German Sausage Chowder

Quick post to add to your Open A Bar 2 Ranch recipes.  I think I should start a little cookbook... in my spare time.  Those who know me know that will not happen any time soon!

RECIPE: Mesquite Steak over Pasta

Who remembers the "Decluttering the Pantry" posts from the beginning of this year? If you missed it, don't worry, you didn't miss much, unless you like to see what people have in their pantries. You know some people are like that, they enjoy looking at other people's stuff. I know this for a fact because I happen to be one of those people. I love seeing other people's organizational skills and ideas. I also have a very good friend of mine who loves to see other people's stuff! I won't mention any names, but I can remember on numerous occasions when I have been with this person, she has opened closet doors in other people's house just to see what was in there! Hee, hee. Is that wrong? Please forgive her and me for being snoopy. Inquiring minds just want to know!

Anyway, the only reason I brought this whole thing up was because of something that I have had in my pantry since last summer, as in July of 2009! Here is the post to prove it.

Decluttering the Pantry, Day Three

When you look at it scroll down to the part where you see this:



There's that pasta that I bought at a Farmer's Market in Ft. Collins over a year ago! I explained in my post that these were impulse buys that I thought sounded delicious at the time but haven't figured out what to do with yet.

Well guess what? You'll be so proud of me! I finally used the Black Bean Veracruz Fettuccine! Can you believe it? Who says fresh pasta doesn't last forever! LOL I have also cooked the Four Peppercorn Linguine, used that about a month ago with a chicken dish. It was yummy, but that's not what I'm writing about. I still have to use the Sweet Potato Orzo yet, but that will be some day later. BTW Andrea, if you are reading this lil' Miss Fork Fingers Chopsticks, do you have any wise words of wisdom about Orzo??? And Andrea, have you ever tried any of Pappardelle's Pasta? It is simply divine!

Anyway...

Here's the recipe I made up.

Open A Bar 2 Ranch Mesquite Steak over Pasta

Open A Bar 2 Ranch Mesquite Steak over Pasta

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs. "Open A Bar 2 Ranch" Mesquite Marinated Round Steak (I'll talk about substitutions for the steak at the end of the recipe since I know not all of you are able to purchase some of our most delightful all-natural beef.)
• medium size onion, sliced and quartered
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• olive oil
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tablespoons butter
  
• 16 oz. Pappardelle's Black Bean Veracruz Fettuccine (although plain fettuccine will do.)
• 2 teaspoons (or more if you like) cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• Ground Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper

Directions

1. Pour two tablespoons or so of olive oil into a large dutch oven over medium/high heat.
2. When the oil is hot, brown the steak on both sides until desired doneness. I recommend medium rare. Remove steak to a cutting board and allow to rest.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the dutch oven and saute the onions and garlic in the butter until the onions begin to soften slightly.
4. Add the white wine to the pan with the onions and deglaze the brown bits left from the steak.
5. Add the mushrooms and tomatoes and let the wine reduce a bit, say 10 minutes or so.
6. Start the pasta in a separate pot while the wine is reducing.
7. After the wine has reduced add the cream, cumin, paprika, ground pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. Let this cook until thoroughly heated and then simmer to thicken a bit while the pasta is cooking.
8. If you want a thicker sauce, combine 1 teaspoon corn starch with 2 tablespoons of white wine in a small bowl and stir to dissolve. Remove the pan from the heat before adding this thickener, stir it in, then put it back on the heat.
   
9. Cut the steak into thin strips.
10. Drain the pasta.
11. To serve, place the pasta on the plate, top the pasta with several strips of steak and pour the sauce over it all.

Oh la, la! This is so good!! The picture does not do this dish justice.

Okay, now for those of you who don't have access to our delicious all-natural beef... First of all, let me say how terribly sorry I am that you aren't able to get it. For those of you who live locally and would like to try this recipe, we will have the marinated mesquite round steak for sale at the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers Markets while supplies last. Let me know if you need the dates and location for the Winter Markets.

But back to those of you who aren't able to get your hands on some of the marinated mesquite round steak... You could use almost any steak for this, say sirloin, ribeye, new york strip, tenderloin... You can pan-fry the steak as I did in the recipe or you can grill it. Also if I were making this with something other than our marinated mesquite steak, I think I would try to find some mesquite flavored rub or marinade and use that on the steak before I cooked it.

ENJOY!

Yikes, Is That What I Look Like??

I hate the way I look on television!

