SHOW & RECIPE FOR FEB. 9

This week we broadcast live from Spec’s wonderful warehouse store on Smith Street, so come by, pick up a few things for your next meal, and say hello. Also, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, you can register to win a two-night stay at the romantic Maison Dupuy Hotel in the French Quarter of New Orleans, with a special-occasion wine dinner for two at Dominique’s. It’s all part of the upcoming New Orleans Wine Festival.

SUSHI FOR THE MANY
For a long time, it seems, sushi was the food for purists – people who tended to take yoga classes, read Eastern philosophy and discuss feng shui every time they thought about moving the sofa. Today, thanks to places like Ra Sushi in Houston, sushi is or at least can be for everybody. Our friends Bill and Jerry from Ra (as opposed to Ben and Jerry from Vermont!) teach us how to appreciate some of their finest culinary creations, along with the different kinds of sake that pair with them. Or, if you’re like me, you can still have a nice New Zealand sauvignon blanc!

WINES FOR VALENTINES
Veteran waiters may roll their eyes and grumble about “amateur night,” but Valentine’s Day (or, in this case, night) remains the single busiest day in restaurants across America – followed by Mother’s Day, which shows where all this romancing tends to lead. Our Spec’s buddy and wine guy extraordinaire Bill Coates joins us for today’s Grape & Grain segment, talking about what makes a wine “romantic.” He’ll also pour us tastes of two or three vintages he thinks especially likely to make the most of dinner with your Valentine.

THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL
Talk about romantic! Surely everyone has seen at least one movie version of “The Scarlet Pimpernel”. This time around, it’s a musical being staged at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts by Houston’s own Masquerade Theatre. These guys do some really terrific shows – as we saw a few months back with “Gypsy” – and we’ll have a chat with artistic director Phillip Duggins and “Pimpernel” star Luther Chakurian to find out how they do it. And since the last time we saw Luther, he was killing people to fill London meat pies in “Sweeney Todd,” we hope he’ll be a bit lest culinary this go-round.

JOHN’S SAY-IT-AIN’T-SO ONE-HOUR
CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE GUMBO

Sometimes, when you’re going from cookbook signing to cookbook signing far from home, you have to whip up gumbo in a hurry in some mighty strange places that aren’t exactly kitchens. You do this by “going Thoreau” and simplifying, deciding what’s really important and what’s only an old wives’ tale. Thus, this gumbo in one hour, made with one of those roast chicken Spec’s and everybody else loves to sell us these days. You may grimace at the shortcuts, but you’ll be amazed at the taste. As Justin Wilson says from somewhere in Cajun heaven, long before that guy trying to sell us suits: “I gar-on-TEE it!”

1 roast chicken
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced in coins
2 slices bacon
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups cut okra, fresh or frozen
½ cup tomato salsa
4 cups chicken broth
Creole seasoning to taste
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup vegetable oil
Chopped green onion
Streamed white rice

Remove all meat from the chicken and discard skin and bones. Brown the sausage and bacon to render the fat, then remove the meat from the pan. Saute the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic in the fat until lightly caramelized, then add the okra and stir until soft and the mixture has thickened. Stir in salsa and cook briefly to incorporate. Pour in chicken broth and season to taste. Crumble the cooked bacon and add to the gumbo, along with the sausage and chicken.

In a separate skillet, stir together the flour and oil until smooth, then cook while stirring to form a very dark brown roux. When finished, carefully (it will bubble and splatter) add some of the gumbo to the roux and stir until thick and smooth, then repeat the process – this will “temper” the roux so it combines better. Add the tempered roux to the gumbo and cook until you run out of hour, or longer of course. Serve in bowls garnished with green onions and steamed white rice. Serves about 8.