Mummy Dash's Gumbo

I'm not sure where this traditional Southern recipe came from. It was contributed to The Home Maker's Corner years back. It may have been something my dad found somewhere, or it could have come from a reader. You will note that some of the ingredients don't have amounts. You will have to use your own judgement on that. :-)  It's adventure cooking. ;-)

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Mummy Dash's Gumbo

Mummy Dash celebrated her
100th birthday on August 23rd,1995.

I was raised on gumbo; in my house we also called it Okra Soup. Gumbo has been described as the "poor man's meal," or a "Saturday dish," prepared when you emptied your refrigerator at the end of the week. As far as I'm concerned, Gumbo is a luxury. It takes all day to prepare (to do it right) and the fresh Okra required to make it can be difficult to locate and expensive. As with many gourmets, Mummy Dash doesn't use precise measurements. For best results, rely on your own sense of taste.

2 lbs. of fresh short-stemmed Okra
3 medium Ham Hocks (or use smoked turkey)
Chicken
Beef
Shrimp
Tomato Sauce
Whole stewed tomatoes
2 medium onions
Fresh cut corn (or baby ears)
1/2 cup (cooked) lima beans
1 sliced green pepper
Sweet red peppers
Dash of sugar
2-3 cloves of garlic(diced)
Celery (instead of salt)
Parsley
Crushed Tomatoes

Cook ham hocks or smoked turkey with water in a very deep pot. Cook on low flame, keep adding water. Cook until the meat is falling off the bone (the bone sweetens the soup).

While the meat is still cooking, cut the tips and heads off the okra. Finely slice the okra: don't dice it! Chop your onions, pepper, garlic, celery and parsley.
Add the chicken and the beef to the pot when the meat is almost off the bone. Add tomatoes, onions, green and red peppers, celery and garlic. Continue to cook slowly.

When it's almost ready, add cut corn and crushed tomatoes. Add okra and shrimp in the last ten minutes of cooking. If the shrimp cook too long they will be tough.


 This soup should be eaten with white rice.

Editor: I recommend putting a scoop of cooked white rice in the bottom of each bowl before adding the gumbo on top.

Turkey Ham Special

This is an original recipe of my own as far as I know. I started making it years ago. You can make changes according to your preferences as it's very easy to make and switch up for variety or personal taste. You could use avocado or pickled beetroot in place of the tomato. You could also pop it into a bun or pita bread and eat it as a sandwich. 

This dish can be used for a quick lunch or for the meat dish of the main meal. If you use it for the main meal, you could slice the turkey ham a little thicker than you would for a lunch. Also feel free to change up the meat. It could also be made with sliced turkey or ham or roast beef or chicken breast. Just be sure it is fully cooked before hand. (Maybe a new use for leftovers?)

You will need:

Sliced turkey ham (or other meat)

Sliced tomatoes 

Sliced cheddar or cheese of your choice
Onion and garlic powder (optional).

Place a slice of turkey ham on a microwave-safe plate. Sprinkle lightly with the onion and garlic powder if you are using them. Place slices of tomato on top of this, and top with slices of cheese. Cook in microwave till the cheese is melted to your satisfaction. This is one serving. Repeat until you have a serving for each person being served.

If you don't use a microwave this could be done in a frying pan on the stovetop with just a little water and oil in the pan and a close fitting lid to hold in the steam. It will take a little longer than the microwave. 

If you are making this for a larger family you may want to try laying the turkey ham slices, etc. in a greased baking dish or pan, and baking it in a conventional oven. I have not tried this so, you will have to experiment. You probably should put the cheese on after the turkey ham and tomatoes are partially cooked.

Fresh from the Garden – Squash and Ham Skillet

I originally published this in August 2010. I thought it would be nice to re-post it. :-)

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Recently my dad handed me a couple of yellow summer squashes fresh from our garden. I didn’t have a plan for supper yet that night, but the squash gave me an idea and I came up with this super simple, quick and tasty dish. Serve it with your choice or a carbohydrate – bread, chips, noodles, rice, potatoes, etc. A salad might be nice as well, but we didn’t have one as we usually eat fairly simple meals.

I am sharing this recipe in it’s rough form. It will be an opportunity to “cook by the seat of your pants” or for “adventure cooking,” as we might call it. :-) You can adjust the amounts to suit your tastes and for the number of servings you need for your family.
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Yellow summer squash, sliced
Sliced ham, fully cooked
Butter
Onion powder 
Pepper to taste
Grated cheddar cheese
Water

Saute yellow squash in butter and a little water in a large frying pan. Sprinkle with ground pepper. Cook till almost done, stirring occasionally. (Add water as needed, but not too much – just enough to keep it juicy.) Meanwhile, chop or tear the ham into bite size pieces. Add ham when squash is almost done and sprinkle with onion powder. When the squash is cooked to your taste and the ham is heated through, remove from heat and top with grated cheese. Cover and allow cheese to melt. Serve.

Note: I do not recommend adding salt while cooking as the ham and cheese make it quite salty. If you want extra salt I suggest adding it at the table. You could also use cooked bacon or some other fully cooked, flavorful meat to make this dish.

