Here comes Monday

And so ends another weekend. This one was especially good. We spent some time with my daddy's buddies at the deer camp. My little boy and his cousin spent the whole weekend out in the woods. Jacob came home with 2 splinters, 3 scrapes, 1 marshmallow induced burn, 5 non descript scrapes and one bee sting. All on his little hands. Somehow though none of those maladies kept him from chasing off down the road after a cow or colt or squirrel. Daddy got the boys these $0.88 plastic guns that you stick into a potato for ammo. Pump that gun and it will turn that potato plug into a projectile danger. I think that's what they used to hunt squirrels. Dad said that Jacob was in the golf cart with him friday afternoon while they were looking for wood for their fire and Jacob said, "Pop, this has been a good day." I'm pretty sure dad could have died then and not felt like he'd missed a thing. It thrills me to no end for my child to have the same kind of relationship with my dad as I did with his dad.

An outdoor weekend begs for food cooked outdoors. This weekend we had grilled hamburgers and hotdogs with some 'poppy beans' and chips. The patties and weenies were the cheap kind, but I'm not sure I've ever had a better burger.

We have a good friend, Mr. Bill Michaels, who used to cook with us competitively. Mr. Bill always brought a big pot and a butane stove and cooked Jambalaya for us when we were at a contest. It took him all day to cook. It was cooked start to finish outside. you could smell the chicken and the sausage all around. It was especially good when it got a little cooler. I loved his jambalaya so much that when I was planning my wedding I asked Mr. Bill to make some for me to share with guests at my reception. (There was only a little for us to take to eat later!) He is the master of Jambalaya. I've always tried my hardest to duplicate his and even with coaching, it just isn't the same. I've whittled down a recipe and plan to use my version tomorrow for lunch at Ubon's.

Boil a WHOLE CHICKEN. Remove cooked chicken and reserve liquids. I pull my CHICKEN and remove all skin. In a heavy bottomed pot put 1 tbsp OLIVE OIL 1 tbsp BUTTER and allow to melt together. As this melts add chopped ONION, BELL PEPPER, JALAPENO PEPPER (If you're awesome!) and a fresh chopped TOMATO. Allow this to turn pretty close to brown. add 2 cups LONG GRAIN WHITE RICE. Stir the rice around and let it get familiar with the veggies and the fat. Don't let the rice brown, but make sure it gets at least pretty shiney and a little opaque. Add reserved chicken stock. You'll need at least 4 cups or so. To this add about 1 tbsp SEASON'T UP (or your favorite cajun seasoning if you're not awesome), 1 BAY LEAF, SALT AND PEPPER to taste. put a lid on this and don't check it for a few minutes. give the rice time to cook in your flavored liquid. check occasionally in case you need to add more stock. Last 15 minutes of cooking add all PULLED CHICKEN, SLICED SAUSAGE. Here I'm going to add some pulled pork (because Mr. Bill ALWAYS does.) You can also add shrimp, crab, or almost anything else you need to get rid of in your fridge.
I serve with cracers, maybe cornbread depending on how it turns out, and a salad.

Come try it!
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