Okra Gumbo in 1904

Posted on by September 28, 2015

From Cooking In Old Créole Days. La Cuisine Créole À L’Usage Des Petits Ménages. By Célestine Eustis. Published 1904.

OKRA GUMBO

Put into a saucepan a spoonful of pure lard and one of flour. Stir it well until it is of a light brown. Chop an onion into small pieces and throw them in. Cut up a fat capon or chicken into small pieces and put it into the saucepan with the flour and lard. Stir it all the while until the chicken is nearly done. When the whole is well browned, add a slice of ham cut up small. Throw in two or three pods of red pepper, and salt to your taste. Then add a quart of boiling water, and leave it on the fire for two hours and a half. During that time you take either a can of okra or the fresh okra, and chop it up a bit. Put it in a saucepan with a little water and let it simmer a quarter of an hour, stirring it all the time. Then add to it either six fresh tomatoes, or half a can of tomatoes, and let it cook on a slow fire for an hour, uncovered. When your gumbo has been on the fire the two hours and a half, you take it off to cool, and skim all the grease off. Then you put it back in the saucepan and add your okra and tomatoes and let it simmer slowly for an hour or until the okra is thoroughly cooked. Serve hot, and eat it with dry rice served in a separate dish.–MME. EUSTIS, MÃRE.

Jumballaya in 1904

Posted on by December 20, 2014

JUMBALLAYA

From Cooking In Old Créole Days. La Cuisine Créole À L’Usage Des Petits Ménages. By Célestine Eustis. Published 1904.

  1. Take a good sized chicken. Cut it as for fried chicken, season it with salt and pepper, and fry in a spoonful of lard.
  2. Cut up half a pound of ham in pieces an inch long, and fry in the same pan.
  3. When that is fried, take out and in the same lard fry a spoonful of onions cut very fine.
  4. Slice up three large tomatoes, or two spoonfuls of canned tomatoes, and fry them in the same pan.
  5. Cut up a little parsley and add when everything is fried. Put back your ham and chicken and add two and a half cupfuls of water. Let it come to a boil, and then add a cupful of well washed rice. Put it again on a quick fire.
  6. When the rice is cooked, and the steam begins to rise, put it on a slow fire and add a teaspoonful of butter. If you fear it may burn at the bottom of the pot, use a fork, not a spoon, as the latter makes the rice soggy. Let it soak or dry thoroughly. If it does not dry fast enough, put for a moment in the oven.  LYDIA EUSTIS.

Numbering added for this post.

 

Rémoulade Sauce like Ina’s

Posted on by June 7, 2024

This recipe is a combination of the one in Southern Living’s, All-Time Favorites on page 33, and Ina Garten’s The Barefoot Contessa, page 45.  First made on February 8, 2014.  After melding for 3+ days it was really good.

1C    Hellmans Mayo
3T   sweet pickle relish–press out most of the liquid
2T   creole mustard course
2     garlic cloves, large, pressed
1T   Italian parsley chopped fine
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1T  champagne vinegar

2/15/2014 – Made a double batch.

Below is from Cook’s Illustrated website for comparison purposes. Not made yet.
A great rémoulade recipe is simple to make, with the right combination of capers, mustard, garlic, relish, and mayonnaise.

Makes about 1/2 cup. 

Ingredients

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon capers, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small clove garlic, chopped coarse
1 1/2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley leaves
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Pulse all ingredients except salt and pepper in food processor until well combined but not smooth, about ten 1-second pulses. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to serving bowl.

3/22/14 – Made a double batch and added (single batch measures):
1t drained mashed capers;1-1/2 finely chopped green onions
1T chopped parsley
2″ squirt additional cajun mustard

Go to http://rouxbdoo.blogspot.com/2015/08/remoulade-blanc.html for white remouldade.

