Duck & Conecuh Sausage Jambalaya

While coming up for my Christmas party menu, I decided I wanted to make sure to incorporate a little of what I learned from living on the MS Gulf for a few years. I know it’s probably blasphemy that I add shallot, garlic and white wine – but the Québécoise in me feels that the Acadians would have actually done it this way – right?

As you read through you’ll see, the onions are the longest part, they definitely require babysitting. If you cook them too fast you’ll miss out on the complexity they bring to the dish.  You will need a Dutch oven, 12 quarts will be perfect. I highly recommend Staub or Le Creuset, the heat will even distribute.

Play with the protein. For the party, I used 2lbs total of shredded duck and sliced conecuh. I roasted the duck with salt and pepper and some bay leaves, then shredded and set it in the fridge until I needed it. I also took the carcass and added it to some homemade chicken stock I made and let it simmer for 2 hrs. When we lived on the Gulf, I’d get shrimp from the docks, and oysters or crawfish, and just clean or shuck. I’d use the shells to make stock – either way it was always the same amount of protein – 2 lbs total.

Jambalaya – 6-8 servings

½ cup canola oil

2½ lb. yellow onions, finely diced

⅓ cup finely diced celery

½ cup finely diced green bell pepper

3 bay leaves

¼ cup butter

1 shallot, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup white wine

4 cups medium-grain white rice

1lb shredded roast duck

1lb sliced conecuh

1 tbsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. cracked black pepper

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tbsp. hot sauce, we like Crystal

5 cups unsalted chicken/duck stock

¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley and finely chopped scallions, finely chopped for garnish

Warm your 12-quart Dutch oven over medium heat for 2 minutes, then add the oil and warm it up for 1 minute. Add the onions to the pot and stir, reduce heat to low. This is the start to a very long process of browning the onions. Cook the onions for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, watching them very closely and stirring every few minutes. If the onions start to stick too much, add a little bit of water (1/4 cup at a time) then stir to incorporate the browner onions and scrape up any stuck-on bits from the bottom of the pot. Don’t forget to stir. I never walk away when I’m doing this, I usually put a bar stool next to the stove, and have a book to read or listen to music. The onions are ready when they are deeply caramelized and resemble dark chocolate in color.  If you want to make the onions ahead, you can, up 1 day ahead, just turn off the heat and leave them covered on the stove. When you move to the next step, you need to rewarm the onions, and you can add a little water to help loosen things up, but make sure it’s cooked off before you go on.

Add the celery, bell pepper, and bay leaves to the pot and stir. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Once they have softened, add butter, shallots and garlic, stir.

Add the rice to the pot with the vegetables and stir to combine. Raise the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, letting the flavors mingle for 5 minutes. Now you add your protein, salt, pepper, cayenne and hot sauce to the pot, and stir to incorporate.

Add the stock and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer. Put the lid on the pot and make sure your stove is reduced to its lowest heat setting. Cook for 20 minutes – DO NOT OPEN THE LID WHEN THE TIME GOES OFF. At 20 minutes, just turn the heat off, and leave the jambalaya alone for another 25 minutes – set another timer. You will want to peak, but don’t. Heat and steam will escape, and it won’t keep cooking the jambalaya or make the “gratin” on the bottom.  Remember, this is going to be 45 minutes total, and you can’t remove the lid the entire time.

After 45 minutes, uncover the pot and stir the jambalaya. If you see the bay leaves, pull them out, otherwise remind guests not to eat them. There may be a little burnt rice on the bottom—this is called the “gratin.” People fight over getting some of this at dinner parties.

Top with your parsley and scallion garnish and enjoy!

Bon Appétit!! Happy Cooking!!

May your New Year be filled with love and light!

Fluffernutter Banana Pie

I’ve had my eye on a recipe in a popular magazine I subscribe to, and I was disappointed as I began reading the ingredients and instructions – honestly it was convoluted, I imagine readers being discouraged as they started to pull all their ingredients and read through the steps (which weren’t in an order that made sense). So I think I fixed it or at least made it simpler. First step is to soak bananas in a cream mixture overnight – at this point you could also make your crust and the peanut butter mousse, and also refrigerate overnight. Day 2 you can complete the banana custard and toppings.

