12/8-10/2018 – This was inspired by Ina Garten’s recipe for Tuscan Lemon Chicken in our copy of her Back to Basics book. The recipe is online here. Used thighs rather than a whole bird and they turned out very good as they were moist with a good grilled taste and some crunchy skin. They would have been better done over charcoal. The lemon was noticeable but not the rosemary despite having added ground rosemary to Ina’s seasoning. This with warmed up pasta with tomatoes and basil was a great meal. Continue reading
This dish was inspired by Ina Garten’s “Capellini with Tomatoes and Basil” recipe found here. We made it with some changes including angel hair pasta. It turned out very good. Had it about 4 days later with grilled rosemary lemon chicken and it was better than when fresh. Continue reading
This recipe came to The Times in 2003 from the chef Scott Conant, who was then cooking at his restaurant L’Impero in Manhattan. It is simple, classic Italian fare that makes the most of summer’s tomatoes.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/8663-spaghetti-with-fresh-tomato-and-basil-sauce
INGREDIENTS
3 pounds fresh plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded and quartered
3 ounces olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound dry spaghetti
2 ounces extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
6 leaves fresh basil, shredded
2 tablespoons freshly grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
PREPARATION
Step 1 – Blanch the tomatoes and remove the skins. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Cut the tomatoes crosswise. Set aside in a bowl.
Step 2 – Heat 3 ounces olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until it smokes slightly. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Since the tomatoes will reduce and the salt will be concentrated, it is better to season initially with a lighter hand.
Step 3 – Chop the tomatoes with a potato masher until they are in fine chunks and all their liquid is released. Be sure they are chopped and crushed fine, for a semi-chunky sauce. [And alternate in the comments was to small chop after seeding.]Simmer for 25 minutes over medium heat.
Step 4 – While the sauce simmers, heat the water for the pasta. Cook the spaghetti in salted water about half of the way cooked. Drain, reserving some of the water.
Step 5 – Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Add the pasta to the sauce and cook over medium-high heat until all the liquid is absorbed and the pasta is al dente. If the sauce is over-reduced, use the pasta cooking liquid to adjust it.
Step 6 – At the last moment, remove the pan from the heat; add the extra virgin olive oil, butter, basil, and cheese. Mix thoroughly until the pasta is an orangy color. Taste again and adjust the salt if necessary. Remove to a platter. Serve.
Dirty Rice Recipe • Rouses Supermarkets
https://www.rouses.com/cooking/recipes/dirty-rice
INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound chicken giblets
1/2 pound chicken livers
1/2 pound pork sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced bell pepper
2 tablespoon diced garlic
1 cup chicken stock
2 bay leaves
6 cups cooked rice, chilled
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup chopped parsley
DIRECTIONS
1. In a small saucepan, poach chicken giblets in lightly salted water until tender,
approximately 45 minutes. Once cooked, remove them from water and cool.
Using a sharp paring knife, chop the giblets into tiny pieces, removing all tough
membrane. Set aside and reserve poaching liquid.
2. In a large, heavy-bottomed sauté pan, heat butter over medium-high heat. Sauté
chicken livers and pork sausage until the meat is browned, approximately 6
minutes. Remove chicken livers from sauté pan and place on a chopping board
to cool.
3. Into the same sauté pan, add onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Sauté until
vegetables are wilted, approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Once vegetables are done,
coarsely chop chicken livers and return them, along with giblets, to the sauté
pan. Add chicken stock and bay leaves, bring to a low boil and cook until volume
of liquid is reduced to approximately 1/4 cup.
4. Add cooked white rice, blending well into the meat mixture. Remove from the
heat and remove the bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with green
onions and parsley.
For Seafood Fry: Mix 3 tablespoons Kit Whol’s Creole seasoning with 1 cup masa (corn) flour, 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 tablespoon kosher salt. The addition of 1/2 cup cornstarch will make the fry extra-crispy.
12/1/2018 – This cook was inspired by the recipe on page 224 of our copy of Chef Paul Prudhomme’s book Louisiana Kitchen. Our note in the book is dated 6/5/2004 and reads “Used cajun sausage (12″) with one liver, 4 hearts & broth. Very Good. No ground pork & only one gizzard.”
We followed the recipe fairly closely other than using turkey broth rather than chicken. We also made a double batch as we had twice the meat needed for a single. It turned out:
- tasty but a bit too spicy from the cayenne;
- mushy as it did not have the flakey rice texture. Adding the diced or ground mushy livers after the veggies were cooked surely contributed to the mushy texture.
- The meat to rice ratio seemed too high.
- next time do not use long grain rice; less cayenne; cook the livers with the pork or just after the pork so they are firm bits.
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons chicken fat (or olive or vegetable oil)
1/2 lb ground pork
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup onion (finely chopped)
1/2 cup celery (finely chopped)
1/2 cup bell pepper (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups chicken turkey stock
1/3 lb ground chicken livers chopped fine
3/4 cups rice (uncooked)
SEASONING MIX
2 teaspoons ground red pepper (cayenne) [this much made it VERY spicy]
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
DIRECTIONS
- Combine seasoning mix in a small bowl and set aside.
Melt chicken fat in a large skillet over medium high heat andsauté pork and bay leaves until meat is browned, about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken livers and cook for 2 minutes. [the 12/1/18 cook turned out mushy and an odd flavor that was likely due to the livers being boiled with the rice. So, this addition was moved to this earlier step in the process.]- Reduce heat to medium and add seasoning mix, onions, celery, peppers, and garlic and cook until onion starts to become translucent about 5-7 minutes. Stir constantly to prevent too much sticking.
- Add stock and loosen all of the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
Add chicken livers and cook for 2 minutes. - Add rice and stir. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for
1020 minutes. Turn off heat and let rice sit, covered, for another 5-10 minutes until liquid is absorbed. - Remove bay leaves and serve.
11/29/2018 – Made this a little different from the formula we have been using. It has a little more salt and juniper berries. The cabbage came from Rouses. The table below came from the spreadsheet in DropBox.
| grams | |
| Cabbage | 1842.0 |
| 0.2% caraway seed = | 3.7 |
| 0.5% yellow mustard = | 9.2 |
| 1.4% canning salt = |
Kelley, with help from Mary, made this following a recipe on her telephone and improvisions while I was working on Turkey and Sausage Gumbo for later. It is included here so one day we can remember how she and Mary made them.
- Spread cajun spicy mustard on Jewish Rye bread
- Placed three thickish 1″x1.5″ slices of Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese on each slice of bread so there would be cheese on both sides of the meat.
- Added turkey breast meat and put the other bread slice with cheese over it.
- On mine they smeared on leftover turkey dressing and on theirs they put the dressing plus Mary’s Ina-Cognac gravey.
- Buttered both sides with melted butter
- Grilled each sandwich separately in the panini press until they were lightly toasted. The cheese had also melted and the whole thing was much thinner.
Tasted good while reminding me of a grilled cheese sandwich. The turkey flavor was lost in the flavors of the cheese, rye bread and butter. Mary and Kelley really like their creation.
I roughly followed the recipe and process we used Christmas 2017. Kelley, Rockey and the girls were with us and Kelley said it was very good. The best compliment was that the girls ate it with no comment nor under any threats. We all ate in the new dining room under the chandelier for the first time.
Continue readingThis was our first holiday since moving to Sundown Farms from Houston. It was also the first time in 8 years the family had gotten together for Thanksgiving as we did for many years. Along with the turkey, asparagus casserole, dressing, shrimp dip, and other sides, Mary fixed Texas Pecan Pie Pound Cake, a pumpkin cake with pecans topped with fresh whipped cream and ___. Continue reading