Mirliton

It is the Saturday after Thanksgiving and I know there are leftovers at every home, but I decided not to do all the ways to use leftover turkey.  My husband brought in some wonderful mirlitons (he has never produced such lovely ones).  Frost has held off so far, so there are more to come. So I decided to check out a few recipes for use over the next couple weeks.

Mirliton is perhaps more commonly called chayote in the US but in Louisiana it is a mirliton.  It is native to Mexico but has been naturalized throughout Central America and the Caribbean.  It was raised as chocho in Jamaica during the 18^th century and exported to North American markets along the eastern seaboard.  It was also grown along the coast of the US as far north as Charleston well into the 1850’s but the Civil War interrupted production and its was not until the 1890’s that it was reintroduced as a truck-farm product under the name Vegetable Pear.  But in Louisiana the mirliton has been widely used locally since the 1700’s.  Custard marrow and christophines are other names for the vegetable. 

Buy some to eat and if you like them you might buy some more and grow your own.  Take the mirliton you purchase in the grocery and leave them out on a shelf.  They will at some point begin to sprout.  Plant the whole thing in a pot, sprout end up.  When danger of frost is over, plant in the ground with a strong trellis for support.  They can be dug up and stored over the winter like dahlias but mine comes back well here each year.  The season is now, so you should be able to find them in the store.

Mirliton are members of the cucurbit family (cucumbers, watermelons) and are typically pale green and pear shaped.  They can be used like squash.  Frequently they are stuffed, usually shrimp and/or crab.

Taken from Poppy Tooker’s great-grandmother’s recipe. Poppy is the main person behind the Slow Food Movement in New Orleans.

Stuffed Mirlitons

Makes 8 servings

4 mirlitons

½ cup (1 stick butter)

 1 onion, finely chopped

½ pound shrimp, shelled, deveined and chopped

½ pound claw crab meat (cheaper and with a bit more flavor)

1 bunch scallions, thinly diced

½ cup seasoned dried bread crumbs

2 tablespoons diced ham (I used prosciutto but if you have some ham left over from Thanksgiving you could use that.)

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350⁰. Halve the mirlitons  lengthwise. Cook them until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes, in a large pot of boiling water, Remove seed and discard. Carefully scoop out the flesh with a spoon, preserving the shell. Coarsely chop the flesh.

Measure out and melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and set aside.

In a large skillet, melt remaining butter. Add onion and cook until translucent, 8-10 minutes. Add mirliton and toss to coat. Stir in the shrimp and cook until just pink, 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the crab meat, scallions, ¼ cup of the bread crumbs and the ham. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Put the mirlitons on a baking sheet and sprinkle the remaining ¼ bread crumbs over all the mirlitons and pour the melted butter over the bread crumbs and bake for about 20 minutes in the oven, or until the bread crumbs are somewhat brown.

This recipe is taken from Chef Paul Prudhomme’s, Louisiana Kitchen.

Fried Mirliton

Makes 1-2 side-dish servings

Seasoning mix:

1 1/8 teaspoons  salt

¾ teaspoon sweet paprika

½ teaspoon white pepper

¼ teaspoon onion pepper

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)

¼ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/8 dried sweet basil leaves (I still have fresh)

1 cup peeled and coarsely chopped cooked mirliton

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup very fine dry bread crumbs

½ cup milk

1 egg

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl, mixing thoroughly. Sprinkle the vegetables evenly with about ½ teaspoon of the mix. Place the flour in a small bowl and the bread crumbs in another. Add 1 teaspoon of the seasoning mix to the flour and 1 teaspoon to the bread crumbs, mixing each well. In a separate small bowl combine the milk and egg until well blended.

Heat 1 inch oil in a 2-quart saucepan or deep fryer to 350⁰. Just before frying, dredge the chopped mirilton in the seasoned flour, shaking off excess. Then coat well with the milk mixture, and then quickly with the bread crumbs, shaking off excess. Cook vegetables in the hot oil until dark golden brown, about 2-3 minutes, making sure to separate vegetable pieces as you drop them into the oil. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

It is the Saturday after Thanksgiving and I know there are leftovers at every home, but I decided not to do all the ways to use leftover turkey.  My husband brought in some wonderful mirlitons (he has never produced such lovely ones).  Frost has held off so far, so there are more to come. So I decided to check out a few recipes for use over the next couple weeks.

