The Mail Slot {and Risotto Stuffed Tomatoes}

My great grandparents lived in a modest house on two lots in the suburbs of New Orleans.  Rather than a huge house with very little yard like you tend to find now, most of their property was great-grandpa's garden.  The house was very small--smaller than the garden, which overflowed with broccoli, greens, green beans, tomatoes.

There is one feature of their house that stood out for my brothers and me.  The mail slot that was built right into the brick wall.  It wasn't a mail slot in the front door where mail would drop to the floor.  This was a small box built into the wall, accessible from the inside by a little lift-up wooden door.  No one else we knew had such a thing, making it a plaything when we visited.

We would "mail" each other giggles (and sometimes insults) through the outer and inner doors.  Send each other wiggly fingers through the narrow opening spanning inside and not.

Sometimes we were sweet, shipping bouquets of white clover, yellow wood sorrel, violet wood sorrel, and buttercups through the mail slot for great-grandma to discover after we headed home.

Sometimes we were little shits, leaving doodle bugs (pill bugs), worms...or maybe a lizard if we felt really bold.

*********
Great-grandma prepared whatever came out of the garden.   I suspect without recipes.  And tomatoes were usually served as is.  Maybe with a little salt and pepper.

Packed with garlic, savory with Italian sausage, and summery with fresh basil, when it comes to tomato recipes and doing something with them more than slicing, this is one of my favorites.

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Risotto Stuffed Tomatoes

4 ripe, medium to large tomatoes
2 links Italian sausage, hot or mild, casing removed
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
5 large garlic cloves, minced (about 2 Tbsp)
1/2 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup reserved juices from the tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chicken broth, warmed
1/3 cup loosely packed chopped fresh basil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
pinch of red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 400.
Cut off the top third of each tomato and set the tops to the side.  Using a paring knife and/or a spoon, remove the inside of each tomato, being careful not to puncture the walls of the tomatoes.  Reserve the pulp and juices.  Place the tomatoes in a medium greased baking dish.  You may need to prop them against each other so that they stand up.

Add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to a medium skillet.  Saute the sausage over medium heat until it has browned lightly.  Lower the heat and add the garlic, cooking a few minutes more.

While the sausage browns and garlic sautes, break up the tomato pulp into pieces, straining and reserving the juices.

Add the Arborio to the skillet and saute until it is translucent (5-7 minutes).  Add 1/2 cup of the tomato juices and stir until the liquid is almost absorbed.  Add the broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring after each addition, until the liquid is almost absorbed. After about 15 minutes, test the rice.  If it is still hard, add a small amount of broth or water and repeat stirring until the liquid is almost absorbed.  If the risotto is chewy, remove from the heat.  Stir in the basil and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Spoon mixture into the tomato shells (there may be some left over).  Place the tomato tops on the stuffed tomatoes.  Drizzle with olive oil and bake until the tomatoes are soft and the rice is tender, about 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly before serving.

linking with:

See Ya Later, Alligator

...after while, crocodile.

This is one of my grandma's favorite sayings, standing on her porch seeing us off during a 30 minute good-bye

(because down here, good-byes are required to last no less than 24 1/2 minutes
and you best get off your fanny, see your company out the door,
and wave at them til you can't see them no more)

Grandma would always tell me "See ya later, alligator...."  Now she says this to The Boy.

Growing up, I didn't realize that this is really a thing.  A thing other people say.  Song lyrics, even.

I thought it was just people from Louisiana saying this.  Because, ya know, we have alligators.

At least that's what everyone thinks.

I recently read this on Facebook: Yes, I live in Louisiana.  No, I don't live in a swamp.

It made me laugh.  Because I imagine a lot of people think we're all down here living in the swamp, driving boats everywhere, and being over-run (or chomped on) by alligators.

The truth is, some parts of Louisiana are prairie, some coastal, some woodland, some hilly (our highest point is 535 feet--that's Driskill Mountain to us.  It's not all swamp.  And if it's not all swamp, it's also not all alligators either.

