Month: March 2016

The depression over the departure of our wonderful company still isn’t fading, but we press on.  At least we still have some of the fantastic food they left us to keep the memories fresh…and someone’s dirty boxer shorts.

Anyway, last night the boys and I realized, with horror, that we only had 4 of Chad’s amazing Sheboygan bratwurst left.  As it registered that some of us would only be able to eat 1, while some lucky person would have 2, a stare-down ensued, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the climactic final moments of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.  I had to think fast lest shots start firing.

See, our company also smoked a ham and we had intended to use the 48 slider buns we purchased to civilly eat said ham.  Sadly, the ham was also so delicious that something of a feeding frenzy erupted.  Buns and manners forgotten, we tore into the ham and that was that.

As I stared at my children, wondering how to end the standoff, I spotted the slider buns on the counter behind Daniel and inspiration struck.  What follows is a way to stretch those precious Chad brats, or an easy and delicious meal to end a long day.  The Good and Bad were quite satisfied and cleaned their plates with grins and ketchup on their faces.

The best part?  I have leftovers!

Brat Sliders

Prep & cook time: 5-10 minutes           Serves: 3-6

Ingredients

• 4 large, or 6 small brats, cooked and cut into quarter rounds or bite sized pieces
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 2-4 TBSP butter, or olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dill, fresh or dried
• 12+ slider buns

Optional

• 1/4 cup sauerkraut
• 1/4-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

Directions

1. In a 10-12 inch skillet, saute the onion in the butter or oil on medium high until clear, about 3-5 minutes.
2. Add the brats and dill and heat until warm, about 2 minutes.  Add small bits of butter or oil, as needed, to keep moist.
3. Add the sauerkraut and heat until warm, stirring to prevent sticking.
4. Sprinkle with mozzarella and serve on slider buns topped with ketchup, mustard, etc.

As I mentioned in Thursday’s post, you can’t do gumbo without potato salad, so I aim to keep my promise and share this tasty side.  This is a recipe I picked up from my cousin, Lore, and ran with.  I’ve never had anything as good as hers, but we’re getting closer.

I know the pickle juice sounds strange, but you can substitute with 1 TBSP of white vinegar, if needed.  We “import” the best pickles from Wisconsin and I use every drop of the jar I can.  Actually, our friend Frank brings them down by the case whenever he visits.  God bless him!

I love this potato salad warm, but it’s also wonderful chilled.  This is another recipe I’ve never tried to write down, so play with it as needed.  Just remember that the egg mixture will be greatly toned down when mixed with the potatoes, so don’t be scared of bold flavor.

I am constantly adding to and playing with this recipe.  Luckily, potato salad is very forgiving, so have yourself a little fun.

Potato Salad

Ingredients

• 8 Medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size pieces
• 6-7 medium/large eggs, just hard boiled
• 1/2 cup Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
• 1 & 1/2 TBSP prepared mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp or more Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning
• 1 & 1/2 TBSP dill pickle juice
• dash of dill
• a few drops of vinegar
• 1/2-1 dill pickle, minced

Directions

1. Boil the potatoes until just soft, 12-15 minutes, drain and set aside, keep warm.
2. Cut your hard boiled eggs in half and place the yolks in a medium mixing bowl,

   

   setting the whites aside.  Add the Miracle whip or mayo, mustard, salt, black pepper, Tony’s, pickle juice, dill and vinegar to the yolks and beat with an electric mixer until creamy.  Season to taste, if needed and add the minced dill pickle.

3. Dice or mince the egg whites, putting half in with the potatoes and half into a bowl for later garnish.
4. With a wooden spoon or soft spatula, mix half of the whites and the yolk mixture with the potatoes and stir to coat all potatoes evenly.  Top with extra whites, chopped green onion, yellow onion, chives, paprika, etc.

My Louisiana family may have to unfollow me or unfriend me on Facebook after this one, mostly just because that’s the only title I could come up with.  Everyone who’s tried it, loves my gumbo, but it’s a little different than the traditional.  Mine is a tad thicker, closer to stew, and I cook it longer.  It’s not because I don’t love traditional gumbo, but I have never been able to pull off the right, thin final product.  Gumbo, like chili, is one of those meals that tastes even better the second day.  I have found that cooking it a little longer, you give it that second day flavor.  Over the years my guys and I have really fallen in love with this recipe and even prefer it.

Wanting to share this comfort food with you, last night I did something that I have never even considered doing; I wrote down my gumbo recipe.  It was a huge challenge, and you who also shoot from the hip know, that never making things the same way twice causes a little stress when asked for the recipe.  I think I came up with something and I have to say that it was pretty darn good and right on target.  This isn’t a difficult recipe, but it does require a little work and diligence.  Oh, and it’s mandatory to serve this with fresh made potato salad.  Recipe tomorrow.