Mirliton is perhaps more commonly called chayote in the US but in Louisiana it is a mirliton.  It is native to Mexico but has been naturalized throughout Central America and the Caribbean.  It was raised as chocho in Jamaica during the 18^th century and exported to North American markets along the eastern seaboard.  It was also grown along the coast of the US as far north as Charleston well into the 1850’s but the Civil War interrupted production and its was not until the 1890’s that it was reintroduced as a truck-farm product under the name Vegetable Pear.  But in Louisiana the mirliton has been widely used locally since the 1700’s.  Custard marrow and christophines are other names for the vegetable. 

Buy some to eat and if you like them you might buy some more and grow your own.  Take the mirliton you purchase in the grocery and leave them out on a shelf.  They will at some point begin to sprout.  Plant the whole thing in a pot, sprout end up.  When danger of frost is over, plant in the ground with a strong trellis for support.  They can be dug up and stored over the winter like dahlias but mine comes back well here each year.  The season is now, so you should be able to find them in the store.

Mirliton are members of the cucurbit family (cucumbers, watermelons) and are typically pale green and pear shaped.  They can be used like squash.  Frequently they are stuffed, usually shrimp and/or crab.

Taken from Poppy Tooker’s great-grandmother’s recipe. Poppy is the main person behind the Slow Food Movement in New Orleans.

Stuffed Mirlitons

Makes 8 servings

4 mirlitons

½ cup (1 stick butter)

 1 onion, finely chopped

½ pound shrimp, shelled, deveined and chopped

½ pound claw crab meat (cheaper and with a bit more flavor)

1 bunch scallions, thinly diced

½ cup seasoned dried bread crumbs

2 tablespoons diced ham (I used prosciutto but if you have some ham left over from Thanksgiving you could use that.)

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350⁰. Halve the mirlitons  lengthwise. Cook them until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes, in a large pot of boiling water, Remove seed and discard. Carefully scoop out the flesh with a spoon, preserving the shell. Coarsely chop the flesh.

Measure out and melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and set aside.

In a large skillet, melt remaining butter. Add onion and cook until translucent, 8-10 minutes. Add mirliton and toss to coat. Stir in the shrimp and cook until just pink, 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the crab meat, scallions, ¼ cup of the bread crumbs and the ham. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Put the mirlitons on a baking sheet and sprinkle the remaining ¼ bread crumbs over all the mirlitons and pour the melted butter over the bread crumbs and bake for about 20 minutes in the oven, or until the bread crumbs are somewhat brown.

This recipe is taken from Chef Paul Prudhomme’s, Louisiana Kitchen.

Fried Mirliton

Makes 1-2 side-dish servings

Seasoning mix:

1 1/8 teaspoons  salt

¾ teaspoon sweet paprika

½ teaspoon white pepper

¼ teaspoon onion pepper

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)

¼ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/8 dried sweet basil leaves (I still have fresh)

1 cup peeled and coarsely chopped cooked mirliton

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup very fine dry bread crumbs

½ cup milk

1 egg

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl, mixing thoroughly. Sprinkle the vegetables evenly with about ½ teaspoon of the mix. Place the flour in a small bowl and the bread crumbs in another. Add 1 teaspoon of the seasoning mix to the flour and 1 teaspoon to the bread crumbs, mixing each well. In a separate small bowl combine the milk and egg until well blended.

Heat 1 inch oil in a 2-quart saucepan or deep fryer to 350⁰. Just before frying, dredge the chopped mirilton in the seasoned flour, shaking off excess. Then coat well with the milk mixture, and then quickly with the bread crumbs, shaking off excess. Cook vegetables in the hot oil until dark golden brown, about 2-3 minutes, making sure to separate vegetable pieces as you drop them into the oil. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

Thanksgiving Dressing 2011

Thanksgiving is perhaps my favorite meal of the year. I have prepared it for 36 years with the exception of a year or two. This year my sons and daughter-in-law are coming for two days so I have begun preparing my menu for Thanksgiving and a few other meals.

I always do a turkey and many sides. The sides consist of scalloped oysters, mashed potatoes, creamed onions and peanuts, scalloped tomatoes and artichoke hearts, roasted Brussels sprouts with pancetta, broccoli with lemon and garlic, and there is usually some type of cranberry sauce and gravy on the side. I usually do a pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. Every year I think of trying a new type of dressing. I have done the dressing with oysters, sausage, and just about every kind of vegetable and have decided the best dressing is simply done with cornbread (that you make) and lots of onions, celery, and some good spices. I am adding chestnuts this year in the dressing, just to see how their taste will add or not add to the dressing.

