Category: Recipes

You need the following ingredients:
1 head cabbage cut in chunks
4 large potatoes cubed
2 medium onions diced
1/2 bunch parsley finely chopped
2 large cans of diced tomatoes
64 oz Swanson beef broth
1-2 pounds cooked stew meat
12 oz broccoli
12 oz frozen limas
12 oz frozen mixed vegetables
12 oz frozen peas
12 oz cut carrots
Boil it all together till tender
Salt to taste

One of the perils of Sequestering in Place, is my pen caught diarrhea and spilled over…

Wonderful Gumbo
It occurs to me that there must be deeper reasons for the greatness of gumbo. When I eat it, it is like a mouthful of differences all rolled together to make my tungsils happy. Happy is not the right word, flabbergumpshush is better. The yellow onion and the green onion make blue onyums. The thinly sliced sausage and pan fried chicken make brownandcrispy little chunkmokies. The okra and stewed tomatoes go together like red and green for Christmas.
Still there is more to it than that. I think of my nose and the way it winkles as I chop the parsley. Stems and leaves into fine flakes. The kitchen smells like a parsley fart, a poof of pungent parsley poot. The Worchester sauce makes me think of those stinky Aunt Chovie’s fish it’s made out of. I loved Aunt Chovie but I always thought she needed a bath. There is also a bit of boredom as the onion and bell pepper are chopped for the bazillionth time. It would be undoable if I were not so persnickety about the size of the cajun trinity pieces.
The making of the roux is excellent fun, but the roux goo is the best. The careful frying of each sliced sausage piece to a golden brown, tempting the old devil burner to escape the burn. Then the roux goo finale, when the precooked and shredded chicken is browned in the sausage oil. Careful removal of the chunkmokies is required to recover the maximum roux goo. I should add that the preparation of chunkmokies is Annie and Simba’s funnerest part cause little bits of brownandcrispies frequently fall off the cutting board or from the pan during a vigorous stir.

Dave’s Bacon Fried Tater Soup

Yield: About 5 Servings

Ingredients

6 cups peeled and diced Russet potatoes (about 5 medium potatoes. Dice into small cubes about 3/4-inch)

• 1 1/2 cups chopped sweet onion (1 medium)
• 1 cup diced celery (2 stalks)
• 72 oz chicken broth
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ pound of bacon, cooked with drippings, I use Wright’s Thick Cut Hickory Smoked
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• For serving: Shredded cheddar cheese, chopped green onions or chives

Instructions

1. Combine diced potatoes and chicken broth in a large stockpot. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat (it will take about 10 minutes to reach a boil), once it reaches a boil reduce heat to medium and continue to cook about 15 – 20 minutes longer until potatoes are very soft when pierced with a fork.
2. Fry the bacon in a large skillet on low heat, remove the bacon just before it crisps and set aside on paper towels to cool. When the bacon cools, cut it into small pieces and add it to the potatoes. Place the celery and onion in the skillet and cook the vegetables until tender, I like the onions to just begin to brown. Remove the veggies from the skillet with a slotted spoon, saving the bacon dripping for the gravy. Place the veggies in with the potatoes.
3. In the skillet, check for about a third cup of bacon drippings. I add saved bacon grease, but you can add butter if you don’t save bacon grease. If you don’t save bacon grease, you should. Melt the drippings over medium heat, add flour and cook for 1 minute while whisking constantly. While whisking, slowly add milk and cook, stirring constantly until mixture begins lightly bubble and thicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Once potatoes are soft add thickened milk mixture to potato soup mixture and stir (potatoes should start breaking down into soup, if not cook a few minutes longer). Add sour cream and mix well. The soup is complete. I like to top each serving with cheddar cheese, black pepper and green onions (Note that the soup will thicken as it rests so if you happen to have left overs you can thin with a little water). If you have left overs, you did something wrong.

Dave’s Diablo Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

1 pound hot sausage smoked (casing removed)

I use Eckrich 4 pepper skinless smoked sausage rope

1-2 pounds of thin sliced sweet mini peppers (stems and core/seeds removed)

1 large onion (sliced)

1 green bell pepper diced

1 24 oz jar or your favorite brand marinara sauce

1 tbls oregano

1 tbls basil

1 tbls minced garlic

1 tbls thyme

1-2 bay leaves

1 tbls crushed red pepper

Olive oil for cooking

 

Instructions

In a large pot pour about 3 tbls of olive oil, add all the vegetables; sweet peppers, onion, bell pepper, cover and place on low heat, stirring occasionally till all vegetables are softened. Stir in all the spices; oregano, basil, garlic, thyme bay leaves and crushed red pepper, and let them simmer to combine all the flavors throughout the veggies.

Slice the sausage into thin rounds and slowly brown them in 3 tbls of olive oil. Pour the browned sausage and the browning oil into the vegetables.

Add the jar of marinara sauce to the pot and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve over your favorite pasta.