Catfishing's Secret Weapon _ Catch More Fish

I believe it is unquestionably good to preserve the Folk life / Culture of  Bayou Pigeon. 

Thus I post this story… enjoy !

In Chapter 16 of the Bayou  Pigeon book, page 358 we have a  chapter on Commercial fishing and we discuss Hook and Line (trot line) fishing.   Where as we describe  that in the 1930’s and  40’s  most of  commercial fishermen at Bayou Pigeon  started as a hook and line fisherman  and then most  moved up to Hoop Net fishing. 

To keep big Cat’s from twisting themselves off a trot line, requires  a metal swivel  from  the staging to the main line…

Everyone knows that, well did you know… 

Huey Perera, of Bayou Pigeon,  lived the first part of his life with one foot on a boat and one foot in the water.  His early life was on a camp boat  in the Little Bayou Pigeon/Keel Boat pass  area of Grand Lake with his father, Aldoras Perera  and brothers & sisters.  His mother died when he was 5 years old in 1943.

Aldoras Perera  made his early living  by hook and line fishing from their camp boat in the swamp, with Huey at his side. It was not until 1954  that  the Perera's moved their Camp boat  permanently to Bayou Pigeon, one  of the last families to abandon to the heart of the Swamp. Huey married  Annie Michel and he has raised his family there.

It was the  research for Chapter  16 where I first learned of the homemade  trot line swivel. Researching, the book  I had talked with as many old fishermen  from Pigeon as I could about Hook and Line fishing. Thus, this is where Huey Perera  fits in in this story.

Big catfish  are known  for twisting themselves off  a trot line staging.  Thus  to put more fish in the boat, required the use of a swivel.  Most fishermen of the 1930’s and 40’s did not have the money nor could they find a manufactured swivel.

Keeping with the Spirit of  the Atchafalaya  Swamper,  to overcome, adapt and  improvise as needed,  the fishermen made their own swivels  out  of a  wire and nail.  After some internet research, I managed to find a picture of one these homemade swivels  on Jim Delahoussaye's  “River Logue’ blog.   Jim is a accomplished  outdoor writer and Naturalist.  I consider him to be one of a few legitimate Subject Matter  Experts on Atchafalaya Basin folk life, Wildlife and Fisheries, Flora and Fauna. I had never seen one these homemade trot line swivels before this, anywhere, until I discovered his blog.

Example of Homemade Line Swivel, source Jim Delahoussaye, Atchafalaya Riverlogue, blog

I happen  to mentioned the homemade swivel to Huey  when I was interviewing him about  living on a  camp boat in the Swamp.  He, to my surprise stated that his dad taught him how to make those swivels and they used them on their  trot lines, all the time. Huey was the only one  from Pigeon to ever mention the homemade swivel. He tried to explain to me how you made one , but I could not picture twisting the wire in my mind.

Sometime after the Bayou Pigeon book was published,  I ran into Huey at the store in Pigeon and mentioned to him that Mr. Delahoussaye had actually given me one those homemade trot line swivels.  I thought  it was really innovative.  It was then that he casually mentioned he still had the pliers that his father modified to make those swivels.  I said , Oh yea ! Can you make one?

 In God We Trust All Others Show me Pictures!  

One thing led to another and I found myself at Huey’s house for him to show me. A visit to Huey's  house quickly reveals  that his shop looks  like a retirement home  for vintage outboard motors. He is well known shade tree mechanic, he taught himself outboard motor repair and other mechanical  tool skills  of the swamp out of necessity.  There  were no repair shops, supply stores on Grand Lake. If you were to survive you had to improvise.

Sure enough, he made a couple of those swivels, right in front of me…

I am impressed…here are the pictures ?

The "folk" are the bearers of the folk life traditions,  when the human thread is lost, the  art/ technique / tradition invariably fades away.  Huey please tell us you have passed on this art to someone !

Where are the pliers?

A Retirement Home For Old Outboard Motors

The red motor is a 1940’s 4 H.P.  Royal Outboard Motor. Huey says this is the motor  that he used to push their Camp Boat  from Keel Boat Pass  to Pigeon in 1955.  He also has a 1949 7.5 hp Mercury … and he says they are both in working order…  

The 4 hp Royal was obtained from Roger Combel !  

