Here is another family tradition that we have added this year.  This will be made around Thanksgiving and will get better each year.  Although this year was pretty darn good.

Joe David was home for Thanksgiving and helped make the sausage.  We had a wonderful time making homemade sausage and it turned out so delicious.  Very time consuming and don’t expect to eat right away!  You’re supposed to refrigerate overnight before you cook, but we just couldn’t wait, so we cooked some up and ate around 11:30pm…not a real good idea to eat sausage before you go to bed.

You can download and print a copy of the sausage recipe, just click on the title hyperlink below:

Real Texas Homemade Sausage

Ingredients

4 lbs Pork Shoulder Roast
1 lb Pork Fat
¼ cup Kosher Salt
⅓ cup Sugar
⅛ cup toasted Fennel Seeds
1 ½ teaspoons cracked Black Pepper
½ teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1 cup fresh Parsley, minced
1 head Garlic, peeled and chopped
¾ cup Sherry
¼ cup Sherry Vinegar
1 package Hog Casings

*I use my KitchenAid with Meat Grinder and Sausage Stuffer attachments.

Directions

Watch the How to Make Sausage and a Real Texas Sausage Recipe and see how much fun we had!

Freeze your pork roast, then remove from the freezer. Place a bowl in another bowl that contains ice and a little water. This will keep the top bowl cold as you add your pork roast pieces. Place your meat grinder and another bowl into the freezer. All equipment needs to be kept cold during the process.

When the pork is almost thawed, you can start to work with it. Slice the pork roast into 1” chunks and place in the bowl that is in the ice water.

Slice the pork fat into ½” chunks and place into the bowl with the sliced pork. Add the toasted fennel seed, cracked pepper, nutmeg, garlic, parsley, sugar and kosher salt and mix. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place the mixture in the freezer for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, add Sherry and Sherry vinegar, stir and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Rinse the hog casings in warm water. Soak in a bowl of warm water for 30 minutes.

Remove the meat mixture, extra bowl, grinder equipment from the freezer and attach to the KitchenAid. Run the meat mixture through the meat grinder using the course disc, starting with speed 1 and progressing to speed 2 on the KitchenAid. Push the meat mixture through the grinder. You will want to move quickly, not letting the meat get warm. Place the ground meat into a bowl that fits the KitchenAid and put into the freezer while you clean the KitchenAid and place the dough hook on the Kitchen Aid.

Take the meat out of the freezer. Place the splash guard on the bowl and turn the KitchenAid onto level 1.

Slowly add the sherry mixture to the meat. After the sherry has been added, remove the splash guard. Using a spoon scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure that the mixture is mixed thoroughly.

Place the Sausage Stuffer attachment onto the KitchenAid. Rub olive oil onto the spout of the sausage stuffer, this will allow the hog casing to slide easier onto the spout. Carefully slide the entire hog casing onto the spout of the sausage stuffer. Once at the end of the hog casing, pull some off the spout to tie a knot in the end. Slide the hog casing back onto the spout just until the knot is at the end.

The hog casing could develop an air bubble. Using a safety pin (Sanitize the safety pin) carefully pierce the hog casing releasing the air.

Feed the sausage into the top of the sausage stuffer, while holding the hog casing. Use your hand to evenly distribute the sausage in the hog casing.

Coil the sausage onto the countertop. Use pressure in your hands as you are allowing the sausage to fill the casing. Squeeze the sausage to form an even width.

At the end of the casing, remove the casing from the spout and tie a knot in the end.

Place the coiled sausage on a plate and put into the refrigerator. Continue this process until all the sausage is used.

To make links, uncoil the sausage. Measure approximately 6”, squeeze the casing to pinch off the sausage and twist the casing two or three times. Continue making the links to the end. Coil again and place on the plate and refrigerate overnight.

To cut the links, twist the links several times to make the twist tight. Using scissors cut in the middle of the twist and it will seal the sausage end.

In the comment section, please let us know what your favorite sausage recipes are….we might publish in our Real Texas Recipes Book!

Real Texas Christmas tradition

We talked some about Texas traditions here last week.  Someone reminded me I didn’t show anything about making Christmas tamales this year.  Well, shame on me, I did write something, just got busy and forgot to put it up.  Here it is:

Every family has their own Christmas traditions and here at Sherwood Ranch, we are no different.  One of our Christmas traditions is not anything unusual out here in Real Texas.  We make several dozens of tamales every year about this time.  We give some to family and friends, we save some to eat throughout the year, and we have a meal or two ourselves during the holidays.

