Real Vermont Cooking

Ingredients 30 oysters and liquid 2 sheets of 8.5 x 13 puff pastry 1 egg beaten 1/4 c. melted butter 1/2 c. diced Andouille sausage 1 tsp garlic chopped 1/4 c. sliced mushrooms 1/4 c. green onions 1/4 c. diced tomatoes 1/4 c. bell pepper 2 oz. champagne or white wine 1 c. heavy whipping cream 1/4 # cold butter chips Salt and pepper to taste Place one sheet of pastry over the other. Cut out circles with pastry or biscuit cutter. Brush the top with egg wash and bake at 400 degrees about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Set pastry aside and keep warm-do not cover!!! In a saucepan, add 1/4 c. of melted butter. Sauté Andouille sausage and all vegetables until soft. Add oysters, liquid, and wine. Sauté about 2 minutes. Add heavy cream and simmer until reduced by half. When cream is a saucy consistency, add chipped butter a little at a time, swirling the pan as the butter goes in. Continue swirling or the butter may break if left to overheat. Season with salt and pepper. Remove top half of pastry, spoon mixture over the bottom, and replace the top pastry. Serves 8.

Ingredients 1/3 c. light oil 2# cut okra 2 c. chopped onions 1 c. celery 1 c. bell pepper 2 c. chopped tomatoes 1 # smoked or Andouille sausage 5 # peeled head on shrimp (make a stock with the shells) 1/2 c. chopped green onions 2 tbsp minced garlic 10 c. seafood or shrimp stock Salt, white pepper, leaf thyme, cayenne pepper, black pepper Saute half the okra in hot oil, season with white, red, and black pepper and cook until browned. Stir in the onions, celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook about five minutes. Add 1 c. of the stock and simmer another five minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and two more cups of stock. Simmer, add the remaining okra, leaf thyme, season with red, white and red pepper, and then the last of the stock. Bring to a boil, reduce and add sausage. Simmer 45 minutes, add shrimp and green onions. Skim the surface for excess oil, serve over rice. Serves about 8

Ingredients 3 lb. fryer-8 cut 2 lb sausage-fresh or smoked 2 tbsp. oil 4 tbsp flour 1 c onion diced 1/2 c. bell pepper diced 1/2 c. celery diced 2 cloves garlic minced 3 tomatoes diced 2 bay leaves 1/4 c. onion tops diced 1/4 c. fresh parsley chopped 1 c. chicken stock red, white and black peppers hot sauce to taste 2 tsp basil 2 tsp thyme 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce 2 cups cooked rice If the sausage is fresh, brown sausage first, then the chicken in oil. If the sausage is smoked, brown just the chicken, remove from pot. Boil grease until the water evaporates (clarify the fat), then add flour and make a medium dark roux. Add celery, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Simmer, 4 minutes, add tomato, basil and thyme, ground peppers, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and bay leaves. Put chicken and sausage back in and simmer at least 30 minutes, or until chicken is done. Add cooked rice, onion tops and parsley, adjust seasoning with peppers, bring back to a simmer and serve.Serves 6

Ingredients 2 # whole corn 1/2 stick butter 1 tbsp flour 1/2 c. onion-diced 1/4 c. celery-diced 1/4 c. bell pepper-diced 1/2 c. fresh tomatoes-diced 1/4 c. diced parsley 1/4 c. diced onion tops 1 tbsp oregano 1 tbsp basil 1 tbsp minced garlic Salt, black red and white pepper to taste Saute butter and flour together to form a blonde roux. Add onions, celery, and bell pepper. Saute until the onions clear. Stir in tomatoes and corn, garlic, oregano, basil and simmer about 10 minutes. Adjust the salt and peppers to taste, add onion tops and parsley, serve. (Note-this dish lends itself well to the addition of any meats or fish. Add meat after the onions have cleared, add fish later depending on the size and texture of the fish. Try it with crawfish and tasso for a great combination.) Serves up to 8 people.