooking oil – then spay the coals and watch them flame up—kind of fun
14. Stop and rest for a short time after putting out the grass fire caused from spraying everything within five feet of the fire with cooking oil spray (ever notice the cans are always green)
15. Soak blistered hands in cool stream while resting up
16. Go back to the vehicle and get a change of clothes after falling in the stream trying to hand catch a small Brook Trout.
17. Stop and rest for a short time
18. Get a can of Span from the cooler
19. Cut into thin slices and lay on the foil covered fire
20. Isn’t that sizzle and smell great (now that’s campfire cooking)
21. Turn pieces when they smell like burning flesh (should be an easy smell to recognize)
22. Cook other side for a short while
23. Get out the loaf of white bread
24. Smear several pieces with mayonnaise ½ to ¾ inches deep (this will help kill the taste of burned to a crisp Spam)
25. Crack open an ice cold diet Pepsi or ratchet it up to a Mountain Dew (full sugar) if you are starting to feel a bit on edge
26. Eat and enjoy!
27. If there are still warm coals break out he marshmallows

What happened to the original recipe—never had one. Too hard to catch enough Brook Trout for a good meal, don’t believe I would recognize crested wheat grass if it were growing on my desk, and the wild raspberries—the bears in my neck of the woods will get there before me. Note: do not try to get to the berries at the same time as the bear.
-N-