Giblet Gravy

One Christmas, I must have been about 6 or 7, my great uncle gave me a HUGE candy cane as his present to me. Everything seems so much bigger when you are little but I swear, that thing must have been about 18 inches long and 3 inches in diameter! It was gigantic!

After Christmas dinner, one of my cousins kept teasing and tormenting me relentlessly and we started squabbling. My mother made me come inside and I was furious. My uncle took me aside and privately whispered to me that if my cousin bothered me again, I was to take that candy cane he gave me and whack my cousin with it! He wasn’t serious, but being a little kid, I took what he said seriously.

So, when my cousin started tormenting me again, I grabbed my candy cane weapon, swung it like a bat and {{{{CRACK}}}}, whacked him in the head with it! He let out a blood curdling scream. All the parents came running outside and there I was standing over him, holding my broken, shattered candy cane with a very satisfied smile on my face!

This is the Giblet gravy recipe that goes with my South Louisiana Cornbread Dressing. These are dishes that we serve at both Thanksgiving and Christmas unless we do a Cajun Christmas meal. I used to make Giblet gravy exactly the way my grandmother made it…with the actual Turkey Giblets. But after she passed away and in response to several requests, I stopped doing that and have since been using either breast or thigh meat.

Since this can be made ahead of time and frozen, I usually bake some chicken or make some Chicken Gumbo the week or two before. Then I use a little of the meat and the all of the pan drippings from it and make the gravy then, freezing it for later. Additionally, I usually double the recipe, then when it's cool, divide it in half and freeze both separately: one batch for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas!

3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 can chicken broth
Garlic powder, Onion powder, Celery salt and Tonys, to taste
1 to 1-1/2 cups Chicken breast or thigh meat, chopped fine***
Pan drippings

Over medium-low heat, combine the oil and flour in a large saucepan and make a dark roux. Slowly stir in the chicken broth, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the gravy is smooth and thickened. Add pan drippings and allow to thicken again.

Reduce heat to low, add seasonings and the giblets. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Recheck seasonings, adding more if necessary. This gravy can be made ahead of time and frozen or refrigerated until needed.

My grandmother's way of making it is as follows:

In a medium sauce pot, boil 1 stalk of celery and 1/2 a medium onion along with the turkey neck and giblets. Season water with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Cook until done. Discard celery and onion. Remove neck and giblets and allow to cool. Make a dark brown roux and add the pan drippings and the seasoned broth you just made (refer to recipe above for instructions). When neck and giblets are cool, remove meat from neck bone, finely chop it and the giblets. Stir that into your gravy. Recheck seasonings and serve.

***Note: I usually bake some chicken for dinner or make a pot of Gumbo the week before, separate enough chicken and the pan drippings and make my gravy at the same time. Then I freeze the gravy and later thaw it out in the refrigerator the day before I need it.

*** When I make chicken salad, I freeze my broth and use that when I make my gravy instead of using canned broth. See Gourmet Chicken Salad recipe.

***See Tips and Information for making a roux and for Tony's.

South Louisiana Cornbread Dressing

My grandparents used to own a cemetery in Louisiana. I was six and my sister was three when late one Thanksgiving afternoon, after we had all eaten, my oldest cousin snuck away to set up a prank on all of us younger cousins, 6 of us to be exact with the 4 oldest being boys (Seven with the oldest prankster). He then came inside, got us and took us up to the only above ground mausoleum in the cemetery, telling us we just "HAD" to come and see.

Once we got close, he told us the ghosts were trying to get out and were coming to get us and kill us! He had wedged a turkey thigh bone into the crack around the perimeter of the door and poured ketchup all over it to make it look like blood! When we got really close to look, he shoved us towards the door and screamed, "THEY'RE GETTING OUT" and ran down the hill and left us all there!

We were screaming and crying and trying to run away, bumping into each other and grabbing onto each other while still trying to escape (envision The Keystone Kops). All of my cousins older than myself and my sister were able to run but we, being the youngest, were so terrified and crying, we couldn't see and we stumbled around, running and falling until we made it down the hill and back home. My sister and I were traumatized about that for years to come!

