Happy 2015 {Grandma Buhler's Eggnog}

For some reason or another, New Year's Eve has always been filled with family traditions.

Growing up, there was a New Year's Eve party with my dad's side of the family.  I always looked forward to it. It was a chance to see cousins who lived in Texas--we only saw them once a year.  It was a chance for shooting pool in my dad's aunt's garage.  It was a chance to shoot tons of fireworks at midnight.

A couple of years ago, my mom & dad brought back the family party.  It was one of the best New Year's Eves ever.  I met cousins for the first time.  Caught up with an aunt I hadn't seen in decades.

This party also resuscitated an old family recipe for eggnog.  Grandma Buhler's Eggnog.
Let's just get this out there: eggnog is not something I look forward to for the holidays.
Eggs and I have a weird relationship.

Grandma Buhler's Eggnog is more sugar and nog than egg, so it appeals to me.
(Except for the meringue topping...I can't get past the smell of raw egg)

So...it all started as a simple thing.
I just wanted to check the spelling of Grandma Buhler's name.
It led to an entire afternoon of climbing the family tree.

* My dad's family has lived in New Orleans since the 1840s

* Parts of my family came from other cities in Louisiana: Thibodaux, Madisonville

* Parts of my family come from other states: Georgia & Mississippi

* My great, great, great grandfather, Peter Anton Buhler, was born in 1825 in Altkrautheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany.  He was the first in the line to immigrate to New Orleans.

* One of my great, great grandfathers wrote a book about the part of New Orleans I am from: The Story of Algiers 1718-1896.

* It turns out that my son's middle name can be traced back to an ancestor (although not on purpose), Gabrielle Antoine, born in 1864.

My dad and his mom, probably 1953

Print It!

Grandma Buhler's Eggnog

3 eggs (separated)
1 cup sugar + 12 tsp. sugar
3 cups milk
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla extract + dash
1/4-1/2 tsp. nutmeg
bourbon or whiskey

Mix 1 cup sugar and egg yolks together in large pot. In another pot, heat evaporated milk, milk, and water together, but do not boil. Add nutmeg and a dash of vanilla extract to liquid. Add 1/4-1/3 cup bourbon or whiskey. Once liquid is hot, remove liquid from heat and place the egg/sugar mixture over the heat. Add a little of the liquid at a time to the egg and sugar mixture. Heat mixture, but do not bring to a boil.

Topping:
Beat egg whites until they become stiff and make peaks. Add 1 tsp. vanilla and slowly add 12 tsp. sugar while continuing to beat eggs.

Serve with a scoop of topping over eggnog. Spike with additional bourbon or whiskey.


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Thanksgiving Leftovers--Louisiana Style {Smoked Turkey and Okra Gumbo}

Gumbo made with leftover Thanksgiving turkey 

will soon be bubbling away 

on back burners across Louisiana.

The number of gumbo recipes equal the number of cooks.

There are many types of gumbo.
Chicken, hen, guinea, turkey, dove, duck, goose.  Rabbit, squirrel.  Seafood.
Beef and pork (except for sausage) are rarely seen in gumbo.

There are also different styles of gumbo.  Cajun gumbo is almost always made with a very dark roux and rarely has tomatoes and/or okra.  Cajuns also tend to stick with poultry and game--seafood gumbo is not their "everyday gumbo."

Tomatoes and okra are usually found in Creole style gumbos.  Seafood is more prominent as well.

My gumbo rules:
1-- I like a dark roux.  A dark roux adds a layer of flavor that can't be beat.  Keep in mind that the darker the roux, the weaker the thickening power.

2-- I don't go crazy mixing a lot of different meats/proteins.  Gumbo is meant to feed a crowd at a low cost.

3-- And meat doesn't get mixed with seafood, except for possibly shrimp and andouille sausage.  You may see chicken, shrimp, crab, and sausage gumbos in cooking magazines, but on most Louisiana tables, chicken (or other fowl or game) and seafood are not traditionally mixed.

~*~*~*~

Smoked Turkey and Okra Gumbo is probably more Creole than any other gumbo I've made.  

