EllenFork

A Woman Sconed

Sorry y'all, the puns are getting worse. But the baked goods are getting better, thank goodness! I'm learning to follow directions, if you can believe it. However, there is definitely still flour all over my kitchen. You win some, you lose some....

I've finally had a chance to read Molly W's book and I really loved it. It feels fantastic to be inspired. I laughed, I cried and I found some recipes that I can't wait to make. Earlier this week I randomly picked up some crystallized ginger at ye olde Trader Joe's, that I've been nibbling on for a few days. You can only chomp down so much ginger before a vision of scones begins dancing in your head. And when I finished a particularly delightful chapter of A Homemade Life I  happened upon a recipe for Scottish Scones with Ginger and Lemon. Fate!!!!

So this Sunday morning I langorously yawned, stretched and then shot out of bed in anticipation of making scones. As I have gotten a *tiny* bit older, I've begun to understand the beauty of a morning enjoyed when functioning at full capacity, sans the residue of suffering resulting from the previous night's festivities. While I still enjoy rowdy behavior and late nights carousing with friends, I like it in intervals. WEIRD RIGHT? But anyway, this was a morning to open the blinds, let the sun stream in and eat warm scones with butter. Happily, preparing these scones won't take too much time out of your beautiful morning and will only improve the quality of your life. Crumbly, citrus-y scones with chunks of sweet and spicy ginger... a waking dream on a Sunday morning. Make sure you use Plugra or some other rich, decadent European butter, it makes all the difference, as small things usually do.

I feel sort of guilty revealing Molly's fantastic scone recipe here on the interwebs, when really you should go buy her book! Don't be mad at me, everyone. I hope you'd do the same for me. So here is the link to Amazon where you can buy Molly's book:

Buy the Book!

So, after eating a scone I realized that hunger pains still lurked. For me, breakfast pastries are just a tease, a hint of more to come. And so I made what I had handy, which was a meal of delicious sliced hard-boiled  eggs, reclining on toasts drizzled with good olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Eat these things and your life will be as sunny as the yolks of these eggs, believe me.

Flexing Some Mussels

I've been biding my time, waiting for the right moment to lure some unwitting mollusks into my home and then, Hansel and Gretel style, pop them into a warm oven (or simply blast them with steam heat). Well last night was the night. This came about when the delightful, Eco-friendly Farms pork tenderloin I had vaguely planned on preparing was still stubbornly frozen and lurking willfully in the refrigerator. I was faced with making alternate dinner plans. I lunged at the chance to finally relieve Whole Foods of its burden of a 2 lb bag of mussels from Maine, and gave them a foster home in my kitchen up the street.

Now before I get too far into this post about mussels, let me just mention something that plays a key role in most every post I write. When hunger rears its ugly head, I basically lose logic, social skills and the will NOT to verbally abuse perfect strangers. So if my dinner plans are altered, or delayed, things can get hairy. Sometimes this results in staggeringly tasty innovation. Sometimes, the result is much darker and involves the barbecue joint down the street, the one that is constantly releasing smoky meat fumes into my living room...it's like Russian roulette. Except the bullet is food. Luckily, this time innovation won.

 So, anyway. Off to the grocery I went, on a mission for mussels. Hunger confused me, and I ended up in the meat section, eventually walking away with some smoked bacon and a rib-eye (I guess I'll eat that tomorrow?) Eventually I found my way to the seafood counter. In the interest of time, I wanted cultivated mussels that did not require some brutal sounding ritual called "debearding" and worse, "scrubbing". The mussels I found were wild harvested, which I suspected meant hard work. The man behind the counter assured me they were already cleaned, but I knew he was bluffing. True to my expectations, I got them home and was faced with beards and barnacles.

Faced with these obstacles, there was nothing to do but fortify myself first with some fantastic cheese that I'd had the foresight to snag at the grocery. A thick slice of Leanora (a goat's milk, ash-covered cheese from Spain), plus a really mild Amish blue, the name of which is currently escaping me (Salemville?),  a pear and some baguette helped me get through the darkness and into the light. And a glass of Petite Syrah to wash it all down didn't hurt either.

Onward! With the help of my ravenous boyfriend, we scrubbed and debearded those little bastards. In the meantime, I prepared the steaming broth. Below you will find the improvised method for mussels. I took a bit from Martha Stewart, the Cookbook of the Culinary Institute of America and Bon Appetit. This is the result.

