Ferdi Special by Mother's Restaurant

Mother’s Red Beans

• 2 lbs. Red beans
• 1 lb. Smoked sausage
• 1 lb. Ham, grade A
• 1/4 lb. Ham fat, rendered
• 1 Ham bone
• 1/2 lb. Onions, diced
• 1/4 lb. Green onions, diced
• 1/3 lb. Bell pepper, diced
• 3 oz. Garlic, minced
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. Thyme
• 1/3 tsp. Salt
• 1/4 tsp. Black pepper
• 2 qt. Chicken stock
• 2 qt. Debris Gravy

Render ham fat in skillet. Remove cracklins from the remaining fat. Sauté sausage and grade A ham. Add onions, bell pepper and green until tender. Add garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaves. Add red beans and stir into vegetables. Add stock and debris gravy. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until red beans are tender and become creamy.

Mother’s Seafood Gumbo FEATURED AT JAZZFEST!

• 4 – Lbs okra — fresh or frozen
• 6 – Cups onions – medium diced
• 2 – Cups rendered ham fat o oil
• 1 – Cup bell pepper — medium diced
• 1 – Cup celery — medium diced
• 1 – Tbsp tomato puree
• 2 – Tsp salt
• 1/4 – Tsp thyme
• 1 – Pinch cayenne
• 1/4 – Tsp white pepper
• 1/4 – Tsp black pepper
• 1/4 – Cup garlic — minced
• 1 – Ea bay leaf
• 4 – qts crab stock
• 1/2 – Cup brown roux
• 2 – Cups oyster and oyster water
• 2 – Lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 – Cups lump crabmeat
• 2 – Cups claw crabmeat
• 1 – Cup green onion chopped

In large roasting pan, mix together okra, 2 cups onion and 1/2 cup rendered ham fat. Place in 350 degree oven until the slime is cooked out of the okra, approximately 1 hour. Stir frequently to keep okra from sticking and burning. When slime is cooked out remove okra from oven and set aside.

In a large stock pot heat 1/2 cup ham fat on high heat and saute’ 2 cups onion, 2 cups bell pepper and 1 cup celery until caramelized, approximately 5 minutes. Add tomato puree simmer for about 5 minutes. Add salt, thyme, cayenne, white and black pepper and garlic. Cook until you smell the garlic, approximately 1 minute. Add cooked okra, add hot crab stock, bring to boil and reduce to a simmer, let simmer for about hour to an hour and a half. Whisk in cold roux and bring back to a simmer let simmer for a few minutes, add Oysters and shrimp cook until shrimp are tender add crab meat bring back to a simmer, remove and cool.

Crab Stock

• 10# – Gumbo Crabs
• 1/2 – Cup of Ham or Bacon fat (or oil)
• 1 – Cup of Brandy
• 7 – Qts of Water
• 2 – Cups Onions (quartered)
• 1 – Cup Celery (quartered)
• 2 – Whole Garlic cut in 1/2
• 6 – Ea. Mushrooms
• 25 – Ea. Whole black pepper corns
• 1 tsp – whole thyme
• 2 Ea. – Bay Leaves
• 10 – Parsley Starks

In a large stockpot heat fat and saute crabs, flame with brandy. Add water and bring to boil reduce to a simmer and skim. Add water bring to boil reduce to a simmer and skim. Add wine, onions, celery, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, peppercorns, bay leaves, and parsley. Let simmer about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Strain through fine strainer or cheesecloth.

Roux

• 2 – Cups all purpose flour
• 2 – Cups rendered ham fat, bacon fat or oil of you choice

In a skillet heat fat add four and whisk. It’s important not to let roux stick. Whisk through out roux making process. Roux should be the thickness of wet sand, it’s alright to add a little more flour or fat if consistency is not right in the beginning of process. Whisk until color of roux is slightly less than the color of a brown paper bad.

Gumbo

Place cooked okra in pot with crab stock, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce flame, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add roux, bring back to a simmer and cook for 10 more minutes. Add shrimp, oysters and crabmeat. Simmer until shrimp and oysters are cooked. Adjust consistency by adding more stock if too thick, or more roux if too thin, adjusting salt and pepper to taste.

Jerry’s Jambalaya

• First Place Winner
• 1985 La Fete Jambalaya Cook-off
• 2 oz. Butter
• 1 cup Onions, diced
• 3/4 cup Rice
• 2 cups Chicken stock
• 3 Bays leaves, whole
• 8 oz. Smoked sausage, sliced
• 8 oz. Chicken, diced in large chunks
• 1/2 cup Celery, diced
• 1-1/2 tbs. Garlic, finely minced
• 1 tsp. Thyme, fresh, chopped
• 1 tsp. Basil, fresh, chopped
• 1 tsp. Oregano, fresh, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. White pepper
• 1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper (or to taste)
• 1-1/2 tbs. Flour
• 6 oz. Creole tomato sauce (see recipe)
• 1/2 cup Green onion tops, chopped

In a medium saucepan (use the type of pan that will also go into the oven), melt butter, add one half cup of onions and sauté until onions are clear. Add rice, 1 cup of chicken stock and 1 bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then remove from stove and place in a 450 degree oven for five to seven minutes. Remove from the oven and hold. Rice should be approximately half cooked.