The same Roger Combel who  hunted ducks on what would come to be known as 'Rogers Cove" (page 659 in the book) 

You never know what you will learn when you interview someone… There are always connections to the stories we learn about Bayou Pigeon… e.g.., Co author - Adam Landry, his father Wilbrod (Kaline) Landry [pronounced with more of a  C than  K to me, but I am a non French speaker, i.e.., ‘Carline’,]  was a mentor to Roger Combel about the  ways  of the  Atchafalaya and  who took him  to a secret Cove in the bed of old Grand lake and that would eventually be named  for him.  He probably used that 4 HP royal to get there!

Preserve the Heritage !

1940 US Census LA., _ Iberville Parish , Police Jury Ward 8 Outside Plaquemine town

1940 US  Census:

U.S. Census  records  are  included in the Bayou Pigeon book, but stop at 1930. That is, because when the Bayou Pigeon book was published the  US Census data was only public up to 1930.  Census records are created every decade by the federal government in order to determine the number of delegates each state may send to the U S  Congress. Due to the sensitive nature of census information, the U.S. adopted a 72-year privacy rule (other countries use a 100-year restriction).

The 1940 U.S. Federal Census was conducted using an official  census date of April 1, 1940. Therefore all census data specific to an individual was restricted until April 1, 2012.  Once the 72-year privacy restriction is met, population schedules are released to the National Archives and Records Administration.

The 1940 US census has been available for  about 2 years now and I have spent some time researching it.

I believe the 1940 census is important  to Bayou Pigeon, because in 1940 Pigeon was a pure unadulterated Cajun  Fishing community, not influenced by outsiders and modern society. The cultural / folklife traditions  that the authors of the Bayou Pigeon Book are trying to document and preserve  were  at their peak.  After WWII  the French / Cajun Culture & folklife began  to be Americanized

1940 census is also personal to me  because my wife’s paternal  and maternal side of her family ( the Solar's 1933_ Gaudet's 1936) came  to Bayou Pigeon.  And this  is the first official recording  of their move to Pigeon and I wanted to document that..

A word about Cajun names in the Census records;

I had to search awhile  to find  the  Solar’s in the actual census records, because their names were misspelled.  I have determined  that was quite  common  at  / for the Bayou Pigeon census.  Not that the names  from Pigeon, should be that hard to spell, but because of our Cajun French language and the way pure Cajuns pronounce names, they were frequently misunderstood and therefore misspelled by  the census takers who did  not speak French and thus did not understand what  the people were saying.  For example  Solar,  you would think   that should be easy… but in the old  days when my Mother in  Law  would pronounce it;  it sounded like ‘So_laa” , which I suppose  would  sound like  ‘Saurage’  to an Anglo, which was the way it was spelled in the 1940 census record. 

Another example, Mr. Felician Berthelot,  the English version would be Felix. But that is not close to how  the old  folks at Pigeon say it  'fa les e ain.'

If you have an interest , I have tried to provide this data in high resolution, so you can enlarge  and read the actual index page. I know a lot of folks may not be interested  if they cannot read the names easy.

But to me  looking at the actual census index page gives the reader a real sense… yes that is my Grandparents  and Parents.  They are gone, but I feel like I can still touch them !

Keep in mind, 

The census workers worked there way  down Hwy 75  from Plaquemine house to house, so the order of the families  that were recorded does provide  some indication of who lived next to who and where eg., it is easy to determine someone who lived at  Indigo Bayou… because well known,   several  families were known to live there  and only there, ie., the Blanchard's,  almost the entire family lived within eyesight of each other at Indigo,  thus if you lived close to the Blanchard's you must have  lived at  Indigo at one time..

Example, Diane’s (my wife) maternal side of the family, The Gaudet’s are listed right next to the Blanchard's.  Corroborating that the Gaudet’s lived at Indigo  at one time. Whereas most people remember them only living above the current Grand River_/ Pigeon bridge, where the Gaudet store  was located.

If you have access to Ancestry.com and want to look  up the information yourself.The actual census records are under...1940_ LA. -Iberville Parish _Police Jury Ward 8_ outside Plaquemine town_ Crescent  Enumeration District 24-21_ pages  #49  - 60  

For those interested … and do not have time or access to Ancestry.com. 



The 1940 US Census recorded approximately 100 Heads of Household and 390 souls at Bayou Pigeon.

Page 49

I start My Census review On Page 49( below),  I find two names, I can recognize, Orillion Berthelot and Alger Simoneaux.  I surmise  that Mr. Orillion Berthelot (house number 474) and Alger  Simoneaux,  house number  480, lived somewhere between the Bayou Sorrel Lock and  Bayou Choctaw.

