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Battle Family Cookbook and Skillet Diary 2011

In Memory of:

Muriel Williams Battle “Muriel~Mom~Aunt Muriel~Grandmommy and Grandma”

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Gumbo from the Slow Cooker

Mom (Muriel) was the first one to adapt Mama Williams’ famous gumbo to the slow cooker with amazing results and a boost to busy cooks. She also taught us to line a slow cooker with celery ribs to serve as a rack to keep food from sticking before cooking almost any savory ingredient.

1 turkey carcass, bones !om turkey with some meat attached, or 6 chicken pieces (2 backs and 4 wings) 1/2 pound stew beef, cut into pieces or whole 5 ribs celery, (3 for lining) 2 chopped 1 each: trimmed, chopped, large onion, green pepper 1 cup le%over gravy or water 2 bay leaves 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes 1 1/2 pounds okra sliced or 1 package (20 ounces) !ozen cut okra 1 cup tomato juice 1 teaspoon each: dried thyme salt, or to taste Freshly ground pepper, to taste 12 ounces best available crabmeat 1 pint Gulf oysters 2 pounds she'ed, deveined, large shrimp Layer bones, beef, celery, onions, gravy and bay leaf in a slow cooker; cook on low until flavors come together, about 6 hours. Add crushed tomatoes, okra, tomato juice salt and pepper; cook on low until flavors come together, about 5 hours.

Remove bones from slow cooker; shred beef, if desired. Taste for salt and pepper.

Add crabmeat; cook 20 minutes. Stir in oysters and shrimp. Cook 5 minutes; turn o ! heat. Stir in file, if using. Let stand about 30 minutes. Serve over cooked rice.

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Roast E(plant, Greens and Okra “Skinny Soul” 1 package (16 ounces) !ozen chopped turnip, mustard or co'ard greens 1 package (20 ounces ) !ozen okra slices 1 large e(plant, unpeeled, trimmed, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks 1 large ye'ow onion, trimmed, quartered, 1 package (6 to 8 ounces) sliced mushrooms, or to taste 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes or 1 can(6 ounces) “no salt added” tomato paste 1 package (6 to 8 ounces) !esh cocktail tomatoes, halved Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place half the frozen okra and greens on a foil-lined rimmed sheet pan sprayed with oil. Repeat with the second pan. Top each sheet evenly with eggplant, onion wedges and mushrooms. Add tomato paste by teaspoons over the vegetables. Toss with your hands or use a wooden spoon to blend in tomato paste. (The brilliance of the tomato paste is how well it blends with the small amount of liquid given off by the defrosting frozen vegetables.) Top with tomato halves. If using a larger pan, such as a deep casserole, place everything in pan.

Place on a rack in the center of the oven. Bake, stirring with a wooden spoon every 15 minutes, until vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Let stand about 20 minutes before serving, adding to recipe or refrigerating for later use.

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Frittata with “Skinny Soul” One of Adrienne’s and Satthapi’s favorites, this frittata uses the Eggplant, Greens and Okra recipe Donna created from favorite soul food ingredients to add delicious, healthy flavors to many dishes, including tarts, frittatas and salads.

6 e( whites, (reserve yolks for later use), see note 2 1/2 cups roasted e(plant, greens, okra (Skinny Soul) 1/2 ounce, about 1/2 inch Spanish-style hot Chorizo sausage or other smoked sausage, cut into sma' chunks, optional 1 slice (about 1 ounce) Cheddar, Colby or Swiss cheese, folded twice into 4 triangles, optional Whisk egg whites together in a small bowl; set aside. Spread the “skinny soul” mixture in a heavy oiled skillet over medium heat, smoothing to an even layer. Raise heat to medium high; whisk in the eggs, raising and rotating the skillet to spread mixture as evenly as possible. Lower heat to medium. Cook until mixture comes together, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle chorizo over mixture, if using.

Heat broiler to high. Top skillet with cheese slices, if using, by arranging triangles, point side in in the center of the mixture. Transfer to broiler.

Cook until mixture begins to bubble and cheese melts, about 2 to 4 minutes. Let rest, about 2 minutes. Makes 2 servings. !

Note: Adding 1 of the yolks to the !ittata makes a flavorful addition without sacrificing too many 5 nutritional benefits.

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Photograph/Descendants of Charles &Athelstan Peters gather for the

Peters Family Reunion, August 17-29, 2006 (iincluding Aunt Ella and Uncle Amos’ daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren)

Hilton Head, South Carolina

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Donna’s recipe for a happiness includes cheering John Eliot’s “Big Adventures”

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A' Year Christmas Cookies Donna’s son, John Eliot, requests these cookies 12 months a year. Use a press, or form them into balls and make a thumbprint for the halved cherry if you like.