Needless to say, our "old prankster" got the stick and we got the laugh! We sought revenge later in the weekend by luring him into the basement and later into the cemetery barn and scaring the bejeezus outta him both times by making ghost sounds and bumping around! Revenge is a dish best served COLD!

At any rate, my grandmother made the best cornbread dressing and it has been our family tradition to have it with Giblet gravy since long before I was born. She passed her recipes on to me and I took over some of the holiday cooking duties in my mid 20’s. Later I introduced Spinach Madeline (see recipe in another post) and that has now become our other traditional favorite dish along with Sweet Potato Casserole.

The Cornbread:
3 tablespoons bacon drippings or butter
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups corn meal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450°F. Put the bacon drippings/butter in a 9x13-inch baking dish and put it in the oven while it is preheating. It will melt while you're mixing up the batter.

Beat the eggs in a medium bowl until frothy. Add the corn meal, salt, baking soda and baking powder, and stir to combine. Add the buttermilk and stir well. Remove the hot dish from the oven. Swirl the dish to coat it with melted bacon drippings/butter then pour it into the batter and stir to combine. Pour the batter into the pan, and bake 20 to 25 minutes. The cornbread will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Make the cornbread a day before you intend to make your dressing. Leave it out, uncovered, overnight.

The Dressing:
1 9x13-inch pan of cornbread, crumbled
10 pieces white or whole wheat bread, heels are good (left out overnight)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 large stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped (2-1/2 to 3 cups)
1 large green pepper, chopped
3/4 cup butter (1-1/2 sticks)
4 cups chicken broth, canned or homemade
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp rubbed sage

Preheat oven to 375°F. Crumble the cornbread and white bread into a very large baking dish or pan (This is the pan you will cook your dressing in, and you need room to stir it while it's cooking). Combine the vegetables with the bread crumbs and mix well. Melt the butter and add it and the beaten eggs, chicken broth and stir. (You may need a little more chicken broth – its better if it's too moist than too dry; the uncooked dressing should be a little on the slushy side.) Add poultry seasoning, rubbed sage, black pepper, and mix thoroughly.

Bake 15 minutes then stir dressing from the sides of the pan into the rest so that it cooks uniformly. Recheck the seasonings, adding more if necessary. Bake until browning on sides and top and center has set.

Holiday Pecan Snack

There are all kinds of pecan snacks that we make during the holiday season: from my grandmother's special recipe of sandwiching a small ball of a butter, sugar and cream cheese mixture between two pecan halves to my other grandmother's recipe of toasting pecans in butter, salt and both onion and garlic powder and all other recipes in between. However, I found something new a few years ago that I love more than other mixtures even though they are beloved childhood snacks. This one is salty and sweet at the same time while combining fruit. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have! Happy Holidays!

2 lbs Pecan halves
1 stick Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 bag Dried Cranberries
1/2 container Orange Zest or 1/2 cup fresh
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Salt

Melt butter in microwave. Line a large cookie sheet with waxed paper. Place pecans, cranberries, orange zest, brown sugar, salt and pepper in large mixing bowl. Pour in melted butter and stir until mixed well. Taste to check seasonings adding more if necessary. Stir again. Pour mixture out onto lined cookie sheet and spread out so that pecans are all in a single layer. Use another cookie sheet if necessary. Bake at 350 until slightly toasted, about 15 minutes. Peel off cookie sheet and break everything apart. Store in a zip-lock bag.

Pot Roast

Pot Roast is a very popular dish in South Louisiana cooking. It involves the French technique of braising or pot roasting which comes from the French word “braiser”. The meat is seared at a high temperature, then finished in a covered pot with liquid, resulting in a succulent, flavorful meat and gravy. Coq au Vin is a well known French dish in which the braising technique is used.


History aside, it’s one of my favorite wintertime dishes as it fills the house with a wonderful aroma and is a hearty, warming, filling dish for a cold winter night. It’s one of those things where you sit on the couch under a heavy afghan in your warm fisherman’s sweater eating a big bowl of pot roast while watching your favorite movie or football team with your family. And then you fall asleep, warm and happy. Hmmmm.

