Hearty Gnocchi and Sausage

With school back in session and busy days ahead, I love simple one-pan meals. I picture a hungry crew coming in and setting down to shovel in bits of this easy dish. It's cowboy approved!

Sausage Gnocchi

Ingredients:

1 pound ground pork sausage

1 package gnocchi

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Directions:

In a large cast iron skillet (10-inch was the size I used), brown crumbled sausage until cooked through and no longer pink. While it is frying, set a pot of water on to boil.

Using paper towels, absorb the grease. While the paper towels are doing their thing, add gnocchi to boiling water and cook to package directions (should take about 3-4 minutes). Drain gnocchi and add to skillet. Stir in soup and Parmesan cheese. It will only take a minute or so for the soup to get hot. Top with a sprinkle of cheese and a garnish of sage or parsley, and enjoy!

NOTE: You can also cook the gnocchi in the skillet with the sausage, it just doesn’t get quite as soft or plump.

USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield is a farm girl who loves to write character-driven romances with relatable heroes and heroines. Her sweet historical and contemporary romances are filled with sarcasm, humor, hope, and hunky heroes.

When Shanna isn’t dreaming up unforgettable characters, twisting plots, or covertly seeking dark, decadent chocolate, she hangs out with her beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller.

Shanna is a member of Western Writers of America and Women Writing the West.

Visit her website for more information about her books: https://shannahatfield.com/

Apple Pie Bites

 

It's almost apple season here in our little corner of the world. The big apple boxes are out in the orchard across the road, and I see the red globes hanging from the tree branches when I walk out to get the mail. 

Now that the smoke from summer wildfires is almost gone, we'll soon smell the unique spicy scent of apples on the morning breeze. 

September seems like a perfect time to make recipes featuring apples. 

If you like apple pie, these little Apple Pie Bites are a welcome treat!

Apple Pie Bites

Crust
1/2 cup butter
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 cup flour

Filling
3 large Granny Smith apples
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar

Topping
1/3 cup butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup quick oats
dash of salt

Caramel Sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crust: Soften butter and cream cheese. Combine until smooth then add in flour. Continue mixing until it forms a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and set in fridge for an hour or overnight (you can also stick it in the freezer for about 30 minutes if you are pressed for time but it works better in the fridge).

Topping: Soften butter then mix with cinnamon, dash of salt, flour and oats. Stir until crumbly. Set aside.

Filling: Peel, core and slice apples into small pieces. In a heavy saucepan, stir apples with cinnamon, sugar and flour and well coated. Cook over medium heat until apples soften and the filling looks a little like caramel. As it thickens, you’ll need to stir it more frequently. The reason for precooking the apples is because the crust cooks really fast and if you put the apples into the cups uncooked, they’ll still be crunchy when the crust is long past done.

To assemble, coat mini muffin-cups with non-stick cooking spray. Remove crust from fridge and form into balls about the size of a small walnut. Use a tart tamper (coated in flour) to push the crust into the bottom and up the sides of each cup. Fill each cup with about a teaspoon of the apple filling then top with the crumb topping, pressing it down gently.

Bake for about 12 minutes until the tops are brown and juice is bubbling. Remove and serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to use. You can also freeze these.

I served mine warm with a little caramel sauce over the top. You could also add a dollop of whipping cream or a scoop of ice cream (like dulce de leche).

USA Today bestselling author Shanna Hatfield is a farm girl who loves to write. Her sweet historical and contemporary romances are filled with heart, humor, hope, and hunky heroes. When Shanna isn’t dreaming up unforgettable characters, twisting plots, or covertly seeking dark, decadent chocolate, she hangs out with her beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller. Shanna loves to hear from readers. Follow her online at:

ShannaHatfield | Facebook | Newsletter | BookBub | Pinterest | Goodreads | You Tube | Twitter

What’s cooking?

If you’ve read any of the Ridge Ranch, you know they like their food. From Liv’s wonderful muffins she serves in her cafe to Heather’s creations for the ranch hands, you can’t get through a day on the ranch without the proper cuisine. 

I’m a true believer that anything you cook at home, can be cooked over a campfire. Imagine after a long day of moving cattle, you stop, set up camp and enjoy a bowl of white bean chili and some cornbread around the campfire. It doesn’t get much better than that. 

While this calls for a crockpot, I highly recommend a cast iron dutch oven and some open flames. Enjoy

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-1/4-inch pieces

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 teaspoons dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained, divided

• 2-1/2 cups chicken broth, divided

• 1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

• Optional toppings: Sliced avocado, quartered cherry tomatoes and chopped cilantro

Directions

• Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat; saute chicken until browned. Transfer to a 3-qt. slow cooker.

• In same skillet, heat remaining oil over medium heat; saute onion until tender. Add jalapeno, garlic, oregano and cumin; cook and stir 2 minutes. Add to slow cooker.

• In a bowl, mash 1 cup beans; stir in 1/2 cup broth. Stir bean mixture and the remaining whole beans and broth into chicken mixture.

• Cook, covered, on low until chicken is tender, 3-3-1/2 hours. Stir before serving. Sprinkle with cheese; add toppings if desired.

From Taste of Home

Cowboy Candy by Sable Hunter

 

Hello Everyone! The holidays are almost upon us. I hope you are safe, well, and happy. I also hope you get everything you want for Christmas. As for me, I’m doing well. I have two sweet little girls staying with me most of the time now, which really cuts down on the time I have to write. But that’s okay, this time with Emma and Cassie is precious to me. Would you like to see their pictures? My angels.