Can any one help explain  and / or verify where they might have been located  by these numbers… they are 6 numbers apart.

Page 50

On Page 50, I pick up names of  Bayou Pigeon I can recognize,  Mr. Claiborne Landry, in house # 487.  Now assume  that Mr. Claiborne was living at his  farm  at Choctaw and Grand River.   That would put Mr. Orillion Berthelot and Alger Simoneaux  above  that residence, since they were at 374 and  480 .  

Earnest Hebert at #488.  I am told  That Earnest Hebert  and family lived  just above where the current Hwy 75 Bayou Pigeon fire station is located now.

Note  all the people from line 44 to 72, have occupations  other than fishing.  I wonder where this group  was  actually located.  Anyone got  any clues ? I think they were located between the  Bayou Sorrel Locks and Choctaw Bayou.

All interesting questions ?

Page 51

On Page 51, all recognizable Bayou Pigeon Families, most long time residents can recognize.  The order seems to match where people remembering everyone living.

However, there is one  family with surname of  Case.  Is this  family related to Case  family  we know of in Plaquemine?

Page 52

Note  Line 42, the first entry is actually Mr. Clement Landry, the Census  taker recorded it Claymore Landry.  The Pigeon pronunciation s would have sounded 'Clay_Mon' to an  Anglo.The census taker at the time was  a Mr Warren Hebert from Plaquemine.  It seems to me with a name like Hebert, he would have got ' Clement' right.  L.O.L. 

Page 53

On Page 53, all recognizable Bayou Pigeon Families. The order seems to match where people remembering everyone living.  On the very last entry the census recorder , Mr. Warren Hebert was confused he listed Clement Landry  a second time, what / who he really meant was Leo Landry.

Page 54

On Page 54, all recognizable Bayou Pigeon Families. The order seems to match where people remembering everyone living. The Census taker must have left the Pigeon area and went back to Plaquemine or White Castle, the last two names are Black people. 

Page 58

Pages 55 - 58 of the census is of another area, the Census  recorder returns to the Bayou Pigeon part of the 1940 census picks back up on page 58.  Bayou Pigeon Families start again on line 49. 

The last line# 80 we go toward Indigo Bayou…  How do i know that?  Because that’s the listing is Mr. Archie Settoon... everyone knows he lived half way from current bridge and Indigo Bayou. You see… you can connects the dots…it all makes sense   

Page 59

On Page 59, we are the Indigo Bayou area, eg., the Blanchard's , and the Gaudet's and others. My mother in law, Ms Beulah Gaudet Solar, 92 years young is on line 37. 

Page 60

On Page 60, we are still the Indigo Bayou area, eg., the first name on the list is a carry over from page 59 Ms. Shirley Gaudet, who recently passed this year. She was the pillar of the Gaudet store. This is where the Solar family name is misspelled, line 42. It is Solar, not Saurage, how could the census taker mess up that bad, maybe old Man Casamire and his wife Lucy did not talk any English. 

The census taker must have left Indigo Bayou and went to across Grand river at the confluence with little Bayou Pigeon. The last two names on the page are Devillier Daigle and Evelyn Vaughn, who were know to live near Ms. Clementine Michel. 

Page 61

On Page 61, the census taker is still on the west side Grand River going in order toward the current Bayou Pigeon bridge. By recognizing the sequence of recording you can connect the dots on where people lived. Line # 26 is Mr. Felix Berthelot 14 years old.

Page 62

On Page 62, The Bayou Pigeon Census ends. The census taker is still on the west side Grand River, and he butchers more names.  I am not quite sure of who some of the names are.  If anyone can figure our  who is talking about on lines 57 to 60, please let me know. 

The last name on that page must not be from Pigeon, because the occupation is listed as a farmer.

Preserve the Heritage !

A Mature Lake, Blazing Beauty, Old Cypress Trees and Spanish Moss

By Cliff LeGrange 

Recently I made a  trip  with  my friend Grady Robinson to his Camp at Stephenville, LA.for some Cat-fishing...

We arrived on a Wednesday evening around 5 P.M.  Instead of just sitting on the fishing pier and taking in the sunset  from his camp site we decided unplanned, on the spur of the moment to make a late evening ride from Grady ‘s Camp on  old Bayou Long to Lake Verret.  I had not been in that area for a number of years and I wanted to go check out the Lake and  Shell Beach.

