Blue Dog Nights

So a couple of days ago I had the distinct honor of heading over to New Orleans with my good buddy Kevin to help cook up a mess o’ vittles for some amazing folks from Michigan (Go Blue!), and Montana (Go whatever your team is called. Do you even have enough people to play football?), and Pennsylvania (OK, love JoePa, but that’s as far as I can go with that).

These folks have given up a week to come and help victims of Hurricane Katrina rebuild their lives, their communities, and their wonderful city. Some of these great people have done this nine times in the past four years and change in various places from Pearlington, MS to New Orleans to my very own bayou communities south of Houma.

As I got the chance to tour the area and see some of the amazing work they’re doing, I also got to see how much work is still left to do. But it gives me great hope to know that groups such as these are committed to coming back as often as they can to see the job through even when some of their friends and family up north and out west and out east don’t understand that we’re not all better down here yet and won’t be for many years to come.

So as Kevin and I started getting ready to roll up our sleeves and feed some very hungry people, I thought, hey, I’ve never done a cooking post. And if you think you’re going to learn how to cook Shrimp Spaghetti for dinner tonight, well, you’d be wrong. Not that I don’t want to share the recipe, but I doubt most of you are planning family dinner for 50 tonight. But I will give you a little blow by blow action anyway and you can probably figure out how to do this for more normal portions.

So first we gathered up a few ingredients.

Can’t forget the shrimp. And of course, it goes without saying that you need to make sure that’s some pure, wild-caught Louisiana shrimp. Demand the best!

And now to start the roux. OK, I admit, some bayou people look at me in horror when I say that I start my shrimp spaghetti with a roux. Others just nod their heads. Yep, of course you start with a roux. To each his own. The proof is in the pudding so to speak and well, I think this pudding is mighty tasty. I always say, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it, but you’ll be sorry.

Now, this roux is not for the limp-wristed. We got three kinds of roux down the bayou–the one, two, and three beer rouxs. But since I was at a Presbyterian Disaster Assistance camp, I had to settle for the three lemonade variety. Some funky music is also helpful, but I left my iPod out in the car and once you start, you can’t stop.

So you basically stir, stir, stir and stir some more until it’s a nice dark brown. And then stir a little longer.

Actually, don’t tell anyone, but this roux really isn’t dark enough, but we were on a tight schedule and I started to panic.

Anyway, while you’re pouring all that love in to your roux, it’s wonderful to have a good buddy around for interesting conversation and to cut up all that delicious andouille sausage.

Alright, time to throw in the trinity. And you bet we cheated. You know how long it takes to chop up enough onion, green pepper, celery, parsley, and garlic for an army?

Alright, after that’s smothered down, throw in some more garlic, some Ro-Tel and that beautiful andouille. But don’t forget your vegetarian friends out there and transfer some of that yummy goodness to another pot before the sausage hits the fire. Why anyone would want to voluntarily deprive themselves of andouille is beyond me, but cest la vie.

Smother that down some more and pour in the sauce. Whole tomatoes are probably better, but I’m just not a big fan of tomato chunks (yeah, it’s just a weird texture thing I got) so y’all are just going to have to live with it.

Now, that roux is going to make it real thick, so add in some water.

Throw in your spices. I’m a big fan of Tony’s, crab boil, and any good Italian seasoning blend. Drop in a few bay leaves and viola. Just let it simmer a good bit.

About 15-20 minutes before dinner, turn up the heat, throw in the shrimp, bring to a quick, low boil, turn off the heat and eat! Oh yeah, don’t forget the spaghetti. And really, don’t trust those “suggested” serving sizes on the package. Double it. And if you’re cooking for a team of folks who’ve been out hammering and mudding and grouting and painting and shingling all day, triple it. Thank goodness for leftover frozen spaghetti in the freezer that we could make quick work of warming up. Live and learn!

And I even got the sister seal of approval which is a big deal since she thinks most of my meals come out of a box. Happy birthday Sue!!! You rock!!!

And yes, hearing my super amazing MiddleSis try to pronounce Tchoupitoulas was wonderful and brought back memories of my first attempt at it!