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eG Foodblog: Marlene Maple Leaves, Bacon & Pecans - A Canadian go


Marlene

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morning all.  It's Boxing Day for those of us in Canada and in the UK too I think. 

Ah yes, Boxing Day...

That traditional day when the aristocracy and other lords and ladies of the manor must give one day off to the poor servants who have run themselves ragged during the Christmas hullaballoo. And the day when said aristocracy and lords and ladies 'box up' a few gifts for the servants.

Odd it never caught on down here.

:biggrin:

Edited by Jaymes (log)

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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Ah yes, Boxing Day...

That traditional day when the aristocracy and other lords and ladies of the manor give one day off to the poor servants who have run themselves ragged during the Christmas hullaballoo.  And the day when said aristocracy and lords and ladies 'box up'  a few gifts for the servants.

Odd it never caught on down here.

:biggrin:

I'd always heard that it was the day that they opened the alms boxes and distributed money to the poor.

No wonder it didn't catch on here! :raz:

I've really been enjoying your blog, Marlene!

Jen Jensen

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The Squash Casserole

The surprise hit of the night........... Who knew? :blink:

A quiet, unassuming man in South Louisiana knew. That's who. :raz:

Brooks Hamaker, aka "Mayhaw Man"

There's a train everyday, leaving either way...

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That traditional day when the aristocracy and other lords and ladies of the manor give one day off to the poor servants who have run themselves ragged during the Christmas hullaballoo.  And the day when said aristocracy and lords and ladies 'box up'  a few gifts for the servants.

Strange ... I always though it was so-named for the fisticuffs that went on during the post-Christmas Day sales.

A.

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Marlene, your table is lovely.

Will be watching for the pics from this dinner.

What a trooper you've been through all of this. You're probably eating a fine prime rib dinner about now. Or on to dessert. Enjoy your evening and I hope some one else is doing the clean up for you tonight. :wink:

Back to a running topic here . . . If you look at the pic I sent to you of the cornbread broken up for dressing it is a much finer crumble than the pic I see you posted of pre-oven dressing. As I mentioned earlier (and Jaymes concurred :biggrin:) it needs to be well-crumbled for good stock/flavor absorption. We'll work on this -- perhaps you had too light a hand with seasonings, corn bread sucks them up.

Judith Love

North of the 30th parallel

One woman very courteously approached me in a grocery store, saying, "Excuse me, but I must ask why you've brought your dog into the store." I told her that Grace is a service dog.... "Excuse me, but you told me that your dog is allowed in the store because she's a service dog. Is she Army or Navy?" Terry Thistlewaite

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Morning everyone. My apologies for not posting dinner pics last night. It was a night of much laughter,food and drink. It was 1 am when we all went to bed and I figured I'd be stretching it, not to mention inchoherent if I tried to post them then :biggrin: .

And so:

The roast is ready to go in the oven. Brushed with EVOO and some kosher salt

gallery_6080_524_1104123827.jpg

I always put a bit of lard in the pan, even though this time I wasn't roasting potatoes. And I always use a remote thermometer like this

gallery_6080_524_1104123852.jpg

Ready for carving:

gallery_6080_524_1104123961.jpg

And carved:

gallery_6080_524_1104124085.jpg

Honey glazed carrots:

gallery_6080_524_1104124017.jpg

Molten Mashed coming out of the oven

gallery_6080_524_1104124038.jpg

Turned out:

gallery_6080_524_1104124112.jpg

A note about the potatoes.

These need to sit for a few minutes before trying to turn them out, and then the utmost delicacy is required when you do so. I confess, in my haste, I did neither. I was most indelicate when I turned them out and as a result, most of them kinda smashed. On a postive note, the ones that didn't smash leaked gravy quite satisfyingly when cut into. These were really good.

The layers of the cheesecake:

gallery_6080_524_1104124132.jpg

I'm probably going to make waffles again this morning for everyone. Then I'll get Ry ready to go back to his dad's. And then folks,

let's get ready to gumbo! :biggrin:

I'll be back with breakfast pics and pics of my stock making in a while.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Beautiful Marlene! That prime rib looks perfect and everything delicious.

Encouraged (and hungry for them now) by your Dave's molten mashers experience I'm thinking of doing those for dinner this evening with makeover leg of lamb from Xmas. Experiment on us before taking that show on the road. :wink: Bravo, Marlene, for making it for company and eG your first time. :biggrin:

Get your roux pan ready -- let's gumbo, girl!