Not well known by a lot of our 'book' friends, Bayou Pigeon Book  Co - Author  Adam Landry and I have a special Voisinage with Lake Verret.  That is the Solar family of Bayou Pigeon, they are originally from Lake Verret...  For me that Voisinage would be family connection… ie., that would be my Cajun bride, Diane Solar. For Adam's it is his half - brother Reuben Solar (son of Everett Solar and his mother Vivian Hebert Landry Solar,  second marriage). Reuben and Diane have the same grandfather, Casimir Solar, who originally hailed from Shell Beach on Lake Verret. Reuben owns property at Shell Beach on Lake Verret, to this day

For those  not familiar with Stephenville, LA. it is south of  Lake Verret, but north of Morgan City.

It is a short ride  from Grady's Camp to Lake Verret via old Bayou Long and Bayou Magazille. 

When we got on the Lake, I knew there  was something special about being there at that time, not a boat visible on the lake... just after a thunderstorm...calm waters and an incredible sunset coming. I was thinking... just great, no camera, nothing but my Galaxy S-5 smart phone...

We headed to a point of  cypress trees ahead of us on the right.

My Co author... Of the Bayou Pigeon book… Adam Landry called  these  photos… 

 A Mature lake, Incredible Blazing Beauty, old Cypress Trees and Spanish moss... here are those pictures....

Blazing Cypress Beauty 1

Blazing Cypress Beauty 2

Incredible Blazing Cypress Beauty

Old Cypress Trees 1

Old Cypress Trees 2

Legend of the  Spanish Moss

Lake Verret and The Atchafalaya National Heritage Area  

Yours to Explore !

Secret Trails of The Atchafalaya 

'Henri Road'

The Bayou Pigeon / Grand Lake  vector  of Atchafalaya River Basin has many hidden, little-known places and trails. One such trail in the Bayou Pigeon area is called Henri Road, or “The Road” for short.

Once you know the “the Road” you discover that's its a pretty decent path not just a  blaze / painted line through the swamp. However it looks different at different water levels and you can get turned  around easily. It is not navigable  year around.


The primary reason  the Swamper's maintain 'Henri Road'  ie., cleaned out and marked each year is to enable a shortcut  for them to travel to the Big Bayou Mallet / Little Bayou Mallet / Lost Bayou area, versus traveling the long meandering Big Bayou Pigeon.

‘The Road’ will save 20 minutes by boat to the Bayou Mallet area. In the old days of slower boats it was as much 45 minutes.

On page 662 of the book, we give a brief description Henri Road. The purpose of this posting is to provide a better understanding of the importance Henri Road in the history of  the Bayou Pigeon commercial fishermen.

We will start  explaining  the trail / path / route from the Big Bayou Pigeon end of the trail.

The  Road starts as an old log skidder run  on Big Bayou Pigeon then appears as a man made cut trail, intermittent  natural  sloughs  and  / or long ‘Mares’. The route   was marked by tree blazes in the 1950’s. In modern times, ie., 1970’s  on  by paint and / or ribbon flagging are used.

The route  cuts several miles off the route from  the Bayou Pigeon Boat Launch to Bayou Mallet fishing waters for Commercial  fishermen.  Henri road has been marked maintained for sure since the early 1950’s.

Most of the land, ‘The Road” transverses is privately owned property owned by Williams Inc. a land management company that started as the F.B. Williams Cypress Company, in the late 1800's.  The Williams Inc. home office is in New Orleans, LA.

The above Google earth satellite image provides big picture perspective  of the location  of Henri Road  and why it is  so unique, ie., it is an isolated path across the center of the swamp. At night it seems like a haunted place.

Henri Road is approximately 2.3 miles long.  The path in places is only one boat width wide.  The GPS coordinates document the exact route.  Until the technology of satellite photography and GPS technology became available the exact route could not be  designated.  The amazing thing about the route of Henri road is that the old commercial fishermen actually marked the shortest route based on their knowledge of the swamps with no technology other than a compass, maybe.

This first section  of Henri Road, was part of a an old Log Skidder Run.  Straight as an arrow,  it is clearly evidence of a non random man made path.

This second section  of Henri Road, crosses a major ‘Mare” and continues on a Northeast vector and  the path is very clear in the satellite picture.

