Jean Lafitte's Pirate Stew

JEAN LAFITTE STEW

When my turn as hostess for the Divas of the Dirt garden day landed on Talk Like A Pirate Day in September 2009, your correspondent-Glinda decided to celebrate it by thinking up this hearty main dish. 

Since this is a Pirate Stew there are no exact amounts for ingredients - it can vary depending on what you have on board ship. 

Feel free to adjust proportions of meat to vegetables to spices so your crew will like it!

Before making the stew I bought fresh Chicken sausages w/Poblanos*, grilled them, let them cool a bit, drained the links and & sliced them into rounds.

Now to the stew!

Sauté together:

Sliced precooked Chicken sausage w/Poblanos

A few cloves of garlic

Chopped red onions

Chopped white onions

Let cook for a while. Climb up to the crow's nest with your spyglass and scan the horizon. When you get back to the galley add in:

Chopped red peppers

Chopped celery

Chopped parsley

Let simmer together while you tend to the rigging or swab the deck

Return and add:

A few squeezes of double-strength, sun-dried tomato paste from a tube

A couple of ounces (or more) of Southern Comfort

Thyme

Oregano

Cayenne

Simmer a little longer – go check if anyone is in line to walk the plank. Return.

Start the rice cooking. (Medium grain works well for this dish).

Add drained, cooked pinto beans and cut-up, stewed tomatoes and let the stew simmer while the rice cooks. If you go to the treasure room and run your hands through the pearls & jewels, the time will pass quickly.

Serve in bowls with the rice added by the individual pirates.

*Fresh Chicken Sausage with Poblanos is available at local HEB Stores in Central Texas. I don't know how hard it is to find in other areas.