Muffuletta Sandwich

Posted on by February 5, 2019

This is the hot, melted muffuletta like served at Napoleon House in the French Quarter inspired by George Graham here.

2 (10-inch) loaves round Italian bread with sesame seeds
4 cups jalapeno olive salad from Rouses
½ pound Genoa salami, thinly sliced
½ pound ham, thinly sliced
½ pound mortadella with pistachios, thinly sliced
½ pound provolone, thinly sliced
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Keys to the Perfect Muffuletta Sandwich

THE RIGHT BREAD – The bread is all-important to the integrity of this sandwich and should be a large, thick-crust, round loaf of Italian bread, preferably with sesame seeds. Find a good Italian bakery and you should be able to duplicate the muff bread that is common throughout Louisiana.

QUALITY OLIVE SALAD MIX – Good quality olive salad is crucial. If you live in Louisiana or have access to a good Italian grocer, you can find a jarred product called Muffuletta Olive Salad Mix – my favorite is Boscoli and you can order it online at Cajungrocer.com. Or you can make your own (see recipe) and allow it to marinate for a week or more.

MAKE AHEAD – Make these sandwiches at least two hours before you want to serve them since the longer they soak, the better. Slice the bread in half horizontally exposing the inside of both halves. Pour olive oil on the bottom bread half to soak generously. Add a thick layer of olive salad over the bottom bread half. Lay out the sliced salami evenly distributing the meat over the bottom bread, and then add a layer of half the provolone. Then, a layer of mortadella. Then, a layer of ham. Then, another layer of provolone. Add more of the olive salad on the top bread half and close it up.

COMPRESS THE SANDWICH – Compressing the sandwich to distribute the flavors will make a world of difference. Wrap the sandwich tightly in aluminum foil and weigh it down with the heaviest pot you have. To make it heavier add some canned goods inside the pot. Leave it and let it sit for two hours or longer.

HEAT THE SANDWICH – Turn up the heat. Set the burners of an outdoor gas grill to low. (Alternatively, you can use a 350-degree oven.) This is a major point of differentiation from the traditional muff. Here, you are going to melt the cheese, crisp the bread and add the smoky flavor from the grill. Place the foil-wrapped sandwiches on the hot grates, close the hood and leave for 15 minutes. Unwrap the top of the foil exposing the sandwich and heat for another 5 minutes with the hood closed. Keep warm until your guests are ready and then slice each muffuletta into quarters for serving. A Barq’s root beer (in the bottle, of course) or an ice-cold beer is the beverage of choice for the perfect muffuletta.

Pork Chop Jambalaya ToTry

Posted on by November 22, 2019

Inspired by the recipe at Al Simon’s Cajun Microwave site here.

  • 6-8 pork chops
  • 1 lb pork sausage cut in 1-inch pieces
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 ribs celery
  • 1 tbs minced garlic
  • 1 bunch green onions
  • 1 bunch parsley
  • 1/4 lb margarine or butter
  • 2 apples, cored and peeled and diced
  • 1 can peas, drained
  • 2 cups raw rice
  • 3 cups beef bouillon
  1. Melt margarine or butter in large, heavy roaster. Brown onions, pepper, celery and garlic until wilted. Remove onion mixture from pot.
  2. In same pot, brown pork chops and sausage. Remove from pot.
  3. Cut pork chops in one inch pieces.
  4. In same pot in leftover butter and pork chop grease, add raw rice and brown in grease.
  5. Add onion mixture, meat, apples, peas, bouillon, chopped green onions and parsley to rice. Season to taste. Stir well!
  6. Bake covered in 350F oven 1-1/2 hours.

Paella Rice Cajun Style ToTry

Posted on by February 5, 2019

Inspired by George Graham here.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

3 cups long-grain white rice, such as Supreme
3 cups chicken stock
1 package Paellero paella seasoning with saffron or any commercial paella seasoning

1 large yellow onion, diced
1 cup thinly sliced green bell pepper
3 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces Spanish chorizo, finely chopped
1 (12-ounce) can tomatoes, diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup dry white wine
Chicken stock, if needed

In a rice cooker or pot with a tight-fitting lid, add the rice, chicken stock, and seasoning. Stir to combine and cook on low heat until the rice is fully cooked. Keep warm.

In a large pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, sauté the onion, pepper, and garlic in olive oil until the onions turn translucent. Add the chorizo and sauté for another five minutes. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf, and white wine and cook for 10 minutes. If the sofrito seems dry, add some chicken stock.

