Happy Halloween You All Orange Cream Pie W/Banana Thrown In

Hello to all my foodie friends out there in web land.  I hope all is well.  Me, I've been very busy with catering, friends, bridge, cooking and just living life as we know it.  Am getting ready to start my third season of "Cooking With Madjon and Friends" and getting ready for filming of the Thanksgiving and Christmas shows which I love cooking for the seasonal shows.  Its so enjoyable thinking about the new recipes and family being around.  This year we are going to D.C.to be with our son for Thanksgiving.  My daughter is getting married next Saturday and am doing the wedding cake.  Its going to be Vanilla with a pineapple fulling and Butter Cream Frosting, yum yum.  If you come be my friend on FB you will be able to see some of the pictures.  She wants  Meatballs for her dinner, which am cooking.  Any who if I have time after the wedding, food and friends, then we are off to a pig picking at the Heath's.  Always a joy to go to that.  Wonderful eats there.  You know the thing, everyone makes one of their best dishes to share and alot of Beer is passed around and we pick on the pig and just have a great time!  Any who Halloween is tomorrow and I know the kids are all excited about that.  We spent the last two days helping a friend get ready for her kids party and then the adult party was this evening and I put on a tall wig, alot of make up and with my body now I went as Hairspray.  One friend went as a teenager, that was funny.  I also met a lady who used to eat in my restaurant like twice a week.  She was telling Wendy how much she liked the food at the party and Wendy starting telling her that it was me who did the food and gave her my name and she didn't know it was me dressed like that.  Her husband owns a few Burger Kings around these parts.  When we were little we dressed up with whatever we could find at the house and drag along our candy bags, which were old pillow cases.  When my cousins were to big to Trick or Treat,  they would hide behind trees and scare kids who would then drop their candy bags running and my cousins were there to pick up the pieces, sort of speak.  Shame on them.  You know that Halloween has been around for centuries and is still celebrated world wide by children today and the older ones like me.  I think Ireland gets the credit for the holiday of spooks and cheer.  Any who now we are going to talk about the recipe I have to offer tonight.  My producer last year had eaten to much Grasshopper pie and felt a little sleepy after eating two pieces and asked me if I could make up a pie for Thanksgiving and I said sure I'll make it out of some kind of oranges.  So I went to my test kitchen and this is the results which I made a pie for our Home Group to try and they loved it.  So am passing this recipe on to you to try.  I say thanks very much and please give it a try.

Orange Cream Pie:

Vanilla Wafers
32 Large Marshmallows, melted
1 Large can Mandarin Oranges
1/2 Cup Cream
1/4 Cup Orange Liqueur
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
1 1/2 Cup Cool Whip
2 Sliced Banana's, rings, Optional

Line bottom and sides of pie plate with vanilla wafers, top with sliced Banana's.  Melt marshmallows, cream, orange liqueur, and orange juice in a pan, till all is blended and melted.  Cool completely and then add the drained Mandarin oranges.  Blend lightly.  Then fold in the cool whip till blended. Pour into pie pan and smooth.  Then chill and slice and serve with a chocolate Ice Cream topping.

Please give this a try and email me at madjon51@aol.com and send me some recipes to try for you.  If you are not liking a recipe send it to me and see how I can improve on it for you.  I do that for friends all the time.  Any who I want to say Happy Halloween and stay safe. Have fun and Happy Trails to you and yours until we meet again. Signing off MadJon. http://aikenstandard.com/astv/madjon/

Let's Talk Italian Antipasto Salad Fresh Made Dressing

Hello to all you foodie friends of mine out there in web land its MadJon signing in and I hope all is going in your favor.  Me I've been just a little busy with going to the Columbia State Fair and cooking with my Pasta Gravy and MadJon's Salsa.  I made some Itlian Shrimp and Grits with MeMe's Pasta Gravy and  some Cheese dip with MadJon's Salsa, all was wonderbra I was told by people who ate.  I even had a Chocolate Cake and Coconut Cake made with MeMe's Cake Syrup.  Anywho I finished that until next year and then My hubby and I went to watch the North Augusta Middle School play some football and over see the band student of which my grandson Jonathan is a member and they play very well from what I heard, they have a great teacher.  Then yesterday I went over to my friends house to check on her and I went and opened the door and a snake fall from the top of her door right at my feet, I said, well you can guess what I said!  It had a pointed face so I went and grabed a shovel and chopped it in half.  Boy I was spooked all day long because also when I went out to check on my friend again their was a dead mouse right at the foot of my steps outside.  I thought what is it today with me!  Any who it made me very restless.  So today we are going to talk about making something I really enjoy eatting and its is easy to make and your friends will just love you for making it.  One thing that is nice about a salad is that you can make it fit your palate very well.  Salads have been around since the Roman empire and they used to use Oil and Vinegar just like us.  A salad can be made with alot of mixed vegetables and a variety of pastas, meats or even fruits.  They can be served hot or cold and with a varity of toppings and garnishes for whatever your litlle heart desires.  Anyway am going to pass this recipe on to you and I hope that you enjoy it.

