Anybody up for a full meal? Here's my Farmer's Feast:
Turnip Greens
- If fresh, boil (covered) for about an hour or so. If canned, 10 minutes to get it heated up, but it can go for an hour without harm.
- Teaspoon of salt while cooking.
Pinto Beans
- These things take forever, so either let them soak overnight and then simmering in a crock pot for 6-8 hours, or attempt the "fast boil" by boiling for 2 minutes, changing the water, and then putting on a hard boil for about an hour and a half.
- Teaspoon or two of salt while cooking.
Corn on the Cob
- Drop some ears into a big bot of water and boil for at least 45 minutes.
- Butter and salt go great on it when it's done.
- Optionally, a can of cream corn is good too.
Fried Okra
- 16oz okra, sliced (about 2 cups)
- 1 egg
- cornmeal
Break an egg and coat the sliced okra as evenly as possible. I don't know how much cornmeal, I just keep adding until it seems to have stuck as well as it's gonna stick to all slices. Put some veggie oil in a frying pan, drop in the slices, and fry on medium heat for a few minutes until the egg and cornmeal is golden brown.
(For an extra treat, my accidental Scrambled Egg Okra isn't bad. Add some salt and pepper, another egg, and kind of have scrambled eggs with your okra. That was an interesting night in the kitchen!)
Potatoes
Three different potato dishes are good. Either cube some Baking or Red/Russet's and fry them in some salt, pepper, and veggie oil until the edges turn brown. Or boil some small, whole potatoes and serve those. The following is my mashed potatoes.
- Butter
- Sour Cream
- Salt
- Pepper
- Boil cubed potatoes. Baking or Russet's/Red, all are fine. Just get some taters in a pot!
Drain the water and put the potatoes in a bowl. I usually have one big baking potato, so usually I put in a spoonful of butter and two spoonfuls of sour cream and squish it all up. If it's still flaky or to dry, I might add a tablespoon or so of milk. Then I salt and pepper about a teaspoon or half teaspoon's worth, mix it all together one last time, and voila! Tangy mashed potatoes.
Corn Bread
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup corn meal
- 1 cup milk
- 6 large spoonfuls of mayonnaise (some use just vegetable oil)
Mix together your grains. Chop in the mayonnaise as much as it consents to be mixed. Add your milk. It should be mildly runny. Put into a greased cast iron skillet and put in the oven (or toaster oven) at 400F for about 30-45 minutes. Might want to keep an eye on it, the moody little thing sometimes gets crunchy or stays doughy.
Mac 'N Cheese
- Quite honestly, I grab the $0.40 box from the store and prepare as directed. It's hard to ruin good mac 'n cheese.
Now the little things! Traditionally, Farmer's Feast is served with milk or sweet tea. But drink whatever you want. I like Kool-aid!
Common side dishes (the rest are more of main dishes) include sliced tomatoes, sliced onion, and pickles.
When we want meat, we usually serve hamburger steak. Roll out some hamburger meat into patties. Salt and pepper the sides facing you. Maybe slice up some onions and mushrooms to go in with it if you want to get fancy, along with a splash of soy sauce. Cook them on medium heat until the juices run clear when the patties are pressed. Dab 'em off and there ya go!
Sometimes we do salmon patties, which are also quite simple. One can of salmon, one egg, a cup of flour, mix it all together, mold into patties, and drop into a frying pan and veggie oil. When the outside is crispy, pull 'em out and serve.
Surprisingly, you lose weight on this diet and lower the food bill too. Or I did, anyway. When I was cooking six nights a week, our grocery bill was at an all time low and what wee weight I had fled for the hills, and I became more underweight than I had been in years.