I made the 10 o'clock news on Saturday night. KOTA, our local television station interviewed me at the Farmers' Market. If you missed it and want to see it, here you go. Click on the link.

It's nothing special, and I look goofy!

KOTA Territory News: Farmers' Market Numbers Up

Animal Antibiotics and Your Food!!

Katie Couric did this story on the CBS Evening News last night (see the link below).

WATCH THIS CLIP!

I believe that this is a real problem with the corporate and industrialized animal farms! Especially those like Tyson, Pilgram's Pride, Foster Farms, and Cargill.

The conditions in which the animals are raised are putrid and nauseating! They, meaning the conditions, are fit neither for man nor beast. If the conditions were more sanitary and the animals were being raised the way God intended for them to be raised, they wouldn't need antibiotics.

Why are we messing our food supply up??

Why are we allowing huge corporations to take over our food supply and dictate how our food is raised?

Why can't we just have our food the way God designed it?

I'll have more to come I'm sure. Don't get me started!

Well, too late, I already am started on this rant.

Just remember, I'm not forcing you to read this blog if you disagree.

But don't go if you like the recipes, stories and pictures...

I promise I will still post them!

Time to Wake Up People, Educate Yourselves About Today's Food Sources!

Okay people, time to wake up and smell the roses, well actually I want you to smell the source of your food.

I'm going to get on my soap box and throw a few questions at you.

Do you realize how industrialized our food supply is these days?

How many of you are concerned with today's food safety?

Do any of you believe that some of today's diseases and disorders are linked to the amount of processed foods that we now consume?

How many of you are beginning to hear people talk about buying their food "locally"?

Who has heard of the movie "Food Inc."?


Here are a few links I want you to go check out so that you can be a more educated consumer when it comes to the food that you are putting on your table.

Now on PBS
Food, Inc. Interview With Director Robert Kenner

"This week, David Brancaccio talks with filmmaker Robert Kenner, the director of "Food, Inc.," which takes a hard look at the secretive and surprising journey food takes on the way from processing plants to our dinner tables. The two discuss why contemporary food processing secrets are so closely guarded, their impact on our health, and another surprising fact: how consumers are actually empowered to make a difference."


Now on PBS
What can you do To Change Our Food System

10 easy steps that you can take that will make a difference in our food system and your families health!


Now on PBS
Tainted Food: How To Combat Food Poisoning in the US

"After a brief lull a few years ago, we're seeing a sweeping increase in outbreaks of Salmonella, E. coli and other foodborne contaminates. There are many reasons for this ugly trend - businesses more focused on sales than safety, fragmented government agencies, inadequate inspection of foods, poorly educated food handlers and lack of consumer awareness, to name a few. The reality is that we now live in a global food supply and we need to come up with global solutions that leverage our scientific and technological capabilities to prevent human illness and death."


Check out the trailer for Food, Inc.




You can stream the movie directly from NetFlix or you can get the DVD from them as well. Try your local library, maybe they will have it. Watch it, you will be surprised!

Maybe you think that you can't afford to eat locally grown food. My question to you is, can you afford not to?

Maybe you think that you can't find local food where you live. My question to you is, have you tried?

Local Harvest is a great place to start your search!

I will have more to come on this subject I'm sure. Maybe you have something to share, well then leave a comment!!

First Post

Well, here I am. Now what?

I suppose I should start by introducing myself and the purpose of this blog. My name is Kathi Manville. I live in Western Nebraska on our family ranch/farm. We raise all-natural beef and farm fresh pastured poultry.

The name of our business is Open A Bar 2 Ranch, LLC and we are located between Torrington, WY and Scottsbluff, NE. My husband, Dan is a 5th generation rancher. One of our goals is to develop an all-natural beef operation using percentage Lowlines. During the summer months we raise pastured poultry. The poultry business started out as a small venture between Dan and Chris and is quickly growing into a profitable venture for us. I will elaborate further on each one of these subjects in later posts to follow.

Dan and I married in 1996 and have four boys: Nick our Airman, who serves our country in the United States Air Force and is currently stationed in Japan; Colton, who has all the brains and is attending South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Chris, who is our athlete and is attending WNCC in Alliance and is pursuing his degree in Powerline Maintenance and Construction; and Skyler, a sophomore at Morrill High School and is both smart and athletic!

I am hoping to make this blog an informative as well as an entertaining blog. I will be posting stories of my life here on the farm as well as tips, recipes, photos and whatever else strikes my fancy that I think you might enjoy as well.