a day indoors to cook

Just for fun here's a picture of a tiny butterfly on a Chrysanthemum flower in the garden last fall. Love her stripey antenae!

We had the craziest dust storm last night, really unusual for our location. After the storm there were tiny drifts of fine red sand on the windows of my car. The light actually was red at the height of the dust, it looked like sunset but was much too early. It blew our patio furniture around and broke one of the cable ties holding the shade cloth onto my greenhouse.

I'm baking bread again, I'm trying to replace a bread that has been a part of my diet for several years, an artisan multigrain from Albertson's made by Maple Leaf Bakeries. This is the first multigrain bread I have ever had that is not sweet, has great flavor, and crust and crumb are both enticing. It's also been great for my health and eating it every morning actually lowered my cholesterol, which had been climbing in spite of eating meat only three times a week at the time. Unfortunately it costs nearly $4 a loaf and the budget just won't handle that any more. Well, that's one reason, the other is that I believe that any food you invest your time and interest in gains chi and returns it to your body, thus making it a more physically satisfying and energy giving meal.

The best breads I have ever tasted come from La Brea Bakery. The catering company I worked for used them and they are ever so good, chewy, crusty, and flavorful. So I got Nancy Silverton's Breads from the la Brea Bakery and am learning from it. I got a sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour last week and fed it and got it ready to go. My first loaves of County Bread, the bread she recommends beginning with, were not very good, flavor wise because of stale flour from the grocery store shelves and crust wise, dark, hard and bitter. But I'm learning. I got a big bag of flour from Sam's Club and it is fresh and sweet. My next two loaves are now safely retarding in the fridge and will be ready for lunch tomorrow. What a fun adventure.

It was gloomy, cold, and windy today so it was a perfect day to cook. I made Jambalaya, a recipe that I have been working on and customizing for the last year. Here it is:

JAMBALAYA

1 t Olive Oil
2 large onions, chopped
4 medium cloves garlic, peeled
1 red and 1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
4 stalks celery, diced

6 Tbs fresh Italian parsley, minced
½ Polska Kielbasa, cut into ½ inch cubes
8 oz. ham, diced
1 chicken breast, diced
1 large bay leaf
¼ t ground white pepper
½ t Cayenne
3 inch sprig fresh thyme or ½ t dried thyme
3 inch sprig fresh oregano or ½ t dried oregano

3 lbs fresh tomatoes diced or 3 cans diced tomatoes with juice
4 Cups Chicken Broth

¾ C uncooked rice

You will need a large dutch oven or stovetop safe casserole.
Sauté onion, garlic, bell peppers and celery until onion is translucent.
Add Parsley, ham, Polska, chicken, bay leaf and spices.
Cook, stirring often until chicken turns white.
Add tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer.
Add rice, cover and cook, barely simmering, for a good three hours or more.
This is better the next day, and the next. Add shrimp after reheating or 5 minutes before serving if you like. Very tasty.