Use your favorite pie crust recipe and blind bake it – allow to cool completely. You could buy a good quality pie shell, but it’s not going to be deep enough. I also recommend you bake this and allow it to cool completely before you work on your peanut butter layer.

Fluffernuter Banana Pie – 1 9-inch pie

1 – 9inch pie crust, blind baked, completely cooled

For the Banana Custard:

4 yellow bananas, ripe

2 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup Bird’s Custard Powder

3/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Day 1: Combine heavy cream, milk and 2 sliced bananas, and place in the fridge overnight.

Day 2: Confirm you have your crust and peanut butter mouse done, assembled, and chilling in the fridge before working on this layer. Strain the banana milk, and discard the bananas. In a medium saucepan, whisk together custard powder and sugar – place over low heat, whisk in the banana milk and vanilla, and cook until it thickens. Remove from heat, and allow to cool for about 5 min.

Assemble this layer of the pie before making the meringue, spread about 1/2 cup of the custard over the peanut butter mousse. Slice the remaining 2 bananas into 1/4-inch slices, arrange over the custard in 1 layer, spread the rest of the custard in an even layer. Cover and refrigerate. Scroll down to make the meringue and candied bacon so you can assemble.

For the Peanut Butter Mousse: (you will need the prepared crust)

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup crunch peanut butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add in the confectioners’ sugar, salt, and peanut butter until combined. In another bowl of a mixer, whip the cream on medium-high speed until it holds stiff peaks, about 3 minutes. Fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Spread the mixture evenly over the bottom of the cooled crust. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Day 2, return to the banana custard instructions and put together the pie.

Maple Candied Bacon

4 slices thick-cut bacon

1 tablespoon good quality maple syrup

Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange bacon slices side by side, drizzle with maple syrup. Place in the oven, set temperature to 400 F. Once the oven reaches the set temperature, set timer for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven once golden and crispy, transfer to a plate with paper towels to drain. Once cool chop up and set aside.

Swiss Meringue

4 egg whites – room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of cream of tartar (optional)

Setup a bain-marie, once water is simmering, in a heatproof bowl of a mixer, combine egg whites and sugar, whisking until the sugar is dissolved, about 4 minutes. You can test whether the sugar is dissolved by feeling between your fingers.

Transfer the bowl to the electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Start on low speed, add vanilla and increase speed to the appropriate setting for meringue (on my breville bakery, that’s the highest setting). If you don’t see your meringue stiffening you could add a pinch of cream of tartar. It usually takes 10 minutes until you have stiff glossy peaks.

Final assembly for the pie:

Spread of pipe the meringue over the pie, garnish with chopped bacon. Serve to your nearest and dearest.

Bon Appétit!! Happy Cooking!!

Lasagne Sandwich

You read that right. It sounds absurd, and it is – you literally take your lasagne leftovers, and sandwich it between focaccia or ciabatta. My sister recently made a tomato-meat based lasagne and I explained to her how we had some butternut squash lasagne leftover a little while ago…and decided to make a lasagne “grilled cheese” – she followed my instructions and sent photos, which I’m sharing in this post.

Lasagne Sandwich – 1 sandwich 2 servings

Leftover Lasagne slice cut to the size of bread

2 slices of focaccia or ciabatta

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon mayonnaise (I only use Duke’s)

Warm your leftover lasagne through. Gently rub the cut side of the garlic clove on the exterior of the bread slices/ Sandwich between 2 slices of bread. Spread the tablespoon of mayonnaise on the exterior sides of the bread.

In a sauté pan over medium low heat, place the sandwich in the center. Cook until bread is golden, about 2 minutes per side.

Bon Appétit!! Happy Cooking!!

Ham, Melted Leek and Potato Pie

I don’t like leftovers – I know, it’s terrible, however hear me out: growing up my mom would literally cook for 20+, always worried that an extended family member, friend or neighbor might pop in, so instead of cooking for our family of 7, it was 20+, and if we didn’t have those pop-ins, we’d be eating whatever it was for DAYS. Now I also don’t like waste, so I try to get creative, and when John wants ham, sure frittatas and omelets work – but for how long? The smallest ham you can buy is about 4lbs, and we’re 2 people. Day 2, here comes in the pie. The ham used in this recipe was cooked the night before with a mixture of riesling, whole grain Dijon, thyme, butter and shallots.

