A new week

Each Sunday morning Daddy and I spend a few minutes planning out our weekly menu. Lots of it is set in stone: Fried chicken EVERY Tuesday, Chicken Strips EVERY Friday. We've recently added catfish to the weekends and it's starting to take off. It's hard to beat Daddy's fried catfish. One of the hardest things to do in a restuarnat is to keep it fresh while pleasing your customers who have their favorites. Thursdays were our Chicken and Dumplin' day for a couple of years. We had a group of guys that came in every Thursday...I called them the Dumplin' Gang. (Adorable old geezers...don't tell them I'm writing about them!) But other than the Dumplin Gang, everyone got tired of dumplins. So we changed the daily special to meatloaf. Now I'm going to tell you we've got the best meatloaf I've ever had, none of that ketchup topping junk. I have a friend who expects a reminder text message on meatloaf day. But our crowd started thinning out again. Now we're doing both.
It's our job to think of what people might want to eat, what is different, and what is economical. Mondays are the grocery order day and lots of times they are the days when we've got to be creative because we've got some sausage and that's about it. I've started having Monday as our soup(ish) and salad day. Tomorrow is Gumbo and Red Beans. (oh yeah, we've got sausage!)
I started making these Red Beans and Rice years ago and will debut them at the restaurant tomorrow. Traditionally Red Beans and Rice are served on Monday for just the reason I'm serving them, they are good, filling and incorporate what I've got fresh and on hand. Try these if you can't come by and have a bit with us:

Red Beans and Rice

In a large stock pot add 3tbsp OLIVE OIl and heat. Add 1 CHOPPED ONION, 1 CHOPPED BELL PEPPER, 1 CHOPPED CELERY STALK, 1 tsp MINCED GARLIC. (A modified miripoix). Once translucent add 3 tbsp FLOUR and cook until you have a fairly dark roux. To the roux add 2 OR 3 cups BEEF OR CHICKEN STOCK. While this thickens, open and drain 3 or 4 cans of 1/2 dark red 1/2 light red KIDNEY BEANS. Add 2 cans CRUSHED TOMATOES, then the kidney beans. To this add 1tbsp to 1/4 cup of UBON'S SEASN'T UP (or your favorite cajun seasoning). Add 4 inch pieces of SAUSAGE. (I'm using cajun pork sausage...cheaper the better). Allow to simmer for about 1 hour or more. 30 minutes before serving, remove 1/2 cup of red beans and process in food processor, or us a sieve. This will help to thicken and add texture.

Serve over rice. Each bowl receiving sausage.

**here's a secret. I will add about 2 Tbsp of UBON'S BBQ SAUCE and CAYENNE PEPPER to my roux to make it darker and add more flavor.

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Call me at the restaurant and I will fix you up Red Beans and Rice and you can pretend you spent the afternoon cooking for your grateful family!