Judith Love

North of the 30th parallel

One woman very courteously approached me in a grocery store, saying, "Excuse me, but I must ask why you've brought your dog into the store." I told her that Grace is a service dog.... "Excuse me, but you told me that your dog is allowed in the store because she's a service dog. Is she Army or Navy?" Terry Thistlewaite

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For reference's sake, here are shots of Mr. Mayhaw's chicken and sausage gumbo.

i5144.jpg

Chicken thighs browning in peanut oil

i5145.jpg

Chicken thighs after turning at the done point

i5146.jpg

Great Sausage from Richard's-looks like cased ham!

i5147.jpg

Sausage Browning

i5148.jpg

Light Roux

i5149.jpg

Medium Roux

i5150.jpg

Dark Roux

i5151.jpg

Onion, celery, bell pepper and Garlic in

i5152.jpg

Veg in mixed with roux/spice blends are added here

i5153.jpg

Veg is getting there

i5154.jpg

Veg is done

i5155.jpg

It is ready to plate

i5156.jpg

Wide shot of the finished product

i5157.jpg

Tight Shot of the finished product

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The Squash Casserole

The surprise hit of the night........... Who knew? :blink:

A quiet, unassuming man in South Louisiana knew. That's who. :raz:

As opposed, I suppose, to the previously-mentioned quite unassuming man in South Lousiana?

:cool:

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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That traditional day when the aristocracy and other lords and ladies of the manor give one day off to the poor servants who have run themselves ragged during the Christmas hullaballoo.  And the day when said aristocracy and lords and ladies 'box up'  a few gifts for the servants.

Strange ... I always though it was so-named for the fisticuffs that went on during the post-Christmas Day sales.

A.

No one really knows how it came to be called Boxing Day although the theories Jaymes and Jensen expressed are common ones. Box Day. All I know is it's a good day for me to stay out of the stores :biggrin: .

Beautiful Marlene! That prime rib looks perfect and everything delicious.

Encouraged (and hungry for them now) by your Dave's molten mashers experience I'm thinking of doing those for dinner this evening with makeover leg of lamb from Xmas. Experiment on us before taking that show on the road. :wink: Bravo, Marlene, for making it for company and eG your first time. :biggrin:

Get your roux pan ready -- let's gumbo, girl!

Just be careful how you turn them out! :rolleyes:

We did have waffles again for breakfast, but I didn't take pictures this time. I was more careful about pouring the batter in though and this time they didn't leak all over the place!

Now for the gumbo, I have onion, celery and I might even have some bell pepper. No green onions, and I'm too tired to go out and buy some. Can I substitute shallots? Yeah, I know they aren't green. :biggrin:

Everyone is gone, and Ry has gone back to his Dad's for a couple of days until he comes here for our Open House on New Year's Eve. (yes, more cooking this week - sigh). I feel like a tornado has gone through the house, and I'm exhausted. However, we have gumbo to make, and I'm probably going to make some crusty bread in my small breadmaker to go with it. Just because.

Does anyone have anything to add or change in Dave's recipe? Otherwise it's the one I'm going to have to go with since y'all haven't chimed in with an abundance of advice :biggrin:

Lunch, a nap and then gumbo.

Turkey and cranberry sandwhiches coming up for lunch.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Go with Dave's recipe. Use the shallots.

Those were great photographs! Did you find them on some food website or were they taken by a pro?

Brooks Hamaker, aka "Mayhaw Man"

There's a train everyday, leaving either way...

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I have onion, celery and I might even have some bell pepper.

"Might even"? :shock:

You can't start your gumbo without one of the "Holy Trinity."

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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Go with Dave's recipe. Use the shallots.

Those were great photographs! Did you find them on some food website or were they taken by a pro?

What, the pics of your gumbo? Mine should look half as good.

I have onion, celery and I might even have some bell pepper.

"Might even"? :shock:

You can't start your gumbo without one of the "Holy Trinity."

I say might, because it's not something I normally keep in the house. Except I did have some for the pizza the other night. The rule today is, if it's not in the house, we go without it.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Everyone is gone, and Ry has gone back to his Dad's for a couple of days until he comes here for our Open House on New Year's Eve. (yes, more cooking this week - sigh). I feel like a tornado has gone through the house, and I'm exhausted. However, we have gumbo to make, and I'm probably going to make some crusty bread in my small breadmaker to go with it. Just because.

Mmmm, yes! Crusty bread with gumbo is a good thing. Don't have to eat cornbread with everything. :wink:

Does anyone have anything to add or change in Dave's recipe? Otherwise it's the one I'm going to have to go with since y'all haven't chimed in with an abundance of advice.

