The Ranch Kitchen Cooks - State Fair of Texas 'GO Texan' Event

This past weekend was a fun time for both myself and my family.  It was a culmination of 9 years of work as both a blogger, recipe developer and our families practice of advocating for agriculture with a cooking demonstration at the 2016 State Fair of Texas in their GO Texan Pavilion!

Most definitely one of the highlights for my blog and site The Ranch Kitchen has been my inclusion in the this year's Taste of Texas - Go Texan Recipe book that is housed in the Go Texan Pavilion during our annual State Fair of Texas with my Beefy Mexican Cornbread. More humbling was the fact that this recipe was handed down from my mother who made this for my brothers and I as children.  We loved it then and continue to enjoy it now, especially with the Hereford beef we raise on our ranch.  It's a southwestern inspired main dish with a cornbread topping mixed with corn that is extra spicy with a cheese filling and topping.  When we can we will use green chili's from our garden sauteed with the ground beef as I did for my demo this weekend.  

We do love our Texas Agriculture pictured here at the 

GO Texan preview event
the week before the cooking demonstration!

So nice to get to meet Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller!

Here I am with the official Go Texan Taste of Texas Cookbook
and my featured recipe for Beefy Mexican Cornbread!

As an educator, I'm used to speaking in front of a crowd of students and teachers.  But cooking and speaking in front visiting crowds was a different thing all together!  With the ebb and flow in the building of passers by and then the audience who sat down to watch, it was a busy, busy place.  

One of the most heartwarming moments was when my Audrey insisted to standing on stage with me and helping me every step of the way as the two older daughters Ilissa and Bethany ran back and forth filming and passing out small samples of each recipe.  Bethany's missing in these shots due to being the one behind the camera. 

Scott was the calmest through it all smiling and giving thumbs up from the back of the audience and throwing cues of things to say in his silent wording to stretch my time on stage!  Goodness knows he has been thru the good and the not so good with my earlier recipes! 

In the midst of it all we got rave review on the Beefy Mexican Cornbread, Tortilla Wraps My Way, and our Nolana's Family Hot Sauce.  One of the neatest moments were the children that so sweet and complimentary especially of my hot sauce.  One little girl came up twice to get samples and speak to me reminding me so much of the little elementary students I taught so many years ago.  That in itself made my day even sweeter...because children and teaching others is at the heart of why I do this all.

Click on each links below to get the recipes! 

Beefy Mexican Cornbread

Tortilla Roll Ups My Way

Nolana's Family Hot Sauce

Funny moments came when the new food processor I had bought would not work...but thankfully I had a huge batch to show and samples already ready of our Nolana's Family Hot Sauce! I've check once...check twice and check again! However if that was my biggest issue, I'm one happy momma!

To say I could not have done this without my family is an understatement. Through it all they have been my biggest and most honest taste testers, supporters and push when I needed it. Each gave their weekend freely to support their momma and wife which truly touched me deeply.  As proud as I know they were of me, I was of them for being there for me.  It was a moment that will be etched in my memory forever.

Family picture by Big Texas! Sadly head got cut off by friendly lady who took our picture! 

So, as I sit here this evening still reminiscing from the past weekend of fun and family, I'm reminded again at why I do this thing called blogging. At the conclusion of my cooking demo this weekend, a sweet lady came up to me and thanked me for advocating for agriculture during my demo.   She told me few people ever do that. 

Special thanks to my personal media specialist and middle daughter Bethany for all these pictures!  You won't see her in any pictures as she was behind the camera the whole time and Scott was supporting from the back of the audience!

Visiting with the little girl and mom who loved Nolana's Family Hot Sauce! So sweet! 

Making my Beef Mexican Cornbread with Certified Hereford Beef of course! Click on the link more great Certified Hereford Beef recipes!

I proudly told her it's just what we do, how we've raised our girls and wouldn't have it any other way.  In a world where by 2050 there will be over 9 billion people, it's those of us in agriculture that farm and ranch that will feed and clothe our world.  It's a tradition of hard work, dedication and values that we strive to instill in our girls and one that to date has proven worth it's weight in gold. We are FFA proud, agriculturally driven and passionate about the Hereford beef we raise on our ranch and the lifestyle it has enabled us to be a part of.  