When I was in Junior High, we lived on a corner; our side yard was very large and a long rectangular shape, completely unimpeded by shrubbery. It was the perfect place to play football and all the neighborhood boys and school friends would come play ball at my house in the fall during football season.


We would play no matter how cold it was and continue until it was so dark that we couldn't see anymore. By the time we quit and I went inside I was chilled to the bone, shivering badly and hungry as a bear. My mother usually had something cooking that was good and hot and she would hold up dinner until everyone went home and I came in. But what I loved and remembered about those meals was Pot Roast! By the time I changed clothes, she had dinner served. I would grab a bowl, go sit next to the fire and watch whatever my father had on TV and eat that wonderful incredible food. The warmth it brought would slowly spread through my cold body all the way to my finger tips and toes and leave me in a satisfied bliss.

POT ROAST (requires a large oven safe pot or roasting pan)

2 large chuck roasts
1 large onion chopped
5 stalks celery chopped
1 medium bellpepper chopped
8 large cloves garlic, minced
1 large bag baby carrots
5 large Red or 10 new potatoes, cubed (skin on)
Flour
Oil
Beef bouillion (I use Better Than Bouillion paste)
Tony’s

Salt, pepper and flour roasts, then brown both sides in oil. When browned, remove from pot. Add onion, celery, bellpepper and garlic and sauté, scraping the residue and drippings from the bottom of the pot. When vegetables are sauted well, push them to one side (or remove them entirely) and place roasts in bottom of pot. Place vegetables around the roasts; add potatoes and carrots and mix them with the sauted vegetables. In a large container, add 4 cups water and 3 tablespoons of bouillion (or 6 cubes) and dissolve. Pour into pot and add enough water to cover 1” over the top of the roasts and vegetables. Season with Tony’s and stir. Cover and bake in oven at 350 degrees (or cover and slowly simmer it on the stove) until roast is fork tender. Serve over rice.

**Note:

See Tips and Information on Better Than Bouillion paste.

When browning floured meat, leave it alone and don't move it for a few minutes (the residual flour around it will brown), then you can turn it. Otherwise the floured crust will come off and stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.

Fleur De Lis Round The World Pizza

I've travelled all over the country and Canada for business. As a result, I've eaten pizza at all kinds of different locale's including Chicago and NYC, however, the best pizza I've ever had is Fleur de Lis in my home town of Baton Rouge. Fleur De Lis was an existing cocktail lounge out of the city limits on a gravel road, back in 1946, when Mama & Papa Guercio bought it. Mama Guercio decided to make a small pizza as an appetizer for the lounge customers and her pizza was enjoyed so much that she begin to sell them. She originally made the pizza in small pie pans she brought from home. When she realized they needed a larger size, she used a rectangular cookie sheet and the "square" pizza Fleur De Lis is famous for was born.

If you haven't been to Baton Rouge and have the opportunity or if you live there and haven't had a pizza from Fleur De Lis, you need to go! However, if you don't live there anymore and are missing some Fleur De Lis pizza, you are going to love me! I've figured out the Round The World recipe!!! Yep, I finally did it. I don't live in Louisiana and haven't for years so I can't get home to get my fix anymore. I've been craving it therefore, through trial and error, I finally came up with the recipe. It still needs a little tweaking here and there but you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. At any rate this is still a darn good pizza recipe!


Fleur De Lis - Round The World Pizza

Smallest pkg lean ground meat (I prefer lean ground chuck)
1 pkg Mild Italian sausage, removed from casing
1 sm yellow Onion, halved then sliced thin
1-1/2 tsp Fennel
1-1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 sm can sliced Black olives, drained
1 sm can sliced Mushrooms, drained
1 sm can Tomato paste
4 tbl Olive oil
Garlic to taste (fresh minced or powdered)
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp Tony’s
Pepperoni
Canadian Bacon (if large round slices, cut into quarters)
3 pkgs sliced Provolone (shredded is better but I couldn’t find it)
3 pizza crusts (I used Boboli store bought or you can prepare your own)
Ground Romano cheese optional

In medium to large skillet, brown ground meat and Italian sausage (removed from casing). As the meat is cooking keep breaking it up so, when it is done, it is ground and not lumpy. Add onion, mushrooms, fennel, Italian seasoning, garlic, olives, tomato paste, olive oil, salt, pepper, Tony's and saute until everything is browned and cooked thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.