It's only that as I said, Dave just about took the words right out of my mouth with his gumbo recipe. You've got a good one right there already. And shallots wil be just fine, ma'am. :raz::biggrin:

Edited by lovebenton0 (log)

Judith Love

North of the 30th parallel

One woman very courteously approached me in a grocery store, saying, "Excuse me, but I must ask why you've brought your dog into the store." I told her that Grace is a service dog.... "Excuse me, but you told me that your dog is allowed in the store because she's a service dog. Is she Army or Navy?" Terry Thistlewaite

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I've just skimmed the last of the fat from my stock. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and a stock pot is now on my list of must have kitchen tools.

Gumbo making is about to commence. I'll be back after it's done with pictures etc, and then that will just about do it for this blog. I have to say this has been a tremendous amount of fun. I learned so much this week, and I probably wouldn't have tried some of these things otherwise.

Special thanks to Brooks, Dave, Judith and Rachel (who stayed up the other night to give me a quick Stock 101 course via AIM), and everyone else who contributed their ideas, recipes and techniques. This truly has been an interactive session, and I am the richer for it.

Thanks for your patience as I stumbled my way through cornbread, pizza, biscuts and more. I'm looking forward to this gumbo. :smile:

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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You're welcome. Stock pictures?

They are coming. I thought I'd post them as part of the whole gumbo making process. :biggrin:

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Marlene,

I have been following this blog from the beginning and I just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying it. Being from the Netherlands, I don't have much to say about gumbo, cornbread or fried chicken, so I can't contribute, but I am learning a lot here.

Thank you for letting us all share your life and your cooking.

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Marlene,

I have been following this blog from the beginning and I just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying it. Being from the Netherlands, I don't have much to say about gumbo, cornbread or fried chicken, so I can't contribute, but I am learning a lot here.

Thank you for letting us all share your life and your cooking.

If you learned half as much as I did, I've accomplished my objective. I wanted to let people know that even though almost all of us cook, there are some things we've never done, don't know how to do and need help with. I knew y'all would come to my rescue and you did. I wanted people to participate in the process and you did. And you didn't even laugh at me - at least to my face :biggrin:

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Ok guys, the gumbo is simmering. This is the before adding the sausage and turkey part. But I have a question. It smells and tastes wonderful so far, but it kinda looks and tastes like gravy. Is it supposed to?

In Brooks' pictures when he's plated it, it looks kinda clear to me. Mine doesn't.

Help!

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Oh, it's brown all right. That's why you start with the dark roux. It adds depth of flavor and color, too. It shouldn't really taste like gravy, simply because the other ingredients create the distinction. And you did add okra, right? :wink:

Dean McCord

VarmintBites

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Well ok. I'm not sure if I did this right, but boy was it good!

First we have the stock making process. For some reason, not all of my pictures turned out, but here's what I've got:

As I said, I don't currently own a stock pot. When I first put this on, the water didn't quite cover it:

gallery_6080_529_1104200669.jpg

It didn't take long though for the bones to break down, and I simmered this for about 8 hours in total.

gallery_6080_529_1104200693.jpg

Strained it

gallery_6080_529_1104200749.jpg

Chilled it then defatted it.

gallery_6080_529_1104200770.jpg

It yielded about 2 quarts of stock. Fortunately, that's what I needed for Dave's gumbo. :blink:

Starting the gumbo.

I got everything ready beforehand, since I didn't know what I was doing, and wanted to be able to just grab stuff as I needed it

gallery_6080_529_1104200801.jpg

I used Keilbasa for the sausage as that's what I had on hand:

gallery_6080_529_1104200827.jpg

Then I started to make the roux. This is it at about a medium colour:

gallery_6080_529_1104200855.jpg

The at a butterscotch or peanut butter colour. Someone might have told me my arm was going to fall off stirring this to get it to the right colour!

gallery_6080_529_1104200875.jpg

I added the onions etc and simmered them for 5 minutes or so, then added the chicken stock and let the whole thing simmer for about 30 minutes, at which point I added the turkey and the sausage. This is the point where my camera let me down. I took pictures of this I swear, but they don't seem to be on the camera!

In the meantime I made rice, using the last bit of the turkey stock, and my little breadmaker picked this time to malfunction so we ended up using the last of the crusty rolls from yesterday, since my bread didn't rise. :sad:

Here's my feeble attempt at making my plate look something like Brooks:

gallery_6080_529_1104200910.jpg

The one thing I noticed is that Brooks used more veggies than I did, which would account for the difference in the amount of sauce I had compared to his.

Regardless of whether this is what Gumbo is supposed to look like, it tasted awesome! It was very rich, and a little went a long way - not to mention we've been eating very well for the last several days, so it's not like we were starving or anything!

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Oh, it's brown all right.  That's why you start with the dark roux.  It adds depth of flavor and color, too.  It shouldn't really taste like gravy, simply because the other ingredients create the distinction.  And you did add okra, right?  :wink:

Okra? We don't get no okra here. :rolleyes:

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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