A Meal for ALL YOU COWBOYS OUT THERE

For the 2017 Cowboy Cookalong, organised by the fabulous Mr Greg Swenson of Recipes for Rebels

Welcome to the Real Miss Kitty’s!

(It is rumoured that Marshal Matt Dillon may have frequented somewhere similar in Dodge City but it must have been a poor imitation.)

Appearing tonight:

Miss Kitty

Arizona Zelda 

Johnny Hard (I banned this at first until he showed me it was the name of a track on one of his Woody Guthrie albums.)

Rattlesnake Simon and Calamity Mandy

The Food

Cowboy Caviar

Butter Crust Tex-Mex Tartlets

Chilli Cheese Straws & Salsa Dip

Sweet Chilli Dogs

Sal Mineo's Muffin Pizzas

Corn on the Cob

Spicy Beans

Wagontrail Wedges

The Event (A blow by blow account)

The diners assemble and Rattlesnake Simon brings an uninvited guest.

Food (and drink) is served and the evening commences.

Unfortunately, Miss Kitty gets fed up with being the hostess. ("It's just too exhausting," she is reported as saying.) 

So, Arizona Zelda is forced to take over... 

...which means co-opting Rattlesnake Simon into kitchen duties. 

He does, however, prove to be very capable.


He even adds his own dish of cheese-topped pancakes to the menu.

(Miss Kitty is last seen heading for the bottom of the garden.)

The rest of the food is served on time and goes down well. 

It must be the chilli!

The Recipes

COWBOY CAVIAR served with HOME-BAKED TORTILLA CHIPS

Serves at least 4

For the Cowboy Caviar

1 tin black beans, drained and rinsed

1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped

1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped

3 fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

3tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

1tsp chilli powder

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/3 cup caster sugar

1tsp salt

1 small tin sweetcorn, drained

2 tbsp oil

For the Tortilla Chips

3 large tortilla wraps

2tbsp oil

2tsp chilli powder

To make the Cowboy Caviar

Take a large bowl and put in the black beans, peppers, tomatoes, onion and coriander.

In a jug or mug, mix together the oil, vinegar, chilli powder, sugar and salt.

Add to the rest of the ingredients.

Allow at least an hour for the flavours to blend.

To make the Tortilla Chips

Preheat oven to Gas 6/ 200°C/ 400°F.

Cut tortilla wraps into triangles with scissors.

Mix the oil and chilli powder in a bowl.

Coat each triangle and place on a baking tray.

Cook in batches in the oven for about 7-8 minutes. (Keep an eye – they can, I tell you from experience, burn easily!)

Transfer to a plate to cool and sprinkle with a little salt.

BUTTER CRUST TEX-MEX TARTLETS

Makes 8 tartlets (I made 9 so that I had a ‘tester’)

For the tartlets

75g butter

salt and pepper

8 slices medium-sliced bread

For the filling

Salsa dip (shop bought or the hot one prepared to go with the cheese straws)

Sour cream

Spring onions

You will also need

Bun tin with 8 holes

Kitchen foil

Rolling pin

Make the bread cases

Remove the crusts from each slice of bread and cut into a square shape. Flatten each piece with a rolling pin.

Melt the butter in a saucepan or in the microwave. Dip each slice into the butter and scrunch into a section of the bun tin.

Press a piece of crumbled foil into each bread case to secure in place. Cook at 190C Gas 5 for about 10 minutes until crisp.

Discard the foil. Allow to cool and leave until ready to serve.

When ready to serve

Chop spring onions.

Place a spoonful of salsa and then a spoonful of sour cream into each bread case.

Top with spring onions.

CHILLI CHEESE STRAWS WITH HOT SALSA DIP

For the Chilli Cheese Straws

1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry (defrosted if frozen)

40g grated cheese (e.g. cheddar)

1tbsp chilli seasoning

For the Salsa Dip

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

½ red pepper chopped

1tsp chopped chilli flakes

1tbsp red wine vinegar

black pepper

2tbsb mixed fresh herbs

To make the Chilli Cheese Straws

Preheat oven to Gas 7/ 220°C/ 425°F

Spread out the pastry and sprinkle the cheese and chilli flakes over the top.

