WFDT 4/17/2023: Italian Mogue’ dressing and McDonald’s lump crab cheese fries

Dear Friends,

It has been far too long since we last participated in a WFDT. I receive this opportunity to be here with you again with much grace and gratitude, and I so look forward to reading about and seeing what the Lord has blessed you with this eveningtide.

Our dear friend, StadiumRat, has again shared with us a bounty of unmatched wonder, Ramon Rizzuto’s HOTTA’ CATCH iT, HOTTA’ ClEAN iT H_____’ COOK IT!. This marvelous wonder nearly was lost to the pages of time, but thanks to StadiumRat’s benevolence and benedicence, we can share in this, the standard of Kenner City cooking. If it finds the right eyes, it could become as essential as River Road Recipes or Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen. After a thorough review, I was saddened to read that its author and artist, Melchione Raymond Rizzuto, died in 2014. His obituary doesn’t mention this book, but I wanted to honor him and his dear mother’s recipes tonight.

One recipe that our friend specifically shared was Rizzuto’s famous Mogue’ dressing. The recipe is a variation of the traditional Italian Mogue’ sauce, which used tomatoes, garlic, mint and olive oil as its base. The dressing is remarkably easy to make, and I would not worry so much about getting the proportions perfect. I went to the garden to get fresh basil and parsley. The rest of the ingredients were simple: olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, Italian dry seasoning, oregano, and fresh lemon juice. Mix them and refrigerate them. Rizzuto recommends using them on Creole tomatoes, but it’s a little early for Creole tomatoes, so I used grape tomatoes from Sam’s. Two pounds cost $4.50 two weeks ago, a dollar off regular price, which is a smashing deal. 8 ounce packages at Whole Foods of the same tomatoes run $4-5.



I sliced the tomatoes longitudinally, horizontally, and obliquely. I did not find the angle that the tomatoes were cut had any influence on their taste. The Mogue’ dressing then was liberally laddled atop the tomato halves and served on a cold plate. It was a lovely salad dish. Thank you, Chef Rizzuto and StadiumRat.



The next course included one of my favorite ingredients: fresh lump blue crab. The price of local crab has gone up exponentially since 2020, thanks in large part to Hurricane Ida wiping out many of the crabbers and some of the crab processing facilities in south Louisiana. We now rely on our lump from Joe Patti’s of Pensacola. A pound of lump there is $21. It was $35 a couple of weeks ago at Fisherman’s Cove in Kenner. So whenever a family member travels from the compound east of Destin, he or she is sure to load up with at least ten pounds of lump at Joe Patti’s to share with the family.



Staying with the Mogue’ dressing theme, I made crab cocktails infused with Mogue’ dressing. I might make a separate batch of Mogue’ next time for this dish with less fresh basil. Nonetheless, I give the dish high marks.



Tonight’s entree took a little thought. I often will make a main course of crab cakes or TulaneLSU's jumbo lump crab cheese thing. Tonight, I wanted to try something new and incorporate petecure with that of the epicurean. Crab is often incorporated with a thickening agent or starch, be it bread crumbs or rice. I considered this and thought why not try potatoes with the crab?

So I pondered where I would get the cheapest yet most delicious potatoes. If you’re thinking what I was thinking, then you know I next walked to McDonald’s to get a large order of French fried potatoes. It has been several years since I last had this old standard. Its cost of $4 with tax was quite surprising. When I returned home, the fries minus the container weighed 6.2 ounces. If you do the maths, McDonald’s large fries now cost $10.32 per pound! That’s half of what the lump crab at $21/pound was. Talk about gourmet potatoes!



I threw some butter and olive oil into the cast iron and warmed the lump. Meanwhile, I loaded the fries onto parchment paper and sprinkled them with a healthy heaping of Great Value mozzarella cheese.





This part of the meal took less than five minutes to prepare. I then dumped the crab onto the fries, probably ¾ of a pound per large fry. To give a little kick and color, the final touch included a sprinkling of fresh parsley and Old Bay. The result was smashing!



I call them McDonald’s lump crab cheese fries. I do recommend! And now for MeridianDog’s trademarked fork view:



Dessert was boring. We had a leftover strawberry cake from Donut Hole in Destinfrom Easter that was still in the fridge waiting for anyone to eat. I ate a slice and enjoyed it.



Thank you, friends, for sharing a meal with me. I hope you enjoyed.

Yours,
TulaneLSU