Friday, May 17, 2013

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.



GIVEAWAY:



19 comments:

  1. Wow, and you share recipes too ? Thank you ! (only, I'll try a veggie gymbo ;) )

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  2. What a nice contest. I think I already have one of the books, which means i'm sure the other ones will be just as great :)

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  3. The recipe looks great. I'll have to try it next time we'll have people over (my kids wouldn't eat it)

    Thanks for sharing the recipe and Thanks for the chance at the contest.

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  4. Red Iza,
    A veggie gumbo sounds good too. I think of gumbo as "trash" soup. You throw in anything you want and season with cajun spices and voila!

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  5. Kris,
    Sadly my youngest won't eat anything with a fishy taste, not shrimp either! But that leaves more for me!

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  6. Thanks, Jessica! Glad you stopped by!

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  7. Can't wait to read this book!! Thanks for the recipe, I'll have to try it.

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  8. Looking forward to reading the book and thank you for the receipe ...it sounds great.

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  9. Elle,
    My hubby and I love Jambalaya! Thanks for the recipe. He's the cook so he'll make it. :-)
    I want to read VOODOO very badly. I know a lot about Voodoo. I've studied it for years. I'd tell you about real zombies but I don't want to freak everyone out. If you're curious e-mail me. ;-)

    Mel K.
    Meljprincess AT aol DOT com

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  10. What a great recipe. I am going to try it out.
    debby236 at gmail dot com

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  11. Ooo thanks for this giveaway! :)

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  12. Elle, what a wonderful title and cover. I can't wait to read it. Love your writing style. I, too, have had *real zombie* experience in life - prefer reading about them in books. All the best with sales, I'm sure the book will shine and be very successful for you!

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  13. Will have to try this one!!

    Kassandra
    sionedkla@gmail.com

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  14. Yumm i love gumbo but i'm sure yours is much better than my exes sisters .

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  15. This recipe seems to be an fairly easy-to-
    make project. Just reading the recipe is
    making me so HUNGRY!

    Pat C.

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  16. I will try the recipe for my hubby because he loves this kind of food.
    Loved the book by the way ;) I can't believe I just discovered your work. Looking forward to reading the next book.
    Thanks,
    Lori

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  17. My husband's first mother in law, a wonderful woman, makes a seafood gumbo and as much as I love her, I like yours better (shhh)!

    Barrie

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  18. Both the book and the recipe sound amazing!

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  19. I love Cajun food and always thought that Jambalaya too complex and difficult to make. Your recipe looks delicious and makes it seem easy. I'm definitely going to try this one. Louisiana, with New Orleans and the Bayou, always held a mystical, dark, spirited, and romantic allure for me. I think I first became fascinated with it from the movie Angel Heart. I definitely want to check out your Cajun Magic series. Thanks for the awesome giveaway!!

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