A Round Tuit

Having gone back to work this year, I have found that getting things posted here is hard to do. Balancing the necessities of daily life, some small occasions for socializing, while working 2nd shift.. that takes almost more organization and mental gymnastics than I can manage!

There are several recipes that need to be finished, many more I would like to post and a few rants and roses that could use some airtime.

I will get all this done but it will take me some time. Thanks for being patient with me and come back to check on anything new.

Shrimp Creole

Shrimp Creole

Another dish with as many variations as cooks, Shrimp (or chicken) Creole* simply invites experimentation. Once the basic elements of the trinity, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, stock, salt and sugar are dealt with, the preparation is only limited by the cook's own personal preferences.

Yes, the common elements of Creole, Cajun? The basic trinity: onion, celery** and bell peppers. The white trinity? There are various descriptions but the most elementary is onion, celery and parsnips. Tomatoes are vital even though they must be a fairly recent addition. Pepper is not native to the Western Hemisphere but adds a lot to the dish. Cayenne peppers are native and are absolutely vital in this dish. Herbs such as thyme and tarragon, perhaps with an addition of basil, give depth to the preparation. Butter? Yes. Citrus juice? Yes. Sugar, molasses or sorghum? Yes.

Shrimp Creole doesn't need a roux and this makes it an easy dish to prepare. It can simmer for hours and only develops more depth and flavor through that time. Put it in a slow-cooker, set on low and let it go for 8 hours or more? Heaven in the mouth.

Ok, fine... enough of the pontificating and on with the cooking.

Quick shrimp stock

• 2 pounds raw shrimp, shelled (don't toss those shells and keep the shrimp for your creole)
• 2 tablespoons butter

Melt the butter over low heat. Add the shrimp shells, stirring them around until they turn pink. Add a little more water than the amount needed for your recipe and simmer until the full aroma of shrimp has developed, 30 minutes or so. Remove from heat, cool and strain. Toss the shells and keep the stock in the fridge or freezer.

Now that the stock is ready to go, let's get on with the actual Creole....

• 1/2 cup oil
• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 large bell peppers, chopped
• 5 celery ribs, chopped finely
• 10 large tomatoes, peeled or equivalent canned
• cayenne pepper, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• white pepper, to taste
• 1 T thyme
• 1 T tarragon
• 1 T basil
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• bay leaves
• 6 green onions, white and green parts chopped
• 1 c parsley chopped fine

Put your dutch oven on the cooktop, add oil and bring up to heat. When oil is shimmering, add onions, celery and pepper, Reduce heat and soften, about 45 minutes, stirring ocassionally.
Add the tomatoes and other ingredients down to and including the bay leaves.
Keeping heat medium low, simmer this mixture for 2 hours or until it has reduced by about a quarter and thickened.
At this point the sauce can be put in the fridge for up to 2 days. Keeping it will only improve the final flavor, so go ahead!
When it's time to serve your creole, bring the sauce back to the cooktop and bring up almost to a boil very slowly. Stir in the shrimp. Cook until shrimp are pink but be careful not to overcook them as they will be extremely chewy if too done.
Stir in green onions and parsley. Remove from heat.
Serve with a scoop of rice.

That's all there is to it! Go ahead and try a creole, experiment with herbs and proportions. After all, cooking isn't a science, it's an art...

* What or who is Creole? There is no easy answer but this old article may shed some light on the question: First Creoles

** I am not clear on the celery availability some centuries ago. There may be native varieties, such as celeriac and, if so, please let me know.

Missing things

Contrary to what you may have been led to believe by the title of this post, I haven't mislaid any cups of coffee, lost my spectacles, forgotten why I am in this room nor any of the other odd behaviors that lead my family and friends to consider me an endearing, if rather daffy, elder. As a matter of fact, it's been remembering things that is causing me to be missing things.

