Author: Cathy Horst

How to Make Great Tasting Stuffed Eggs

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Have you ever noticed how popular stuffed eggs are at picnics? It seems they are often all eaten. They are a wonderful way to eat eggs.

For the best tasting stuffed eggs you need to begin with eggs that have been raised right; eggs that taste wonderful because of the wonderful grass and nutritious feed the hens ate. Of course, fresh eggs are the best. But you may have noticed that fresh eggs don’t typically peel well. There is an easy remedy for this. If the eggs are less than 2 weeks old, bring the water in your kettle to a boil before you put the eggs into the kettle. When the water is boiling, add the eggs with a slotted spoon into the cooking pot and bring the water to a boil again. Then immediately turn the burner down as low as possible and cook the eggs for 10 minutes. As soon as your 10 minute timer goes off, let the coldest tap water run into the kettle until the eggs are cooled. If you don’t want the water to run that long, run the water for a little and then add ice to cool down the eggs quickly. This also helps to avoid making the eggs in which the outside of the yolks turn gray. There is nothing wrong with an egg like that, but it doesn’t look as appetizing.

When the eggs are cooled, peel them and cut each egg in half lengthwise. Carefully pop the yolks into a pie plate or other flat dish. Use a potato masher or fork to mash the yolks.

Now for the great taste I’m going to give some general instructions rather than exact measurements. It is the cook’s prerogative to taste the food to make sure it is just how you want it.

Add some mayonnaise and a little mustard; enough to make the mashed yolks creamy instead of dry. Add a little onion powder or maybe a little minced onion. Sprinkle on a little salt if it needs it. Stuffed eggs are also wonderful with a little dill weed in the yolks or some curry powder. Be creative and add whatever spices you think you’d like. Just remember that you can always add more, but you can’t take out spices so start with a little.

I like plenty of yolk mixture in my stuffed eggs so I always get rid of a few misshapen egg whites. Fill the egg whites with the yolk mixture so that it is mounded a little over the egg white shell and so that you can’t tell which end of the egg white the yolk was. When the eggs are all stuffed, you can sprinkle some dill or paprika or some other spice on top of the eggs if you so desire.

Happy Egging!

Pulled Chicken

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This recipe is a form of BBQ chicken, but has a unique flavor because of the orange juice and lots of cayenne pepper sauce. Yes, 1/3 cup is the right amount of hot sauce. Cayenne pepper sauce is a milder variety of hot sauce that adds tang and flavor, not just heat. If your chicken is large, just double the amount of sauce you prepare. This recipe is delicious served with mashed potatoes.

2 tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds), cut into quarters
1/3 cup cayenne pepper sauce*
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

In a 5-quart Dutch oven or sauce pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and green pepper and cook until tender and browned, about 20 minutes. When vegetables are tender, add chicken quarters, cayenne pepper sauce, orange juice, brown sugar, ketchup, and vinegar. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 hour or until chicken is very tender.

With a slotted spoon, transfer chicken to large plate, cool slightly. Skim fat from sauce in Dutch oven. Remove meat from bones; discard bones and skin. With two forks, pull meat into large shreds. Return meat to Dutch oven. Cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat until heated through.

From Good Housekeeping Best Chicken Dishes.

Sunday Fried Chicken

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This chicken recipe is a little more involved, but always worth it. There’s always extra coating left after I’ve coated the chicken pieces. I put the extra coating in a ziploc bag in the freezer and label it. Then I use it for a coating for any meat I want to fry.

2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons garlic salt
1 tablespoon celery salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon pepper (optional)
Chicken pieces from Jehovah-Jireh Farm
Cooking oil (I recommend coconut oil)

Combine all ingredients except chicken and oil. Place about 1 cup flour mixture in a paper or plastic  bag. Shake a few chicken pieces in the bag at a time, coating well. On medium-high, heat 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet. Brown chicken on all sides; remove to a shallow baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until done. Recipe makes enough coating for three chickens. Store unused mixture in an airtight container.

