RHUBARB PIE

Rhubarb Pie

1 recipe basic pastry (two crust)

4 cups chopped rhubarb
2 cups sugar
Grated rind of 1 orange
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup orange juice
½ tsp. Cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp milk
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
Heavy cream
Preheat oven to 450.

Roll out half the pastry and place it in the bottom of the pan. Add the rhubarb. Sprinkle on the sugar and orange rind. Mix the cornstarch with the orange juice and pour it over the fruit. Sprinkle on the cinnamon. Dot with small pieces of the butter. Roll out the rest of the pastry and fit over top of the pie. Trim off the excess pastry. Crimp the two edges of the pastry together with a fork or the fingers. Brush the pastry with egg yolk combined with the milk. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, until the crust is golden. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with a jug of heavy cream.

NOTE: I always cut up my rhubarb and mix it with sugar and orange zest at least a few hours before baking the pie, preferably overnight. It makes a noticeable difference (to me anyway).

PEACH GLAZED EASTER HAM

Peach Glazed Easter Ham

A welcome change from the traditional adornment of pineapple slices and marashcino cherries.

Serves 10 to 12

2 Tablespoons whole cloves
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 cup orange juice
1 16-oz can peaches with their juice
1/4 cup Creole mustard
½ cup peach or apricot preserves
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tsp. Allspice
1 tsp. Ginger
1 10-14 lb. Ham
1 large plastic marinating bag with twist tie

Mix 1 Tbsp. Of the cloves with brown sugar, butter, orange juice, liquid from peaches, mustard, preserves, cinnamon, allspice and ginger together in a large saucepan. Cook on medium heat until mixture becomes thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and let cool. Rinse ham and pat dry. Press the remaining cloves evenly all over the ham. Place ham in the plastic roasting bag and pour the cooled peach glaze over the ham. The glaze will be very thick. Close the bag tightly with a twist tie and leave the ham in the refrigerator overnight.

Next day, dremove it from the refrigerator and put peaches on top, securing with toothpicks. Place ham on cooking rack and put n a baking pan. Pour the glaze from the marinating bag all over ham. Cover the ham tightly with foil and place in a preheated 325 degree oven. Bake 18 minutes per pound. Cook the ham 1–1 ½ hours covered, then remove the foil and finish cooking. Baste ham with the pan drippings every 20 minutes.

You may add 2 Tbsp of peach liqueur, schnapps or vodka to the peach glaze before baking.

CATFISH LOAF

It's just a plain good, humongous po boy really. Casamentos on Magazine calls all it's sandwiches "loaves"

1 big loaf of french or italian bread or two normal sized loaves, a 2-lb loaf is perfect
2 lbs. of catfish fillets (guess what, nuggets are perfect for this)
Cornmeal
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 Tbsps Worcestershire sauce
2 cups catsup
Butter
1 Bermuda onion
6 small, sour pickles
1 small jar olives

Visit your favorite seafood store or deli and purchase 2 lbs. of catfish fillets. Cut the fillets into small pieces, about 1 1/2 inch cubes. Roll in cornmeal and fry in deep fat until brown. When cooked, drain on paper towels and keep in a warm place.
Combine Tabasco sauce, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and catsup.

Cut the bread in half lengthwise. And pull out the soft part of the bread, leaving only the crust. Use the excavated bread for whatever. Butter the bread on the inside-both top and bottom. Toast, cut side up in a 350 degree oven. Coat inside of toasted loaf and inside of top crust with the sauce mixture.

Slice the Bermuda onion and small, sour pickles. Open the jar of olives. Layer the bottom of the loaf with fish, onion, sauce, pickles, and olives. Repeat layers until everything is used. Replace the top crust.

Wrap in parchment paper or aluminum foil and bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from paper and serve hot.