Alternately place pepperoni and salami on pizza crust and spread cooked meat mixture on top. Make sure to spread it so that it is about a half inch thick, any thicker and the crust will get soggy. Generously top with provolone cheese, one layer of sliced isn’t thick enough so I used two layers. Bake at 425 degrees until cheese is mostly browning on top.
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The quantity of pizza mixture is sufficient for 3 round pizza crusts. I used Boboli but in the future, I am going to make the following Bisquick recipe and press it into a rectangular cookie sheet. A good crust makes all the difference in the world and is crucial to a good pizza. Any leftover meat mixture can be frozen for future use.

2 cups Bisquick
1/2 cup hot water
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In medium bowl, combine baking mix, water, and olive oil and beat hard until a dough forms. Press dough into a greased pan, dipping your fingers in flour to prevent sticking. Prepare pizza as indicated above.

Chocolate Cake In A Mug

For my eighth birthday, my parents got me a black standard poodle. Because he looked like a little teddy bear we, of course, named him Teddy. Teddy was very sneaky, always doing bad things quietly and quickly without us looking which, in turn, we would later discover.

One afternoon my mom made a delicious homemade, from scratch, chocolate cake with cream cheese icing to take to a friends birthday party that night. After the cake was cooled and she frosted it, Mom left it on the kitchen counter while she went to get dressed.

My sister and I were in our rooms when I heard noises coming from the kitchen. I went in there to investigate. Teddy was on top of the counter hovering over the cake!

He had licked all the icing off one side and had proceeded to devour that side of the cake! When he saw me, he jumped down and ran out the kitchen and hid somewhere...his usual modus operandi and I called Mom. She was so upset and there wasn't any time left to bake a new cake. Sooooo, she made more icing, filled in the "uneven" part, re-iced the cake and took it to the party!!! LOL, I wonder if anybody there ever knew what had happened and that my dog had eaten part of the cake and they had eaten after the dog! I break into fits of laughter everytime I think about that! My baddd!

Anyway, you can avoid that from happening to you too by making this simple recipe!!! It's a cake in a mug! Yeah, I could call it a cupcake but then that would be misleading. But, oh no! I would never do that! Unlike my mother that day! LOL~ Seriously, you can make a homemade cake, from scratch in a simple coffee mug in just 5 minutes and it is wonderful! It's great if you're single or just want a little something without baking a whole cake or a batch of brownies. I've modified the recipe a bit to make it sweeter and moister, more like a brownie than a cake. Use a mug like one you would get from the company you work for rather than one that comes with your dishes. The "commerical" ones are a little bit taller than the ones from your set, therefore, the batter doesn't overflow.



CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour, level
4 tablespoons sugar, level
2 tablespoons cocoa, level
1 egg
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons chocolate syrup
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (Microwave Safe)

Add dry ingredients to the mug and mix with a fork. Add egg and oil. Mix thoroughly while ensuring that you get the dry ingredients off the bottom and sides. Add in the vanilla and syrup, stir. Slowly add in the milk, stir well to thoroughly incorporate it into the batter. While mixing, feel the bottom with the fork for thickness and stir until that is well mixed. Put your mug on a microwave safe plate and place it in the microwave. Cook for three minutes. The cake will rise up and over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed! Allow it to cool then eat it directly out of the mug or tip out onto the plate if desired. Frosting is optional.

The Best Chili

I was never a big fan of chili as there was really only one recipe that I ate growing up and it was really basic with only four ingredients. My mother usually got distracted with other things so she didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the recipe or the process therefore, it just wasn't very good. While I've had good chili through the years, I just never obtained a recipe.

