Since we are getting okra heavily, at least picking it every other day, and our mustards are just fixing to really be producing too, I figured we’d share with you a couple recipes, one for okra, and one for greens.

First off though, let me show you a couple pictures of what we picked today…

This first picture is of the okra, and this will do us another 15-20 pints pickled.

The second is of our mustard greens, and this will give us 4-5 good messes. This was the first real picking of these we’ve had. We picked two of the three rows, so there’s at least another 1/3 again of what’s in the floor. Those we’ll finish picking tomorrow.

Anyway, our first recipe today is one we’ll be cooking tomorrow. I can’t wait to try this, and afterwards, I’ll let you guys know how it turns out. I believe this will be pretty good. I KNOW I’ll like it, but I’m not so sure ole Deb will?? I think this is simply a case of…more for me!

Our first two recipes come from Epicurious. The last comes from once again from the cookbook, “The Best Kept Secrets of the South’s Best Cooks.” It comes from the editors of Southern Living.

Well, that’s enough gabbing for now, huh? Let’s fire off the cook stove here in Miz Judi’s Kitchen…

Spinach, Mustard Green, and Potato Soup:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 3 pounds potatoes, peeled, and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 8 cups (or more) of water…you can substitute chicken broth
• ½ teaspoon dried, crushed red pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bunch mustard greens (about 12 oz.), stems trimmed, coarsely chopped
• 1 (10 oz.) package fresh spinach, stems trimmed

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until tender and golden, about 8 minutes. Add potatoes; sauté 3 minutes. Add 8 cups water (or broth) and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in another heavy pot over medium heat. Add garlic; sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add mustard greens and all but 1 cup of spinach leaves; sauté until wilted, about 3 minutes.

Add sautéed greens to potato mixture. Working in batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth. (Can be prepared one day ahead. Cool. Cover and refrigerate. Return soup to pot. Bring to simmer, thinning with more water, if desired. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Cut remaining 1 cup of spinach leaves into 1/3 inch wide slices. Ladle soup into bowls. Add dollop of sour cream to each bowl. Garnish soup with spinach leaves and serve.

Okra and Corn Bake:

• 2 cups sliced fresh or frozen okra
• 3 to 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 can (11 to 15 ounces) whole kernel corn, or about 1-1/2 cups cooked corn kernels
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 8 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs

Stir-fry okra in 2 tablespoons butter for 10 minutes. Place in baking dish alternating layers with drained corn.

Make a white sauce by melting remaining butter in a saucepan over low heat and blending in flour. Milk should be added all at once, cooking quickly and stirring constantly. Cheese is stirred in until blended. Pour this mixture over vegetables.

Melt remaining 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter and toss with bread crumbs. Sprinkle buttered crumbs over casserole. Bake at 350° for approximately 45 minutes, until the casserole is heated through and the crumbs are brown.

Molasses Pork Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce:

Well, since we might be catchin a few pigs here directly in our new hog trap, and we’ll feed some out, why not give a dern pork recipe today too? I just believe we will!!

• 1-1/4 cups molasses
• 1 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons minced, fresh ginger
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 3 (3/4 pound) pork tenderloins
• **Red Wine sauce

Combine molasses, soy sauce, lemon juice, oil, ginger, and garlic in a shallow dish or zip-lock freezer bag; add tenderloins. Cover or seal, and chill for 8 hours.

Remove tenderloins from marinade. Grill tenderloins, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, 20 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest portion registers 160 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with Red Wine sauce.

** Red Wine Sauce:

• ½ small sweet onion, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup dry red wine
• 1 (14 oz.) can beef broth
• ¼ cup water
• 2 tablespoons corn starch

Saute onion in butter in small saucepan over medium-high heat 3 minutes. Add wine; cook 3 minutes. Add beef broth; bring to a boil, and cook 5 minutes.

Stir together ¼ cup water and cornstarch; add to broth mixture and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat, and serve over tenderloin.

So, I don’t know about the rest of you, but this time of the year means we’ll start eating more soups. Deb and I both enjoy most types of soups, stews and chili, and one of the best attributes of a good ole pot of soup is simply…the more you re-heat it, the better flavored they are!

Add to the mix a big ole slice of cornbread, or maybe a “cathead biscuit” or two, and well…it don’t get much better than that, wouldn’t you agree? Throw in a small garden salad to boot, and you won’t get much conversation at all from me while at the dinner table. Basically, you talk…I’ll eat!

We do like a small salad with our soup, but many soups have all you need already in the pot. This in itself means convenience to a working family. One pot, one small mess to cleanup, one time cooking besides just rewarming and shoot, you can do that in the microwave.

You could put them on to cook in a crock pot, and by the time you get home, there she is…a meal waiting to be et! Then, if you’d like, put the leftovers in a zip lock bag, or food saver bag, and freeze for a later time!

