Its Supper Time !!

I was just going through one of Bill's cookbooks, You know, looking for something really good to eat. Whats better than beef? not much. Anyway here is one of his best dishes. He loved a good Chicken Fried Steak, Texas Style. He was always on the look out for the best. And he always said, had a CFS for lunch but wasn't as good as mine. So here is Bill's recipe.

Texas Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy

It is hard to get much more Texan than Chicken Fried Steak. Instead of

buying cube steaks, buy 4 small round steaks and have the meat man

run them through the meat tenderizer a couple times. Round steak has

more flavor than other steaks and the process of tenderizing flattens

them so they cook uniformly.

4 Tenderized Beef Round Steaks 1 Egg

1/4 C. Milk All-purpose Flour

Melted Shortening or Lard

1/4 Tsp. Paprika (optional) Salt and Pepper to Taste

My mother taught me to tenderize steaks by dusting with flour and then pounding

the daylights out of them with the edge of a heavy plate or saucer.

Beat together the egg and milk and set aside. Mix together the salt, black

pepper, and paprika and sprinkle on both sides of beef cutlets.

Dredge the steaks in the flour, shaking off the excess. Then dip each

steak in the egg/milk mixture, then back in the flour. I put the breaded

steaks on a platter and allow them to rest a while.

Heat the shortening in a large cast-iron over medium-high heat for a few

minutes. Fat should be about a half-inch deep in the pan. Be sure it is

hot. Check by dropping a bit of the breading in the fat and listen for the

sizzle.

Place the steaks in the hot fat making sure you give them plenty room.

Fry in batches if necessary. Fry steaks on both sides, turning once, until

golden brown. I put my completed steaks on a cookie sheet and into the

oven for about 10 minutes at 300°.

Serve with mashed potatoes and lots of cream gravy.

The Moran Chile

I call this the Moran Chile, Just because Bill like them so well. I grow some each year from seed he sent me years ago, another reason why I call them Moran Chiles. Anyway, where Bill lived they grew wild. But you could always find several plants growing in his yard. This Chile is also called the Texas Bird Pepper and sometimes referred to the Chile Pequin. Here is a photo of Bill's plants. I can never get mine to grow as good as his, but I do it anyway. They are hot as heck, but "Oh" so good.

Moran Chile Plant

My Friend Bill Moran

Bill has been gone now for just over a year. I still miss him and think of him often. Kinda dumb I guess but I have saved all his emails and the photos he sent me. He and I talked about everything, we both had a lot of the same interest. I have many of his recipes saved, and do cook them. They are mighty good. I am not going to post any recipes today, but do have one of my best photos of Bill I want to post. I miss Ya Man.

Bill Moran, with one of his favorite plants.

More Fun in the Kitchen Making Homemade Goat Cheese

Lots of wintry weather here in Baltimore lately and Stella has been off from school. We have gone to the movies, played with new toys, baked cookies, but we were still bored. We were watching TV one day and saw a show where they were making homemade goat cheese and we decided we wanted to give that a try!

The process is pretty easy and it was a lot of fun and definitely something different to do on a cold snowy day. So we went to the store and bought a quart of goat's milk and brought it home and got busy. Here are the steps:

First you heat the milk slowly to a temp of 180 degrees. Once the milk is at that temp that is when you add a curdling agent of your choice. We had lemons and unfiltered organic apple cider vinegar and we used a little of both. To the heated milk we added the juice of 2 lemons and about 3 T. of the ACV. Once you add the curdling agents you should instantly see the milk separate into curds and whey. Keep the heat on during this process. At this point you should have ready a fine weave cheesecloth or an old linen dish towel lined in a large bowl. Next, gently ladle the curds and whey ladle by ladle into the linen/cheesecloth lined bowl. Once it's all in gently bring up the 4 corners of the cloth gathering all the curds in the cloth leaving the whey behind in the bowl. Hold the "ball" of curds in the cloth over the bowl and tie the top in a knot or with a tie of some sort. Then tie this to a large wooden spoon and hang the ball over the top of a large pot so that the ball of curds don't hit the bottom and can drain freely. Just leave it hanging for a couple of hours, more if you want a drier cheese. When it's time, unwrap your cheese and place it in a small bowl and add whatever fresh herbs you want. We had lemon thyme and rosemary from the garden so we finely chopped some and added it to the cheese along with some ground pepper and sea salt. The cheese will be a soft "farmer's cheese" consistency. Keep it in the fridge (it will last for about 2-3 days) and eat it as you would any other goat cheese.

I am amazed at how good our cheese turned out. You can really taste the apple cider vinegar and it adds a really nice flavor and tang to the cheese. I've been eating the cheese on little French Toastettes and can't get enough! It was fun to make and Stella loved doing it and it was a welcome and tasty departure from making cookies, cookies, cookies. I would highly recommend that you make some yourself using different herbs; experiment!!! Fun, fun, fun!

Happy New Year to Everyone! Sending the warmest wishes for health and happiness in the coming year!

Nicole

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