Hominy Ham Dish

I first published this recipe in May of 2010.  I invented it for a recipe contest which my Aussie sister-in-law was then having on her blog (since discontinued). It was in her top three but it didn’t win (probably because they couldn't make it since hominy is not readily available there), but my husband and I enjoyed it, so I thought I would post it here. :-)  I hope it’s a winner at someone’s house!

Personally, I love the color combination in this dish!  It is a very cheerful dish for dark autumn and winter days.  Sadly, I am no longer able to eat ham.  Made with fully-cooked, chicken it would lack a little color, but still probably taste quite good. :-)

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2 Tbl. olive oil
4 med. garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 C. yellow hominy (or white), drained
1/2 C. sliced carrots
1/2 C. frozen peas
1 C. ham chunks (fully cooked)
3/4 tsp. onion powder
1/2 C. sour cream
Black pepper
Ground red pepper (capsicum) (mild, med. or hot according to your taste)

Heat a medium sized, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add oil and garlic. Cook garlic just till done but not browned. 

Add hominy and cook, covered, till heated, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with onion powder. Add carrots and continue to cook over medium-high heat till hominy begins to "dry" but not brown, about 3-5 minutes. Stir occasionally. (Note: You may need to add a bit more oil or a tablespoon of water at some point during this process to keep the hominy from sticking. I used water when I added the carrots.)

Mix in ham. Sprinkle with frozen peas. Cover and cook over medium-low heat till ham and peas are heated through, stirring occasionally. Add black pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low. Add the sour cream and mix in thoroughly. Sprinkle very lightly with the red pepper. Cook over low just till the mixture is hot again. For best results, remove from heat and allow the dish to stand for about 5-10 minutes at this point to allow the flavors to blend well. Mix in the red pepper.

Serve with a leafy, green salad and your favorite salad dressing.

About 4 servings.

Red Lentil Ham Soup

 
This is a very easy soup to make.  Dried, split red lentils (really they are orange) cook very fast compared to most dried beans or lentils.  I think this is because they don’t have the skins on them.  I don’t know what the price for them is in a regular store.  We usually buy ours at an Indian store where they are called Masoor Dal.
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To make the soup:
Cook in a 2 qt. pot:
Chicken or vegetable broth
Lentils (I used at least 1 cup, probably more)
One ham bone
Onion
Garlic
Diced Carrots
Bring to a boil and simmer stirring at regular intervals till the lentils are almost done.  Remove meat from ham bone and discard bone.  Return the meat to the pot.  Finish cooking.  (The lentils are done when they are soft.)
Add salt and black or red pepper to taste.
Lentils are very absorbent, so use plenty of broth or water.  If you are unsure of how much to use start with a little less.  You can add more as you go along.  Lentils will stick to the bottom of the pan (especially when reheating), so do be sure to stir it regularly.
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Depending on the ham and broth you use this meal could be made gluten and lactose free.  If you can’t find safe ham, try some pre-cooked meat of your choice.  The taste will be different, but it will still be tasty.  You could add Cajun seasoning if you use another type of meat to make a very tasty soup!

Four Salads

Do you get hungry for salad in the spring?  I do!  I think our bodies want the fresh green lettuce and veggies as part the clearing out process after winter.  That’s my theory, anyway.  But, I know that the fresh fruits and veggies taste extra good in the spring time, especially when you have homegrown lettuce! :-)
Here are four salads that I especially like.  Three are very simple.  If you sometimes forget or struggle to eat fresh fruit, three of these salads might be some help to you.
Blueberry-Melon Salad
This is a summer salad and probably my favorite.  I love the colors and the fresh berries!

As you can see, it only has three ingredients – leafy green lettuce, blueberries and cantaloupe.  I usually serve it with a sweet-sour dressing, honey-lemon is the best.  (I will try to share some dressing recipes later.)
Festive Banana Melon Salad

This salad is quite pretty.  It isn’t much different from the one above.  It has bananas instead of blueberries, and a maraschino cherry is put on top to decorate it.  This, of course, is optional.  (It’s hard to find maraschino cherries here that don’t have high fructose corn syrup in them.)  I serve this with similar dressings as I do the blueberry one.
Another variation of this is to leave out the bananas and add plain cooked chicken breast.  This then becomes a “main dish” salad.

This was an interesting one, but it was actually quite good.  As you can see I sprinkled some toasted sesame over the top of the sweet-sour dressing.  This would be so refreshing on a late winter day, I think! :-)
Chef Salad

This is one to two servings.

This salad is the not-so-easy one.  But, it is almost an entire meal.  All you need to add is some carbohydrate of some sort – bread, chips, biscuits, etc.  How about croutons?
When I make this I layer it.  Lettuce on the bottom.  Next some mixed veggies – cucumbers, carrots, etc.  Then the “julienned” ham slices and the grated cheese.  On that I sprinkled some black pepper.  The tomatoes (cherry or wedges of a larger one) and quartered boiled eggs look decorative around the edges.  Black olives rings would make a nice addition to the top as well.  If you don’t eat ham, try turkey or roast beef deli meat.  It’s good served with a savory dressing – Ranch, bleu cheese, Russian, Italian, Thousand Island, etc.
By the way, with attention to the ingredients these can all be made gluten free.  :-)  Just use a safe dressing and adjust some things in the Chef Salad.