I don't claim to be a great cook but I can throw together enough in the kitchen to survive and even, on occasion, awe my victims. I will admit my dependence on Mrs. Griz for guidance even though I often am less than precise with following her instructions and sometimes innovate just a little.
My favorite way to cook is with a crock pot. Mrs. Griz even bought me my very own a few years back so that I could fix supper and help out with midweek potlucks at church when she couldn't be home to fix a proper meal. I like the crock pot because I can put in the ingredients, turn it on and forget about it -- something I tend to do when I get busy with other things and something which isn't exactly safe if the dish is cooking on the stove or in the oven.
Crock pots allow for a lot of variations and innovations and the results often hide my inexperience in the kitchen. A little stew meat, a few potatoes and carrots with the right seasoning can come out pretty tasty, to say nothing of soups and other such mixtures.
I actually learned to cook fixing meals for prisoners in the jail -- perhaps, I added to their punishment, but I ate the same food and it usually tasted OK to me. In addition to heating up certain foods, I made fried dishes and a few casseroles to keep the inmates from lynching me when I did jail checks during the night. Seems they slept better on a full stomach.
My kids can tell you that I cooked for them too. Usually that was only when their mother was away or couldn't prepare a meal for some reason.
I think most of them can remember my cooking. Since their mother preferred not to cook with the venison I put in the freezer, her absence was my opportunity to make sure my deer hunting was for good cause and my children were well fed.
Of course, venison tastes a little different than beef so it was hard to get away with serving my kids deer steaks. To get them to eat it, I had to be a bit sly and crafty and fix stews, soups, spaghetti and meat loaves to trick them into eating it under the guise of eating beef. If I told them ahead of time, they wouldn't even try it. So, after all was gone, or at least half gone, I'd tell them what they had eaten and liked until I came clean and told them the truth.
Unfortunately, my trick didn't work for long. They seemed to know or suspect ahead of time. And I don't think they even trusted me when I did fix them beef burgers rather than deer burgers.
They've all grown up now and once in a while tease me about my cooking when their mother was gone. But, hey, I did use up the venison and made room for more in the freezer and another opportunity to fool my kids into eating some good and healthy meat.
Anyway, I've been doing some of the cooking for some midweek potluck suppers at church since it's been hard for Mrs. Griz to get home from work in time to fix anything. I've made stews and bean soups and most seemed to go over well. A couple of times, my crock pot was empty at the end of the meal and I didn't have to eat my leftovers.
Last Wednesday was the last of our suppers for a little while, so I figured I should make something special. I had fixed venison a year or two ago but I haven't had any hidden away in the freezer for some time. What could I make that was a little different? Then I had an idea.
Buffalo. You can buy bison meat at some markets and it's a good, lean meat. I bought three pounds and added a pound of ground pork for flavor and a little fat and fixed a meat loaf.
Yes, I consulted with Mrs. Griz since it had been a while and she gave me some good pointers. But, I innovated too, adding grated carrots to the mix. She also told me how to cut a grid pattern on the top for looks.
While she was at work, I grated carrots, an onion and celery, mixed up all my ingredients and made a big meat loaf -- suitable for a multitude -- and put it in the oven. I also fried some bacon and onions for an accompanying green bean dish Mrs. Griz made when she got home.
The result was good. Mrs. Griz had to cut out a little sample before she would let me take it to church, but she was impressed. It turned out delicious and we were on our way to the potluck. And it seemed to go over well at church too. I think everyone had a slice. And, though I didn't wait until after the supper to tell them what they ate, I did at least wait until most had eaten part of it.
I don't think I've ever written out a recipe for the kitchen before, but I decided to write this one down in case I want to fix it again. Hey, if you can buy some good bison meat, you may want to try it too. Fixing it is simple enough that even a preacher and newspaper editor can do it.
Bison Meatloaf (a potluck dish even a preacher can make)
• 3 pounds ground bison
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 shredded onion
• 2 shredded stalks of celery
• 3 shredded carrots
• 4 eggs
• 1 tube (1/4 pack) of crushed saltine crackers (less the ones you eat)
• 2 tablespoons beef broth powder
• Little salt or Lawry's Seasoned Salt (not too much)
• Little garlic powder
• Little fenugreek seed
• More than a little ground black pepper
• Mix it all up in a bowl
• Put it in large glass casserole pan
• Cut grid in top 1/4 inch deep (optional for looks)
• Bake at 350 degrees for 1 and 1/2 hours
Slice and serve the multitudes (but don't tell them it's bison until after they've eaten a healthy portion of it).
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 04/01/2015