Earlier this afternoon, Himself, Waggywaggy and I went for a drive. We stopped to take care of an errand or two and, while leaving town, passed several fast food joints. Memories reached forth from some dark recess of my mind, beckoning to me, murmuring of lost places, nigh-on forgotten flavors and scents long vanished anywhere other than memory. Why memory was triggered on this particular day by those particular places is anyone's guess but, for whatever reason, I have been recalling many foods, eating places and special treats that I haven't thought of for years, along with some I think of often.

What would be some of the things I find myself missing? Are they sublime? Ridiculous? Somewhere in between? Yes to all but the valuation of the item itself bears no relationship to the value of the memory.

Who amongst us doesn't miss real, honest to goodness, chocolate syrup? Not chocolate-flavored high fructose corn syrup but real chocolate? Good old Hershey's® in the little brown and white can, opened with a sharp-ended can puncher, poured liberally over ice cream? The drip down the side of the can, surreptitiously wiped with a finger, to be savored as a small prize? Squirt soda or Crush grapefruit soda? The bite of grapefruit, partially balanced by the sweetness of real sugar? Over ice on a hot, hot summer day...

The original Chef Boy Ar Dee Ravioli and Spaghettios with Little Meatballs. I loved those even though I am a bit embarrassed to admit it. The ravioli didn't actually taste like "real" ravioli but, by golly, it was tasty just the same. The little meatballs were kind of chewy and not real meaty but those, too, I loved. The frozen dinners? Remember those old Swanson's dinners? Turkey and dressing, gravy, potatoes, cranberry-apple compote? mmmmmmmmmm Mooshing the dressing cubes up with the gravy made a perfect addition to the thin slices of turkey. The fish dinners with that round cod cake? I don't know what they put in that fish cake but that was just divine, at least to a 10 year old's palate. The "mexican" dinners with rice and enchiladas... fried chicken... salisbury steak....

Tomato soup from a can? "soup and sandwich, soup and sandwich..." Tomatoey goodness, tart and sweet at the same time. Rich, red nectar for the dipping of grilled cheese sandwiches. Sandwichs made, by the way, with real butter? Mmmmmmmmm, good.

Hot fudge sundaes. Fudge squares wrapped in wax paper, melted in a tiny pot, poured over ice cream, pooling around and beneath the frosty scoops of sweet, waiting to be lovingly spooned up.

BK Whoppers and Whalers, sandwiches the size of dinner plates. Real beef, real fish, huge portions from when fast food was actual food. The McD's fries, the original ones, crisp and hot with a vague hint of beefiness. An original Hardee's roast beef sandwich, topped with sauce, juicy and inviting.

Local memories, too. Spic-n-span tenderloins with pickles, onions and mustard. Those little bitty burgers that the elderly sisters downtown dished up. Condiments were available but don't ask for ketchup. They didn't have any and you'd get the evil eye for asking. Suzy-Q spiral fries. mmmmmm! Maid-rite sandwiches, the easiest tasty ever! Ground beef and chicken broth... that's it, really. Ice cream made on-site at Birdsall's, turtle sundaes, marshmallow shakes. Walking out of the ice cream parlor and smelling hot tar, licking that cone fast enough to keep from having ice cream drip down your arm. The bakery that made krispies so light they would melt in your mouth. Costa's restaurant's Greek specialties... Steaks at the Play Pen, the Athenian's Greek salads.

There are also memories of things I don't miss one bit. Horrible foods from the sixties and seventies on which I might decide to elaborate. Later...

Rarebit, anyone?

Welsh Rarebit or Welsh Rabbit? Regardless of regional variations, the name is an oddity and seems to have nothing whatsoever to do with Wales or anywhere else as far as I've ever heard. (Regardless of Looney Tunes, the dish has nothing to do with hassenpfeffer, even though that is simply German for "rabbit stew.") I adore any of the variations of this dish, being a huge fan of cheese, mustard, cayenne and beer.

Thanks to my dear friend, Tartiflette, I can present you with the basic recipe for Rarebit and two regional variations, Yorkshire and Scots. So, on with the cheeseing!

Basic Welsh Rarebit (the classic with cheese, mustard and ale)

This is supposed to serve two but around here it's barely enough for me! I like more cayenne, too.