Last year, one of my aunt's brothers was in town visiting and made a huge pot of his special chili. Everyone loved it but my cousin and I thought it was a little on the "hot" side. You know, some people like their food so darn hot you can't taste anything at all because your mouth is on fire and you're sweating like a dog! That's how this chili was. However, I saw that it was a really good recipe and worth a little modification. All it needed was to have some of the heat taken out and some veggies added to it for flavor. When I made my modified version I thought it was fabulous and was so excited about it that I invited my cousin over to have some and he loved it! Since then, several friends have eaten some and they agreed that it was wonderful! Trust me....my friends and family would let me know! Here is the best chili recipe I know of!

3 lbs lean ground chuck
1 onion chopped
4-5 stalks celery chopped
½ bellpepper chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
½ small bottle Italian dressing (Zesty or Viva)
1 to 1-1/2 lg bottle Mexene Chili Powder or your favorite
2 pkgs dry onion soup mix
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans chili beans (not red kidney beans)
1 bottle 32 oz of V8 juice
Optional: Cheese of your choice (shredded cheddar or cubed Velveeta , plain or Mexican)

In a large pot brown the meat, ensuring that it is broken up and very crumbled. Then add onions, garlic, bellpepper and celery. Cook until wilted. Add all remaining ingredients (except cheese) and stir well. Simmer about 2 hours, check seasonings. Season to taste then cook another 30 min to an hour. Optional: Add sliced cheese to each serving and stir to melt.

Shrimp Salad

Back in the early 80's when I was working as a dental assistant, a friend of a co-worker opened a little lunch place not far from our office. To help her jump start her business, we all went there for lunch on her opening day. I had the Shrimp Salad and it was nothing like any one I had ever eaten but I couldn't discern what made it so special as she had run the ingredients through a meat grinder. For years, I have looked and looked for a recipe that was close to what I thought hers was. Two weeks ago, I happened upon probably her identical recipe while surfing the internet. I made it this past weekend and Yep, it's the one! At Last....(conjurning up Etta James)! Here you go! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

1 pound shrimp
3 boiled eggs
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
Zatarain’s liquid crab boil
salt
Lemon pepper
Tony’s

Peel then boil shrimp on the stove or in the microwave with some Zatarain’s liquid crab boil and salt. Boil, cool and peel eggs. Chop celery, green onion and mince the garlic and place in medium size boil. Remove egg yolks from whites and break them apart with your fingers or a fork into bowl. Chop egg whites, add to bowl.

When shrimp are cooked and cooled, chop and place in bowl. Add mayo, lemon pepper, salt and Tony’s, mix well.
Check seasonings and add more or add mayo as needed. Cover and refrigerate to let the flavors all meld together. Serve on a bed of lettuce. I prefer finely shredded lettuce with this recipe. It’s also good on tomato slices.

*** You can coarsely chop all your ingredients, but I really like them finely chopped. This is the one recipe that makes me really miss my Cuisinart!!!

French Onion Soup

I didn't go to college (LSU) until 1986 when I was 25 and I put myself through school with the help of my wonderful grandparents. That following November, when I was 26, I came down with the chicken pox. Yes, you read that correctly! Let me repeat it....Twenty-six years old with the chicken pox...UGH. Even when the Board of Health and Hospitals called they didn't believe it, they kept asking for my mother! We went round and round until I finally convinced the woman on the line that YES, I am an adult and YES, I have the chicken pox! Needless to say, it took me a long time to recover, it's true when they say childhood illnesses hit adults particularly hard. I was covered, densely, from head to toe with those little devils!

Fortunately, after several weeks (yep, that's true too), I was recuperating fairly well but I was still contagious and couldn't get out yet. I was bored as heck and bouncing off the walls! My dear friend and neighbor offered to pick up some groceries for me when she went shopping so I gave her a small list. Since it was December by this time, and cold, I inventoried my pantry and decided I had most everything to make a big pot of French Onion Soup.

I had never made it before and was interested in doing something fun to help allieviate my boredom without being too involved as I was still regaining my strength. French Onion Soup is pretty easy to make and is really inexpensive, not to mention soul soothing which was just what I needed. I've tried several recipes over the years and modified them until I came up with the following. The first time I made it and ever since then, I've served it with my Gourmet Chicken Salad with Snow Peas and Water Chestnuts. They make a great combination!

