Summer’s bounty
The Made in Oklahoma Coalition provides four recipes for August that use local products, including Coffee Ice Cream.
August signals the end of summer, the start of school and time to start brushing up for tailgating season.
The Made in Oklahoma Coalition has four recipes to try that reflect the transition from summer to fall with the best local, fresh ingredients made in Oklahoma.
Sweet and Spicy Baked Beans work for a potluck or picnic, but everybody knows they can be a secret weapon for pregame tailgating. Embrace this recipe for hearty beans, which starts with sausage-fried onions. This version includes not only white beans, but black and kidneys, too. Topped with bacon before baking, the bold flavors from pepper relish, whole grain mustard, barbecue sauce and brown sugar turn basic baked beans into something special.
Watermelons are easy to find this time of year. Rather than bringing one to a party to leave to the host to deal with, consider carving one up into an elegant Watermelon and Spinach Salad, which also includes arugula, red onion and chopped mint. Perfect for gardeners. Feta cheese and a tangy honey-lime dressing balances the sweet watermelon and bitter arugula in this unique salad. Watermelon is at its peak this month, and the sophisticated combination of flavors makes this a salad worthy for special occasions.
The Coalition’s Coffee Ice Cream is a grown-up dessert coffee-lovers will embrace. It’s a great dessert to share with family and keep them cool on warm August nights.
Next time the family does sandwich night, consider the Rustic Grilled Cheese Sandwich. This grilled cheese sandwich goes way beyond a basic slice of cheese between two pieces of sandwich bread. Layers of arugula, bacon, Havarti cheese and bacon make this as good or better than your favorite gourmet sandwich from a diner or deli.
All these recipes and many more using locally produced items and fresh local ingredients; as well as information about how tax dollars help local businesses; are available on the Made in Oklahoma Coalition website, miocoalition.com.
These recipes use ingredients from Made in Oklahoma manufacturers with products byScissortail Farms, Bar-S, Braum’s Fresh Market, Henderson Coffee, Griffin’s, Suan’s, Seikel’s,Head Country, Triple S, Andrew’s Honey Bees, Hiland and Greer’s Ranch House.
SWEET AND SPICY BAKED BEANS
1 pound Greer’s Ranch House ground pork sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 (28-ounce) cans baked beans 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained 2 cups Head Country Bar-B-Q sauce ½ teaspoon Head Country All-Purpose Championship Seasoning
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
¼ cup Seikel’s Oklahoma Gold Mustard
1 tablespoon Griffin’s Original Syrup ¼ cup Suan’s Scotch Bonnet Pepper Relish
6 slices Bar-S bacon
Cook sausage and onion in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring until sausage crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain. Return sausage to pot, and add all beans, barbecue sauce, seasoning, brown sugar, mustard, syrup and relish.
Top beans with bacon. Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes or until thickened andbubbly.
COFFEE ICE CREAM
1½ cups Hiland whole milk
1¼ cups granulated sugar 2 tablespoons Andrews Honey Bees pure honey
½ cup Henderson’s coffee (to one cup brewed)
6 egg yolks
2½ cups Hiland heavy cream 1½ teaspoons Griffin’s vanilla
Bring 1¾ cups water to a boil using a small sauce pot. Remove from heat, add the ½cup of coffee and let it set until cool. Strain through a coffee filter. (A press pot works well, but the water needs to come to a boil.) Reserve 1 cup of this liquid for the icecream.
In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, honey, salt and coffee. Warm overmedium heat stirring occasionally until steaming. Reduce the heat to low.
Lightly beat the egg yolks in a small bowl. Slowly pour half the hot milk into the eggswhile whisking continuously. Return the mixture to the pot, and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly throughout the process, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Cover withplastic wrap on surface of the ice cream. Refrigerate until cold.
When ready to make the ice cream, whisk the cream and vanilla into the ice cream untilsmooth. Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
WATERMELON AND SPINACH SALAD
1 Triple S watermelon, part cut into 1-inch cubes to equal 3 cups and remaining watermelonsliced into 1” slices for serving
2 cups Scissortail Farms baby spinach 2 cups Scissortail Farms arugula
½ red onion, sliced
1/3 cup Scissortail Farms mint leaves, chopped
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 3 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon Andrew’s Honey Bees pure honey
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar Place each of four watermelon slices onto plates for serving. You may cut these into squares, rounds or triangles.
In a large bowl, combine cubed watermelon, spinach, arugula, onion, mint and feta.
In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, honey and salt.
Combine watermelon mixture with dressing. Serve on top of watermelon slices. Drizzle with additional balsamic vinegar. Serve immediately. If not serving immediately, keepdressing and salad ingredients separate until serving time.
RUSTIC GRILLED CHEESE
1 tablespoon Andrews Honey Bees pure honey
1 cucumber, thinly sliced 4 tablespoons Braum’s Butter
8 slices Braum’s Fresh Market Artisan Bread
8 slices Havarti cheese
8 slices Greer’s Ranch House Bacon, cooked
4 thin slices tomato
1 package Scissortail Farms basil Sea salt
1 cup Scissortail Farms arugula
In a small mixing bowl combine the honey and sliced cucumber, and allow it to set forabout 10 minutes. Drain off the liquid and reserve.
Butter the bread slices and make four grilled cheese sandwiches open faced.
To assemble sandwiches, fill two sandwiches with bacon, tomato, basil and a lightsprinkle of sea salt. Fill the remaining two sandwiches with the cucumber mixture andarugula. You can stack these sandwiches, similar to a club sandwich, for a great meldingof flavors.