1 chicken, cut into parts
Chicken stock (optional)
½ can of roux
2 large onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 lb. plain smoked sausage, sliced into coins
Cajun seasoning
Salt/pepper
Garlic powder
Onion powder

Fill a large soup pot 1/3 full of water and/or chicken stock. Heat to boiling and add roux, stirring constantly for 5 – 10 min until all clumps of roux are completely dissolved. Stop stirring and allow the roux mixture to boil until it is frothing. Once this starts, let it continue for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add chopped sausages and vegetables, holding back a small handful of the green onions. Give it a stir and then season. Let it all come to a boil again, turn the fire down to medium and cook down for 30 minutes. Add chicken, return to boiling, turn fire to medium and cook for 45 minutes until chicken is cooked. As chicken is cooking, skim off any brown imperfections or excess oil and discard.

Keep fire on medium to low heat. Remove and cool chicken, then de-bone the meat and return it to the pot. Taste the gumbo and season again, if necessary. When seasoning is perfect, add in the reserved fresh green onions about ten minutes before serving. Serve over white rice in bowls.

Notes:
Be very sure to purchase plain smoked pork sausage without cheese or Italian herbs. Check the ingredients list if the name is ambiguous. Herbs will wreck the flavor of the gumbo.

A large soup pot means something 6 to 8 quarts in size.

Either homemade or canned chicken stock can be used, but the canned stock might be salty so I would not include salt in the first seasoning. I usually used a half and half combination of water and stock to start the gumbo.

I often used all dark meat to make this gumbo – chicken legs with the back attached – but it is traditionally prepared with the whole chicken. You choose according to your family’s taste. Any combination of parts equal to the weight of one chicken would work.

My dad’s rule of thumb for seasoning was one good sprinkle across the entire surface of the pot. So the first time the recipe says to season – give a good sprinkle of Cajun seasoning and a lighter sprinkle of the salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders as they are all contained in the Cajun seasoning. Once the chicken is cooked and the recipe says to season again, the gumbo usually needs salt and Cajun spice. Mine usually got a bit more of all the other seasonings as well, but it depends on what you give it the first time. It will be a learning process to get your taste buds adjusted to which seasoning is needed, but try to make it taste like mine and when unsure, give a pinch of one thing, let it cook for ten minutes and taste again to see if you got it right. If not, add a different one and repeat the cooking and tasting again. Too, remember that individuals can always add more hot sauce and Cajun seasoning to their own bowls. You do need a certain amount of spice to give the gumbo it’s proper flavor but there’s no need make it very spicy in the pot, especially if you’re serving children.

The brown “imperfections” I mention in the recipe looks like brown goop on the surface. Sometimes there is very little and sometimes there is a ton, but it should come out before serving. Regarding the oil, there should be only a thin layer so remove any more than that.

Cut steak into pieces. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.Quickly fry steak in oil on both sides until lightly browned. Place on plate. Reduce heat and add butter to skillet. Saute onion and mushrooms until tender. Place on plate with steak, leaving as much butter as possible. Add butter to make 2 tablespoons. Blend in flour. Cook until frothy. Blend in beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, salt and peppers. Simmer and stir until thickened and smooth. Add beef, onion and mushrooms to sauce and heat through. Remove from heat and blend in sour cream. Warm to serving temerature. Pour over noodles. Makes 4 servings.

Notes:
I didn’t change this recipe too much, but did let it simmer for a bit longer than called for. Oh and put in a bit more mushrooms. Also, we prefer the sour cream in a dollop on atop each serving rather than being blended in.

But the best part of this one is that it doesn’t taste like mushrooms. I don’t like the things, though Mecandes does.

Chop vegetables and slice sausages into coins. Brown sausage in cast iron pot, then remove.

Saute vegetable mixture until transparent then add sausage back with seasoning, beans and a cup or two of water. My dad’s rule for the seasoning is to give the surface a thin film with the cajun spice, just a pinch of cumin, and salt/pepper to your own taste.

Simmer over low-heat for several hours to cook down. Do not allow all of the water to boil away. It is your “gravy,” so be sure to add more if necessary. May remove some beans once very soft to mash and return to the pot. It thickens the “gravy” a bit. Be sure to taste for more seasoning. I find it usually needs more salt/pepper, dash of Cajun spice and garlic powder. Cook the rice now while you let the final seasonings cook in.

Serve over hot white rice once beans are very tender and it has had time to mingle all the tastes. Easily feeds four people.