6 large sweet onions, halved lengthwise then sliced
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 stick butter
3 tbl flour
1 cup white wine
8 cans beef broth or equivalent (ie boxed broth)
Salt and ground pepper, to taste
Sliced Gruyere (have the deli slice it for you, it’s free of charge!)
Sliced Parmesan cheese (have the deli slice it also)
Sliced Swiss cheese
1/3 cup Cognac, dry Madeira or dry sherry
6-8 slices toasted, buttered French bread

Slice and caramelize onions in oil and butter. To do this, just add the oil and butter to the pot, heat, then add onions and saute until brown and wilted. You can sprinkle some salt in it to dry up some of the liquid and speed up the process. Usually the onions will not get really dark.

Sprinkle flour over onions and blend well. Slowly add broth, stirring well to blend with flour to avoid lumps then add wine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook at a slow simmer until done about 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours, onions should be completely clear.

Ladle into oven safe bowl. Put 1 slice of toasted, buttered French bread into bowl and top with the cheeses. Broil in the oven until brown and bubbly.

***Simply for ease, I just place the cheeses in the bottom of a regular soup bowl, ladle the soup over it, heat it in the microwave until the soup is hot and the cheese is melted, while toasting French bread or a sourdough bun with butter. Then I dip the bread in the soup while eating rather than broiling it all in the traditional method. I love it either way!

HOW TO OPEN A BOTTLE OF WINE WITHOUT A CORKSCREW

How many times have you needed to open a bottle of wine but didn't have a corkscrew because you either forgot it or it broke? Well, here is your solution! You don't need to know French to understand this video! Tres' Bien!

Brisket

It was deer hunting season, and I was spending a long weekend at a friends house out in the country. Her husband had several hunter friends, myself included, out hunting on the property late one afternoon. I had paired up with another hunter friend, Ronnie, to hunt off his stand and we were out in a gully on our way when we heard a thunderous noise. Before we even had a chance to think, a huge herd of cattle was stampeding towards us kicking up a wall of dust, dirt clods and debris; it looked like a storm. Ronnie tried to scare the cattle in a different direction but it didn't work and I dove under the roots/base of a large fallen tree at the head of the gully while he dove behind a large tree nearby. From where I was, it felt and sounded like an earthquake. I glanced up and could see the undersides of the cattle jumping over me...one wrong move and one of them could have landed right on me. I was terrified.

Fortunately, we came out unscathed. Ronnie drove us back to our friends house and upon entering the kitchen, we were so shell shocked and weak in the knees, we both collasped on the kitchen floor in tears. It was the first time I ever saw this grown man cry. We sat there holding each other in total silence, teary and emotional until someone came home and jolted us back to reality. We were terrified realizing how close we came to being killed. Needless to say, that was the last time I went hunting!! Thanks Ronnie!

My friends father had already planned to cook a nice brisket for everyone that night for dinner. He had already done the prep work and it had been marinating overnight. When he got in from the hunt, he took it out and fired up the grill and cooked the most succulent, fork tender brisket I had ever eaten. We planned to have a sit-down meal after the hunt but with the "excitement" of the day and that wonderful brisket, we were having cocktails and talking so much that we stood around eating the entire meal standing up, just picking at the food and eating the meat slice by slice before we realized everything was all gone! And it was wonderful that way too! Gotta be flexible!

This can be done entirely in the oven, but it's better to follow the recipe. This marinade recipe can cook 2 large briskets, so mix it all then freeze half if you are only cooking one brisket.

2-3 bottles of soy sauce
1 lg can pineapple juice
1 sm bottle Italian dressing
1 bottle worchestershire sauce
½ cup brown sugar
1 tbl garlic powder
lemon pepper (this makes it good!)
1 large brisket

Mix all ingredients together except lemon pepper. Divide quantity and freeze half if not preparing 2 briskets. Marinate brisket in refrigerator for 24 hours. Remove brisket and place on broiling pan and season generously with lemon pepper and more garlic powder. Cover entire broiling pan & brisket with foil and seal well (I used a 9x13 pyrex casserole dish). Cook in oven at 250 degrees until 2/3 done, about 1 –1/2 hours. Take the remaining marinade the brisket was in and pour into a sauce pan and simmer on stove or on the pit while brisket cooks in the oven. Take brisket out of foil (***SAVE JUICE) and place on BBQ pit over low burning coals. When brisket is browned well on both sides, wrap in foil again and cook on pit for another 30 min per pound. When done, slice brisket. Combine juice and pan drippings, pour over meat and serve.

