Love Potion Number 9

Written by Michael Osborne, CEC | 10 March 2010

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Michael Osborne is the President of the American Culinary Federation / Middle Tennessee Chapter, www.nashvillechefs.org and is Executive Chef and General Manager of the Manchester ~ Coffee County Conference Center)

Someone once asked me what the best meal I ever cooked was.  I answered, “When I cook from the heart, I cook at my best.”  When I cook for my father, my brother and sister, I seem to put more into it than when I am cooking for cash.  Love is that secret ingredient that makes everything taste better.  When I cook for them, it has to be right.  There is no second best or that’s good enough.  I get thrust into the zone and those neurons start to fire at will.  Love guides me without the need for thought and everything falls into place. It helps when I am feeling good as well.  I cook much better when I am in good spirits.  Let’s not confuse that with liquid spirits.  It’s not the same thing……  Not at all!!!  I mean physically and spiritually feeling good like when there is no headache, runny nose, hurt leg or life crisis going on.  I always seem to perform better when I feel good.  I will admit a double shot of real good espresso put into a Latté or Cappuccino can put me in the zone.  I EVEN MOVE FASTER…..weeeeeee!  But it still isn’t the same as cooking with L.O.V.E.
Now day’s I find it pretty easy to cook with that special feeling most of the time.  Coffee County is a great place and I have been blessed with a job that exposes me to the greatest cross section of people I have ever known.  Between my last job and the one I have now, I think I have met some of the most awesome people on the planet.  Cooking for some of these groups is just like cooking for family.  Just this last week I had the pleasure of cooking for the Middle Tennessee Decorative Artists Association.  They are a group of some of the nicest ladies I have ever met.  A couple weeks before that it was the Lions Club.  What could be nicer than cooking for a group of people that volunteer to help the blind?
For my close friends, I still go a little above and here is a recipe that I think of when I think of them.

Shrimp Gumbo

5# Medium Shrimps
(Peeled and Cleaned)
3 Cups Shrimp Stock
1/2 Pound Chopped Bacon
1 Large Onion
1 Large Green Bell Pepper
1 Large Red Bell Pepper
1 Cup Diced Celery
1/4 Cup Blackening Spice
2 Cups Thick Sliced Mushrooms
1 Lb Cut Okra
20 oz Diced Tomato in Juice
1 Cup Slurry
(Cornstarch / Water Mix)
Salt to Taste (if needed)
Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Peel Shrimps and place shells into a stock pot to cook.  Add scraps of celery, left over leaves, onion skins tomato skins and water.  The idea is to have a few cups of some good shrimp stock when it is all done. (Cook for about one hour)
In a large soup pot saute chopped bacon, add onions, peppers, celery and blackening spice.  Sautee until onions are glassy.  Add mushrooms, okra, tomatoes, and shrimp stock.  Bring to a full boil.  Reduce heat Simmer for 10 – 15 minutes.  Add shrimp, return to a boil and thicken with cornstarch mixture.  Adjust flavor with salt if required and use fresh ground black pepper to taste.
Best if served in a bowl over the top of some steamed rice.
There are a number of variations you can do to make your gumbo better.  All you need to do is put some of that L.O.V.E. in there..…  NOW YOU’RE COOKIN!