Jambalaya 28, Seahawks 17

(This fall we are combining our love of the football and our dream of learning to cook. On Sunday morning, following a trip to a local farmer’s market/major supermarket chain, we will be preparing a meal from the city of the Seahawks opponent. Then at halftime we will throw our badly burned hands in the air and make hot dogs.)

Seahawks vs Jambalaya Preview

We hope that those of you who read these posts don't feel that we are a ringer, that we've always known how to cook and that this is just a poorly written gimmick to sell funny t-shirts. Let us assure you that we know as much about cooking as Patrick Kerney knows about making Hawk fans smile.

To prove our point, here is an actual question we asked our assistant before preparing our meal, "The recipe calls for a saucepan, is that a frying pan or the type of pot you boil hot dogs in?"

Our confusion came from the directions that called for gradually dumping all the ingredients in the saucepan and then letting it simmer for hella long. That seemed like a pot to us, but then we were asked to sauté the vegetables. Our mind, much like Mike Holmgren's staring at a game clock, got very cloudy and confused. This is why we get help before turning on the oven.

When our assistant arrived we were chopping up the vegetables and meat. She took one look at us struggling to power through an onion and then at the sun drenched hammock in our backyard, and decided that everything looked under control and took her book outside.

Her reading done, she returned to the kitchen, explained which pan to use, talked us out of adding another tablespoon of cayenne pepper (one will be enough), and adding more rice (um, rice expands). She thereby saved the meal from becoming a taste bud scorching rice bowl.

Overall we found jambalaya easy to make, and from all the different types of recipes out there, you can put anything into your special magical sautéing/boiling pan. We went with peppers, parsley, onions, candy corn, garlic, celery (some giant stalks we purchased at a pumpkin patch that morning), tomatoes, andouille sausage, and ham.

Turns out our assistant was right about many things; rice does expand and the dish was described as "spicy, but not too spicy." Heckuva job there, all around.

Special tip of the cap to Dartmouth Frank for his contribution of Abita Ale, brewed in the bayou.

Next Week: Seahawks vs Toasted Ravioli, 1pm