Stopping by the Go Texan Store to purchase some Pioneer Cornbread mix to use in my Beefy Mexican Cornbread!  Most ingredients for all my recipes were proudly Texas products!

Post cooking demonstration celebration watching the Texas Aggies 'BTHO' Tennessee in the Mueller tent eating their 2016 State Fair of Texas People's Choice Award winner 'Injectible Balls of BBQ'!  Delicious! 
So worth all those 20 tickets!

The Ranch Kitchen has been a labor of love for many years now and something that I hope catalogs family favorite recipes for many years to come.

As always click on the links above to view the recipes on The Ranch Kitchen recipe section of my site. I'm very proud of how many recipes both myself and friends have added to date. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr.  Leave a comment  after the recipes you've tried and let me know about any additions you made to make that recipe your own.  

Drop by the National Hereford Women's new recipe website that I helped create during my time on their board and of course Certified Hereford Beef as well where we showcase the 'ranch to table' aspect of our Hereford breed for more great beef recipes! 

Also check out on Pinterest Beef Loving Bloggers with the Texas Beef Council where The Ranch Kitchen is a contributing blogger on their board.  Mouth watering, easy recipes there to get beef on your dinner plate as well!  

The Ranch Kitchen is also a contributing blogger on Sure Champ VitaFerm and the Missouri Hereford Association's monthly magazine, so check out their sites as well in the links above with their names! 

The Ranch Kitchen proudly affiliated with these great associations and companies!

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Many thanks to the GO Texan program, the Texas Beef Council, Beef Loving Texans, and my family for this opportunity this past weekend. And if you are at a Go Texan event this year, stop by and pick up a the recipe book..  It is full of great recipes from contributors like Southwest Dairy Farms and even a winning state fair cobbler dessert! YUM!

Have a great fall everyone and keep checking back for fun things to come at The Ranch Kitchen!

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen 

  

Summer Vegetable Tian Via Ilissa and Pinterest

                   

Our Lissa (Ilissa) as we call her is becoming a good cook in her own right.  She's a big girl now with her first job and living in the big city, she has started, as her traveling permits, to cook when inspiration or an event calls for it. Her recent Pinterest (www Pinterst.com) feed find resulted in this healthy dish.  Our family loves zucchini, squash, onions and potatoes, so this dish naturally marries the four. I think her picture below speaks for itself. She sent me the before and after.  

She now has the honor of making this when she come home for dinner during our county festival. Proud of you Ilissa!  Your family won't starve one day and you and Bethany can carry on the The Ranch Kitchen blog!!  Hugs! 

The recipe hails from the site Budget Bytes via Pinterest http://www.budgetbytes.com/2011/08/summer-vegetable-tian/.  If you want to know exactly how much the approximate cost for a dish like this is, this site will spell it out for you.  

Summer Vegetable Tian 

By Budget Bytes

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion 
• 1 tsp minced garlic 
• 1 medium zucchini 
• 1 medium yellow squash 
• 1 medium potato 
• 1 medium tomato 
• 1 tsp dried thyme 
• to taste salt & pepper 
• 1 cup shredded Italian cheese 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Saute both in a skillet with olive oil until softened (about five minutes).
2. While the onion and garlic are sauteing, thinly slice the rest of the vegetables.
3. Spray the inside of an 8×8 square or round baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread the softened onion and garlic in the bottom of the dish. Place the thinly sliced vegetables in the baking dish vertically, in an alternating pattern. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and thyme.
4. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with cheese and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

Get cooking,

From Ilissa!

Strawberry Angel Food Cake

One of my favorite memories from my Granny's house was her love of strawberries.  As a small girl she always had a vegetable garden of some kind each summer and would always grow a few strawberries.  Each morning for our breakfast she would let my brother and I go pick some strawberries to put in our cereal.  I remember thinking that doing this was pretty special and looking back, it really was.

They say you are either a sweets or main dish cook and for my grandmother that was true.  She didn't really make many things that were sweet, although being a diabetic, she loved her sweets a little more than anyone.  She once told me to not ever just eat the cake icing straight out of a container...I told her she must do that, because the thought had never crossed my mind!  She was a sneaky diabetic buying doughnuts for the grandkids, along with pound cakes that were just for us.....

