Recipes from The Bars Farm

Baked Kale Chips

1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions: 

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees).  Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper(which is found near the aluminum foil)
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces.  Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

These are low calorie nutritious snacks.  Like potato chips, you can’t stop at just one!

Spicy Coleslaw

1 head green or red cabbage finely chopped
1 ea. Habanero, Jamaican Hot Chocolate and white Habanero hot pepper
1 large onion red or white finely chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
½ cup lemon juice
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. paprika

Mix cabbage, hot peppers, onion and garlic together first, then stir in the lemon juice, add seasonings to mixture and finally mix in the mayonnaise. You can reduce the heat level by omitting any one of the hot peppers!

Spicy Pickled Okra

3 pounds okra, whole
6 hot red peppers; spiciness of your choice
6 garlic cloves
1 quart vinegar, 5% acidity
1 1/3 cups water
½ cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon mustard seed

Wash okra.
Trim stems; do not cut into pods.
Pack okra into clean, sterilized, hot pint jars; add hot pepper, garlic cloves.
Bring remaining ingredients to a boil. Cover okra with the hot liquid, filling to ½ inch from top. Adjust jar lids.
Process 10 minutes in boiling water. Start to count processing time as soon as water in canner returns to boiling. Remove jars.
Set jars upright on a towel to cool, with airspace around jars.
Yields 6 pints

Zucchini Crab Cakes

2 ½ cups grated zucchini
1 egg lightly beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup bread crumbs
¼ cup minced onions
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
¼ cup flour dredging
¼ cup Peanut or Olive Oil for frying

Combine zucchini, egg, and melted butter. Add bread crumbs, onions, and seasoning; mix well.
Shape into patties and dredge each lightly in flour, (or substitute bread crumbs)
Cook in oil over medium- high heat, browning on both sides.
Drain and serve with tartar sauce. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

BBQ Okra

1 pound okra
2 tablespoons melted butter or olive oil
Cajun seasoning

Wash okra and rinse, leave whole lightly coat with melted butter or oil.
Place okra directly on the grill and sprinkle okra with Cajun seasoning.
Turn okra frequently, until lightly brown on all sides
Serve hot

Pan Fried Green Beans

1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic

Place the beans in a large saucepan, with about 1 inch of water.
Bring to a boil, cover and cook for about 5 minutes, they should firm and bright green.

In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and sugar; set aside.

Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add garlic and cook until starting to brown. Add the drained green beans and stir to coat with the oil.
Stir in the soy sauce mixture, and simmer for a couple minutes, uncovered to reduce sauce.
Transfer the beans to a serving dish and pour sauce over them.

Okra and Potatoes

1 pound okra
1 large onion
2 medium potatoes
4 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 hot green or red pepper finely chopped; spiciness of your choice
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon curry powder

Wash okra and cut crosswise into roughly 3/8 inch pieces.
Thinly slice onion into long pieces.
Cut potatoes into approximately ½ inch pieces.
In large frying pan, heat oil or butter on medium heat, add onions, chopped hot peppers, and potatoes, stirring until lightly browned.

Add okra and curry powder; cook uncovered stirring occasionally until potatoes are tender, (about 20 minutes).
Serves four.

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
1 pound fresh asparagus
Boiling water
1 cup grated cheese

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat, blend in flour, salt, and pepper, stir until smooth. Add milk; stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and begins to boil.
Remove from heat and set aside.

Wash and cut asparagus into ½ inch pieces, save a few of the asparagus tips, and set aside. Cook the remainder of the asparagus in a small amount of boiling water until soft. After done cooking, save 2 cups of liquid, and drain out remainder.
Add the 2 cups of liquid back into the pan and mash until pureed, return to heat, add white sauce, remaining asparagus tips, and cheese.

Heat thoroughly; season to taste. Serve hot

1 pound fresh green beans
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon butter
½ tablespoon onion powder

Wash and trim beans, cut into 2 inch pieces.

Place beans, garlic, on foil place butter on top of beans, and sprinkle with onion powder and wrap in foil.

Place on grill on medium heat until tender (about 10 minutes)

Okra and Tomatoes

1 pound okra
2 medium onions roughly chopped
3 medium tomatoes
2 celery stalks
1 hot pepper (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Wash okra, remove stems and cut into ¼ inch pieces.

Heat butter on medium heat, add onions, celery, and okra until onions are soft (about 5 minutes.) Add chopped tomatoes and hot pepper an cook on medium heat for another 10 minutes.

Add salt and pepper, serve hot. Serve over rice if desired.

Scalloped Corn with Cheese

4 cups fresh corn with milk
1 cup grated sharp cheese
1 cup cracker crumbs
1 egg
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix egg and milk, add salt and pepper. Butter 2-3 quart baking dish, and layer corn, cheese, and cracker crumbs. Repeat layering, and pour egg and milk mixture over top and sprinkle with cheese. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes.

Grilled Potatoes

3 large potatoes
1 medium onion
2 tablespoons butter
Cajun seasoning

Cut potatoes into ¾ inch pieces. Roughly chop onion. Place potatoes and onion on foil, place butter slices on top and sprinkle Cajun seasoning on top. Loosely cover and crimp sides of foil place on grill on medium heat.

Grilled Pasilla Bajio

½ Dozen Pasilla Bajio peppers
Cream cheese

Wash peppers, slice one side without cutting thru the pepper. Remove seeds, and stuff with cream cheese. Place directly on the grill over medium heat, until pepper skin browns, serve hot.

Pico de Gallo Salsa

4 jalapeno peppers
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro
¼ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Remove stems and seeds from jalapenos and finely chop. Mix all ingredients together and let sit at room temperature for about one hour before serving.

Serve with corn chips.

Ratatouille

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium eggplant
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
3 large ripe tomatoes, diced
12 nasil leaves, coarsely chopped
2 small zucchini, sliced
2 cloves finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Peel and chop eggplant, heat olive oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add eggplant and cook until browned (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat; add onions, tomatoes, basil and zucchini. Season with salt and pepper, add garlic and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes.

Fried Green Tomatoes or Okra

1 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons bacon grease
4 medium green tomatoes

Wash and slice tomatoes about ¼ inch thick, mix cornmeal salt and pepper in a medium size bowl. Heat grease over medium heat. Dredge tomatoes in cornmeal mixture and place in grease until light brown and cook other side.

Okra is also good cooked this way.