Today I had planned to write a new post, however, I have been in Doctors offices most of the day. I’m good, just dealing with stuff. Diabetes, I have to manage this disease, 2 things that interrupt the control is pain & stress. The accident is a cause of both. This 2 shall pass.
Please enjoy the recipes and a look back.
Road trip, the town of Keystone SD, Curtis jr describes it as the most touristy place he has ever seen, just short of Main St, USA in Disney Land! He has a point, Cole my youngest and I went for a bike ride through this little town. There was a 6’10’ Cowboy standing in the middle of the street with a rope over his shoulder, and folks were taking his picture, getting close you know how tourists do! A few minutes after we rode by we hear a gunshot, and screams from everywhere!
My first thought was this is the WILD, WILD WEST, someone has been shot! We jump off our bikes and I am thinking I have to protect my kid, looking back then I see the 6’10” Cowboy with his 6-shooter raised high, he Yells “Folks Get Ready the Show starts in 10 minutes” The whole street full of folks start to laugh and cheer! I started to breathe again. Well, it was fun.
We spent Tuesday driving through the Bad Lands, making a few stops; one at a place called Wall Drug, still not sure if it is a town or just a Drugstore? If ever you drive through South Dakota you will see the signs for Wall Drug, let me know what you think?
Recipe Break…
Veggie Stew
To me, stews are like a meal in a pot. Because I’m a wild mushroom fan, I can’t help loving
this dish it’s so thick and oniony and tasty!
1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms, re-hydrated and chopped,
or ½ pound fresh shiitake mushrooms
3 shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-pound carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon paprika
¼ stick (1 ounce) butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 ½ cups water
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Place the mushrooms and shallots in a large stockpot along with the olive oil and cook for 10
minutes. Add the carrots, potatoes, bay leaf, paprika, butter, salt and pepper, parsley, and
water. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes. Remove the lid and add flour.
Stir until the mixture begins to thicken and let it simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the bay leafs. Sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese over each serving and serve.
Serves 8 to 10
Back to the Road Trip…
We spent the night just North of Sioux City Iowa, LOTS OF CORN, and SUNFLOWERS in IOWA.
We hit our first big traffic south of Chicago, with that the boys said “Dad let’s just skip the Windy City on the trip”, but they made me promise to bring them to Chi-Town soon. They want to hit some Jazz and Blues Clubs, like Kinston Mines and the Green Dolphin, I can do that. We made it through Illinois, with all those Tolls, the first one was .40, the boys said “Dad Wow the tolls here are so cheap, compared to the bridges at home” they rethought that after we had passed through at least 10 of them, in one state. Indiana home state of my good buddy and I hope still my Friday Golf partner when we get back, Jim Wilson. I tried to call you Jim when we hit the state line but the phone went dead. Well after passing through a few more tolls, we took a right turn headed to South Bend, Home to the University of Notre Dame, we arrived too late to visit the College Football Hall of Fame and the Hugh music store, but we did get to walk the grounds, took lots of pictures, of the Golden Dome, and the pristine grounds. WOW what a place. From Indiana we passed through Ohio, opting to come back the Rock n Roll Hall, on the same trip when we come back to Chicago.
Next was Pennsylvania, we had planned to zip right on no stops just for gas! Until Cole saw the sign for Bucknell University, you see early in the summer Cole had gone to a Lacrosse Camp and one of the speakers was Sid Jamieson. A great speaker and even better Lacrosse coach, he runs the program at Bucknell. Cole and I both were hoping to get the chance to see and talk with Sid again.
I hope to write about Sid Jamieson soon so you can get to know this Great American. However, after an hour off our route and not finding the school we gave up got back on the road to the Big Apple. We wanted to make it there in time to see you friend Stacy, who was leaving the next morning for Providence. Also, for Curtis Jr to have time to prepare for his Upright Bass class with Ben Wolf.
Peace.
2 more recipes
A couple recipes from some of my golfing buddies, Tim Miller a big fan of foods from New Orleans, or Cajun country and Big John LaQues both those guys can cook!
Sausage and Chicken Gumbo
2 pounds sausage cut into bite size
2 pounds. chicken cut in bite size
3 / 4 cup oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 large onion, diced
2 cup sliced okra
1 each red and green bell pepper, diced
5 ribs celery, diced
10 cloves garlic, minced
9 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoon powder sage, rosemary and thyme
5 bay leaves
In a large stock pot, add 1 / 4 cup oil. Cook sausage and chicken in a pot until brown. Remove from pot and retain dripping. Add to the pot, remaining oil. While heating, whisk in flour to make roux. Cook until mixture browns.
Add chopped onions and other vegetables and cook until tender, approximately 6 to 7 minutes, remembering to stir. Add broth and bring to boil. Add cooked meats, seasonings and bay leaves. Reduce heat and simmer about 35 to 40 minutes. At this point, you can get creative if you like add shrimp, oyster and mussel or other ingredients you or your family like. If you love spicy foods add pepper sauce or Creole seasoning. Use salt and pepper to taste. Serve your gumbo with rice
Simple and Easy Stuffing
1 / 4 cup butter
1 / 4 cup chopped onion
1 / 2 cup chopped celery
3 cups dry bread cubes
1 / 4 cup vegetable broth
1 / 2 teaspoon ground sage
1 / 2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 / 2 teaspoon salt
1 / 4 teaspoon ground black pepper
In a skillet, melt butter and sauté onion until tender. Add celery and sauté until softened. Stir in bread cubes, vegetable broth, sage, garlic salt, salt and pepper; mix well. Here is when if you want to take the simple recipe and personalize you can add nuts or fruit even meats to take my recipe and make it your own! Remember a recipe is just a starting point feel free to add to or take away ingredients to suit you and your family.
This recipe can be used to stuff birds big and small or bake served side or main dish for non-meat eaters, (notice I use vegetable broth) so if you don’t add meat the dish is totally vegetarian.
To cook bake at 350°F (175°C) for 25
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