Make the pastry into a ball and knead the cheese and chilli through.

Roll back out on a lightly-floured surface.

Cut into strips.

Twist each strip and place on a baking tray, flattening the ends to stop them unravelling.

Cook for about 10-12 minutes.

To make the (very hot) Salsa Dip

Put all ingredients in a blender and whizz until chopped but still chunky.

SWEET CHILLI DOGS

Serves 4

4 hot dog rolls

4 vegetarian sausages, defrosted if frozen (As you will see from the pictures, we actually used 8 which was ‘overload’ if I am honest)

3 red onions

4tbsp sweet chilli sauce

2tbsp olive oil

Dash of red wine

Heat 1tbsp of oil in a pan and fry sausages until browned on a medium heat.

Remove sausages, add another tbsp oil and turn heat down very low.

Cook onions slowly, stirring every couple of minutes, until they are soft. (Don’t rush this part – the longer they take, the softer and sweeter they will be.)

After at least 10 minutes, stir in the sweet chilli sauce and cook for about a minute more. Then replace the sausages and keep all of it warm until ready to serve.

Add a dash of red wine to moisten and caramelise.

 
Slice rolls down the middle, take a sausage and place inside, then cover with a quarter of the onions.

Repeat with the other 3 rolls. 

SAL MINEO’S PIZZA SNACKS

Found within the pages of the fantastic Recipes for Rebels book, I included a version of this and it turned out to be the highlight of the evening and a recipe which I will definitely make again.

Muffins, we thought?  Well, hell yeah, we will use them again. 

4 English muffins

2tbsp tomato puree

50g cheddar cheese, grated

50 g mozzarella, drained, rinsed and chopped into small chunks.

2tbsp olive oil

1tsp salt

1tsp caster sugar

1 tsp oregano

Cut the muffins in half.

Mix the oil, salt, sugar, tomato puree and oregano.

Spread this mixture over the muffin halves.

Cover with the cheeses.

Cook at Gas 6 200°C 400°F for about 10 minutes.

SPICY BEANS

1 red onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

2tbsp paprika

2tsp mild chilli

1tsp cumin

1tsp coriander

tin chopped tomatoes

410g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed

410g tin baked beans

2tbsp oil

salt and black pepper

Fry the onions until they soften. Then add the garlic and cook for another minute until it turns golden.

Add the spices and stir well until everything is coated.

Pour in the tomatoes and all the beans. Mix well.

Season to taste and then simmer for at least 20 minutes on a very low heat to allow the flavours to develop. (If it appears to be going dry, mix 2tbsp tomato ketchup with 4tbsp hot water and add to the pan.)

WAGONTRAIL WEDGES

 

4 large potatoes, washed and cut into wedges

2tbsp oil

2tbsp runny honey

2tbsp tomato ketchup

1tsp brown sugar

1tbsp chilli powder

1tsp garlic powder

 

Mix the honey, ketchup, sugar, chilli and garlic together well in a bowl.

Add the potato wedges and stir until all are well-coated.

Place on baking trays in single layers.

Bake in for about 45 minutes in a 400F/ 200c/ Gas 6 oven, turning half-way through.

And finally, Miss Kitty says: "Thank you for coming! Now let me get on with my new bird-catching plan."

Fantasy Veggie Dinner Guest – JULES WINNFIELD

Jules Winnfield, played by Samuel L Jackson, may just be the best character ever created by Quentin Tarantino (and that is, undoubtedly, up against some pretty stiff competition). Some others might be more memorable - including his partner Vincent Vega - but this one goes through such an extreme change: initially a hitman, after a "moment of clarity" he decides to "walk the Earth". 

In a classic scene from Pulp Fiction, while on a mission to recover a briefcase for his boss, he tastes a 'Big Kahuna Burger', although admitting that he usually eats vegetarian food. 

