MMM, a trip to the Farm Stand

I took my mom to Froberg Farms this weekend. It is a farmers market just outside of Houston in Alvin. You take two county roads to get there, plus cross a railroad track, so you instantly feel like you’ve stepped into another, much slower, much more wonderful world. The aroma of vine-ripened tomatoes and watermelon is intoxicating.

The people there are friendly. They also had samples of their smokehouse jalapeño, cheese sausage, watermelon and cantaloupe. A smoke house is next to the stand where I saw a couple of families chowing down on Texas beef.

Mom and I skipped the meat and went straight for the produce. We loaded up on huge beefsteak tomatoes, zucchini, bell pepper (all colors), melon, strawberries, apples, peaches, spinach, radishes, broccoli, a large bag of almonds, milk, eggs, bread plus ate a homemade fried peach pie each while we shopped. We came out at $39. Not bad.

Some of the stuff was much cheaper than the chain stores, while some was a little more expensive than Kroger. But I felt like an extra 30 cents here and there was okay, because I know am supporting local farmers, and the stuff is not injected full of steroids to make it grow quicker or turn a false shade of red. It’s all natural.

I remember the first time my friend Rachel ate a tomato out of my dad’s garden. It’s so different than the stuff at the store. Watching her expression as she tasted that home-grown tomato for the first time was special indeed. Her whole coloring and facial expression and mood changed. That home-grown stuff is just amazing!

At Frobergs, I wanted to pick everything up and inhale it. I found myself smelling almost everything I put in my basket. I never do that at Kroger.

You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl, right. I am particularly blessed by growing up in the country, sweating in my dad’s garden. His garden was often times half the size of our home and full of potatoes, corn, tomatoes, okra, beans, peas, squash, and zucchini. I long for his gardening knowledge.

I really enjoyed our visit to Froberg Farms in Alvin this week. To get there, take Hwy 6 towards Manvel.  Turn Left on County Road 149.  At stop sign (County Road 190) turn Right. The address is 11875 County Road 190, Alvin, TX  77511

There is another farmer’s market on Airline in Houston known for its bargains. I think I’ll check that one out next and compare it.

 

Ritzy Fish Fry

We bought some beautiful red fish off the boats in Kemah, dipped it in a batter made from Ritz crackers and had a fabulous fish fry. Here’s how

You need: fresh fish filets, ritz crackers, milk, tony’s, tabasco, lemon pepper, ziploc bag, rolling pin, bowl, peanut oil, frying pan-on stove or on propane cooker, tongs, platter/cookie sheet lined with paper towels.

1. Trim fish and slice into chunks

2. Soak fish in milk and a little bit of lemon juice. We also added a few drops of tabasco, and a few sprinkles of Tony’s. Let soak for about an hour.

4. Create batter. Simply put 2-3 bags of ritz crackers in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin to a very fine coating.

5. Dip fish from milk into ritz cracker batter and coat generously. Lay pieces on a tray. You are ready to fry.

6. Pour enough peanut oil to fill pan half-way full. Heat oil to 300 degrees.

5. Add fish. Turn with tongs after about 2-3 minutes. Cook around 3 minutes on each side. It is done when it floats to the top and is golden brown. 

6. Sprinkle with lemon or lemon pepper and serve.

We had plenty of ritz crackers, so we also rolled some hush puppy batter into the crumbs. It was so yummy. Recipe to come.

 

Red Beans and Rice

“Hamburger, Beans and Chicken” that was Uncle Danny’s answer to ‘how ya doing this week? Hamburger, beans and chicken. As in just fine, everything is normal. We eat Hamburger one day, beans the next, chicken the next, then start all over. That explains a week in Louisiana, in my neighborhood anyway. Beans were certainly one of my favorites. Cooked on Monday, using Sunday’s ham bone, these beans are a welcome home treat at the end of the day. Served with sausage and cornbread, they make a delicious, wholesome meal alone. But red beans and rice is also a great spicy side served with fish or steak, or anything really.