This weekend, we celebrated both Independence Day and my mother's 70th birthday with this sweet Strawberry Angel Food Cake.  We used a sugar free whipped cream that hopefully carved off a few carbs for my mom sugar wise.

Click here for the recipe and card for Strawberry Angel Food Cake

To make this dessert, cut your store bought Angel Food cake in half and place strawberries and whipped cream and then repeat on your top layer to make this pretty cake.  It's simply that easy and the results look really pretty.  Kids young and old enjoy this cake and any extra will keep nicely in the refrigerator wrapped tightly in plastic wrap to keep the air out.

So, when you are looking for a fast and fun cake to make on the run or something easy to create for your family, this little cake is simple and impressive to make and very economical.

Below are some scenes from the fireworks show we watched on my mom's birthday in our little town.  They were awesome and sponsored by my brother and cousin's law firm for us all to enjoy. My mom especially enjoyed it and that made all our night. In the past month, she has been recovering from a severe stroke to her left side. I've never seen her work as hard to recover and it was a welcome treat to have her with us and enjoying the holiday with her grandkids. I've never been prouder of her deligence and spirit through this difficult time and the positive attitude that she will regain all of her left side function. Strokes can be devastating and for my mom, this is not an option.

Happy July everyone and hope your Independence Day was a fun and relaxing one.

View from Lake O' The Pines at dusk

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen 

The Ranch Kitchen's Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy

Click here for the recipe for Chicken Fried Steak with Gravy

Every once in a while, we love our chicken fried steak.  It's southern comfort food at it's best and when served along side some mashed potatoes and gravy you have the perfect meal.  

On our ranch we of course use our Hereford beef raised on our place.  The flavor always shines through and it's great knowing we raised it ourselves.  

The trick to chicken fried steak is letting it fry at an even heat and not handling your meat too much once it is placed in the pan with the hot oil.  I use either water or milk in my batter as two different methods for battering your steak.  Both turn out great everytime.  Cast iron skillets are some of the best, even skillets or pans to use for chicken fried steak also.

To begin, first take the egg(s) and milk and best them together making a batter with a dash or two of hot sauce.  This is 'red' hot sauce like Tabasco Sauce that will give your egg batter a bit of flavor and add to the overall taste of your meat. We love anything spicy and since I use the hot sauce with my fried chicken tenders, I thought why not with my steak.  If you are measuring the dash of hot sauce it would be around 2 teaspoons or adjust to your heat index.  I've also used Chili Sauce some and it is just as good.  If you are out of milk, must use water and it's just as good.

Whisk the two together and and 'bread' the steaks in this order.  First dip the steak in the flour that has been seasoned with 1 teaspoon of garlic salt and 1 teaspoon of any brand of All Seasoning Spice like Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning or an all purpose steak spice covering fully (mix the seasonings well with the flour) and then placing in the egg and milk, then back in the flour.  Place immediately in the hot vegetable or Canola oil that has been heated to around 350 degrees Farenheit or a medium heat. The steak should sizzle when you place it in the skillet and not smoke. If the oil smokes, then turn it down and allow it to cool before you place your battered steak in it.

My rule of thumb on frying steak is to allow each side to side to fry for one minute, then gently turning with tongs.  Don't stab at the meat as you turn it or you will cause the crust to tear off the sides of your steak.  After you've turned the steak once, you then allow the steak to fry for 3 - 4 minutes per side until the crust is a light or darker caramel color (that is light brown).  

Take out steaks immediately allowing the excess grease to drip back into the fying pan before placing on two paper towels to drain excess oil.  Season with an additional - light sprinkle of extra garlic salt and allow to cool. 

Continue to fry all steaks until they are finished.  You may have to add more oil to the frying pan as you go. If you do this allow the oil to heat to the correct temperature before frying the rest of you steaks.  You can also keep them warm in your oven on a heat proof dish on the warming element of your settings.

Click here for the recipe for Chicken Fried Marinated Deer Steak - 

another way to fry up a family favorite! 

