"Smothered"means to "brown"the meat with a little oil then simmer in a small amount of water to makea brown gravy. The secret is in the "browning". Water, a vegetablemixture and seasonings are added, and the pot is covered and slow cookeduntil the meat is tender. You have to use a heavy walled castiron or aluminum pot so the heat is spread around and so the food willnot stick and burn. Make sure your cast iron pot is seasoned properlyso it will not stick.
You can smother just about anything. Somemeats make a nice gravy; examples would be game such as squirrel, rabbit,wild pig, woodco*ck or duck, plus domestic meats such as chicken, tame duck,liver, and fatty cuts of beef and pork. With some meats, such asdeer (venison) and lean cuts of beef and pork, it is hard to make a goodgravy. No problem, just add sliced smoked sausage, andouille (a cajunsausage) or tasso (a cured and smoked pork) to the meat during browningor smothering. The dish is served with the gravy poured over whiterice.
This was the everyday food on which I grew up,and it is the first food I cooked at camp. We'd go to camp as youngteenagers and smother an old hen and have rice and gravy - darn you hadto cook that hen a long time to get it tender - but boy did it make a goodgravy ! My mother always laughed at me for smothering an old hen,because, as everyone knows, old hens are meant for gumbos.
Ingredients
|
|
Browning to make the gravy:
- Cut meat into pieces; season with cajun seasoningmix (or salt and pepper), and lightly coat with flour. Add enoughoil to cover the bottom of a heavy walled cast iron or aluminum pot.Heat the oil until very hot, but not smoking. Add the meat and brownover high heat until deep brown and until some of the browning sticks tothe bottom of the pot.
- Stir the meat frequently, and scrape the browningsoff the bottom of the pot so it will not burn. Be careful - do notburn the meat. This step is the secret to making a rich gravy.The heat must be high enough to boil off the water that comes out of themeat so the meat will brown in the oil and not boil in the water.
- Do not try to brown too much meat at once - brownin smaller batches if needed.
- After the meat is browned, remove from the pot anddrain off the excess grease.
- Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, hot peppers andmushrooms (optional - add if you like mushrooms) and sauté untilwilted in the browings. Some like to add chopped celery, but I onlyuse celery in gumbo and dirty rice.
- As the water comes out of the vegetables, scrapethe brownings off the bottom and side of the pot and mix into the liquid.Add a small amount of water if needed to get a good mixture of the vegetablesand all the brownings dissolved.
- Add the meat back to the mixture, add enough waterto cover the meat, then add the Worcestershire sauce, and red wine (optional- add if you like a wine base).
- Add cajun seasoning mix (homemade,Chachere's or Zatarain's) to taste.
- Cook with the pot covered under low heat so the mixturesimmers (lightly boils); this is where the term "smothered" comes from.Cook for an hour, or until the meat is tender.
- Do not allow the water to boil off to maintain thegravy, but also don't add too much water or else the gravy will be watery.
- When almost done, add the chopped green onion topsand parsley.
- Serve the meat and gravy over cooked white rice.
- Add Tabasco sauce and more cajun seasoning mix totaste at the table.
- At many camps, hot peppers soaking in vinegar inan old Ketchup bottle, with a hole punched in the top, was keep on thetable, and that was a poor man's hot sauce to sprinkle on the food.
 | ©David Wm.Reed |
