Chicken and Sausage Gumbo from the Daring Cooks

When I was in Tennessee last year, I bought a whole pantry full of southern ingredients.  I have hardly used them!  This is a great challenge.  I can finally use my gumbo filé.  I also used Tony Cacheres Creole seasoning mix rather than make my own.  I also cut the entire recipe in half!  It is a huge recipe and could easily feed a crowd for a party.

This is so delicious.  I know you will take one look at this recipe and say, "Nope. Too much work."

It is worth every hour.  If you keep homemade chicken stock and rendered duck fat in your freezer, there, it is half done!  I used what I had at hand.  There is no andouille sausage in my town so I used chorizo.  Smoked spicy sausage was substituted with double smoked pepperoni.  For the rice, I used basmati.  But you must remember that basmati is so delicate and cooks quickly.  Take the lid off after 12 minutes and let the moisture escape.

I used a large cast iron pan but you could easily use a cast iron casserole. 

The most fun was to make the roux.  I remember when I was a child that my mother would make gravy and start with a roux of fat and flour that she would cook until it was a nice colour.  This just takes that browning a little farther.

Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo

Minimally adapted from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh
Serves 6

Ingredients
1/2 cup rendered duck fat
1/2 cup flour
1/2 large onions, diced
1 chicken (3 ½ to 4 lbs.), cut into 10 pieces
1 tablespoon Basic Creole Spices (recipe follows), or store-bought Creole spice blend

1/2 pound spicy smoked sausage, sliced ½ inch thick
2 stalks celery, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 tablespoons of homemade tomato sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 quart homemade duck stock
1 bay leaf
6 ounces andouille sausage, chopped
1 cup sliced okra, ½ -inch thick slices (or frozen, if fresh is not available)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Filé powder, to taste
Tabasco, to taste
4-6 cups  cooked Basic Louisiana White Rice (recipe follows)

Season the chicken pieces with about 2 tablespoons of the Creole Spices while you prepare the vegetables.

Make sure all of your vegetables are cut, diced, chopped, minced and ready to go before beginning the roux. You must stand at the stove and stir the roux continuously to prevent it from burning.

In a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, heat the duck fat over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot oil – it will start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to moderate, and continue whisking until the roux becomes deep brown in color, about 15 minutes.

Add the onions. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the onions into the roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue stirring until the roux becomes a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes.

Add the chicken to the pot; raise the heat to moderate, and cook, turning the pieces until slightly browned, about 10 minutes.

Add the sliced smoked sausage and stir for about a minute.

Add the celery, bell peppers, tomato, and garlic, and continue stirring for about 3 minutes.

Add the thyme, chicken stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, skimming off the fat from the surface of the gumbo every so often.

Add the chopped andouille, okra, and Worcestershire. Season with salt and pepper, several dashes of filé powder, and Tabasco, all to taste.

Simmer for another 45 minutes, continuing to skim the fat from the surface of the gumbo. Remove the bay leaves and serve in bowls over rice. Pass more filé powder at the table if desired.

Basic Louisiana White Rice

Adapted from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh
Servings: About 4 cups


1 tablespoon chicken fat, extra-virgin olive oil, or butter
1 small onion, minced
1½ cups  Louisiana (or another long-grain white rice)
3 cups  Basic Chicken Stock
1 bay leaf
1-2 pinches salt


1. Put the fat, oil, or butter and the onions into a medium saucepan and sweat the onions over moderate heat until they are translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Pour the rice into the pan and stir for 2 minutes.
3. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
4. Add the bay leaf and salt.
5. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 18 minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the heat, fluff the rice with a fork, and serve.

Basic Creole Spices

From My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh
Makes ½ cup


2 tablespoons celery salt
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon ground allspice


Mix together all spices in a bowl. Transfer the spices to a clean container with a tight-fitting lid. Store up to six months.

Hummingbird Cake

It is my Aunt Agnes' 80th birthday this weekend.  She is a very special aunt and spent a lot of time with me as a young girl.  My own mother was not well so she was always there to step in and help us.  

