Football season marks the beginning of a whole new type of cuisine in our house. Long gone are the care-free summer days when supper might be freshly picked blueberries from Pop’s Blueberry Patch spun into a nutritious smoothie that the kids think is a milkshake. When supper might be an afterthought squeezed into the brackets of time between riding bicycles around the block drinking in the soundtrack of chirping crickets then piling into bed to watch a new animated movie without regard to school night bedtimes. Fall becomes the routine of after school homework, bath time and bedtime. Fall also strikes chords in the hearts of comfort food-seeking parents that have lain fallow since the tiniest green buds on trees began to appear.

This Louisiana girl thinks of Red Beans and Rice for a quick and easy football season meal that warms the soul as much as the tummy. Nothing says LSU tailgating like Red Beans and Rice, either. Some of the best by Billy LeBlanc. I met Mr. Billy while on a work-study scholarship at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Mrs. Marlene, Mr. Billy’s wife, was my supervisor at The Graduate School. Mrs. Marlene took her student workers under her wing like a mother hen. For a north Louisiana student, a Yankee of sorts, Mrs. Marlene became my second mom. I enjoyed visiting with her son, Greg, when he stopped by to visit between classes. I had the pleasure of hearing stories about Mr. Billy and frequently spotted him around campus, as he was a university employee as well. When Donnie came to Baton Rouge for a football game, Mrs. Marlene invited us to their tailgating shindig. I had never been to a more lively tailgating function before! And the food…yum. The biggest pot of Red Beans and Rice I had ever seen!

This is not Mr. Billy’s recipe. In fact Mom clipped this recipe from Southern Living and made a few brilliant substitutions for an easy version of a classic Louisiana tradition.

1 lb. dried red beans

5 c water

1 onion, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1 1/2 T ground cumin

1 T chili powder

1/2 t Tabasco sauce

1 1/2 t salt

1 t pepper

1 (1 lb.) link andouille sausage

Wash and sort beans. Cover with water and soak overnight. Drain and place beans in Dutch oven. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour or until beans are tender. Serve over rice.

I first learned to crave these tightly wrapped grape leaf packages my freshman year at LSU. I pledged Kappa Alpha Theta and became friends with a girl from South Louisiana, Kayla, whose father is Lebanese. North and South Louisiana might as well be two states. So many times I would rattle off something and see Kayla’s puzzled expression. That first year we quizzed each other about everything. What seemed “normal” to each of us was strange and unusual to the other! I always say that college is not really about English or Calculus but about realizing the world is bigger than our comfortable little boxes. One of our favorite things to do on a weeknight (when we should have been studying for countless exams) was to make the trek from the sorority house to the Mom and Pop Greek diner right off campus. For Kayla it was a taste of home. For me it was a trip to places unknown.

If that was an introduction, my first trip to Kayla’s home in New Iberia was a full course in Lebanese treats. Kayla and I were excited about our upcoming long weekend. We both made plans to return home. My plans were foiled by a once-every-ten-years ice storm making travel home impossible, so Kayla invited me to spend the weekend with her family. Her mom prepared a feast for us that night. I remember waking up the next morning and opting for leftovers instead of breakfast.

Years later I found this recipe for dolmades. I made them first in our apartment in Memphis almost ten years ago. To this day they taste almost like I remember at Kayla’s that winter night.

Dolmades with Tzatziki

1 1/2 cups long grain white rice, uncooked

1 small yellow onion, minced

1/4 c fresh dill, chopped

1/3 c freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 c olive oil

1 (16 oz.) jar preserved grape leaves, rinsed and drained

Combine rice, onion, dill, lemon juice and 1 T olive oil. Arrange grape leaves vein sides up and stems toward you. Place one tablespoon of filling at the stem end of each leaf. Fold stem end over rice, fold in sides, and roll into cylinders. Arrange grape leaves in a saucepan so that they fit snugly against each other and the sides of the pan. Place a heavy plate or lid over grape leaves so they are compact when cooked. Cover with boiling water. Replace lid and simmer on low heat for 1 hour. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 30 minutes. Refrigerate several hours before serving at room temperature with tzatziki.

Tzatziki

1 hothouse cucumber, seeded

1 T salt

1 c Greek yogurt

1/4 c sour cream

1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 T olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T fresh dill, minced

Grate the cucumber. Sprinkle with 1 T salt and set aside for 3 to 4 hours. Transfer to dish towel and squeeze dry. Stir together remaining ingredients. Add cucumber. Refrigerate several hours before serving.