Coconut Cream Pie Muffins Great Labor Day Dessert

Hello to all my foodie friends out there in Web Land its MadJon again posting on some very tasty dessert.  I got the idea to make these from a group on face book that I belong too called Outrageous Foodies and I just love the group.  I saw a birds nest dish from grated potatoes and to me it reminded me of shredded coconut.  So I went to the taste kitchen and made up this recipe.  You know that coconut came to this country in the late 1800's and a man named Franklin Baker from Pa started shredding and producing the coconut here in the United States for our household use.  Am so glad that he did because coconut is one of my favorite flavors to eat.  They have it in candy, puddings, fresh coconut Milk, coconut oil, cakes, cookies, and even drinks.  I love it in anything!  When we were kids in Miami we'd sit under the palms and the nut would drop and we'd remove the outer shell and place 3 holes on the end of the coconut and drink the milk.  Then we'd get out hammers and break the nut and eat out the meat.  It was great to just go along the sidewalks and pick up the coconuts to eat.  It took us awhile to open them but we used whatever means we needed to get into that juicy white meat. Their were six kids in my family and my Uncle Jack had 16 kids so it was hard to keep a coconut free on our streets.  Any who I hope you give a try.

Shell

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin pan.

Mix together:

2 cups shredded Coconut
1/2 cup sugar
2 TBSP Corn Starch
2 TBSP melted Butter

Shape into the muffin pans to make a nest and then bake in the oven for about 10 minutes and remove from oven.

Filling:

1 1/2 cups Sugar
1/4 cup Corn Starch
1 tsp. Vanilla
3 Egg Yolks, beaten, reserve egg whites
pinch of Salt
4 Cups Whole Milk
1 cup Shredded Coconut

Mix together and pour into muffin pan.  Cook for about 40 minutes or until done.

Topping
Beat the egg whites with 3 TBSP sugar, add  tsp. Vanilla, and a pinch of Cream Of Tarter.  Beat eggs till they are stiff and top the pies with it and sprinkle coconut on top and bake in a pre-heated oven until brown.  Rest for about 10 minutes and loosen the sides with a butter knife to remove.

I hope you enjoy these pie muffins and when they cool is the best time to eat them.  Please visit my Cooking With MadJon and Friends on face book and I also have a new cookbook out on itunes called MadJon Holidays for you ipads.  Write me with your comments at madjon51@aol.com.  Happy Labor day weekend and happy trails to you until we meet again.  MadJon.

Summers End Bounty From Our Garden Stuffed Italian Fried Okra

Hello to all my foodie friends out there in web land.  Madjon here and I hope all is well and that you enjoyed your summer.  The kids are back to school here in South Carolina.  Labor Day holiday is in just a few days.  Maybe you all can make some of this wonderful Okra for your holiday cooking menu.  We have had a lot of the bounty from our garden again this year.  The Okra plants must be a good five to six feet tall this year.  That's what Chicken Poop does for a garden.  Any who I was introduced to this wonderful vegetable called Okra early on in my life, being that my dad was a big mountain man from Tennessee.  He is the one that did most of the Southern cooking at our house.  Okra was high on his list of foods to have us eat along with the pinto beans, greens and yes that wonderful Buttermilk Corn Bread that he used to cook.  Sometimes I'd sit and watch him eat the corn bread hot with cold Buttermilk poured on top.  I could never understand how he could eat such a combination of food!  My pallet just couldn't get past the sour in the buttermilk.  Any who my mom would drink buttermilk for a upset tummies, as she called it.  Any way am suppose to be talking Okra.  You know all you northerners are missing out on not eating Okra because its slime, heck that's the whole fun of eating it.  Did you know that Okra is a natural thickener and high in fiber.  Its been around for centuries and was bought here by the slaves from Africa.  It has been used to make rope and the seeds have been dried and used for coffee.   You can boil it, bread and fry it, stew it with bacon,  Roast it, stuff it and even dry it and use it for chip dipping.
Now I have not even listed half the uses for this wonderful vegetable.  There are a lot of uses for it in Indian recipes.  Any who this is just one way that I enjoy using the Okra.  Last year I stuffed it with Feta Cheese and Jalapeno peppers.
This year I made it an Italian way browned on some olive oil.  So I hope you all give this recipe a try, shall you.

1 doz. okra, cleaned, slit okra and seeds removed
Salt and Pepper Okra to taste

Filling

Three Italian Blend Cheese's 1 Cup
1 tsp. Onion Powder
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Dried Italian Seasonings
Mix all ingredients and fill your Okra pods.