Her children are planning a tea.  This is a very small town Saskatchewan thing to do.  I love it!  I will be able to visit with all of my cousins, aunts and uncles at the same time without driving all over.  


As a birthday present I am baking a cake.  Can you think of a better birthday gift?  And, can you ever have too many birthday cakes?

My inspiration for this cake comes from my house sit experience in Tennessee last year.  It is a very Southern cake.  They love their layer cakes in the South.  I heard about this cake but had never tasted it and I really wanted to try it.

 

Hummingbird Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple, well drained
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 cups chopped firm ripe banana

 Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 pounds confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°. Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon together into mixing bowl several times. Add eggs and salad oil to the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until ingredients are moistened. Stir in vanilla, pineapple and 1 cup pecans. Stir in the bananas. Spoon the batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes,or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
Combine cream cheese and butter; cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar, beating with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.
Frost the tops of all 3 layers, stack and then frost sides. Sprinkle top evenly with the 1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans.

April Daring Cooks Challenge - Brunswick Stew

I drove through Georgia en route to my cooking class in Orlando last October.  The drive through Atlanta was grueling, to say the least.  It was raining buckets and the traffic was going 70mph on all 6 lanes.  A tad stressful.

I was so glad to have that part of the trip behind me.  I spent that night in Macon, Georgia.  THE place to eat in Macon is H&H Cafeteria.  Even Oprah has eaten there.  But it is not open in the evening, drat.  So I went looking for another spot to eat. 

I ended up in a mall at a little fantastic barbecue place.  One of the sides included with my meal was Brunswick Stew.  I had never heard of it until then.  It was so good!  I ate the entire cupful.  When I returned to my hotel, I asked the staff what was in the stew.  No one knew for sure, but they thought some nasty cuts of the animal were in it.  The original stew used squirrel.  Well, needless to say I didn’t eat it again.

So here we are with the April challenge with The Daring Cooks – Brunswick Stew!  This may look complicated but I had most items on hand, either in the freezer or cold room.  And best of all, I learned that this stew is just chicken or chicken and rabbit.

I eventually used two heavy bottomed pots to cook the stew and then poured it all into a large stockpot to mix the whole amount together.  It makes a lot!  It could easily serve 14-16 people, so make it when the family comes over.  I served it to a group of 8 and they ate the whole thing!  I am still in awe of their healthy appetites!  I guess that tells you it was 'good'! 

I served it with cornbread and you can find the recipe here.  My group ate so much, so fast that I really don't have any good pictures!  You will just have to take my word...it was fantastic.

I didn't try freezing it, but I think it would be better fresh.

The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den.  She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew.  Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.

Brunswick Stew has a long, and oft debated history. Brunswick, Georgia claimed that the first Brunswick Stew was created there in 1898. There is, at the Golden Isles Welcome Center on Interstate 95, a bronzed stew pot with a plaque proclaiming this fact.

However, Brunswick, Virginia claims that the first Brunswick Stew was created there by a camp cook named Jimmy Matthews in 1828, for a hunting expedition led by Dr. Creed Haskings, a member of the Virginia State Legislature for a number of years. He was said to have used squirrel in the original Brunswick Stew created for the group when they returned. The hunters were at first skeptical of the thick, hearty concoction, but upon tasting it, were convinced and asked for more.

Every October in Georgia, there is an Annual Brunswick Stew Cookoff that pits ‘Stewmasters’ from both Virgina and Georgia against each other.

In the early 20th century, the rivalry of the two Brunswicks helped make this dish as popular as it is today, and it quickly became a Southern classic.

Most agree that Brunswick stew is not done properly “until the paddle stands up in the middle.”

