Real Vermont Cooking

INGREDIENTS 4 Pounds of veal or beef round steak 1 Teaspoon thyme ½ Cup bacon drippings or vegetable oil 1 Cup water or beef stock ½ Cup flour 1 Cup red wine 2 Cups of chopped onions 3 Bay leaves 1 ½ Cups of chopped green onions 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce 1 Cup chopped celery ½ Cup chopped parsley 4 Cloves of garlic, chopped fine Salt, red and black pepper to taste. 3 Tomatoes (medium) chopped Directions: Start by cutting steaks into serving-size pieces and removing any external fat. In large heavy bottomed pot add bacon drippings or oil and brown meat well. After meat is well -browned (remember the browning gives the flavor) set aside. Add flour to the same pot with drippings and stir continually, making a roux. Cook until the color of a penny; add onions, green onions, celery and cook until soft and limp. Next add the garlic, tomatoes thyme mixing all ingredients together. Add water or stock, wine, bay leaves, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer all ingredients for 10 minutes add veal or beef pieces of meat back to pot stirring well. Cover and cook until meat is fork tender but not falling apart. You can add water during the cooking process if gravy gets too thick. Taste during the cooking for seasoning (salt and pepper) and add if needed. You can always add if you think Grillades need more seasoning but seasoning is hard to remove. When seasoned and meat very tender add parsley and serve over grits.

INGREDIENTS 1/2 cup butter 1/4 pound hot link sausage, diced 1/4 pound chicken gizzards, diced 3 medium eggplants, peeled and diced 3 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped 3 medium onions, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 bunch green onions, chopped 1/2 cup celery, chopped 1/2 pound fresh small shrimp, peeled and deveined 1 cup cooked rice 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning Salt to taste 1/2 pound lump crabmeat 1/3 to 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs 2 to 3 tablespoons butter Lemon slices and chopped fresh parsley for garnish Directions: Melt 1/2 cup butter in Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sausage and gizzards and saute until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in eggplant, bell pepper, onion, garlic, green onion and celery. Continue to cook about 15 minutes, stir-ring occasionally. Add shrimp, rice, parsley, Italian seasoning and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is pink and translucent, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add crabmeat to eggplant mixture with enough bread crumbs to absorb remaining butter. Spoon into individual ramekins. Sprinkle with remaining bread crumbs and dot with butter. Bake until tops are browned. Garnish with lemon and parsley. Serve immediately. Serves 8 to 10.

INGREDIENTS 2 1/2 or 3 pound pork shoulder roast 4 tablespoons cooking oil 1 tablespoon prepared mustard salt and red pepper to taste 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 clove garlic, chopped Directions: One or two hours before cooking the roast, season generously with salt and pepper. Insert slivers of garlic in slits in roast made with a sharp knife. Rub mustard all over the meat. Wrap well in foil and place in refrigerator until ready to cook. When ready to cook, coat all sides with flour. Heat cooking oil in a large pot and cook meat to a golden brown on all sides. Cover pot with a tight fitting lid, turn the heat low and cook about 2 more hours. If heat is low enough you should not have to add any water, but turn meat frequently, careful not to prick with a sharp object for fear of losing the precious juices. MAKE THE GRAVY AS FOLLOWS: fat from the meat and pan drippings 1 1/2 cups water 1 medium onion, grated 1 small piece of celery, chopped 1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch with 1/4 cup water Cook onion and celery in meat drippings until clear and tender, stirring occasionally. Add water. When liquid comes to a boil, add cornstarch mixture. Cook until thick and smooth. Add more seasoning (salt and pepper) if necessary.