Anyway, as I can find the time I’m making goodies. Chocolate chip cookies, Libby’s Brownies, Hot Spice Crackers, Martha Washington candy – and a bunch of other stuff. One other thing is always necessary and that’s COWBOY CANDY. Not what you might presume, but so good and highly addictive. Considering this is a cowboy blog, I thought I’d share the recipe.

Another name for this delectable concoction is candied jalapenos. Yes, candied hot peppers. They are hell yeah! good, I promise. But fiery! So, be brave.

Here we go:

3 pounds jalapenos

2 cups apple cider vinegar

6 cups granulated sugar

½ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon celery seed

3 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper – or less if you can’t take the heat.

First, find some gloves and put them on – you’re about to be handling fire. Take 3 pounds fresh firm jalapenos – wash them, cut off and discard the stems, then slice the peppers in circles – 1/8 to ¼ inches thick. Keep as many seeds as you want, the more seeds the hotter the finished product. Now set these little jewels aside.

Next, bring the vinegar, sugar, the turmeric, celery seed, garlic, and cayenne to a boil in a large pot. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Raise the heat to a boil again and add the jalapeno slices, return to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat once more and simmer for EXACTLY 4 minutes. Now, to put them in jars… It’s best to use a slotted spoon to pick up the peppers and transfer them into clean, sterile canning jars. Leave a ¼ inch of head space at the upper rim of the jar. Turn heat back up under the pot containing the syrup and bring into a boil one last time. Boil hard for 6 minutes.

Turn off the heat then ladle the boiling syrup into the jars to cover the jalapeno slices. Insert the blade of a case or butter knife carefully into the jars on each side to get rid of any trapped pockets of air. Try to keep the level of syrup to a ¼ inch from the top. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean paper towel that has been dampened in vinegar. Then put on new two-piece canning lids and tighten to finger tight.

If you have leftover syrup, don’t throw it away, it can just it in a pint jar – it’s amazing on grilled meat or to top a salad.

Put the jars into a canner or a big stock pot, cover with water higher than the jars by 2 inches. Bring the water to a rolling boil and boil for 10 minutes for half pints and 15 minutes for pints. This is called water bath canning. Once the time is up, use canning tongs to move these very hot jars to a cooling rack. If you don’t have any canning tongs, wait until the water cools, and use a couple of dishtowels to grab onto them. Be careful the glass jars are super-hot if you don’t let them cool properly. Let them rest for 24 hours, then wipe them off with a washcloth and label them with a cute label if you have one. If you can wait, allow the cowboy candy to sit for two weeks to a month – but I usually can’t wait and have been known to indulge after a couple of days. They do improve with time, however.

If you choose to make these, I’m sure you will love them – if you like spicy things. I can eat a pile of them with a helping of peas and they are great on sandwiches or just as a snack with cheese and crackers. Personally, I can vouch that cowboys love these – I’ve made jars for quite a few of those noble, manly rascals.

Here is a photo of my favorite way to eat them. 

Those little knees on the table belong to Miss Em. Right after I took this picture, she grabbed the cheese. I managed to remove the peppers before she popped it into her mouth, but she let out a squeal of surprise at one remaining drop of sweet, hot pepper juice that remained on the cheese – but she ate it anyway. That’s my girl.

Finally, I wish you the very best Christmas. I hope Santa brings you everything you ask for.

So, goodbye until next time and be careful during the holidays.

Love, Sable Hunter.


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October is National Cookbook Month.

For me, that's a reason to celebrate. I've had a love of cookbooks since I was old enough to hang out in the kitchen with my mom. 

When I was just learning how to cook, Mom taught me from the 1965 Betty Crocker’s New Boys and Girls Cookbook. The back cover was missing and the pages were well used. I think the cookbook had been something one of my cousins passed down to my sister, but I loved that cookbook.

I couldn’t have been more than seven or eight when Mom started teaching me how to cook and we often turned to that worn cookbook for ideas. I loved looking through it. The pages were spiral-bound, which made it easy to lay open flat on the counter, or prop upright when we were mixing so it wouldn’t get splattered.

One thing that was fun about the cookbook was at the front, it introduced a group of youngsters who were “test helpers”. It was neat to see their comments and the drawings of their likenesses throughout the book. There was a section about “What Every Junior Cook Should Know” that offered cooking terms, kitchen safety, equipment information, how to measure properly, and even a guideline to good manners.

There were sections for beverages, breads and sandwiches, salads and vegetables, meats and main dishes, cookies and desserts, candies and snacks, special occasions, and holiday fun.

It was that cookbook that started my lifelong love of collecting recipes. When I married Captain Cavedweller, his Grandma Nell discovered my adoration of recipes and began adding to my collection. She was also a collector and one summer, she sent me home with four boxes loaded full of cookbooks that went all the way back to the early 1900s. A treasure trove! 

Today, though, I thought I'd highlight a few newer cookbooks. 

The Pioneer Woman (aka Ree Drummond) has such a friendly, approachable way for sharing her fantastic recipes. This was her first cookbook, but remains my favorite. She has a new one releasing in a few weeks, if you've already collected all of them. Part of what I love about her cookbooks are the photos and stories she shares. 

Natalie Bright recently released this fun chuck wagon cookbook called Keep 'Em Full and Keep 'Em Rollin'. I had the pleasure of meeting Natalie two years ago and she is every bit as delightful as her cookbook! 

And if you haven't yet purchased a copy, you can still get A Cowboy Christmas, my cookbook that has some of my favorite recipes as well as stories from ranch and rodeo families, holiday traditions, decorating tips, and more! 

Every book purchased between now and December 24 (that's any of my books, not just the cookbook!) helps benefit the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund. 

Find out more on my website here.