Is it dressing or stuffing? Jean Anderson, a noted Southern cookbook author says that in the South, it is dressing whether cooked in the bird or not.  Cornbread or some other bread (or rice)?  In the South most use cornbread but Scott Peacock of southeastern Alabama said his family used cornbread, white bread and Saltine crackers—whatever they had.

Whatever you do this Thanksgiving take time to enjoy your family and friends. That is what makes the meal special no matter what you serve.

Cornbread for Dressing

Makes 8-inch square loaf

Unsalted butter, softened for baking pan

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 400⁰F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder. In another bowl, whisk together milk and eggs until frothy; then stir into dry ingredients, mixing until just incorporated. Do not over-mix; the batter should be lumpy.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until top is golden and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out dry, 20-25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Cornbread Dressing

Serves 8-10

2 cups chestnuts (you can buy them already cooked and peeled to save time, and you will only need 1 ¼ cups)

Cornbread from the recipe above

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, plus more, softened, for baking dish

2 large onions, finely chopped

1 cup finely chopped celery

½ cup finely chopped shallots

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

4 Gala apples, peeled, corded, and cut into ½-inch pieces. (Gala Apples were introduced in the US from New Zealand in the 1970’s.  It is a sweet dessert apple related to the Golden Delicious.)

½ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

¼ cup chopped fresh sage

1 to 1 ½  cups Turkey stock or low-sodium store bought chicken or vegetable stock

Cut a slit in each chestnut with scissors or a paring knife. Cook chestnuts in a pot of boiling water for 20 minutes; then drain in a colander. When cool enough to handle, peel off and discard shells and inner brown skins. Quarter each.

Preheat oven to 375⁰. Crumble cornbread into a large bowl. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook chestnuts, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, about 8 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer chestnuts to bowl, reserving butter in pan.

Add onions, celery, and shallots to pan; season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add apples and continue to cook , stirring occasionally, until apples are soft, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to bowl with cornbread mixture. Add parsley, sage, and enough stock to moisten mixture. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper.

Transfer dressing to a buttered 3-quart shallow baking dish. (The dressing can be prepared to this point up to 1 day ahead; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Return to room temperature and uncover before baking.) Bake until heated through and top is lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Peanuts

I have been hearing about the high cost of peanut butter because of the terrible crops in the past years. Some have increased their prices by 40% so if you like peanut butter you are in for a shock.

I always use peanuts in my Thanksgiving menu. My husband loves his dish of creamed onions and peanuts, but the rest of us do not eat it as heartily as he does.

Peanuts are popular in the South and a lot of that popularity began in Alabama.  George Washington Carver, in his research at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama early in this century, presented peanut soup as one of the many nourishing dishes to be derived from the versatile peanut.  This is a savory soup usually made with peanut butter and chicken stock, and it is much better than it sounds. In Georgia, the soup never gained an avid following, but in Virginia it is found on many menus. But it was Carver, who first gave the visibility to the soup, and in some places it is called Tuskegee soup in his honor.

To make this soup: Sauté ½ cup of finely chopped celery and ½ cup of finely chopped green onions (tops included) in 4 tablespoons of butter in a large heavy pot. When the vegetables are soft, slowly sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of flour, stirring until smooth. Gradually add 3 cups of warm chicken broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Blend in ¾ cup of creamy peanut butter (you could use chunky), reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to achieve a smooth and thorough union of ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Just before serving, stir in 1 ½ cups of light cream or half-and half and reheat to just below boiling.  A small dish of ground peanuts on the side of the table makes a nice garnish to be sprinkled on top of the soup by each diner.  Serves 4-6 people.

This is my recipe for creamed onions and peanuts, which I have served for 36 years on Thanksgiving! It is taken from The Williamsburg Cookbook, which is one of the first cookbooks I acquired.

King’s Arms Tavern Creamed Onions and Peanuts

4-5 servings

16 whole small white onions

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cups whole salted peanuts

½ cup buttered bread crumbs

¼ cup salted peanuts, coarse chopped

Preheat oven to 400⁰F.

Grease 1-quart casserole.

Cook onions in boiling salted water until tender; drain.