Brunswick Stew                    from “The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-Be Southerners” by Matt Lee and Ted Lee

Serves about 12

1/4 lb slab bacon, rough diced

2 Serrano, Thai or other dried red chiles, stems trimmed, sliced, seeded, flattened

1lb rabbit, quartered, skinned

1 4-5lb chicken, quartered, skinned, and most of the fat removed

1 Tablespoon sea salt for seasoning, plus extra to taste

8-12 cups chicken broth

2 bay leaves

2 large celery stalks, left whole or cut to fit the pot

2lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, or other waxy type potatoes, peeled, rough diced

1 ½ cups carrots (about 5 small carrots), chopped

3 ½ cups onion (about 4 medium onions) chopped

2 cups fresh corn kernels, cut from the cob (about 4 ears)

3 cups butterbeans, preferably fresh (1 ¼ lbs) or defrosted frozen

1 35oz can whole, peeled tomatoes, drained

¼ cup red wine vinegar

Juice of 2 lemons

Tabasco sauce to taste

In the largest heavy bottomed pot you have, preferably a 10-12 qt or even a Dutch Oven if you’re lucky enough to have one, fry the bacon over medium-high heat until it just starts to crisp. Transfer to a large bowl, and set aside. Reserve most of the bacon fat in your pan, and with the pan on the burner, add in the chiles. Toast the chiles until they just start to smell good, or make your nose tingle, about a minute tops. Remove to bowl with the bacon.

Season liberally both sides of the rabbit and chicken pieces with sea salt and pepper. Place the rabbit pieces in the pot and sear all sides possible. You just want to brown them, not cook them completely. Remove to bowl with bacon and chiles, add more bacon fat if needed, or olive oil, or other oil of your choice, then add in chicken pieces, again, browning all sides nicely. Remember not to crowd your pieces, especially if you have a narrow bottomed pot. Put the chicken in the bowl with the bacon, chiles and rabbit. Set it aside.

Add 2 cups of your chicken broth or stock, if you prefer, to the pan and basically deglaze the pan, making sure to get all the goodness cooked onto the bottom. The stock will become a nice rich dark color and start smelling good. Bring it up to a boil and let it boil away until reduced by at least half. Add your remaining stock, the bay leaves, celery, potatoes, chicken, rabbit, bacon, chiles and any liquid that may have gathered at the bottom of the bowl they were resting in. Bring the pot back up to a low boil/high simmer, over medium/high heat. Reduce heat to low and cover, remember to stir every 15 minutes, give or take, to thoroughly meld the flavors. Simmer, on low, for approximately 1 ½ hours. Taste the stock, according to the recipe, it “should taste like the best chicken soup you’ve ever had”.

With a pair of tongs, remove the chicken and rabbit pieces to a colander over the bowl you used earlier. Be careful, as by this time, the meats will be very tender and may start falling apart. Remove the bay leaf, celery, chiles, bacon and discard.

After you’ve allowed the meat to cool enough to handle, carefully remove all the meat from the bones, shredding it as you go. Return the meat to the pot, throwing away the bones. Add in your carrots, and stir gently, allowing it to come back to a slow simmer. Simmer gently, uncovered, for at least 25 minutes, or until the carrots have started to soften.

Add in your onion, butterbeans, corn and tomatoes. As you add the tomatoes, crush them. Simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring every so often until the stew has reduced slightly, and onions, corn and butterbeans are tender. Remove from heat and add in vinegar, lemon juice, stir to blend in well. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce if desired.

You can either serve immediately or refrigerate for 24 hours, which makes the flavors meld more and makes the overall stew even better. Serve hot, either on its own, or with a side of corn bread, over steamed white rice, with any braised greens as a side.

Sunday Chicken Broth

From “The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-Be Southerners” by Matt Lee and Ted Lee

Makes about 1 quart (4 cups or 919.68 grams or 32.303 oz)

Estimated Time- 1 ¼ hours

Bones and trimmings, but not giblets, of one 3 ½- 4 ½ chicken, or  approx. 2 cups chicken bones and trimmings

1 large onion, trimmed, peeled, quartered

6 large stems fresh flat leaf parsley

1 stalk celery, cut into 2” lengths

2 large bay leaves

5 cups cold water

1 cup crisp dry white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

Place bones/trimmings in medium stockpot and add onion, parsley, celery and bay leaves. Add wine and water, liquid should cover all ingredients, if not, add more until it does. Bring to vigorous simmer over high heat, then reduce heat and simmer gently for roughly 45 minutes to an hour, skimming any scum or fat that comes to the surface.