I would like to think that if he came to dinner he would also say of mine: "This is a tasty burger."

VEGGIE BURGERS

1 red onion, chopped

½ red pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1tsp ground cumin

1tsp ground coriander

1tsp chilli powder

1 tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed.

3 tbsp olive oil

handful of mixed fresh herbs (I used coriander and parsley)

50g coarse breadcrumbs

salt and pepper to season

plain flour

Plus, to serve:

burger buns

various salad items of choice

relish/ ketchup etc.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and gently fry the onion and pepper until softened. 

Then add the garlic and cook for a minute more.

Sprinkle over the spices and stir until well coated.

Add the kidney beans and allow all to cook together for a minute or so before removing from the heat.

When cooled, place in a food processor and blend until you have a rough mix. (You can also do this by hand by squashing it all with a wooden spoon.)

Mix in the breadcrumbs and the herbs and season.

With floured hands and surface, mould the mixture into four burger shapes.

Prepare the accompanying salad garnish.

Heat the remaining 2tbsp oil and fry the burgers on both sides until browned.

Then assemble...

...and serve.

TZATZIKI

In line with my 'waste not want not' philosophy this year, I needed something to do with the multitude of cucumbers which have come to fruition all at once in the greenhouse. A friend who worked for a while as a chef in a Greek restaurant suggested this. I adjusted it a little to suit our tastes, and I have to say it was absolutely delicious. 

1 large cucumber

2 cloves garlic

450g Greek yogurt

few sprigs of fresh mint

splash of lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

Take a big overgrown cucumber.

Slice it in half and scrape out the seeds.

Grate the remaining cucumber into a tea towel.

Place the tea towel over a bowl and wring out to remove the water from the cucumber. You may need to do this several times.

Crush the garlic and combine with the olive oil in a bowl.

When the cucumber is as dry as possible, mix it into the oil and then combine with the yogurt.

Chop the mint and stir through with a touch of lemon juice.

Can be served with lamb (although obviously not for Zelda) or as a salad accompaniment.

Fantasy Veggie Dinner Guest - PHILEAS FOGG

Mr Phileas Fogg is a creature of habit (until he takes a bet that he can travel around the world in 80 days). He eats at the Reform Club every day.

Phileas Fogg, having shut the door of his house at half-past eleven, and having put his right foot before his left five hundred and seventy-five times, and his left foot before his right five hundred and seventy-six times, reached the Reform Club, an imposing edifice in Pall Mall, which could not have cost less than three millions. He repaired at once to the dining-room, the nine windows of which open upon a tasteful garden, where the trees were already gilded with an autumn colouring; and took his place at the habitual table, the cover of which had already been laid for him.

His menu never changes - and it always includes rhubarb.

I didn’t realise how much I loved rhubarb until I started cooking it fresh from the garden. For this crumble, I use quite a lot of sweetening – feel free to reduce some of the sugar in the topping. The sprinkled sugar, however, is an important stage in ‘cooking’ the rhubarb before it goes in the oven. I also add some orange pith and spritz for the same reason. It helps to make sure that the rhubarb is lovely and soft (but not soggy) when you serve it.

So, if I could entice Mr Fogg to deviate from his usual routine, I would have him for dinner and serve him this as a pudding.

 RHUBARB CRUMBLE

900g rhubarb

50g caster sugar

3tbsp light brown sugar

1 orange

1tsp cinnamon

225g plain flour

2tsp baking powder

75g butter

175g brown sugar

Preheat oven to 200C/ Gas 6.

Trim rhubarb and strip off any stringy bits.

Cut into 2cm pieces and place in a shallow casserole dish.

Sprinkle over caster sugar, brown sugar, spritz of orange juice, orange zest and cinnamon.

Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl.

Add butter and rub in until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Mix in the sugar.

Spoon crumble on top of rhubarb.

Bake for 25-30 mins.

Allow to cool a little.
Then serve, on its own...

...or with custard.