Rice

Cooking Without Photos – Mexicali Rice

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Our next stop is in Perryville, Arkansas. Home of the Mustangs. Where folks bleed maroon and gray. And if you’re around in October, the whole town explodes with goats dressed as people and people dressed as goats for the Arkansas Goat Festival. It’s really a site to see.

Perryville began to see a larger population of settlers around 1830, but the first settlers arrived in 1808. In December of 1840, Perry County was named the 44th county of Arkansas and was named in honor of Commodore Oliver H. Perry of the US Navy.

One of the most interesting facts about Perryville, is that the courthouse has burned FIVE TIMES. For this reason, records only go back to 1881. The last time the courthouse was built, it was made from locally fired bricks. The courthouse still stands today and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

It wasn’t until 1901 that the first bridge was built to cross the Fourche River. In 1939 the bridge was replaced and over 3,000 people came to the dedication.

Today, Perryville still doesn’t have a stop light and folks like it that way. The sidewalks roll up at dark unless there’s a ballgame happening. Everybody still knows everybody and if you’re from out of town, get ready to be asked who you’re kin to❤️

I’m ending the year with a brand new cookbook. ”Favorite Recipes From Perryville, Arkansas: Compiled By The Perryville Rotary Club” is hot off the presses and packed full of awesome recipes.

Mexicali Rice is something my own Mama used to make when I was growing up. I thought I’d share it in the cookbook so others could love it as much as I do.

Couple of things:

  1. My mom didn’t add beans to hers. She used 2lbs of hamburger instead.
  2. She also put a tiny can of tomato sauce in with the meat. I like it without it.
  3. Add salt. I forgot to put that in the recipe. Oops.

Hope y’all enjoy!

Cooking Without Photos – Glorified Chicken With Mushrooms

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Totally forgot about this one! Remember a couple of weeks ago when I talked about putting too much cayenne pepper in the zucchini with garbanzo beans? Then I said I figured out how to fix it by using part of this recipe. Let’s get into it!

Picture it. The early 90’s. You’re watching tv and a commercial comes on for “Chicken Tonight”. Then, before you know it, you start singing the jingle and flapping your arms up and down like a chicken. I can still hear it now, 🎶🎵I feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight. CHICKEN TONIGHT!!!🎵🎶

My mom used to make this for us and of course they stopped making it. Annoying! I’ve thought about this recipe on and off FOREVER!!! I remembered that the chicken was browned before the liquid was added and that my fave was mushroom flavored…I know you’re shocked.

Anyway, fast forward to a few weeks ago. I was flipping thru the previously shared cookbook, “What Would Zoo Like For Dinner” and came across Glorified Chicken With Mushrooms. JACKPOT!!! This was it! This was the dish straight from my childhood.

Couple Things:

  1. I used real mushrooms because we like them better.
  2. I used a big can of cream of chicken. It just made sense.
  3. Even when you pour the liquid over your chicken to serve, you will have a lot left over.
  4. This is where the zucchini and garbanzo bean recipe comes in.

I took the leftover zucchini dish and chopped it all up. Then, I took the left over chicken and deboned that. Next, I added all of that back into the liquid that was leftover from the chicken. Finally, I added a carton of chicken stock and it made the most delicious soup! Laws!!! It was delicious!

Y’all need to try it allllll!

Cooking Without Photos – Texas Beef Skillet

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We travel west to Woodward, Oklahoma. Woodward is the county seat of Woodward County which was originally named N County back in the day.

In September of 1893, thousands of folks came by horse, mule, wagon, bicycle and by foot to claim land lots. It was during this time that Oklahoma was being built from the ground up…literally.

With not many trees around, pioneers made their first homes out of prairie sod. Lumber soon began arriving via the railroad and proper houses were built on the ever changing prairie.

Soon, the town of Woodward grew and businesses of all kinds opened and flourished.

While reading this cookbook, I couldn’t help but laugh at all of the “Texas” recipes. It’s probably because of the close proximity to Texas, but it made me think of all of my cousins that wear Texas Longhorn gear. It’s the best😍😍. This one goes out to all you Okies in orange and white!

This week I chose to make Texas Beef Skillet from the cookbook, “Country Cookbook: Church Of The Nazarene, Woodward Oklahoma”. Couple things:

  1. It didn’t say what kind of tomatoes to use so I chose Fire Roasted. Also, they’re jipping us an ounce these days.
  2. I added more chilies because of the above fact. What was I going to do with like half a can of chilies anyway?
  3. I assumed by “American cheese shredded” that it meant something like Velveeta. I don’t really care for Velveeta much. I’ll use regular shredded cheddar next time. I don’t see how it would hurt.
  4. You’re gonna need more spices than what it says. I do believe this is just to get you started on your journey. I’d also add pepper.
  5. I also didn’t crush up the corn chips. I think it’s prettier with whole chips. I even think you could use those Scoop chips. I plan on doing that next time.
  6. I served this with chips and dip because why not. And I also topped it with avocado and sour cream.

7. This would also be an easy meal to prepare while camping! ❤️

Delightful! You should for sure try it out on your bunch!

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Cooking Without Photos – Chicken Rice Casserole

🎵🎶Ooooooooooooklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain🎶🎵 Yep. This week we travel to Ottawa County Oklahoma. Home of Miami, but NOT Florida! Pronounced “Miam-ah”. And also home to Picher. Never heard of it? Lemme tell you a little story, friends.

Picher, Oklahoma once belonged to the Seneca-Cayuga Indian tribes. Lead and Zinc were discovered in 1913 and much of their land was bought or stolen by mining companies.

Once mining started, it expanded quickly and covered a huge area. It’s been said that the Tri State Mining district was so overly mined, a person could drive a car from Picher, Oklahoma to Joplin, MO all while being underground in the mines. That’s roughly 25 miles.

Back then, mining companies were not under many regulations. They mined and took what they wanted and put the rest in a big pile on top of the ground. ”Chat” was what was left and they made huge piles of it all over Picher. HUGE! Folks didn’t really know what to do with it. They tried to make uses out of it, but there was just too much of it. Kids played on it. It was in everyone’s back yard. Folks would come and visit just to climb a pile of it (me included). In the end, it sat around for almost 100 years, slowly poisoning everyone. Yes.

In 1994 the Centers For Disease Control began testing the people of Picher and it was discovered they all had lead in their bloodstream. 35% of all of the children what were tested had more than 10 micrograms per deciliter, which is considered to be a health concern. Among other health problems, it causes developmental delays.

Huge long story short, after many tries and fails, the government declared Picher, Oklahoma uninhabitable. The residents had to move. The whole town was closed down. And in the end, it will eventually all cave in because of the extensive undermining and become a massive sink hole.

Fun fact: there have already been multiple sink holes that have opened up and swallowed buildings in places as far away as Galena, KS. (Part of Tri State Mining District). If you’d like to have more information about this topic, Tar Creek Documentary is available on Amazon Prime for a small fee. Very interesting indeed.

Now back to cooking. I chose to use a recipe out of the cookbook, “Ottawa County Bi-Centennial Cook Book: Compiled by Extension Homemakers Of Ottawa County Oklahoma 1975”.

My own Mama made something similar to this recipe my whole life. I did do a couple of things different. I used minute rice, cooked it at 350° for 1h and 15 minutes, added 1/2 cup more milk and I put the rice mixture on the bottom so the skin would be crispy. Oh! And I added salt and pepper to the top. It didn’t say anything about doing that for some reason. AND I added mushrooms because we are mushroom people🤷🏻‍♀️ Enjoy!!!