Italian Antipasto Salad:

1 Head of Romaine Whole Lettuce Leaves
1 bag of Carrot Hearts, fresh
3 stocks Celery, cut lengthwise
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes
1 Can Black Olives, drained
1/2 cup Green Olives
1 Bunch Broccoli Head
1 bunch Green Onions, Sliced
8 Oz's. Salami, thin sliced
8 Oz's. Smoked Salmon
6 Oz's. Provolone Cheese, sliced thin
1/2 cup Grated fresh Parmesan Cheese

Dressing:

1 Cup Olive Oil
1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 T. Sugar
1 tsp. Seasoned Salt
1 tsp. Basil, dried
1 tsp. Oregano, dried

 Mix the dressing till it is blended and set aside.  In large bowl clean the lettuce and place it all around the bowl with the whole leaves, like a blanket inside the bowl.  Then start adding the chopped up vegetables, and you want them in large pieces.  Then add the olives, then the meat and provolone cheese.  Then top the salad with the graded Parmesan cheese and salt and use ground pepper to top the salad.  When ready to serve pour your dressing on the salad and serve.  It should feed about 6 to 8 people.

Well I hope you try this recipe and please let me know how you like it.  I love hearing from everyone at madjon51@aol.com  Please watch my Tv show at http://www.aikenstandard.com/ ASTV 95, "Cooking With MadJon and Friends".  Go like my fan page on FB as well, "Cooking With MadJon and Friends".  Now I think I covered it all.  Send me some recipes to try and I will make them on my show.  Am starting my third season in December. Still would like a couple more sponsors.  Happy trails to you and yours until we meet again.  Eileen F. Hutson, MadJon.

Louisiana's Oldest Dishes " Shrimp and Crab Gumbo"

Hello there to all you foodie friends out there in web land.  Its nice to see you all again.  For your FYI I tried to blog this and I got almost finished with it and I bent over too the key broad and my girls hit the key board and the rest is history. I decided to start again this morning let's hope they make it though this. Has that ever happened to you? Well its raining here in our state of South Carolina.  It's a much needed rain.  Its the end of the summer for the year 2011 and what a year for me.  We traveled from Texas to Minnesota this summer and caught Speckled Trout in the Texas bay and caught Bass in the Mississippi River in Minnesota and may I say we met alot of nice people from one end of the USA to to the other.  The food was amazing.  Each state has something different to offer your palettes.   Today we are going to talk about that great Louisiana Cajun dish called Gumbo.  It is one of the oldest dishes that they have to offer.  It can be made in a variety of ways.  You can make it with chicken, fish, or sausage.  It can be made with File (dried and ground Sassafras leaves) or Okra, which is a natural thickener.  It is a dish that is well liked in the great state of Louisiana and has been around recorded from about the 1800's.  I just happen to be making this dish with Okra as my roux.  You may use canned Crab meat instead of cooking it with fresh crabs if you wish.  If I make it with
fresh crabs, I season the crab boil and cook the crabs and remove the meat.  Some people like it thick and some people like it thin.  You have to serve this with Rice, of course.  This should serve 8 to 10 servings, I'll use serving instead of people.

Shrimp And Crab Gumbo

Roux:

1/2 pound Bacon, diced
1/2 stick Butter
1 Onion, Diced
1 Bell Pepper, diced
5 Cloves Garlic Pods, minced
1 pound Okra, cut in rings
 Salt and Pepper to taste
3 T. Flour
3 Ribs Celery, diced

 Place bacon and butter into a pan and cook till bacon is brown,   To that add the onion, celery, and garlic, cook till clear.  Then add the okra tossed with flour into mixture.  Cook and turn till a nice brown color.  Add too Roux:  Salt and pepper to taste.

2 Cartons Chicken Broth, 32 ozs.
3 Bay Leaves
2 Chicken Bouillons
1 T. Onion Powder
1 T. Garlic Powder
1 T. Mrs Dashes'
1 T. Basil
1 T. Oregano
1 tsp. Thyme
1.5 T. File (Optional)
5-6 dashes Hot Sauce
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce
1 large can of Diced Tomatoes
1 pound Shrimp, peeled
2 Cans Crab Meat


Pour ingredients into pot except for the shrimp and simmer for about 45 minutes.  Stir while simmering.  Add shrimp about 3 minutes before serving.  Serve with your favorite rice.

