Turkey and Sausage Gumbo - Monday, One Week Menu

Hello Everyone!
Oh my goodness, I am so behind on everything this season!!!

 My internet went down for an entire week and I couldn't post my week of Thanksgiving leftover recipes. Then, once the cable guy finally showed up to fix the internet - it only took him three scheduled appointments before he arrived - I had rehearsals every night for a week.  I also got a new, eleven month old French bulldog puppy the week that this all happened.

This is Moss in his corner at the theatre where I work.

His name is Morris.  We call him Moss and he is our fourth dog.
That means that we now have four dogs and two cats.  ("Hi, my name is Carole and I have a pet addiction.")
All of this means that I am behind on both my posts and my Christmas decorating.  The outside of my house looks festive but the inside looks like any other time of the year.  I hope to change that tonight and tomorrow night.
I thought for a long time on how I should post the recipes that I promised for the one week leftovers menu, and I figured the best solution was to post the recipes as I originally intended so that they would be easy to find if anyone wanted to try them, but that I wouldn't put a notice up like I usually do and that I would try to get my Christmas posts up and those I would post on Facebook.  We'll see how that works.

Today I am doing a recipe that no one in Louisiana needs - a recipe for Turkey and Sausage Gumbo.  Everyone has their own version of grandma's gumbo. Since I don't have a Cajun grandma, but have lived in the state for years, I have come up with my own version of gumbo that I have learned from several of my friend's grandmas.  This is my recipe that my husband, who has lived in Louisiana all of his life loves.

Turkey and Sausage Gumbo

Ingredients
2 cups cooked turkey, cut into 1 inch cubes
5 tbsp. oil (for frying)
1 1/2 pounds Andouille Sausage  or Smoked Sausage, chopped into coins
6 tbsp. all purpose flour
4 cups onion, minced
1 bell pepper, chopped finely  (or about 1 cup)
1/2 cup celery, chopped finely
2 1/2 quarts chicken stock
2 tbsp. garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground thyme
3 bay leaves
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. basil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup green onion, chopped (optional)

Instructions
1.  In a large, heavy bottomed stock pot, heat up the oil over medium heat.
2.  Add the Andouille sausage and fry for 4 to 5 minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve on a plate for later.
3.  Turn down the heat on the stove to medium-low.
4.  To the oil left in the pot, add the flour and slowly cook until the flour is the brown color of dark chocolate, making certain to whisk constantly.  (This is the hardest step and is called making a roux.  If you have the heat too low, your roux will take forever to cook, if you cook it on too high a heat, the roux will burn and your gumbo will turn bitter and not taste very good.)  Another way of telling your roux is done, other than color, is the smell.  When it is close to being ready, it will smell like it is just on the edge of burning.  (My husband always knows the roux is almost ready by that almost burning smell.)

This is what the roux looks like when you first add the flour.

This is the color it should be when it is done

5.  When the roux is ready, add the onions, bell pepper and celery and saute until the vegetables are limp.

This right here, is a picture of Cajun goodness.  It is the trinity being cooked in the dark flour roux.  This is one of the best smells that you will ever experience.

6.  Add the chicken stock, a little at a time, and stir until blended each time.
7.  Add garlic, thyme, bay leaves, cayenne pepper and basil.  Stir until mixed well.  Carefully add salt and pepper to taste.
8.  Let the mixture slowly simmer for at least 40 minutes.
9.  After it has simmered for 40 minutes, add the turkey and the sausage.  Cook until turkey is warmed through and tender, about 20 minutes.
10.  Remove the pot from heat and add the green onions.  Let set for 10-15 minutes and serve over cooked rice.

This dish, minus the rice freezes great!
What my husband and I usually do is have our bowls for dinner, save enough for one more night's worth of meals and freeze the rest.  It makes a great quick meal in the winter time.

I will try to keep posting recipes and Christmas posts will be coming soon!

How to Make Vampire Repellent -- Otherwise known as Roasted Garlic Soup

Hello Everyone!
Halloween is approaching and one has to start thinking about preparing for the dead or undead that come to earth on Halloween night to prey upon unsuspecting mortals.

I don't know what film this is from, but I want to be this bat girl some Halloween.  (If I ever get brave enough to wear something that clingy.)

To help in this endeavor, I have the perfect recipe to put into your vampire survival kit.

Supposedly, this is a 19th century vampire kit.  I think that I am going to stick with the soup.

Roasted Garlic Soup

This recipe is delicious and is one of my husband's favorites.  I know that it sounds frightening- eating a soup whose main ingredient is garlic, but roasting the garlic really mellows the garlic flavor.  This recipe is different from the recipes that I usually post because it makes ALOT.  We usually get three meals out of it.  The good news is, this soup freezes and reheats really well, so it is a very good soup to make ahead of time, freeze in individual portions, and then have for lunch during the week.  Or to save for those times when you are sick and just want a good soup to heat up in the microwave.

This soup does have a few more steps than some of your other soups, but it is well worth the extra steps.  Sorry that I don't have pictures - I forgot to be a camera man while I was cooking.

Ingredients

4 whole heads of garlic

3 tbsp. olive oil, (I have a Tuscan Herb Olive Oil that I love to use for this recipe, but regular is fine too.)

6 tbsp. butter (Use real butter, margarine will not taste right.)

1 cup onions, chopped  (You can actually do 2 medium onions if you REALLY like onion, but this is not for the timid.)

Creole seasoning (1 tsp or to taste)

Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

2 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme (2 tsp. if you are using dried thyme)

1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1-2 tsp. dried dill, separated  (I really like dill, so I use 2 tsp. but 1 tsp still tastes delicious.)

8 cups homemade chicken broth,  (if you don't have homemade, use a low-sodium chicken broth)

1 cup heavy cream, warmed

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a small baking sheet with foil.  (This makes for easier cleanup, the recipe will work just as well if you use a non-stick baking pan with no foil.)

2.  Cut 1/4 inch off the top of each garlic head.  (You want to cut it so that each clove of garlic has been cut at the very top.)  Place the garlic with the cut side up on the baking sheet.  Drizzle the olive on top of each garlic head.

3.  Put in the oven and roast until softened, about 45 minutes. 

4.  Remove from oven and let the garlic cool.  You want the garlic to be cool enough for you to handle.  (This usually takes about 15 minutes.  While you are waiting for the garlic to cool, you can be prepping your onions.)  Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the soft, roasted, pulp into a small bowl and put aside for later.  (There is no trick to this. Simply grab the garlic head at the bottom and squeeze.  The roasted garlic will come out looking like a paste.)

5. Over medium-high heat, melt butter in large, heavy bottomed pot  (I prefer a ceramic coated cast iron dutch oven.) Add the onions, 1 tsp. each Creole seasoning, freshly ground black pepper and dill (Use only 1/2 tsp. of dill if you are using a total of 1 tsp. dill.) and saute until the onions have softened - about four minutes.

6.  Stir in thyme and reserved roasted garlic.

7.  Sprinkle in the flour, stirring while you sprinkle.  Cook for about one minute.  Stir constantly to incorporate the flour and make certain the flour doesn't scorch.

8.  Slowly pour in broth, stirring constantly while pouring.

9.  Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.  Boil rapidly, stirring frequently, until soup has thickened slightly - about ten (10) minutes.

10.  Take off the heat and let cool slightly.  (This step is very important.  DO NOT SKIP IT!)

11.  Working in batches, which I am forced to do because I use a Magic Bullet single serving blender, but which you should do even if using a large blender that all the soup will fit in to, puree soup.  You want to puree until the soup looks creamy and slightly frothy.

12.  Pour your pureed batches into a large bowl or pot.  

13.  Once all the soup has been pureed, return the soup to the large pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

14.  Add cream, season with creole seasoning, pepper and remaining teaspoon dill (half tsp. dill if only using one teaspoon dill in total).  Stir until mixed into the soup.

Serve and enjoy!  

 NOTE:  You can garnish this soup with many things as the mild garlic flavor blends well with several ingredients.

Some of our favorite garnishes are:

grated cheddar cheese

bacon bits

croutons

chives

A dash of hot pepper sauce

If you want to save in individual servings and freeze, make sure to cool the soup before you put them into containers and into the freezer.  This will help ice crystals from forming and will keep your soup creamy when you reheat it.

You can also serve it in pumpkin bowls like in this picture:

I have never tried this, so I don't know if the pumpkin bowl effects the taste of the soup but the presentation is AWESOME!!!  I like to give credit where credit is deserved, so here is a link to the recipe that goes with this picture:

http://archive.jsonline.com/features/recipes/337252421.html

I have not made this, but it sounds like it might be delicious.  And it would be sure to impress at dinner parties.  I think any item that you call a bisque ups the elegance factor.

In the next few posts I am going to give some decorating ideas to those people who waited 'til the last minute to decorate for Halloween and have realized that all of the stores are done with Halloween and have moved on to Christmas.  Don't worry, I have some ideas for you that don't involve Halloween specific items that you can turn into something spooky with just some paper and glue.  I will also be posting some ideas for last minute costumes and putting together some lists for some Halloween binge watching.

I am also in the process of making a Halloween playlist.  Do you have any songs that you like to play during Halloween?  If you do, let me know and they may make my Halloween playlist!