Chicken Salad

There are a lot of bad chicken salad recipes out there. This, however, is NOT one of them. And don't let the curry powder drive you away; a good friend of mine who doesn't like curry liked this recipe. My favorite store-bought curry powder is McCormick Gourmet Collection Curry Powder.

This recipe comes from my maternal grandmother, Mary Helen Turpin of Bastrop, LA.

Servings: 6 to 8

5 c. cooked chicken chopped fine
(about 1.75 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast)
2 tsp. grated onion (I grate it with a cheese grater)
1 c. minced celery
1/4 c. capers
1/4 c. heavy cream (or half & half)
2/3 c. mayonnaise (light mayo optional)
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. curry powder (yellow, not red)
1 Tbsp. tarragon vinegar
1/2 c. toasted silvered almonds
(Optional) 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Instructions: Mix it good.

If you're not serving this immediately, you can combine all except almonds and eggs in a large bowl and refrigerate overnight. Then add almonds and eggs right before serving.

Ham Casserole

2 lbs lean ham cut into cubes (3 cups)
2 Tbs. butter
2 (8oz) cans tomato sauce
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper

Mix all above in sauce pan and simmer and stir about 15 min.

1 (8 oz) package wide egg noodles
8 oz. block cream cheese (not low fat)
1 c. (8oz) sour cream
1 small bunch green onions chopped
1 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese

Cook noodles till barely tender and drain. Mix cream cheese, sour cream, onions. Spoon noodles into an 11x7 glass baking dish. Mound cream cheese mixture over it spreding top with tomato sauce mixture. Sprinkle cheddar over the top. Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Mamaw Thomas' Cornbread Dressing

Same as before. You can't improve on perfection.
Both of these recipes are from my paternal grandmother, Verdell LaForge Thomas of Bastrop Louisiana.


1 cornbread
2 stalks of celery (chopped)
1 onion (white or yellow)
1 can cream of chicken soup

Crumble cornbread in a large mixing bowl. After crumbling, it should look something like a big bowl of couscous. Saute celery and onion in skillet. Mix celery and onion with crumbled cornbread in the mixing bowl. Warm a can of Cream of Chicken soup with 1 can of water in skillet then mix into dressing. Pour into buttered 9x13 aluminum pan – cut slits into dressing with knife before baking.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 min.

Mamaw Thomas' Cornbread

You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind. You don't pull the mask off the ole Lone Ranger. And you don't mess around with Mamaw Thomas' Cornbread. This one is straight from the source - no tweaking is done here because none is needed. And yes, I prefer cornbread plain. No jalapenos, no onions, no whole or creamed corn. No excuses.


1 1/2 c. Martha White’s self-rising corn meal
1 Tbs. oil (corn, canola, vegetable, etc)
2 eggs
1 1/4 c. buttermilk
1/2 tsp. baking powder (newer is better)

Preheat oven at 400 deg.
Beat eggs before adding them to the rest of the ingrediants in a medium sized bowl, mixing well. Grease and flour skillet and pour mixture into it.

Bake 20-30 min.

Chocolate Chip Cake

I'm not sure who came up with this recipe. I think I've seen it or something close to it on a box of yellow cake mix. It's a good recipe for "we'll bring dessert" times like church small groups. This was also the groom's cake at our wedding.


1 box yellow cake mix
1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix
1 (8 oz) carton sour cream
3/4 C. oil
3/4 C. water
3 eggs
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Place cake mix and pudding mix into a large mixing bowl. Mix with fork to break up clumps. In another medium bowl, mix water, oil and eggs using an electric mixer. Pour on top of dry ingredients and blend with mixer. And sour cream and continue mixing. When smooth, fold in chocolate chips with a spatula. Pour batter into a greased an floured bundt pan (we use Pam for baking) and bake at 350 deg. for 50-60 minutes.

Steph's Recipes

Steph has a few of our favorite recipes on her blog, and rather than redoing them, I'll just link to them. We made the peach glazed spare ribs for July 4th.

Steph's Recipes

French Bread Pizza

This is not a traditional pizza by any means, but it is a very good and very easy dish. It is an original creation (with minimal tweaking by Steph and me) of my mother, Fay Thomas of Bastrop, LA


1 loaf bakery French Bread, sliced as if making a giant po-boy

Topping:
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 stick melted butter
1/2 c. mayonnaise (low-fat optional)
6 green onions chopped
1 small can sliced black olives
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Mix topping ingredients in a bowl and spread on cut faces of bread. Place both slices on aluminum foil, topping side up, and bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes at 350.

Note: This is also tasty with traditional pizza toppings and sauce in place of the olives, green onion, mayo and butter.

North Louisiana Etouffee

The purists will say that a real etouffee doesn't use cream of mushroom or chicken. They'd call it a stew or something. Whatever. I call it delicious. And don't let the name fool you; this dish has received praise from true Baton Rouge natives!

1 green bell pepper
1 bunch green onions
2 stalks celery
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans Ro-Tel tomatoes
2 15oz. cans tomato sauce
1.5 tsp. Zatarain's liquid crab boil
3 lbs peeled boiled shrimp
cooked rice

Saute vegetables in butter. Over medium heat, mix in the other ingredients except the shrimp. When everything is thoroughly mixed, add the shrimp.

Serve over rice with garlic French bread and Italian green salad.

Triple 'S' Chili

This is a recipe of my own making. Let's see how it does at the chili cook-off tomorrow. **UPDATE** It won the Hottest Chili Recipe award




Serves: 6

1st: Sweet – the ketchup gives a mildly sweet taste right off the spoon
2nd: Savory – the andouille and chorizo add bold savory flavors
3rd: Spicy – the chorizo spices and the Creole seasoning give a spicy kick

1 lb. andouille, sliced
15 oz. La Preferida hot chorizo
1 lb. ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
¼ cup chili powder
2 Tbs. Creole seasoning (see below)
2 10 oz. cans Rotel Original (not drained)
2 8 oz. cans Hunt's tomato sauce
¼ cup Hunt's ketchup

Brown the andouille with the chorizo and ground beef in a large stock pot till it's all fully cooked. Drain the fat.

Add the chopped onion and continue cooking till the onion starts to become translucent, stirring frequently. Stir in the chili powder and Creole seasoning and cook another two minutes. Add the Rotel, tomato sauce, and ketchup and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium/low and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Serve over crushed chips with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and green onions.



Creole Seasoning Blend
from: http://www.gumbopages.com/food/creole.html

• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano leaves
• 2 tablespoons dried sweet basil
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon (or less) cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon celery seed
• 5 tablespoons sweet paprika