From “Family ties,” p. 16:
AUNT CAROL’S BROWNIES
Makes 16 squares
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter or margarine
2 squares (2 ounces) unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sifted, all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Butter an 8-by-8 or 9-by-9-inch square pan. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter or margarine and and chocolate together. Place chocolate mixture in a large bowl. Beat in sugar by hand, then eggs. Mix in flour and salt, then vanilla. Combine thoroughly. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool slightly, cutting brownies while still warm.
JILL’S APPLE CAKE
Makes one tube cake
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon each salt, cinnamon, baking soda and vanilla
3 cups Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced, unpeeled (about 2 large apples)
1 cup golden raisins (optional)
Powdered sugar for dusting
Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat vegetable oil and sugar until thoroughly combined. Add eggs, flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and vanilla. Mix until well-blended. Add apples and raisins, if using, and gently combine, being careful not to break up the apples too much. Pour into prepared pan and bake for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. Test with a toothpick or skewer, making sure it comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan, turn out onto a cake platter and dust with powdered sugar.
CRAWFISH ETOUFFEE
Makes six servings
1 1/2 sticks butter
3/4 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound crawfish tails or cooked, peeled and deveined crawfish meat *
1 tablespoon paprika
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup chopped scallions
1 pinch red pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
* Crawfish meat available at specialty fish markets
Melt a stick of butter in a large saute pan and saute onions, celery and green pepper about 2 minutes until soft. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, salt, pepper, crawfish, paprika and bay leaves. Blend flour into the mixture, then whisk in the chicken stock for a smooth mixture. Add the scallions, red pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the sauce has thickened, remove the bay leaves and fold in the parsley. Add the remaining butter gradually to finish the sauce. Serve over hot rice.
SEAFOOD GUMBO
Makes eight servings
2 pounds chicken breast and thighs (skin on)
Salt and pepper
5 to 6 cups water
1 8-ounce bottle clam juice
2 14 3/4-ounce cans low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup each finely chopped carrots, celery and onions
1/2 cup solid vegetable oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup each chopped onions and green pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 or 2 tablespoons garlic, peeled and minced
1 bay leaf
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 pound smoked sausage, cut into 1/3-inch slices
1 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/3-inch slices
1 pound chaurice (spicy New Orleans-style sausage), cut into 1/3 inch slices, or additional smoked sausage if chaurice is unavailable)
1 pound cooked ham, diced
6 king crab legs, cut into 21/2-inch pieces or 6 cleaned blue crabs
1 pound raw medium shrimp, peeled and deveined; reserving the shells for the stock
2 teaspoons file powder
1 pound container of oysters with its liquid
Preheat broiler. Season chicken lightly with salt and pepper. Broil chicken until no longer pink, about 12-15 minutes. When the chicken is cool, separate meat from skin and bones. Cut meat into medium-size pieces and reserve for later. Place chicken skin and bones in a large Dutch oven with enough water to cover, about 5 to 6 cups. Add clam juice, low sodium chicken broth, and the 1/4 cup each of carrots, celery and onion. Add the reserved shrimp shells. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer uncovered for 2-3 hours. Add water to the stock as needed to keep the bones covered. Strain stock into a large stockpot and discard bones and shells. There should be about 6 cups of stock.
While stock is cooking, make a roux by heating the solid vegetable oil in a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron. Once the oil is hot, add the flour in gradually about a third at a time, whisking constantly until smooth. Cook, stirring continuously over medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes until the roux reaches a deep caramel to reddish-brown color.
Note: If roux begins to burn, remove the pan from the heat for a minute or two, then return to the burner and proceed.
In a large skillet, heat the butter. Add the onions, green pepper, celery, parsley and garlic and cook until vegetables are limp but not brown. Add the mixture to the roux along with the bay leaf, cayenne pepper, black pepper and thyme. Combine thoroughly and set aside.
In the same skillet used to cook the vegetables, brown all sausages and ham in several batches. Place the cooked sausages and ham in a colander to drain the fat. Discard the fat.
Using a tablespoon at a time, stir the roux into the stock mixing well after each addition. Bring to a simmer and add chicken, sausages and ham. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add crab legs or blue crabs, shrimp and file powder and mix to combine. Add oysters along with their liquid and simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve over rice.
ENTERTAINING RECIPES
From “Beyond potluck,” p. 30:
ESTOFADO DE VACA (BEEF STEW WITH GARLIC)
Makes six servings
4 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into bite-size pieces
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 cup dry sherry such as Tio Pepe
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 small branch of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Heat oil over high heat in a Dutch oven. Blot meat dry with paper towels, add to the pot and brown on all sides for about 5 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, and a few drops of Tio Pepe sherry and cook 1 to 2 minutes until the vegetables are soft and aromatic but not browned. Add the wine and remaining Tio Pepe, scraping up any brown bits in the bottom of the pot. Add remaining ingredients, lower the heat and simmer, covered, for two to three hours until meat is tender. Remove thyme branch. Serve over rice as a main course or as tapas.
PIMIENTOS DEL PIQUILLO RELLENOS DE ATUN (PEPPERS STUFFED WITH TUNA)
Makes six servings
12 Pimientos del Piquillo peppers (small, long and thin red peppers with a thick skin) or very small red bell peppers
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 small Spanish onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 roasted red peppers (bottled), finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
2 small plum tomatoes
3 6-ounce cans tuna packed in oil, drained and roughly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 quart bechamel sauce (recipe follows)
1 ounce dry sherry, such as Tio Pepe
Chopped flat-leaf parsley or cilantro for garnish
For the bechamel sauce
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons flour
1 quart milk
1 small onion, studded with 1 bay leaf and 1 whole clove
Salt and white pepper to taste
Remove tops and seeds from the Pimientos del Piquillo peppers and set aside. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, green bell pepper, roasted red peppers, garlic and tomatoes and saute until limp but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add tuna, salt and pepper, mix to combine. Remove from heat and set aside.
Make bechamel sauce by heating the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in flour and cook over medium heat stirring continuously for 3-5 minutes. Do not let mixture brown. Add the milk, studded onion, salt and white pepper. Simmer gently for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring continuously. Remove onion, bay leaf and clove and strain if necessary. Pour about half of the bechamel sauce into the tuna mixture along with the Tio Pepe sherry and let mixture stand for 10 minutes
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Fill Pimientos del Piquillo peppers with tuna mixture and place on their sides in an baking dish. Pour remaining bechamel sauce over and bake 15 to 20 minutes until peppers are soft and heated through. Garnish with flat-leaf parsley or cilantro. PHOTO (color): Aunt Carol’s brownies, from Jill Weinberg’s table.
