Southern food is known as soul food for a reason - it makes your soul feel good! During my time in New Orleans I caught up with Big Kev from the New Orleans Cooking School and he gave me some of his secret recipes! Here’s what you need to know to try your hand at Southern favourites Gumbo and Jambalaya… Big thanks to our cooking teacher Big Kev!

GUMBO

INGREDIENTS (Makes 15 – 20 Servings) 1 x cup oil 1 ½ x chicken, cut up or de-boned 1½ lbs. x Andouille 1 x cup flour 2 x cup chopped green onions Cooked Rice 8 x cup stock or flavored water 1 x Tbsp chopped garlic 1 x Joe’s Stuff Seasoning http://store.nosoc.com/joes-stuff-21-oz/ TRINITY (Next three items) 4 x cup chopped onions 2 x cup chopped celery 2 x cup chopped green pepper METHOD Season and brown the chicken in oil, lard, or bacon drippings over a medium heat. Add sausage to pot and sauté with chicken. Remove both from pot. Make a roux (a thickener) with equal parts of oil (must be free of food particles to avoid burning) and flour to the desired color. Add onions, celery, and green pepper. Add garlic to the roux mixture and stir continuously. After vegetables reach the desired tenderness, return the chicken and sausage to pot and cook with vegetables, continuing to stir frequently. Gradually stir in liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for an hour or more. Season the Gumbo to your taste with Joe’s Stuff Seasoning. Approximately 10 minutes before serving, add green onions. Serve Gumbo over rice or without rice, accompanied by french bread. Optional: add ‘File’: A fine green powder of young dried ground sassafras leaves, used in Gumbo for flavor and thickening. It may be placed on the table for individuals to add to their Gumbo if they wish. ¼ to ½ tsp. per serving is recommended.

JAMBALAYA

INGREDIENTS (Makes 12 Servings) ¼ x cup oil 1 x Tbsp chopped garlic 1 x cooked chicken, cut up or boned 4 x cup long grain rice 1½ lbs. sausage 5 x cup stock or flavoured water 1 x Joe’s Stuff Seasoning To make Red Jambalaya add the following: ¼ cup paprika ½ stock and ½ tomato juice or V-8 for your liquid. TRINITY: (Next three items)          2 x heaping tsp. Joe’s Stuff seasoning 4 x cup chopped onions 2 x cup chopped green onions or tomatoes 2 x cup chopped celery 2 x cup chopped green pepper METHOD Season and brown the chicken in oil, lard or bacon drippings over medium to high heat. Add sausage to the pot and sauté with the chicken. Remove the chicken and sausage from pot, leaving the dripping in the pot. Sauté onions, celery, green pepper and garlic in the drippings to the tenderness you desire. Return chicken and sausage to pot. Add liquid and Joe’s Stuff Seasoning and bring this to a boil. * For red Jambalaya add approx. ¼ cup paprika, and you may want to use ½ stock and ½ tomato juice or V-8 for your liquid. *Then start here > Add rice, stir together and return to rapid boil. Stir again and remove the pot from the heat and cover, let this rest for 25 minutes. Remove cover and quickly stir rice from top to bottom completely. Add green onions and chopped tomatoes if desired. For seafood Jambalaya, add cooked seafood when rice is turned. NOTE 1 cup raw long grain rice will feed 3 people 4 tips : 1 cup rice to 1 cup of onion, ½ cup celery and ½ cup green pepper. 1 cup raw rice to 1¼ cups liquid Over season to compensate for the rice Cook for a total of 25 minutes, turning completely after 10 minutes. Check out more of Tim’s U.S. travel adventures on the #notatourist tab on remixmagazine.wpengine.com here and by visiting the Remix Instagram here. Check here to visit Visa online for more information on the benefits of travelling with Visa. For more #notatourist inspiration visit www.travelwithvisa.co.nz