Category Archives: captain james cooks

Dec 19 1 comments
beans, slaws, quiches, mashers, and casseroles, captain james cooks, holiday, seafood

Oyster Casserole

Like most everyone, I am the result of many different families, marriages, couplings.  Most recently I can trace my lineage back to four families, the Rosemonds, Waldrons, Fiorellos, and Ballengers.  This past Saturday was the Ballenger family Christmas party, my paternal grandmother’s family.  My grandmother, Bobbie, was the daughter of Stanley Ballenger and Flossie Caudell, and had a sister Nita and two brothers, Ted and Jimmy.  Dan and I don’t often have the opportunity to attend these gatherings because of the timing and distance but this year it happened to fall the day before my sister Genevieve’s graduation from UNC.  This lucky timing means that this Christmas we’ll be able to see every side of our family, which is completely wonderful.

Over Thanksgiving my dad and I were talking about the Ballenger party and he mentioned that he very much wanted to recreate a recipe from my grandmother, Bobbie.  It was her mock oyster casserole recipe (also known as broccoli casserole), and he wanted to make it with real oysters.  We did some digging and recipe planning and decided that the morning of the party we’d wing it.  And that we did.

My dad loves to make fun of me because, it seems, over the years I’ve become that person that people ask for food advice.  Saturday was no exception.  As we were throwing the casserole together (and arguing about how to make it) I was reminded of how important food is to my family’s culture.  On all sides food is something to create and enjoy together.  It seems my blue eyes, firery personality, and two left feet aren’t the only things I inherited.

The recipe is pretty simple, we layered saltines, spinach, oysters, cheese, mushrooms and onions, and then poured a cream sauce over everything.  The end result was completely delicious, salty and full of flavor with just a little spice.  It’s not quite the broccoli casserole that inspired it, but it was a success.

In other news, the real reason we were in NC this past weekend, Genevieve Ann Pigeon is officially a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  I may have bullied her in to attending her graduation, but she did it and she was beautiful and I am SO incredibly proud of her.

In just a week (December 27), she’s moving to Ireland for a year.  I’m conflicted, both excited for her and wallowing in despair about not seeing her for a year.  The only solution, I think, is that we visit her. Get ready for it Gen!

 (I realize that this is not a cocktail recipe, and is in fact the second recipe I’ve posted this month that is not part of the month-of-cocktails promise I made. It was just too delicious and too perfect for the holiday table not to share it with you.  We’ll be back later this week with more beverages!)

Oyster Casserole

24 large oysters (or 48 small ones)

1 large onion

10-12 button mushrooms

Saltines

2-4 cups fresh spinach

1 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

2 tsps hot sauce

Salt

1 tbsp butter

Paprika

Shuck your oysters and set them aside.

In a medium pot combine milk, cream, a sprinkle of salt, some of the oyster juice (the liquid the oysters are sitting in), a dash of paprika, tsp of worcestershire sauce, a tsp of hot sauce.  Once it is warm, stir in half of the cheese.  Bring almost to a boil, allowing it to thicken, then remove from heat.

Crumble saltines in a thin layer along the bottom of a large casserole dish.  Saute onions and mushrooms, diced, in butter, a tbsp of worcestershire sauce, and a tsp of hot sauce.  Scoop those into the dish on top of the saltines.  Add half of the shredded cheese.  Top with oysters. and spinach.

Crumble a second layer of saltines over the top so that there is a good crust.  Pour the cream mixture in, pouring around the edges so the crust is left mostly undisturbed.  Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

 

Nov 30 6 comments
captain james cooks, soups, grits, and stews

Sybil’s Brunswick Stew

Sybil was my great-grandmother.  This is her cauldron and her recipe for Brunswick Stew.  On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we made brunswick stew in the backyard.  It was an experience I’ve been looking forward to for a long time, and it was wonderful to get to share it with my family.

Brunswick stew, for those unfamiliar, is a traditional Southern dish, whose origins are disputed.  As with all Southern dishes the stew itself ranges in ingredients depending on where you are.  The fundamental stew includes tomatoes, lima beans, corn, and meat.  Sybil preferred chicken and pork, though squirrel, rabbit, and beef can all be found in different variations.  Not unlike many recipes developed by those with limited resources, Brunswick stew is very much a cook-what’s-available meal. The addition of potatoes, however, is apparently unique to North Carolina.

The day before we arrived in NC my father started processing the meat in what he began calling the “real kitchen.”  Also known as the garage.  He cooked 6 chickens and two pork shoulders, and then he boiled the bones for a while to great a sturdy broth.  According to my Great Uncle Everett (Sybil’s son), the broth is crucial.

