For many years, before covid turned our world upside down, I enjoyed having three or four people over for Sunday bunch. I spent a lot of time getting ready, preparing a menu, cleaning, polishing the silver and selecting a good bottle of wine for each course and even ironing the cloth napkins.
But times sure have changed. Part of it is, I am getting older and just don’t have the energy (or maybe I am just getting lazy). But when I am in the mood for getting together with friends more often than not, it’s a potluck, where everyone brings a dish. I only have to prepare one dish, so it’s a lot easier. The hardest part is inviting an interesting mix of friends (if you have ever invited two people who are at odds, you know what I mean). Finding a good location is also important. The beach is one of my favorites, but my back yard works pretty well too.
I mix my contribution to the menu up a little but more often than not just rely on the old standards, like gumbo or jambalaya. I like them both, but gumbo is much harder to make (a good roux takes forever!), but I know a few short cuts that can make jambalaya about as easy as it gets.
Fill your rice cooked with at least 3 cups of Two Brooks rice (it’s from the Mississippi Delta) and add twice that amount of chicken stock and turn it on. Next brown the meat, typically its Conecuh sausage, but recently I have been jacking it up by using sausage, cubed, thick sliced ham and rouses Italian sausage. Brown and then remove everything from the pan, leaving only the oil and drippings. Add diced onion, bell pepper and a few chopped and seeded jalapenos, season with Tony’s and red pepper flakes. Sauté for at least fifteen minutes, then add as much garlic as you can stand, and cook for a few more minutes. Remember to season as you go, never all at once at the beginning. Combine the veggies and sausage with the rice and you are ready to go.
This really is a great dish to serve on a chilly day and is delicious and inexpensive too. It originated in south Louisiana, and has French, Spanish and Native American influences. There are two basic types, Cajun jambalaya and creole jambalaya that uses tomatoes.
In the end, it’s not really about whether the table is set with polished silver or paper plates. What matters is the sharing — of food, of stories, of laughter — and the simple joy of being together. A pot of jambalaya, passed around with friends on a cool day, does that just fine. And these days, that feels like more than enough.