2 cups sifted flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 sticks (1/2 cup) butter, softened 1/2 cup sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon almond extract 48 Candied cherries halved Heat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed; add egg and almond extract, beating until combined. Stir in flour, stirring just until combined. Transfer dough to a cookie press fitted with desired blade. Follow press instructions to form cookies on to ungreased cookie sheets or form into balls as above. Top with cherry half. Bake until edges begin to brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Makes about 8 dozen cookies. !

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Carolyn is “stirred up� about being a grandmother

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Carolyn’s Macaroni & Cheese Yes, this recipe comes with a warning label: “Holidays and Special Occasions Only.” My sister, Carolyn, reserves this decadent version of everyone’s favorite side dish for Thanksgiving day and “day-after” leftovers.

Carolyn’s Once-A-Year Macaroni and Cheese 1 box (16 ounces) elbow macaroni 4 e(s 4 cups milk 2 teaspoons each: salt, !eshly ground pepper 4 cups of shredded Mexican- blend cheese 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook macaroni to al dente, acoording to package instructions; drain. Set aside.

Whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. In very large bowl, combine macaroni and Mexican cheese blend, until evenly distributed. Stir in milk mixture until well combined.

Transfer mixture to a buttered 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top evenly with Cheddar cheese, lightly pushing the cheese down into the macaroni mixture to moisten. Bake until cheese melts and sides and top begin to lightly brown, about 50 minutes. !

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salt in a medium bowl; stir in to banana mixture. Add 1/2 cup of the nuts.

Spoon batter into lined mini-muffin tins. Top muffins evenly with

Muriel Jean’s motherly wisdom comes with a spoonful of humor...

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Banana Cashew Muffins Because cashews were her favorites, Mom’s daughters gave her a box of fresh roasted nuts each year on her birthday on January 23rd (two days after Muriel Jean’s birthday).

Our thrifty grandmother created these muffins using cashew crumbs from the box purchased with money earned babysitting.

Mama’s Cashew Muffins 3 ripe bananas 1 stick butter, melted 1/2 cup white sugar 1/4 cup each: brown sugar, milk 1 e(, beaten 1/2 teaspoon each: almond and vani'a extract 1 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup finely chopped roasted cashew nuts

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Heat oven to 350 degrees. Press bananas through a ricer into a large bowl or mash well with a fork; stir in butter, white and brown sugar, milk, egg and extracts. Set aside.Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; stir in to banana mixture. Add 1/2 cup of the nuts.

Spoon batter into lined mini-muffin tins. Top muffins evenly with remaining 1/4 cup of crushed nuts. Bake until a tester comes out15clean,

Eliot Jr. “relishes” his role as a Husband, Son & Father...

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Dad is our “Super” Hero

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Mama’s Hands

By Donna Pierce Originally published in the Chicago Tribune Magazine for Mother’s Day, 2004

The bulletin board next to my desk in the test kitchen, displays a calendar, messages waiting to be answered and an odd assortment of restaurant take-out menus. There’s a copy of a quote my mother included in the first letter she sent me after I moved to Chicago almost two years ago. (To which she added with an exclamation remark in the P.S. “Whenever one of your dreams come true, so does one of mine!)

There’s also a photograph strategically pinned into the corkboard to make it the first thing I see when I turn my head away from the computer monitor. It’s a picture of my parent’s dog, Max. In the snapshot, he’s propped up by his paws, looking over the cane back of a barstool in their kitchen. He’s staring straight into the camera with his slip of a tongue hanging out of the corner of his mouth.

I pinned the picture on the board when I returned to the office following my mother’s funeral a year ago, shortly after her diagnosis with severe breathing problems had changed suddenly to the news that she was dying.

My brother, sisters and I rushed home with a few day’s notice, where, circled around her hospital bed with my dad and all six of her grandchildren, we had just enough time to hear her last whispered words of advice, tell her how deeply we loved her.

And say good-bye.

During the first few weeks and months spent grieving for Mom, I couldn’t explain why the picture of her dog brought me so much comfort whenever I glanced away from my computer monitor. Then one afternoon, looking past Max’s goofy expression, I suddenly understood the consoling factor in the dog. -continued-

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It came, instead, from the powerful image almost lost in a corner of the photo: the tan, manicured fingers from my mother’s hands curled around the top of the stool, protecting Max from falling.

Studying the image of her hand brought back a rush of memories: Mama wiping away childhood tears; Mama gently gripping my chin with her forefinger and thumb in an effort to hold my attention during well-deserved corrections; Mama pressing her lips to her fingers then smiling when she used them to transfer the kiss to my cheek.