But it is all alligator today, cher.

looks kinda like chicken

Beer battered alligator bites.  With a cheesy Creole mustard beer sauce.

Oh, yeah...it's all beer today too.

Get Your Chef On is hosted by

Julie of White Lights on Wednesday

and

Jen of Four Marrs and One Venus

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Gator Bites w/ Cheesy Creole Mustard Beer Sauce

1 lb alligator fillets or nuggets
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp hot sauce

If using alligator fillets, cut into bite-size pieces.  Mix the buttermilk and hot sauce together and place in a bowl.  Add the alligator and marinate for 3-4 hours.  When ready to cook, pour into a sieve and drain off the buttermilk.

vegetable oil for frying
1 cup beer
1 1/2 cups flour, divided
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
couple of pinches cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt (optional)

In a pot or fryer, begin heating the vegetable oil to 350 degrees.
Whisk together the beer and 1 cup of flour in a shallow dish.  In a separate dish, mix together the seasonings and the remaining 1/2 cup of flour.

When the oil reaches 350 degrees F, dredge the alligator pieces in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess.  Dip each piece in the beer batter.  Let the excess drip off and carefully add the alligator to the hot oil.  Fry until golden, about 7-8 minutes (depends on size).  Drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt if desired.

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup room temperature beer
1 Tbsp Creole mustard
couple of pinches cayenne pepper
3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Whisk in the flour and stir.  Cook until the mixture becomes bubbly.  Whisk in the beer, mustard, and cayenne.  Heat to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and simmer until thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in the cheese until melted.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.

*Note:  this will make more sauce than needed for the alligator.  But that's ok because it's good on Giant Pretzels.

Linking this week with:

Seeing

There was a time when it would upset me.  Hearing his voice.  Seeing his glasses on a table top.  It took me a while to adjust.

We were tight.  The two of us.  I was the first granchild.  The only girl grandbaby for 18 years.  Seeing that in writing strikes me only now.

He died suddenly in 2001.  For years afterwards, my grandma kept the outgoing message on her answering machine.  His message.  His voice.  The first time I called and heard it after he died, I hung up without leaving a message.  I couldn't speak.

Grandma still keeps his eyeglasses sitting on a table or counter top.  I first noticed a pair in the bedroom where everyone puts their coats.  Then another set on the kitchen counter.  And on the bathroom counter sitting by the sink.  Pretty soon I realized there were pairs in every room in the house.  Folded like crabs waiting to pinch some memory out of me.

My grandpa was involved in the Lion's Club, which is committed to providing glasses to people in need.  He collected old eyeglasses like nobody's business.

He had a passion for his Lion's Club.  Another way he supported the club was by buying copies of their annual fundraiser cookbook and passing them out at Christmas.

This Buttermilk Banana Bread comes from Home Cookin': The Lions Clubs Cookbook, Volume 3, 1999.  I'm not a big banana bread kinda gal, but I do like the use of buttermilk here.  When I bake this, I think of my grandpa.

Notes:
* Call me weird, but I like to bake quick breads in an 8 x 8 pan.  It becomes more of a cake than a bread and seems to bake up evenly moist.  When I bake quick breads in loaf pans, the outside usually ends up overdone.
* I would love to stir in some pecans, but The Boy likes "smooth food."

This week's See Ya In the Gumbo potluck is HERE

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Buttermilk Banana Bread
from Home Cookin': The Lions Clubs Cookbook, Volume 3
1 3/4 c flour
1 1/2 c sugar (I use 1 c)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 c)
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/4 c plus 1 tbsp buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped nuts (I omit)

Add ingredients to bowl in order given.  Pour into a 9x5x3" greased loaf pan.  Bake at 325 for about 1 hour and 20 minutes.  I use an 8 x 8 cake pan and watch.

 Check out these parties I'm linking with this week: