Ducks Mahal

(Note: Image ganked from these people. http://www.bhg.com/recipes/fish/shellfish/shrimp-creole-dinner/)

Okay you nutty-heads. Been gone doing thangs. You know, thangs. Actually, getting the guitar ginned up and those creative juices a flow’in again. I might could do summore thangs, but, gotta cook too.

And yere ya go, creole anything – the recipe! Ta-da! This recipe is for you George, you little under cover woman you and you too Laurie, you little Norcal Cajun.

Did I ever mention that I’m Cajun? My grandpa was a weird duck. He and his sister were playing around by the chopping block where many a chicken went all Marie Antoinette and junk and he put his hand on the block on a dare with his sister. His sister picked up the ax and was apparently faster on the draw than he was and whacked his right thumb off at the knuckle. I’m sure thangs didn’t go as intended that day, but never mind that. He strummed a guitar with his nub anyway and was quite effective actually. He played in a Cajun band and sang with my great uncle, Blind Uncle Gaspard. You know him. He was recorded by the Library of Congress and opened the movie, Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood with a song. Well, with an old recording.

Now back to Creole recipe.

Creole Sauce or we call it “tomato gravy” here is a big ole everyday standard here like a Ford or a Chevy. It’s not a Porsche. If you want a Porsche you have to get real heavy into hot like Tabasco and Cayenne. This recipe has a dash of that. But that’s not the point of this recipe. The point is all about, well, tomatoes.

Now I’ve been cranking on Northern Italian dishes lately like a factory from a great book I found that has really intensified my sproing factor in the kitchen. You’d be sitting there in the kitchen watching me and smell’in those smells and going all rock star groupie on me. I know you would. You’d be throwing your panties at me. You’d be screaming and want’in some. I know you would.

(Pardon me for a minute while I wipe the tears from laughing. I’m so silly, boy am I silly.)

Anyway, let’s get to cooking and we can even leave our panties on, okay.

Ingredients for the Sauce:

This is where I share a secret. Hunt down veal stock. Find it somewhere. I use Kitchen Basics veal stock and have abandoned beef stock altogether. I use either chicken or veal now. If you don’t have veal then you can substitute chicken, but I’m telling you, veal stock is like Iron Chef stuff. I feel like a big boy when I use it. I got that little extra sprang in my step. It makes me look like a pro – with my panties on.

2 Tbsp olive oil, (yes Laurie extra virgin is good)
1 white onion chopped
1/2 green pepper chopped
1 celery stalk chopped
1 garlic clove (minced)

Sauté all ingredients above for several minutes. Then add to the pot:

2 cups veal stock (or chicken)
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 tomato (peeled and diced)
1 cup of tomato sauce (Contadina makes an 8 ounce can)
1/2 cup of white wine
1 Tsp of tomato paste

Then add to the pot a Bouquet Garni: Now Laurie has a different way of this. She adds these ingredients to the pot loose about 20 minutes before serving. I put them in a piece of cheese cloth, draw the four corners together and tie the top to make a pouch and toss into pot now. Either way is big boy cooking too.

1 Tsp of thyme
1 Tsp of marjoram
1 small bay leaf
1 Tsp black peppercorns (if loose use a pepper mill)

Bring pot to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook about a half hour. Before serving add a dash of Tabasco and adjust with salt and pepper to taste. Can it be that easy? Say yes.

The meat:

This sauce is the basis for the infamous shrimp Creole dish pictured above. But there are no limitations there.

So you can sauté the shrimp at least a pound no more than two, in olive oil and garlic and add to a bed of rice topped with the sauce or just add the shrimp to the sauce and simmer until the shrimp is cooked or…

You can do what I did yesterday. Chop two chicken breast deboned and de-skinned, chop one veal chop and one andouille sausage sliced (if you can’t get andouille, use regular Hillshire Farms smoked sausage, beef or pork, either one, Moses won’t throw the book at you) and simply add it to the sauce and cook on simmer until the meat is done.

Serve on a bed of rice.

Can it be that easy? Say yes.

Now, you have all my secrets.