Wild Rice With Hazelnuts And Pecans Recipe from Jimmy Stockard jimmystockard@cox.net This could have been made by the Native Americans who lived in the northern two-thirds of the country, particularly in the Great Lakes regions. Wild rice, hazelnuts, and pecans are all native crops, and they're easy to get at the store. Wild rice (which really is wild, although it's not really a rice) is rather expensive, but make sure you're buying pure wild rice--not a blend of wild and domestic rice. This recipe is adapted from one I found in Ruth and Skitch Henderson's "Christmas In The Country," about what goes on at their farm in New England.     * 1/2 cup pure maple syrup     * 1 tsp. salt     * 4 cups wild rice     * 1/2 cup walnut oil     * 1/2 cup sliced green onions (tender parts only)     * 1/2 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts     * 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans     * 1 dash Tabasco 1. Bring a quart of water to a boil in a large pot. Dissolve the salt and maple syrup into it. Sprinkle in the wild rice and stir once. Cover the pot, lower the heat to a simmer, and simmer for 45 minutes. (Wild rice takes much longer than white rice to cook.) 2. While the rice is cooking, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the hazelnut and pecan pieces on a cookie sheet or pizza pan, and toast them on the top shelf of the oven. It takes about two minutes, but watch the nuts closely--as soon as you see even a hint of darkening, remove them. 3. When the rice is cooked, heat half the walnut oil in a skillet and saute the green onions just till they get tender--no more than two minutes. Add the rice to the pan, add the wild rice and the nuts to the pan. Stir with a kitchen fork to fluff and distribute all the ingredients. 4. Stir the Tabasco into the remaining walnut oil, and drizzle the oil over the rice. Serves twelve to sixteen.

Seafood Gumbo Recipe from Jimmy Stockard jimmystockard@cox.net A few points. Not all recipes for seafood gumbo call for making a stock, but I always do, using either the little gumbo crabs that you can buy frozen year round, or the remnants of big boiled crabs. Or shrimp shells or crawfish shells. Or oyster water. It depends on what I have around. Also, following the technique of restaurant chefs, I make the roux separately and add it to the broth well into the process, not at the beginning. This would have been thought of as crazy by my mother, but I think it give you more control over the amount of roux in the soup. Stock: 6 gumbo crabs and/or 4 cups shrimp or crawfish shells and/or 1/2 gallon oyster water, strained 1 small onion, cut up 2 ribs celery, cut up Stems from one bunch of parsley 1 Tbs. black peppercorns 2 bay leaves 1/2 tsp. thyme Gumbo: 3 Tbs. vegetable oil 2 lbs. okra 2 medium onions, chopped 1 very ripe (turning red) green bell pepper, seeds and membrane removed, chopped 2 ribs celery, chopped 8 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, chopped 1/2 tsp. oregano 2 canned tomatoes, crushed by hand 1 Tbs. Creole seasoning Hot sauce Salt Pick any two (or pick more, using less of each) 2 lbs. peeled large shrimp and/or 1 lb. claw crabmeat and/or 2 cups crawfish tails and/or 3-4 dozen oysters Roux: 1/2 stick butter 2/3 cup flour 1/4 cup sliced green onions 1. Make the stock by bringing about a gallon of water (including oyster water, if available) to a light boil. Add all the remaining stock ingredients. Return to a bare simmer and cook for about 30 minutes. Strain the stock and discard all the solids. 2. In a large pot, heat the vegetable oil until it shimmers. Add the okra and cook, stirring, for about three minutes. Remove the okra and set aside. Add the onions and celery. Saute until the vegetables are soft. Then add the stock to the pot, and bring to a simmer. Add the Creole seasoning. 3. While the gumbo simmers, make the roux. I heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it sizzles, then add the flour and whisk until it changes texture. Then I shift to a spoon and stir frequently until the roux reaches the desired color. For me, that would be the color of a pecan shell. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped green onions. Keep stirring, because the heat of the roux can still create the possibility of burning. 4. Whisk the roux into the gumbo, holding back some. It will rise to the surface and appear not to blend in, but if you keep whisking it will. Add roux until the color and texture are the way you want it. The add the crushed tomatoes. 5. Simmer the gumbo for about an hour. Taste and add salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste. Just before serving, add the shrimp, crabmeat, crawfish tails, and/or oysters. Simmer until the seafoods are heated through--about two or three minutes. Serve with long-grain rice. Serves eight to twelve.