My husband recently rocked my world (and my heart—literally) with a new dish that’s now become known among our friends as Five Fats Chicken. It’s made with bacon fat, chicken fat, duck fat, vegetable oil, a stick of butter and some other ingredients. The original recipe for it is Tom Fitzmorris’ Chicken Bonne Femme, which does not call for duck fat. We added duck fat because we had lots leftover from the annual July Fig Fest (and duck roast).

Although known as “Poulet Bonne Femme” (Good Woman’s Chicken), this dish could just as well be called “Poulet Bonne Ferme” (Good Farm Chicken) since it’s got bacon and ham and chicken (all the reasons why any farm should be considered good). When our friends Kedren and Craig came over last week (they’d heard about the chicken and wanted to try it—it’s a bit like “Survivor” at our house right now) we made the chicken and served links of steamy hot boudin (from Billy and Ray’s in Opelousas) for appetizer and Swedish Rectory Cookies for dessert. On previous occasions, my husband claims he ate ONE of those cookies and got a hangover (not true—he ate a “semla,” a Swedish Mardi Gras bun with almond paste and whipped cream). Rectory cookies are basically made by wrapping two cookie slivers around a ball of buttercream (nothing like a “semla”). Anyway, we all woke up shiny the next day.

PS. It’s always a good idea to keep a baseball bat by the dining room table. Unless you own an AED.