**** If you choose to cook the brisket entirely in the oven, just keep it covered and cook it at 250 degrees until done. It will take a few hours but is well worth it.

Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup

In the mid 1990's I was living in Dallas and was leaving to go home to Louisiana for a visit during a particularly blustery and cold winter. I stopped to fill up my gas tank at a station just down the street from my house. While there, a Hari Krishna man handed me a carnation through my car window and wanted to discuss his religion with me. I politely declined but he gave me the flower anyway. I set it on the passenger seat with the intention of throwing it away at my next fill-up in North Louisiana. I forgot. I drove with that flower in the car next to me for the next 7-1/2 hours until I arrived at my mother's house. Unbeknownst to me, that Hari Krishna had the flu! Thirty-six hours later I was.....sick....as....a....dog. Ugggghhhh.

Fortunately, my mother had dinner at a friend's previously in the week, in which the friend served a wonderful Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup. Mom called her friend, got the recipe and made it for me. Oh My Gosh, it was divine! It warmed me up, soothed my sore throat, helped clear my stuffy head and was hearty enough to fill me up for awhile, gave me a little energy and was very comforting. It was the best vegetable beef soup I ever had. Upon my return to Dallas, when I finally felt up to it, I called Mom and got the recipe. I've been making this soup ever since....winter, spring, summer or fall...doesn't matter, I love it anytime of the year and all the time! The quantity of this recipe is very large so I like to put half of it up in the freezer for later use. To make this recipe you will need a large soup pot.

4 pkgs of stew meat or 1 lg roast, cubed
1 12 oz can tomato paste
5 stalks celery chopped
1 lg onion chopped
½ bellpepper chopped
1 bag peeled baby carrots (I use a large bag)
6 cloves garlic (I coarsely chop mine)
1/4 cup Worcestershire
2 tbls salt
2 tbls cayenne pepper
2 tbls Tony’s

Place all above ingredients in a large soup pot and fill pot with water to cover 3" over, stir, bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Allow to cook down thoroughly, approximately two and a half hours, stirring occassionally.

Add:
1 can yellow corn, drained
1 can lima beans, drained
1 can green beans, drained
1 can early peas, drained
1 lg bag shredded cole slaw (1 lb)

Cook for another 2 hours or until vegetables are cooked and tender. Recheck seasonings and serve with buttered and toasted french bread.

****The secret to any good soup, especially this one, is to slowly simmer it for hours. I start it early in the afternoon so it's ready by dinner or cook it on the weekend for the next week.

Chicken Enchiladas

In 2002, I moved to Phoenix, AZ and began to learn a lot about my new environment and city. Yes, I am a southern belle and I was born and raised in south Louisiana, a lush sub-tropical environment. However, the desert has its own beauty at all different times of the year and I enjoyed discovering the nature there as well as learning about the western and Mexican cultures in my new home. Eventually, I met and began dating a local chef. From him, I learned many new things in the kitchen but I just loved his Chicken Enchilada's!! One lazy Sunday afternoon, we spent some time in the kitchen and he taught me his secret recipe. This is adapted from his restaurant recipe into a family kitchen recipe.

3 pkgs chicken breasts
2 lg pkgs Shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 lg. onion, chopped fine
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
2 small or 1 large carton sour cream
1 small can chopped green chilies, drained
2 cans mild red enchilada sauce
2 pkgs flour tortillas
olive oil
Fajita seasoning, dry shake-on
Tony's
salt and pepper

Rub chicken breasts with a light coating of olive oil and sprinkle both sides with fajita seasoning and Tonys. Roast in a casserole dish at 350 degrees until done, cool and cut into bite size pieces, set aside. While chicken is roasting, mix soup, sour cream, green chili's, more fajita seasoning, Tonys, salt and peppper in a medium bowl and set aside. Chop onion and set aside.

