Galveston, TX

For the last eight years, every Thanksgiving I have shared this extraordinary recipe. (If you're not interested in how I obtained it, scroll down now to the recipe. ) It's the perfect solution to left over Thanksgiving turkey.

And just so you'll know, from time-to-time when Patty and I are planning a dinner party, our guests who have been served Turkey Mornay before, will ask that it be the entree.

THE TURF GRILL'S FAMOUS TURKEY MORNAY

(Serves 4)

Dallas Realtor Bill Cherry

214 503-8563

THE STORY

For years and years, after I left Galveston for college, I frequently thought about the Turf Grill's Turkey Mornay. It cost about seventy-five cents back in the late '50s.

After a movie at the State or Martini, taking your date for the first time to the Turf for Turkey Mornay was the sure sign of an impeding love commitment.

For after all what more could a date want? The Turf Grill was below the famous Studio Lounge where Hollywood and Broadway stars entertained, and they, too, were frequently seen in the Turf eating the famous Turkey Mornay.

"Sinatra and Becall love the stuff," we'd tell our dates.

Some years back I asked both Slick and Gigolo Maceo, whose family had owned the Turf, if they would give me the recipe now that the Turf was closed and only a memory. Both of them told me that for some reason it had been lost and neither of them had it or knew where to get it. I knew they were telling the truth.

I thought about the irony that their restaurant's most famous recipe was lost. I told my mother the story.

She said,"I have it."

"No, I mean the Maceo recipe," I said back.

"That's the one I have," she said. She led the way down the hall toward her kitchen.

It turns out that in the mid-forties, another Maceo that everyone called Little Sam and who lived near us, had managed the Turf. One day when he and his wife, Delores, were visiting us, my mom told him how much we all liked Turkey Mornay. He told my mother that he'd give her the recipe, and he wrote it with a #2 pencil in the front of a zillion year old cookbook my grandmother had given her when she and my daddy married.

So when she and I got to the kitchen and opened the pantry where she kept her cookbooks, she pulled out the old book, opened it to the fly page, and then set it down on the kitchen table where I copied the recipe.

It might just be that until I started sharing this recipe a year or so ago, no one but my mother and I had it. And now you're getting ready to also.

THE INGREDIENTS

2 cup of flour

2 cup of unsalted butter (don=t use margarine)

1/4 cup of chopped yellow onion

1/8 cup chopped parsley

2 cup of chopped green onions including the green stems

2 cups of heavy cream (not half and half. Use whipping cream)

2 cups of good, dry white wine (Make certain it's a good quality otherwise it can make the sauce taste bitter)

1/4 teaspoon of white pepper

2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

2 ounces of grated Swiss cheese

8 drained artichoke bottoms chopped very fine in a food processor

2 pound of fresh mushrooms sliced thickly

3 tablespoons of grated Romano cheese

DO NOT ADD ANY SALT

1 loaf of good French bread

1 lb of fresh steamed asparagus (don't overcook!)

THE PROCEDURE

In a 2 quart sauce pan melt the butter over a medium heat. Add the flour and keep stirring and cook it for about 5 minutes until it becomes a white roux.

Don't stop stirring while you're making the roux...not even for a moment. Stirring is what keeps a roux smooth and creamy.

Reduce the heat a bit, then add in the onions and mushrooms and cook another couple of minutes (don't brown the vegetables). Stir in the parsley and then start gradually adding the cream and allow the whole thing to get hot. Then add the wine, the white and cayenne peppers, and the artichokes, blending well and bringing the whole thing to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer for five minutes or so, then stir in the Swiss cheese, cover the pot, turn off the fire, and allow it to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. (I usually make the Mornay sauce a day or so in advance and keep it in the refrigerator until I'm ready to use it.) Never use a microwave to reheat Mornay sauce. Do it over a low heat in a pot on the stove and don't forget to stir it frequently during the process.

When you're ready to make the Turkey Mornay dish, cut the French bread loaf into slices about 3/4 inch thick. (Sometimes I cut the crust off of the bread, other times I don't....the Turf removed the crust) Baste them on one side with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle each with Romano cheese and then bake them in the oven on a cookie sheet (425 F) until they are dry and appear to be crisp, but not brown

Line each plate with the baked French bread slices, then put a layer of fresh steamed asparagus on top of the bread on each plate, add fresh sliced turkey on top of the asparagus, then a generous amount of the hot Mornay sauce. Sprinkle the top with Romano cheese.