Instructions below are for making 1 large pie, however when I made this for John and I, I actually divided the mixture and puff pastry into a few smaller baking dishes I have – I wrapped and froze 1 pie prior to putting on the egg wash (I will defrost it in the fridge overnight before putting on the egg wash and baking it), the second I delivered to a friend ready for her to bake, and the third we ate with a lovely salad, and a glass of wine by the fire.

Ham, Melted Leek and Potato Pie – 6 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, diced

3 leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced

1 lb potatoes (yellow or white), peeled and cubed

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 cups low sodium chicken stock

5 oz crème fraîche

2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard

2 cups diced cooked ham

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (such as Pepperidge Farm), defrosted per package instructions

1 egg, beaten

Fresh thyme for garnish, if desired

Heat the butter in a large sauté pan and cook the onions and leeks over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender, but not browned. Add the potatoes, and 1/4 cup of broth, cover and allow to cook until potatoes are softened, about 5-8 minutes. Increase to medium heat, stir in the flour and mix to combine, then add the remaining stock – stirring until thickened and reduced. Remove from heat.

Whisk crème fraîche and Dijon together, and stir into potato mixture along with the diced ham, mix to combine. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.

Once the mixture has cooled, spoon in to a 9×13 baking dish or deep pie dish, and place on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 400 F. 

Lay one sheet of puff pastry on a floured surface and lightly roll into slightly larger than the surface of your baking dish. Wet the edge of the baking dish with egg yolk, and top with the puff pastry sheet. You can trim the edges, if you like, and decorate the pastry however you want – just be sure to make a few slits so the steam can escape. Brush the top and edges with the egg yolk. Season the puff pastry with black pepper and fresh thyme. You can cover your pie with cling wrap, and refrigerate until ready to bake (up to 1 day), or bake now for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is risen and golden brown.

Allow the pie to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Bon Appétit!! Happy Cooking!!

Mirliton, Shrimp and Tasso Ham Custard

I’m sure I’d never hear the end of it – but I’m calling this a custard instead of a casserole, because it is. It has a custard like texture when done correctly, and the mirliton isn’t all watery. Trust me here, as a Northerner I didn’t let “tradition” dictate how to prepare the mirliton which can be a watery mess…but I did source the very best ingredients I could get my hands on, including fresh shrimp right off the docs at 7 in the morning.

Also, I should say I only learned of a mirliton from our realtor who grew up in New Orleans, it’s a squash of sorts people grow on their fences. It’s also known as Chayote, and doesn’t seem to difficult to find when the holidays roll around.

Finally, if you can’t find Tasso ham, you’ll need to make up for the missing seasoning, and you would do so by using Creole Seasoning. I’d recommend adding 1 teaspoon at a time to your cream mixture and tasting it. It can get salty quickly depending on the brand…and truthfully, I haven’t found one I would recommend.

Mirliton, Shrimp and Tasso Ham Custard – 12 servings

6 mirlitons (about 9 oz each)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

8 oz tasso ham, diced

2 medium onions, diced

1 lb 70/90-count shrimp, peeled and deveined

15 garlic cloves, minced

5 eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 dashes of crystal hot sauce

Kosher salt and Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

2 cups crushed ritz crackers

1 bunch of scallions, green and white part thinly sliced

12 large shrimp for garnish, optional

In a large pot, add mirlitons and cover with water, season with salt and bring to a boil. Cook for about 1 hour, or until you feel very little resistance when you pierce with a knife. Drain and allow to cool completely. Once completely cooled, peel the skin back, halve and remove the seed. Dice into 1-inch cubes and set aside.

Meanwhile, using 1 tablespoon of butter, prepare your choice of casserole dish and set aside. Combine eggs, milk, heavy cream, and hot sauce, set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, and sauté the tasso ham until browned. Add the onions, and season with salt and pepper, sauté until tender. Add the diced mirliton, carefully stirring so as not to burn or smash, but allow the mirliton to release excess water. You will note that the squash will have released quite a bit of water, so just continue to cook until most of moisture has evaporated. Add the shrimp and garlic and sauté for about 1 minute. Add the cream mixture to the shrimp mixture along with 1/4 cup of cheese and combine well. Pour into casserole dish.