The night before the stewing my brothers peeled twenty pounds of potatoes.  The recipe begins with boiling the quartered potatoes in water until everything gets hot.  This is the foundation of the stew.  After about half an hour of boiling potatoes the chopped onions go in.

The day before my dad also began soaking the lima beans.  This was the first time using dried beans in the stew, so it was an experiment.  The beans and tomato sauce get added at the same time, which is when this finally starts looking like Brunswick stew (the tomato color is crucial).

The adding of the meat was, well, disturbing.  My dad had stored the shredded meat in its broth for two days in the fridge in this 5 gallon bucket.  It was (and I apologize for those with sensitive stomachs) meat jelly.  And we added it in one jiggly scoop at a time.  Not for the weak of heart.

After the meat was added, the tomatoes and corn started to go in, pretty slowly. The stew level reached critical heights so after each addition we waited a while for the stew to cook down.  Then, more went in.  This pattern went on for about two hours.

You may have noticed that the stew is being stirred with a hockey stick.  After lamenting for days about what to use to stir the stew (we kept mentioning a stew oar), my dad had what he described as a “Pulp Fiction” moment in the garage, where he discovered the hockey stick a la Bruce Willis picking the samurai sword.  While some of us were skeptical at first, after it was cleaned it served as the perfect stirring tool.  Each of us had different stirring techniques, Dan likes a circular motion with the end of the stick while I prefer to paddle as though I’m Huckleberry Finn riding down a river of stew.

All in all the process took about three days, with about seven hours of cooking on Friday.  After it cooked it sat and rested, and then we served some up for dinner that night (and put the rest in an epic amount of tupperware (about half of which is pictured below)).  I thought it was excellent.  My dad, however, was very disappointed because the beans never fully softened.  In fact, his disappointment lead to my new favorite world view: “In life, you work really hard, but that doesn’t always matter. Sometimes you just get hard beans.” Preach it Paps.

Overall, this was exactly the memory I was hoping for.  I love my family and learning traditions like this is really special to me.  I can’t wait to make brunswick stew again- but not for a year or two.

Brunswick Stew, Three Ways

My Uncle Everett sent two recipes from his mom, Sybil, which I’ve included.  I also included my dad and his cousin Michael’s recipe that they created based off of their memories of brunswick stew.  As Everett said, there are probably as many brunswick stew recipes as there are Southern mothers.

Sybil’s Stew #1, Makes 45 quarts:

1 1/2 lbs dried lima beans

2 quarts green lima beans

25 lbs potatoes

6 lbs onions

4 quarts of corn

4 gallons tomatoes

4 Five to 6 lb hens

20 lbs pork

(all stock)

 

Sybil’s Stew #2, Makes 40 quarts:

23 lbs pork (2 shoulders)

6 medium hens

25 lbs potatoes

5 lbs onions

2 lbs dried butter beans

2 quarts green butter beans

6 quarts corn

4 gal tomatoes

Everett’s memories: What I remember of the method was that everything was cooked in the previous broth. No seasonings were mentioned in either of mother’s recipes; I guess she salted as she went along.  I remember that we would add Worcestershire sauce at the table but not in the cooking process.

 

Dad & Cousin Mike’s Stew:

24 lbs Roaster Chickens (4 six pounders)

5 lbs Beef Roast

10 lbs Pork Butt

12 lbs Corn (3 gallon size cans)

18 lbs Potatoes (4 gallon size cans)

12 lbs Lima Beans (3 gallon size cans)

7 large Onions

One Garlic bulb

120 oz Tomato Sauce (8 15oz cans)

18 lbs Whole tomatoes (4 gallon size cans)

1/8 cup Garlic Powder

12 oz Texas Pete

½ cup Black pepper

1/8 cup Chili powder

0ne cup Salt (too much..start off with 1/2 cup sea salt)

15oz Worcestershire Sauce

50 oz Merlot

The Making Of:

Day One- Boil quartered chickens (liver and gizzards included) in water that has about a cup of coarse salt in it.  Boil until well done.  Remove and let cool.  Boil, in the same water, pork.  Shred meat and set aside, then boil the bones in the water.  Pour that broth over the meat and refrigerate.

Day Two- Peel potatoes and soak in water.  Cover lima beans in water, soak.