When chicken is cool and chopped and set aside in a different bowl, add pan drippings (from the casserole dish they were baked in) to the sour cream/soup mixture and stir.

Open flour tortillas and put a line of chicken down the length of the center of a tortilla, do the same with the onion and some cheese. Fold/Tuck/Roll up each tortilla and place seam side down in the same casserole dish the chicken was baked in. Sprinkle any remaining chicken and onion on top. A second casserole dish may be necessary to accomodate all.

Pour the soup/sour cream and chili mixture on top of enchiladas. Spread until all are coated well. Pour and spread enchilada sauce over all and heavily sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is brown and all is bubbly.
These make great leftovers and they also freeze well!

Vegetable Boil

Yes, we boil crawfish, we boil shrimp, we boil crab but we also boil vegetables! One of the things I like to do is gather some great vegetables together and boil them in seafood seasoning. Sometimes I serve it with just a store bought shrimp cocktail but mostly I serve it with a broiled or grilled meat or fish or something I have leftover. What a healthy and tasty meal! Any type of vegetable will do as long as it will hold up. Here is what I generally boil.

1 large Sweet Onion, quartered
3 stalks Celery, cut into thirds
2 Lemons, halved
4 large Red Potatoes, cut into chunks
4 Corn on the cob (I use the small frozen ones)
2 Squash and/or zucchini, cut into chunks
2 Artichokes, halved or quartered, top to bottom (cut out heart fibers)
1 bag Baby Carrots
1 lb Fresh Green Beans
1 container Baby Portabella Mushrooms
1 head Garlic, peeled
1 bag Zatarain's Seafood Boil
1/3 bottle Zatarain's Liquid Seafood Boil
1/2 cup salt

Put seasonings, lemon and garlic in a large soup pot and add 1/3 pot of water. Boil for 5 minutes. Add vegetables and then add water to cover 1". Bring to a boil and cook until done. Allow to sit in seasoned water for 15 min. Drain and serve. Butter or margarine may be used on corn and potatoes. Good stuff!

***These make good leftovers too!

Jambalaya

Jambalaya (pro: Jum ba Lie ah) was an attempt by the Spanish to make paella in the New World. With the French influence, two different types of jambalaya developed: Creole or Red Jambalaya which includes tomatoes and Cajun jambalaya which does not. I've had many different types of jambalaya from wild game jambalaya's to seafood jambalaya's and all were excellent. However, the one I make the most is a cajun recipe made with chicken, pork and sausage.

How I came about this recipe is a story in itself. I attended a casual rehersal dinner for a family member. The host/hostess served jambalaya and it was wonderful, one of the best cajun meat jambalayas I've had. Repeatedly, I tried to get the recipe from the host and all he would say was that a friend had cooked it and that it was a basic recipe with a few special secrets. Well, that just egged me on to find out the secrets! I picked through the dish for the ingredients and taste tested each bite in an effort to discern the items that made this particular recipe so good! When I thought I had finally figured it out I wrote it all down. A few days later, I cooked a big pot of my "new" jambalaya recipe and it was perfect!!! Here it is...


1 pkg chicken thighs
1 pkg pork chops
3 8 – 10” links good quality Pork sausage, sliced (I prefer Manda's)
1 lg onion chopped
3 stalks green onion chopped
4 stalks celery chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
1 stick butter
1/3 cup oil
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cans chicken broth
salt, pepper, Tony’s to taste
3 cups parboiled rice

Remove pork from bone and cut it and chicken into bite size pieces. Season chicken and pork chops with salt and pepper. Melt butter and oil in large pot. Add meats and cook until brown, remove from pot. Add vegetables to pot, cover and cook down. Add seasonings and soup to pot, blend well. Return meats and pan drippings to pot and cook about 5 min. Add rice, blend well and cook another 5 min. Pour in chicken broth and add water to cover 1” above mixture. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer without lifting the lid or stirring again until all rice is cooked and water has evaporated, approximately 40 minutes. Stir again before serving. See Tips and Information on Manda's and parboiled rice.