For the topping, melt remaining tablespoon of butter, add ritz, sliced green onion and season with black pepper. Allow to cool and mix in remaining 1/4 cup of cheese, spread over the top of the casserole. If you choose to garnish the top of the casserole with large shrimp, this is the time to place them accordingly. Cover dish with foil.

Bake for 1 hour, and then remove foil, and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes. Serve hot.

Happy Cooking! Bon Appétit!

Smoked Salmon Tater Tot Waffles

I know, it sounds a little crazy – but it’s a great way to put that waffle iron to use – which honestly has been collecting dust for who knows how long…(not judging). You can serve each waffle topped with salmon as a breakfast item, or like I did at my last Christmas party (2020), you can make the tot waffles, cut them into quarters, top accordingly and serve as canapés.

Don’t let smoked salmon be the end of your tater tot waffle options either. You could put together a lovely eggs Benedict, or top them with last nights pot roast and gravy, or wait for it: get crazy and make a tot waffle bar.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good shmear and lox – but here I like to go light and fresh. I make a lemon mint vinaigrette and serve on the side so you can top accordingly to your preference. Nothing says you can’t skip that, and whip up some sour cream and chives, have red onion and capers on the ready as a topper as well – the possibilities are endless.

Smoked Salmon Tater Tot Waffles – 4 waffles

1 bag Tater Tots, in the refrigerator overnight

0.5 lbs of your favorite fresh smoked salmon

1/2 cup mint

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup olive oil

Arrange tater tots in an even layer across the waffle iron. Press down on the lid to close and lock. Heat waffle iron to the highest setting. Cook per waffle setting for dark waffles, it takes 8-12 minutes to get an extra-crispy waffle. Depending on the size of your waffle iron, you may need to keep them warm while you continue to prepare additional waffles: as waffles are cooked to desired texture, place on a baking sheet, and keep warm in the oven. Continue making waffles.

While waffles are cooking, prepare the vinaigrette. Whisk together lemon zest, juice, minced garlic, red pepper flakes and olive oil.

Once the waffles are cooked to your preferred crispiness, serve whole or cut into quarters. To serve, top each waffle with a generous serving of smoked salmon, and vinaigrette on the side if preferred.

Happy Cooking! Bon appétit! 

Duck à la Satsuma

We’ve gone coastal! I’m trying to take in what Southern Mississippi has to offer – and there is so much! One of my favorites are satsumas. Satsumas are so juicy, and they have this very balanced flavor of tart and sweet. I’m experimenting with a savory dish first..but I’m seeing satsuma sabayon in my future…

We miss our friends and family, and hope to show them the best kept secret on the Gulf.

This would be perfect for 2-3 people, and I would even serve the sauce in individual sauce boats. I serve it with a plain popcorn rice, to soak up the sauce.

Duck à la Satsuma – 3 servings

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 (5- to 6-lb) Long Island duck

2 oranges, quartered

4 fresh thyme sprigs

4 fresh marjoram sprigs

4 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs

1 small onion, cut into 8 wedges

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup duck stock, duck and veal stock

1 carrot

1 celery rib

Sauce Satsuma – about 1 cup

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup fresh satsuma juice (from 2 satsumas)

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup duck or veal stock

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

1 tablespoon Wondra flour

Place the oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare duck, by patting dry and place in a roasting pan with a rack.

Combine salt, coriander, cumin, and pepper. Sprinkle inside and outside of the duck with the spice mixture. Use one of the satsumas cut into quarters to and put in duck cavity with thyme, marjoram, parsley, and 4 onion wedges.

Squeeze juice from remaining satsuma and stir together with wine and stock. Combine satsuma peels, remaining onion wedges, carrot and celery and spread in the roasting pan, then pour wine mixture into the roasting pan. Roast for 2 hours, or until thermometer inserted into a thigh registers at about 170°F. While the duck rests for 15 minutes, make the sauce.