This third  section  of Henri Road, is still very clear  from the satellite picture and continues moving at a distinct 45  degree N.W. vector. 

This fourth section  of Henri Road, is where it connects to Levy’s slough,  named after Mr. Levy Settoon. 

This fifth section  of Henri Road, is where it leaves Levy’s slough,  and goes to the ICWW.

In these hidden places of  the Atchafalaya,  where  the Alligators, Snakes,  and Turtles roam, this is where Bayou Pigeon ‘Swamp People’  chase the Crawfish and move around... 

Caution,  Enter at your own risk, it can be a long walk out !

ToBY’s (2 b’s) Point  

I have always enjoyed learning the lingo and pronouncement of bayou names and place names used by the Bayou Pigeon people.  

Loss of knowledge about place names reminds us that we can never know everything about the past.

Place names for certain features / landmarks in the swamp are very important because they can be related to each other in terms of their physical position which is used in communication with others. 

I quickly learned from my Bayou Pigeon native Cajun friends growing up the names of these important reference points.

These names usually serve as a reference point in a conversation. For example, "The other day i caught a big turtle on To_BY 's point". 

You know exactly what / where the person is talking about,

Since it is not on an official map anywhere, an outsider might not have a clue where we are talking about.

To_BY's Point

The origin of the name ToBY’s (pronounced 2b’s) Point may be loss to history.  

It’s origin and how it should be spelled is loss to all the people who I have spoken with who came of age in the 1940’s and 50’s.  They all know of the name, but how it came about is not remembered.  

It was important place back in the day when, Bayou Pigeon residents had to catch, kill, trap  or grow their next meal.  

That was not that long ago.

I speculate it may have been named so after someone with the first name Toby. 

Cajun slang could have easily pronounced the name '2 b".  

Whatever, it is fairly certain the term came from the 1930’s or 40's at the latest.  

Mr. Felix Berthelot, who was a lifelong resident of Bayou Pigeon, (born 1925) and others of his generation just knew that it was called To__BY's point by his father without an explanation.

The Top of the Elongated alluvial Ridges Called ToBY’s (2 B’s) Point
3 – 26 - 2015
Several hundred feet long

Location of ToBY's (2b) Point

There are 3 important reference points on Little Bayou Pigeon between its source at Grand River and its junction with Big Bayou Pigeon.  They are Justillien Road, see page 663 in the Bayou Pigeon book, the Long View, see page 659 and ToBy’s (2B) Point, not mentioned in the book. 

Thus, the need for this story.

The map below gives their relative locations.

ToBY’s (2b’s) Point

USGS Topography map from the Bayou Pigeon Boat launch

The picture below gives perspective  of  ToBY's point relative location.

ToBY’s (2b’s) Point

Approximately 1.3 miles from the Bayou Pigeon Boat launch

Satellite Picture Perspective

It can be assumed ToBY’s Point was called a “Point” because the land is in the middle of first big ‘curve in Little Bayou Pigeon from its source Grand River. 

 ToBY’s Point - What is it?

A natural levee forms along a stream when the water leaves the confines of its channel during flooding and deposits coarse grained material adjacent to the bank edge. This coarse-grained material continues to accumulate, due to subsequent flooding, and a natural alluvial levee / ridge is formed.  Natural ridges always slope sharply toward the stream on one side than gradually away from it on the opposite side.

The natural ridges of ToBY’s point look too high to me, relative to rest of the ridge along Little Pigeon to be formed under typical circumstances to me.  

Thus, if they were formed naturally something else must have been going on at that point on the bayou to cause the unusual high ground. 

A geological Map, results of the Atchafalaya Basin Lake Chicot quadrangle area. Reveals some interesting history .... maybe something that occurred a long time ago. 

Over time, rivers and streams move across their flood plains, this is known as meander scrolls.  

New areas of land ridges and swales are always being formed.  This is well understood locally with the Mississippi river, and examples like False River new Roads, LA. In addition, there is constant deposition of material from overflowed channel banks.

The map above shows three abandoned distributaries / streams around 2b’s point in Little Bayou Pigeon.

The excerpt below.

One abandoned stream is clearly a meander) of Old Grand River, maybe centuries ago. The East Atchafalaya Basin Protection levee makes this harder to recognize.  Today, we locals call that old Meander, Bayou “Sec” with an S, which on the map someone at USGS labels as Bayou Teche, like the Teche on the west side of the Atchafalaya Basin.

