Almost Tailgate Time

As we wrap up August, the hearts of University of Washington fans are beginning to beat a bit faster... College football is almost upon us, and Husky nation is looking forward to a new era with Coach Sarkisian and our "revamped" football program. However, we won't be able to ease into the season -- our first game is against LSU. It's going to be a HUGE game. And although the gametime start is officially at 7:30pm, tailgate-time will be earlier. Much earlier. Maybe 8am early.

I tell you all this because this year, two of my friends and I have inherited the roles and responsibilties to make the entree(s) for the tailgate. Since we're playing LSU, we are going with southern theme. I decided to try making a gumbo for the tailgate. And although I've had some delicious gumbo in the past (I worked in Lousisana for 6 months), I've never made it before. So to ensure the dish is good enough to serve 25-30 people, I decided to make a test batch yesterday.

The recipe I ended up was a personal hybrid of common components I found in various recipes, with my flavor preferences thrown in. And in the end, the dish came out. I think for the tailgate, I might make a few minor changes here and there, but overall, I was happy with the result. It may not be the most authentic, but here's the recipe I ultimately ended up with...

Spencer's Chicken & Andouille Sausage Gumbo

Ingredients
The Chicken
1 tablespoon olive oil
1.5 lbs of chicken legs

The Rue
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup AP flour

The "Holy Trinity" -
1.5 cups (3 stalks) celery
1 cup (1 whole) red pepper
2 cups onion

1.5 cups of Andouille sausage (cut in half circles)
3 tbls chopped garlic
1 diced jalepeno
1 can 28 oz crush tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 tbls Creole seasoning - cayenne, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper (add ingredients to personal preference). I added 2 parts paprika to 1 part garlic powder and cayenne.

Heat the 1 tablespoon of oil in a cast iron dutch oven over medium heat.
Add the chicken. Turn occassionally. Once browned, remove from the pot, including the big bits stuck to the bottom. Don't cook the meat all the way -- you'll add it back into the pot later to finish cooking.

Remove the chicken meat from the bone and set aside.

To the dutch oven, add 1/2 cup of oil, heating to medium heat. Whisk in the flour to make a golden brown roux. Stir constantly, and don't burn the flour.

Add 75% of the Holy Trinity, and all the sausage. Cook until the vegetables soften (or about 10 min).

Add the cold stock, tomatoes, creole seasonings, and garlic. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to let simmer for at least 30 min. If the gumbo looks too thick, add a cup of chicken broth or water. As it cooks longer, it should also thin out a little since the veggies will release more water into the pot.

About 10-15 minutes before you're ready to serve, add the chicken meat and the rest of the ingredients, but only 1/2 of the Green Onions. (This is optional - I like the texture of some crunchy veggies. You can add all of them prior to the stock in the beginning of the recipe if you wish.)

When the chicken is cooked through, serve over rice and garnish w/ green onions.
Serves 4-6 people.


As I said earlier, there are a few things that I will probably change next time... I would cut the tomatoes by half, and increase the amount of spice by double. Also, I think my gumbo was bit too thick so next time I'll use more chicken stock as well. And finally, the chicken legs worked well (great flavor), but for the tailgate I think I might cheat and just use boneless chicken breast. It'll be easier to manage when I increase the size of the batch to feed the horde of Husky fans.

So there you have it. A little gumbo to fill our bellies before we go and play the LSU Tigers. Hopefully, the meal won't be the only winner of the evening! Go Dawgs!

My State of Unemployment

So now that I've been unemployed for almost two months, you'd think that I might be getting nervous about not having found a job. Thankfully that is not the case! My "sabbatical" has been fantastic so far... if you read this blog, you obviously know about the road trip, but aside from that, my days have been filled with spending time with B, sunshine, some favorite friends from Ireland, hiking here and there, and getting to know B's extended family better. Oh, with a little job searching sprinkled in for good measure.

The last time I was unemployed this long was when I first graduated from college, and had returned to the States from spending a summer in China. If I remember correctly, those days were not nearly as relaxing. Each day was filled with the tension of when I might find a job and the frustration of not having any job offers.

This time around the sense surrounding my unemployment is 180 degrees different. It's been a time of rejuvenation. And now as I kick my job search into a higher gear, I'm able to start looking for a job that will not only satisfy my paycheck, but also my sense of purpose. My hope is by the time I do find my next position, I'll be refreshed and reenergized to tackle the job with boundless vigor.

So all in all, I am fortunate enough to say that being laid off has been a very positive experience for me so far. I know that I am probably in the minority for thinking this way, but I am thankful to be able to enjoy my sabbatical.

Tomatoes Gone Wild!

