Jalapeno Poppers

My wife came up with this as we wanted to bring a snack dish to the Mother's Day crawfish boil. It makes about 100 poppers.

Cut about 50 jalapeno peppers in half the long way leaving the stem on one side. Take out the seeds.

Fry up about 1 lb of chorizo and one pack of Jimmy Dean sausage draining off the oil.

Chop up about 1/2 onion, 2 garlic cloves, chives and 1/2 cup cilantro very finely.

Mix veg, herbs, sausage, 2 lbs of low fat cream cheese and 4 cups shredded cheese.

Cut 2 lbs of bacon in half.

Stuff the peppers with the sausage mixture and wrap it with the bacon. Bake at 375 F for 15 to 20 minutes. It's best to bake them on a rack so that the bacon fat drains away.Enjoy.

Chargrilled Oysters

Louisiana goodness.

(This was a test post from my Android phone. Getting ready for an extended trip and posting will be done from the road)

French Cooking

Yep, PE took a cooking class in Paris. Well, I kept my wife company anyway. Here is the main dish - Sage and Walnut Stuffed Pork Loin

Start with pork loins, some nice prosciutto or other cured ham and caul fat (optional - you may not be able to get this in the US)

Lay out the caul fat and ham

Slice your pork loin lengthwise, stuff with sage leaves and chopped walnuts, wrap it in the caul fat and ham and tie it up.

Sear it in a pan

Finish it off in a 400 degree oven. We then made a sauce using the debris from the pan, carrots and cream.

Slice the loin. It was presented on a bed of ratatouille with the sauce around the side.

Comfort Food

I had an early morning medical procedure at the ambulatory surgical center the other day. Afterwards, my wife and I decided we needed some good old comfort food. I give you Mimosas and Shrimp and Grits......with Bacon. It makes a body feel good.

Thanksgiving Dinner in Paris

We spent Thanksgiving in Paris this year. For me, it was a normal work day and since turkeys are difficult to find in France we took an evening cooking class followed by eating what we cooked.  About a dozen or so other American refugees were there as well.

The starter was Chestnut Soup and Meslcun with Fennel Salad. The main course was Cornish Game Hens with Potato Dauphinois and Pumpkin Puree. Dessert was a Walnut and Caramel Tart and Pears Poached in Red Wine. (What's that thing in the chestnut soup?  Why, Bacon, of course!) No cows were harmed during the preparation of this meal, but a large amount of cream was used. The chef reminded us often that cream wasn't 35% fat but 65% water!

While it may not have been the traditional Thanksgiving meal, we enjoyed the cooking education, meal preparation and the comraderie of our fellow displaced Americans.

 

 

 

Two Words - Candied, Bacon

What a concept! It combines the two things men want most.

Take some bacon, coat it with sugar, lay it out on a rack and put it in a 400 degree oven. While it is cooking, heat up a small amount of honey to reduce its viscosity. Add some cayenne to the honey if you want some kick. When the honey is thin, brush some of it on one side of the bacon and let it cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Flip the bacon, spread some more honey and let it cook again. Sprinkle the bacon with crushed pecans and put back in the oven until the honey is crystalized.

Bacon Jam - Its Gotta be Good.

I popped over to London on the Eurostar last weekend. I was looking for breakfast and came upon Gail's Artisan Bakery. I noticed that they had more than bread. They also had savory sandwiches. I opted for the one with bacon jam spread on a toasted english muffin with a slice of ham and topped with a fried egg. It was an upscale version of an egg mcmuffin.

I had never heard of bacon jam so I looked it up. It's a concoction of brown sugar, vinegar, maybe some bourbon, various spices (chili powder, mustard, ginger), onions, garlic and cooked bacon. And I gotta think you couldn't go wrong with some Tabasco or Crystal sauce. The bacon is cooked and then the other ingredients are cooked down until it is reduced to a pasty consistency. Then the paste and the bacon is put in a food processor and blended into a chunky paste.

Spread it on bread for a tasty treat. Me, I'd probably spoon it out of the jar.