Shrimp, Sausage and Tasso Gumbo

Posted on by August 15, 2017

This recipe was derived on January 4, 2014 from Paula Deen’s “Savannah Seafood Gumbo” that was found here. Changes made since then have been included and are cited in the chronological notes following the recipe.

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil to dilute the 3 heaping soup spoons of Savoie’s Dark Roux. Bought at Don’s Cajun Meat Market in Lafayette LA.
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
5 celery ribs plus one center small rib with leaves, chopped
6 garlic cloves, diced
4 cups chicken broth, Ina Garten’s recipe
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil (did  not have but will next time)
1/3 cup dried parsley
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2-12″ long Best Stop’s Cajun-style beef and pork smokes sausage bought in Lafayette, LA.
4 cups cut okra-frozen
1/2 pound fresh peeled shrimp. Shrimp hulls were boiled for about an hour then the broth added to the pot after straining through a fine SS strainer.
File powder

Directions

  1. In a No. 9 Wagner Dutch Oven add ~1/4C olive oil and three heaping soup spoons of Savoie’s Dark Roux. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until the roux has blended with the oil to a smooth consistency.
  2. Add onion, pepper, celery and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring almost constantly.
  3. Slowly add chicken broth, stirring as you go.
  4. Add bay leaves, thyme, basil (we did not have this but would have added it), dried parsley, lemon pepper, cayenne pepper, Worchestshire sauce and tomatoes.
  5. Add Taso from Best Stop Meat Market in Lafayette LA and two links of beef and pork smoked sausage, also from Best Stop. Cut sausage into 1/4-inch pieces.
  6. Simmered for 30 minutes then added the okra.
  7. Covered pot and simmered for 30 minutes then added what looked like about 3C of the shrimp broth.
  8. Simmered for about 2 hours on low without the lid as it was too thin and the DO was within 1/2″ of the top.
  9. Added shrimp. Simmer for an additional ___ minutes.

Served over hot rice. Sprinkle with file powder on top of bowl and stir in.

Paula’s Tip: Add file powder after putting gumbo into individual serving bowls. Adding file into the pot will make the gumbo too thick as File powder acts as a thickening agent.

Initial Comments on 1/4/14: Toward the end, even before the shrimp was added, it tasted great. It was a bit spicy for the kids but great for us. Then I decided to add two talapia fish fillets thawed and cut into ~1″ squares. The brew then simmered for another hour before we ate it over short grain white rice. The taste was off, as though there was a spice missing. We tried the file we had but believe it was old as there was not the usual intense smell. But, I believe that either the talipia added an odd taste or the fact that they were not preseasoned meant the overall brew was under seasoned. Also seemed like it could have used more dark roux.

Spicy Black-Eyed Peas

Posted on by December 31, 2023

The recipe below was first made while at the farm during Christmas 2013. It is based on Paula Deen’s recipe you can view by clicking here. Our version is provided below as edited by Mary.

The first time we only made ½-pound of peas so reduced her quantities by half and substituted a few of our ingredients. The ingredients below are for 1/2 pound of peas.

Ingredients

We used about three cups of spiral-cut ham chopped into about 3/4″ squares.
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
8-ounces dried black-eyed peas, washed and soaked water which was brought to a boil for 1 hour.
2/3rd of a 12-ounce Rotel tomatoes with green chiles
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili power – we did not have this and I am not such a fan of chili powder so skipped it.
1/2 teaspoon A couple of good shakes from a commercial shaker of “freshly” i.e. recently home-ground black pepper
1-1/2 cups water – use homemade chicken stock if you have it handy – we did not this time.

Directions

  1. Add the peas to boiling water and bring back to a boil. Turn off heat, cover and let sit for one hour. Pour off the water.
  2. In No. 9 cast iron double skillet, saute the ham, onions, and garlic, adding about half the suggested salt and pepper until onions are tender.
  3. Add diced tomatoes, green chiles, and water. Stir until well blended then add the peas. Add water to have peas covered by no more than 1/2″.
  4. Add to skillet and cook over medium heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the peas are tender. Add additional water, if necessary. Salt and Pepper to taste.