Before we get started with our recipes, we got a good joke from Bill and Sandy.
Yes, they’re the same two that had me eatin crow after the Florida-Bama game…anyway, here’s the joke!

Two good ol’ boys in a Tennessee trailer park were sitting around talking one afternoon over a cold beer after getting off of work at the local Nissan plant. After a while the 1st guy says to the 2nd, “If’n I was to sneak over to your trailer Saturday & make love to your wife while you was off huntin’ and she got pregnant and had a baby, would that make us kin?”

The 2nd guy crooked his head sideways for a minute, scratched his head, and squinted his eyes thinking real hard about the question. Finally, he says, “Well, I don’t know about kin, but it would make us even!”

The recipes today come from, “At My Grandmother’s Knee,” by Faye Porter, and published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee.

The book is well received by both Deb and I, and has little individual stories from the contributing families. To us, we feel it is a good read, with numerous, good recipes between the covers…

Stuffed Potato Soup:

• 4 cups water, divided
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes
• ¼ chopped onion
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cans (10.75 ounces each) cream of chicken soup
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon onion salt
• 6 cups cubed potatoes
• 1 pound Velveeta cheese, cubed
• Sliced green onion tops (optional, though not to me…the onion tops go in it! Dub)
• Crumbled bacon (optional…ditto, same as the green onion tops…put em in it! Dub)

In a large pot or Dutch oven, combine 1 cup of water, the bouillon cubes, and the onion and simmer for 30 minutes.

In a large saucepan combine the 3 remaining cups of water, the milk, the cream of chicken soup, garlic powder, and onion salt. Cook over low heat until the soup is creamy and any lumps have been stirred out.

Pour the soup mixture into the Dutch oven with the bouillon and onion mixture. Add the potatoes and cook over medium heat. When the potatoes are almost done, add the cheese. Remove from the heat so the cheese doesn’t stick. Once the cheese has substantially melted, return the pot to low heat and simmer until you are ready to serve. Top with sliced green onions tops or bacon, if desired.

Jenny Lewis…Nashville, Tennessee

Soup Beans and Skillet Cornbread:

The Soup…

• 1 one pound package of dried pinto beans
• 1 ham hock
• 5-1/2 cups of water
• 4 slices hickory-smoked bacon
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt, divided

Soak the beans overnight in water and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Drain the beans and rinse with cold water.

Place the beans and ham hock in a large pot and cover with 5-1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, stir, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Cook for about 2 hours, stirring frequently. Make sure the beans stay covered with water. Add the remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt and pepper to season as you cook.

Fry the bacon until done and save the drippings. Crumble the bacon and add to the soup mixture, along with the drippings. Cook an additional 60 minutes over low heat, stirring frequently.

The Cornbread:

• 6 slices thick bacon (save the grease)
• 2 cups self-rising cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ½ cup of water

Preheat your oven to 450. Fry the bacon in a cast iron skillet. Keep the grease warm in the skillet after frying the bacon. Set the bacon aside for another use. Place the cornmeal, flour, eggs, buttermilk, water, and half of the bacon grease in a large bowl and stir until the mixture is the consistency of cake batter. Add more water, if needed. You want just enough grease left in the skillet to coat the bottom and the sides; if you have too much pour the extra out.

Pour the batter into the skillet. Place the skillet into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, checking often. Remove from the oven and slice immediately.

When ready to eat, ladle the soup into individual bowls. Crumble a slice of hot cornbread into each bowl, mix, and serve.

Michelle Fleming…Nashville, Tennessee

Chicken Soup With Homemade Noodles:

The Noodles…

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 large egg, beaten

To make the noodles, mix the flour and salt in a small bowl, making a well in the center. Add the water and egg. Using your fingers, form the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it sit for 60 minutes.

**To finish the noodles, go to the very bottom of the soup recipe…

The Soup…

• 1 chicken (3 pounds), cut-up
• ½ cup chopped onion, divided
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup celery
• 2 large carrots, thinly sliced

To make the soup, rinse the raw chicken well. In a large pot or Dutch oven, combine the chicken with ¼ cup of the onions, the bouillon cubes, bay leaf, pepper, and enough hot water to cover. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is tender.

Remove the chicken and chop in into bite-size pieces, discarding the skin and bones. Skim any grease off the top of the broth and add enough water to measure 7 to 8 cups. Add the chicken pieces, celery, carrots, and remaining ¼ cup of onion. Bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until the carrots are crisp-tender. Remove the bay leaf.

**Now finish your noodles. Roll out the dough as thin as possible on a floured work surface. Fold it loosely into thirds and then cut it into ½ inch slices. Unfold the dough and cut on the former fold lines. Drop the dough into the simmering soup. Simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes or, until the noodles are tender.

Debby White…White House, Tennessee