 

Steamed Mussels with Bacon, Tomatoes and White Wine

1 2lb bag of cultivated mussels

1/4 lb bacon, chopped (I used smokey, aged Black Forest bacon)

1 can diced tomatoes

3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 cups dry white wine (I used a white table wine from France)

2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 large shallots, finely chopped

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley

First, scrub and debeard your mussels, if they require it. The beards are little strings hanging from the side of the mussels shell and are what connect them to the rocks on which they grow. Use your fingers to pull them off, and discard. Scrub mussels to remove any mud or barnacles that may cling to the shells. Tap any opened mussels- if they do not eventually close, they are dead and should be discarded.

In a large heavy-bottom pot, cook the bacon over moderate heat. When cooked through, remove bacon and pour off fat. Add 2 tbsp butter and melt until bubbling, without browning it. Add garlic, shallots, tomatoes, thyme, salt and white wine. Add bacon. Bring to a simmer and let cook about 5 minutes.

Turn heat to high and gently add mussels. Cover pot and gently shake to evenly distribute the mussels within the pot. Cook for about 5 minutes, shaking the pot up a few more times to make sure all the shells have a chance to open. When mussels are open, they are done.

Using a slotted spoon, remove mussels from pot and into whatever bowl you'd like to serve them in. Because there were only two of us and we are heathens, the bf and I just ate out of one big bowl.
If serving a few people, spoon mussels into individual bowls.

Now add the rest of the butter and herbs to the broth. Turn heat up and simmer for about 1-2 more minutes. Pour broth over the mussels.

Serve with more white wine, crusty French bread and a bowl to collect the discarded shells. 

Enjoy, my pets!

Beans and Taters: Together Forever!

So, friends. You may have noticed that I have been a bit AWOL this past week, with my lack of posting. I have a good reason for this: a fantastic, all expenses paid (by me, unfortunately) vacation to New Orleans! I have plenty to say about that, but I think that should be a post in and of itself. I WILL say that I'm home, I'm poor and I need to eat something on the light side today.

As I debated what to eat/blog about tonight, my friend Becca suggested Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos. She spent some time with a very nice, young vegan man and seems to have picked up some tips for guilt-free feasting along the way. Her suggestion immediately made me wish I were lounging somewhere in California with a bunch of friendly hippies (which is the image I conjure up when confronted with a healthy burrito). And since it seemed a relatively economical and truly healthy option, I hauled my carcass over to Trader Joe's for the goods.

Apparently this recipe originated in the Moosewood Low Fat cookbook, but I gleaned it from various internet locations and added/subtracted a few things. The main change is that since these burritos are baked, I slathered them in salsa verde and some enchilada sauce before I put them in the oven. Now I'm not sure what to call them...enchurritos? I just can't help deviating from recipes, it's my nature. Not sure what that says about me, but I know it means I can't just leave well enough alone...

Here is the recipe for some truly tasty vegetarian 'ritos, and some mildly sub-par photos- unfortunately it's hard to take great pics when you are SO HUNGRY THAT DELAYING FOOD CONSUMPTION PUTS EVERYONE AROUND YOU AT RISK. But, you get the idea...

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos

3 large sweet potatoes
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vegetable oil
3-1/2 c diced onions
4 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 small can minced green chile (fresh is better I'm sure, but Trader Joe's didn't have those, of course)
4 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. chile powder (original called for coriander, but I had none...)
2 15-oz. cans black beans, drained
1/2 c lightly packed cilantro leaves
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
8 eight-inch flour tortillas (non-fat version)
salsa verde and red enchilada sauce (as much as you like)

salsa and sour cream for topping, as well as some sliced green onions and more cilantro to really get fancy

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Then, prick all of the sweet potatoes with forks. Microwave them for about 10 minutes, or until they are soft. Let these cool off a bit.

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet. Saute onions, garlic and chile until tender about 7 minutes. Add cumin and chile powder, stir and remove from heat.

Now scoop the flesh out of the sweet potatoes and deposit into a bowl. Add drained, rinsed black beans, cilantro, salt, and lemon juice. Mash until desired texture is achieved. I used a potato masher, but you could use a food processor for a smoother texture. Personally, I like it kind of thick.