Cajun Turnips

Here's a little something my wife dreamed up last night that makes turnips taste good. She deviated from the usual Holy Trinity (green pepper, celery and onions) although it could be modified to include that if one so wished. She did it this way because we are doing a low carb diet that restricts cooked onions (we don't know why, but they do).

3 lg turnips peeled and diced into small cubes
½ diced jalapeno pepper
1 stalk of diced celery
2 Oz Tasso, chopped
2 Tbs olive oil
handful of chopped fresh thyme, marjoram and parsley,
2 smashed cloves of garlic
¼ tsp. asefetida
½ tsp. of onion pwd
½ tsp. garlic pwd
½ tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. Splenda
1 cup chicken stock


Put olive oil in a hot pan when oil is hot add Tasso, celery, jalapeno pepper, garlic and asafetida. Fry until fragrant - a couple of minutes. Add chopped turnips and cook, stirring until they are brown. Be  careful not to burn them. After about 6 minutes add chicken stock and all seasonings and fresh herbs, and Splenda and cook until done. When done add ½ cup chopped green onions   Asafetida is a spice substitute for onion and is common in Indian dishes. If you don't have it, add more onion powder.  

Korean Food

The oldest grandson had been expressing an interest in trying Korean food. NOLa only has one Korean restaurant and, since he was the only on in his family interested, we had to find a time when we could cull him from the herd without his brothers feeling left out. The stars aligned on Saturday so we headed out to Korea House.

We started with steamed dumplings and a hot kim chee and tofu appetizer. My wife and grandson had bulgogi while I opted for dak bulgogi, which is the chicken version. Of course, we had a selection of different kim chee to sample. Cooked it all at the table on a charcoal grill.

Since I had spent several months in Seoul and Ulsan, I knew what to expect but the neophytes proclaimed that they enoyed it as well. We'll be back.

Peter's Cranberries

My wife whips up a cranberry relish every holiday season. The youngest grandson took a liking to it. He will eat it by the bowlful. Every fall, he watches for cranberries in the grocery store and then alerts my wife that it's cranberry season. Here's the recipe.

2 - 1lb bags of fresh cranberries,
3 oranges,
1 Tbs. fresh minced ginger,
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon,
1/12 - 2 cups Splenda

wash cranberries and pick out any bad ones, wash oranges and cut into sections leaving the skin on. Put cranberries and oranges in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and process.

Easy peasy and it's guaranteed to get you away from the jellied stuff in a can.

Kraut and Chops

When we had family dinners at Grandpa's house, Grandma would make a sauerkraut dish. (Grandpa made his own kraut) She put in pork chops and hot dogs. You could substitute any good sausage as well. The version below is my wife's interpretation based on my memory of the dish. Good, simple and filling.

6 center cut pork loin chops, season w salt & pepper

Rinse chops pat dry and season place in a cold frying pan w 1 tbs. oil and brown, when browned remove and set aside.
　
Sauerkraut
2 bags (about 2 lbs) sauerkraut rinse well and drain.
4 strips bacon,
4 cups apple juice or cider,
1 med. chopped onion,
2 cloves garlic minced,
3 cups chicken stock,
½ cup brown sugar or splenda brown sugar sub.
1 tsp. juniper berries,
2 bay leaves,
½ tsp caraway seeds,
pinch cloves,
1 tsp creole seasoning
1 small apple

Reduce apple juice or cider to 2 cups. Fry bacon till crisp. Add onion fry till golden, add garlic , add reduced apple juice /cider chicken stock , brown sugar and all spices. Cook about 5 minutes. Peel and chop 1 apple, add sauerkraut and apple. Cook until almost all of the juice is gone. Set aside.

Peel and chop 4 small potatoes into 2 inch cubes, brown in pan drippings from pork chops.
Place ½ of sauerkraut mix in crock pot top with 3 pork chops , to with remaining sauerkraut and chops.

Cook until done about 2 hours.

Mummo Kulju's Nisu

One of my childhood memories is my Finnish grandmother making cardamon bread. I remember her weathered but strong fingers kneading the dough and its sweet taste. She passed before I got to know her very well. She didn't speak English and that was intimidating to an 8 year old. Here's the recipe:

1 package yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamon
2 eggs, slightly beaten
4 to 4-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg yolk
2 tbls whole milk
sugar

Dissolve yeast in the warm water in a large bowl and stir in evaporated milk, sugar, salt, cardamon, eggs and 2 cups flour. Beat in butter until mixture is smooth. Stir in enough flour to make the dough easy to handle. Let rest 15 minutes.

Turn dough onto floured board. Knead about 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled. Push it down and cover and let rise again for about 1 hour.

Divide dough into half and each half into thirds. Roll the six parts into 1 inch strands. Braid three strands to make one loaf. (Will make 2 loaves) Place each into a bread pan, cover and let rise until doubled.

Heat oven to 375. Mix egg yolk and whole milk. Brush bread with mixture and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until light brown and bread sound hollow when tapped. (about 20 to 25 minutes.) Let cool on a rack.

(Mummo is Finnish for grandmother. Nisu is the name of the bread)

Roast Pork and Gravy

Here's a pork recipe......My wife developed this one to get rid of excess apple juice and cream from Christmas.

Use a bone-in pork loin roast. Almost any butcher will cut one with the bone. The boneless ones are OK, but when you can get one with bones it produces a better tasting roast. The butcher will also crack the bones for easy carving.

Brine it for 24 hours in a mixture of enough apple juice to cover the roast with 2 Tbs. sugar and 1/2 cup salt.

After the pork has brined take out and discard liquid, rinse and pat roast dry, inject with any Cajun Injector flavor you prefer. Pour a little extra virgin olive oil over the roast, and add spices but do not add salt. Bake at 350 * until internal temp is 140 *. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before carving .

While roast is cooking, reduce 4 cups of apple juice to about 1-1/2 cups, set aside until roast is cooked. Add the pan drippings, 1 Tbs. flour cook flour a minute add cream stir and keep warm. Serve with roast.

Post Christmas Uses for Turkey

My wife called and asked me to pick up some andouille and oysters on the way home from work. The turkey carcass was simmered down last night to a rich stock. All that's needed is some roux and the holy trinity.

I suspect some turkey gumbo is in my future.

(Note to foodies: that's the Louisiana version of andouille, not the French, which is made from tripe)

Christmas Challenge

I married into a large Italian family. If you learn nothing else about Italians, you learn that they cook enough food to challenge the miracle of the loaves and fishes. As my wife likes to say, there is plenty of food and adding one more person will not make any difference. So, we have invited a couple of people we know, who would otherwise spend Christmas Day alone, to join our extended family for dinner.

So I'm issuing a challenge. My challenge is for you to find someone in your circle of acquaintances who will be alone Christmas Day and invite them to share Christmas dinner with you. It could be someone in the military or a student who can't afford to travel home. It could be a colleague who has no family in the area. It could be someone who is travelling and can't get home for the holidays. Think about who you know that may be alone and invite them.

Grandma's Mac and Cheese

This is my wife's mac and cheese. The grandsons love it and won't eat any other kind.

The classic pasta shape for this recipe is elbow macaroni, but any small curvaceous pasta will work. Cook macaroni a little less than al dente as pasta will bake in oven. It's better to make the sauce first and then cook the pasta. For fun try pasta wheels or any other unusual shape.

T = tablespoon, tsp. = teaspoon

8 T of butter
2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 small chopped onion
1/4 tsp celery seed
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp. dry yellow mustard, dissolved in 1 tsp. water
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and hot sauce or Tabasco to taste
6 T flour
3 1/2 cups milk
1 1/4 cups low sodium chicken broth or stock
1/2 pound Swiss cheese, 1/2 pound Colby, 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese shredded (you can vary the cheese and use what ever have on hand i.e. gruyere, havarti, or any good quality cheese that will melt)

Do not add salt to this sauce there is usually enough salt from cheeses, stock and butter, taste sauce and salt if necessary

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In microwave melt 2 T of butter when melted mix with breadcrumbs , stir and set aside to top dish before putting in oven, may need more melted butter. If so, use additional butter and not part the 6 T left from the original 8 T .