• 2 slices bread
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• dash salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire
  
• 1/2 ounce butter
• 3 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoon beer or ale

Mix all ingredients but the bread together. Set aside.
Toast bread lightly on one side.
Spread cheese mixture on untoasted side of bread.
Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Enjoy hot!

Yorkshire Rarebit (crisp bacon and is made with Wensleydale*)

• 1 3/4 ounces butter
• 1 3/4 ounces plain flour
• 1 1/8 cup milk
• 1 1/8 cup black sheep ale or an ale of your choice
• 1 1/8 cup mature Wensleydale cheese
• 1 tsp. English mustard powder
• 2 slice streaky bacon, fried until crisp and crumbled
  
• few drops of Worcestershire, to taste
• 1 egg
• 4 Ciabatta rolls

Melt butter and add flour. Make into a roux, stir in milk and ale.

Stir over heat until a stiff sauce forms. Add the mustard powder and the Worchestershire, stir in and add the cheese. Stir until melted. When all melted, add the egg and bacon and stir.

Cut the ciabatta rolls into half and toast, top each piece with some of the cheese mixture and brown under the broiler. Serve with a little salad or as a savoury at the end of a meal.


Scotch Rarebit (Straight from Mrs Beeton, who evidently wasn't a big fan of punctuation. The cook is assumed to know what the proportions are to produce the desired result.)

• Rich Cheese, few slices
• Toast
• Mustard
• Pepper

Cut some nice rich sound cheese into rather thin slices.
Melt in a cheese toaster on a hot plate or over steam.
When melted, add a small quantity of mixed mustard and a seasoning of pepper.
Stir the cheese until it is completely dissolved.
Brown it before the heat or with a salamander.
Fill the bottom of the cheese toaster with hot water and serve with dry or buttered toasts, whichever may be preferred.
A cheese toaster has a hot water reservoir, the cheese is melted in the upper tin, which is placed in another vessel of boiling water, so keeping the preparation beautifully hot.
A small quantity of porter or port wine, is sometimes mixed with the cheese, and if it be not very rich, a few pieces of butter may be mixed with it to great advantage.
Sometimes the melted cheese is spread on the toasts and then laid in the cheese dish at the top of the hot water.
Whichever way it is served, it is highly necessary that the mixture be very hot and very quickly served or it will be worthless.



* As far as I'm concerned, there isn't anything made with Wensleydale that isn't absolutely delicious.

The tail is wagging the ox

People who buy all their meat in those plastic-entombed packages at the supermarket don't know just how tasty oxtail soup can be. We're lucky to live in a farming region and have access to a locker that is willing to supply all kinds of odds and ends that are missing from commercial stores like the big chains. Oxtail is one of my favorite types of soup, astonishingly rich and hearty.
If you can find a tail or two, give it a try! It's not hard and you will be very pleased with the results. It's possible to substitute inexpensive cuts of bone-in beef but it won't be the same. Oxtail has a very distinct flavor, beefy but not like arm roast or sirloin. The end result using oxtail will be a richer and heartier soup than any other cut you could use.

Oxtail Soup
serves 4

• 1 oxtail, whole
• 2 onions, rough chop
• 1 large carrot, scraped and sliced into 1" pieces
• 2 celery ribs, 1" pieces
• 2 cups diced tomatoes with peel
• 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• oil

Heat oven to 450F while prepping vegetables.

Put all vegetables into a heavy roasting pan, pour a small amount of oil over the vegetables, toss to coat.
Rub tail with oil, place on top of the vegetables.
Put pan in oven and roast all until veg. has browned nicely, stirring every once in a while to prevent too much sticking.

• 4 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup dry red wine

Bring broth and wine to a slow boil at the very ends of the roasting process. Reduce to simmer.

Turn oven off, allow pan and contents to cool some.
Remove meat from pan, place in slow cooker or large stockpot.
Add all vegetables to pot or cooker, set aside.
Return roasting pan to cooktop on medium high heat. Deglaze with the broth and wine mixture, scraping up all the lovely bits from the bottom. (some of them may seem a bit burnt but that will be ok as long as they aren't totally charred.) Pour the pan liquids into your cooking vessel, stir well.