Another is clearly what we call Justillien Road was a long time ago. The last looks like it has some kind of connection to Cross Bayou, but it is unclear to me where was an origin.  

Whatever, the last two abandoned streams look like they could have interconnected / intersected with Little Bayou Pigeon at what we call ToBY’s point.  

Maybe this tri-fecta of streams is responsible for unusual natural deposits of ToBY’s point.

The high ground of ToBY’s point was a workplace for the old-time commercial fishermen of Bayou Pigeon in the 1940’s and 50’s because it was one the few spots in the swamp that did not go under water every year. 

Chachie on ToBY's Point 4-30-2015

In the era of cotton hoop nets when fishermen had to tar their nets frequently, to keep them from rotting. ToBY’s point became a net tarring place.  There is a still a large metal vat and lots of big clumps of cold tar on the site.   

The tar was heated in the vats by wood fires. The vat pictured here is said to have been used by several Bayou Pigeon fisherman, ie., Orelle (aka R.L.) Frioux, Guildy Landry, Wilbert Hebert, Dudley Hebert and others.

Tarring nets was a hot, smoky and messy job and therefore selection of sites were chosen to keep it as far away from the house as possible.

ToBY’s point was not just near the job site it in was at the job site! 

ToBY’s (2b) Point and Turtle Sauce Piquant  

It was an important place back in the day when, Bayou Pigeon residents had to catch, kill, trap or grow their next meal.

Mr. Felix Berthelot born in 1925 on Indigo Bayou was a great storyteller. He was a lifelong resident and passed in his nineties at Bayou Pigeon.

There is not much about Bayou Pigeon that he did not know.  

He tells the story that ToBY’s point was famous for Turtles.

Turtles make their nest and lay their eggs in the springtime, the high-water time of the year in the Atchafalaya.  Guess what? You have just seen the high natural ridges of ToBY’s point.  Where do you think the turtles go to lay their eggs?

A fishermen headed out to the bayous for a day of hook and line fishing and / or running his hoop nets at that time of the year could always count on finding a turtle both going  and coming at ToBY's Point.  Mostly “mobelians”, the kind that crawl on logs to sun themselves.  

It just so happens, that I decided to stop off on ToBY’s Point on March 26, 2015, to look around.   I did not go more than 15 – 20 yards on the hill and came across a turtle shell. 

I stopped by Mr. Felix’s dock and showed him the turtle.

 Seeing is believing ! 

Turtle meat has a good taste and was a easy meal  for the folks in the Golden Era of Bayou Pigeon.  That is not to say, that it is a thing of the past !  

  Mr. Milton Vaughn, cleaning turtles (some mobelians) behind his home on Little Bayou Pigeon, 2014.

I don’t claim to be cook, in fact I don't even like to talk about Cooks… but I have watched our 10 Gun Camp cook for near 40 years, and he cooks everything basically like this.  

It is a sauce piquant when he makes red  gravy, when he goes brown gravy it is called a stew… 

Whatever... it is always great at the camp.  

Camp rule … Never joke with mules or cooks they have no humor…

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Turtle Sauce Piquant / turtle  stew 

Wild Game Recipe

Ingredients 

2-4 pounds turtle meat

2 -3 medium chopped onion

1 cup oil

1 chopped bell  pepper

1/2 cup chopped green onion tops

1/2 cup chopped parsley

Small clove of garlic optional

2 tbs Tabasco (original) hot sauce 1 can (10oz.) diced stewed tomatoes 1 can (10oz.) Rotel diced tomatoes & green chilies 1 can (8oz.) tomato sauce & Cajun Seasoning of choice

Browning the meat:

Season the meat with dashes of salt and pepper, add a small amount vegetable oil to a cast iron or aluminum pot. When hot, add the turtle meat and brown over high heat until deep brown and until some of the browning sticks to the bottom of the pot. Stir constantly.

After the meat is browned , add the onions, bell pepper, and garlic, the Tabasco sauce, stewed tomatoes, Rotel, and tomato sauce and add water to cover the meat. Cook with the pot covered under low heat so the mixture simmers (lightly boils). Keep adding water so the meat stays covered. You need to cook long enough so the meat is tender. Taste and add more seasoning (or salt and pepper) to taste.  When almost done, add the chopped green onion tops and parsley and cook another 15 minutes or so.

Serve over cooked white rice. 

Preserve the Heritage...

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