Kay Wheeler Moore

Welcome to my blog

Hello. . .

The Newfangled Country Gardener is for anyone who has a garden, would like to have a garden, or who simply enjoys eating the garden-fresh way. I don't claim to be an expert; in this blog I'm simply sharing some of the experiences my husband and I have in preparing food that is home-grown.

About the author

Kay Wheeler Moore is the author of a new cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden, that features six generations of recipes that call for ingredients that are fresh from the garden. With home gardening surging in popularity as frugal people become more resourceful, this recipe collection and the stories that accompany it ideally will inspire others to cook the garden-fresh way and to preserve their own family food stories as well. The stories in this book center around the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls (Kay's mother and aunts) who grew up in Delta County, TX, with their own backyard garden so lavish that they felt as though they were royalty after their Mama wielded her kitchen magic on all that was homegrown. Introduced in Kay's previous book, Way Back in the Country, the lively Miller Girls again draw readers into their growing-up world, in which a stringent economic era--not unlike today's tight times--saw people turn to the earth to put food on the table for their loved ones. The rollicking yarns (all with recipes attached) have love, family, and faith as common denominators and show how food evocatively bonds us to our life experiences.

Monday, October 31, 2011

An enticing brew of Turnip Greens Stew goes with the Halloween season

Halloween just feels as though it should call for a big, bubbling pot of stew. My mother always believed a wee trick-or-treater should have something warm in the belly before venturing out door-to-door.

An enticing brew of Turnip Greens Stew made the Southern Living September 2011 pages in the article about lightened-up Southern favorites. It stated that lean ham and fat-free broth offer the same good flavor as the original, heavier Southern staple but without the saturated fat. The beans boost the fiber content.

This turned out to be as tasty as can be. We had just brought in a new crop, from our garden, of our own green and red Bell peppers. These fresh-from-the-garden additions added to the flavor.

Our in-town grandmunchkin momentarily was due for trick-or-treat (a day early), so in advance of that, we enjoyed this hearty Halloween meal even though we weren’t the ones going door-to-door.

Turnip Greens Stew

2 cups chopped cooked ham (I used the lower-sodium variety)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cups fat-free chicken broth (I used the lower-sodium variety)
2 (16-ounce) packages frozen chopped turnip greens (could also use fresh)
2 (15.5-ounce) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups diced onion, red and green Bell peppers, and celery (can use the frozen, packaged
variety or a combination of whatever fresh you have on hand)
1 teaspoon sugar (or sugar substitute)
1 teaspoon seasoned pepper

Sauté ham in hot oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add broth and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil Cover; reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally for 25 minutes. Makes about 10 cups stew.


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