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Isn't it great just to turn on a light!!!
How we take civilization (and the warm bath) for granted.
Hey here is a new recipe for you:
Hurricane Gumbo
After the power comes back, take the chicken bones that were in the freezer that you have to cook out and boil them with some water and onion, celery and carrot (if they survived the fridge smarm) for two hours. Take the (2 cups of) overripe tomatoes you were going to cook before the power outage (or a can thereof) and add to the broth. You might want to season at this time. If you are in a post- hurricane frame of mind you might just take that tin of Old Bay out and throw in a teaspoon or two (or three).
If you have bacon fry it in a pan, take the bacon out to drain on a paper plate on paper towels to allow the cats a little treat (hey - they survived the storm too! - take back some of the bacon for the gumbo.)
In the pan that you fried the bacon, cut up an onion and fry it. Throw in a couple of teaspoons of flour, this is your rue, so cook it a bit but don't let it burn. Hey, throw in about 3 bell peppers or the equivalent of mild peppers cut up that you had to drag out of the garden or bought on sale from the farmer's market. Hey throw in a hot pepper or two if you have them.
Here's the catch - if you bought or grew okra you need a pint. (In a pinch you can use that gumbo filet powder you can get at the seafood places, just remember not to add that until the Gumbo has finished cooking and is ready to serve)
if you have the okra chop it up in 1/2 inch slices and add to the soup.
Now you probably have something in your freezer that should come out. What about those chicken breasts? That bag of frozen shrimp? Well if you have those things take them out of the freezer now. You can defrost the chicken in the micro, the shrimp you can take and defrost and take the shells off. If you are energetic, you can boil the shells in a little water and add that to the broth.
Also you should take a cup of rice and get it ready for the broth. I have basmati rice which needs soaking first, but whatever you have do what you do.
Your broth should be taking on a nice dark color and should smell really good. If it doesn't add some salt, pepper, Old Bay, or Cajun seasoning to give it some spicy flavor.
Okay now add the chicken and rice. Wait about 10 minutes and add the shrimp. Cook on low for five minutes and turn off for about a half an hour, 45 minutes, this is to let the flavors get happy with each other.
Serve in large bowls with crusty French bread that you bought from the store if you have it.
This goes well with red wine (that doesn't need refridgeration).
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