On the Horizon Archives - Page 2 of 31

Moco Loco

January 27, 2023 By Morgan

From Nic in the Gallery-

Moco Loco is one of my favorite work week meals. It’s a Hawaiian dish that consists of a hamburger served over rice and is topped with brown gravy, a fried egg and plenty of sliced green onions. It is a comforting, filling, and savory dish that feels familiar, but is definitely out of the ordinary.

If I was going to make a small portion of it, my favorite Coyote piece the Mini-Savory Pie Dish could get the job done, but I highly recommend making more Moco Loco than a single serving. The Clay Coyote Cazuela or Large Skillet would be perfect for the job.

My go to recipe for Moco Loco comes from Chef John and his Foodwishes Youtube channel.

Here is the recipe from Chef John for making two servings: (I double this to serve two very hungry people or two people with left overs for lunch the next day)

Ingredients:

2 ground beef patties
1 pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 ½ cups beef stock
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons ketchup
2 teaspoons white sugar (Optional)
2 drops sesame oil, or to taste
2 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided
2 tablespoons minced green onions, white and light green parts only
2 eggs
2 cups hot cooked white rice

Season your hamburger patties with salt, pepper and cayenne, set them aside.
Whisk together (a Whiskey bowl would work great) soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, corn starch, ketchup, sesame oil, beef stock and sugar and set aside.
Melt some butter in your Large Skillet or Cazuela and cook your beef patties, halfway through cooking them add the sliced green onions, let them brown a bit, once they burgers are done, remove them and most of the green onions and set them aside.
Pour your wet mixture (step 3) into your pan and deglaze all that yummy goodness. Stir and scrap your mixture until a gravy forms, then put it on low heat, just to keep it warm.
Add butter to another pan (your time to shine Mini-Savory or Small Skillet!) and cook your eggs. I highly recommend a runny yoke that you can break into.
Divide your hot cooked rice into two portions and put into Bowls. Put a hamburger over each portion of rice, then top that with a fried egg, gravy and green onions. (I sprinkle a little more cayenne on top).

I hope you give this Hawaiian dish a try, it really is more then its individual parts.

-Nic

[VIDEO] Morgan makes Chicken Stir Fry Pita on WGN-Chicago

January 24, 2023 By Morgan

Thirty years ago, the Clay Coyote was started in a basement in New Lenox, Illinois in 1992.

At that time, Tom was making pots for fun and the basement was becoming overloaded. So Betsy signed them up for the Frankfurt Fall Fest. It was their first foray into selling Clay Coyote pottery.

Betsy and Tom were working at Baker’s Square and pottery was their nights and weekend gig. I was a feisty teenager and helped with shows on the weekend.

In 1994, they decided to make a go of selling pottery full time and we moved (me, mom, Tom, my little brother Josh, and the cats) from our home in Illinois to the farm North of Hutchinson.

We talk alot about those first days, selling pots on-the-honor-system out of the little pump house. I still have the Showroom sign hanging in the Studio today.

Now, 30 years later, the Clay Coyote has grown and reaches people all over the world.

Growing up, we were still very much a Baker’s Square family. When we’d go mom and I would split a Stir Fry Pita and fries so that we’d have room for pie (my favorite was Key Lime when it was in season, or French Apple year-round).

These days there are less Baker’s Squares out there (although you can still get the pies at famous Dave’s BBQ restaurants).

I still love the Stir Fry Pita, so I’ve been trying to recreate it in my home kitchen for years.

To celebrate our 30 years, we were invited down to Chicago’s own WGN to make our Stir Fry Pita live on air.

WGN chicago green room, before Morgan from the Clay Coyote went on live photo of bozo the clown and harry caray

It was a little bit of a “going home” … While Minnesota is our home I was born in Illinois and grew up watching WGN. I was overcome with emotions sitting in the green room waiting to go on next to a picture of Harry Caray (holy cow, amiright!?!?!) and Bozo the Clown.

Little side note about Bozo, apparently he was a franchise character and there were many Bozos all over the country on different networks (mind blown).

Anyways, it was a bit of a dream come true to go on WGN and share the Clay Coyote Story. Here’s the clip for your enjoyment.

Recipe: Chicken Stir Fry Pita

Sauce Ingredients:
2 cups soy sauce
¾ cup sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp garlic minced
1 tbsp ginger grated
¼ cup sesame seeds toasted
¼ cup sesame oil
¼ cup onion dried, minced
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in water

Stirfry Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil (or other vegetable oil)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken (breast or tenders), cut into thin strips
1 bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
2 carrots, julienned
½ cup green sugar snap pea pods
1 cup broccoli, cut into small pieces

Pita Ingredients:
4 Pita
8 Slices Swiss Cheese
1 tbsp sesame seeds toasted

Make the Sauce (should be made at least a day in advance):
In a saucepan combine everything except the cornstarch in a saucepan and whisk, cook over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes until sugars are dissolved. Combine cornstarch and water to make a slurry paste. Add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan, this will thicken without adding flavor. Cool and refrigerate, overnight preferable.

Make the Stirfry:
Once your oil is hot, add the chicken to the pan to saute until the chicken is white but slightly translucent. Remove chicken. Add in chopped vegetables and saute over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until they begin to soften. Add the chicken back in along with about 1/2 cup of sauce. Cover and simmer until chicken is completely cooked.

Assemble:
Pile swiss cheese on a pita, then add a heaping scoop of the Stirfry, sprinkle with a little more sesame seeds, and close. Serve warm.

Egg Strata in a Cazuela

December 3, 2022 By Morgan

I share this recipe verbally almost daily at the Gallery. It’s from Smitten Kitchen, via my mother-in-law, and modified with local ingredients. I used our Clay Coyote Flameware Cazuela so I could start it on the stove and finish it in the oven.

