I’m going to keep using the “Q” until our president here not only declares that the quarantine is over, but makes that into an actual fact. Though he’s stated now, for a month or more that “there is no quarantine”, and indeed we have some freer movement and more things open, there are still so many restrictions on activities and what can be open, and how, that at the least we’re still in some form of enforced separation. Next date for more news is October 11th, just shy of two weeks away.

There was some hope that starting tomorrow, October 1st, domestic flights, long distance trains and buses, would go back into operation, but whether or not that happens remains to be seen. It was sorta, kinda, almost announced about ten days ago and then disappeared from any commentary by either politicos or news-folk, and the websites for long distance buses and trains still say that all services are suspended until further notice, and our two airports, Newbery is closed completely “for remodeling”, and Ezeiza while open for specially approved flights internationally, currently shows only one domestic flight for today and none for tomorrow.

So, on to food. Today’s recipe is a “Cajun-inspired” stew. It’s not 100% authentic because it’s missing one classic ingredient and has three added ones. The classic dish is an eggplant, smoked sausage, and shrimp stew, all three of which I happened to have on hand and was trying to decide what to do with, when this one came to mind. I had to go back and look at my old recipes from eons ago when I worked at The Sazerac House. We never actually, that I recall, put this one on the menu, but it was one we tried out, or researched, or something, but at the least, it was in my notebook. I might have just copied it from the head chef’s notebook of recipes that sounded interesting. It was thirty years ago, who remembers?

First, and foremost, you need a roux. Flour cooked over low heat in oil until it’s a dark reddish brown. I could have even let this one go further, but this was after about 45 minutes of cooking and had a really beautiful toasty, slightly bitter flavor. Just what I wanted. I remember one of my roommates from back in my early days in NYC who was from Louisiana and him cooking his “dark roux” for about 3 hours. I didn’t have the time. But either way, you want it way beyond what most non-Cajun cooks think of as a roux for binding a sauce that’s just cooked for 5-10 minutes “to get the raw flour taste out”.

Other than the roux, I wanted to do this as a one-pot meal, so there will be some tweaks as we go along. Obviously, I don’t have access to a good, smoked andouille sausage or such here, but a local butcher had a nice lightly smoked salchicha parillera that I had picked up. To add to the smokiness, well, you’ll see. Cut the sausage into pieces and brown in just a splash of oil. Remember that roux is coming in and that is going to add more oil down the line, plus whatever renders off of the sausage, so keep this just enough to barely coat the pan.

Now, at this point, I’d normally add the “Cajun trinity” of onion, celery, and bell pepper, but when I went to cut up the bell pepper it was all moldy inside, so I tossed it. Too late to go out and get another, so I just left it out. Also, there’s a chopped small chili in the mix for some heat. Toss in a little salt. Cook this down until the vegetables are translucent, about five minutes.

Finely chop several cloves of garlic and add to the mix along with the roux and cook for about five minutes.

Add a couple of chopped tomatoes, a nice dose of sweet paprika, some dried thyme, oregano, and basil, and a spoonful of sugar to both cut the acid of the tomatoes and the bitterness of the upcoming eggplant. Addition #1 is that here I also splashed in a little “liquid smoke” to make up for the lack of smokiness in the sausages. Cook another five minutes to meld the flavors.

Add a couple of diced eggplants, and a diced large potato (addition #2), stir to coat well, and then top with beef stock, just enough to cover (okay, the eggplant will initially float, but use your judgement).

Cover, bring to a simmer and cook for twenty minutes.

Now normally, I’d be making rice separately, but again, I wanted a one pot meal, so I tossed in a half cup of rice and some prawns (or shrimp, and, cleaned please, take out the “poop chutes” – I just cut them in half and removed the intestine). Continue cooking for another ten minutes, still covered. Add more stock if needed, remember some of it will have gotten absorbed by the potato and eggplant, some will have steamed off, and some more is going to be absorbed by the rice.

Remove the lid, add chopped green onion and parsley, and cook for about five more minutes, until the rice is tender but not mushy and the shrimp are cooked through. Depending on the type of rice you’re using it could take a couple of minutes more. Adjust your seasoning if need be – if your stock was well seasoned, it probably won’t be necessary.

Done!

And… serve.