In a heavy pot, render fat out of the sausage. Remove sausage, Sauté chicken in the same pot and remove. Sauté the rest of the onions with celery, green peppers, garlic and seasonings (thyme, basil, oregano, white pepper, cayenne pepper) in remaining fat. Dust with flour (sprinkle about 1-1/2 tsp. On top of vegetables to thicken and flavor) and cook for five minutes. Add remaining chicken stock, cook two minutes, and add sausage and chicken, pre-cooked rice, creole tomato sauce, green onions and 2 bay leaves. Simmer for 30 minutes or less or until done, but not too dry. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves six.

Creole Tomato Sauce

The following recipe is a basic tomato sauce that is difficult to make in small quantities. You can make the whole amount and freeze the remainder for other uses, such as on pasta dishes.

• 3 lbs. Ripe creole tomatoes
• 1/4 cup Olive oil
• 3/4 cup French shallots, diced
• 6 a Medium cloves garlic, diced
• 1 tsp. Thyme, fresh
• 1 tsp. Oregano, fresh
• 2 tsp. White pepper
• 1/4 cup Red wine
• 1 tsp. Sugar

Boil whole tomatoes for one minute, then remove skins, cut in half, remove seeds and dice – should have about seven cups. Heat olive oil in medium saucepan, add shallots and cook for two minutes. Add garlic, thyme, oregano, basil and white pepper. Sauté shallots until clear. Add diced tomatoes, bring mixture to a boil, add red wine and sugar, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until tomatoes begin to break up. Salt and pepper to taste and purée in a blender of food processor.
Yields 5 cups.

Mother’s Bread Pudding

• 1 1/2 Stale French bread
• 2 Cups Cream
• 12 Eggs
• 8 Cups Whole milk
• 6 Cups of Sugar
• 4 Cups Fruit cocktail, in syrup
• 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg, ground
• 4 tbs. Cinnamon, ground
• 1/2 Cup of Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 lb. Unsalted Butter

In a large mixing bowl break bread into small pieces. In a saucepan simmer milk, cream and butter until butter is melted. Add milk and mix until bread absorbs milk. In a bowl whip eggs until combined. Add eggs, fruit cocktail, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract to bread and mix until all combined and there is no dry or hard pieces of bread. Pour into a 12x10x2 1/2 inch pan. Put into a 350 degree oven, bake until top is brown and middle is done. ( About 1 1/2 hours give or take a little depending on your oven)

Bread Pudding Sauce

• 1/2 lb. Unsalted Butter
• 1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
• 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 pinch of Nutmeg
• 2 oz. Brandy

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer allowing butter to separate. Remove from heat. Pour either on top of bread pudding in pan or spoon onto each piece of bread pudding when served.

Buttered Brandy Sauce

• 1 cup Butter, clarified
• 1/8 tsp. Cinnamon, ground
• 1 pinch Nutmeg, ground
• 2 tbs. Dark brown sugar
• 1 oz. Brandy

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Raise to a boil, then hold warm in a double boiler or a pot set into another pot of hot water.

Mother’s Dictionary

We speak a little differently here at Mother’s, we speak “baby, darling and sweetheart”, so here’s a dictionary to help you with our menu. You might want to print it out before you arrive, ’cause we don’t like lollygaggers hanging up the line.

Black Ham:
the crisp, caramelized crust from the world’s best baked ham.

Creolized:
The blending of traditional French recipes and ingredients with those of Africa, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Caribbean that produced the unique flavors that New Orleans home cooking is known for.

Debris:
the roast beef that falls into the gravy while baking in the oven.

Dressed:
a po’ boy with added toppings. At Mother’s this means fresh shredded cabbage, pickles, mayo, Creole and yellow mustard.

Etouffee:
(et-too-fay) literally means “smothered,” in French. Vegetables and spices are cooked down in rich seafood stock, providing the softest of beds for tender shrimp or crawfish to drown in.

Ferdi Special:
a po’ boy packed with baked ham, roast beef, debris and gravy, served dressed.

File:
(fee-lay) a thickener for gumbo made from ground sassafras root.

Gumbo:
a dark, savory broth of tomatoes and roux simmered for a long time and containing either seafood or meat and thickened with either filé or okra. This is a typical Cajun dish creolized at Mother’s.

Jambalaya:
rice cooked with chicken, homemade andouille (an-doo-wee) sausage, vegetables, herbs and seasonings. Jerry’s Jambalaya has been creolized.

Paneed:
Meat or chicken that has been lightly breaded and pan-fried.

Roux:
The traditional roux is made with flour and butter. Our roux is made with flour and rendered pork fat from Mother’s ham.