Day Three – Quarter potatoes.  Add them to the pot, over low heat with enough water to cover the potatoes.  Chop the onions and add them in.  Add lima beans.  Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring often so that nothing sticks to the bottom.  Add in tomato sauce.

Scoop the congealed fat off of the meat bucket (let’s save some Southern hearts, okay?) and add the meat (and its jellied broth) to the pot, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil.  From there, add tomatoes and corn as there is room in the pot (make sure to drain them).

In the kitchen boil garlic in a small pot until soft.  Smash the garlic and add that, and the water, to the stew.

Add in salt, pepper, hot sauce, and worcestershire sauce.  Cook, stirring constantly, for about five more hours.  Let rest 1 hour.

It’s important to taste as you go.  We ended up with a stew that was well salted (undersalted to our Rosemond tongues but good for the normal person) and just a bit spicy.  Allow people to doctor it to their own tastes with salt and hot sauce.  When we reheated the first batch at home in our crock pot I added about a tablespoon of siracha and a sprinkle of sea salt.  It was perfection (and after 8 hours in the crockpot my beans were perfect).

Sep 27 4 comments
appetizers, captain james cooks, grilled, barbequed, smoked, and fried, seafood

Jalapeño Crab Cakes

This summer we’ve been fortunate enough to travel everywhere from Savannah to Philadelphia.  Along the way, one food has popped up over and over again- the crab cake.  From crab cakes at my cousin’s wedding to the Low Country Crab Cake I enjoyed Monday (more on that later), it’s been the summer of crab.  And we are not complaining.

Living in Maryland has taught me many things, a lot of which pertain to crab.  I’ve learned how to cook crabs, pick them, season them, and transform lump crab into delicious cakes.  The trick to a perfect crab cake? More crab, less filler.  My friend Jamie taught me that one. 

When we were heading down to the Swamp House last month my dad and I were tossing around recipe ideas and he mentioned that he had some lump crab he needed to use, and thought maybe jalapeño crab fritters would be the perfect appetizer one night.  So when Dan and I were planning our night to cook, we decided to start with these.

In true Rosemond fashion, my dad backseat drove the kitchen situation as I was making these.  ”You’re not adding too little filler, are you?” was his prodding question of choice.  I told him to trust me, that I’d learned a thing or two during my time in Maryland.

I’m happy to report that they turned out perfectly.  So perfectly, in fact, that the Captain admitted that they were the perfect ratio of crab to delicious.

Jalapeño Crab Cakes

1 cup lump crab meat

1 egg, whisked

1 large jalapeño, chopped

1/2 cup crushed crackers

Dash of pepper

1 tsp salt (less if you’re using salted crackers)

Juice of two lemons

Mix together all your ingredients and form small cakes.  Heat 1/2″ oil in a deep pan and fry the cakes for 3-4 minutes each side, or until golden brown.

Jun 15 4 comments
captain james cooks, seafood, the picnic series

Jan’s Seafood Boil

This past weekend we hosted a Seafood Boil in our backyard using my stepmom Maddie’s recipe for the Picnic Series.  A few dozen people stopped by over the course of the day bringing treats and smiles.  We ate, a lot, enjoyed the beautiful day, and discussed the moral dilemmas associated with the boiling of seafood.

Nieces!

This seafood boil, which of course took place in our backyard (an embassy of North Carolina), was North Carolina style.  This means that we boiled corn, potatotes, onion, garlic, mussels, shrimp, and spices.  We did not boil crabs because my Maryland friends would have died. We also grilled two beer butt chickens, corn, and a catfish.  Then there was the frying, which came later.  Fried pickled okra is arguably the most delicious thing ever.

It was a great party.  The Turcottes came up from Virginia, old MICA friends met new Baltimore friends, our backyard was full of excited dogs, and I kept yelling things in an increasingly twangy accent.  Y’all should have heard the way I was pronouncing “boil” by the end of the night.

photo by the lovely Leah

Seafood boils are a tradition we’ve started during our summer visits to Morehead.  They’re a great way to enjoy seafood with a large group and there’s something so fun about pouring all that food into the middle of the table and letting everyone dive in.  I can’t wait to do this again with my family in August.  Thanks to Dad and Maddie for sending the recipe (and check out my Dad’s section on b&s- Captain James Cooks)!

