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A delicious combination of flavors.

Ingredients

4  Sweet Potatoes
Curry Powder to taste (a hot curry blend is recommended)
Cayenne to taste
Salt to taste
¼ cup Maple Syrup
2 T  Margarine or butter
3 T Brown Sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Peel and slice sweet potatoes; place in casserole dish.
2. Melt butter in a microwave-safe dish; stir in seasonings and syrup.
3. Pour butter mix over sweet potato slices in a casserole dish.
4. Microwave for 10-15 minutes or until soft.
5. Mash with potato masher.
6. If desired, sprinkle with brown sugar and finish in the oven to brown the top.
7. If you’ve got the time or inclination, this dish is even better if you use sweet potatoes that have either been roasted in the oven or grilled. Using this method, reduce microwave time to 5 minutes or just until mixture is heated through.

Ingredients

2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 lb Andouille Sausage
2 T + ¾ cup Canola Oil
¾ cup Flour
2 large Bell Peppers (1 red and 1 green)
1 large Onion
3 stalks Celery
2 fresh Cayenne Peppers (or other fresh chile peppers)
3 cloves Garlic
2-3 quarts Homemade Smoked Pork Stock (or chicken stock)
1 T Allspice
1 tsp Cloves
3 Bay leaves
1 sprig fresh Thyme
Hot Sauce
1 cup fresh Basil
1 cup fresh Parsley
4-8 Scallions, white and light green parts
Salt and Pepper

Tie up allspice, cloves, bay leaves and thyme in cheesecloth.

Directions

1. Slice up sausage and dice up chicken. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Set burner to medium-high heat. Heat 2 tblsp oil in soup pot until near smoking.
3. Fry chicken in oil and remove to a bowl – draining as much oil as possible. Cover chicken with foil.
4. Fry sausage in oil and remove to a bowl – draining as much oil as possible. Cover sausage with foil. Turn off heat.
5. Finely dice bell peppers, onion, celery, and cayennes.
6. Press, grate or finely chop garlic and set aside.
7. Turn heat on to medium-high. Add remaining ¾ cup oil to pot and heat.
8. Add flour to oil and mix. Add juices from chicken and sausage and continue stirring roux, scraping browned bits from pot into roux, until roux becomes dark brown (like a penny) – about 5-10 minutes.
9. Add vegetables to roux and mix, constantly stirring, for three minutes until vegetables are starting to cook.
10. Add garlic and continue to stir until vegetables are soft. Return meat to pot and mix with vegetables for two minutes.
11. Add the first two quarts of stock to the pot, one cup at a time. After two quarts are added, the gumbo should have an even, but not thick consistency. If the gumbo is too thick, add an extra cup at a time to thin the gumbo.
12. Add the tied-up spices to the gumbo. Add salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.
13. Turn heat to low and cover gumbo and cook for 1-1.5 hours – stirring every 15 minutes.
14. Finely chop basil and parsley and slice up scallions. Stir into gumbo and cook 3-5 minutes.
15. Turn off heat and add salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste. Serve over cooked rice.