Up until this week, it has been unusually hot here in Seattle. Temperatures were in the 90's, with the hottest temperature reaching 103 (the highest temp EVER recorded in Seattle). But what was blistering for us humans was perfect for the tomato plants we have in my back yard. They went crazy! After months of forming green, round teasers, they finally started changing to a beautiful red over the past few days...

We have a variety of tomtoms in the garden, but the ones that seem to be doing the best so far are the romas and cherry types. Here are the romas...

And a few cherries...

We picked our first batch a couple days ago for a salad, and they were succulent... We are awaiting the avalanche of ripening tomotoes with eager anticipation. We know that won't be disappointed.

(Updated: We made a Caprese salad today with some of our home grown basil and tomatoes. Very tasty.)

"Great Road Trip" Photos

Just a heads up -- I've posted more of my photos on Picasa... to take a look, click here, or click my online photo album link on the right side of this page. - SC

The Final Drive

I have a confession to make. I've been home in Seattle for the past week. My road trip actually ended in the end of July, but since I still had a couple things to post, I decided not to end my travelogue right away. Plus I thought it would allow me to mentally process some more of my trip before I shared my final "Great Road Trip" insights. But first a synopsis of our final driving day.

We left South Dakota Thursday morning bound for Des Moines, IA that evening. We knew it was going to be a long driving day since we had to cover over 600 miles. But even then, we had a couple stops that we wanted to make. The first being to take a tour of a decommissioned missile silo, the second at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD, and the third was to dine on some delicious corn fed beef in Omaha, NE. The route we selected wasn't the fastest nor most direct, however, I needed to cross over the SD/NE border so I could cross Nebraska off of my "visited states" list. (Norman was gracious enough to comply with my request.) A brief review of each place:

Minutemen Missile Silo: An interesting glimpse into the Cold War, and that thought the end of the world literally could come at the push of a button. (Fortunately, there were numerous checks and balances required to the actual button pushing could occur.)

Mitchell Corn Palace: Disappointing. I envisioned a large structure made entirely of corn. The reality though was a building with corn-laden displays.

Omaha Steak: We had dinner at Johnny's Cafe in Omaha. The restaurant is an old-school steak house, family owned since the 1920's,and a fixture in city... The place is decorated with overstuffed chairs, dark wood, and styled in the chic of the 1950's. I ordered the "Omaha Strip", similar to a New York cut. It was tender and delicious, as were all the sides (a cottage cheese spread for bread, sauteed mushrooms, and homemade onion rings). Definitely worth the stopover. We arrived hungry and left stuffed and satisfied.

After leaving Omaha, we only had a couple more hours of a drive. As soon as we crossed the Iowa border, we were greeted by fireflies along the highway, blinking their unique welcome message as we drove past. For me, the road trip finally ended when we pulled into the Fairfield Inn parking lot in Des Moines, IA. For Norman, his trip continued to Illinois (so he could visit some family over the weekend), and from where he would returned home to Ann Arbor.

So what have I learned from this epic Midwestern journey? A few posts ago, I had listed a "Lessons Learned", so I thought it might be a good way to wrap up this adventure by sharing some more things that I've come to realize on this trip.

1. One of the reasons I set out on this trip was to see if the "there's nothing in the Midwest, especially in the Dakotas" myth was true. The result? FALSE. There is beauty in "those-thar-hills"! And some good food too!

2. Related to #1, wherever you may travel to, whether a roadtrip, backpacking, cycling, sightseeing, etc, there is always something to see. You just need to keep your eyes open and sense of adventure up.

3. I really missed my girlfriend Beth and wished she could have been there with us. (She was off having an adventure of her own.)

4. The only times I was disappointed in a site was when I had preconcieved notions/expectations (Mt. Rushmore, Corn Palace).

5. There are a lot of dirt roads in the Midwest.

6. The United States is a great place to visit. Especially for Americans. We speak the language, understand (most) of the customs, and the exchange rate is always 1 to 1 for us.

7. The Indian Taco is not what I remembered it being. Having said that, it was still tasty - you can't go wrong with frybread.

8. There are a lot of RV's in the Midwest. Everywhere we camped, it seemed tents were outnumbered 2 to 1.

9. Wall Drug in Wall, SD. HOLY CRAPOLA. (Facebook'ers, sorry for the repeat lesson.)

10. Some statistics (approximately):

• 3000- the number of miles we drove.
  
• 23- the number of mosquito bites on the back of my legs.
• 150+- the number of bison we saw
• Infinite- the number of bugs splattered on our windshield, front hood
  

11. It is confirmed that Rupert has a bigger following than I do. He really should Twitter or something.

So that's it for my "Great Road Trip". I'm not sure how to close, so I'll just say thanks for following along on this trip. Until the next trip (or post)!