They are now ready to serve……beware, these get better and better as you eat them as leftovers. You will be hooked.

No. 3 Birmingham Stove & Range’s Red Mountain series Skillet

Posted on by November 28, 2013

Bought on Ebay on Nov. 27, 2013 for $20.00 with shipping for $5.95. Did not bid as bought it with the “Buy Now” offered by seller. Seller was theuermann of Des Moines, Iowa.

No3G BSR insideNo3G BSR top No3G BSR bottom

Seller responded to my inquiry about the skillet’s history as follows: (S)he acquired it when “ picking up pieces at auctions and flea markets and I have fallen in love with [CI] now as well. Part of the the reason I love cast iron so much, besides its amazing cooking ability, is the history and mystery behind the CRUD that comes on the pieces we find. Who used it? What did they cook in it? What was their life like? It is kind of romantic to think of the stories cast iron tell. 🙂

When we got this pan, it was so heavily coated with years of “love” (crud), I couldn’t make much out as far as identifying it. I consulted some friends in a cast iron Facebook group, researched one of my favorite cast iron websites and discovered I had this little gem. When I get a piece that is covered in crud, I place it in a large of lye & water. That is a standard cleaning process for cast iron covered in years of build up. Once it comes out, I place it in a tub of vinegar and water to neutralize the lye and remove any remaining rust. ”

In another paragraph he referred me to the Cast Iron Collector page on BSR. The fact that he used that page to classify the pan explains why I found the plan classified correctly before I decided to buy it.

Cast Iron Collector says:
All BSR
– If heat ring, unbroken and inset
– Ridge on bottom of skillet handle does not flatten out at sidewall of pan

1930s-1940s “Red Mountain” series
– ¾” high size number, typically followed by pattern letter(s) or dots at 6 o’clock
– Older examples often seen with number skewed to 6:30 and pattern letter at 5:30
– Older Red Mountain examples have larger pour spouts than later

Therefore my conclusion for its date of manufacture is about 1940.

 

Crusty No Knead Bread ToTry

Posted on by September 28, 2016
Most Awesome Crusty No Knead Bread
By the kitchen whisperer on Facebook.
First made fall of 2013.
Ingredients:

3 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp table salt
1 1/2-3/4 cups water (room temp)
Any add-ins you want (nuts, dried fruits, cheese, spices etc…)

Instructions:

  1. In a large bowl add in the flour, yeast and salt. You need to make sure the bowl is at least 2 times the size as this will easily double in volume.
  2. Whisk to combine.
  3. Add in the water and mix with a wooden spoon – do NOT use a stand mixer.
  4. Mix it until it’s combined and forms a ‘shaggy’ dough. Just make sure that all the flour is incorporated. It will not be a smooth dough – that’s how it’s supposed to be.
  5. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place overnight for at least 12 hours but no more than 24.
  6. When you’re ready to bake, put the rack in the middle and preheat to 450F.
  7. When the oven reaches temp, put your dutch oven pot in the oven WITH THE LID on.
  8. Let it heat up for 30 minutes.
  9. While that’s heating up, use a dough scraper and scrape your dough onto a heavily floured surface (or you can flour parchment paper and put it on there). *See note
  10. Shape into a ball, tucking the sides under. It will be sticky but that’s good.
  11. Cover lightly with plastic until the 30 minutes is up.
  12. Remove the pot from the oven and plop the ball down in. Or if you transferred it to a floured parchment paper, you can place the whole thing inside (try to remove the excess flour).
  13. Replace the lid and bake for 30 minutes. No peaking!
  14. Remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes.
  15. Remove from the oven and using tongs remove the bread and cool on cooling rack.

