Maque choux - a Louisiana dish

After a long period of hurried slamming together whatever ingredients happened to be available in my kitchen, I had a short period of smoother sailing. I used these calmer days to add some new entries to my other pages, but then I did a little coasting around in the culinary world, too, peeking into other people's pots, looking for exotic dishes. That is how I discovered the maque choux. Doesn't this name itself have an intriguing sound?

The original (I suppose Native) recipe sounded too blah, Emeril's recipe needed Emeril's own sauce, so I opted for Nola's New Orleans Maque choux recipe. Of course, I used bacon drippings. I tend to cook healthy, low fat dishes most of the time, noone in my family has cholesterol, diabetes or any such ailment, so the occasional little indulgence does not upset our overall health. The dish turned out very nicely, I will repeat it.

Maque choux, my version

bacon drippings with oil added to measure about 4 - 5 tbs
3 cups frozen corn
1 onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup celery, sliced thin
1/2 cup green peppers, sliced paper thin
1 ts chopped garlic
1 cup canned whole tomatoes, chopped
salt, pepper
a few spicy sausages, I used some chipotle flavoured ones from European Meats in Kensington Market. They sell them frozen in 5 and 10 lb batches.

Saute the onion until glassy, add the celery, garlic and green peppers. Saute a bit, stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes, then add the tomatoes, corn, adjust the seasonings, and place the sausages whole on top of the simmering vegetables. Let it simmer simmer for 15 to 30 minutes, then take out and slice the sausages to be distributed and arranged on each plate of food.

For added flavour and colour you can also sprinkle some freshly chopped basil, thyme or parsley on top of the dishes.