MAC and CHEESE

Macaroni and Cheese from the master: Bernard Kimball

30 servings 3 1-pound packages of macaroni or pasta shells
3 cans of evaporated milk
9 eggs
1 stick of butter cut up in chunks for the pasta, plus ½ stick to mix with the bread crumbs and Parmesan.
1 5# package of grated cheddar or a blend of cheeses.
1 cup of Parmesan cheese or to taste
3 cups of bread crumbs, panko or "normal"

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix your Parmesan and bread crumbs together and set aside.
Heat the stick of butter, together with the evaporated milk almost to a boil.
Beat your eggs; then beat in the hot milk/butter mixture in a slow, steady stream so the eggs don't scramble.
Cook your pasta, I really prefer mine to be a tad done past al dente. Drain it and set it aside. You want to work quickly because you will need all the hot ingredients hot for this to work properly; hot pasta helps melt the cheese.
Mix the cheese with the pasta.
Pour in the milk, butter and egg mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste and toss it lightly together. The cheese will have made it cool down enough to permit you to use your hands.
Mix your breadcrumb/Parmesan mixture with the extra half stick of melted butter and scatter it over the top of the pasta mixture.
Place your casserole in the oven and bake it for about an hour. Feel in the center to make sure it’s hot through. If it is not let it go until it is. Maybe another 30 minutes. If it’s beginning to brown (that’s beyond, cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil to make sure it doesn’t burn. Some brown along the sides if just fine. Do not overbake as it will dry completely out. If you need to hold this hot for a while simply cover with a sheet of plastic wrap and a piece of foil and set it aside, or if it’s likely to be more than an hour slide it in the oven at 180 degrees, covered.

Serve.

　

　

　


　

　

　

　

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE, OLD FASHIONED

This is a very old and uniquely Southern version of Strawberry shortcake. It is pure simplicity . It is a shortbread, the high fat to flour ratio making it very delicate.

1 ½ c. shortening-I use half butter and half lard
3 c. flour
1 egg
5 Tbsp. Water
1 tsp. Vinegar
Fresh Strawberries
Sugar to taste

Cut shortening and flour together until crumbly. Mix egg, water and vinegar together and add to flour mixture. Mix with fork and turn dourh out to floured board. Roll out and cut into rough 3-inch squares, or circles if you're feeling fancy. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the sheet like delicate cookies to cool, use pieces of foil or cookie sheets for cooling.






Mash half the strawberries to be used and sugar berries to taste. Layer crust and berries and served with top cream (as pictured) or whipped cream (more realistic these days).

GOOSEBERRY COBBLER

GOOSEBERRY COBBLER

4 c. gooseberries-frozen and canned will do
3/4 c. sugar
½ cup milk
1 tsp. Baking powder
3 Tbsp. Butter
1 c. flour
1/4 tsp. Salt
Topping:
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Cornstarch
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 c. boiling water

Place berries in a 9 x 13-inch dish. Mix next six ingredients into a batter and pour over gooseberries. It will be rather thick.
Mix dry topping ingredients and sprinkle over batter. Pour boiling water over all the dry topping. Bake 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Serve warm with ice cream.

YAKKA MEIN

YAKKA MEIN

1 (3 to 4 pound) stewing beef roast (chuck, chuck tender, round, rump)
4 to 5 quarts of beef stock
3 teaspoons Tony Chachere's seasoning
1 teaspoon of onion powder and garlic, powder
4 tablespoons of oil
salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1 pound of spaghetti noodles
8 hard boiled eggs, peeled (or count one half egg per soup bowl)
1 green onion, sliced
Soy sauce, hot sauce, to taste

Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, optional
If you want to get really asian add some cilantro.

Fill a stockpot halfway with the stock and seasonings. Place the meat in a stockpot - the stock should cover the meat plus about an inch. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 3 hours, or until the meat is tender and begins to fall apart. Remove the beef from the broth and using forks, pull it apart and return the shredded beef to the broth. Add salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasonings. Hold the soup over low until needed.

Meanwhile, boil the eggs, cool and peel them; set aside. Cook the spaghetti noodles according to package directions.

To assemble the soup, place a serving of spaghetti noodles in the bottom of a bowl. Use a slotted spoon to extract a serving of the shredded beef and add that on top of the noodles. Add a boiled egg, either whole, halved lengthwise or cut into chunks. Spoon about 1-1/2 cups of the beef broth on top and sprinkle with sliced green onion. Add a few dashes of soy sauce, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Some folks also like to also add a bit of ketchup to theirs.