City of New Orleans, GAIR-ON-TEED!

Boy, have I been busy this morning and afternoon. After I walked the dogs, I got right into my kitchen. On the menu today in honor of Mardi Gras and Super Bowl Saints Sunday: Jambalaya and a Muffaletta. I remember the first time I ever heard of, saw, and tasted Jambalaya. When I lived on Spruce Street in Morgantown, I met a dude named Slack who was a recent LSU graduate and WV native. One day, Slack had a container of what he called "jambalaya," and I was sold. What up, Slack. Still looking to visit the tavern one of these days.

Jambalaya is a one-potter, indeed, and I have a great affinity towards one-potters. To begin, I roasted a wee chicken in the oven. I seasoned the bird with S & P and some poultry-season blend Penzey's sent free as a sample last time I ordered from them. While the chicken cooked, I put in the big pot a quart of chicken stock that I made last week and a quart of store-bought. I added a big can of diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and a seasoning blend from a famous NOLA chef, Emeril Lagasse. He calls it Essence, and it's composed of paprika, salt, cayenne, black pepper, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, and onion powder, which I did not have. I also added some minced garlic.

While that stewed together in the big pot, in my skillet I sauted a medium onion, a red pepper, a yellow pepper, a green pepper, and some diced celery. My proportions were a bit off to be considered a true Trinity, but one of the reasons I like cooking so much is that generally speaking, it is not an exact science. I like having some margin of error.

Fire burning, the kitchen is smelling good by now, a nice commingling of roasting chicken and Trinity and any other time I would be getting excited for the victuals! But I was not hungry, really, because earlier I ate a rugged chunk of Muffaletta.

With the chicken roasted and rested, I picked the meat off and tossed it into the pot. The skin had crisped nicely, and I did take a little taste. The underneath skin was floppy and rubbery as it did not crisp. The dogs absolutely tore it up. They loved it. They're supposed to be on a diet, but it's Super Bowl Sunday, after all. With the carcase, I will make another quart of stock. Very little waste.

I put those ingredients in the pot and gave it a good stir along with a solid pound of Andouille sausage that they make fresh down at the HT. I had three of the four sausages diced when I realized that I neglected to peel the casing before the dicing. This added a bit of prep time, but again, the dogs loved the treat of sausage casing. To the pot, I added two cups of long-grain rice that will soak up a lot of the liquid. Jambalaya shouldn't be soupy, I think.

Lastly, I am going to add a pound of shrimp to the mix to finish it. The recipe I am using calls for rabbit instead of chicken, but I much prefer chicken to rabbit mostly since I am accustomed to it. I think they use rabbit at Coop's, and the wife loves it. It is her favorite restaurant in the Quarter, she said.

I have not forgotten about the Muffaletta, half of which sits in the fridge as I write. I am very tempted to go and get another chunk of it, but I do not want to spoil my appetite for Jambalaya. I could not find the type of bread I was looking for at the HT the other day, a largish, round loaf, because no one was working at the bakery area. I think that person did not show up due to the snow and foul weather. Anyway, I settled for a loaf of ciabatta, and that, I found, is quite acceptable. My wife, who is quite a bit more Cosmopolitan than I am, introduced me to this exquisite sandwich at the Central Grocery in New Orleans, which is the original proprietor and creator of the sandwich.

At the deli, I also bought sliced ham, mortadella, Genoa salami and provolone cheese. But that's not all. The best part of the Muffaletta is the olive salad. The HT has a nicely stocked olive bar from which I chose a few olives, some roasted peppers, a few cloves of roasted garlic and a couple marinated hot peppers. I diced this and added just a bit of olive oil before spreading it all over the bread. (My mouth just watered a little.) I tried to toast the bread and melt the cheese, but I was impatient and could not wait for that to happen entirely. They serve em cold at the Central anyway. Them's some good groceries, as old Justain Wilson might said.