For the gravy:

Once all steaks are fried, carefully pour all but 1/4 cup of oil out of the frying pan in a heat proof dish and heat oil to just smoking.  You'll want the small left over cooked bits of steak batter to stay in the pan with the oil to help 'season' your gravy.  Add to the hot oil your water or milk that has had 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour added to it and whisked together until smooth.  Pour this milk/water and flour mixure into the hot oil and continue whisk to blend together.  Allow mixture to come to a light brown color (usually takes one minute) and bubble as it boils.  Then add 2 more cups of water and continue to cook on a medium heat, whisking continously.  Season as you whisk the gravy with extra salt/sea salt or black pepper.  

Some people prefer milk to water in their gravy.  Either way, this gravy is so delicious and easy to make.  It just takes time and watching your gravy and not leaving the pan as it continues to cook.  You can add more or less water or milk to make to the desired consistency/amount of gravy you'd like to serve. 

Spoon the gravy over your steak and mashed potatoes for the perfect dipping sauce! 

You can use this chicken fried method or fying steak with chicken, pork, deer/venison, goose or dove.  It's great with any meat you chose to batter and fry up in this way.  

With this meal above is also my recipe for my Sure is the BEST Broccoli Rice Casserole that is my husband's favorite.  This side is usually what I prepare for his birthday dinner each fall or as a special side at the holidays.  

Hope you'll give my chicken fried steak and gravy a try.  In a world where we don't fry things near as much as we once did, it's a welcome treat every once in a while to enjoy a little chicken fried steak. Because after all, it's comfort food... and sometimes that is reason enough!

Happy frying!

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen 

Why I Blog and Post My Recipes

Today as I was posting one more recipe the realization struck me pretty hard.  I've been doing this blogging thing now over nine years.  Over 190 blog posts later and with almost 187 recipes to date, this blogging - recipe thing is a pretty big part of my life. 

One for my very first post for Nolana's Family Hot Sauce

Someone recently asked me when they saw the large photographer's light in my house, just why I needed that?  The answer came off my tongue strangely quite easily and I told them that because I cook mostly at night, I need the professional light to photograph my food for my recipe and blog site.  It's funny how my family is now used to me taking photos of almost everything we cook and when a recipe is good they will nonchalantly say, "Make sure you put that on your site".  To me that is the ultimate compliment! 

When I think about it, I don't do this blogging thing to for anything else other than to share and teach others about cooking and my love for it.  My recipes aren't difficult, fancy or require four different cheeses for a simple 'mac and cheese' dish or expensive cuts of meat. I made that promise to myself years ago that the recipes I shared would be those that any cook could make, on any budget and be both economical and family friendly. 

While all my recipes may not be the leanest or the most cutting edge, they are my tried and true family recipes that either I created for my daughters and husband, or are the handed down from of my sweet mom and dear Granny. I feel pretty blessed to have watched some awesome cooks in my lifetime like the both of them.

The Ranch Kitchen's Beef Stroganoff! The #1 most popular recipe to date!

I may use a soup can now and then to thicken a sauce or a little too much Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, but when you find a good thing there is no need to change it.  I like to think my Granny is looking down from heaven and is proud I love cooking so much and in the process shared a few of her recipes.

My greatest wish is that my legacy for my girls will be one of love, sharing and teaching and giving through service to others through this blog and my life's work.  My blog and recipe site are yet another way as the educator I am to continue to teach others how simple and fulfilling cooking is and how one of greatest joys is to enjoy our family around a good meal.  There is simply no need for our youth or new cooks to think cooking is hard or tedious.  

So as I post yet another of my recipes to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumbler, remember it's just the teacher in me helping another student learn.  It's also the momma in me sharing my recipes with my girls and the advocate 'agvocating' about our beloved agricultural lifestyle.  And it's just me sharing my passion and enjoying what I've always loved...cooking and ultimately writing.  It's my way to do something that's just for me.  As a mom and wife we all give so much of ourselves each day. My blog is my outlet and believe it or not, my ultimate downtime.

Deep down I'd like to thank all my friends, subscribers and especially my family for following, sharing and liking my recipe posts.  What started as a way to share recipes on my blog for my girls while at college has turned in to so much more and for that I am very humbled and thankful. 

So stop by my site from time to time, try a recipe, save or share it and tell me if you liked it! I hope maybe just one recipe will inspire a meal around your table with family and friends.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart and from The Ranch Kitchen blog and site.  

Remember, no one said cooking had to be hard! 

Alise Nolan - The Ranch Kitchen