Ham Stew

The ham that we had for New Years was mostly eaten. However, the lovely Mrs Willy put the bone in the freezer with scrap meat on it.

The bone came out today and became a great Ham Stew.


Ingredients.
Ham bone
Rice
Celery
carrots
corn


All of this was chopped, diced or sliced as deemed appropriate. All thrown in the pot at an appropriate time for all to cook and flavors to blend together.

It will set in fridge tonight and be great stew for tomorrow and next week.

Great on these cold days

10-4 Willy

HAMBURGER STEW

It is getting colder and there is a pot of stew on Willy's stove - thanks to Mrs. Willy.

Simple but really good - better tomorrow than it is today.
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1 lb of ground round.
1 large onion
1 6oz package of small sweet carrots
1/2 of package 12 ozof frozen corn
1 cup of beef bouillon
3 sticks of celery finely chopped
a little ketchup - about 1/2 cup
1 medium 6oz can of stewed tomatoes
a small 6 oz can of tomato suace.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Brown meat and onion - add the rest and let it simmer for an hour or so. Eat - put in fridge and it is better tomorrow.

10-4 Willy

Monster Mash Meatball Soup

In celebrating the Halloween time, Willy went out and found this recipe on the website "Beef it's Whats for Dinner!" Check it out there is great recipes there.

10-4 Willy
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Total recipe time: 30 minutes Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients

1. 1 package (16 ounces) frozen fully-cooked beef meatballs
2. 1 cup frozen vegetable mixture, such as broccoli, cauliflower and carrots
3. 2 cups water
4. 1 can (14 to 14-1/2 ounces) ready-to-serve beef broth
5. 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with roasted garlic
6. 3/4 cup uncooked Halloween pasta shapes

Spooky Decorations:
1. Dairy sour cream full moon
2. Black olive bats
3. Parmesan cheese ghosts
4. creepy croutons

Instructions

1. Combine frozen vegetables, water, broth, tomatoes and pasta in large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 8 minutes or until pasta is just tender.
2. 
   To make black olive bats, thinly slice olives crosswise into rings. Cut rings in half. Place olive slices on top of sour cream full moon to form bat wings.
   
   To make Parmesan ghosts, place ghost shaped cookie cutter on baking sheet. Place shredded Parmesan cheese inside cookie cutter, pressing down slightly with fingers to form shape. Carefully remove cookie cutter and repeat to make desired amount of ghosts. Bake in 350°F oven for 3 minutes. Remove from oven, cool slightly. Remove ghosts with spatula to wire rack; cool completely. Serve with soup.
   
   To make creepy croutons, cut sliced white bread into Halloween shapes with cookie cutters. Place shapes on baking sheet; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake shapes in 350°F oven about 10 minutes or until bread is toasted and cheese begins to brown.">Meanwhile microwave meatballs according to package directions. Add meatballs to soup; simmer 3 minutes or until meatballs are heated through. Garnish with spooky decorations, as desired (see Cook’s Notes).

Nutritional Information Per Serving

Nutrition information per serving: 483 calories; 17 g protein; 36 g carbohydrate; 30 g fat; 1776 mg sodium; 40 mg cholesterol; 8.3 mg niacin; 0.2 mg vitamin B6; 1.7 mcg vitamin B12; 2.2 mg iron; 4.2 mg zinc.

Tip: This recipe is an excellent source of protein, niacin, vitamin B12 and zinc and a good source of vitamin B6 and iron.

Cook's Notes

To make dairy sour cream full moon, spoon small amount of sour cream on top of soup forming full moon shape.

To make black olive bats, thinly slice olives crosswise into rings. Cut rings in half. Place olive slices on top of sour cream full moon to form bat wings.

To make Parmesan ghosts, place ghost shaped cookie cutter on baking sheet. Place shredded Parmesan cheese inside cookie cutter, pressing down slightly with fingers to form shape. Carefully remove cookie cutter and repeat to make desired amount of ghosts. Bake in 350°F oven for 3 minutes. Remove from oven, cool slightly. Remove ghosts with spatula to wire rack; cool completely. Serve with soup.

To make creepy croutons, cut sliced white bread into Halloween shapes with cookie cutters. Place shapes on baking sheet; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake shapes in 350°F oven about 10 minutes or until bread is toasted and cheese begins to brown.

Willy explores New England Clam Chowder

Cooking all across America is different! Willy explored the east coast this week and found the following very interesting:

Almost every restaurant along the east coast had "New England's Best Clam Chowder"

Willy tried at least two bowls and found it to be very good. But Willy believes that neither of them were probably New England's best.

So Willy thinks he will try a little Clam Chowder at home: It will probably be declared the best Clam Chowder in Arkansas on that day.

Here is a great recipe from the Cliff House in Maine

Ingredients:

* 1 slice hickory-smoked bacon, minced
* 1/2 teaspoon butter
* 1 cup onion, minced
* 1 medium garlic clove, minced
* 1 teaspoon The Cliff House Spice Blend (see below)
* 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
* 1 can clams (6-1/2 ounces)
* 1 cup bottled clam juice
* 1-1/2 cups Half and Half
* 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
* 2 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled and diced

Preparation:
To Create The Cliff House Spice Blend, blend 4 tsps oregano, 4 tsps dried parsley, 2 tsps marjoram, 2 tsps dill, 4 tsps thyme, 4 tsps basil, 1 tsp sage, 4 tsps rosemary, 2 tsps tarragon, 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, crushing in a mortar if possible. Store in a resealable plastic bag to refrigerate.

In a heavy-bottomed, 4-pint soup kettle, sauté bacon, butter, onion, garlic and The Cliff House Spice Blend over low heat. Do not allow to brown. Drain clams and set aside, reserving the juice. Slowly stir the flour and clam juices in the sauté mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Add Half and Half and simmer 20 minutes. Add white pepper, potatoes and clams. Heat to serving temperature. Do not allow to boil, as this toughens the clams. Serve at once with crackers and warm cornbread.

Hillbilly Chili - Always good!

Cajun Squirrel Stew

Willy done decided that this great Cajun Squirrel Stew Recipe bears repeating. Willy thinks this is great stew.

The Stew might be a little spicy for some of you non-redneck squirrel hunters, but if it is you can just wait around and Willy will tell you how to cook Squirrel Brains - a Delicacy in the Hills of Arkansas

Cajun Squirrel Stew

Ingredients

Squirrels - cut into serving pieces, amount depends on how many you can eat

olive oil

1 large onion

1 large green bell pepper

2 cloves garlic~

Cajun spice (Tony Chachere's recommended)

2 tbsp Tabasco sauce

4 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp Gumbo File seasoning

cooked rice

Instructions

In a deep pot or dutch oven, heat some olive oil.

Season the squirrel on all sides with the Cajun seasoning.

Add to the hot oil and turn to brown on all sides. Continue to cook until done.

Place the onion, bell pepper and garlic in a blender. Cover with water and chop. Add to the pot when squirrel is done.

Sprinkle the added vegetables with Cajun seasoning.

Add the Tabasco sauce, ketchup and the Gumbo File.

Stir to mix well.

Serve over the cooked rice.

Enjoy.

10-4 Willy