For a slow cooker, turn heat to low and simmer until meat is tender and falling off the bones, anywhere from 2 to 6 hours, depending on the size of the oxtail. Turn heat off, strain through a colander. Set broth in a cool place or the refrigerator to solidify and remove the fat.

For a stock pot, bring contents to full boil, reduce heat just to where the liquid is simmering, cover loosely. Simmer until meat is tender, as above. Turn heat off, strain through a colander. Set broth in a cool place or the refrigerator to solidify and remove the fat.

Discard the vegetables.* Remove meat from bone being careful to leave the spinal matter intact as you don't really want to use that.

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, scraped, cut into 1" pieces
• 1 celery rib, cut into 1" pieces (I don't put celery in but some folks like it.)
• 3 large red potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 sprigs parsley or 3 teaspoons dried parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, mashed (optional)**
  
• additional red wine, broth or water, to taste and as needed

Return liquid and meat to stock pot (I don't use a slow cooker for this last part.) Bring to simmer and add the vegetables and herbs. At a very slow boil, cook the soup until the vegetables are all tender, 2 to 4 hours. If the stock becomes too thick or the soup seems to be drying too much before the vegetables are done, add liquids as desired. It's a good idea to taste the broth to see just what it is that is needed. What you add will depend on what kind of wine you used in the first steps as well as the relative strength of your broth. You may add salt and pepper sometime near the end of the cooking process, too.

The result will be a soup with a lovely rich consistency but not too thick. Serve hot with biscuits or good bread for soaking up the broth, maybe a nice salad on the side. Great stuff for winter days...


* Another option for the vegetables? If they aren't too done, as in mooshy, keep them. When they are totally cool, put them in a blender with about 1/2 cup chicken stock and puree. Stir this into the broth before you put the next lot of vegetables in. Darned roasted veg smells and tastes so good that it's a shame to waste all of that.
** To lessen the "bite" of the garlic either simmer it for about 10 minutes or roast it. Either method gives a smoother taste that blends well with the other ingredients and the richness of the broth.

Jamaican-style jerk brine

The chicken turned out beautifully, crispy golden, tender and savory. This is an approximation of the combination of ingredients used in the brine solution. (I really must start writing things down as I go along 'cause I forget what I've done and must cast about to redo it.)

• Chicken sufficient for the number of eaters, cut up or whole
• 3/4 cup kosher salt
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 quarts broth, vegetable or chicken
• 1 tablespoon hickory smoke flavor if not grilling
• 1 cup white vinegar (optional)
• 4 scotch bonnets, stemmed and minced (don't forget the gloves)
• 1/2 cup green onion, minced (sub same amount of finely chopped white onion if you wish)
• 1/2 cup lime juice (if you can get it)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons thyme
• 2 tablespoon allspice, crushed berries or ground
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 3 teaspoons rubbed sage
• 2 teaspoons ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground

Combine all ingredients except scotch bonnets, in a large stock pot, bring to boil. Reduce heat, give it a good long smell to see if you have enough spice, if not add some more. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Place chicken in pot and add enough cold water to cover the bird totally. Keep it submerged during the brining process by using a plate inverted over it. Refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Remove chicken from brine. Discard brine.
Pat bird dry, rub all over with butter. Add another layer of flavor by using a paste rub after the butter. (Busha Browne's is really, really good and you can get it online.)
Cook bird in whatever manner you wish. I did it in the oven, 450F for 15 minutes, 375 for another hour or so, until done. Grilling is also good.

Goodbye

Goodbye.
Gone ahead.
Seeing what you always knew was there. Gone ahead.
Dreams in life and life's dreams, apparent.
Goodbye.
Gone ahead.

Written for my dear friend Stacy, who unexpectedly died of a brain aneurysm many years before what should have been her time. A marvelous cook, dear friend, loving and proud parent.
Good bye, Stace... gone ahead.