While the rest of you try to recreate a Mardi Gras crewe in some Chicago tavern or music club, I’ll try to stay out of trouble, for once. Maybe a late lunch at Heaven on Seven. Whip up Paul Prudhomme’s recipe for gumbo at home. I have a leftover roast chicken to make stock. Dredge some boneless, skinless chicken thighs in some cayenne dusted flour. Crisp those thighs in hot oil. Use some of the spicy frying oil for roux. Add onions, green peppers, and celery when the roux is brown. Put a spoonful of the roux mixture into boiling chicken stock until it dissolves and repeat until you have a nice thick soup. Throw in some chicken andouille. Re-add the chopped fried chicken thigh. Simmer for a while. Serve with rice. A meal in itself.

You can’t spend that much time in the kitchen on Fat Tuesday without a New Orleans soundtrack. Here’s mine.

Professor Longhair-Red Beans. This boogie woogie is so good it hurts. It’s about cooking. And other stuff.

Trombone Shorty-Hurricane Season. One of the catchiest damn songs I’ve ever heard. Trombone Shorty is the grandson of New Orleans R&B pioneer Jesse Hill, who recorded
“Ooh Poo Pah Doo.”

Neville Brothers-Voodoo. If you’re feeling lazy, just throw on the album “Yellow Moon” or their first as an official group, “Fiyou on the Bayou.” This song takes me back to the day I ducked into Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo to get me a mojo hand. Just between you and me, I think it’s made me immortal.

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