Small’s Paradise and Jimmy Smith's Oxtail Stew

 

Smalls Paradise

aka Big Wilts Smalls Paradise

2294½ Seventh Avenue, 
New York, New York 

 

Owned and operated by Edwin Smalls then by NBA legend, Wilt Chamberlain, this venue was one of the premier nightspots in Harlem during the late 1920s. It hosted mainly jazz performers such as Jimmy Smith, Babs Gonzales, King Curtis, and even Jimi Hendrix. Before it closed its doors in 1986, Small’s was considered one of the most successful, prestigious, and longest operating nightclubs in the history of Harlem ever owned by an African American.

 

 

Jimmy Smith’s Oxtail Stew

3 lbs oxtails (separated joints)

salt and pepper
olive oil

2 c. red wine
1 large chopped carrot

1 yellow chopped onion
1 chopped celery stalk

3 whole cloves garlic (unpeeled)
1/2 c. beef stock

1 bay leaf
pinch of thyme parsley
2 sliced turnips

2 sliced parsnips
2 sliced carrots

Rinse oxtails under cold running water then pat dry with heavy paper towels. Sprinkle the tails completely with salt and pepper. 

In a 6-quart Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium high heat.

Add small batches of oxtails at a time, searing them in the hot pan on all sides until golden brown. Remove oxtails with tongs and transfer them to a bowl containing wine. Set aside.

Add chopped carrot, chopped onion, and celery to the pan. Cook the vegetables for about 5-7 minutes or until onions are clear. Add the oxtails with wine back to the pan. Add whole garlic cloves and beef stock. Stir briefly.

Add bay leaf, thyme, and ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 3 hours or until meat is fork tender. About an hour before the oxtails are done, preheat heat oven on 350°F.

Add sliced carrots, parsnips, turnips and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a roasting pan and sprinkle well with salt and pepper. Roast vegetables for 1 hour, or until lightly browned and cooked through.

When oxtails are tender, remove them from the liquid. Skim the fat off the top with a spoon, or a fat separator. Pour the cooking liquid through a mesh strainer into a bowl. Use a rubber spatula to press against the vegetable solids that are caught in the strainer. Discard the solids. 

Return the liquid to the pan and simmer until liquid is reduced by half. Add in the oxtails, and add the roasted vegetables to the pan. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook for about 30 minutes.

 

 

 

Robert's Show Lounge: Pork Chops n' Scalloped Potatoes




Mr Robert's favorite dish was anything with meat and potatoes

 Robert's Show Club/Lounge

6222 South Parkway

Chicago, IL

 

The Robert’s Show Club (also referred to as "Show Lounge") was the epitome of Black refinement. Established in 1954, Herman Roberts introduced the South Side of Chicago to entertainers such as Sammy Davis Jr., Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington, Count Basie, Gene Krupa, and Sarah Vaughan. The Robert’s Show Club was famous for its Mambo and Cha-Cha nights and infamous for its “Jewel Box Review.” This club also help launch the careers of notables as Redd Foxx, Della Reese, George Kirby and Dick Gregory.

 

source:www.hermanroberts.com

 

'The South Side'
Pork Chops and Scalloped Potatoes
Dedicated to Mr. Herman Roberts

 (1/2-inch-thick) bone-in pork loin or rib chops
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 (5-oz) package scalloped potatoes
1 (2-oz) jar diced pimiento, drained
Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper.

 

Cook pork chops in a lightly greased large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 3 minutes on each side or until browned.

Remove pork chops from skillet, and set aside.

Prepare scalloped potatoes in skillet according to package directions for the stove top.

Stir in diced pimiento, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Top with pork chops.

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. 

Uncover and cook 5 more minutes or until potatoes are tender.

 

Contrary to popular belief, the ratio of White musicians performing on the 'Chitlin Circuit' was significantly higher than Black entertainers performing in White establishments.  Musicians such as Gene Krupa, enjoyed making regular appearances at places like Robert's Show Lounge; making them some of the first "cross-over" acts in music history.