Cajun Red Beans and Rice
1 pound red kidney beans
1 large onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
2 T chopped garlic
2-3 celery stalks, chopped
1 pound smoked sausage cut in pieces (you can use any kind: andouille, etc. I used vension this time since my husband brought home a deer from his hunting trip! Tastes great, but my favorite is to mix Eckermanns jalapeño sausage with garlic sausage.)
1-3 hambone (/shank/hock) with some meat on it
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Tony’s to taste
salt and black pepper to taste
water to cover beans

Soak beans overnight. In the morning, put beans, vegetables, seasonings and ham hock into crock pot. Cover with enough water to cover beans. Cook on low all day. About 1-2 hours before serving, add chopped smoked sausage and cook on high.
Serve over warm rice with hot buttered cornbread.

 

Jambalaya Baby!

A fellow Acadiana friend named Jenny explained Cajun cooking best …”It’s poor people cooking. It is using leftovers wisely.” Okay maybe not those words exactly, but you get my drift.

Jambalaya is one of those wonderful meals that starts with the Holy Trinity of Cajun Cooking: onion, bell pepper and celery, adds some meat and veggies, a little chicken broth and some rice and it is done. We have it weekly at my house and it is my husband’s favorite meal. He has no idea how easy or budget friendly this meal is. Generally I just add tomato, chicken and sausage. But sometimes I might leave out the tomatoes, or add shrimp, crab or crawfish if I have it on hand.

First, saute the trinity: onion, bell pepper and celery in a bit of oil.

Second, add meat and seasonings.

Third add rice and chicken broth and let simmer with lid partially covering it for a few minutes.

Delicous!

Jambalya recipe
2 T canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped
½ red bell pepper and ½ green or yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
Salt, pepper, thyme, Tony Chachere’s cajun seasoning in the green canto taste
2 Bay leaves
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced (Again Eckermann’s beef sausage is my favorite. I combine Eckermann’s jalapeño sausage with Eckermann’s beef and garlic sausage).
1.5 lbs boneless chicken thighs, chopped
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
2 cups Minute rice
1 ½ cups chicken stock or broth

Heat oil in a large pot (cast iron is best) over medium heat. Add onions, celery and bell pepper. Add about 1 tsp each of salt, pepper, and Tony’s. Stir until onions are lightly browned and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the sausage and cook another 10 minutes. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, Tony’s and thyme. Add the chicken and bay leaves to the pot. Continue stirring another 10 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the pot. Add can of Rotel tomatoes and stir. When chicken is browned, add rice and stir. Add chicken broth and stir again. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium low. Cover pot partially with lid and let simmer about 10-15 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand for about 5 minutes before serving. Remove bay leaves. Enjoy.

 

My Mamma’s Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

My mother perfected her gumbo recipe during one of LSU’s many fantastic football seasons years ago. She insisted on showing my brother and me how to make it, rather than just emailing the recipe. That moment we learned gumbo from her, was one I will never forget. I felt like I had just been passed the Holy Grail, or discovered electricity. It’s more than just a recipe in our family. It is a true event. Generally we spend a couple of days making it, and then a couple of days enjoying it also. I have to steal from my brother’s fine wording on his MySpace blog just a little here. He described learning mom’s gumbo so well.

“…after today, my quest for the family gumbeaux knowledge was passed down from my role model, the Reba McIntyre look-a-like, yes.. my Mother. In the kitchen we stirred, sliced, chopped, smelled, tasted, blessed, waited, laughed, stirred again, blessed again, and laughed again. To the outside world, gumbeaux is a lot of stuff in a pot that comes from south Louisiana, and is usually served in Cajun restaurants. To me it’s a family tradition. A symbol of love, unity, and good times. Thank God for okra.”

Above, my mom and her gumbo. I will post more pictures in days to come. For now, here is our family recipe for chicken and sausage gumbo using the oven to create the roux. The oven saves so much time and is so easy.

Ingredients
½ cup oil
½ cup flour
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cups chopped celery
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 package frozen chopped okra
2 lb smoked sausage (a mix of Eckermann’s garlic sausage and then jalapeño sausage is my favorite combination)
10-20 chicken thighs
1 T Louisiana Crab and Shrimp Boil (powder form)
Tony Chachere’s cajun seasoning in green can, Salt, and pepper to taste
Thyme
2 bay leafs
Allegra Original Flavor Marinade
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes

The day before, prepare your chicken and stock. Boil chicken in water, cool and debone. Save broth and chicken in the refrigerator. OR you can save time by purchasing boneless, skinless chicken and using store bought broth.

