From the mouth of Babes...

There are those transcendental moments in life where everything falls into place. Nine to the universe really exists we just have to be in the present, the now so to speak to see it. 

Last night at supper after a day spent cruising the river, Warren, my four year old grandson brought one of those moments into focus. We boiled some shrimp, fried onion rings and made a kale/Brussel sprout slaw. I tried out a new fish dish on the assembled crowd. I admit that given the chance to eat fried catfish this is a group of people set in their ways and something new is often not readily embraced. 

Try this sometime: take catfish (we also thawed out large white bass fillets caught on the Sabine this past spring) take a package of Zummo's rice dressing, (Zummo's meat company has been in operation in Beaumont, Tx since 1908) make a handful size mound of the rice dressing on a cookie sheet, place fillet on dressing. I seasoned with lemon pepper, butter and lemon juice but cajun seasoning would be fine. Bake in oven set to 400 till fish almost done (I just eyeball it) then broil for a little browning at the end and serve. 

When this platter of food was set in front of Warren the transcendental moment came. He exclaimed and named the dish "Pirate Chicken!" 

 

Makes sense. If you raise chickens you need to stay home to feed and care for them, put up in the coop every night and so on. Pirates did not stay home much I have been told and I bet they ate a lot of fish. When the Lafitte Brothers were hold up in the Louisiana swamps they may have cooked up fish like this and called it chicken out of some land longings that their wandering nature could not resolve.  

Don't stay home. Nine to the universe.