A couple of notes: I always thought I hated okra until I stumbled on a way to bake it with salsa, Rotel and Tony’s.  It’s perfect in a gumbo.  Canned okra and tomato variations are available in most grocery stores if you want to it, but it is not necessary in this recipe.

My canned okra

Gumbo file

Additionally, we love gumbo file (pronounced FEE-LAY).  This is simply dried and ground sassafras leaves sprinkled over the gumbo during or after cooking.  So delicious, but also not mandatory.

Finally, though most people will use the fancy smoked sausage, I am partial to the skinless.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the good stuff, but I also love the softer texture and the way the skinless sausage soaks in the flavor.  Any smoked sausage will do however.

Let me know what you guys think!

Gumbo

Prep Time: 15 minutes          Cook Time: 1.5-2 hours          Serves: a small army

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup olive oil (vegetable oil is the traditional oil)
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2-3 chicken breasts, cubed
• 2 lbs smoked sausage, cut into bite size pieces
• 2 + quarts water
• 2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 TBSP Tony Chachere or other creole seasoning
• Cooked white rice

Optional

• Okra
• 1-3 tsp Gumbo file, additional for table use
• A bottle of wine, easily accessible during the first 30 minutes
• An assistant to help stir

Directions

1. In a large black pot (Dutch over) or stock pot, heat the oil and flour on medium high heat, stirring constantly.  Continue to cook and stir for 25-30 minutes, until the roux is the color of coffee with a touch of cream in it (have back up standing by to relieve your sore arm and have your meat and veggies prepped.  Pour a glass of wine).  DO NOT leave the roux unattended as it burns very quickly.  Hence, the constant stirring.
   

   Roux will start this color

   

   This is what your final product should like
2. When the roux is ready, add the chopped onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic.  Stir for 1-2 minutes. 
3. Add the 2 quarts of water, garlic salt, black pepper and creole seasoning and bring to a boil. Continue boiling, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes (Top off your wine and wipe your brow).
4. Add the cubed chicken and reduce heat to medium low.  Simmer for 20 minutes (Top off your wine).
5. Add the cut sausage, file and okra and continue cooking on medium low, stirring occasionally, for an additional 30-45 minutes, until the flavors blend and the vegetables are totally softened (Top off your wine).
6. Add water as needed to prevent over-thickening.

Serve over cooked rice with extra file and a side of potato salad.  Or serve your potato salad in the same bowl as it often done in Louisiana (Top off your wine and collapse into a chair, letting the applause wash over you).

We’re gonna’ do it!

Give us any egg, we’ll break it,

Read a recipe, we’ll bake it,

Our culinary dreams come true,

Learnin’ the hard way!..

Sorry, couldn’t help myself and words that rhyme with frittata are hard to come by.  I’ll be singing this all day.

Happy Hump day, my friends!  I realized today that, with Jamie on the road, I have a surplus supply of eggs and it was time to have a little fun.  I also have a ton of broccoli for some reason, so I decided to go Italian and make frittata.  Delicious!  My kids, including Daniel, the broccoli hater, were actually fighting over the last piece.  It was a sight to behold.

Anyway, it’s very easy and I finished it on the stove top, so no messing with the broiler.  Like a regular omelet, this is a great way to clean out the veggie drawer in your fridge.  The best part is that you don’t have to fold it!

Basic Frittata

Serves: 4-ish (or 1 piece for me and the rest for my 2 boys)

Ingredients

• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2-3/4 cup chopped broccoli, or other shredded/diced veggies (frozen veggies work too)
• 4-6 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup black olives, sliced or diced
• 1/2 cup shredded Italian blend or other shredded cheese (I went part Parmesan and part mozzarella)

Directions

1. In a 10 inch skillet, heat the oil and saute the garlic, onion and broccoli, or other veggies, on medium high heat, until crisp-tender, 5 minutes or less.  When done, spread them evenly across the bottom of the skillet.  Sprinkle the olives over the veggies in the skillet.
2. Beat the eggs well, adding salt and pepper (and of course Tony’s for us) to taste, then pour slowly over the veggies in your skillet.
3. Sprinkle the cheese over the eggs and reduce heat to medium low.  Loosely cover your skillet and as your eggs thicken, periodically remove the lid and gently lift the edges of the eggs with a spatula, allowing the liquid to run underneath.
4. Cook until eggs are set, minding they don’t burn, for 7-10 minutes.