It has a tomato-y base, is flavored with bay leaves (a common seasoning in the New Orleans area), and contains okra.  

~*~*~*~

How to make a roux

How to make stock

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Smoked Turkey and Okra Gumbo

Turkey stock (8-10 cups)
2 large onions, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups sliced okra
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup flour
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt, or to taste
½ tsp black pepper, or to taste
¾-1 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
¾ tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
6 cups leftover smoked turkey
cooked rice
chopped green onion

Start by making a stock with the turkey carcass, onions, celery, and garlic.

Make sure all of the vegetables are chopped before starting the roux.

Brown the sliced sausage in a large cast iron or stainless steel pot.  Remove.  Add oil to the pot and heat over medium.  Test by sprinkling in a pinch of flour. If the flour sinks, continue heating the oil. If the flour bubbles, sprinkle in all of the flour. Slowly stir and scrape the flour, moving the mixture constantly. If pools of oil form on the surface, sprinkle additional flour over them. Continue stirring and scraping until the roux is brick red or light chocolate colored.

Immediately add the chopped vegetables (onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, okra) to stop the roux from burning.  Add the tomato paste to the mixture and saute until the vegetables are tender.  If the mixture is dry, add liquid from the diced tomatoes to help cook down the vegetables.

Slowly pour warm stock into the pot, stirring to prevent lumps.  Add the seasoning and tomatoes and simmer for 1 hour.  Add the sausage and turkey to the pot and simmer another hour.

Serve over cooked rice.  Sprinkle green onion over the top of each bowl.

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Mini Pecan Pies with Cane Syrup Whipped Cream

Two years.  That's how long I've thought about it.

It came to me after pecan season.  As in way, way after.  After all the pecans had been eaten.

The next year was an off harvest.  Our tree produces every other year.

So this year was THE year, baby.
I would have Pecan Pie Turnovers w/ Cane Syrup Whipped Cream.

Uhhh...nope.

I had convinced myself that my usual pecan pie filling would be fine for turnovers.  Juuuuuust fine.

After stirring the filling together, it was beyond obvious.  Too runny to fold pie crust around it.

So I grabbed some muffin tins (after pitching a big ole hissy fit, of course) and started digging through cabinets to find a glass that would cut the right size circles.

I'm certain another hissy fit was thrown at some point.
After 2 years, I was going to have cute little pies.
Believe you me.

Don't overfill like I did. 

Pecan pie is my favorite pie.  This filling, made with a mix of Karo and cane syrup, is good.  But everybody and their mama has a pecan pie recipe that they dig up for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

All that time spent fussing over the filling and the size of the pie.
When it's really the whipped cream that mattered.

The whipped cream is flavored with Steen's Pure Cane Syrup.
I thought it made sense to put it on top of pecan pie.
Sugarcane and pecans are both are harvested this time of year.

I had to pat myself on the back over the Cane Syrup Whipped Cream.  

It's also good on Gateau de Sirop (syrup cake).

Print It!

Mini Pecan Pies with Cane Syrup Whipped Cream
1/2 stick butter (4 TBSP)
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup Karo syrup
1/4 cup Steen's Pure Cane Syrup
2 cups pecan halves
2 refrigerated pie crusts

whipped cream:
3 TBSP Steen's Pure Cane Syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream the butter and sugar in a medium mixing bowl.  Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each.  Add the salt, vanilla, and both syrups.  Mix well.  Stir in the pecans.

Cut the pie crusts into 4-4 1/2" diameter circles.  If you roll out the scraps from the pie crust twice, you should be able to get 14 mini pies.

Place pie crust circles in muffin tins.  Fill with about 1/8 of a cup of filling.  Don't overfill or the pies will stick.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.

While the pies cool, mix together the cane syrup, vanilla, and whipping cream.  Start on low speed, gradually increasing to high as the mixture thickens.  Beat until soft peaks form.

Top each pie with a spoon of the whipped cream.  Drizzle extra cane syrup over the top (optional).


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