“You think you’ve come so far
In this one horse town
Then she’s laughin’ that crazy laugh
‘Cause you haven’t left the parking lot.”
–John Hiatt
For today’s Sunday Dispatch we dip back into Don Nix’s timeless book Road Stories and Recipes. Two years ago Elizabeth Josephine cooked Steve Cropper’s Linguine & Cream Sauce recipe. You can read more about Road Stories and Recipes in my book Insured Beyond The Grave Volume 2.
Early this morning she began cooking John Hiatt’s Vegetable Senegalese Stew. Elizabeth chose the recipe. She prepared everything by the book with no variations to Hiatt’s original ingredients.
In 2018, Hiatt released The Eclipse Session and in 2021 Leftover Feelings. Hiatt will be hitting the road this spring. He will play two shows in Denver during March, and then an appearance at the New Orleans Jazz Festival on May 6. It’s good to see him still out there playing his songs. Until then, here’s his recipe he submitted to Don Nix many years ago.
John Hiatt’s official recipe ingredients:
2 large onions, finely chopped
4 Tb peanut oil
2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and chunked
4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 large carrots, sliced
1/2 small cabbage, coarsely chopped
2 large tomatoes, quartered
1 packaged frozen spinach
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
3/4 cup peanut butter
Elizabeth baked her signature cornbread to accompany the stew. The peanut butter sauce gives the dish its Senegalese flavor. It’s a hearty bowl. Thick. A perfect winter meal with a spicy kick. As Hiatt would sing, It’s “a slow turning…”
Cheers.
(Photographs by Elizabeth Josephine)