Maque Choux – Spicy Cajun Corn

 In the hotel suite in Cairo, I have a two-burner stove.  With confidence, I went out and bought two cooking vessels:  a frying pan and a small pot.  What you can’t cook in those two, really doesn’t need cooking, right?  Funny thing is, they can’t sit on the stove together.   Yeah, I know I have a strange sense of humor but when I got back from Carrefour and realized that I had overestimated my space allotment, it made me laugh.  Oh, well, it gets more and more like camping.  And I enjoy a challenge. 

Dinner was simple, spaghetti Bolognaise, so I am not going to bore you with that recipe.  Instead, here are instructions for another Louisiana specialty that Thanksgiving or Christmas at our house would not be Thanksgiving or Christmas without.  While the ham was baking the other day, this was one of the two other dishes I made to bring along to the Christmas party.

My grandmothers made maque choux from fresh sweet corn on the cob, first cutting the niblets off and then scraping the cob to get the “milk” out.  Many places I have lived over the years didn’t have sweet corn, just what we would call cows’ corn – hard and indigestible for humans, used only as feed for cattle – so I learned that frozen corn is an excellent substitute.  And when your fresh cobs are not so juicy, the frozen is actually closer what my grandmothers would have used.

Ingredients

About 3 lbs or 1.350kg frozen sweet corn 

1 medium or two small green bell peppers or capsicums

2 medium onions

3 medium red ripe tomatoes

7 oz or 200g butter

Olive oil

1/2 cup or 120ml whole milk

Sea salt

Cayenne

Method

Halve the tomatoes and discard the seeds.  Chop the tomatoes, onions and bell peppers.

Sautee the vegetables in the butter with just a glug of olive oil added.   

When the onions are translucent, add in the corn.  

Add the milk and then the sea salt and cayenne to taste.  

Cook over a slow fire until the corn is soft and the other vegetables are almost a memory.  My mom likes the corn still crunchy so, if you agree with her, about 10-15 minutes will probably do.  I cooked this about 30-45 minutes because I wanted it soft and I wanted it to dry out just a bit.  

 This is meant to be a spicy dish so don't be shy with the cayenne! 

Enjoy!

Extra Rich Creamed Potatoes

Extra rich creamed potatoes aren't just creamy because they are well mashed; they must have added cream. These are a family favorite.

The secret to smooth, lump-free mashed potatoes, if that is your thing, (I thought they were everyone's thing until I watched Friends, Season 1, Episode 9 when Ross wanted his with lumps, please.) is mashing them while they are hot and warming anything you want to add to them: butter, cream, milk or stock.

These are my very special extra rich creamed potatoes and they make an appearance at Thanksgiving, Christmas and other occasions where there will be gravy and roasted things, like chicken. Tonight is possibly my last Pokeno night in Kuala Lumpur. The promised roasted chicken and gravy, with creamed potatoes, almost cheers me up. Gonna miss these ladies terribly.

Ingredients
4lb or almost 2 kilos russet potatoes
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup or 113g butter
1 cup or 240ml whipping cream
1 tablespoon or 30g vegetable stock granules
A couple of good grinds fresh black pepper

Method
Peel your potatoes and drop them into a pot of cool water as you do. This keeps them from discoloring or turning brown.



Slice them and pop them back in the water.



Dump that water and add fresh water. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and put on the fire to boil, uncovered.



Meanwhile, gently melt your butter in the microwave.



Add the cream and warm it through too. Add the tablespoon of stock granules.



Whisk well. Add the black pepper to the cream/butter mixture.




When the potatoes are very fork-tender, drain and leave in the hot pot. Using a potato masher, get all the lumps out before it cools and before you start adding anything to it.




Add the cream/butter mixture and continue to mash.





Stir it around as well. Finally, use a spoon to stir the potatoes to make sure they are thoroughly mixed.



(To rewarm, it is best to put the potatoes in a microwaveable dish and give them a quick zap. Potatoes rewarmed on the stove tend to stick and burn.)

Enjoy!



P.S. It looks like my house hunting trip to Cairo will have to be postponed because of the coming elections and unrest. Now I am really sad again.