Lentil Sope

     Then add 3 cups of the mustard greens, 2 cups of the onions, all of the bell peppers, celery, and bay leaves. The one cup of okra and dump it all in the pot and cook, stirring occasionally to check for sticking. After 8 minutes add the apple juice and remaining seasoning mix, stir and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, should take 6 to 8 minutes. Add the seasoned chicken, cover the pot and cook for 2 minutes.

The typical meal I chose to represent is called Morue and its origins is from the Haitian ethnicity. Morue is a meal usually eaten at dinner time alongside Sauce Pois Rouge (red pea soup) which is served with rice, and drank with Ginger & Cinnamon tea. To make Morue, you need: 1 lb. of salt cod (morue), water as desired, 1 small diced shallot, 1 small diced onion, 1 cup of olive oil and 1 hot pepper. To prepare this meal, “add the cod in a saucepan and cover with water. Let boil over medium-high heat. Drain the cod and soak in cool water. Shred the boiled cod. Drain and set aside. In a skillet, heat the oil and sauté the remaining ingredients. Add the cod and sauté lightly for 2-3 mins (Recipes, 2014).”

Let's start with cooking the meat. The best way to do this is the night before tamale day. You’ll need two large pots. Cut the pork roast into 5 or 6 large chunks. Place the chicken in one pot and the roast in the other and cover both with water. This is also a fun place to throw in some garlic cloves, onion slices, or anything else you think might serve the meat well. Bring to a boil. The chicken will be done in about 2 hours, the roast will need at least 2 ½ hours.

First, you spread out your ingredients on the table, open up all the packages. Then you get your pot and fill it up with water, halfway to the top. Take your meat, place it in the pot and let it boil for three hours until its tender. Be sure to add lots of salt to the meat, this will help tenderize the meat. Peel and clean all the chiles (anchos and guaillo), make sure you remove all the seeds and the veins. If you have sensitive eyes or skin, I would advise that you get some gloves and don’t touch your eyes (they are very hot and will dye your skin red and burn). Then take the chiles and pass them through a pan of oil. Boil the chiles in a separate pot from the meat. After this put the chiles in a blender and blend them with the four cloves of garlic and more salt. Separate

We prepare the red sauce by putting the peppers in a blender with the remaining three garlic cloves and slowly add two and a half cups of cooled broth from the stockpot as the sauce purees. For this point, I strain the chile sauce through a sieve. I discard any parts of the chile peppers that the blender could not puree. Taking the sauce, I add it to the stockpot. Continuing to cook the pozole at a simmer for about two to three hours until the pork is tender, and the flavors of the seasoning and sauce have penetrated the hominy and pork. I take a large spoon and skim off any excess fat. Listo! (ready) Now we have a delicious brothy soup to joy. Everyone adds garnish to their likening and digs in. Pozole a dish usually made for the holidays or special occasions, which makes it even more special for me. It is even better the next day when it has, had even more, time for all the ingredients to marry together. I am so happy that my sister in law taught me her recipe for this soup so that I now make it on my

5. Add crawfish and stir. Cover and return to a rolling boil. This may take several minutes.

The next and most important step is the cooking. This brings us to that lard. Now for the health conscious, olive oil is a far better alternative, but for the true southerner, lard is the only way to go. You just don’t get pretty brown chicken any other way. In a hot skillet, add two or three big scoops of lard. Once it melts and is hot, add the chicken. Place a pinch of flour in the skillet, if it sizzles, then you will know the oil is ready. Try to keep a safe distance away, as you are apt to get stung a bit by the flying grease. Of course at some point you will have to get close enough to turn it, but avoid direct eye contact if at all possible. The chicken should begin to turn white on top. Turn the chicken to the other side and allow to cook. For best results, something like tongs

Stir in 1 cup homemade cream of celery soup; reduce heat to medium and simmer 10-15 minutes until soup begins to thicken.

Next, you have to cook the dough which is going to keep everything together. The dough cannot be too soft or too hard. If the dough is too hard it means it was over cooked, but if its too soft it wasn't cooked enough. While everything is being made, the dough has to be laying on top of the corn husk. Then, you have to cook the chicken.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter on medium heat in a large, thick-bottomed pot. Add the 1 medium chopped onion and cook until golden, for about 10 minutes. Add the 1 chopped celery rib and cook 5 minutes more. Add 1 1/2 pounds of peeled and thinly sliced russet potatoes to the pot. Add the 3 cups of chicken stock, 1 cup of Guinness extra stout, and 1/2 teaspoon of thyme. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat, partially cover, and simmer until the potatoes are tender and easily fall apart, about 15 to 20 minutes. When the potatoes are tender, remove the pot from the heat. Pour potato mixture into a bowl and let cool for a few minutes. Working in batches, ladle the soup into a blender, filling the blender bowl only a third full at a time. Add a portion of 6 ounces of grated cheddar cheese to the blender bowl. (Note: If it takes three batches to purée the soup, divide the cheese into three portions.) Holding the lid of the blender down, pulse until smooth. Return the smooth purée to the soup pot. Stir in the 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce and 1/8 teaspoon of

Now you have to bring the soup together with all the beautiful roots and veggies you're ready to cut. At this point you're almost ready to dig in. Take out your cutting board and carefully start cutting the 3 plantains in 6 pieces, the yam in 6 pieces, the 2 corns in ½ , the taro into ½ and the west indian pumpkin in ½. After cutting all you roots add into the pot aside with meat and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Turtle soup recipe:1 ½ pound turtle meat, 2 ¾ teaspoon salt, ¾ teaspoon cayenne, 6 cups water, 1 stick butter/margarine, ½ cup flour, 1 ½ cup onions, 2 tablespoons shallots, ¼ cup bell peppers, ¼ cup celery, 3 bay leaves, ½ teaspoon dried leaf thyme, 2 tablespoons minced garlic, 1 cup chopped tomatoes, ½ cup Worcestershire sauce, 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, ½ cup dry sherry, ¼ cup chopped parsley, ½ cup chopped green onions, 4 hard boiled eggs finely chopped, 2 tablespoons chopped green onions, and 2 tablespoons chopped hard boiled eggs.

Roll catfish in flour. Place catfish on a well-greased broiler pan. Brush with salad dressing. Broil for 4 to 6 minutes, basting occasionally. Turn carefully and brush with salad dressing. Broil 4 minutes longer or until fish is done. Garnish with lemon wedges and parsley. Serves 6. For more fish and seafood recipes see my blog A Dash Of Salty

We will begin preparing the tamale filling. Which will consist of the cooked chicken and green salsa. First we will need to boil 10 Lbs. of chicken with enough water to cover the chicken while it is boiling. We will also add enough salt to taste, 3 cloves of garlic and half and onion. We will cook the chicken for about 1 hour and 30 minutes at medium temperature. Now we will begin preparing the green

Grandmas chicken and dumplings, start with 5 cups of flour into a mixing bowl. Add a table spoon of salt, a half a cup of lard. Knead the flour until you can form it into a ball. Put it on a cutting board and roll the dough out. Cut into two by two square shapes and put that aside. Then they prepare the chicken by putting a 2.5-pound chicken into a crock pot, cook for 6 hours on low. The broth from the chicken is added to another pot, and remove the chicken from the bones and add this chicken to the pot with the chicken broth. Let that simmer, when it starts to boil add the dumplings that were previously cut out. Stir the mixtures together for about fifteen minutes, then the dumplings are ready to be served. What I do, I buy a can of buttermilk