Combine the cooked rice and sofrito in a baking dish or paella pan and cover with a tight lid or aluminum foil.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place in the oven until heated through, about 20 minutes.

Keep warm until serving.

Creole Smothered Green Beans with Andouille Sausage ToTry

Posted on by February 4, 2019

Recipe by: George Graham – AcadianaTable.com from here.

Ingredients
8 strips smoked bacon, chopped
1 cup loosely packed sliced andouille sausage or smoked pork sausage
½ cup diced yellow onion
¼ cup diced celery
2 tablespoons diced red bell pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup vegetable stock or chicken stock
1 (28-ounce) can cut Italian green beans, drained
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Instructions
1. In a heavy skillet over medium heat, add the bacon and fry until browned and crisp. Remove the bacon
pieces and drain on paper towel.
2. In the same skillet, add the andouille, onion, celery, and red bell pepper to the remaining grease, and
cook until the sausage browns on both sides. Sprinkle the flour over the pan and stir it into the remaining
grease to make a roux. Stir the flour until it begins to turn a beige color. Add the stock, stir until it
thickens, and add the green beans. Stir to combine and season with white pepper, granulated garlic, black
pepper, and salt. Stir in the heavy cream and combine. Lower the heat and let simmer and thicken for 5
minutes. Turn off the heat and keep warm.
3. Just before serving, sprinkle the top of the green beans with the crisp bacon pieces.

Note – Use the Italian cut (flat) green beans (I like the Margaret Holmes brand). If you can’t find andouille, then feel
free to use a good smoked pork sausage or smoked ham. This recipe is easily scaled for a larger crowd, so feel
free to double or triple the recipe. Make this one a day or two ahead of time and it will be even better as the
flavors meld.
Recipe by Acadiana Table at /2015/11/09/creole-smothered-green-beans/

Pepper Jack Grits Poppers ToTry

Posted on by February 3, 2019

Pepper Jack Grits Poppers inspired by a December 2012 SOUTHERN LIVING recipe. Kelley suggested it 2/5/2019.

You’ll need about 1/2 cup uncooked grits to make this recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup hot cooked grits
1 cup (4 oz.) freshly shredded pepper Jack cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 garlic clove, pressed
18 to 20 Jalapenos

How to Make It
Step 1 Stir together the 5 ingredients until cheese is melted; add salt and pepper to taste.
Cover and chill 8 hours.
Step 2 Preheat broiler with oven rack 6 inches from heat. Cut peppers in half lengthwise, leaving stems intact; remove seeds. Spoon grits mixture into pepper halves. Place on a broiler pan. Broil 4 minutes or until golden.

Blueberry Sour Cream Pancakes–ToTry

Posted on by January 28, 2019

Chipotle Rubs ToTry

Posted on by January 25, 2019

Sweet and Smoky Chipotle Rub
A spice rub perfect for grilling pork, chicken, seafood and more. Has the smokey flavour of chipotle powder and smoked paprika and the sweet caramel taste of dark brown sugar.

Author Steve Cylka
https://www.theblackpeppercorn.com/2012/06/sweet-and-smokey-chipotle-rub/
Ingredients
2 tbsp chipotle powder
2 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
Instructions
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container like a mason jar.
Use on shrimp, chicken, pork or other meats.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 stemmed, seeded, chopped dried chipotle chiles
2 tablespoons pink peppercorns
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon mustard powder

PREPARATION
Grind 1 1/2 stemmed, seeded, chopped dried chipotle chiles in a spice mill; transfer to a small bowl. Grind 2 tablespoons pink peppercorns, 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, and 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds in the same spice mill; transfer to bowl with chiles. Stir in 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon mustard powder.

Chipotle BBQ Dry Rub Seasoning
https://www.itsyummi.com/girls-can-man-the-grill-chipotle-rubbed-pork-ribs-recipe/
1/4 cup dried chipotle peppers finely ground
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon smoked or sweet paprika
1 tablespoon dried ground mustard
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon salt

1. Place all ingredients into a small bowl and stir with a spoon to combine.
2. Apply liberally as a dry rub to steaks, ribs, and roasts.

Tasso Using Pork Butt Bones

Posted on by January 19, 2019

1/19/2019 – We had bought pork butt bones at South Alabama Custom Meats that have some meat on them. The last smoke had included two of them with 6POGS and the thin pieces of meat made great tasso. So, after smoking the two butts today I put six of them to the vertical Smokey Mountain smoker that was smoking with a thin blue smoke from fresh pecan chunks added to the embers from the Butt smoke.