My Lips are on Fire and I'm So Happy!

Lately, I've been thinking about a meal my mom used to make when I was a kid. It was so delicious and I could EXACTLY imagine the taste of that tantalizing food warming my mouth and awakening my taste buds.  It was so good! My mom is a great cook and I loved a lot of things she made, but this Chicken Jambalaya dish was one of my favorites and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So, yesterday my mom pulled out her 50 year old cookbook where she has handwritten recipes and clippings from newspapers and magazines, and she hand copied this recipe for me. This recipe was given to her by her mother who got it from a chef in . . .  It's very simple and isn't really the most attractive when plated, but I don't care.  If a person could eat a memory, this would be it. My brain and mouth started to salivate as I anticipated what was going to be going in my mouth for dinner sometime soon.  I wouldn't have to wait long, cause I'm the grown up, and I decide what is for dinner.

So, tonight became the night for a stroll down memory lane.

I already had almost everything I needed, except fresh parsley and tomato paste, two items I don't usually purchase.  A quick trip to the store yielded the tomato paste, but no luck on the parsley, so I decided to go with dried.  With help from my daughter, we made this recipe for dinner tonight.  It was so easy, which was a blessing because I also had to make macaroni and cheese for the picky people- which is everyone except me and Amy.

And. . . .

it came out PERFECT!  It tasted exactly like I remember.  Happy happy happy dance.

I left out the cayenne because Amy doesn't like spicy. Instead I just sprinkled some into my serving.  And then, of course, I needed a small second serving and I sprinkled a little more cayenne on that, and took a quick bite before stirring it in.

That was stupid, and now, 20 minutes later, the searing fire of face melting death shockwaves has stopped and my lips feel much better. But, it was SO worth it!

For a few minutes I was back in Garland Texas sitting at our banjo table on a 5 gallon pickle bucket, surrounded by my brothers and sisters and my parents, happy, satisfied, and full of more than just good food.  My childhood, while imperfect, still cocooned me sweetly and safely while I grew into a woman and then a mother.  A large part of those happy memories are centered around good food and time together.  I hope my kiddos will have similar memories and want to recreate some of them for their kids, passing down knowledge and love through the generations - keeping both the memories and the people alive.
Here's the recipe:

CHICKEN JAMBALAYA*
serves 8

one 3 pound chicken -cook and bone

Saute the following ingredients until veggies are 1/2 done:

1/2 cup oil ( I used olive oil)
1 tsp. tomato paste
2 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped celery
3 cloves garlic, minced

Add the following and simmer until the veggies are the consistency you like:

1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup chopped parsley ( I used 1 Tbsp. dried)
1 cup chicken broth or water
2 cups chicken
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/3-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Serve over rice.

I used a Costco rotisserie chicken. After my family ate the breast meat, I threw the rest in the pressure cooker, covered in water, for 2 hours on high pressure.  This gave me plenty of meat and broth to spare.

*This recipe is from my grandmother Mary who got it from a chef at a Cajun restaurant in Houston Texas in the early 1970's.  She gave it to my mother who gave it to me.