Strain broth into bowl through fine mesh strainer. Discard the solids. Measure what you are left with, if not planning to further reduce, then salt and pepper to taste.

Store in tightly sealed container in refrigerator until the remaining fat congeals on the top. Remove the fat, and unless not using within 2 days, keep tightly sealed in the refrigerator. Otherwise, freeze, and it will keep for upwards of a month.

Tennessee-isms

Apple Stack Cake from my neighbour, Ersie.  This is a traditional Appalachian cake.  She made it just for me!

Apple Stack Cakes were an Appalachian wedding cake.  Wedding cakes were expensive so friends of the bride would each bring one layer.  The brides family would make the dried apple filling and they would put it together for the wedding.  The taller the cake, the more popular the girl.


Well, this is my last day!  I am anxious to get home to Canada but I will miss my new friends here in Tennessee.  I have some 'saved' blog items that will come on in the next few days, but unless I find a restaurant worth sharing or an interesting roadside site, you won't hear from me for awhile due to the drive home.

It has been a journey of learning a new culture.  Not only am in a different country, but I am in a very distinct culture within that country.  I look back and laugh at the misunderstandings I have had due to the accent and vocabulary. 

The latest experience with not understanding what was being said to me was the evening I went to an Italian restaurant here in Maryville.  The waitress asked if I would like garlic nuts.  By now I know I cannot trust anything I hear but, what the hay, sure I'll have some garlic nuts.  Finally, a second person asked if I would like garlic nuts.  Sure!  I'm sure you know the results - I was served garlic knots.  I think it was pizza dough made into knots and slathered in butter and garlic.

I have been introduced to 'shoepay corn' which of course, was shoepeg corn (of which I never heard of before), fried okra and collards.   I was at a B&B and there was a 'pahsef' in my bathroom for storage.  Did you guess it?  It was a pie safe - the olden cupboard for storing pies.

I am still not a sweet tea addict.  I really would like to know how to make it but they can't seem to pass it on to me.  The recipe is, well, in their bones.  How can they explain it to me?

Barbecue is not grilling.  Biscuits don't tower high.  Ham is served for Christmas.  The trinity is not always holy.  And gravy isn't always brown.

The Food Channel is dominated by Paula 'butter' Dean, Emeril 'essence' Legasse and The Neely's.

I have been introduced to Hummingbird Cake, stack cake, fried green tomatoes, a kazillion types of bacon and the best smoked hams in the world.

My pantry now includes sorghum, Chesapeake Bay seasoning, White Lily flour, vidalia onion relish, chow chow, pure cane sugar, white and yellow grits, Hatch chiles, Tony Cachere's cajun seasoning, Zatarains Shrimp and Crab boil, Stubbs BBQ Sauce, Slap Ya Momma Cajun seasoning, sourwood honey, and file (pronounced FELA).


I have been to church suppers, Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners, fine dining restaurants, southern buffets and dives.

Bottom line?

I'll miss this place.

This is me with Miss Ruth.  She is 93 years old and still lives alone.  Her son drove down from Atlanta to tour us around Gatlinburg, Cades Cove and Bald River Falls.  Isn't she sweet!

Help Me Add to my Southern Pantry

As much as I am using up everything that is in my kitchen before I go home, I also want to buy a few things to take back with me.  I need your help!

I always shop for food on every vacation, everywhere I go.  This time in the South is no different.  If you have any suggestions, please, oh please!  I would love to hear what I should buy.  I am in Tennessee and will be driving west and north.  I will probably go west approximately through Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico and then north via Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.  I must add that I am only looking for non-perishable items.  Here is my list of take-home food so far:

