"The dish": a symbol of his zest for life and his love to be loved.

Half of Chet Smith's freezer is filled with Bradley's Country Sausage, a memento from the last time his father visited Tallahassee.

Once again, they made the required trek up moss-draped, oak-canopied Centerville Road to the old country store where they still turn pigs into pork and peddle it sausage-style, so Chesterfield Smith could have one of the main ingredients of his famous recipe, known simply as "The Dish."

Neither paella nor pilau, it is a zestily seasoned combo of saffron-tinted rice, vegetables, shrimp, and hot country sausage.

For 47 years, the elder Smith spent four hours in the kitchen each time he made "The Dish," first concocted for his law partner back in Barrow. Through the years, he served it up with gusto, a symbol of his zest for life, and his love to be loved.

Smith called his old friend Sandy D'Alemberte one day and said: "You've got to get The Miami Herald on Sunday. It's going to have a feature story on me, and it's the best anybody's ever done."

"What's it about, Chesterfield?" D'Alemberte asked.

"About what a good cook I am!" bellowed Smith.

As Smith told the Herald: "I think this dish is dadgum good."

If you go to D'Alemberte's kitchen in Tallahassee, the recipe for "The Dish" is framed on the wall.

Whenever Smith planned a special event, he would give each guest a copy of that 1991 Herald story and the recipe in a folder, along with a little paragraph naming the guest of honor, such as this one from October 23, 1993, complete with Smith's personal signature: "On the occasion honoring Rhea Grafton Chiles, First Lady of Florida, following her presentation of the Tree of Life Award at the Jewish National Fund reception and banquet at the Fontainebleau Hotel, internationally known Chef Chesterfield Smith presents to each attendee a copy of his fabulous recipe for 'The Dish.'"

At his high-ceilinged Coral Gables house, Smith loved to entertain.

While there were always a lot of very important people invited to these gatherings, he would always include young lawyers, too. As Martha Barnett observed, it was "someone he was bringing in and validating. When we were recruiting people for the firm, they didn't stay at a hotel. They stayed at Chesterfield's house. It was personal. He invested in them."

His wife, Jackie, once joked the dishes got used so much from so much entertaining, the glaze had been rubbed off.

"It was almost pathological; he liked being around people so much," said Chet Smith. His favorite memory of his dad he will always cherish was the time the whole family--mother Vivian, who learned navigation and had been certified by the Coast Guard, big sister Rhoda, and seven-year-old Chet--got Dad all to themselves for a six-week trip in a 20-foot boat named "Lord Chesterfield." The high adventure took them from Lake Monroe in Sanford, all the way up the Intracoastal Waterway, to Washington, D.C.

But when Chesterfield Smith moved on land, he seemed to always be planning a party.

"He loved to be loved. You ought not underestimate that," D'Alemberte said. "As Martha said, he really would have loved his funeral service, even though it went on an hour and a hall His only complaint would be that it didn't go on three hours!"

One of Smith's passions was creating occasions to bring friends together.

"He was as good about that as anybody I know. He called me a couple of times and said: 'You don't see enough of your friends. Come to Miami. I am going to organize a party around you.' Well, what he was saying to me, he also said to everybody he called. I don't have any illusions about that!" D'Alemberte said with a laugh.

Smith liked his steaks rare, his drinks strong, and his conversations loud and full of laugher.

"He loved to cook. He loved to eat. He loved friends," Barnett said. "He just had a ball."

Chesterfield Smith's Dish[C]

It's best to think of The Dish as a work in progress, Chesterfield Smith told The Miami Herald in 1991, noting okra joined the pot a decade earlier, and sun-dried tomatoes were a fairly recent addition. When this emerges from the oven and the lid is lifted, it's beautiful--yellow rice, chunks of colorful peppers, pieces of black olives and shrimp and sausage peeking from the depths.

Group A ingredients:

2       cups short-grained rice
3       cups chicken broth
1       teaspoon paprika
1       teaspoon saffron
1       teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2       packets Sazon Goya (with coriander & annatto)
1       tablespoon olive oil

Group B ingredients:

1       3-oz. package sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
1       8-oz. can mushroom stems & pieces
1       8-oz. can diced pimientos
1       8-oz. can chopped ripe olives
2       tomatoes, peeled & chopped
1       red bell pepper, seeded, cored & diced
2       large sweet onions, coarsely chopped
2       cups frozen, chopped okra
6       to 8 large cloves of garlic ("I like it.")

Group C ingredients:

2       pounds country-style hot pork sausage
2 1/2   pounds medium shrimp, peeled
        salt, pepper, olive oil & other discretionary condiments

I precook Groups A, B, and C separately, having everything already available, chopped, peeled, cut and ready for methodical assembly.

For Group A, I bring the chicken broth to a boil, then add the paprika, saffron, Worcestershire sauce, Sazon Goya, and olive oil. After lightly salting, I stir it, add the rice, and again bring it to a boil. Do not stir after the rice is added. I then reduce the heat to very low and cook for 30 minutes. The cooked rice is then set aside for cooling. Quite frankly, great rice is the soul and heart of "Chesterfield's Dish."

For Group B, I place the sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water until soft, cut them in pieces, and then pour into a large pot together with the entire contents of the cans of mushrooms, pimientos, and olives. I then add the tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, and the chopped okra (thawed). I bring this conglomeration to a boil (if needed, add water), and then let it simmer until the vegetables are limp. After draining (very important) all liquid, add the garlic cloves, which are put through a press.

For Group C, I fry the sausage over medium heat for 10 minutes, then cut into [degrees]-inch long pieces. The shrimp are boiled and shelled, The sausage and the boiled shrimp are then combined

Final cooking of "The Dish:" The prepared ingredients from Group B are placed in a large mixing bowl, The rice from Group A is then sprinkled and mixed with the vegetables from Group B. Be very careful about stirring thereafter and do not mash or scrape the rice in any way. At this time, salt, pepper and other seasoning or condiments may be added according to taste or personal preference. One or two ounces of olive oil probably will suit most or at least many. Seasoning of "The Dish" is obviously a matter of taste and judgment, which can be best developed by repeated experiences. I like it to be spicy.

The mixture should then be placed in a two-gallon iron pot or at least a large one. Insert the iron pot into a preheated 350-degree oven and bake for 20 minutes, then without stirring the rice and keeping the rice as stable and undisturbed as possible, insert and mix the shrimp and sausage from Group C as promptly as possible.

Thereafter continue the baking in the iron pot at 250 degrees for an additional 20 minutes or until all liquid has been absorbed.

Now eat this most pleasant concoction by starting with a large helping or so (it serves 8 to 12) for everyone, together with garlic bread, green sour salad, and a cold glass of beer (or two). That's it.

--CHESTERFIELD SMITH