Monday, July 7, 2014

Ham and Sausage Jambalaya

This is a great Creole jambalaya recipe.  It's from the New Orleans cuisine cookbook La Bouche Creole by Leon E. Soniat, Jr.  This cookbook is a fun read too.  He tells stories of growing up in New Orleans and shares family recipes (pp. 119-120):

Milneburg was the "good time" recreation spot for hundreds of New Orleans families.  While many families would spend time at the camps during the week, it was on weekends that all merriment would break loose.  Early on Saturday mornings the intensity of the celebrating could be forecast by the cases of "home brew" and kegs of beer that were carried along the boardwalk and into the camps--when the foam began to flow, music was needed.  Usually, most of the camps had a battered old piano in good enough shape to beat out a few tunes, but musicians were also imported from the city.  These musicians were naturals.  They were blacks who usually had battered old instruments and no training, but who put their souls into their work.  Most of the time the combos were made up of a piano player, a banjo player, and either a clarinet or a cornet player.  The real fancy outfits would have the aforementioned four pieces, plus a trombone and a brass horn.

The music would begin on Saturday evenings.  The bands played far into the night and half of Sunday.  Everybody danced the two-step, and the music fit it perfectly.  The tunes?  Well,, as I said before, these musicians played by ear and the only melodies they knew were the old spirituals.  What better jazz tune could be found?  As this was repeated year after year, the music developed into Dixieland Jazz, with "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" and "Milneburg Joys" becoming the classics in the jazz bands' repertoire.  But the good time would close about Sunday afternoon.  A big dinner was served, and then it was time to pack up and get aboard Smoky Mary and head for home.

One of the great dishes we usually had on Sunday was JAMBALAYA.  Jambalaya meant "cleaning up the kitchen" with ham, sausage, chicken, shrimp crab, or anything that was handy.  My favorite was a ham and sausage jambalaya the Mamete would fix.

She would use the large (about 10-quart) black iron pot.  First, she would slice, in about 1/2-inch pieces, about 1-1/2 pounds of some good hot sausage.  In 3 tablespoons of oil, she would fry the sausage until it was brown.  A pound of ham went in next.  The ham was diced and sauteed with the sausage and stirred every now and then while she chopped 4 onions, 2 bell peppers, and 4 or 5 ribs of celery.  This was added to the pot and allowed to cook until the vegetables were tender.  

A large can of tomatoes (or if we had the fresh kind, 4 tomatoes chopped) were added to the pot and cooked a few minutes more.  Also, she added 6 cups of stock, brought it to a boil, and let it simmer for 30 minutes.  While the pot was simmering 4 cloves of garlic were chopped and added, along with 4 bay leaves, 1/4 teaspoon each of powdered cloves and allspice, 1 sprig of thyme (or she used 1/2 teaspoon powdered thyme), 1 teaspoon chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste.  Both black and cayenne pepper were used, so the jambalaya was "piquante," or very hot!

Then she added 4 cups of raw rice.  The jambalaya was brought to a boil and allowed to cook for about 3 minutes, and then the heat was turned very low and the pot covered.  After about 15 minutes of cooking, the cover was removed and the mixture was stirred.  If the jambalaya seemed dry, more liquid was added.  The cover was put back on to cook the mixture for about another 15 to 20 minutes.  One bunch of green onions was chopped rather finely and added to the jambalaya during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

The jambalaya was removed from the heat, allowed to set for 5 minutes, fluffed up with a fork, and then served to hungry campers.  This served from eight to ten.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Garden Fresh Bruschetta

What do you do with all the wonderfully delicious summer tomatoes?  Make bruschetta!  This is not my recipe.  It was created by Holly at SpendWithPennies.com.  It's easy and DELICIOUS!

20-24 oz. fresh tomatoes (4-5 roma tomatoes or 3-4 regular tomatoes), diced small
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh basil chopped fine
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper (or to taste)
1 baguette
Olive oil & fresh garlic for toasting

1.  Mix all ingredients and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.
2.  Slice the baguette, brush with olive oil and lightly toast.  Rub each toasted slice baguette with a clove of garlic.
3.  Top with Brushetta

Baked Potato Salad

Do you ever get tired of the same recipe?  Sometimes I just want a change.  Several years ago I tried baking the potatoes before making my potato salad.  I had a lot of compliments.  If you like a creamy potato salad, this is not the recipe for you, but if you like firm potatoes, you'll love this change.

Simply cut your potatoes and put on a baking sheet sprayed with Pam.  Salt and pepper as desired.  Bake at 350 degrees until done.

Add your regular ingredients.  I like sweet pickle relish (with some added Bread & Butter Pickles), chopped onion, boiled eggs, mayo, green olives, and a touch of sour cream.

