Patricia Zinn

Patricia Zinn eats a lot of Mexican food. Living in Texas from 1987 until 2012, she learned to eat more spicy food. She liked it and began to cook that way.
However, she says the hottest food she’s ever eaten was some boiled crawfish cooked by her brother, Steve Turner.
Patricia likes chicken and makes King Ranch Chicken a lot, using Doritos, Rotel tomatoes,  cream of chicken soup, Velveeta cheese and green chiles.

She and a friend “picked apart the pieces” to figure out how to make a bean soup they once ate at a restaurant. The closest they could come was undrained Pinto beans, bacon, onion and seasonings to which she sometimes adds beef or chicken broth. She likes to serve the soup with   King Ranch casserole or fajitas.
Her son, Rob Benz’s favorite dish is her Carne Asada, and daughter, Maggie Dunegan made up the roasted poblano casserole recipe.

Patricia shares recipes on Facebook that she thinks look good, and she likes to watch Ree Drummond on cooking shows.
She has a ton of cookbooks and all of her mother-in-law, Faye Zinn’s recipes, and Maggie uses some of those. Included in Mrs. Faye’s recipes is a 1965 Merry Christmas Cookbook that Patricia brought in. Flipping through the book, some eye-catching recipes were for Milky Way Cake, Baby Ruth Cookies, Kris Kringle Cookies, Golden Budge Fudge, and the Green and Gold Casserole.

Patricia learned about cooking from her mother, Audrey Cook, and her mother-in-law, saying that she started with vegetables and cornbread, fish and deer. She will sometimes make a dessert and take it over to her mother’s, who told her earlier she was “about to make squash puppies.”

“My dressing tastes like Gordon’s (her late step-father),”  who learned from his mother, Lucy.
“Lucy used to make things like ham and egg pie, caramel pie, and good chicken and dumplings.” said Patricia.
“At Christmas, Gordon would start all the dinner and some of the rest of the family would help him finish up. The boys always brought a ham and a turkey. He made wonderful candied sweet potatoes, but mine don’t taste like his,” said Patricia. She laughed saying they almost had a disaster last Christmas because no one brought the stuffed eggs.

“And Gordon made the best tomato soup,” she said.
Besides the bean soup and tomato soup, another that she says is “the best soup” calls for a can of tomato, chicken and rice and minestrone soup, an onion, and ground beef.
Carne Asada Marinade
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup malt vinegar (any vinegar is fine in a pinch!)
1/3 cup lime juice or lemon juice
1/3 cup orange juice
1 cup water
2 Tbsp. peeled fresh garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. ground white pepper
1 1/2 Tbsps. salt
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. Mexican oregano
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 orange, sliced
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
5-6 pounds skirt steak
Combine all ingredients in large bowl and whisk to combine. Place meat in gallon sized freezer bag,  bottom of shallow baking dish, or  non-reactive (plastic or glass) storage container with lid. Pour carne asada marinade on top of meat, cover dish or close bag, and marinate overnight up to 48 hours in refrigerator. May grill or slow cook meat. Grill until just cooked through (rare to medium rare.) Cut cooked meat into strips OR after marinating 1-2 days, place and marinade in slow cooker 10-12 hours on low. Meat should be extra tender and can be shredded with fork. Place meat and favorite toppings (salsa, cheese, guacamole, avocado slices, tomatoes, shredded cabbage, grilled sweet peppers, etc.) in tortilla to make into tacos or burritos OR serve over rice for carne asada bowl.

Roasted Poblano Casserole
4-6 Poblano peppers
1 package Chihuahua cheese
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
Taco seasoning
Roast poblano peppers under broiler until black and bubbling, then peel. Cut into strips. Brown ground beef and chopped onion together, season with taco seasoning, drain off fat. Spray casserole dish with cooking spray, layer pepper strips in bottom. Pour ground beef mixture over pepper strips. Top with grated or thinly sliced Chihuahua cheese, then put in 350° oven. Warm until heated through and cheese is bubbly and melted. Serve alone or with tortillas.

Easy & Creamy Peach Cheesecake
2-8 oz. blocks cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 box (3 oz.) Jello peach flavored gelatin
1/3 cup vanilla flavored dry coffee creamer
1 container (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1-9” graham cracker crumb crust
Place cream cheese in large mixing bowl. Mix well with electric mixer. Add sugar, peach gelatin and coffee  creamer. Mix well. Add whipped topping and mix until well combined. Spread mixture into pie crust. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before slicing and serving.

Western Omelet
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. Essence
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
Pinch cayenne
4 tsp. butter
1/4 cup chopped ham
1/4 cup minced cheddar
2 Tbsp. minced onions
1 Tbsp. minced bell pepper
1 Tbsp. minced green chilies
1 Tbsp. sour cream
2 Tbsp. chopped green onions
Whisk Essence with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. In skillet melt butter and add eggs. Sprinkle in ham, cheese, onions, peppers, chilies and sour cream. Shake pan to loosen eggs at edge. Fold over. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. cheese and green onions.

Green and Gold Casserole
(Faye Zinn’s Merry Christmas Cookbook)
1pkg. frozen spinach
6 slices bread, buttered
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. prepared mustard
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tbsp. minced onion
1 cup grated cheese
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Line casserole with half the buttered bread, buttered side down. Cut part of the bread in half and place around side of dish. Put half of thawed spinach, broken in pieces, over bread. Sprinkle half grated cheese over spinach. Sprinkle half onion over this. Place second layer of bread, spinach, cheese and onion. Mix other ingredients and pour over top of casserole. Bake one hour at 350°.