This year, our friends Sam and Sheila Douglas and Richard Boggs came to help us out. Ramona had already prepared the meat and this year she really added the ‘hot’  to it by using the extra hot chili peppers she gets at the store.  Next year, we’re going back to merely hot-tamales.

My experience with tamales goes back to childhood, but we never made our own.  We would buy them from the Catholic church ladies, the Apostolic church ladies, or just from ladies who would make them to earn extra money.  They cost anywhere from $6 to $10 a dozen.

Our tamales cost anywhere from $10 to $15 a dozen depending on if I get my beer, a must-have ingredient, on sale at the store.  Just kidding-sort of.  That’s an  expense the church ladies don’t seem to have.

One Christmas season, it took son Joe David Werst and I so long to make the tamales that I barely remembered making them the next day.  Of course that was back when we were using a spoon to spread the masa on the corn husk.  Nowadays, Ramona uses a super-duper masa spreader and it significantly cuts down  the amount of time it takes to spread the masa and the entire process of making the tamales.  It also cuts down on the beer bill.

This year after we finished making tamales we went down the creek a few miles to Sam and Sheila’s place on the Spring Creek and sat out in a cold mist near a campfire-pit he had built.  We were joined on that cold evening by Pam and T. Gozney Thornton.  We all made smores by roasting our marshmallows over the fire and enjoyed some good visiting and Christmas cheer.

Those are the sort of activities that make for the best Christmas memories.

Good times with friends and family out in Real Texas, wherever you find it, is hard to beat.

Here is a video of making Christmas tamales  this year with a link to the recipes if you want to try it for yourself.

Merry Christmas…even if it is way after the fact.

Merry Christmas!

This year’s holiday recipe is a unique recipe.

You can easily just make the Real Texas Jalapeño Peanut Brittle, but if you are willing to take just an extra creative step, you can make my Real Texas Jalapeño Peanut Brittle Bacon Cookies!  They are really delicious!

To download the recipes and print them out, please click on the title hyperlinks below:

Real Texas Jalapeño Peanut Brittle

Ingredients

½ cup fresh Jalapeño Peppers, seeded and finely chopped
¼ cup Light Corn Syrup
1 ¼ cup Sugar
1 cup Roasted Cajun Peanuts (or any Peanuts)
2 tablespoons Butter, divided
¼ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
¼ teaspoon Almond extract
½ teaspoon Baking Soda

Directions

Melt 1 portion of butter in a heavy skillet. Sauté Jalapeños until soft. Add peanuts and continue to sauté for a few moments longer to fuse the flavors. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine sugar and light corn syrup in a saucepan. Over medium high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a boil. The sugar should be desolved.

Turn down the heat to medium high and add the Jalepeño mixture. Place the candy thermometer on the side of the saucepan. Bring mixture to a soft crackle. You do not need to stir much.

Spray a cookie sheet with Pam or any oil.

Add remaining butter, vanilla and almond extract and stir until the butter is melted.

Add the baking soda and stir until it turns foamy.

Spread hot mixture onto the greased cookie sheet in a thin layer.

Let it sit until the peanut brittle is hard and is cool enough to handle.

Once cooled, lift from cookie sheet and break into nice pieces. They don’t have to be too big and will break in all different sizes and shapes!

Real Texas Jalapeño Peanut Brittle Bacon Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup Butter, softened
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
½ cup Peanut Butter
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1 ½ cups Bacon, crispy and in ¼” pieces
1 cup Real Texas Jalapeño Peanut Brittle, small ¼” chunks

Directions

Break up the Real Texas Jalapeño Peanut Brittle into ¼” pieces.

Cut bacon into ¼” pieces and fry until crispy in a skillet over medium high heat. Remove from the skillet onto a paper towel to drain.

Blend the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time and mix. Add peanut butter and mix. Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the egg mixture a cup at a time, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl. Fold in the bacon and peanut brittle pieces.

Drop spoonful’s onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake in a 350 F degree preheated oven for approximately 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove cookie sheet from oven and cool.

