Slow down, pad your fall with local flavor
Perhaps the best way to prepare for fall is to slow down.
That’s a good approach to avoiding injury and getting the most out of the flavors of autumn. The growing season will sputter out by month’s end, making it an ideal time to get the most out of your slowcooker or multi-cooker. Prep ingredients ahead and cook them while you’re away at school or work. Then brace for a burst of autumn aromas when arrive home. Sweet and Sour Meatballs are a throwback to “Mad Men”-era cocktail parties that also work for dinner. These meatballs are emboldened by Suan’s Scotch Bonnet tomato jam and Garden Club grape jelly.
Slow-Cooker Italian Mushrooms take five minutes and four ingredients to prepare.
Four to six hours gives them plenty of time to marry and fill your home with anticipation.
They work as a hearty side or over a hoagie roll to make a sandwich. Either way, you’ll likely make them over and over.
Fall is the official start of holiday baking season. Sugar and Spice Sweet Potato Bread uses Triple S sweet potatoes and Southern Okie Gourmet Apple Spread for two loaves of quick bread, making it great for sharing with a neighbor. — and don’t forget to eat it warm with a smear of Braum’s butter. A little honey, and you’ve got breakfast or a modest dessert.
Take your fettuccine Alfredo game to the next level with the addition of Bar-S bacon and J-M mushrooms. This is just the dish you want to dig into on a chilly fall night, and have a resealable containers ready because this one is even
better as leftovers.
For more information about the Made In Oklahoma Coalition and its member companies plus more recipes like this, go online miocoalition.com.
Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Meatballs
2 large eggs, lightly beaten ¼ cup bread crumbs (made from toasted Braum’s bread) 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 teaspoons Daddy Hinkle’s seasoning
2 pounds Peach Crest Farms ground beef
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce 1 cup chicken broth
1 cup Suan’s Scotch Bonnett Tomato Jam
½ cup Garden Club grape jelly ½ cup packed brown sugar ½ cup Garden Club vinegar 1 cup cubed fresh pineapple 1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large bowl, combine eggs, bread crumbs, garlic cloves and Daddy Hinkle’s. Add ground beef, mixing until ingredients are combined.
Shape into 1 to 2-inch balls. Place on a cooking rack in a baking pan. (This keeps the meatballs from getting soggy and helps them brown.) Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
In a large bowl, combine tomato sauce, chicken broth, tomato jam, grape jelly, brown sugar and vinegar. Transfer the meatballs to a slow cooker. Add pineapple and green pepper. Pour sauce on top.
Cook on low 3 hours or until meatballs are cooked through and flavors have combined.
Add the pineapple and peppers and cook for an additional hour.
Slow Cooker Italian Mushrooms
4 (8-ounce) packages J-M Button or Crimini Mushrooms 1 ½ sticks Hiland Salted Butter 1 bottle Diane’s Legendary Italian Dressing
3 tablespoons cornstarch Clean mushrooms, dry with a paper towel and place in a large slow cooker.
Melt butter in a small saucepan. Into the saucepan, pour in the oil from off the top of the salad dressing so that you’re left with a little more than half the dressing in the bottle. Using a teaspoon measure, add 3 tablespoons (9 teaspoons) into the dressing bottle, recap and shake until all the cornstarch is mixed in and smooth.
Pour the cornstarch mixture evenly over the mushrooms, and gently stir with a rubber spatula. Pour warm butter mixture over mushrooms, gently stirring to combine. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.
Sugar and Spice Sweet Potato Bread
Serves: 8
2 Triple S Farms sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes
2 eggs
1 stick Braum’s Butter, melted ¼ cup Braum’s Buttermilk ½ cup Southern Okie Apple Spread
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar, packed 1 teaspoon Griffin’s vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups Shawnee Mills AllPurpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ¼ teaspoon ground allspice ¼ teaspoon ground cloves Pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 2 (8-by-4-inch) loaf pans with nonstick spray. Set aside.
Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 2-inch cubes. Bring a large pot of water to boil, and cook sweet potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. Mash them and reserve.
Add sweet potatoes, melted butter, buttermilk, Southern Okie apple spread, sugars, eggs and vanilla, and whisk until combined.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and salt. Pour the egg mixture over dry ingredients, stirring to combine.
Gently fold the batter until all ingredients are incorporated.
Pour batter into pans. Bake 45 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow bread to cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Spread with Braum’s Butter.
Mushroom and Bacon Alfredo
1 package Bar-S Bacon, cut into thin strips
1 box Della Terra Pasta Rigatoni Khorasan
1 tablespoon Hiland Butter
1 cup quartered J-M Cremini Mushrooms
1 tablespoon Shawnee Mills All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
2½ cups Hiland Heavy Cream Freshly ground black pepper ½ cup grated parmigiana reggiano
1 to 2 egg yolks
Cook the bacon to a golden brown, pour off the excess fat and remove bacon from the pan, reserving it for later.
Prepare the Della Terra Pasta. (Be creative with your pasta choice; any of their pastas would work well with this recipe.)
Using the same pan used to cook the bacon, add the butter and gently saute the mushrooms until slightly brown. Lower the heat, and stir in the flour, mixing gently until it has absorbed most of the fat. If it is a little dry, add more butter.
After 2 to 3 minutes, add the chopped garlic, stir for just a minute to release the aroma. Add the salt, cream and bacon, and gently mix until it comes to a gentle simmer. Let it bubble until it’s a nice sauce consistency, all the while stirring gently. Remove from heat, and add pasta, folding in to coat.
Serve and top with freshly cracked pepper and grated cheese. You may or may not want to top this with one or two egg yolks, which you can mix in giving the sauce a traditional richness.