Stir in the onions. Fill individual tortillas with the mixture and place seam-down in a casserole dish. Now, if you are not using enchilada sauce, spray with non-stick spray. I slathered some red enchilada sauce on the bottom and layered the burritos on top, so did not require any non-stick. I ended up with two layers of adorable burritos, upon which I poured salsa verde. What can I say? I LOVE SAUCE.

Pop into the oven until the dish is hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Pry out the number of burritos you desire, top with green onions, cilantro and sour cream and consume.

Enjoy, Amigos!

I met Orangette

Hi all!

I am sure many of you read Molly Wizenberg's blog, Orangette. She also has a column in Bon Appetit Magazine, from which I've used a couple recipes (marshmallows, paté). Although she has been writing since 2004, I only just discovered the sunny, prose-filled pages of her blog a few months ago, after making the Bon Appetit connection. And now, she has just written and published her first book, A Homemade Life.

There are many reasons why I am an avid fan of Miss Wizenberg: her superb writing, homey and delicious recipes supported by personal experiences and her inspiring story of literary breakthrough. Through the success of her blog, she was able to leverage a job at my favorite food mag, as well as a husband (not something I am looking for on the interwebs, but a cool story nonetheless) and now, a book. It is something I clearly aspire to, despite my unedited, haphazard blog writing style. Perhaps my erratic grammar is endearing...I hope so, readers, I hope so.

Fortuitously, Miss W's brother-in-law is the proprieter of a very successful and trendy group of restaurants in DC, which prompted a stop on her tour and a book signing party. The event was at Ceiba, a trendy Latin Fusion type restaurant a block from the White House, complete with free hors d'ouevres, cash bar and books for purchase. I arrived right as Miss W. began her reading. A very nice man brought me a delicious, gingery Dark and Stormy. The crowd was as I expected: attractively bookish women and a sprinkling of well dressed men. Everyone was excited to be there, hear Miss Wizenberg's reading and have their chance to shake her hand and eat her cookies. OH, those cookies...some kind of shortbread with pink cream cheese icing. There were also many delicious Ceiba delicacies passed throughout the room such as empanadas, chicken flautas, ceviche and mini-crabcakes.

So after some swift feasting, I purchased a book and had it signed. As I waited in line, I wondered what I would say when I got to the front. How can I get her to read my blog?!!? How can I explain in one sentence or less that I find her story completely cool and inspiring?!?! ACK!

Meeting someone who has been blogging for so many years, who has allowed you so intimately into their lives, is a weird sensation. You automatically want to tell them YOUR story, too! I mean after all, you're confidants in some strange, far-off way. I wanted to tell her all about everything, how writing this blog has been so fun and making with connections with readers has been an unexpected delight. But, instead of telling her my life story I blurted out something about having a blog, making her paté and being excited she was here. She told me she liked my necklace, that the paté took a long time to perfect and how nice it was to be here in DC with friends and family. And I was happy. 

Her inscription:

To Ellen,

Enjoy it all!

-Molly

Words to live by, my friends.

In the Hunger Zone: Chicken Stirfry Edition

The Hunger Zone. A dark place, filled with lightheaded hunger pains, growling organs and crankiness. It's a bad place. And when I find myself there...anything could happen. God FORBID I wander into a Whole Foods while facing the dark abyss of The Hunger Zone.

Naturally, that is what happened the other night as I limped out of Spin class (yes, the moon is full right now, can't explain this "exercise" phenomenon). To get back to my apartment from the gym, I must cross the path of a very shiny, very enticing Whole Foods. The odds were stacked against me as I wandered zombie-like into the glassy interior. Fresh cut flowers! Gleaming, symmetrical piles of vegetables and fruits of all seasons and origins! Cheese displays...cheese samples!! Xanadu!!!

Pitting practicality against greed and the desire for immediate gratification, I decided to make a stirfry. Healthy, quick, fresh, delicious. Done. And, I escaped that blasted store without having to sell one of my organs on the black market in exchange for my groceries. They actually have a deal where they will just take your organs and... ok fine no they don't, but Whole Foods would probably get a lot of organs if they instituted a black market organ trading policy.

I will spare you the rest of my journey... the torturous stroll past the fancy beer aisle, the painful loitering near the steaks and sausages, the drooling in the cut fresh fruit cooler...