1.    canned shoepeg corn
2.    sorghum
3.    annato
4.    Chesapeake Bay Style seasoning
5.    two different bags of stone ground yellow corn grits
6.    chestnut paste 'marron glace' from Brasil
7.    Lea & Perrins Thick Worcestershire Sauce
8.    The Old Mill sourwood honey with comb
9.    Demi-Glace de Veau from Williams Sonoma.  W-S doesn''t sell it in Canada
10.  Vidalia Onion Relish
11.  Mild Chow Chow
12.  Blue Corn Meal
13.  French Fried Onions in a can by French's

Braised Duck Legs with Creamy Morbier Grits

When I was in Pigeon Forge, home of Dollywood, I stopped by The Old Mill.  They have a wonderful array of stone ground flours and grits, homemade candies, honey, and jams.  In addition, they sell pottery and have a little restaurant.  Today I am cooking the stone ground yellow grits I bought from their store.

The typical cheese grits uses cheddar but I have Morbier in the fridge.  It will give a nice creaminess.    For that matter, you could make polenta.  It is almost the same thing, just a finer grind on the corn.

Place a braised duck leg on a mound of the creamy grits on each plate.  

Braised Duck Legs with Creamy Morbier Grits                       serves 4

Braised Duck Legs
4 large duck legs* (about 2 3/4 pounds total, cut from two 5 1/2- to 6-pound ducks)
a 750-ml. bottle light fruity red wine such as Pinot Noir (about 3 1/4 cups)
a bouquet garni of 10 lightly crushed juniper berries**, 3 whole cloves, a 4- by 1 inch strip orange zest, and 1 bay leaf tied together in a cheesecloth bag
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
mirepoix made of 1 large carrot, 1 large celery rib, and1 large onion, all cut in 1/4-inch dice
2 large fresh parsley sprigs plus 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves

a beurre manié made by rubbing together 2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Trim excess fat from duck legs. In a large bowl marinate duck legs in wine with bouquet garni, covered and chilled, 2 hours.

Transfer legs to a plate, reserving wine and bouquet garni. In a heavy kettle large enough to hold legs in one layer heat oil over moderately high heat until hot. Pat legs dry with paper towels and season with salt. Cook legs, skin sides down, 20 minutes, or until skin is crisp and mahogany-colored, removing fat from kettle as it rendered with a metal bulb baster (or very carefully pouring it off). Turn legs and cook until browned on other side, about 2 minutes, transferring as browned to a plate.

Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons fat from kettle and sauté vegetables with salt to taste, stirring occasionally, until tender and lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add duck legs, skin sides up, with parsley sprigs and reserved wine and bouquet garni and simmer, covered, 1 1/2 hours, or until tender. Braised duck legs may be prepared up to this point 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Reheat mixture over low heat, adding 1/3 cup water, before proceeding with duck preparation.

Transfer duck legs to a warm plate and keep warm, covered with foil. Discard parsley sprigs and bouquet garni and strain liquid into a 1-quart measuring cup, reserving vegetables. Let liquid stand until fat rises to top and skim and discard fat. Return liquid to kettle and simmer until reduced to about 2 cups. Add beurre manié, a little at a time, whisking, and boil 2 minutes.

Creamy Morbier Grits

2 cups water
2/3 cup yellow stone-ground grits (not instant grits)
1 egg
1/3 cup light cream
2T unsalted butter (optional), cut into pieces
1/2 c Morbier cheese, cut into small cubes
1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
pepper to taste
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Bring water and salt to a boil in a heavy pot.

Add grits in a slow stream, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and gently simmer, stirring frequently to avoid sticking, until very thick, about 30 minutes. (Use a long-handled spoon to avoid bubbling and popping hot grits.)

Add butter, salt and pepper to taste, and cheese, stirring until butter and cheese are melted. Lightly beat egg and milk in a small bowl, then stir into grits until combined.

Pour into an ungreased loaf pan and bake until set and lightly browned, about 1 hour. Serve immediately.

Cajun Style Corn & Tomato with Fried Okra Warm Salad

 Continuing with my month of salads, I am foraging through my refrigerator.  This recipe assumes a ripe tomato but I only have a green one and  I have a jar of home canned okra.  This salad is a take-off of a popular southern side dish.

