Son of a Gun We’ll Have Big Fun On the Bayou
I have several fresh herbs in my fridge right now: basil, oregano, thyme, Italian parsley, and rosemary. I bought them all for dinner last night (as mentioned in my previous post). The fresh herbs made all the difference in the meal.
I love mincing fresh herbs because they are so aromatic, especially rosemary. I just read Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman and she wrote such evocative descriptions of the herbs, I might have salivated while reading. Or maybe I just have a drooling problem. Possibly both. Have you ever had your mouth numb from Novocain and discovered that you were drooling and no one bothered to point it out to you because they liked seeing you make ass of yourself? Not that I have any personal experience with such a thing. How did I wind up talking about this? Back to the herbs.
When I was younger, I did not cook with many herbs. The recipes I used generally had an inexpensive grocery list but the herbs to season them seemed to double the cost. And that was money I was not willing to part with. I realize that if I had just coughed up the money on the first recipe, I’d have had the herbs for all future recipes, but I just didn’t want to do it. Instead, I seasoned everything with Tony Chachere. I love Tony. He was, and is, good to me.
When I moved to California, my brother in law had never heard of Tony and fell in love with him over a burger at a Labor Day BBQ. Years later, for one of his birthday gifts, I gave him a canister, an empty shaker, and the ingredients for Tony Chachere’s All Purpose Creole Seasoning, which was given to me by a church friend who hailed from Lafayette. For my wedding gift, she gave me a recipe box with a variety of Creole recipes. This one is by far my favorite:
Tony Chachere’s All Purpose Creole Seasoning
26 oz free flowing salt, like Morton’s
1 1/2 oz ground black pepper
2 oz ground red pepper
1 oz pure garlic powder
1 oz chili powder
Mix well. Enjoy.
To season seafood:
Take half the mixture above and add the following:
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp sweet basil
1 tsp bay leaf
Mix well. Enjoy.