Use the same sauce with boiled shrimp or lump crabmeat. Extraordinary!

Copyright 2000 - William S. Cherry

All rights reserved

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

Our 44th Year Selling America!

214 503-8563

This large banner is not hanging from the gallery of an Episcopal Church. It's hanging on the front porch of one of Galveston's famous 19th Century Victorian homes, a private home that has survived many hurricanes.

And it came through one more time as Hurricane Ike totally ravaged more than fifty percent of the homes, businesses, schools and hospitals on Galveston Island. Many residents -- some educated estimates are one-third of the population -- have left and promised not to return.

Interestingly, the home in this picture is the private residence of The Reverend Ronald D. Pogue, D.Min., who is the pastor of Trinity Episcopal Church, a church that is over 150 years old. A church that was one of the very first congregations established when Galveston was first settled in the 1830s.

When the famous 1900 Storm came through and killed thousands of Galvestonians, it took down the entire south wall of Trinity. (History) Even though members were overwhelmed by personal circumstances, the parish immediately took on rebuilding the wall and raising the entire building several feet to help protect it from future floods. The church continued to serve without missing a beat for the next 108 years.

And that seemed to work fine until Ike came along. Ike flooded the huge Gothic church with many feet of water, and probably did, when all is finally added up, more than a couple of million dollars worth of damage. While fully insured, nevertheless, the policy has a 10% deductible clause.

So parishioners, most of whom have suffered huge amounts of damage to their own homes and businesses, must also raise the money necessary to cover the church's part of the repairs. Nevertheless, dried out and with temporary power, Trinity has resumed its Sunday services.

With all of that going on, as soon as residents were allowed to return to the island after Hurricane Ike had huffed and puffed and blown houses down, Fr. Pogue and his wife, Gay, had this banner painted and hung it on their porch.

They set up tables with telephones and computer lines on their porch so that anyone who wanted to could get in touch with relatives, insurance companies and the like. And they added big ice chests of drinks and pots of coffee.

They are still available today, and no doubt will be until full service has returned to the Island.

Several times Gay has cooked up huge pots of gumbo, red beans and rice, and the like, and invited the CITY to stop by and join the Pogues for dinner. Free. No charge. And not on the church's dime either.

Others whose kitchen appliances were working, have chipped in as well, and brought casseroles and pies and cakes and salads and soups. Some were Episcopalians, but probably most weren't.

The Episcopal Church was truly there to help. And it still is. And of all of the clergy members I've known over the years, representing many denominations, no one has ever topped Fr. Ron Pogue's organization skills and his ability to minister to the masses, especially in times of extreme need.

He told me once that he's always thought of himself as a minister, even before he went to the seminary and was ordained....at least ever since he was in junior high school, and that's been more than forty years ago.

An amazing testament, quite frankly, to the Glory of God. But then Galveston's Trinity Episcopal Church has always shown extraordinary leadership. Thank goodness Fr. Ron and Gay were there to make sure it did it again.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

Our 44th Year Selling America

214 503-8563

I thought you might find this bit of sociology interesting and worth pondering.

At Thanksgiving in 2000 the book I had written comprised of historical stories about Galveston, Texas was published. It was a trade paperback -- that means a regular hard cover book-size paperback -- and it sold for $19.95.

Over the following years, amazingly literally thousands have sold. I had told the publisher when they first approached me that I doubted more than 500 would sell, and I advised him not to print many more than that. Instead, the first printing was 5,000 and there has been a second printing but I am unsure of how many thousand were in that printing.

Nevertheless, since Hurricane Ike hit the island, apparently there has been a re-surging interest in my book by the public. Add to that that they are in short supply.

I noted today that according to amazon.com, used copies of the book are selling for over $40 each. New copies are as high as $80.

That does not feather my nest. I still receive the same per-copy royalty.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

We spent the day yesterday working on our new office and the building it is in. The 61st st plaza had seen better days after the storm pushed debris in the parking lot, plastered mud on the walls, and ruined the flower beds. The office is not owned by us but the older gentleman who owns it has had some major losses in the storm. So, because it is our store front we decided to pressure wash the building, rip off the old signage, sweep the parking lot, and clean the flower beds. We also cleaned the windows and the inside of the office (which still has ripped out sheet rock, dust everywhere , and stuff left from the chiropractor. Needless to say the place looks 10x better and is really starting to feel like ours. We will keep working on the unit this week and have our phone guy in later.