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.

Sauerkraut with Carrot and Jalapeno

Posted on by February 5, 2019

1/12/2019 – As today’s first tasting of the last batch–made with carrot and 1.8% salt–was good, and we have four heads of cabbage, this was made with the same percentages plus about 1.5% diced jalapeno. The seeds and pith from the pepper were not included.

grams w/ carrot
Cabbage 1237.0 123.7
0.2% caraway seed = 2.5 2.7
0.5% yellow mustard = 6.2 6.8
1.8% salt 22.3 24.5
10% Carrot-diced 123.7
Jalapeno @~1.5% 18.6 No seeds or pith

2/4/2019 – Mary and I both found it crunchier than past ferments and nicely so. The jalapenos were not noticeable although it has an overall nice flavor tone. This recipe is going in a good direction. The higher salt percentage is good.

Fried Rabbit with Gravy

Posted on by January 10, 2019

This was our first-ever rabbit cook and Mary followed the recipe in the Cash and Carter Family cookbook on page 121.  We bought a 1.84 lb. dressed whole rabbit (largest one in the case) at South Alabama Custom Meats. It was $4.99 per lb. Cut the four legs at the joint and split the carcass along the backbone. Chopped the halves into sections that were of similar thickness.

Mary liberally seasoned the pieces with 6POGS about noon. Put them into a 1-gallon ziplock and poured in buttermilk to marinate for the afternoon.

About an hour before cooking took them out of the fridge and rinsed them off. Let the meat drain for a bit then seasoned with sage, granulated garlic, salt, and pepper.

In a medium-sized bowl combined milk, 2 large eggs, and Crystal’s hot sauce. Lightly dusted the meat with all-purpose flour before frying.

Using a #10 cast iron skillet, heated bacon grease and a blend of oils (Crisco blend). Added enough to the skillet to pan fry–not deep fry–the meat.  Fried until done and placed on a baking rack to let the grease drip off.

Removed excess grease from the skillet and made gravy the way my Mom taught me.  Brown the flour, add a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Add enough milk….slowly…..until it thickens. Keep adding milk till it is just right.

Our first fried rabbit.  It was great! Not sure if we liked the rabbit or the gravy better. Had not made gravy in a while. It brought back a lot of great cooking memories from my Mom’s kitchen.

Ingredients – from the original recipe – sometimes changed in amounts to meet our taste.

1 frozen rabbit, cut into pieces
~1/2 cup buttermilk
6POGS – OUR BLEND
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
Dash(es) of Crystal hot sauce
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage (not nearly enough)
salt, pepper, garlic salt (used granulated garlic) to taste
3 cups vegetable oil, for deep frying – used bacon grease and Crisco blend – pan fried not deep fried

Gravy
5 Tablespoons reserved oil from frying rabbit
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 cup milk
Salt, pepper to taste

Paella with Chicken, Sausage and Shrimp

Posted on by January 12, 2019

12/28/2018 – Mary was inspired by the recipe for paella on page 144 of our copy of The Cash and Carter Family Cookbook. It is a bit different but similar and was VERY good. The ingredients below include some struck out that they used and we did not have.

6 chicken leg quarters, cut into pieces with skin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon paprika (use hot paprika if you prefer an extra kick)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped hot and spicy sausage
1 Spanish or white onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup chopped 1/2″ yellow bell pepper – did not have red
1 cup chopped 1/2″ green bell pepper
1 large bunch Italian parsley chopped from the garden, divided
4 cups Spanish rice with saffron – Used about 2 cups of rice because of the pan size
2 tablespoons salted butter
6 cups chicken broth – used about 4 cups – reserve some to add if needed
1 (16-ounce) can diced tomatoes drained
4 cup green peas
substituted frozen corn for the green peas because we had corn and no frozen peas
Pinch of Spanish saffron
6 Littleneck Clams
6 mussels
8 ounces fresh shrimp, heads on or headless, deveined, and peeled
2 cold-water lobster tails, removed from the shell and deveined
8 ounces sliced calamari

  1. Coated the chicken with the seasonings and fried it in bacon grease and some oil. Set aside.
  2. Browned the sausage. Set aside.
  3. Sauteed the vegetables in the drippings of the fried chicken and sausage.
  4. Add the rice to the vegetables and cook til the rice is browned.
  5. Add diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add back the chicken and sausage.
  6. When almost done added the shrimp.
  7. Turned off and let sit until we were ready to eat.