Many years ago, my supervisor took vacation to travel back to her point of origin, “der Vaterland”, to visit her “volks”. When she returned, she presented me with this family recipe.

The WordPress.com site will be kept public, for a while at least, but will eventually be re-directed to the new location. All new posts will be at the new domain.

Hope to see you there!

Steve D.

Chef John Fulse became increasingly popular with his 1990 cooking program “A Taste of Lousiana” and has hence risen to international renown.

Chef Folse has established himself as a successful businessman by selling many cookbooks, novels and children’s books over the years and owns Lafitte’s Landing Restaurant as well as the plantation where it is located. In 1994, the John Folse Culinary Institute was founded in Thibodaux, Lousiana, dedicated to Louisiana culinary traditions.

The one characteristic of Fulse that always stood out to me was his strong Louisiana cajun accent.

Steve D.

Justin Wilson “Cookin’ Cajun”

When I moved to Texas in the early 1980s, Justin Wilson was popular in the region. With his new cooking program on PBS, his popularity was spreading nationwide.

Justin Wilson was a safety engineer in his earlier years and decided to add humor to his script to loosen up the audience when he lectured, and keep them awake. His career developed as a story-teller of local tales of the bayou, and he published several comedy record albums. Eventually, it was discovered that Mr. Wilson was one heck of a cook, hence, the PBS TV cooking show, Louisiana Cookin’.

It was always a joy to watch Justin. He would always sit at the table with the red and white checked tablecoth, pour himself a glass of wine and perform quality assurance on the dish that he had just prepared for the audience. His phrase “I gar-on-tee” was his trademark.

Though I worked in restaurants throughout my school days, watching a couple of episodes of Wilson served as an inspiration for me. I felt free to experiment in my own kitchen and started building an impressive collection of recipes, many based on memory after watching the “Cookin’ Cajun”.

Steve D.

Care for Some Pecan Pie?
Image – museinthecity on flickr.com (CC by 2.0)

As I noticed a large bag of plain pecans in the cupboard, I got the idea to make a pie with them. Here’s how I did it!

Ingredients

• bag of pecans
• 1 frozen pie crust
• 2 cans pecan filling
• 1 dash vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 ozs butter melted
• Whipped cream

Directions

1. Allow pie crust to partially thaw (about 30 minutes).

2. Preheat oven to 350°.

3. Bake pie crust for about 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

4. On a sheet of foil, bake pecans for about 10 minutes then allow to cool.

5. In a bowl, mix pie filling, brown sugar, vanilla extract and pecans using a spatula.

6. Fill pie crust with mixture.

7. Bake for 40 minutes.

8. Allow to cool, then serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Texas State Fair Pecan Pie

This version was the winner of the 1996 Texas State Fair with Master Chef Dean Fearing serving as one of the judges.

Ingredients

PIE SHELL

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick plus 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water

FILLING

• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves (51/2 ounces)
• 1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 3 tablespoons whole milk
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs

Unsweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preparation

In a pie plate, toast the pecans for 8 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool.

No wonder the pecan is the state tree of Texas!

Yum!

Steve D.

Stevarino’s Crock Pot Roast

I threw this together years ago when I was moving and had to clean out the fridge and freezer. It served a dual purpose project in that I was able to coax some friends into help pack and move with the aid of the aroma given off by this “pot luck” conglomeration.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef bottom round roast
• 1 packet of onion soup mix
• 2 stalks of celery diced
• 2 carrots sliced
• 1 large potato cubed
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 tsp beef boullion
• 1 dash of garlic salt
• 1 dash of celery salt
• 1 dash of black pepper
• 1 dash of sage
• 1 dash of rosemary
• 1 dash of thyme
• 1 Tbsp of minced garlic
• 3 Tbsps of worcestershire sauce
• 4 Cs water
• 1 bay leaf

Preparation

1. Place beef round in a standard 3 quart crock pot.

2. Add water to cover the roast (approximately 1 quart).

3. Add remaining ingredients to the pot and stir.

4. Set crock pot to low and allow to fester for 7 to 8 hours.

Enjoy!

Steve D.

Chicken Piccata

An favorite age-old Italian dish, Chicken Piccata is a sure winner at the dinner table.

Ingredients

• 6 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 chicken cutlets, (3/4-1 pound total), trimmed
• 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 10-ounce package mushrooms, sliced
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• * 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• * 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
• *2 teaspoons butter

* pic·ca·ta (pəˈkädə/) adjective “cooked in a sauce of lemon, parsley and butter.”

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until just tender, 4 to 6 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and rinse.

2. Meanwhile, whisk 5 teaspoons flour and broth in a small bowl until smooth. Place the remaining flour in a shallow dish. Season chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper and dredge both sides in the flour. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned and no longer pink in the middle, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate; cover and keep warm.

3. Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until they release their juices and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add garlic and wine to the pan and cook until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved broth-flour mixture, lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.

4. Stir in parsley, capers, butter and the reserved mushrooms. Measure out 1/2 cup of the mushroom sauce. Toss the pasta in the pan with the remaining sauce. Serve the pasta topped with the chicken and the reserved sauce.

Pranzo Felice!

Steve D.

Ingredients

Green Tomato Soup with Country Ham
Source: Diana Rattray via Pinterest

• 2 T.s butter
• 4 to 6 ozs spam, diced
• 1 sm onion, diced
• 1/4 cup red and/or green bell pepper, diced
• 4 cups water
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon
• 24 ozs fresh green tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 8 ozs fresh red tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 t. celery salt
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• Cayenne pepper, to taste
• Salt and black cracked pepper, to taste

Directions

1. In a medium sized pot, heat butter over medium-low heat, adding spam, onion and bell pepper.

2. Sauté until onion is translucent.

3. Add water, stir in the tomatoes, then add chicken bouillon cubes.

4. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer while occasionally stirring for about 30 minutes.

5. Allowing to cool some beforehand, use a blender or food processor to puree the mixture.

6. Return mixture to the pot, add celery salt, garlic powder and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

7. Add salt, pepper and cayenne as preferred.

Based on Diana Rattray’s recipe Green Tomato Soup With Country Ham on SouthernFood.About.com.

Nice!

Steve D.

Following a recipe during my last endeavor in the kitchen, a dilemma arose when trying to determine how many small tomatoes would equal the medium tomatoes listed in the recipe. Thanks to Dr. Gourmet, I found this list of equivalents!

Handy, eh!

Steve D.