Kitchen

Guest chef Chase Rivers joins Suzi for a special Valentine’s meal and performance. Free download of Suzi’s “My One & Only Valentine” on the Music page!

Suzi & Karen Brooks @ the Florabama

Hi Fellow Foodies,

Still re-entering my home life back in Nashville after a whirlwind weekend on the Gulf Coast at the Frank Brown International Songwriters’ Festival. So much fun! Thanks to everyone there who came out to my six different sets — there was so much great music to choose from I’m honored that you guys chose mine! Special thanks to Dave Chatham, Chancy Rogers and Bernie Toothaker of DC Lane for their musical & physical support. Not only great writers and players but invaluable help with all the logistics, setting up and tearing down… and irreplaceable as friends.

In keeping with my current trend, I decided to throw together a chili for my dinnertime gig at one of my favorite clubs, the Silver Moon. read more »

Happy Saturday!

I have so many recipes to share with you … I’ll start with the Jambalaya I made for the AMA Conference show… or more like a Gumbolaya, as I added okra and file powder (sassafras root).

This one’s really easy and can feed a crowd without much mess. I sextupled it to feed 50 but these quantities should satisfy 6-8:
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(This recipe is an extension of the previous post but can also be made fresh. Enjoy!)
Hey Foodie Friends,
I’m so behind in what I want to post and share… life is abundant and full, right?

I wanna share my recipe for the “Americana Jambalaya” I served last Wednesday at Douglas Corner but I’d already promised to tell you what to do with your leftover shrimp, corn & black bean salad from my last post…
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Wow. What a wonderful day in the studio yesterday! The players were A+++ fabulous and the singers absolutely perfect! Ok, I’m gonna name drop: Ross Copperman, Brandon Kinney, Dave Rowe, Kyle Ryan & Jeremy Lutito… if you know those guys you may have an inkling of how much fun we had…
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This Tuesday I was lucky enough to have three strong, capable men over to erect my new tipi – gratitude and respect going out to Chancy, aka Chester, Steve, aka Mikky and just plain Eric … (I want an alias).

To show my appreciation, I put a lunch together that turned out pretty all right. At 8am, I mixed together a marinade of the following: 2 TBSP jerk seasoning (Trader Joe’s), 1 cup olive oil, 3 cloves chopped garlic, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, 1 cup soy sauce and 1TBSP crushed red pepper. Poured it over 2 lbs of boneless, skinless grouper filets in a large casserole dish, covered and let it marinade 4 hours (2 will do it).

Then I peeled 2 lbs eggplant – either the little Asians or the big guys work – cut them into 1 inch cubes and spread on 2 cookie sheets… brush with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. (Both Le Creuset and The Sili Gourmet have fabulous, silicone basting brushes that are dishwasher safe and won’t shed bristles onto your food.) Roast in a 425 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.
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Hi Musical Foodies,

Had an impromptu kitchen concert last night with my friends Chancy Rogers and Brandon Green… if you haven’t heard Brandon yet, never fear — you will… great singer and writer. Chancy operated the video camera and when we get things edited, I’ll start posting video/audio clips for what I hope will be your listening and viewing pleasure…

Meanwhile, I want to share this cooking experiment before I forget what I did. I made a tandoori spice inspired marinade:
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My Key West friend, Jeffrey, asked if I had a good recipe for etouffe… haven’t made it in awhile – great idea! …

I think the keys to a successful etouffe are in the roux and the stock. First the roux: I like to fry 4 or 5 strips of bacon for the grease (then remove the bacon to a paper towel to drain), but a combo of good olive or vegetable oil and butter is great too. To feed 6, use about 1/3 cup bacon grease & butter or oil & butter, heat in a large skillet over medium until just bubbly… then add 1/4 cup flour and stir or whisk constantly, maybe 15 minutes or more, until peanut butter brown. Then add a medium onion, chopped, about a cup & a half chopped peppers (bell & poblano, jalapeno if you want heat), 2 stalks chopped celery and 2 cloves minced garlic… saute about 5 minutes to read more »

Ok, I’ll admit that I’ve lived in a form of denial for years — about fried food… I’ve refused, across the board, to deep fat fry ANYthing in my kitchen, yet I will eat the french fries and fried chickens and fried okra at a meat and 3… if I don’t see or perform the procedure, I can more easily ignore the health and fat gram factors… hmmm, wonder how fried ostrich would be…

But yesterday I mistakenly bought chicken tenders instead of breasts… had 3 hungry friends visiting and thought, what the heck, I’ll try frying these birds.
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