North Carolina Seafood Boil
Source: Captain James

5 lbs. of headed shrimp

2 dozen clams or mussels

2 packs of Kielbasa

3 lbs of small new potatoes

3 large vidalia onions

15 ears of corn (fresh is best)

Small box of Old Bay Crab Boil seasoning

2 lemons cut in half for boil

Bottle of Texas Pete

Butter, salt and pepper for table

In a very large pot or a turkey fryer, fill three thirds full of water. Quarter the onions and drop in the water. Add a half cup of sea salt to the water and put in the Old Bay Seasoning and Texas Pete. Squeeze the two lemons into the water (put the lemon pieces in the water also.) Let water come to a boil and continue to let boil for about 10 mins to get the seasoning going good. Cut the sausage links into fourths. Add the sausage to the water and let cook for about 10 mins.

While the sausage is boiling cut up the potatoes into halves and quarters, depending on how large or small they are. Once the sausage has been boiling for 10 mins, then add the cut up potatoes and let them boil for another 10 mins. Clean the corn and break in half. After the potatoes have cooked for 10 mins then add the corn and let them cook for 15 mins.

Clean the outer shell of the clams really well. Once the corn has cooked for about 10 mins, add the shrimpclams to the pot and 3-5 minutes later add the shrimp. Stir the shrimp around in the pot and let them cook for about two minutes or until they turn pink. Take the pot off the heat and drain the water off the sausage, potatoes, corn, clams and shrimp. Then dump the whole pot of goodies onto your picnic table covered with newspaper. Roll your sleeves up, add your favorite condiments and dig in. Serve with ice cold beer.

Dec 11 0 comments
captain james cooks, seafood, soups, grits, and stews

Seafood Stew


seafoodstew1

One of the things I learned at art school was that I’m not special.  That sounds a little harsh.  I mean, specifically, that my life story, the things that have happened to me and the challenges that I’ve faced, aren’t unique.  When I was growing up I was one of the few people I knew that had divorced parents.  But every one of my close friends from college (save Dan) are the products of divorce.  For the first time since I was eleven I had a group of friends that totally got what I was going through, who knew what it was like.  Some of them have parents who still have a friendly relationship, others (like me) have parents whose relationship is rough, at best.  Swapping war stories with them was healing, made me feel like people beyond my  brothers understood what I was going through.

seafoodstew2

This Thanksgiving was a demonstration of how things can play out in a funny way.  My parents live just a few miles from each other in Durham, which makes visiting both of them around the holidays easy since we can toggle back and forth from their houses.  This year, my dad and stepmom were supposed to be in Northern Virginia for Thanksgiving, so we made plans to spend the holiday with my mom.  Then we were invited to my Aunt Lori and Uncle Kevin’s house, my father’s brother and his family.   Just before Thanksgiving my dad and stepmom cancelled their trip, which meant they spent the holiday with her family while we spent it with my mom and my dad’s family.  Complicated.

seafoodstew3

My dad has a section on b&s called “The Captain Cooks.”  So I was only mildly surprised to get a text (he just got an iPhone and started texting) from him on Thanksgiving morning inviting me to come over and take pictures of him frying a turkey.  Unfortunately we were due at our dinner, so I offered to document his meal for the Friday night dinner we’d be attending, a seafood stew.  I will, however, absolutely have to share his turkey recipe with you soon, because it was delicious.

seafoodstew4

My dad does soups and stews really well.  Brunswick stew, chili, seafood boils, they are rich and full of flavor.  I used to love when he would make a few gallons; my sisters and I would just curl up in bed with a big bowl and allow ourselves to be filled with its warmth.  This stew was no different.  Full of flavor, perfect for a big family dinner over a family game of dice.  The biggest conflict on that Black Friday?  The difference between soup and stew.  Thoughts?

seafoodstew5

Seafood Stew
Source: Captain James Rosemond

1 pound sausage

1 pound cod

1 pound shrimp

1 onion

2 cups carrots

4 potatoes

2 16 oz cans crushed tomatoes

1 4 oz can tomato paste

1 cup celery

2 16 oz cans green beans, canned

1 bottle V-8

Cayenne pepper

Salt & pepper

2 small cans clams (with juice)

2 small cans oysters (with juice)

4 tbsp olive oil

Chop celery, carrots, onion, and potatoes.  Set aside.  Parboil potatoes.  Drain.

Heat oil in a large stock pot.  Saute sausage until brown.  Add celery and cook 5 minutes.  Add carrots, onions, and potatoes, one at a time.  Stir in the juice from the clams and oysters, but not the fish itself.  Cook 5 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, green beans, and V-8.  Add salt and pepper and cayenne.

Simmer for 2-4 hours.  30 minutes before you’d like to serve, bring heat back up and add seafood.  Cook for half an hour, stirring occasionally, and serve.