Remoulade

Remoulade, a sauce recipe

1 tsp minced yellow onion

1/2 tsp minced capers

1/4 tsp La Costena brand Chipotle pepper, minced

1 pinch dried parsley flakes (1/2 tsp)

1 pinch Cajun seasoning (Zatarains, 1/2 tsp)

Generous Dash All-Purpose Seasoning (like McCormick Perfect Pinch)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Dollop brown mustard

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp adobo sauce (from the La Costena can)

Combine ingredients and chill. The smokiness of the La Costena adobo sauce is absolutely necessary.

My son worked at a barbecue restaurant for several years, and the best thing he brought home from the experience was a working remoulade recipe. I used to buy it in a jar -- it does not compare to the homemade version. And I had to work pretty hard to cut a restaurant-size recipe down to something manageable for the home cook.

Remoulade is delicious with fish, chicken, and fried goodies like tater tots and fried okra, and divine with fried green tomatoes. Divine, like, people could worship this combination.

Remoulade makes a wonderful spread on sandwiches of beef and chicken and fried shrimp. It dresses up salads and complements the dickens out of homegrown tomatoes.

And of course, it is very useful with baked fish and chicken... but it really shines with fried foods.

I don't know what Yankees put on their okra, but if they had remoulade, they would probably eat okra more often.

When I open a can of La Costena chipotles in adobo sauce, I use what I need and put the rest into a little one-cup Mason jar for the fridge. It lasts a couple of weeks, so if your husband likes hot stuff and smokiness as much as mine does, he can use those chipotles to flavor anything he's eating.

Hopefully, he doesn't use it on cereal. But you know, no judgment here. He can put hot sauce on his corn flakes if he wants to. Just, you know, don't put the bowl down for the dog to clean up. Because *ow*.