Ella James' Voodoo For Two (Guest Post/Giveaway)

Good morning, lovelies! Today we have Ella James joining us with a delicious recipe for Jambalaya ( a favorite of mine) and her new book, Voodoo For Two. Enjoy!


Cajun Food
by Elle James

One of the things I love best about visiting Louisiana is eating Cajun food! Oh, yeah. My husband was born in Louisiana so we have gumbo a lot and I love things like Shrimp Etoufee and Jambalaya. And if you make it to New Orleans, check out the beignets at Cafe Du Monde. Man I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!
I don't cook often, but when I do, I make enough to last the week. Some time-saving tricks I use are when I'm cutting up celery and onions, I cut enough for two batches of whatever I want to cook and freeze half. I also do this with a whole chicken. I'll boil it up, debone and split it so that I have some for cooking right then and freeze the rest for a quick chicken noodle soup or gumbo. If you don't want to take the time to boil a chicken, buy a rotisserie chicken on your way home from work and debone that savory delight and use it. When you write a book based in Louisiana, you have to have some mention of the food. In VOODOO ON THE BAYOU, Miz Mozelle is constantly treating the neighborhood to fresh beignets. Now, that's something I haven't tried making, but I sample them every time I'm in N'Awlins! Happy reading and happy eating!

For those who like to cook, here's a recipe for:

Jambalaya

Ingredient list:

Dozen medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped 

half a chicken or one chicken breast, boiled and diced 

One package smoked sausage, sliced

Creole seasoning to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil 

one medium chopped onion 

one chopped green bell pepper 

2-3 stalks chopped celery 

2 tablespoons chopped garlic 

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes or small can of petite diced tomatoes

3 bay leaves 

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 

hot sauce to taste

3/4 cup rice 

3 cups chicken stock 

Salt and pepper 

Instructions:

Combine diced chicken, shrimp and Creole seasoning in a bowl, and mix in seasoning. Heat oil in a large saucepan over high heat, stirring in onion, pepper and celery, cook 3 minutes or until onion is clear. Add the garlic, bay leaves, tomatoes, Worcestershire and hot sauces. Stir in rice and slowly add broth. Reduce heat to medium and cook until rice absorbs liquid and becomes tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. When rice is just tender add shrimp and chicken mixture and sausage. Cook 10 minutes more. Season to taste with Creole seasoning, pepper and salt.

Add your favorite drink and company and you've got a meal! 

For more fun in Louisiana, check out the CAJUN MAGIC Series from Entangled Publishing. VOODOO ON THE BAYOU (Feb 2013), VOODOO FOR TWO (April 2013) and DEJA VOODOO ( Jun 2013)  

About Voodoo For Two

Be careful what you wish for…
Determined to marry the most eligible bachelor in the parish to save her family, Lucie LeBieu turns a “love bug” loose to cast its Voodoo spell. What she doesn’t count on is hitting two targets—the golden boy congressional candidate, and her Cajun-hot ex. To set things right, she must undo the spell before she falls into bed—-and back in love—with a certain down and dirty heartbreakin' cop.
Undercover investigator Ben Boyette is back in Louisiana on special assignment when he runs across his old flame, brewing up trouble as usual. But when hometown threats turn deadly, Lucie's life is on the line. Determined to protect both her and his politician assignment from falling victim to a murderer, Ben finds that he's the one who's falling hard...for the irresistible bayou temptress.

Amazon - B&N

Elle’s Bio:

Elle James spent twenty years in South Central Texas, ranching horses, cattle, goats, ostriches and emus. A former IT professional, retired Army and Air Force Reservist, she’s proud to be writing full-time, penning intrigues and paranormal adventures that keep her readers on the edge of their seats or laughing out loud. Now, living in northwest Arkansas, she’s given up wrangling cattle and exotic birds to wrangle her muses, a malti-poo and a yorkie. When she’s not at her computer, she’s traveling, out snow skiing, boating, or riding her four-wheeler, dreaming up new stories.

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