Cathy’s Cooking Corner: Saucy Apricot Chicken

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This recipe doesn’t keep you in the kitchen very long, but it is simply delicious.

8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
2 to 3 tablespoons butter
1 cup apricot jam
1 cup Catalina or French salad dressing
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon salt

In a large skillet, brown chicken in butter over medium heat for 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Combine the apricot jam, salad dressing, minced onion and salt; pour over the chicken. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until juices run clear. Delicious served over rice. Yield 8 servings.

Cathy’s Cooking Corner: The Well Equipped Kitchen Workshop

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I, Myron, am writing Cathy’s Cooking Corner this month for the husband or wife that is not doing the cooking, or that does not do most of the cooking.

You have kicked the cheap food and prepared foods mentality of our American culture and are eating real foods. In the cheap food culture, all that is needed is a coffeemaker, a microwave, a stove and oven and a few pots and pans. The kitchen is not a very important workshop. Most of the cooking is done in a big factory somewhere.

In changing to a real foods diet, your kitchen needs to be properly equipped to quickly and efficiently prepare real foods and health giving meals. View the kitchen as a very important workshop that needs to be properly equipped with quality tools and equipment. The tools and equipment do not need to be expensive, just good quality.

I have tried to make it a priority to make sure that Cathy’s kitchen is properly equipped with the tools that she needs. We keep adding things as we can afford them and when we can find them. Unfortunately, most kitchen stores such as Bed, Bath, and Beyond are filled with electronic gadgets and cheaply made small appliances that are not designed for real cooking with real foods. You can find quality made items, but it takes some looking around.

The take home message this month is: If you want to be healthy and eat right, equip your kitchen workshop so that you can eat right and be healthy.


After burning up several expensive homeowner type mixers, we bought this used 20 quart commercial mixer at an auction. It takes a lot of work out of making bread or large batches of cookies. Cathy can now make seven loaves of bread at a time. She puts some of the bread in the freezer to keep it fresh.

For more on this subject, read the article from last year: Selecting Pots and Pans.

Cathy’s Cooking Corner

Fried Turkey Cutlets 

This is by far Myron’s favorite way to eat turkey. It’s delicious, moist, tender, and so quick and easy. It is sure to get compliments from your guests.Cut turkey breast meat into 1/4 inch slices across the meat fibers. Dip in flour and sprinkle both sides of cutlets with salt. Fry in oil or butter just until no longer pink. Do not over fry it or it will get more dried out and tough.

Fajita Chicken and Vegetables on Rice

1 1/2 – 2 lbs. chicken breast
1 large onion, sliced
3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1 lb whole green beans (can be frozen)
Rice, cooked
Oil for frying

Sauce:
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. vinegar
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt

Cut chicken breast into into strips or bite size pieces. Stir the fajita sauce ingredients together and pour over the chicken. Stir to coat. Let set 1 hour and up to 24 hours. Fry the chicken pieces in a small amount of oil. Spoon into a large oven proof bowl. Set in a 200 degree oven to keep warm. Stir fry the carrots and onions in a little oil till crisp tender. Add to chicken. Stir fry the green beans in the remaining fajita sauce until crisp tender. Add to the chicken and veggies. Mix everything together. Serve over rice. (Note: You can also use leftover roasted chicken that you have taken off the bones.)

Have a blessed Christmas and Holiday Season!
Myron and Cathy Horst and Family

Jehovah-Jireh Farm
https://www.jehovahjirehfarm.com/

Cathy’s Cooking Corner

Cathy recently wrote a blog post for the Pantry Paratus website that you might find interesting on homeschooling on the farm.

The Kitchen Classroom with Cathy from Jehovah-Jireh Farm
http://pantryparatus.com/blog/homeschooling_farm/

Sunny Side Up Eggs

When I fry eggs I usually fry them on one side and then flip them over and fry the other side. This method is usually recommended so that the eggs are completely cooked. Restaurants are not allowed to sell sunny side up eggs because of the chance that they will not be cooked enough to kill bacteria.

