12 fresh carrots washed, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch rounds
Water (enough to cover the carrots)
___ Butter
___ Heavy cream
___ Sugar
___Pure Vanilla
Boil carrots until just tender.
Remove from heat and drain (saving the liquid).
Melt butter in pan.
Add carrots and stir to coat. Simmer and stir carrots about
5 minutes. Add a small amount of the drained liquid to pan if needed.
Simmer until carrots are tender.
Add heavy cream, sugar and pure vanilla
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken pieces with 1-teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Dredge in 3/4-cup flour, place in the skillet, and brown on all sides. Set aside chicken, and drain skillet, reserving 1 Tablespoon butter.
Reduce skillet heat to medium-low and stir in onions, celery, garlic and carrots. Cook 5 minutes, until tender. Stir in the flour, and cook 5 minutes more. Pour in the chicken broth, season with cayenne pepper and remaining salt & pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.
Return chicken to skillet, cover and continue cooking for an additional 30 minutes, until chicken juices run clear and gravy has thickened.
1. Coarsely mash Blackeyes in large bowl. Mix in 4 cups breadcrumbs, onion, bell pepper, jalapeño chili, garlic, rice, and flour. Season to taste with salt.
2. Mix in eggs, hot pepper sauce, and pepper. Form mixture into 12 patties; coat both sides with remaining 1-cup breadcrumbs.
3. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Cook patties over medium to medium-low heat until browned, 4 to 5 minutes on each side.
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
¼ large red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 small chicken bouillon cubes
1-½ cups boiling water
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, undrained
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cumin
Juice of ½ a lemon
1 ½ Tablespoons cornstarch
Directions:
In a pot, combine the first six ingredients; simmer for 10 minutes. Add half a can of beans, salt and cumin; cook for 5 minutes. Puree soup (you can use a immersion blender and puree right in the pot). Add the rest of the beans to the soup. Combine the cornstarch with 1 ½ Tablespoons water. Add the lemon and the cornstarch to the soup; cook until thickened.
Cook; bacon in a large skillet or Dutch over until crisp. Remove bacon reserving drippings in pan. Crumble bacon and set aside. Cook; sliced onion in reserved drippings over medium heat about 2 minutes, stirring often. Add; cabbage and remaining ingredients. Cook; one minute, stirring constantly. Cover and cook about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with bacon & serve.
In mixing bowl, make sure to beat and drained beans until smooth. Then blend eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. In a separate bowl, combine baking powder and milk. Add to bean mixture. Beat mixture well to blend; pour into the cooled pie shell.
Bake the pie in preheated 350° oven until set. Let pie cool.
Creole Green Beans w/Bacon & Red Onions
(Makes 4 servings)
1/4 lb salt pork or bacon
1 lb fresh green beans
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon flour
1 small red onion, sliced
Brown bacon, add beans, cook slightly then add onions and cook a little more.
Then add flour to coat. Add water cover and simmer on a low flame until beans are done.
Marie and Taj talk about the business of making good sauce.
It proved to be a skill that served her well in her earlier catering days when she catered in Southern California for such celebrities as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Magic Johnson, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, the Seattle Supersonics, Los Angeles Clippers, Keith Richards and Little Richard — to name a few; but she adds “not every movie star I wanted to meet.”
Her sauces are famous and purchased from people all over the world, and, as was previously reported in this paper, her Sticky Love Sauce occupies a spot at the National Mustard Museum in Mount Horeb, Wis. after winning a bronze medal at the Worldwide Mustard Competition in Napa years ago.
With gold-medal sauces and beloved Southern-inspired entrees like fried catfish, creole pork, jambalaya and jerk-fried chicken, as well as an entire vegetarian and catering menu, an inflated ego would be forgivable in such a successful soul — but that isn’t the case with Sweet Mama Janisse.
She said she does it all for the smile on her customer’s face who come to enjoy her good cooking in person- at her Bless My Soul Cafe. “My pleasure is seeing them enjoy the food,” she said of her customers of all ages who frequent her cafe. “That’s the beauty. When you’ve made someone that happy.”
Hours are 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends. Take-out and catering services are available by phoning 707-445-1090. A full menu and a view of Sweet Mama’s biography is available on the Web site, as well.
