I noticed a resurgence in religious posts. In keeping with the trend, and not intending to bruise anyone's sensibilities, I have decided to contribute.

Today is Saint Louis IX's Day. Saint Louis the Ninth, bless his soul, was a King of France, known for having assumed the throne at an age when he couldn't yet speak in a manly voice, he married a 19 year old and fathered 11 children. For that, among other things, he was promoted to sainthood after his death.

Now Saint Louis the Ninth was patron saint of many, many things. Here is a list:

Patronage

* against the death of children
* barbers
* Blois, France
* bridegrooms
* builders
* button makers
* Carthage, Tunisia
* Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Louis
* construction workers
* Crusaders
* difficult marriages
* distillers
* embroiderers
* French monarchs
* grooms
* haberdashers
* hairdressers
* hair stylists
* kings
* La Rochelle, France
* masons
* needle workers
* New Orleans, Louisiana
* Oran, Algeria
* parenthood
* parents of large families
* passementiers
* prisoners
* Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France
* Saint Louis, Missouri, archdiocese of
* Saint Louis, Missouri, city of
* sculptors
* sick people
* soldiers
* stone masons
* stonecutters
* tertiaries
* trimming makers
* Versailles, France

I have no idea what "passementiers" may be. But I know who distillers are, and I am a patron of single malt Scotch. Therefore, I dedicate this day and the meal I will consume, to the great (and only French King to become a saint) Louis IX.

I have this problem, you see, with my food stuffs. I buy vegetables or have people give me great quantities of fresh items from their gardens, and then it goes to rot in my refrigerator. So every no and then I make stew, or whatever.

Tonight I am making a Jambalaya-Etouffee that is a departure from any traditional Cajun recipe. I have no shrimp or crayfish, so I have subbed leftover turkey roast for that. I do have Andouille sausage, which I always have, so it is in the recipe. Everything else is 'a capella.

INGREDIENTS A (In other words, what I must get rid of)

2 leeks (Slice across. Use about 6 inches of the white into the green)
1 red onion
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
2 tomatoes
1 1.2 lb. bunch of fresh green beans

(Cut the above up and toss in a large stockpot)

INGREDIENTS B (Necessary items anyway)

1 box of Uncle Ben's rice with wild rice and dried tomato
1/2 cup of additional rice, I use Basmati
1 quart of my Chili sauce (made last fall for making chili con carne - no meat in the sauce)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Catsup
1/4 cup Marsala or Sherry wine
Several pinches of a Cajun spice mix
Package of six Andouille (pronounced AHN-DOO-EE) Sausages (Louisiana red hots)

OPTIONAL ITEMS (I didn't feel like going to the market)
1 stalk of chopped celery
1/2 lb. shrimp (detailed such as you like)
1 cup cubed ham

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fry and brown sausage, cut in 1.2 inch piece and toss into pot.

Make the rice. Toss into pot.

Add all ingredients and cover. Cook on stove top at low heat or simmer (after a boil) for an hour.

.........

A very important addendum:

I never cook anything without having a glass of wine. Tonight I enjoyed a glass of an Italian Pinot Grigio. All Italian Pinot Grigio (unless it is awful) comes from the Venezia region, inland and mostly north of Venice.

It is very good, but like all Pinot grigio, it is a drinking wine and quite "pedestrian."

Pinot Grigio made elsewhere - Australia, the USA and Chile, is rot gut. They just don't have the soil, the experience or the panache to make Grigio (means "gray") the way that the Veneto winemakers do.

Pinot Grigio should have a very slight "fritz", or tiny bubble, when you pour the first glass. Not like Champagne, but just a very slight ripple of bubbles.

Anyway. It is actually cheaper than American-made Pinot Grigio now.

Mangia!