   

Traditionally, you would finish in a broiler, but it’s much easier and still delicious to simply cover the skillet loosely.  Fewer dishes make for a happy parent.

I think it’s time to pull out the big guns.  Today we’re talking spring rolls.  This is another one of those recipes that is cause for celebration around these parts.  Normally, I can make 50 of these and they won’t last more than 24 hours, but I was a good girl this time.  I made 25 and froze the remaining mix for later use.  The disappointment eventually faded since I pacified the gang with apple chips, which are sadly gone now as well.

Like all of my recipes, I play with this one a lot.  I will add extra soy and fish sauce to give a little more flavor to the filling.  I would recommend using about half of an 8 ounce package of rice sticks, but sometimes I will put a little extra into the mix to stretch it.

We like the traditional method of rolling the cooked spring rolls into a leaf of lettuce topped with cooked rice sticks, shredded carrot and cucumber.  This offers a wonderful variety of texture and refreshing crunch, but you don’t have to do this as they stand alone just fine.

Spring Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground pork, cooked
• 1/2 lb shrimp, chopped and cooked
• 2 small carrots, diced
• 4-5 shiitake mushrooms, diced, no stems
• 1/4 cup soy sauce + extra
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 8 oz pack Cellophane noodles or rice sticks, cooked
• 1 egg, white and yolk separated
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 sliced green onions
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 head cabbage, shredded
• 1 pack 8 inch spring roll wrappers (make sure they are the kind used to fry, not for raw spring rolls)

Optional

• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 TBSP Fish sauce
• Romaine lettuce leaves
• Shredded carrot
• Julienned cucumber

Directions

1. Blanch cabbage and place in an ice bath.  Drain and then squeeze out water.  In a large bowl mix cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, garlic and gr. onions.
2. Mix the chopped, cooked shrimp, cooked pork, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, black pepper, fish sauce, rice vinegar, about half of the rice sticks and egg white well.  Add to the vegetable mix (I usually mix it all together in one bowl, but these were my original directions, so I leave it to you.  Less dirty dishes make me happy). 
3. Brush egg yolk on three corners of a wrapper, then add 2 TBSP of filling in the center, diagonally.  Place a wet towel over any wrapper or spring roll not in use to keep moist and prevent breaking during the frying process.
4. Deep fry in peanut oil at 350° for 4-5 minutes, flipping half way, until golden brown.
5. Serve wrapped in lettuce with the extra noodles, cucumber and carrots, or alone.  Dip in oriental chili or soy sauce.

Scroll down for directions and a short video on how to fold spring rolls.

Finally! A beautiful cabbage from the garden!

Shiitake mushrooms. I bought a huge bag and separated, preserving with the food sealer.

Rice sticks can be found at most grocery stores

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Good afternoon, all!  Getting a little bit of a late start because I finally got my husband home last night.  I’m thinking weekends may have to be quick and easy posts so that Jamie can get a little attention during the 36 or so hours I’ll get to see him for the next few months.

As you know, I am recovering from a super fatty food run and on the lookout for new snack items to feed my hungry gang and myself, so this week we remembered how much we love fruit chips.

There is almost no fruit that can’t be dried, but we went with mango, apples and bananas.  You can do these in a food dehydrator or an oven and they are an easy, delicious snack.  Because fruit isn’t exactly bursting with flavor this early in the spring, I used lemon juice and cinnamon sugar on my chips.

I’ll break this down into three separate recipes since I’m giving oven directions and temperatures vary, but you can tweak it depending on the fruit you choose or whether or not you use a dehydrator.  I also recommend dipping your fruit in, or brushing it with, lemon juice to enhance the fruit’s natural flavor, but it’s not mandatory.

Apple Chips

Oven: 225°       Prep time: about 10 minutes        Cook time: 45 min-1 hr       Serves: 4 (for about 10 minutes in this house)

Ingredients

• 4-6 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (a mandolin works great)
• Lemon juice for brushing
• Cinnamon sugar, if fruit is not sweet enough

Directions

1. Arrange apple slices on a baking sheet and brush with lemon juice.
2. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake in preheated oven until edges are dry and begin to curl, 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

Banana Chips

Oven: 200°       Prep time: 10 minutes      Cook time: about 3 hours      Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

DIRECTIONS

1. Wash and peel mangoes, then cut into thin slices.
2. Place on a greased cookie sheet, or line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat.
3. Brush mangoes with lemon juice and sprinkle with sugar, if desired.
4. Bake for 2 to 3 hours, turning them over every 30 minutes or until they’re dry.