Mardi Gras made the list in Patricia Schultz’s book, 1000 Places To See Before You Die but a side note should be added to include that whatever happens at Mardi Gras should go to the grave with you too!

I’m not sure how much I will ever reveal about my first trip to Mardi Gras. It did involve a trip to Pat O’ Brien’s, hurricane stained clothes and being asked to dance by a guy with women’s underpants strung around his neck (they still had the price tag on them!). Great fun and great memories that I’ll take to the grave - peace, love and Fat Tuesday! 

Recipe:

3 cups cooked white, long grain rice

3/4 – 1 lb andouille sausage, preferably turkey

1/ 2 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 large onion, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 6oz. can tomato paste

Prepare rice according to package directions but substitute chicken broth for water for cooking. Make enough for 3 cups cooked rice.

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add peppers, onions and celery cooking for 5 minutes. Add sliced sausage and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in tomato paste. Cook for a few minutes and then add rice, mixing well. Cook for about 15 minutes before serving being careful not to burn the rice.

Notes:

I actually found a turkey andouille sausage at Whole Foods. The brand is Wellshire Farms and it was actually really good and had quite a bit of heat to it.

My first introduction to a Louisiana staple was at camp. Every summer the Louisiana girls would unpack, pull out a giant can of Tony’s and set it in the center of our cabin’s dining hall table. We ate it on everything – eggs, popcorn, baked potatoes – I truly thought it was the best thing I had ever had and still eat it on everything.

In college, I became obsessed with Zapp’s Spicy Cajun Crawtator chips. They didn’t sell them in Tennessee and so my mom would ship them to me a case at a time. I swear I lived on Zapp’s and Dr. Pepper during my sophomore year.

And I love crawfish. I won’t touch seafood of any kind with a ten foot pole but give me a big batch of mud bugs and I can go to town!

Recipe:

1 lb boneless chicken breast, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp flour

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup chicken broth, low-sodium

1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, season with salt and pepper and cook until done. Remove chicken and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium-low, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon for about 15 minutes until the roux becomes a dark caramel color.

Add onions, celery and bell peppers and cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds more. The mixture will be a little thick with the roux sticking to the vegetables.

Turn heat back up to medium-high and add chicken broth to deglaze pan. It is very important to scrape up all the roux from the bottom of the pan. Cook mixture for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently until the broth thickens.

Add tomatoes, chicken and spices to broth mixture and reduce to a simmer for about 20 -30 minutes before serving.

Notes:

Chicken Creole is best served with scoop of rice and some crusty bread to dip in the sauce. If you’d like it with a little more heat just add more cayenne.

If you’d prefer the sauce a bit thinner, add some water or broth.