Anyway, here is my impromptu dinner.

Chicken Stirfry

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken cutlets, sliced and cut into chunks about 2 inches long
1 head bok choy
1 package cremini mushrooms
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons ginger

1 medium white onion, sliced
1 small bunch green onions, sliced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup soy sauce (reduced sodium)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cooked brown rice

First chop everything up: peel and slice the ginger, slice the onions, mince the garlic, slice up the green onions.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet or wok until you see a wisp of smoke. Add ginger and garlic. Throw in the chicken and season with red pepper flakes, and a dash of salt and pepper. Cook until just cooked through; remove from heat. Now, add 1 tbsp oil and heat. Add green onions and white onions. When the onions are cooked a bit, add bok choy, mushrooms, more salt and pepper and soy sauce. When vegetables have had a minute to cook, return chicken to the pan on high heat. 

Serve over brown rice.

This was spicy, delicious and satisfying, and the leftovers were VERY delicious for lunch the next day. I love bok choy so much...they should call it bok JOY!! HA!

On that note... enjoy my friends!

It's 'Naner Bread!

How many people do you know who can manage to get sugar in between their toes while baking?

Well, now you know at least one person (through the internet, anyway). I'm not a neat person on a good day, but when flour and sugar enter the equation the kitchen becomes a veritable blizzard of baking materials. In my hair, definitely on whatever I'm wearing, and this past time, in between my toes. I think life's more fun when it's a bit messy, but you can be sure to find one person who reads this blog that will disagree...that person being my mother. Mom, I must've gotten the messiness from Dad. I don't know, it's just how I roll.

Anyway, messy or not, this banana bread turned out to be quite scrumptious. At least that's what my coworkers said when I deposited the loaf on the office kitchen counter the next morning. And as easy as Banana Bread turned out to be, I had never made it before now. How could I have let all those overripe bananas go to waste all these years, when they could have made a lovely quickbread for my loved ones?! I will never let that happen again, that's for sure.

I used a recipe from the Nashville Seasons Cookbook, published in 1964 by the Nashville Junior League. I received this as a gift a couple Christmases ago, and it is truly a delight. It is filled with retro recipes and menus from a very different era. In fact, many of my relatives have recipes featured in Nashville Seasons I am proud to say. Some of the recipes are truly hilarious, and others just downright scary sounding... mousses, aspics and sweetbreads, oh my! Luckily, many of them are Southern favorites and just good solid home cooking. I plan to feature many recipes in the future.

For now, I bring you:

Banana Bread II
Mrs. James C. Summers

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 ripe bananas
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp soda (I assume baking soda...)
1/2 cup pecans (I used walnuts)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream butter and sugar. Add bananas, mashed, and beat well. Add flour, soda mixed with 1 tbsp of water. (I don't know why one would do this. I didn't do it, just dumped in the baking soda. It turned out fine. I also added 1/2 tsp of salt at this point, just because I physically cannot stop myself from deviating from recipes.)

Mix well, then add nuts and vanilla. turn into well greased pan and cook at 350 degrees. If a large pan, bake for 1 1/2 hours. Or bake 1 hour for two small pans.

(When a knife came out clean, I dumped it on a rack to cool.)

Well y'all, there you have it. Plain and simple. And this recipe really did produce a tasty banana bread, plain and simple! Stay on the lookout for more Nashville Seasons recipes, as I pay homage to my beautiful hometown and the lovely ladies therein.

A Visit From The Green Fairy

I was recently paid a visit by the Green Fairy. Yeah, that's right, the Green Fairy.

Absinthe.

Absinthe, much like fairies, has been considered a mythical entity in the United States for many, many years (since being outlawed in 1912 in fact). Many people associate it with Van Gogh's missing ear, the debauchery of the Moulin Rouge, the artist Toulouse Lautrec and wormwood-induced hallucinations. I associate it with my trip to Paris one Fall, walking the dark streets with friends and sipping straight from a bottle. I did not hallucinate that night, but I may have seen God...things got hazy.

Apparently, absinthe was never really capable of causing hallucinations, which is why it has recently been allowed to pass U.S. borders once again. However, its extremely high alcohol content makes absinth a drink to enjoy with caution. This past Saturday, I found myself and a group of friends doing just that...minus the caution.