Egg Strata

8-10 eggs beaten
½ cup milk or cream
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 cups day old bread, cubed
½ onion, diced
8 oz frozen spinach, drained
(optional) 8 oz shredded cheese, any kind
(optional) 1 cup meat (bacon, ham, or sausage)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Saute onions and spinach in oil. Beat eggs, milk, mustard, and salt/pepper. Spread cubed bread out, spread spinach and onion, and pour egg mixture over.

I normally make it the day ahead, then the morning I’m going to bake it I take it out of the fridge for about an hour to let it come to room temperature. That gives the custard a great place to start in the oven.

Bake for 60-75 minutes in a 350ºF oven. The top will be lightly browned and when jiggled and the middle doesn’t move a lot. Remove from the oven and let it set for at least 10 minutes.

Our Commitment to the Environment

November 26, 2022 By Morgan

We take our commitment to the environment very seriously at the Clay Coyote, and we’re always looking for ways to improve and be more environmentally thoughtful.

When you order from us we use environmentally friendly packing materials whenever possible. For example, 95% of our peanuts are biodegradable, decompose in water leaving no toxic waste, and are FDA compliant. We specifically purchase them for that reason. The other 5% are reused from other shipments we receive, our own version of recycling through multi-use.

We’ve tried a paper cushion, to replace peanuts, but we found that the paper cushion offers less shock absorption and significantly more breakage, resulting in a greater carbon footprint – remaking, repackaging, and redelivering. For example, the year before switching to the biodegradable peanuts, we had 35 UPS claims for broken products, the next year we had 1.

And, all of the paper used in our packing is recycled from our local newspaper company.

Finally, over the last several years we have doubled down on our commitment to the environment and instituted many new green initiatives at our small company.

We reduced our energy usage by 94% shifting from halogen to LED lighting.
We also began using load management with our local power company so that we’re not using electricity in high-volume times.

We take our responsibility to protect the environment very seriously and we’ll be sure to update you when we make changes to strengthen that commitment. Make sure to keep an eye on our blog here and follow us on Instagram here to stay up to date!

I hope that you’ll consider supporting our small business in the future.

Small Business Saturday: Shop The Block Downtown Hutchinson

November 22, 2022 By Morgan

In 2010 Small Business Saturday was founded to encourage holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local. Since then it has grown to be a day where people get out to #shopsmall and support their favorite locally-owned businesses.

In Hutchinson, our Chamber of Commerce and Hutchinson Ambassadors groups don red elf outfits and bring joy and thanks to customers who are visiting locally-owned small businesses.

This year, they’ll be hosting a ping-pong hunt in Library Square Park, all the balls correlate to prize packs of gift cards and grand prizes from local establishments. The Hunt will take place at 10am on Saturday, November 26th. And then the elfs will go out into the community serendipitously handing out gift cards and prizes to unsuspecting shoppers.

At the Clay Coyote we will be offering 15% off our pottery (in store only).

We also hope that while you’re visiting us you stop by some of our neighbors and shop the block!

We love these small shops that are all within one block of the Clay Coyote (there is plenty of free street parking):

Quilt Haven on Main: Known as one of the 10 ten quilt shops in the USA (according to Better Homes and Garden Magazine).
Olita (gift shop): Owner Jill and her daughter design leather goods and offer many different gifts from local jewelry, drink mixes, candles, and a little kids section.
Let It Grow (plant shop): New in 2022, it’s like you stepped into the tropics or the plant shop in Little Shop of Horrors (but without Audrey 2). The team will help even the worst gardner (ah hem) find a plant to bring green joy.
BG Jewelry: A new locally owned jewlery store, ask Brian to find or create just the right peice.
Purse-a-nalities (women’s boutique): I was looking for a top recently, she talked me into three. You’ll love their scarves too!
Carly’s Shoes: I recently described this shoe shop as old fashioned like when you were a kid and got your feet measured on the silver slider tray … and I meant it in the very nicest way. I love the you can get great customer service, find the right fit, while buying quality shoes.
Crow River Floral: When I need flowers I call Jeanie and her team. Their flowers are fresh and last longer than anywhere else. They also have a ton of holiday decor and inspiration.
Hutchinson Center for the Arts: Check out their new exhbit, Inspired by Nature: Relief Prints by Glenna Olson, and their small retail gallery too. Sign up to take their Relief Printmaking Workshop in January!
Auxiliary Thrift Shop: This is a thrifter’s dream. All volunteer run, the proceeds go back into the community to the Hutchinson Health Foundation to help with improvements to Hutchinson Health.
Amazing Grace (women’s boutique): On-trend clothing and fun seasonal accessories.
By Mae (clothing and housewares): One of the only plus sized clothing boutiques in Minnesota. Shop owner Emily tells me that it’s so hard for women to find plus sized clothing online because you really need to try it on. She’s got you covered.
Main Street Antiques: Stalls and stalls and stalls of everything you’ve ever wanted. Make sure you go upstairs where the furniture is and stop into the coin shop in the back.

Need a little sustenance after all that shopping? Hutchinson is full many wonderful local places to enjoy a meal. These are all near us in Downtown:

Dunn Brother’s (coffee and light fare)
Sonora’s Mexican (lunch and dinner)
River House Kitchen & Drinks (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Flank Steakhouse (lunch and dinner)
Main Street Sports Bar (lunch and dinner)
Muddy Cow (lunch and dinner)
DQ (ice cream and grill)

Venture out a little further to a few of our favorite local haunts:

Bobbing Bobber Brewery
Crow River Winery
Jomas Hill Winery