OK looks like the girls made it though this blog, thanks.  Please visit my fan page on FB at https://www.facebook.com/pages/CoverClicks-Media-Inc/255889881112909?sk=wall#!/CookingwithMadjon and view the TV show.  Write me at madjon51@aol.com and try this recipe.  It will fit your palettes. Happy trails to you and yours until we meet again.

Edible Wild Mushrooms And American Meatloaf W/Mushrooms

Hello to all my foodie friends out there in web land I hope all is well and you are enjoying the cooler weather.  I know I'm but when its freezing out side I'll be saying come on summer, isn't that how we humans are, just can't stop bitching or ever be happy!  Oh well, let's get to our story shall we.  We are going to talk about edible mushrooms and did you know that in Ohio their are over 2000 kinds of mushrooms, edible ones and not so edibles.  Me I've really never eaten a Wild one but am sure like anything else, there are good tasting ones and not so good tasting ones.  Me I'd want the good ones because if am going to die from eating the wrong mushroom I'd like it to at least taste good.  Any who you all don't eat the mushrooms raw that you find, cook them and most likely you will find them under logs and in the woods walking.  Some wild mushrooms aid in the breakdown of logs and leaves so they are good to have around us.  If you want to go hunting for wild mushrooms there are books that can help guide you on your way though the woods for that wonderful mushroom hunt.  There is also a web site that you may go to and read up on good ones and bad ones, called, MykoWeb.  Merry hunting to you all and I hope the ones you pick are the edible ones or at least they taste good and make it worth your hunt.  Now lets talk about Meatloaf, did you know that its considered  a European dish and is as old as from the 5th century, but they used minced meat to cook with and some of us used cornmeal to mix in it, of all things.  A little mush please.  Then its the cousin to the Italion meatball, well I can see that given that you may add bread crumbs to the recipe.  Any who I consider meatloaf as American as Apple Pie or is at least the way we make it in America.  Which by the way can be cooked so many ways, I bet we couldn't count how many ways there are to make meatloaf.  Its all in how our mothers or grandmothers made it.  They give us credit for the meatloaf in America to be in the 19th century and I really do think that this dish is as versatile as Apple Pie.  Which Apples are in season now you know.  Its hard to say how many ways there are to putting this classic dish together, you can smoke it, cheese it, vegetable it, ketup and mustard it and you can even wine it up.  Whats more American, may be the Hot Dog, well that is another story.  Any who lets' get down to this way of making the all American classic Meatloaf. 

The Edible Classic American Meatloaf W/ Mushrooms

1 pound Hamburger Meat
1 pound Ground Pork or Turkey Meat
1 Small Onion, finely chopped
1 Egg, beaten
1 tsp. Mrs Dash's
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Ploutry Seasoning
1 tsp. Onion Powder
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
3/4 Cup Ketup
2 Squirts Prepared Mustard
3 T. Hentz 57 Sauce
2 T. Worchestershire Sauce
1/2 Pound Fresh Mushrooms, Sliced
Oil for browning Mushrooms

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Chop the onion and slice the cleaned mushrooms.  Place meats in a bowl for mixing.  To that add all the spices, ketup, mustard, and sauces.  Mix and then add the bread crumbs.  Set aside.  Heat the oil in a pan and place a flat layer of mushrooms in the pan and borown on both sides and repeat process until all the mushrooms are browned.  Then turn the mushrooms into the meat mixture and double check you reipe to make sure you added all the ingredients.  Top with ketup.  Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes covered.  The remove cover and bake until nice and browned.  Pour off some of the liquid , rest for about 10 minutes and remove from pan for cutting.

By the way one way to clean your mushrooms is with a dump paper towel and whip them clean, do not place them under water.  Well give this recipe a try and please let me now how it works for you.  Watch my Tv show on ASTV 95 "Cooking With Madjon and Friends"  http://www.aikendstandard.com/ and visit my fan page on FB and come like me and send me your reipes I love to hear from you all.  Happy trails to you and yours until we meet again.  Eileen Hutson, MadJon.