The fried okra are like the croutons.  They were great.  Be sure to rinse very well because okra is slimy.  Overall, however, it is not a salad that I would make again.  Is there a rule that we can only post our successes???

 Warm Salad of Cajun-Style Corn and Tomato with Fried Okra               Serves 2

1/2 onion, sliced thin

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil plus additional for frying the okra

1 cups fresh corn kernels including the pulp scraped from the cobs (cut from about 1 ear of corn)

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

1/2 c shredded baked ham

2-3T water

1 c okra, rinsed well, patted dry
1 egg, slightly beaten

cornmeal seasoned with salt and pepper for coating the okra

In a heavy saucepan cook the onion in the butter and 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until it is golden, add the corn, the tomato, shredded ham and water, and cook the mixture, covered, over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.  Season the mixture with salt and pepper and cool to room temperature.

Cut the okra into 1/4-inch-thick slices, dip in beaten egg then in a bowl toss it with the seasoned cornmeal, and shake it in a coarse sieve to remove the excess cornmeal. In a deep skillet heat 1/2 inch of the additional oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking and in it fry the okra in batches for 1 to 2 minutes, or until it is golden, transferring it with a slotted spoon as it is fried to paper towels to drain. Serve the corn mixture topped with the fried okra.  Serve with a biscuit.

Mustard Greens

I have never seen so many cooking greens in a store.  Most places here, in Maryville, will have bundles of collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, kale and spinach and a few more.  The collards come in such a huge bundle that I could never buy them.  The turnip greens didn’t appeal to me.  So I am trying the mustard greens. 

I found an Indian curried recipe with greens and chickpeas, served over rice.  But what I have chosen to make has more of a Southern flair.  Black-eyed peas and greens!

They were delicious!  They didn’t take that long even from scratch but if you are in a hurry, just buy a can of cooked black-eyed peas.  I found the mustard greens to be quite bitter but after a little more cooking than I would normally do, they were just fine.  We usually cook our leafy veggies so the colour is still bright.  I found with the mustard greens tasted better if a little over cooked.

Warm Black-Eyed Peas with Greens

Combine in a large pot:

1 ½ cups dried black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained

1 smoked meaty ham hock

1 small whole white onion

1 small carrot, peeled

1 leafy celery top

1 clove garlic, peeled

1 bay leaf

6 cups water

Bring to a boil.  Turn heat down and simmer, covered, until the peas are tender, about 45 minutes.  Drain and reserve about 1 cup of the liquid.  Discard the ham bone, bay leaf, onion, garlic, and celery.  Return the peas to the pot along with the reserved liquid.  Shred the meat from the ham bone and add the meat to peas.  Cut the carrot into ½ inch pieces and add to the peas.

Stir in:

1 head collard greens, mustard greens, curly endive, escarole or Swiss chard, washed, dried and coarsely chopped, stems removed.

Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the greens are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir in:

 

1 T red wine vinegar

½ t  salt or to taste

¼ t  ground black pepper

Serve warm or at room temperature.  Makes 4 generous servings.

Green Tomato Relish

I just can’t bear to waste anything.  The growing season is over and there are still lots of little green tomatoes on the vine.  Also, lots of little green peppers.  What a stroke of luck to find a recipe for a relish that uses both.

The recipe was intriguing because it uses a step that is also in my tomato salsa recipe.  The finely sliced tomatoes are left to sit for 12 hours with coarse salt.  This draws out the moisture so that the relish won’t be too watery.  When the water is poured off, the salt goes with it.  It is quite the trick.  I tried some of this relish on my roast chicken, prosciutto and cheese sandwich.  It was great!

Green Tomato Relish

1 lb.           green tomatoes, thinly sliced

½               small onion, thinly sliced

Combine in a bowl with 2 T. coarse salt.  Refrigerate for 12 hours.  Drain and rinse.  Combine in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil until sugar dissolves:

1 cup          apple cider vinegar

¾ cup         light brown sugar

Stir in:

1                 green bell pepper, sliced

½                red bell pepper, diced

1                 clove garlic, minced

½ t              dry mustard

½ t              salt

Add the tomatoes and onions and stir together well.  Make a bouquet garni with:

½ t              whole cloves

½ t              ground ginger

½ t              celery seeds

1                 cinnamon stick, broken

Simmer, stirring often, until the tomatoes no longer hold their shape, about 1 hour.  If you would like a thicker relish, remove the lid for the second half of the cooking period.  Remove spice bag and process the relish in a hot water bath while it is still warm or keep in the refrigerator up to one month.

