Shrimp Clemenceau
Makes 4 servings.From “The Dooky Chase Cookbook.”
You may adjust the butter amount and use frozen peas.
1 stick butter
2 medium potatoes, peeled, diced small
2 pounds small shrimp, peeled, deveined
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup button mushrooms
1 cup green peas
¼ teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
½ cup white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Melt butter in 2-quart saucepan. Add potatoes. Cook 5 minutes.
2. Add shrimp, garlic and mushrooms. Cook until shrimp are tender.
3. Add peas, parsley and wine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes. Serve.
Leah Chase’s Gumbo Z’Herbes
Traditionally, the famous green gumbo must have an odd number of greens. You may substitute others for those listed. On the Dooky Chase menu for Holy Thursday, Mrs. Chase recalled the old days when they picked a peppery edible grass on the neutral grounds for the gumbo. She always said you would make a new friend in the coming year for every green in the pot: “And you hope one of them is rich!” she told Southern Living when it printed the recipe.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
1 bunch mustard greens
1 bunch collard greens
1 bunch turnip greens
1 bunch watercress
1 bunch beet tops
1 bunch carrot tops
1 bunch spinach
½ head lettuce
½ head cabbage
2 onions, chopped, about 3 cups
4 cloves garlic, crushed, chopped
5 tablespoons flour
1 pound smoked sausage
1 pound smoked ham
1 pound brisket, cubed
1 pound stew meat
1 pound hot sausage (chaurice)
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon file powder
Steamed rice for serving
1. Clean greens under cold running water, making sure to pick out bad leaves and rinse away any grit. Chop greens coarsely and put in a 12-quart stockpot with onions and garlic. Cover with about 1½gallons water. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook 30 minutes. Strain greens. Reserve greens and liquid.
2. Cut all meats except chaurice into bite-size pieces, about 1 inch, and put in 12-quart stockpot with 2 cups reserved liquid. Steam over high heat 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cut chaurice into bite-size pieces and place in a skillet over high heat to render, about 10 minutes. Remove chaurice, keeping grease in the skillet. Set aside.
4. Blend greens in a food processor until pureed.
5. Heat skillet of chaurice drippings over high heat and add flour. Cook roux until flour is cooked, about 5 minutes (does not have to brown). Pour roux over meat mixture in stockpot and stir to combine. Add pureed greens and 2 quarts reserved liquid. Simmer over low heat 20 minutes.
6. Add chaurice, thyme and cayenne. Stir well. Season and simmer 40 minutes. Stir in file powder and remove from heat.
7. Serve over steamed rice.
Leah Chase’s Butter Cake
This pound cake variation is from Ann Byrn’s 2016 “American Cake: From Colonial Gingerbread to Classic Layer, the Stories and Recipes behind More than 125 of Our Best-Loved Cakes.”
Makes 12 to 16 servings.
Vegetable shortening or butter and flour for the pan
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled but soft
1 pound powdered sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
2⅔cups cake flour, sifted once after measuring
½ teaspoon salt, if desired
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 10-inch tube pan with vegetable shortening or soft butter, and dust with flour. Shake out excess flour.
2. Cut butter sticks into 6 to 8 tablespoons each and place in bowl of electric mixer. Beat on medium-high 1 minute, until butter is in one mass. Stop mixer and add sugar. Drape a kitchen towel over the top of the mixer so you won’t get showered with sugar. Start on low speed; blend sugar to incorporate. Increase speed to medium and beat until creamy, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Crack 1 egg and add to bowl, beating on medium-low until blended. Add another egg, beating again. After every 2 eggs are added, stop mixer and scrape down sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Repeat with remaining eggs.
4. With machine off, add flour. Add salt if using. Mix on low speed to incorporate flour, 30 seconds. Add vanilla, and blend on low speed 15 seconds.
5. Scrape down sides of bowl. Turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top.
6. Bake until well browned and center springs back to the touch, 58 to 62 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out clean.
7. Cool in the pan 20 minutes. Then run a knife around the edges and shake pan gently to loosen cake. Turn it out once and then again onto a wire rack to cool, right side up. Let cool 30 minutes to 1 hour before slicing.