Howlin Wolf - Chicken Casserole

    



                         



Born Chester Arthur Burnett (1910), in West Point, Mississippi (now known as White Station), Howlin' Wolf, was an influential blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, known for his booming voice. He is commonly ranked among the leading performers in “Electric Blues.” A number of songs written or popularized by him are "Smokestack Lightnin'", "Back Door Man", "Killing Floor" and "Spoonful".  Burnett passed away in 1976

 

Chicken Casserole was a big hit on the Chitlin Circuit, espeically in the deep south. If a performer was lucky enough to get themself an invite to someome's house for Sunday dinner, the casserole would be served as the main course with collards, cornbread and potato salad...a huge improvement over the nightly fish or pork chop sandwiches.

3 -4 chicken breasts
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 (1/4 lb) package Ritz crackers
1/2 cup butter 

Preheat oven 350 degrees

Using a large pot, boil whole chicken breasts for about 15-20 minutes or until juices run clear when cut.

Transer chicken into aluminum pan then place refrigerator to cool down enough for safe handling

While chicken is cooling, mix soup and sour cream in large bowl.

Remove chicken from pan, and pull apart or cut into bite-sized chunks then mix with soup mixture.

Crush Ritz crackers in a bowl

Melt butter and mix in crushed crackers.

Place chicken mixture into a casserole dish, top with Ritz mixture, and bake 15-20 minutes or until hot and bubbling.

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SARAH VAUGHAN - Fried Oyster Sandwich

Birth Name: Sarha Lois Vaughan
Homeown: Newark, NJ
Born: Mar 27, 1924 
Died: Apr 3, 1990 (age 66)
Favorite Juke Joint Food: Fried Oyster Sandwich

Nicknamed "Sassy", "The Divine One" and "Sailor" (for her salty speech), Vaughan was a Grammy Award winner, and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1973. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts bestowed upon her its highest honor in jazz, “The NEA Jazz Masters Award”. 


Vaughan began her solo career in 1945 by freelancing in clubs on New York's 52nd Street such as the Three Deuces, the Famous Door, the Downbeat and the Onyx Club.





Fried Oyster Sandwich

1 pt raw, shucked oysters

1 c. cornmeal

1 c. wheat flour

½ to 1 tsp Old Bay

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

2 tbsp evaporated milk

cooking oil

In a large bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, Old Bay, baking powder, and salt.

Beat eggs and mix with milk or cream in a small bowl.

Dip oysters (one at a time) in egg/milk mixture.

Dredge oysters (one at a time) through flour mix until thoroughly coated.

Using tongs, carefully place oysters in a large skillet in oil at medium-high temperature.

Cook until golden brown on each side.

Serve on white bread with your favorite topping and condiment.  (Mustard is a favorite of many) 

Slim Harpo 1924 – 1970

 

Born James Moore in Lobdell, Louisiana, he was the eldest in an orphaned family, he worked as a longshoreman and building worker during the late 1930s and early 1940s. He began performing in Baton Rouge bars under the name Harmonica Slim and later accompanied his brother-in-law, Lightnin' Slim, both live and in the studio.

 
Koda, Cub. Biography of Slim Harpo at AllMusic.

Fried Pork Chop Sandwiches

6 pork chops, 1 inch thick 

2 teaspoons seasoned salt

2 teaspoons garlic powder 

1½ Tablespoons yellow mustard

1 teaspoon paprika 

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ cup wheat flour 

½ cup vegetable oil

Prepare pork chops 1 hour before cooking. Rinse pork chops thoroughly under cold running water. Pat chops dry with heavy paper towels. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix seasoned salt, garlic powder, prepared mustard, paprika and black pepper.

Rub ¾ teaspoon of seasoning on each chop. Completely coat each chop with flour then wrap with Saran Wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour before cooking.

Heat vegetable oil in cast-iron skillet over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, add pork chops and brown on both sides for 10-12 minutes.

Remove cooked pork chops from skillet and set on paper towels to drain grease.