But more than anything else, the image of my mother’s hand stirred up culinary memories of the passionate family cook who had transferred those same deeply felt feelings to her daughter. From the time I was a young girl, my mother enforced the notion that the art and craft of cooking and baking was a blessing to be shared and valued as a pure expression of beauty and love.

“In order for people to break bread, someone has to make the bread,” she used to say with a laugh when I stood at her elbow in the kitchen watching her roll out dough for feather-light homemade rolls her mother had taught her to bake. “Pay attention to this part,” she would say during a crucial technique. Remember, this is more than a recipe. It’s a family tradition. You’re next in line to pass it on.”

Mother explained that she was teaching me lessons that had been passed down for several generations to her mother, who in turn taught her such as the exact time yeast had worked its magic on homemade rolls by pressing an indention into the dough and noticing it’s response, or just the moment rolls had puffed enough in the continued-

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oven to withstand a crucial early brush with butter. These baking lessons had been passed down for several generations. Now it was my time to learn how to keep the chain going, my mother explained, because one day “sooner than you think” it would be my turn to pass on traditions that would continue long after my time in the kitchen.

It seemed odd to me that as much as my mother encouraged and nurtured my fascination about cooking, she still didn’t consider recipes a worthwhile career focus when I first broached the subject. It took lots of explaining…and then just plain stubbornness to convince her.

Both of my parents expressed serious concerns about my career choice. They were educators. Mom had earned a Ph.D. They had reared a physician, an attorney and a successful businesswoman. My plans were a subject Mom and I debated almost daily during telephone conversations. In the end, when she realized my mind wouldn’t … couldn’t be changed, Mom wished me luck. Then, she became my biggest supporter, sending old and new cookbooks, suggesting story ideas, calling to discuss chefs she watched on TV. Three years ago, when she joined me at the annual food writers conference held each March at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia, Julia Child was seated at a nearby table when Mom she nudged me one night at dinner. “I see why you love this so much. And I have a great idea,” she said. “We should write a cookbook together.”

We never compiled the family recipes she began sending into a formal manuscript.continued-

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Mama’s Hands Page four of five

They’re still in the notebook she suggested I keep until we could square away enough time to collaborate and what she was certain would become a best seller.

I referred to several of the handwritten notes recently when I spent a Saturday afternoon, at my niece’s and nephew’s request, teaching them the steps for two of my mother’s favorite loaf cakes, and demonstrating rolls for good measure while I had their attention.

The cakes are universally accepted by her grandchildren as “Grandmommy’s cake,” after having been mailed for birthdays, special occasions and holiday regularly to every zip code in which a grandchild has resided since they were toddlers. Then later making the rounds to various college dorms and first apartments in several different states.

“Your grandmother would be so happy to see how important these recipes are to you,” I said when niece and nephew gathered in the kitchen after watching me prepare the first batch for the oven.

We were working on the second batch, folding the mixture together when I showed them once again, the point to stop folding the batter. Too much stirring toughens the texture.

“I see what you mean about not overmixing,” my niece said. “That’s the trick,” said my nephew, who was busy taking notes.

I looked down at my flour-dusted fingers and noticed how much my they resembled the ones in the photograph next to my desk. -continued-

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Mom put most of her recipes to paper before she died. But not everything needed to reproduce a lifetime of extraordinary cooking and baking can be written I’ve learned this past year. Dad says Max still trots to the phone and barks for Mom whenever the kitchen extension rings. “She used to spoil him,” Dad says. “He misses that.”

We all do.

Especially my father.

“Hi, honey. I was just thinking about you,” was Mom’s favorite way of answering our long distance telephone calls when we called home for advice...usually quick solutions to cooking problems.

Now we call home to cheer Daddy up, whose dealing with bigger issues than recipes after 52 years married to his lifelong sweetheart Back in the kitchen with my niece and nephew, I heard words that sounded like an echo from the past.

“Don’t’ forget this part Pay attention to this part,” I heard myself say. “This is more than a recipe. It’s a family tradition.

“In order for people to break bread, someone has to make the bread...The day will come sooner than you think when it’s your turn to pass it down to the next generation.”

It has for me.

-end-

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Notes & Memories

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Family Tips (Pass it On…)

Keep Cookies Fresh Store cookies in a sealable container with a slice of bread to keep them soft. The bread hardens as it’s moisture transfers to the cookies.

It’s Not Delivery...

Mama Williams’ refrigerated roll dough (in photo) makes quick work out of pizza when stretched into a circle. Top with jarred spaghetti sauce, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese before baking in a 400 degree oven until cheese melts.

Roux Success Keep stirring the equal parts oil and flour over medium heat until this wonderful thickener reaches the color of pecan shells.

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Family Milestones

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Battle Family Cookbook-2011

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