The Poor Man’s Cookbook by Brenda and Cliff Roberts ISBN: 1-931540-76-4 Copyright 2001 by Brenda Roberts All Rights Reserved Published by SynergEbooks http://www.synergebooks.com 2 Recipe for a Happy Home Take 2 cups of love, an armload of hugs; Mix in a cup of trust. Mix together with friends and family. Sprinkle liberally with smiles. Serve daily. Feeds your soul heartily. 3 The original handwritten copy of this book was dedicated to James Elery “Jimbo” Beene at Christmas 1994. A limited edition printing was published by Teresa Webber of Webber Digital Imaging and Desktop Publishing of Sherman Texas in 1997. Jim is my nephew, Teresa is my cousin. Jim asked for this book of family recipes because he is very interested in family traditions, family memories and he loves good food but really had never cooked even the simplest things. He asked us to break it down very simple so even an inexperienced or first time cook can follow the process successfully. This book is about family traditions. It is an ever-growing collection of recipes and memories for and about the Beene families, the Roberts family; and the various tree branches we have climbed to reach this place. In 1998, our personal tree branch was made stronger with the grafting of the Brown family tree. Coke Reed Brown, Jr. joined Cliff and Brenda Roberts out on a limb. Bon Appetite! 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Daddy's Favorite Menu Red Beans Fried Potatoes Water Biscuits Iced Tea Sun Tea Hot Peppers Sauce Family Traditions Breads and Salads Soups, Stews, and Chilies Casseroles and Meats Vegetable Dishes Beverages Desserts Glossary 5 Daddy's Favorites Menu Red Beans (pinto ) fried potatoes, onions, hot pepper sauce biscuits and iced tea 6 Red Beans by Ruby Horton Beene Take a l or 2 pound package of dried pinto beans. Pick small rocks, dirt clots and burrs out of bag. Wash repeatedly until water is clear. Drain beans. Place in a 5-quart saucepan. Cover with water and cook until beans are tender, add bacon grease or ham hocks to season. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir frequently, adding water as necessary. Cook over low to medium heat for thicker soup. (May thicken with flour and water paste if prefer.) 7 Fried Potatoes by Ruby Horton Beene 2 medium potatoes per person. Peel (if desired, may leave skin on) and slice. In a large frying pan (skillet), place shortening* until pan is 1/4 full of oil. While grease heats, rinse potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper and pour into hot grease. Cover with lid and cook over medium flame. Turn frequently to prevent burning or sticking to pan. Remove lid to brown potatoes. * My family prefers to use leftover bacon grease in place of the shortening. It gives the potatoes a wonderful flavor and saves money. I recommend keeping a can in your refrigerator to save the fat that cooks off your bacon and my grandmother always kept a second can for the grease off of her sausages. The grease can be used to make gravy when food gets low, and works for seasoning many vegetable and casserole type dishes. “We children and our dad, L.D. Beene, enjoyed red beans, which was one of our main dishes during that time (the 30's). The other being potatoes, either fried or creamed. For breakfast, we usually had fried dry salt meat (bacon), gravy (cream), biscuits, syrup and oleo (margarine)-which looked like 1 pound of lard but came with a small package of color which was mixed by hand after it was bought. Dad paid 8 - 10 cents a pound for it (the oleo).” Frances McDonald. 8 Water Biscuits by Brenda Beene Roberts 2 cups warm water 2 cups all purpose flour, sifted 1 Tbsp. baking powder ½ tsp. salt Mix all ingredients together until firm dough ball is formed. Pour out onto floured baking sheet. Knead, turning dough over once or twice. Pat out to ½-inch thickness, cut with desired size circular dough cutter. Place onto greased bread pan (deeper than a cookie sheet, but wider than a loaf pan), turning once to grease both sides. Bake at 350-400 F degree oven until light brown and cooked to desired texture inside (about 25 -30 minutes). * My family was poor; we took a small can (tuna or soup), washed it well and opened the bottom with a bottle open that had a pointed side. That was our biscuit cutter. 9 Iced Tea Lewis D. (Grandpaw) Beene 8 small or 4 large tea bags 2 quarts boiling water 1 cup sugar or artificial sweetener specially made for using by the cup. If you want to use the individual packets, do not sweeten the whole jar, just sweeten it one glass at a time. Boil water. Remove from heat. Place tea bags in water to sit for 30 minutes. Pour over sugar. Stir. Pour over ice in a tall glass. Serve with lemon or orange slice if desired. *For a slightly different taste, use flavored tea added to regular orange pekoe/black tea. Depending on the amount of flavor you wish to add, substitute 2 small, flavored and 6 small, regular, or replace one large with 2 small, flavored tea bags. 10