Shrimp Etouffee

1 small onion
1 bell pepper
2 stalks celery

Dice trinity and sauté in 1/2 stick butter until soft
Season with
  salt and pepper
  Tony Cachere’s Creole seasoning
  TexJoy steak seasoning
  Worcestershire

Add
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1+ T Doguet’s Cajun style roux
1 can Cream of Shrimp soup
1/2 stick butter
1+ cup chicken stock - enough to thin to creamy

Lower heat. Add shrimp to cook until done - about 10 minutes

Serve with rice

Green onions for topping

Stroganof easy

Ingredients

• 2 cups of smoked leftover brisket 
• 1 1/2 cups of brisket juice or beef broth
• 1 cup of sliced onions. Red onions work nicely. 
• 3 tablespoons of butter, 2 - 3 tablespoons of flour
• 1 pound of fresh button mushrooms. One small jar. 
• salt and pepper. 
• 12 ounces of sour cream. 6 is enough. 
• 1 teaspoon of horse radish. Optional. 
• 1 tbn parsley. 
• 1/2 cup red wine. 
• 1/4 cup of tomato paste. Use bbq sauce. 
• 1 1/2 cups of cooked noodles. About 1/3 bag. 

Instructions

1. Saute the onions with a drizzle of olive oil in a skillet. Once they are soft, add the sliced mushrooms, then melt the butter in the same saucepan. 
2. Add the flour and make a paste. Stir in the brisket juice/drippings, or you can use beef broth. Add in the tomato paste.
3. Once it's softly boiling, add the red wine, sour cream, horseradish, parsley and a bit of salt and pepper. Let it it come to a slow boil again. Add in the smoked brisket - until it's warmed through, then take it off the heat.
4. Serve immediately over noodles - we usually use egg noodles. You can garnish it with parmesan cheese and parsley, if you're feeling fancy

roasted butternut squash

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage leaves

Directions 

1. Heat the oven to 425ºF. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.
2. Put the butter, brown sugar, thyme, salt, and pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.
3. Put the butternut squash in a bowl. Add the glaze and toss to coat all of the squash pieces.
4. Arrange the butternut squash on the prepared pan in a single layer. Bake until tender and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes; do not toss or stir the squash as it cooks. Transfer the squash to a serving bowl and sprinkle the sage on top.

Marie’s stuffing

Here’s the scoop on how I do the stuffing.

Wednesday night, take turkey out of fridge, unwrap it (save cooking timetable that’s on the wrapper), wash thoroughly inside and out and remove the neck and package of giblets. Open the package and thoroughly wash the giblets as well as the neck. Put the neck and giblets in a bowl and tightly cover. Cover the turkey. Return all to fridge.

Thursday around 6:30AM.  😊

Place the neck and giblets in your biggest saucepan, add 1 or 2 celery stalks with leaves (I coarsely cut the celery into chunks), about 6 peppercorns, 1-2 bay leaves, an onion (quartered). 

Fill the pan with water (you want lots of water to use for stuffing and gravy), bring to a boil and then simmer for 2-3 hours.  You’re supposed to remove the liver after about 20 minutes but I usually forget to do that. We’re not dead yet, so don’t worry if the liver is in a bit longer.

You’ll know all has cooked long enough when the meat on the neck falls off the bones when you poke it with a fork. 

Remove the neck and giblets from the liquid and let cool enough to handle. 

You probably want to remove and discard all the celery, peppercorns, bay leaf and what’s left of the onion.

Chop up the neck meat (but don’t dice the meat). I don’t use all of the giblets – just enough for the flavor and I finely dice the giblets. I don’t use the heart because I think it’s gross. So throw that away. I use all of the liver.

To make the stuffing: VERY important – use a dutch oven or stock pot for this part so you have enough room to toss the stuffing mix.

I pretty much follow the directions on the Pepperidge Farm CUBED and seasoned stuffing mix except I use a whole stick of butter. I use about half of the butter to saute 2 or 3 stalks of coarsely chopped celery, and 1 coarsely chopped onion. Once the veggies are done, add the amount of water on the package but use the water that the giblets were cooked in. (Make sure you save enough of the giblet broth for gravy). Add the rest of the butter, bring to a boil and follow the directions.

Voila!

Happy Thanksgiving

German Meatballs

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 small, day-old rolls or 2 slices of bread
• 3 Tbsp (45 ml) butter or margarine, divided into 1 Tbsp
• (15 ml) and 2 Tbsp (30 ml) parts
• 2 small onions, 1 finely chopped, 1 quartered
• 1/2 lb (225 g) ground pork
• 1/2 lb (225 g) ground beef
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 or 2 egg yolks
• 5 whole peppercorns
• 4 juniper berries (optional)
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
• 2 Tbsp (30 g) flour
• 24 capers, drained
• 2–4 oz (60–120 ml) white wine (may substitute more broth)
• 1–2 Tbsp (15–30 ml) lemon juice
• 2–4 Tbsp (30–60 ml) sour cream
• Pinch sugar (optional)
• 4 cups (950 ml) vegetable or beef broth

PREPARATION:

1. Soak the day-old rolls in water and squeeze almost dry. Break rolls into pieces.
2. Melt 1 Tbsp (15 ml) butter in a saucepan and add 1 finely chopped onion, cooking until translucent. Cool slightly.
3. Place the ground meats in a bowl. Add the cooked onion and the rolls along with salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp [3 g] salt and 1/4 tsp [1 g] pepper). Add 1 egg yolk. Mix everything well by hand or with a spoon until mixture can be formed into round meatballs (add a few tablespoons of broth if necessary). Form 10–12 meatballs.
4. Add the cracked spices and second (quartered) onion to the broth and bring it to just under a boil. Add the meatballs carefully. Cook until done (about 12 minutes). Remove meatballs and keep warm.
5. Melt 2 Tbsp (30 ml) butter in a pan and add the flour, making a roux. Little by little, stir about 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) of the meatball broth, strained, into the roux, stirring to keep the sauce smooth. Add the capers. Add the white wine and season the sauce to taste with lemon juice, sour cream and pinch of sugar. Add the meatballs to the sauce and serve.
6. If you wish, add the second egg yolk to bind the sauce further. Warm the sauce after adding, but do not boil, or the egg yolk will curdle, making the sauce look less appetizing.