Maquechou

Maquechou

 

With fresh corn on the cob coming into season now and starting to show up, I realized this would be a great recipe to post up.

 

This is an old Indian-Acadian recipe.  The origins of the name are pretty well lost.  It’s pronounced “mock shoe”.  See the note about the name.
 

 

Ingredients:

Now, I’m listing the ingredients exactly as they are in my Cajun cookbook.  Remember, we usually cooked for very large crowds down there.

 

15 ears of corn

1 large onion (white or yellow), chopped

½ green bell pepper chopped (although I like a bit more in mine)

1 large tomato, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp sugar (optional)  — I usually omit this, preferring to taste the sweet of the corn more directly.

Salt, red and black pepper

 

Steps:

Clean the corn.  Hold the corn vertically, take a sharp knife and cut down the ear, cutting the kernels in half.  Cut all the kernels like this.  Then, hold the cob over a bowl, and scrape the rest of the kernels off into the bowl, this will catch all the sweet corn milk).  Do this for all the ears.

Put all the corn and everthing else into a large pot and cook over low heat for like 30-45 minutes, depending on how big a pot of stuff you have.  Taste occasionally and season to taste. 

 

Yield:  8 servings (well, that’s what the book says. Pretty big servings if you ask me. But note, once the corn is scraped off the cob, there won’t be as much there as you thought there would be.)

I’m guessing the actual yield for this recipe would be more like 20 servings, assuming small (2 oz. servings) as a side dish.  At that rate, the nutritional info would then be:

Servings:  20   Serving Size:  2 oz.
Total Calories/srv:  64
Carb:       15.  g
Sugars:     3. g
Protein:     2. g

 Note:   "moque – chou" means “mock cabbage” in French, but there’s no cabbage in it.

This stuff is good when just cooked, but it’s also really good after it’s been in the fridge overnite. 

Some folks also add garlic to it, and I’ve seen recipes that add sugar, but I don’t. 

Bonus Recipe!! Maquechou Stuffed Tomatoes:

You can also make it, then hollow out some large tomatoes, stuff them with it, and bake them awhile.  5-10 min @ 350 degrees.  Garnish with fresh parsley.

Update on daughter and family later.

-Jude