I knew my article was on page 23 of  the Cooking Light Magazine, but it took  a friend to point out that it was my recipe on the cover! Wow, that is my recipe isn’t it?  How I had missed this little detail is beyond me.  It is a little like the time a journalist showed up at a cooking show I was doing. I always try to make a connection with my audience and I started a little small talk with her. She told me she was a food columnist from the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate. I started to gush effusively  about how amazing that was and I told her what an honor it was to meet her and I loved the her latest column and what a coincidence to meet her here and on and on and that I also was a food columnist  for the paper . She rolled her eyes at my naiveté and said, “I know, I am here to cover your cooking show.” Ooops there goes my cover as a VIP, culinary extraordinaire or food snob. I wouldn’t mind being one of those, but I can never quite pull it off. As a Food Science Professor, I rub shoulders with all kinds of elite and wanna-be elite. Within the first couple days of starting my university job I was asked about my favorite food in the area. I could have talked about some exotic dish or earthy organic food but instead I innocently answered the truth, my favorite thing to do is prepare foods that my family likes. She gave me a look like “that was totally un-inspiring” and walked away. That was  an ah ha moment for me. I realized that, no matter what, I will always be a farm girl at heart and my family will always be my favorite people to cook for.  And lucky for me, my family loves all kinds of different foods, including this Court Bouillon. Coulter loves to catch anything wild and ever since he was little we always made a habit of cooking his catch. So whatever fish or seafood he has found, I add it to this Court Bouillon.  It has evolved since I developed it for Cooking Light Magazine but it was developed as a microwave recipe and I can’t imagine any better method.

When my students made this in class, they were a little freaked out by the shells left on the shrimp. I tried to convince them that this is how it would traditionally be served because the shells really do add flavor.   This recipe might look like a serious list of ingredients, but it goes together quick and is done in less than 15 minutes.

Court Bouillon

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped bell pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup crushed tomatoes

2 tablespoons chicken-flavored base

6 cups water

1 tablespoon, minced thyme leaves

2 tablespoons, minced basil leaves

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon hot sauce (I like green Tabasco)

1 teaspoon Creole Seasoning (see below for recipe)

½ cup chopped green onion

2 Tablespoons cornstarch mixed with ½ cup water

1  or 2 fish filets  (I like redfish but any firm fish will work)

1 cup lobster meat

8 frozen shrimp

Sauté onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic in olive oil for 4 to 5 minutes in the microwave on high. Add remaining ingredients except cornstarch, fish and shrimp.  Bring mixture to a boil (Microwave 8 to 10 minutes on high), stir in cornstarch. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir in fish, lobster and shrimp. Let stand 5 minutes to allow fish and seafood to cook. If mixture cools too much, microwave until heated.

Makes 8 servings