Pecan Pralines

The quintessential New Orleans candy. And it's pronounced or (and sometimes by some of the more wacky locals), NEVER . Although, you're certainly entitled to your opinion on its pronunciation, no matter how wrong it may be ...

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup pecans (chopped)
  

Combine the sugar and milk and cook slowly in a heavy pot over a low flame until it reaches the soft ball stage (238 degrees on a candy thermometer). Be patient -- this takes awhile.
Remove from heat and add the butter, vanilla and pecans.
Beat mixture with a wooden spoon (it HAS to be a wooden spoon) until it is smooth and creamy. (Basically, until your arm is ready to fall off.)
Drop by spoonsful onto waxed paper.
If the candy does not harden within 10 minutes, it may be cooked some more.
Do NOT try to put them in the 'fridge to harden. They'll just get all goopy -- although they'll be good spooned over french vanilla ice cream.

Yield: Approximately one dozen

Muffuletta Sandwiches, bitches!

This is not just a bunch of cold cuts and cheese. Anyone can make that. That's not to say that the meats and cheeses aren't important -- they are. You can get good quality Italian meats and cheeses in most good supermarkets, but you'd be better off at an Italian market (especially for the mortadella, which isn't always easy to find at a conventional supermarket).

To make this, you need two very important ingredients -- the bread, and the olive salad. In a pinch any good Italian bread will do, but for an authentic muffuletta you need a muffuletta loaf. It's round, usually sesame-seeded and about 10 inches in diameter. If you want a Liuzza's-style "Frenchuletta", use a good light-bodied crispy-crusted French bread. Then ... the olive salad. The Holy Grail of sandwich fillings.

The recipe below makes about a gallon of olive salad. Don't worry, that shit is tasty, and you'll eat it fast!

• For the olive salad:
• 1 gallon large pimento stuffed green olives, slightly crushed and well drained
• 1 quart jar pickled cauliflower, drained and sliced
• 2 small jars capers, drained
• 1 whole stalk celery, sliced diagonally
• 4 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced diagonally
• 1 small jar celery seeds
• 1 small jar oregano
• 1 large head fresh garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 jar pepperoncini, drained (small salad peppers) left whole
• 1 pound large Greek black olives
• 1 jar cocktail onions, drained

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl or pot and mix well.
Place in a large jar and cover with 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 Crisco oil.
Store tightly covered in refrigerator.
Allow to marinate for at least 24 hours before using.

• For the sandwich:
• 1 round loaf italian bread
• 1/4 pound mortadella, thinly sliced
• 1/4 pound ham, thinly sliced
• 1/4 pound hard Genoa salami, thinly sliced
• 1/4 pound Mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 1/4 pound Provolone cheese,sliced
• 1 cup olive salad with oil

Split a muffuletta loaf or a loaf of Italian bread horizontally.
Spread each half with equal parts of olive salad and oil.
Place meats and cheeses evenly on bottom half and cover with top half of bread.
Cut in quarters. Enjoy!

Some people use a Foreman frill to toast the sandwich a bit. It's a personal preference thing.

Maven's Blasphemous Gumbo Ya-Ya

Blasphemous? No roux! Only a northerner could think of that!

The lack of a roux and use of lentils (which end up cooking down to a mush to thicken) add more fiber and make this dish lower in glycemic index (lay man's terms: if you have sugar or insulin problems, this dish is great for you, as it takes longer for your body to digest).

In a large sauce pan, saute the following until golden brown:

1 Tablespoon Olive oil
1 Medium onion, chopped
2-3 Cloves garlic, minced
3 Ribs celery, diced
1 Bell pepper, diced
1 Jalapeno, minced
2 Links Andouille (or chorizo), sliced
4 Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed

While that is cooking, throw these ingredients into a pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistles:

1 Cup pink lentils
2 Cups water

Once pressure cooker is de-pressurized, stir up lentils, add the chicken/chorizo/Trinity mixture to the pressure cooker, adding the following items and bring to a boil:

1 12 oz can (or comparable volume of fresh) tomato puree
1 12 oz can Chicken or Vegetable broth
1 Cup Okra slices
1/2 Teaspoon thyme
1-2 Tablespoons Old Bay
1-2 Bay leaf

Once to a boil, reduce heat to low, stir very well, and put the gasket/lid back on the pressure cooker and cook on low for two more whistles.

Once pressure cooker is de-pressurized, you can add raw shrimp in at this point, stir and re-cover. No need to have stove on. The heat from the gumbo will be sufficient to cook the shrimp.

Garnish with fresh parsley and scallions and serve over rice.

Sufficient to feed six adults.