Wheat Buns for Ag Day

National Ag Day is today (March 21) part of a week-long celebration to raise awareness of where our food comes from and appreciation for the ranchers and farmers who produce it. Yesterday was also the first day of spring. What a perfect day to make homemade hamburger buns and sloppy joes, using two of our Kansas agriculture products that our farm/ranch produces.

Kansas is a leader in the production of wheat, grain sorghum, and beef. Our farm is involved in all three. Beef is our primary product and one we take pride in. Beef from our ranch goes through many hands before it gets to the supermarket. From our cow-calf operation, the calves go to a finishing feedlot, then to a packer, and on to a wholesaler before being presented to the consumer as steaks, roasts and hamburgers. The beef we eat at home has a more direct route, it never leaves the ranch until it goes to the locker plant. We enjoy the high quality protein that our beef provides for tasty and nutritious meals. We also produce wheat, some of which is fed to cattle in a ground feed mixture; but most of the wheat is sold by the semi-truck load to be processed and milled for the flour we buy at the grocery store.
Greenwood County is a large county, comprised of 1152 square miles. Of that area, 95% is agriculture land; 80% of which is pasture. There are over 500 farms and ranches in our county, with many more cattle than people. We love our Flint Hills and wide open spaces!

The hamburger buns were quick to put together in a food processor and we could make any size. With my pint-sized helper we made a smaller one for her. The recipe is from the Kansas Wheat Commission. The sloppy joe recipe is featured in the Kansas Day column from earlier this year, at the right.

Lunch on the deck - a perfect First Day of Spring.
Notice the little hand with a sloppy joe bun just her size! 

QUICK BURGER BUNS

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour (may be part whole wheat)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 package quick-rise yeast

3 tablespoons margarine, cut into pieces

1 cup warm water (90 degrees)

Instructions:

1.     In food processor bowl with dough blade in place, combine for 10 seconds the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and margarine.

2.     Begin processing on high speed, pouring 1 cup warm water steadily through tube. When dough forms a ball, stop adding water. Entire 1 cup may not be needed Process an additional 60 seconds to knead the dough.

3.     Take dough out, knead a few strokes to form a smooth ball, cover and let rest 15 minutes. Grease cookie sheet. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and shape into buns. Let rest 5 minutes and flatten slightly. Cover; let rise in a warm place (90 degrees) until double.

4.     Bake in preheated 400 degree oven 12 to 15 minutes.

dough is ready to rest

buns are ready to rise and bake

ready to enjoy....

Deer Hunt to Shrimp Dinner

Not the deer that netted the shrimp, but a photo of what we might
see in Greenwood County. 

Who would think that a deer hunt would produce a dinner of Shrimp Gumbo? That's what happened when we allowed a hunter from Louisiana to hunt on our property. (We only allow a few bow hunters, those the Rancher thinks can respect the property and the deer). After a successful hunting trip, the hunter returned to pick up his blind from where he watched for deer and brought us some bags of frozen Louisiana shrimp. This is a real treat, we've only had shrimp that was purchased from the store or served at a restaurant.
After searching and considering recipes, I decided a Shrimp Gumbo would be good on a cold damp winter day. Maybe we can pretend we are in the sunny south! This recipe is from Betty Crocker, but I've made some changes, adding more veggies and different seasoning. We enjoyed it over brown rice and it was both warming and filling.

Shrimp Gumbo         

Ingredients:

¼ cup butter or margarine

1 large onion, sliced

1 medium green bell pepper, cut into thin strips

2 cups sliced celery

2 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups beef broth

2 dashes red pepper sauce

1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 box (10 oz.) frozen cut okra, thawed and drained

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pound uncooked peeled and deveined medium shrimp, thawed if frozen and tails peeled

3 cups hot cooked rice

Directions:

In a 4-quart Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onions, ball pepper, celery, and garlic in butter 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly , until bubbly; remove from heat.

Stir in remaining ingredients except shrimp and rice. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir shrimp into gumbo. Cover and simmer about 5 minutes or until shrimp are pink and firm. Serve soup in bowls over rice.