FOOD: Yesterday was the first night of our "Cajun Week" meal plan. Even though it wasn't my night to cook, no one seemed to mind that I took over the cooking duties for the night. There's something about cold weather that just begs for soup. So I decided to make gumbo. I chose the seafood gumbo recipe from John Folse's Cajun and Creole Encyclopedia. The only changes I made to the recipe were: I couldn't find fish stock so I used chicken stock instead, I didn't have crab and oysters so I used shrimp and codfish, and I served the whole thing with a 50/50 mix of white and brown rice. Oh, and I added one can of diced tomatoes with chiles. Our local supermarket actually carries andouille sausage, so we picked some up to add to the gumbo. It has such great flavor: really salty and spicy. I warned the boys that the sausage was hot, and even so, they tried a piece or two each and really liked it. If you want to avoid the spice of andouille, anything milder, like polish sausage, can work too. This is the option I usually use when cooking for the entire family.
So, night number one of Cajun Week is one for the record books. It was piping hot and just spicy enough AND the Saints won the football game! A wonderful Louisiana evening. The rest of the week's meals are planned: Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya and Shrimp and Grits. The boys will certainly be getting some help from Mr. Zatarain!
Some good news: Derrick ate a whole bowl of the gumbo. So excited. Can't wait to see how his night as chef goes. So far, so good!
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