Myron wanted some sunny side up eggs like he had when he was a boy, but I always hesitated at the problem of getting them over fried on the underside and not done enough on top. Recently I remembered seeing my mother put a little water in the pan with the eggs and then putting on the lid. I decided to try it. It did the trick. The eggs weren’t overdone but still cooked through the way he likes them. After 25 years of marriage and cooking, I am still learning some pretty basic new things.

Crack the eggs into your skillet. Fry them on the underside with a little butter. When the eggs are ready to be flipped, instead pour several tablespoons of water into the pan and cover it immediately. Cook them till they’re done as much as you like them.

Cathy’s Cooking Corner

Brunch Casserole

3 cups bread cubes
3 cups cheddar cheese
3 cups meat of your choice
6 eggs, beaten
3 cups milk
1 Tbsp mustard
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt

Layer bread cubes, meat and cheese in a 9 X 13 pan in that order. Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour over the top of the bread, cheese and meat. Refrigerate overnight. (Or bake immediately.) Bake at 300 degrees for one hour.

Cheesy Eggs on Toast

4 eggs
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup cheese
2 Tbsp. mayonaise
1 Tbsp. onion, minced
4 pieces toast, buttered

Mix cheese, mayonaise and onion. Melt butter in skillet. Add the eggs. Fry on one side. Flip eggs and top with cheese mixture. Cover skillet with lid. Cook eggs to desired doneness. Serve eggs on buttered toast.

Cathy’s Cooking Corner

In our family we eat lots of eggs for breakfast. Broth poached eggs are a favorite of ours.

Broth Poached Eggs

Pour chicken or beef broth into a kettle or skillet to a one inch depth. Bring to a boil. Crack each egg gently into the broth. Simmer till they are the done to your preference.


Broth poached eggs have rich flavor.

Barbeque Chicken
After selling fresh chickens in May, all the chickens that were left were on the smaller size. So we cut them into split halves. We sell them as grilling halves for $5.29/lb. We think they are fabulous grilled with the following recipe.

2 cups vinegar
2 cups water
1 stick butter
8 tsp. salt
4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Bring to a boil. Marinate the chicken in this sauce for one hour before grilling. Brown both sides of the chicken well on the grill. I recommend grilling each side twice. Put into a hot crockpot on high for two to three hours, until the meat is very soft. You can also bake the chicken in the oven in a tightly closed casserole dish at 300 degrees for one to two hours instead of in the crockpot.

Have a wonderful Spring!

Myron and Cathy Horst and Family

Jehovah-Jireh Farm
https://www.jehovahjirehfarm.com/

Cathy’s Cooking Corner

This month I’m going to give you a recipe that I believe I’ve put in the newsletter before. I decided, however, that I wanted to put it in again for those of you who didn’t receive it the last time and for those of you who might like to add it to your recipes. It is probably the all around favorite way of baking chicken in our family. This recipe is super fast and easy to prepare. Butter chicken stars with pasture raised chickens because the butter enhances the superior flavor of the chicken so well.

Butter Chicken

1 chicken, whole or cut into halves or pieces
1/4 c. butter, melted
salt

For a whole chicken, brush the chicken with the butter. Sprinkle the whole chicken with the desired amount of salt. Set into a roaster and cover. Bake at 350 degrees 1 1/2 to 3 hours or till the chicken is tender. (The time will vary quite a bit between a 3 pound chicken and a five pound chicken.) You can add vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, onions, squash or sweet potatoes around the chicken and bake them with the chicken for a complete meal.

For chicken halves or pieces, sprinkle the underside of the chicken pieces with salt. Place them in a baking pan. Pour the butter over the chicken pieces and sprinkle the tops with salt. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for1 to 1 1/2 hours or till fully baked and tender. For an optional idea that we positively love, slice the desired amount of potatoes and place them in the bottom of the baking pan. Top the potatoes with onion slices and then with a little thyme. Place the chicken pieces on top and bake. Absolutely delicious!