Made in Texas Pecan Pie

And speaking of Texas Holidays (as discussed in the last post here on Real Texas Blog), it should be pointed out that more than likely, the very first Thanksgiving was celebrated in Texas.  That’s right and it is not just an idle claim:  History records that in 1541 the Spanish explorer Coronado paused for thanksgiving. On Ascension Thursday, surrounded by friendly Indians, Coronado’s expedition celebrated a Eucharistic Thanksgiving at daybreak in spectacular Palo Duro Canyon in West Texas.

Thanksgiving as a national U.S. holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.  It was designated Thanksgiving Day by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941.  Of course we all know that Thanksgiving as a celebration originated in Plymouth Colony back in the days of the Pilgrims in 1621.

Ranking right up there with Turkey and dressing and cranberry sauce is Pecan Pie, my personal favorite.  After all, Pecan Pie made with the state recognized pecan from the official state tree is All Texan.

And also ranking right in there among grandma’s homemade Pecan Pie is Goode Company’s Made in Texas Brazos Bottom Pecan Pie.

The good news is that  it is also a “grandma’ originated recipe that was taken nationally by the good folks at Goode Company.  They have been using Grandma Goode’s recipe since they opened for business in 1977.  They still make each one by hand using farm fresh eggs and the greatest tasting Texas Pecans.

Goode Company sent me a pie and their marketing technique worked.  They sent me the Brazos Bottom Pecan Pie in hopes of receiving a positive review and that I would recommend to my blog readers that they all order a pie in time for Thanksgiving.  Of course they had no way of knowing I am actually a well-known connoisseur of Texas Made Pecan Pies and can smell the difference between a merely good one from a great on a mile away.  Up until now, the best pecan pie I had ever tasted came from a little old farmer friend of mine named Frank in Seminole, Texas.  That has all changed.  My new favorite is Goode Company’s Brazos Bottom Pie.

If you do order a great tasting Brazos Bottom Pecan Pie from Goode Company, it will arrive in a custom made wooden box that has “Made in Texas” stamped all the way around it.

On the cover of the box there is also one of the best quotes I have ever heard….”You Might Give some serious thought to thanking your lucky stars you’re in Texas.”

My sentiments exactly.  And you can order your very own Great Tasting Goode Company Brazos Bottom Pecan Pie by clicking here and going to their website.  Of course they also have brisket, sausage, ribs, and plenty of other tasty items you can order just in time for the holidays.  No, I don’t receive any monetary gain from recommending this great pie.  All I got was a sample pie….and that was enough to turn me into a customer for life!

I’m David out in Real Texas

It’s my newest Thanksgiving ‘Goode Company’ tradition

Here’s a Thanksgiving recipe!  This Deviled Pecan Honey Cornbread Dressing with Ruby Jewel Sweet Red Corn is so moist and sweet and it will turn into family recipe quickly!

Colorful Harvest was designed to be a cutting edge produce company with one foot in tradition and one foot in innovation.  A special variety of sweet red corn was the first to be tested.  Ruby Jewel Sweet Red Corn has jewel like red kernels that got their color from naturally high levels of an antioxidant called anthocyanins.  This unique corn is tender, sweet and delicious.

I make the Real Texas Honey Cornbread and then add all the special ingredients and it turns out perfect.

You can download a full version of the recipe. Just click on the title hyperlink below:

Deviled Pecan Honey Cornbread Dressing with Ruby Jewel Sweet Red Corn

Ingredients

Honey Cornbread

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 cups Yellow Cornmeal
1/2 cup Sugar
2 tablespoons Baking Powder
2 cups heavy Cream
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/2 cup Honey
4 Eggs, lightly beaten

Deviled Pecans

2 cups Pecans, chopped
1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
1/4 teaspoon Cumin Powder
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1 tablespoon Ancho Chili Powder
1/4 cup Turbinado Sugar
2 Egg Whites beaten to soft peaks

Dressing

3 cups Ruby Jewel Sweet Red Corn, (divided 2 cups and 1 cup for garnish)
2 cups Honey Cornbread, crumbled
1/2 cup Butter, melted
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Egg, beaten
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 cup milk

Directions

Making the Real Texas Honey Cornbread

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 13″ x 9″ baking pan.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, and baking powder.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the cream, oil, honey and eggs; stir to combine.

Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out clean.

Once the Real Texas Honey Cornbread is cooled, crumble 2 cups and set aside.  Store the remaining cornbread to enjoy at another time.  (I cut into individual pieces and freeze.)