Deep Fried Turkey

I have always heard about deep fried turkey but never had the experience.  Well, I was invited for dinner at the pastor and his wife's home last night and that was on the menu.  It was also their first time to do this.  And, yes, that is rain.  Pouring rain!  I don't know why we were out.  There was flash flooding all over eastern Tennessee.  They have had 46 inches of rain this year, but that is only 9" more than the average.  3" in 24 hours.

They used a pot, like a lobster pot.  Filled it with 4 gallons of canola oil.  Heated it to 325F.  A rod was skewered through the 15 lb. turkey and it was lowered into the oil with another heavy metal hook that looked like a coat hanger.  It bubbled away for 50 minutes at 300-325F,  then we pulled it out.

It was a little overdone but still very juicy, tender and lovely crisp skin.  I think 40 minutes would have been better.  But truly, I think this is a fail safe recipe.  I would also look into brining the turkey before deep frying.  It was worth the effort and a nice alternative to a BBQ.

Muscadine Jelly

Muscadines are a type of grape that grow wild in southeastern USA. The climate is ideal in this part of the country. I found the fruit to be very tart, the skin tough and a lot of seeds. In short, it was too much effort. I would rather eat other grapes.

I bought them at the farmer’s market. To avoid letting them rot in the fridge until I threw them out, I thought perhaps they would make a nice jelly.

Grapes naturally have enough pectin to allow the juice to gel when boiled with sugar. I found a simple recipe online that consisted simply of juice and sugar - 3 parts juice to 2 parts sugar. Boil until you reach the gel stage.

It worked very well. I boiled the muscadines in water to cover. When they were soft and split open, I mashed them and boiled until very soft. I strained the pulp through coffee filters. Then I boiled the syrup with sugar, skimming off scum as it formed. When the syrup came off a spoon in two drops rather than one thin stream, it was ready.

The result was a perfectly clear and robust jelly.

It is very important to allow the juice to drain from the pulp without squeezing. Otherwise a cloudy jelly will be produced. If it is clouded with pulp, then it should not be labeled jelly.

Fried Green Tomatoes

I had to.  I could not be in Tennessee and not try cooking fried green tomatoes.  I have tomatoes fresh from the garden ripening on my windowsill.  How much easier could it be?

I checked www.epicurious.com and The Joy of Cooking.  One uses milk and the other beaten egg for dipping the tomato slices before dusting with cornmeal.  I decided that I like the sound of beaten egg better.  It would be more viscous and allow more cornmeal to adhere.

 This will be my simple dinner this evening.  I have some nice bacon and farm eggs. Sounds like a dinner made in breakfast heaven.  I also have some pineapple tomato salsa.  Perfetto!

I found an interesting bottle of Bock beer in the pantry.  The label says 'smooth with chocolate and coffee undertones'. Sounds perfect.

Well, it was.  I sprinkled kosher salt and pepper on thickly sliced green tomatoes.  Let them sit.  Dipped them in beaten egg and then coated them in cornmeal with smoked hot paprika added.  Fried them in bacon grease.  Yum!  I poached the egg, so I can be forgiven.

Peach Pie

Now say that with a southern accent.  Nuthin' lak peach paa.

South Carolina peaches are at the end of their season and I bought a small basket.  They are the largest peaches I have ever seen.  They are also nice and firm.

This is the Peach Custard Pie recipe from the Joy of Cooking.  I have never thought of custard without milk.  But I guess there is a lot of juice in the peaches.  The recipe was basically egg, sugar, vanilla, butter and flour.  I crushed one cardamom pod and popped the seeds into the mixture.

It was lovely, as you can see.