Preheat oven to 375. Put the oil and flour into a large dutch oven (cast iron is best) and whisk together. Place on the top shelf in the oven for about an hour. Stir about 3 -4 times during the process.

While the roux is cooking, cut up your vegetables, sausage, and chicken and sip on a cold beverage. This makes the experience that much better. Also if you made your chicken stock the night before remove the pot from the refrigerator skim off the fat and let the stock get to room temperature.

When the roux is done, it will be a light brown color. The darker you get it the more flavorful the gumbo. I like mine a golden brown color, like peanut butter. Remove the pot from the oven carefully and place on the stovetop over medium high heat.

Add onions and celery and stir until vegetables start to become tender, about 6-8 minutes. Add chopped tomato, a dash of salt, pepper, Tony’s (or cayenne pepper), a dash of thyme and two bay leaves and stir. Add chicken stock and stir. Add frozen okra, bottle of Allegra, 1 T Shrimp and Crab boil, Rotel tomatoes, sausage. Stir well and bring to a boil. This is the point where you say your Cajun blessing: Its gonna be goooooo!!

Reduce heat and let simmer 1-2 hours. Add large pieces of the cooked chicken after 1-2 hours. Simmer another hour or so. The longer it cooks on low, the better it tastes. Serve over rice with French bread. MMMMMmmmmmm!

 

Cajun boiled shrimp and crab

Growing up, the shrimp boils and fish frys were always left to dad. But I really began to miss that great food and knew that if the men in my family could make it, surely I could too! Since Cooking Club is all about challenging ourselves, I decided to learn it for the group. It was so yummy, the Monday night shrimp and crab boil has become an annual event for our group!

You will need
Two large gumbo pots, strainer, tongs and slotted spoon
Water
2 garlic cloves chopped
2 beers (plus 2 more to drink while you cook)
2 lemons quartered
1 onion quartered
1 bag of Zatarains shrimp, crab and crawfish boil
salt, pepper and Tony’s seasoning (green can) to taste. I generally use about 1 T of each to both pots
4 bay leaves
Red potatoes
Corn on the cob
Mushrooms if you want. (really anything goes, you can even put artichokes here!)
Smoked sausage, cut into 2 inch pieces
Shrimp, estimate 1/2 pound per lady or 1-2 pounds per hungry cajun
Snow crabs (these are sold frozen. They are already cooked so you are really just heating them up and flavoring them). I made 5 lbs of shrimp and 2 lbs of crab with one bag of Zatarains. You can adjust this recipe pretty easily and save the leftover seasoning in a ziploc bag. (I use this to flavor bloody marys and gumbo).

Quarter lemons. Squeeze juices into your large gumbo pots and add lemons
to pot. Fill your pots a little more than half way full of water. Add seasonings evenly. Bring to a rajin cajun boil. Add potatoes, cook 15 minutes. Add corn and sausage and mushrooms, cook 10 minutes. Once potatoes are tender, remove with slotted spoon and place on a tray.

Add shrimp to one pot, and crab to the other pot. ( I would not do them in the same pot, that would just be too fishy!). Bring to a boil.

For the shrimp, once the water boils again, just take it off the burner and set aside. If you want the shrimp to be really spicy, allow it to set a few minutes. The longer it sets, the more it will soak in the spice. You can add a few ice cubes to the water to avoid overcooking. Or just drain it all then.

For the crab, once the water boils again, allow the crab to gently boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Then drain and serve.

Be sure to say your cajun blessing —-MMMMMM mmmmmm izzz gonna be gooo…..and GEAUX Tigers!

You can serve with melted butter, lemons and cocktail sauce.

 

Monday night cooking club

Tonight’s menu was fabulous: an appetizer of tomato basil dip with wheat thins by Anne, greek salad by Erika jalepeno cheese bread, buttermilk mashed potatoes by Shannon, roasted carrots, cajun roast beef by me and chocolate yummy dessert by Jenny. We could not stop nibbling on the fantastic tomato basil dip by Anne

Layer cream cheese in bottom of pyrex, top with can of fire roasted tomatoes and torn basil leaves. Top with shredded parmesan cheese. Serve with wheat thins. Does it get any easier/better than that?!