Deviled Pecans

In a bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Fold in onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, tabasco sauce, cumin powder, kosher salt, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, ancho chile powder, and turbinado sugar.  Fold in the pecans.

Spread the coated pecans onto a foil lined cooking sheet. Bake at 325F degrees for approximately 3 minutes or until are a toasted color. Remove from the foil and place in a bowl.  Set aside.

Dressing

Remove the husks and silk from the corn. Using a sharp knife, cut as close to the cob to remove the corn kernels.

In a large bowl, combine onions, cream of mushroom soup, milk, melted butter and slightly beaten egg mix together. Add the Ruby Jewel Sweet Red Corn, deviled pecans, salt and pepper and stir. Add the crumbled cornbread. Using your hands, mix thoroughly. Add chicken broth to make mixture moist.

Scoop dressing into a greased glass pan.  Don’t mash, just loosely arrange in pan. Sprinkle reserved Ruby Jewel Sweet Red Corn on top of the dressing.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350F degrees, for approximately 30 – 40 minutes, or until the edges and top are golden.

You are in for a Real Texas treat!  The Real Texas Honey Cornbread is already moist and sweet, but when you add Ruby Jewel Sweet Red Corn from Colorful Harvest, the Cornbread is so sweet, I’m not sure if you will want to serve it as a bread or as a dessert!

Colorful Harvest sponsored this delicious recipe, and I know when you make this, that it will be a regular recipe that you will make for your family and friends.

You can download and print out a full version of the recipe, just click on the title hyperlink below:

Real Texas Jalapeño Cornbread with Ruby Jewel Sweet Red Corn

Ingredients

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 cups Yellow Cornmeal
1/2 cup Sugar
2 tablespoons Baking Powder
2 cups Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/2 cup Honey
4 Eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup Jalapeño Cheese
3 cups Ruby Jewel Sweet Red Corn, (divided 2 cups and 1 cup)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Lightly grease 13” x 9” baking dish.

Remove the husks and silk from the Ruby Jewel Sweet Red Corn. With a sharp knife cut very close to the cob and remove all of the kernels from the cob into a bowl.

In a bowl add flour, cornmeal, sugar, and baking powder. Mix together with a fork and make a well in the center.

Add the cream, oil, honey, and eggs. Mix well. Fold in 2 cups of the Ruby Jewel Sweet Red Corn and then fold in the Jalapeño cheese.

Pour batter into a greased glass pan and sprinkle the remaining Ruby Jewel Sweet Red Corn on top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 400F degrees for approximately 20 minutes. Or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted comes out clean.

This is a recipe with a Real Texas twist.

In stead of an Italian sauce, the spices and black olives in the sauce makes it a Tex-Mex sauce.  Replacing the Lasagna noodles with corn tortillas is another twist.

You can download and print full version of the recipe by clicking on the hyperlink title:

Real Texas Lasagna

Ingredients

3 lbs Roma Tomatoes, Diced
1 large + 1/2 sweet Texas Onion, chopped (divided)
3 – 4 cloves fresh Garlic, minced
4 – 6 roasted Chili Peppers, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 bottle Heinz Chili Sauce
1 can Black Olives, sliced
1 package Corn tortillas
1 cup Olive Oil
2 – 3 fresh Jalapenos, minced
2 lbs Hamburger Meat
2 8oz package Cheddar Cheese, shredded (reserve 1/2 cup for top)
1 16oz container Cottage Cheese
2 Eggs, beaten

Directions

Making the Tomato Sauce

Add tomatoes to a heavy pan and bring them to a boil. Add fresh chopped onion, fresh minced garlic, and roasted chili peppers. You can use mild, medium or extremely hot chili peppers.

Add pepper, kosher salt. Simmer at medium until it is thickened. Add Heinz chili sauce, and a little water just to rinse the bottle. Stir in sliced black olives. Cook for about 15 minutes on low and bubbles just a little bit.

Frying the Corn Tortillas

Heat olive oil and fry the corn tortillas; not all the way to crisp and crunchy just a little bit cooked. Then fry a few all the way to crunchy, they’ll be on top for garnished.Transfer to a paper towel to let drain.

Cut the softened corn tortillas in thirds and break the crunchier ones into small pieces. Set aside to garnishing the top.

 Browning Hamburger

Heat a little of the Olive Oil in a skillet. Add onions and fresh minced jalapeños. Sauté until onions are translucent. Add the ground hamburger and brown. Set aside.