The absinthe of choice was Mata Hari, a delightful gift for my review. This absinthe is Austrian, created in the Bohemian style. This means that while it is still bright green, herbal and alcoholic it is has less of the anise taste that many drinkers find less palatable. I personally found that it went down very easily in the traditional ritual (which I will show below), or mixed into a cocktail. Either way, it is very fun to drink!

We had two different adventures with absinthe this particular Saturday. The first is the traditional ritual, which involves dripping cold water over a sugar cube into the absinthe, to dilute and sweeten it.

This is a special absinthe glass, sugar cube and spoon, provided by my lovely friend Latiffa. She especially enjoys Pernod absinthe in this way, or in one of her world-class Sazeracs. I was lucky to have an aficionado on hand to lead me through this interesting ritual.

The Absinthe Ritual

Fill the reservoir of the absinthe glass with absinthe. Place spoon and cube on top of glass. Slowly drip ice water over the cube until it is fully dissolved. DRINK!

Some people dunk the cube into the alcohol, then set it on fire. I see no real benefit to this except for fun with fire, and burning off a bit of the alcohol (which I would not recommend). It is definitely a cool effect, though.

Our next adventure was a cocktail called the Chrysanthemum, which I pulled from an article by Camper English, on epicurious.com.

 

The Chrysanthemum

Ingredients

1 teaspoon absinthe
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) Benedictine liqueur
1/4 cup (2 ounces) dry vermouth
1 cup ice cubes
1 orange peel twist

Add first three ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Carefully stir this for one minute. Strain into martini glass. Squeeze strip of orange peel into the glass and add the peel. Enjoy, in a very fancy way.

PERSONALLY, I thought the vermouth was way too overpowering. In my next tries, I added a bit more absinthe and less vermouth. Mata Hari is ideal for mixing, so the anise didn't overpower the other flavors. Also, I LOVE Benedictine. It's very sweet and very herbal. The combination of all of these liquers is quite unique.

When all was said in done, we had sampled many cocktails. The afternoon faded into night, and the shenanigans continued. When we took the streets like good little hooligans, we had the Green Fairy on our sides, and for that I thank her.

Happy Friday everybody!

A Fresh Haul (and a Happy Salad)

Yesterday I woke up in a world covered with a dusting of snow and the promise of more (lots more!) to come. And yet, despite the chill and the barren view of leafless trees and grey skies from the window, I decided it was a farmer's market kind of morning. Well, I think every morning is a farmer's market morning but only on Sunday am I allowed the privilege of going.

So I bundled up and set off towards Dupont Circle. There was a cheerful hustle and bustle as market-goers rifled through bins of beets, turnips, apples and winter greens. The mushroom lady was there in her a cave of a tent filled with mysterious fungi. The flower sellers were there with big buckets of lilies with unopened buds, and Ranunculus, which look like wild, romantic peonies. The smell of mulled cider wafted through the crowd. The folks from Eco-Friendly were there, smiling in the cold and gently explaining the benefits of humanely raised, organic meats to customers. I love Eco-Friendly Foods for their truly friendly attitudes and their incredibly tasty meats. Every visit yields some great meat, good cooking suggestions and a feeling of satisfaction.

I usually do not approach this booth with a recipe in mind, instead I choose based on the cuts available. I've ended up with many varieties of sausage, spare ribs, beef shanks osso-bucco style, pork loin and other treats. Once I've chosen something, I fill in the gaps from the vegetable stands.

On yesterday's trip, I was filling in the gaps around a duck breast procured earlier from The Organic Butcher of Mclean, an adorable little spot in Mclean, Va. In the end I left the market with fresh brown eggs, french breakfast radishes, half a loaf of Spelt, sweet potatoes, erba stella, pork sausages, and half a young chicken, frozen, not to mention the empanada and cider my young man and I consumed while walking around. Not a bad haul, but in the end not the gap fillers I meant to snag.

Sunday dinner ended up being duck breast and salad. Saving the duck breast for later, I'd like to share this easy salad and dressing with you. I borrowed  from this Food + Wine recipe. I changed a few things based on the contents of my pantry, and the fact that I looooove frisée, that bitter, thorny looking cousin of Endive.