Breading
1 Cup Corn Meal
1/2 Cup Flour
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Egg, Beaten

Mix all ingredents and heat about 1" of oil in a pan and roll the filled okra in the egg and then roll it in the dry mix.  Place into the oil and cook to a golden brown on both sides.  Remember to turn your pods and don't fry it on to high a heat.

I hope you give this recipe a try and write me with any comments, I always like to hear from you all.  Come like my fan page https://www.facebook.com/CookingwithMadjon and visit itunes to buy my holiday e-book called MadJon Holiday.  Also come watch the TV show at www.aikenstandard.com ASTV 95.  Happy trails to you and yours until we meet again.  MadJon.  Recipes are always welcome.

Texas Beef Standing Rib Roast Go Houston Texans!

Well hello to all my foodie friends out there in Web Land, I hope all is well.  I have spent the last month on the road in D.C. and to the Houston area.  That is where we are from.  My father -in-law has just been told that he has Alzheimer's and we had to help talk him into moving, selling his home and on top of that telling him he can't drive anymore.  What a horrible thing to have to do to some body.  He felt like we were kicking him out of his house.  Poor thing! So my hubby will be going back and forth to Houston for the next few months.  Any who let's do some talking about this wonderful cut of meat called a Standing Rib Roast. As you may know Texas is well know for their Beef and this is what we call a Standing Rib Roast which is a cut of meat from the primal rib section and is a very tender and pricey piece of meat.  My sister-in-law bought it before we arrived not knowing how to cook it.  This roast had five ribs which means that you could serve about 10 people.  It was maybe total weight of 5 pounds.  You can figure that each rib will feed two people.  When you are picking a roast make sure its a nice deep red color not brown.  If the meat is brown then it is too old and it cost to much for you to waste your money on old meat, sort of speak.  You can go to your butcher and get him to cut you one or talk to the butcher at your store and Rhonda bought this one from H.E.B. and I must say that it was a good cut of Beef.   Your roast should be cooked standing up and with Dry Heat.  It should be salted and seasoned with spices and I like to rub my spices into the meat.  You are also going to do what is called searing the meat in a very hot pan with oil in it.  Searing meat caramelizes and browns the meat which adds color and flavors to the meat.  Any who you are going to slit the meat with a knive tip and go in about two inches deep and then you are going to add a garlic glove placed inside the slit.  Your going to do that about 8 times and I put it all over the roast.  Then I rub it with Salt, Pepper, oven and Garlic powders and sear the meat on all side until it is nice and brown.  Then you are going to add some red wine and beef broth to the drippings and add it to the bottom of your roasting pan.  I use a sided cookie sheet so the roast is exposed to the dry heat.  That will give it a nice and brown color as well.  Any Who am ready to give you a recipe on our Texas Standing Rib Roast, go Houston Texans, whcih are my mother-in-laws favorite football team.

Texas Standing Rib Roast

4-5 Pound Standing Rib Roast
6 to 8 cloves fresh Garlic

Slit the rost with the knive and place the cleaned garlic into the slits

Salt and Pepper to taste, sprinkled onto roast
Onion and Garlic Powder, sprinkled onto roast

Rub the spices on the roast with fingers, the best thing God gave you to work with.
1/2 cup Dijon Mustard
6 basil leaves, fresh
1 stick Oregano, fresh
1 stick Rosemary leaves

Finely chop the herbs and add them to the Dijon Mustard.  Rub the mustard all over your roast with your fingers.

3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Heat the oil in a pan and sear your meat on all sides.


Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees and place roast into your pan after it is seared.  Then to the drippings in the pan you add about 2 cups red wine and 1 cup Beef Broth.  Stir the pan and pour it into your roasting pan with the roast.  Then you bake the roast for 20 minutes on 450 degrees and then turn down your oven to 350 degrees and bake your roast for 18 minutes per pound or until it reaches a temp of 145 to 150 degrees.  Remove your roast and let it rest for about 15 more minutes before carving.  Take the drippings from your pan and heat it with about 1 more cup of red wine and 1 more cup of beef broth. Cook till reduced.  This is a great sauce with lots of flavoring.

I hope you enjoy this recipe we shall did.  Come visit my fan page on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CookingwithMadjon and also go to www.aikenstandard.com ASTV 95 and watch my TV shows.  Also I have a new cookbook just released MadJon Holiday though itunes.  Please email me with your comments or questions about recipes at madjon51@aol.com.  Bona Y'all and Happy Trail to you until we meet again.  Hope you enjoy the rest of your summer!