Cheese Mixture

Mix the shredded cheese, cottage cheese, slightly beaten eggs. Set aside.

Layering the Lasagna

Place a layer of ground beef on the bottom of a greased glass pan. Spread cheese mixture over the ground beef. Spoon a layer of tomato mixture over the cheese. Top with a layer of the fried tortilla chips.

Start the process all over again. Layer with the rest of the meat, rest of the cheese and tomatoes.

Layer one more time with fried tortillas. Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over the top. Sprinkle the crunchy tortilla chips to garnish.

Bake in oven at 350F degrees until heated all the way through. Approximately 45 minutes to an hour.

A Real Texas 4th of July

In most of Texas there was a ban on selling, purchasing, and shooting off fireworks.  We have been in a severe drought and simply can’t take the chance of another wildfire. But there are certain areas that could still hold the firework shows, such as out in the middle of a lake.  That’s where  we were at one of the most spectacular fireworks shows ever!

We had enjoyed a great event earlier in the day that was also unique.  It was a British-American July 4th party.  It was at the home of a retired military officer and his British born wife.  They are truly a wonderful couple and we are glad they include us among their friends.

Later on the evening of the 4th, David and I were invited to our friends Tamera and Gary Laney’s lake house to watch the fireworks and listen to some fantastic music.  When you are invited to a singer/songwriter’s event, make sure you go, it’s a real treat.

Ramona Werst, Tamera Laney and Pam Thornton 'Creating Moaning Tamelas or Pamaras'

The evening started off with Tamera Laney, Pam Thornton and myself in the kitchen creating the most delicious stuffed Jalapenos.  Here’s the recipe:

First you start off by mixing a frozen Margarita and then you start gathering your supplies and ingredients. We created the name of the dish: ‘Moaning Tamelas’ or ‘Moaning Pamaras’.  Here’s the way we created the name.  We each needed our name to be in the title, and had to shorten our names.  Mine we started out with Mona, then went to Moaning because if you eat too many Jalapenos, this is what you’ll do! Then you can pick either name you like…Tamelas (Tam for Tamera and elas for Pamela) or Pamaras (Pam for Pamela and aras for Tamera) You can apply this same creativity when you write songs too…start by mixing a frozen Margarita…they make  everything more fun!

Moaning Tamelas or Pamaras

Ingredients

70 nice fat Jalapenos (cut in half lengthwise leaving the top and stem attached, and seeded)
1 big block Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1/2 big bag Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 can crushed Pineapple
1 cup imitation Bacon Bits
Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning, to taste

Directions

You’ll notice in the picture that I am wearing plastic bags on my hands.  I have learned not to work with Jalapenos without gloves…remember I said you start off by having a frozen Margarita…. We couldn’t find the gloves, so we improvised with plastic bags.

Slice the Jalapenos in half lengthwise, leaving the tops and the stems attached. Be very careful while using a knife with the plastic bags. Using your thumbnail through the plastic bag, scrap out all the seeds. Don’t poke a hole in the bag or you’ll be sorry later.

Next you need to make the cheese stuffing mixture.  After a sip of a Margarita… This will take 2 people, one to mix the cheeses and one to add the ingredients.  The cheese on your hands makes it very hard to carefully add the other ingredients.  After adding the rest of the ingredients to the cheeses, and mixing thoroughly, you will all need to taste.  The seasoning and bacon bits need to be just right.  You might want to cleanse your palette before you taste with a good sip of Margarita.  After you taste another sip of Margarita to help wash down the cheese.

Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.

Spread foil over a cookie sheet and as you stuff the Jalapeno halves, spread out in a single layer on the cookie sheet.

Using your fingers scoop some cheese mixture and stuff into the Jalapeno half.  Don’t overfill too much, just stuff and make a little mound on top. Once all the Jalapenos are stuffed, wash your hands and toast with your Margarita’s for a job well done.

Place cookie sheet in the oven for approximately 20 minutes to cook the jalapenos.  Then, turn oven on to High Broil and broil for 2 minutes or until the cheese is golden.

Serve hot, but warn your guest that the cheese is very hot so they don’t burn their mouths.  Great with Margaritas!

After making and serving the ‘Moaning Tamelas or Pamaras’ it was dark and the fireworks were starting.

We all sat in our lawn chairs and ooohhh’d and aaaawww’d at the fireworks while listening to T. Gozney Thornton sing ‘Necesito Nada Mas’.  You can see the fireworks and listen to ‘Necesito Nada Mas’ too.