Summer's End Stuffed Fried Okra With Cheese and Jalapeno Peppers

Well hello to all you foodies out there in web land, its MadJon again with another neat recipe. I hope all is well and school is under way for you all.   I have been busy planting my garden for fall and I put in Cabbage,  Rutabaga, Spinach, and Purple Tip Turnips.  I planted them about 3 days ago and they are starting to come up out of the earth.  Yea.  Chicken Poop really works!  I also added Epsom Salt-Magnesium Sulfate- a wonderful compound.  We added Lime as well.  The Okra plants are over 6' tall, amazing isn't it?  I will take some pictures when the plants come up more.  We have had so much okra, its coming out of our ears.  I have try ed a few new recipes this year and I liked all of them.  One is a french style and its kind of like stewed Okra Texas style with rice cooked in it.  I made it a Indian style which was good as well.  So I decided to make it stuffed so first I had to clean out the seed pods from the Okra and then I boiled it for about 2-3 minutes.  You cut the heads off the Okra, then cut a split on the side of the pod.  Then remove most of the seeds, boil, drain and let pods cool.  Then you fill them with the cheese mixture, dip it in beaten eggs and a dry mixture of corn meal and bread crumbs.  Fry it in oil till golden brown and it is fab baby fab!  Am willing to give you the recipe so here goes.

MadJon's Stuff Fried Okra:

10 pods fresh Okra, split and cleaned
2 ozs. Feta Cheese
4 ozs. Monterrey Jack Cheese, finely grated
2 Jalapenos, finely minced
1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
2 beaten Eggs

Dry Mixture:

1 C. Italian Bread Crumbs
1 Cup Corn Meal Mix
1 1/2 tsp. Onion Powder
1 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
2 Strips Crisp Cooked Bacon (Optional)

Clean and cut the Okra and remove most of the seed pods.  Mix the cheese's, jalapenos, and seasonings, together, for the wet ingredients, pulse with a blender would be nice to use, you want it smaller to stuff easier,  then fill the Okra where you split the side of the pod.  Then mix the dry ingredients with spices all together till well blended. Then roll a filled Okra in egg and then in the dry mixture and place in hot oil and fry till golden brown.

I hope you try this recipe and please let me know what you think of them. I love hearing from you all, write me at madjon51@aol.com and please watch me TV show at http://aikenstandard.com/astv/madjon/ .  Visit me on my Fan Page on Face book, "Cooking With Madjon and Friends".  Am in a rush am baking something in the oven for tonight and I need to finish.  Just want to say Happy trails to you and yours until we meet again.  Just remember that if you have a dream don't let anyone stand in your way of it.  Sometimes my hubby or relatives are the ones that stand in my way.  Just push them aside and keep climbing that ladder to your dreams.  Hugs, Eileen Hutson, MadJon.

Garden Over Flowing With Eggplant (Baked) Taste like Fried Yea Yea

Hello to all you foodies out there in webland its Me, MadJon again and I hope you are liking the cooler weather.  Am up to my ears in Eggplants from our garden and they are so pretty.  If I can find the pictures that I loaded onto the computer I will let you all see.  Sometimes I think my head is empty up there.  Do you ever feel that way.  We have a shoot to do tomorrow so am going to write this faster then I would but anywho I planted some of my fall garden with cabbage, turnips with purple tops,and rutabaga, I think that is right, hehe.  I will keep you posted on the process of the food bank called a garden.  Am learning how to put up some pictures for you all because a few of you have been asking for them.  Go see my TV show at http://aikenstandard.com/astv/madjon/ and find some more recipes and I have about 30 plus more to add to the 30 I just sent them for this season.  I've had a busy week with baking in the buff, have you ever not had time to get all the way dressed when your rushing around the kitchen, cooking on a deadline plus I had a meeting to get to by 12:30 and my hubby comes in on Friday and says what are you doing and I said am baking what do you think?  He then says the grass is being delivered and I was wondering why the guy kept going to the back of the house (he was just joking) so we also had 18 pallets of grass to get out and we will be busy this Saturday as well with 18 more.  Busy, busy, busy.  Does your life ever get like that?  Mine does.
Any who let's talk about the eggplant well I make eggplant parmesan for the hubby and am trying to cut down on fried foods in our diets so I started baking the eggplant and it comes out crisp just like it was fried but with out the calories.  So here is the reicpe for you all.

Fried (Baked) Eggplant:

1 Eggplant , cut in rings
1 Egg, beaten
1 cup Italian Style Bread Crumbs
1 cup Panko
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 tsp. Onion Powder
2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/2 Parmesan Grated Cheese
3 T. Olive Oil
Cooking Spray

Cut up eggplant and place into bowl with salted water and cover with a plate afor about 2 hours.  Pour off the water, it will be a brown color.  Beat Egg.  Now place the dry ingredents into a bowl with spices and mix together till blended.  Pre-Heat oven to 375 degrees. Take a baking sheet and place the olive oil onto the sheet and spread on bottom of pan.  Then take a piece of the eggplant and place in eggmisture, then into the bread misture and place on pan and repeat proces until all the eggplant is coated with bread mixture.  Then spray the top of the eggplants and then place in oven and cook for about 15 minutes then turn the eggpants over and spray again and bake another 15 minutes or until golden brown.  You may eat them just like this or serve them with your favorite pasta sauce.  I make Eggplant Parmesan ou of them. 

