Now, he is not a day-to-day sort of cook. 99% of the time, the kitchen is my domain. His repertoire is limited and he cooks almost exclusively in crowd-sized quantities. But what he makes is amazing.
Back when we lived in Texas, one of his best work friends was a good ol' boy from eastern Louisiana, a proud graduate of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. This guy hung out with a crowd of his former frat brothers, all also from Cajun country, and every single one of those boys could cook like a dream. (One of said frat brothers actually went to middle school with me in the United Arab Emirates, proving definitively that this is an inordinately small world.)
Anyway, under the guidance of this motley crew, Himself learned to make real gumbo, red beans and rice, and jambalaya, all of which he is going to cook for us on Saturday! My involvement will be limited to procuring the ingredients for him and making rice and garlic bread (and possibly a salad.) My kind of entertaining. Two families of close friends are coming over, bringing kids, dogs, a dessert and an hors d'oeuvre between them. We will stuff ourselves silly, drink lots of good wine and just enjoy the company. I can't wait!
Gumbo...
Red beans and rice (my absolute favorite...)
And jambalaya. Yum.
That sounds completely wonderful.
ReplyDeleteYum! I want to crash! That jambalaya looks more like a paella though. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the medley that all these foods are, with so many different influences from Cajun to African to Native American to other European. Even the gumbo, there are three ways that I know to make a gumbo - with a roux (French), file powder (Native American), or okra (African). (I always choose the third, of course.)
Darned stock photos...none quite like what we will be serving, but the general idea is there. And our gumbo is roux-based, per the orders of the Cajun frat boys. ;)
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