3 quarts water
1 tablespoon salt
1 – 2 & 1/2 pound fryer chicken, cut up
1 teaspoon salt
1 taspoon pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups vegetable oil
1/4 cup bacon drippings

Combine water and salt in a large bowl; add chicken. Cover and chill for 8 hours. Drain chicken and rinse with cold water; pat dry.

Combine salt and pepper; sprinkle half of mixture over chicken.

Combine remaining salt-and-pepper mixture with flour in a zip-top bag. Place 2 pieces of chicken in the bag, seal and shake to coat. Remove chicken to a plate and repeat until all pieces are coated.

Combine oil and bacon drippings in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet; heat to 360 degrees F. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, skin side down. Cover and cook for 6 minutes. Uncover and cook for 9 minutes.

Turn chicken pieces, cover and cook for 6 minutes. Uncover and cook for 5 to 9 minutes, turning pieces during the last 3 minutes for even browning if necessary. Drain on paper towels and keep warm.

For best results, keep the oil temperature between 300 and 325 degreees F. Substitute 2 cups buttermilk for the saltwater solution, if desired. Serves 4.

Notes:
If this looks a little labor intensive to you, I’m not going to kid ya… it is. My advice – because these are WELL worth the effort – is to simply start cooking an hour ahead. Ours were cooking while we chatted and had yummy Saturday afternoon drinks. Then when Mecandes had to use the telephone, I employed the timer on the microwave to keep track of the minutes and got the kitchen and dishes all cleaned up before supper.

I’d never fried bone-in chicken pieces before. Always before I’d slice up some boneless chicken and fry them in what I now realize was probably way too much oil. This recipe doesn’t take near so much, so is nicer on the budget. Instead of a whole chicken, I opted for a value pack full of drumsticks to make them easier for little fingers to eat. Oh, and I didn’t have time for the saltwater solution, but the chicken was fresh so it didn’t suffer much in toughness.

We have these with yogurt scones and a green salad. Simple perfect food.

Madame Queen’s Cornbread Dressing

1 baked cornbread crumbled
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large bell pepper, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
1 chicken bouillon cube, dissolved in 1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon oil
3 tablespoons onion tops
3 tablespoons parsley
seasoning to taste
milk to moisten

Saute onion, garlic, bell pepper, and celery in sauce pan with the oil. Add the meat and bouillon cube that has been dissolved. Cook meat until light brown. Mix with crumbled cornbread, onion tops and parsley. Add more milk to moisten if necessary. Season to taste. Bake at 350 degrees until brown.

This dressing can be prepared the day before and baked the next day which is a good to know for holidays.

My living grandmother was following just about the same recipe, except the browning the meat part. Once the vegetables became transparent, the meat was added but cooked for quite some time after it had turned light brown. She would let it stick to the bottom of the pot just a little, then from a cup of water perpetually at the side of the stovetop, pour in like 1/8 cup of water. It was just enough to allow her to scrape the browned bits off the bottom with her spatula and allow it to keep browning without burning. And that’s the cycle – brown, water, scrape. I really believe it gives a greater flavour to the meat in a recipe like this.

But it’s also the basis for any good gravy making. Recently, I attempted a pork roast in my dutch oven on the stovetop. My neighbour couldn’t believe I wasn’t doing it in the oven, but I remember my father doing it this way and wanted to try. I seared every side first, then added the remaining vegetables of the marinade I had stuffed into little holes all over the roast. No, I’m not talking potatoes and carrots, but the three veggies Cajuns won’t do without – onions, bellpepper and celery. In this case, I added in garlic. There was never too much garlic for pork, according to my Dad.

Again, once the vegetables were withered and mostly transparent, I began the brown, water, and scrape. I let it do that all afternoon. Half way through I put a good amount of water – a cup or two – in the bottom to turn all the delicious brown stuff into the gravy. But I still had to be watchful and careful it did not burn. The roast did fall apart in the end, but I just forked it into serving size pieces. It and the gravy was the best I’d ever done. I was so proud!

I experimented with this technique last week when I made chili. A pound of beef and a pound of pork after the vegetables, and browned them until at least half of the meat was just kissed with that dark brown color. From there, I followed the instructions on the back of the chili seasoning packet – yum, yum! OH, only belatedly did I realize the seasoning was only sufficient for one pound of meat, so I scrounged out this homemade version to get the double seasoning I needed and it worked. It was my first chili that I really liked. For bean lovers, just add the beans with the tomato sauce.

2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
dissolved in a little cup of water

I’ll post more recipes to use this browning technique with as I find them.