Combine sugar, satsuma juice, white wine vinegar and salt. Cook in a small sauce pan until reduced to half, set aside. Stir together butter and Wondra flour to form a beurre manié. Bring stock to a simmer in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then add beurre manié, whisking to prevent lumps. Add the satsuma mixture to the stock, cook until slightly thickened. Serve in a sauce boat.

You can find great videos and tips on a how to carve a duck. I highly recommend serving over white rice, and drizzling over a little satsuma sauce.

Happy Cooking! Bon Appétit!

Nutella Gelato

With the holidays around the corner, nutella gelato is definitely a favorite in our house. We will sometimes serve it for dessert: affogato. Affogato is an Italian dessert, where you combine a scoop of gelato with a shot of espresso.

I can eat nutella every day – it’s a lovely blend of hazelnuts and chocolate that just makes you smile.

You do need an ice cream machine for this recipe.

Nutella Gelato – 4 cups
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Nutella

In a medium-sized saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whip the egg yolks with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. While whisking constantly pour 1/2 of the warm cream mixture into the egg mixture. Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. Stir in the vanilla and nutella until it dissolves. Chill the mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions to freeze.

Lebanese Style Pizza

For John’s 40th birthday, I got him a pizza oven. My gosh, we have been loving it – our waists not so much, but it allows for impromptu pizza parties…acts as another oven for roasting chicken and Thanksgiving sides. We are loving it. Instructions in the recipe are included for baking indoors our in the pizza oven.

Below is a pizza we put together at the end of summer, it has za’atar, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, and a salami (with Mediterranean spices) we got from a local shop called Panino.

We’re still testing different pizza dough recipes, this one, was the one we tried out for the pizza below. I delivered a nice crunchy crust.

Lebanese Style Pizza – 4 pizzas
1 recipe of pizza dough
Flour
3 tablespoons Za’atar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup feta
4 campari tomatoes, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced
1/4 cup kalamatas, slices
6 oz salami, sliced (about 6 slices per pizza)

Bring pizza dough to room temperature.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F (if you are using a pizza stone, put it in now) – for the pizza oven, get it around 700 degrees F.

Combine Za’atar, lemon zest, minced garlic, and olive oil.

On a lightly floured surface, prepare your dough by rolling out to around 8 inches. Distribute Za’atar mixture among the 4 pizzas, and spread leaving a 1/2 inch border. Place on a pizza directly on pizza stone, or on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake 9 minutes. If you have a prepared wood fired oven, this will only take about 75-90 seconds to bake, turn twice. Remove from oven, and immediately sprinkle each pizza with some feta. Then top each pizza with 6 slices of salami, olives, tomato, and cucumber. Serve!

Happy Cooking!
Bon Appetit!

Banana Espresso Upside-Down Cake

Sometimes you don’t want to make banana bread…and sometimes you only have 2 ripe bananas, and the rest are, well, firm.

I highly recommend serving these about 20 minutes after baking, they will still be hot, and it give the caramel enough time to soak into the cake.

You can bake these in muffin tins, make sure to grease the tin well, then just divide the caramel evenly and slice bananas for each muffin well.

Banana Espresso Upside-Down Cake – Make 2 loaves
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
2 large eggs
2 medium ripe bananas, peeled and mashed; about 1 cup
3/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tablespoon instant espresso powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 recipe “Caramel” topping (recipe and ingredients below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 baking loaf pans by greasing and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the sugars and butter at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time until combined, then the mashed bananas, sour cream, and vanilla, scraping down the bowl as needed.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture by the spoonful, mixing until thoroughly combined. Set aside and make “caramel”.

To make the “caramel” topping:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 firm bananas, peeled

Melt the butter in a saute pan. Stir in the brown sugar and salt and cook over medium heat, stirring until evenly combined, and most of the sugar is melted, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Divide mixture among loaf pans.

Cut the bananas in half crosswise. Arrange the slices, cut side down, on top of the caramel.

Divide batter among both loaf pans – pour evenly over the bananas, use an offset spatula to smooth over the batter.

Place the loaf pan (baking 1 at a time) on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes.
Invert onto serving platter.

Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 5 days. Warm before serving.

Happy Cooking

Bon Appetit!