In heated saucepan place butter and melt add garlic, onions cook about 2 minutes and add mustard and water mixture, celery seed and cayenne pepper. Cook until light brown, about 1 minute, add milk and stock and cook until starts to thicken, add all cheese and cook on very low temperature. Whisk to keep from burning until cheese melts. Add hot sauce or Tabasco and salt if necessary. Remove from burner.

Cook pasta according to pkg directions, but because pasta will be baked drain a little before the pasta reaches the al dente stage.

Butter a casserole dish, mix the pasta into the sauce, it will look like there is too much sauce, but it will be perfect. Put it in the casserole and top with buttered panko . Bake 25/30 minutes.

Hope your family enjoys what the grandsons call Grandma's special baked macaroni!!

Rosie's Roast Beef Poor Boy

My wife's grandmother, a lady of Italian heritage, ran a corner grocery store in Algiers. She used to make roast beef poor boys and sell them to the longshoremen and the Navy base back in the post war years. Here's how she did it.
Get a top round roast. You may need to ask the butcher to get one because they won't be in the display case. Peel garlic cloves and slice parmagianno reggiano cheese into long sticks. Using a narrow but long bladed knife, stab holes into the roast. Stuff these holes with the garlic cloves and cheese. Tie it up with string, roll it in flour, season with salt and pepper and brown it on the stove. Stick in the oven, covered, and cook at 325 F until done.
Take it out but save the debris in the pan. Let it cool and slice it verrrrry thin. Take the debris and make a gravy. (The secret is to add Kitchen Bouquet to the gravy.) Take the sliced roast beef and heat it in the pan with the gravy.
Slice a loaf of french bread in half lengthwise. Dress the slices however you like with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, etc. Add the hot beef slices and chow down. Remember, with roast beef poor boys, the messier, the better.

Fast Food Blues

I don't know about you, but I have noticed a disturbing trend in fast food restaurants. It seems that wherever I go, whether it is the sailor's chicken place, the clown's burger joint or the king's establishment, that I am served by surly employees with bad attitudes. These stores used to pride themselves on being where teenagers get their first job and they prided themselves on teaching responsibility and good attitudes to the next generation of workers. Sadly, Those days seem to be gone. Now you are met by someone seems to think that they are above working in such a place and are only doing it until they are discovered by the next reality TV show.
But happily, there is a bright shining alternative, and that is Raising Cane's.
The founder presented his concept for a chicken fingers restaurant as part of an assignment at LSU. His professor said it would never work and gave him a bad grade. He felt so strongly about the idea that he went to work and saved the money to finance his first store which he opened at the gates of LSU. The rest, as they say, is history. He now has 100 stores in 15 states.
He has some strict rules for employees. Some of them are:

- If you are not doing anything, you will clean. Grab a spray bottle and a rag and start cleaning tables. If it's already clean, clean it again!

- You will always have a smile on your face. Even if your dog died, you have to smile or not come to work.

- Each customer will be greeted at least 3 times - upon entering, upon being served and upon leaving.

If you have a Cane's near you, I urge you to visit and see the difference.

Meat Lovers Paradise

Last night I went to a Brazilian steak house, or Churrascaria. It's name was Tradicao. If you love charbroiled meat, go to a churrascaria. It's one price and the waiters bring out skewers of meat for as long as you can eat. Go hungry!

Houston's Mahatma Ghandi District

My hotel is near Houston's Indian district and I was craving Indian food. I went to a little strip mall place called Mezban. It advertised Indian and Pakistani food so I knew it would have spice. A buffet was set up and it was clear that this is where the locals ate. I had pakoras, butter chicken, karahi gosht and topped it off with some kheer. Pakoras are fried onions. Butter chicken is white meat simmered in a coconut curry. Karahi gosht is lamb in a spicy curry of tomato and onion base. Kheer is a rice pudding with a hint of rose water. Knife and fork are optional. They bring naan bread which is used to scoop up the meat and curry mixture.

Tomorrow we havea long meeting to kick off the engineering on this biofuel project, but for now, I am content.