Notes:
If you’re not comfortable with shaping the dough, when you remove the pot from the oven after 30 minutes you can carefully just pour the dough into the pot. It won’t be a perfectly round bread loaf but that’s okay – it’s just rustic. If you do pour it in, just jostle the pan around to kind of even out the dough before putting the lid on. But practice with shaping the dough. You can’t screw it up.

Mary’s Red Beans

Posted on by January 17, 2025

She made this for the first time on 10/5/13 by combining several recipes found at Allrecipes.com. The best we ever made. We have used this recipe many times and on 1/16/2025 we made it again with a few changes as noted below.

1 pound dried red beans. Dropped in boiling water to sit for one hour to remove sugars. Then pour off the red water and rinse.

Saute the following in a cast iron skillet till the onions are translucent and pepper still firm:
1 yellow onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped (1/16/2024 – 6 small bells from the garden)
2 stalks celery, chopped

Add all the above to the ingredients below in a No. 4 cast iron scotch pot. Cover with a commercial aluminum pizza pan for the first three hours of simmering.

  1. 8 C   Ida Garten’s chicken stock – Homemade. 1/16/2025 – Did not add chicken stock. Made stock by boiling a somewhat meaty ham bone from a spiral-cut ham for about 4 hours.
  2. 1   large ham bone from Honey Baked Ham with a lot of ham still on it. – 1/16/2025 – Did not add a second ham bone.
  3. 1   pound smoked beef/pork sausage from Best Stop in Lafayette LA, cut into bite-sized pieces. 1/16/2025 – Added green onion smoke sausage from Bergerons.
  4. 2   bay leaves
  5. 1/16/2025 – Used 3 tablespoons of Kit’s Creole Seasoning we make from her recipe in lieu of the next 5 items. Added 1 more tablespoons at tasting. Next time add 4 initially. The added 3-4 shakes of cayenne pepper from our SS countertop shaker.
  6. The original 2013 recipe used these five spices:
    • 1 T   Creole seasoning Benoit’s Best spice salt-free Cajun seasoning. 1/16/2025 – Used Kit’s creole seasoning we make from her recipe.
    • 1/2 t   dried thyme
    • 1/2 t   dried sage
    • 1/2 t   cayenne pepper
    • 1 T    dried cilantro

4/7/2018 – Made with ham stock made from HoneyBaked ham bone that was simmered for 4+ hours instead of Ina’s chicken stock. Used Kit’s Creole Seasoning. Did not have dried cilantro and forgot to add fresh before serving. Used Green Onion Sausage and added near end of the cook so it did not overcook, get tough and add grease to the beans — per advice for crawfish boils and it seemed to be applicable here. The sausage was tender and flavorful.

1/16/2025 – See inserted changes with this date.

No. 8 Lodge Deep Double Skillet Unmarked

Posted on by October 7, 2013

Won on Ebay on Sept. 28, 2013 for $41.00 plus $14.61 shipping from Bryant, Alabama. Seller was iamthewann. He is a melt-mold production supervisor at the Lodge factory.

Markings on bottom are 8 over FS  and MADE IN USA in the center so it was made after 1960.

Eric responded to my question about it history with the following.  “Not sure of the age of these items. The chicken fryer was purchased on Sand Mtn. in North East AL at a flea market that runs every Sunday. I have had it a long time. It was taken to work shot blasted & run thru the seasoning line at Lodge. I picked up the lid when i was visiting my parents in Florence AL a few weeks back. The man I got this one from cleans & seasons his own skillets. He has a booth in Florence & only sells Cast iron skillets on Sat & Sun. ”

No8 Lodge Deep Double Skillet with Lid Unmarked bottom inside No8 Lodge Deep Double Skillet with Lid open No8 Lodge Deep Double Skillet with Lid Unmarked top outside No8 Lodge Deep Double Skillet with Lid Unmarked top inside No8 Lodge Deep Double Skillet with Lid Unmarked left side No8 Lodge Deep Double Skillet with Lid Unmarked bottom outside