Melt butter over medium heat; stir in flour and salt.

Add milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth and slightly thickened.

Put onions in prepared casserole and pour cream sauce over them.

Stir in ¼ cup whole peanuts.

Top with buttered crumbs and chopped peanuts.

Bake at 400⁰F. for 15 minutes or until casserole is bubbly and lightly browned.

Since peanut butter is so expensive now, why not make your own. It is easy. Just use these easy steps.

Peanut Butter

Makes 1 ½ cups

2 cups peanuts-(option: buy pre-roasted, salted peanuts)

1 ½ t. peanut oil or vegetable oil if desired

½ t. sugar, if desired

Pinch of salt

1.Roast the peanuts if not already salted. Remove peanuts from shells and spread on a baking pan. Bake the peanuts at 350⁰F. for 6-8 minutes, shaking them every 2 minutes so they do not burn. Let them cool.

2. Pour the 2 cups into a food processor with the metal blade attached.

3. Add 1 ½ t.  vegetable or peanut oil-cover the bowl with the food processor lid and chop the peanuts continuously for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture forms a ball, or the desired consistency.

4. Taste the peanut butter and add a dash of salt or sugar if needed.

5. You can store the peanut butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up two weeks.

Another fact I came across just this week, is that more than half of the peanuts produced in America are  grown within a 100-mile radius of Dothan, Alabama. There is a 10-day festival from the 4^th-14th of November in Dothan and is the largest salute to a legume. The kick-off for the parade is a giant concrete mixer that rolls through the town spreading roasted peanuts wherever it goes! You could still catch this festival!

Lunch at Beech Grove

One of our friends had us for lunch recently.  It was a beautiful sunny fall day in the country.  The meal was Cajun risotto.  Doug lived in Italy for a while, hence the risotto.  But it was more like a jambalaya; and I think calls for a dollop of Tabasco to round out the Cajun aspect.  He served a sauvignon blanc but if you use the Tabasco, serve a Riesling instead.

Doug spent his life in the city after three degrees from Yale.  After living and studying in Rome and Venice he spent forty years with the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.  After his wife died, he retired to his family plantation, Beech Grove, in Amite County, Mississippi.  There he has spent a good deal of time and money restoring and furnishing the home and adding a Palladian addition reminiscent of Monticello’s dependencies at the end of the U-shaped decks.  One of the buildings is a two story library to house his collection.  Being a Palladian scholar it is not surprising the way he designed the addition to the 1820’s plantation home.  And we got to talk about relations---not ours, but the relationships of the people who lived in our home and his home.  Of course, there was a marriage. Actually there were at least two marriages connecting the houses.  Everybody around here is related, usually going back several generations.

We were given the tour to see new acquisitions since we had been there last; then a glass of dry sherry. Doug had done lunch and was anxious to talk about healthful eating.  On his regimen (not diet) of eating organic, mostly vegetables, grains and fruits, he had lost several pounds and was proud of the fact he took no pills.  He should be quite thankful since he had spent about two years recovering from a sub-dural hematoma and its many complications. 

The meal was delicious.  Wild caught seafood and organic vegetables.  We let him in on the secrets of grass-fed beef and pastured animals.

Doug did not give me the exact ingredients for his Cajun risotto, but I came home and experimented with some measurements and ingredients and came up with what is almost Doug’s risotto. Just remember that you can use different vegetables and seafood and it would be best to use what is in season.

Doug’s Cajun Risotto

Serves 8

Sauté 1 chopped onion and 2 chopped cloves of garlic in 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter. Add 2 cups of  long grain rice and coat with the butter. Add 4 cups of chicken stock and cook the rice until done about 20-30 minutes. While this is cooking, blanch 2 chopped zucchini and 2 yellow squash in a pot of boiling water for 1 minute.  Drain and set aside.  Doug used frozen peas.  I decided to use okra from the garden. Use what you have.  Sauté separately a pound of shrimp, a pound of crawfish, 1 pound of crab, and 1 pound of small sea scallops. The shrimp and crawfish give good flavor.  So you may not want to use crab and scallops.  I did use crab but not the scallops. Sauté with 1 tablespoon of butter for each pound of seafood.  Put the vegetables and seafood in the rice mixture and add 2 tablespoons (or more) of Creole seasoning. Heat thoroughly and serve with a few asparagus spears on top for decoration.