After the fireworks what better way to end the evening by sitting around listening to all the wonderful singer/songwriters showcase their songs.

We had a wonderful time with our friends and made lots of new friends too!

Necisito Nada Mas.  We needed nothing else…..we had it all!  It’s a great song to lift your spirits.

Happy 4th to your family as well and God Bless our troops.

During Football season, I like to come up with recipes that are easy to make and will go great with ice cold beer.  We love to sit in front of our large screen TV, drink beer, eat and yell at the TV!

This recipe is like a bigger nacho dish.  It’s a complete meal and goes so well with ice cold beer.  You can make before the game and hold off until half time to bake…they’ll be ready just in time for the 3rd quarter.

You can download and print a full version of the recipe, just click on the title below, it’s hyperlinked:

Real Texas Torta with Cheese

Ingredients

1 cup Green Chilies, mild, diced drained
3/4 cup Sallions, chopped
1/2 tablespoon Cumin, ground
24 Corn Tortillas
1 1/2 cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded
3 cups Jack Hot Pepper Cheese, shredded
2 pounds Beef, shredded (or hamburger meat)
2 cups Refried Beans
3/4 cup Tomatoes, diced

Garnish

Mexican Cream
Homemade Picante Sauce
Guacamole

Directions

Making the Scallion Mixture

Combine green chilis and chopped scallions in a bowl.  Add ground cumin. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees.

Layer 1

Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray the bottom with olive oil. Layer in a single layer corn tortillas on the cookie sheet.  Sprinkle the green chili and scallion mixture on the corn tortillas. Make sure the mixture stays within the edges of the corn tortillas. Sprinkle Jack Cheese on top of the green chili mixture. Keep it close to the center of the corn tortilla.

Layer 2

Place another layer of corn tortilla on top. Add the meat mixture on top of this layer of corn tortillas.Sprinkle just a little bit of cheese on top of the meat mixture.

Layer 3

Spread refried beans on corn tortillas and place on top of the cheese and meat mixture. Sprinkle a layer of cheddar cheese. Press down firmly to flatten.

Layer 4

Place 1 more layer of corn tortilla on top of refried bean layer and press down firmly to flatten the layers evenly. Spread a layer of tomatoes just on the center of the corn tortilla. Sprinkle some cheese on the tomatoes. When the cheese melts, it holds the tomatoes in place.

Place in the preheated oven at 375F degrees for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and heated all the way through.

Remove the baked Real Texas Tortas with cheese from the oven.

Garnish with Mexican cream. Drizzle just a little bit of homemade Picante sauce. On the side place add a spoonful of Guacamole.

I remember when I was a child, coming home from school to the wonderful aroma of my Mom’s Pot Roast.  I couldn’t believe she was at work all day, and cooked all day.  It was magic!

We’d sit down at the table and mom would place a platter in the center of the table.  It looked like a picture out of a magazine.  The Pot Roast was so juicy with potatoes and carrots all around the plate.  You didn’t need a knife to cut the Pot Roast, it fell apart with your fork.  It was so delicious and the juice over the potatoes was just an extra treat.

You can download and print the full recipe, just click on the title hyperlink:

Mom’s Pot Roast

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 – 3 pound boneless Shoulder Roast
1 package Dry Onion Soup Mix
2 fresh Jalapeños, seeded and halved
1/2 package baby Carrots
3 – 4 Potatoes

Directions

Pour olive oil in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Don’t trim the fat from the roast, because it makes it really tender. Place roast in the bottom of the slow cooker.

The secret ingredient: Dry Onion Soup Mix. Sprinkle Dry Onion Soup Mix over the entire roast.

Cut the fresh Jalapeños in half and remove the seeds. Place the Jalapeños on top of the roast.

Cut potatoes. Keep your chunks very large. Smaller chunks will overcook. Place potato chunks around the edge of the roast. Get them close to the heat source and to the roast because the fat from the roast will make potatoes moist and juicy.

Spread baby carrots on top of the roast and around the sides.

Turn the slow cooker on high for 1/2 hour. Turn down to medium and cook for 3 to 4 hours. To test, stick a fork into the meat; the meat will start to fall apart.

Variation:  Turn slow cooker on high for an hour and turn it down to low. Cook for 6 to 8 hours.