 

Mom’s cajun pot roast

This is my little nephew Adam’s favorite food. He asks for this more than ice cream. This recipe is extremely tender because it is cooked on HIGH heat all day long in a crock pot. It is totally okay to put it in the morning before work and let it cook for 10-12 hours. Easy, delicious, bookmark this one. You are gonna love it!

For Mom’s cajun pot roast, you will need
a rump or shoulder roast
2 packages pre-cut carrots
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
Allegro Original Flavor Marinade
Tony Chachere’s cajun seasoning
Flour

Layer carrots in bottom of a crock pot. Put roast on top of carrots. With a knife, poke holes 1″ deep into roast. Slowly pour 1/2 cup Allegro over roast. Sprinkle Onion Soup Mix on top of roast. Do not stir into juices. Cover top of roast with Tony Chachere’s cajun seasoning. Slowly pour 2/3 cup of water into crock pot. Cook on HIGH. After six-eight hours, remove 1 cup hot liquid into glass measuring cup. Mix 2 T flour into the cup of hot juices and stir quickly to dissolve lumps. Pour over roast, stirring it into other juices. Let cook for 2 or more hours. Fantastic with mashed potatoes on the side.

 

Texas Fried Venison Steaks

Many will say the backstrap of the deer is the best part, I have to agree. We like to pan fry small backstrap medallions just like a chicken fried steak.

Ingredients
2 cups buttermilk
3 cups flour
salt, pepper, garlic powder, Tony Cachere’s cajun seasoning
hot sauce
2 lbs backstrap cut into small medallions

First, soak venison in a pan of buttermilk and 2 tsp hot sauce in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Remove pan from refrigerator. Pour oil into an iron skillet about 2 inches deep and turn fire to medium heat to get it warm. Add 1 cup flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 T black pepper and 2 T Tony’s to a bowl and stir. Coat each steak with the flour mixture. Shake off excess flour and place into hot oil. Fry in the hot oil until lightly browned on each side, about 3 minutes.

Remove with tongs and drain briefly on paper towels before serving. This is wonderful with mashed potatoes and cream gravy.

 

Clear Lake Girls Cooking Club

An ordinary Monday night

Perhaps we should be called the eating and laughing club. The Clear Lake Girls Cooking Club is a weekly event where ladies who share a passion for food and cooking get together for one culinary adventure after the other.

Our cooking club was born in 2004 by the lovely, wise minds of Jill, Kristi and Jenny. Everyone wanted to learn how to cook, but what was the point of cooking for one? So the ladies decided to get together every Monday night and challenge themselves in the kitchen. The group has grown and become much more organized since then. It has developed into a fun weekly event where the ladies cook, eat great food, laugh, cry and enjoy fabulous fellowship together.

We meet every Monday night, and we try to challenge ourselves by making something we have not tried before. We take turns hosting in each other’s homes. Whoever hosts has the entree. Other categories include appetizer, salad, side, dessert, bread and drink. We are on a rotation system and keep track of it in in a spreadsheet stored at googledocs. We stay connected through a user group created on Yahoo.

Although I have pushed for themes, it does not happen often. The ladies of this group are adventurous and love to go potluck. This can be fun and also difficult on the stomach. For example, one week the entree host might make a wonderful dish of spaghetti and meatballs. The side could be sweet potato casserole. The salad, pasta salad. The appetizer, crab cakes. This kind of mixture does not always go well with my tummy but the girls think potluck is too much fun so it pretty much rules.

However, when I host, I always tell the ladies what I will be cooking in hopes that they will bring something that coordinates well with the main course. Lately, the ladies have become more enthusiastic about themes and coordinating. We had a great Chinese New Year Celebration, and just might have a Mardi Gras bash soon too.

The group has about 10-12 girls in it. Sometimes, not all the ladies can make it so we generally always have each category filled up plus extra food brought to the table. We tried adding more members to the group, but we discovered that a smaller group is much better. Its just quite difficult to have more than a dozen ladies in the kitchen all at once, or sitting down at a table together. It loses its great intimacy that way. We have decided to keep it small and not add any new members for the time being. However, if anyone wants to start a cooking club, we are happy to help you with this!