Frisée Salad with Garlic-Anchovy Dressing

3-4 big handfuls of Frisée (I made this for two people, but you know how much lettuce you need)
6 French Breakfast Radishes, sliced
2 Ribs celery, chopped
1/2 Seedless cucumber, cut lengthwise then sliced

Toss all veggies together in a bowl.

Dressing:
4-5 Anchovy fillets, minced
1/4 good olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a saucepan, combine oil, anchovies and garlic over moderate to low heat. Stir occasionally until the garlic is golden brown, making sure not to burn it. Add lemon juice and pepper and pour over the vegetables. Serve immediately.

The nutty, salty flavor of the anchovies mixes in so nicely with the spiciness of the garlic, creating a complex flavor. The lemon adds a little bit of bite. And combined with the crunchiness of the vegetables, it ends up being a very light and flavorful salad. It got rave reviews from my dining companion, who gobbled it all up and asked for more. This might be my new favorite salad...and yours, too!

Scroux You, Mardi Gras Gumbo

So, clearly I missed Mardi Gras and I guess since I didn't get to go I feel bitter, hence the title of this post. Also, it was last week. I just had a crazy week and didn't feel up to writing about Gumbo in the midst of it. Sorry guys! But now, here I am, dutifully recording my gumbo feast. And, a feast it was, as my loyal boyfriend and I consumed it about 9 times cumulatively...I made a lot of it. Oh, and I froze some.

Anyway, the good news is that I NEVER got tired of it. It was so yummy that I just kept on feasting, night after night. There are so many tasty ingredients in gumbo that it's hard to get tired of it...every time you think you've had about enough, you chomp down on a shrimp or a big chunk of andouille and you fall in love all over again. That's how gumbo reels you in.

This is the first gumbo I've ever made. When I lived in New Orleans, I just sampled everything that came across my path and relied on professionals to serve up steaming plates of goodness. Here in DC, I am not so lucky as to be constantly surrounded by folks who grew up cooking and eating gumbo. I had to take matters into my own hands. My main concern with this was only the most important component of gumbo: the roux.

Roux is a mixture of equal parts flour and oil (or butter or fat) cooked to a dark, reddish brown color. It requires a good heavy bottomed pan (which I do not have for some inane reason) and patience (which I have for the most part). It also takes some cojones. Allowing the roux cook to perfection means constantly stirring, while you are sure it's being hideously disfigured and burned. This is quite nerve wracking. I folded before my gumbo had reached a really nutty dark color, a decision supported by my internet researching. Apparently a "New Orleans" style roux is lighter, and peanut butter colored. A true Cajun roux is really dark, like milk chocolate.

Let's just say mine was a New Orleans-style roux, but it did get legitimately peanut butter colored. It just changed colors so fast that I got alarmed and threw the vegetables in, which stops it from cooking. The result was very delicious so I guess I didn't go too far wrong...

Shrimp, Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2-3 ribs celery, chopped
• 4  cloves garlic, minced
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons creole seasoning such as Tony Cachere's, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon hot paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• A few dashes of cayenne pepper
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 rotisserie chicken, meat cut into chunks
• 1 pounds andouille, cut into 1/2" slices
• 1 bag of frozen, sliced okra
• 1 bunch green onions, green parts sliced
• 1 lb shrimp, I used frozen, raw, peeled and deveined b/c that is the easiest option

First heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan over moderate heat. Gradually add flour, stirring constantly. Pay close attention as the mixture heats up, making sure to prevent lumps from forming. This can go from bad to worse in a matter of minutes if left unattended- make sure to stir constantly (redundant, I know).

Ok, when the roux is the desired color, add the vegetables. The roux will quit cooking so violently. Cook the veggies for about 5 minutes, then add stock, chicken, sausage, and the rest of the seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to actively simmer for about an hour (at the very minimum). Make sure that you are tasting and adjusting seasonings as it simmers. If you like a pinch more thyme, or an extra bay leaf, or are a fiend for spice, now is a good time to change that.

About 10 minutes before serving, add the frozen shrimp. You don't want them to get tough. When they are cooked through and pink, they're ready to go.

Serve over rice, with lots of Abita beer, french bread, crazy friends and Louisiana Kitchen Hot Sauce. That stuff is awesome.

Les Bon Temps Roulesz, bitches!