Please give this recipe a try my hubby loves it.  Please send me a email with a recipe to try and let me know how you like this one.  My email address is madjon51@aol.com and also visit me on FB and like my fan page called, "Cooking With Madjon and Friends".  Hope all is well with you and again happy trails to you and yours until we meet again.  Eileen F. Hutson, MadJon.

9/11 Hero's and Eatting Home Made Pop Tarts Okey Doekey

Hello to all my foodies friends out there in webland I hope all is well with you and yours.  We are here to talk a little about our state of affairs here in the USA and we will talk about that wonderful breakfast food called a Pop Tart, but is it just for breakfast?  Mine are home made and everyone loves them down here in SC and people also love them in the DC area there on 9th street.  However we are getting ahead of ourselves.  This is the 10th annivarsary of 9/11, which I really don't have to remind anyone of that today of all days but I do want you to know that when I think of that day many things come to mind.  One thing is the tears that come to my eyes when I remember the scenes on TV and I remember the fear I had when I could n't get a hold of our son Chris who lives in DC and also lived across from the pentagon in a building that the airplane that went into the building had flown right over him.   It was a long day for us here in SC and all over the states before we heard from our loved ones that they were safe.  That said I will always remember and pray for the lives lost in 9/11 and the lives of our 9/11 generation that loses their lives everyday fighting for our freedom and the freedom around the world.  The freedom that I have isn't mine because I deserve it, its mine because someone fought and died for that freedom so please let us try and work together to keep that freedom and that means from the North, South, East, and West of these United States I say let's all fight to keep freedom in our land for the future generations of Americans that will someday have to stand up and be as strong as our generations past.  I say thanks to all of you who serve our nation for the freedom that we have.  What happened on 9/11 may have shaken us but it did not defeat us.  Our tears are still falling and the bell is still ringing but I say God Bless to all the fallen Hero's from our past generations and the Hero's of our future generations.   I hope they hear the freedom bell ringing.  I will never forget! Let freedom ring.
Am heading on another subject for now and its called the wonderful Pop Tart that my children loved and now my grandchildren love.  They are made by Kellogg and introduced to us in 1963 and they are made to pop in the toaster as a breakfastfood, however that said we were in DC last November to visit Chris and we ate at a resturant  that serves pop tarts as a dessert and man were they good.  So I decided to do them for one of my TV shows,"Cooking With Madjon and Friends".  I made the filling as well but you don't have to you can get a pie-filling or use a jam that you like.  I also made them today for a wedding brunch we attended here in the neighborhood.   I made some Cherry filling and a Chocolate Chips with Hazelnuts, mum, mum. Recipe Follows:

Crust for Pop Tarts:  Serves 12

4 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1 Stick Butter, softened
2 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour,shifted
1 tsp. Salt
1 egg
3 T. Milk
3 T. Sugar

Filling your choice

Icing:

1 cup confectionary Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 tsp. Water or Milk

Cream butter and cream cheese together till blended.  Add flour, sugar, salt and blend with butter and cheese.  Then add the egg and mix, add the milk and stir to foam a ball.  Dust with light flour. Roll into about 12 balls the same size.  Then roll out each ball on a flour surface, fill with jam or fruit and turn to ends and press with a fork to seal.  Spray pan and place in a pre-heated oven for about 20 mins at 375 degrees or until brown.  If you wish you may brush the tops with a beaten egg before baking.  Let cool.  Make icing by placing sugar in a bowl, add the Vanilla and water or milk and stir until blended.  Ice the Pop Tarts.  If the icing is to thin just add more sugar to the mix and enjoy!  These taste great!

Please visit my fan page on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CookingwithMadjon and watch the TV show at http://www.aikenstandard.com/, ASTV 95, "Cooking With Madjon and Friends".  Write me at madjon51@aol.com if you have any questions about cooking or my recipes.  Send me recipes to try on TV and for my blog if yu wish.  If you have a recipe that isn't working for you please forward ti to me and I will tryo help you.  Hope you enjoy this blog and God Bless to you and yours.  Happy trails to you until we meet again.  Eileen F. Hutson, MadJon.