Serve alongside your favorite Independence Day meat--pulled pork, ribs, or hamburgers.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Red Cinnamon Cucumber Pickles


We've had a seemingly wetter summer than normal, so there are a lot of overgrown cucumbers in everyone's gardens.  You can't really make pickles and most people don't like them in their salads, so everyone scrambles to figure out what to do with them.  Mom decided she would make some Red Cinnamon Cucumber Rings and boy are they are delicious!  It takes several days, so it is a true labor of love, but they are WELL WORTH IT. 


Red Cinnamon Cucumber Pickles
Large, over-ripe cucumbers
1 cup pickling lime
1 gallon + 1 pint (18 cups) water

Peel and de-seed cucumbers and slice into 1/2-inch rings (approx. 1 gallon).  Mix together pickling lime and water.  Pour over cucumbers and let stand for 24 hours.  DO NOT USE AN ALUMINUM PAN because the lime will cause it to pit.  Drain and discard pickling lime mixture and rinse and soak cucumbers several times in water to remove lime.  Let stand in cold water for 3 hours and drain.

1 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon alum
1/2 bottle red food coloring

Place cucumbers in a large pot.  Mix vinegar, alum, and food coloring and pour over cucumbers.  Add enough water to cover.  Simmer for 3 hours.  When cool enough, drain and discard liquid.

1-1/2 cups white vinegar
15 ounces red hot candies
1-1/2 cups water
6 sticks cinnamon
7-1/2 cups sugar

Combine ingredients in sauce pan and heat until candy is melted.  Bring to a boil.  Pour mixture over cucumbers and let stand 24 hours.  Do this every day for three days:  drain and retain the syrup; reheat and bring syrup to a boil; pour back over cucumbers; let stand 24 hours.

On the 4th day, sterilize canning jars.  Drain the syrup and reheat.  Place the cucumber slices in pint-size jars.  Once the syrup is reheated, pour into jars, being careful not to get any liquid on the rim.  Cap with sterilized canning lids and rings.  Process jars of cucumber slices for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath unless the lids are self-sealing.  If they are self-sealing, leave on counter overnight to seal. 

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Garden Vegetable Soup

I stopped by a fruit stand earlier this week to check out the strawberries.  I walked out with a cart load of fresh fruit and vegetables -- mangoes, avocados, squash, zucchini, corn, onions, and tomatoes.  I'm so ready for summer.  The mangoes have been great for breakfast and the tomatoes are fantastic with a little salt and pepper, but what to do with the other veggies.  After the long week centered around the events in Boston, I needed some comfort food -- soup.  I created this recipe several years ago when we had a garden, so I pulled it out, made a few changes, and the rest is history.

I like easy and this is.  It's made in layers and from the moment the carrots and celery go in, there is a wonderful aroma that permeates the kitchen.

Garden Vegetable Soup

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
3 stalks of celery, sliced (including leaves)
3 carrots, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
2-3 sweet peppers (I used several sweet salad peppers)
2 zucchini, sliced
3 yellow squash, sliced
3 tomatoes, diced
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. sweet basil
4 c. vegetable broth (or whatever broth you prefer)

Begin by heating the olive oil and garlic in a 5-6 quart pot over low heat.  Spread carrots and celery over the bottom,  Add a layer of onion, then peppers, then zucchini, then squash, and finally tomatoes.  (Of course you can add whatever else you'd like.  I had some leftover corn and beans, so they went in too.)  Sprinkle veggies with seasonings and cover.    Do not stir.  Cook covered, over low to medium heat for 20 minutes or until the vegetables start releasing their liquid.  Do not remove the cover for at least 10 minutes.  After 20 minutes, add vegetable broth and return to a low boil, stirring as needed.  Cook until tender, not mushy.

Olive oil and garlic

Celery and carrots

Onions

Sweet peppers

Squash and zucchini

Tomatoes

Mmmmm ... good.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Cock Of The Walk Pickled Onion Rings

There was a restaurant in Mobile called the Cock of the Walk.  It had some of the best skillet cornbread and pickled onion rings.  They closed down several years ago and I've missed them.  I took to craving the pickled onions and decided I'd check the Internet for a recipe and, lo and behold, there I found it.  I made them this weekend and they're delicious.

2 cups cider vinegar
4 teaspoons of salt
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
4 cups of sliced sweet onions

Combine all except onions in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Drop in onion slices and turn off heat.  Let cool and then refrigerate.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Fresh Tomato Tart

I love summer tomatoes, fresh tomato sandwiches, and fresh tomato tarts.  I bought two tomato plants this year and have gotten several tomatoes from them.  I love this recipe.  it comes from the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi's cookbook.



Basic pastry dough
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
4-5 ripe tomatoes, cut into slices
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line 10" tart pan with pastry dough (or use pie shells).  Spread bottom of pastry with cheese and sprinkle with basil (may use dried).  Cover with tomato slices, arranging to cover as evenly as possible.  Sprinkle tomatoes with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake for 30-40 minutes.  Garnish with fresh chopped basil.  Slice in wedges and serve at room temperature.