Blog Archives
25
Jan 2012
Jan 2012
In case you missed my tweets yesterday, the 2012 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival daily schedules have been posted. The lineup is crazy good this year. Almost as crazy good as this Jazzy Crawfish Pasta–my take on Crawfish Monica. Crawfish Monica has been a festival-goer favorite for some 30 years now. It consists of a mesmerizing bowl of rotini pasta drenched in a deliciously spicy crawfish cream sauce. This dish became so popular at Jazz Fest that back in 2009, its creator Chef Pierre Hilzim (who named the seafood specialty after his wife Monica) trademarked the name and began [ ... ]
Category: Crawfish, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Pasta, Seafood
Tags: crawfish, creole, New Orleans Cooking, New Orleans Recipes, Seafood 9 Comments
20
Jan 2012
Jan 2012
There is no Party Cheese Ball in my recipe lineage. Lots of other wonderful family food. But no cheese ball. The only kind I ate as a kid was the prepackaged, almond coated ones from Hickory Farms. Do you remember Hickory Farms? Their stores and kiosks used to rock the malls during the holidays with all those fancy (or so I thought) summer sausage and cheese gift boxes. Maybe they still do. Just not around here. How would I know? I don’t mall shop. Anyway, growing up I never [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Snacks
Tags: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Snacks Comments off
19
Jan 2012
Jan 2012
One of the easiest ways to dress up everyday dinners is with a marinade. A good marinade can be thrown together in minutes with generous amount of herbs, spices and other seasonings, some form of acid to carry those flavors into the meat and help tenderize it and oil to keep the meat moist and prevent it from sticking while cooking. For maximum flavor, it’s best to plan a day ahead and marinate whatever you’re cooking (except seafood) overnight. But if you don’t have that luxury, a bold marinade can work its magic in thirty minutes. [ ... ]
13
Jan 2012
Jan 2012
I used to think Houston’s had the best spinach dip. I liked the saucy spinach with the salsa and sour cream toppings far better than the chunky, cheesy kind usually found on restaurant menus. Then, back in 2008, I met another spinach dip worthy of my affection. A creamier, more flavorful one. Hands down, it was the best spinach dip I had ever tasted. And well, I haven’t thought much about Houston’s Chicago-Style version since. My girlfriend Brenda introduced me to it at one of our sadly-long-gone neighborhood Happy Hours. She likes to entertain as much as I do so [ ... ]
12
Jan 2012
Jan 2012
I love tacos, especially those stuffed with fresh Louisiana seafood. I just don’t care for the ones filled with battered and fried fish. While that may be considered the “true” way to cook fish for fish tacos, it’s not for me. The coating, however thick or thin, tends to get in the way of that wonderful seafood flavor I crave when I order or cook them. I also find the deep-fried ones way too heavy when combined with flour or corn tortillas. A highly seasoned, pan-seared fish is more my style, especially when it’s dressed [ ... ]
06
Jan 2012
Jan 2012
I spent the better part of this week implementing my annual holiday recovery plan. That entailed purging the fridge and pantry of any lingering Christmas goodies, shopping for lots of fresh fruits and veggies and planning lighter, cleaner meals. Don’t ask me why I decided to make the transition back to normal eating this week, considering the weekend is full of family and friend birthdays (including my daughter Chandler’s today and mine on Monday) and major football games! But in any respect, I’m attempting to carry out my ambitious plan through the next few days and beyond [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Sauces, Vegetables
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04
Jan 2012
Jan 2012
Way down yonder in New Orleans, we’re obsessed with beans. And not just red beans. We’re crazy about butter beans (large limas), navy beans, pintos, split peas and black-eyes. Oh, and we also look forward to cooking with Great Northerns, black beans and chickpeas. And I can’t forget fava beans. We like to stash one of those in our coin purse to insure that we’ll never go broke. That’s an American-Creole-Italian thing–although I did discover during my CSA days that favas make a mighty fine dip! Then there are those other less popular types of “legumes” (a word we never [ ... ]
30
Dec 2011
Dec 2011
Since today is not only Finger Food Friday but New Year’s Eve Eve, I thought I’d make something that could transition nicely between a casual Happy Hour and a fancy New Year’s Eve bash. These stuffed artichoke bottoms do just that. The filling consists of a humble combination of greens and pork, in this instance spinach and pancetta, that get dressed up with a rich-tasting (I avoid the calorie bomb here by using skim milk) Creole Bechamel thickened with Parmesan cheese. The artichoke bottoms? Yet another fun vehicle to transport all that creamy filling to your [ ... ]
25
Dec 2011
Dec 2011
Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder
Merry Christmas!
Larry, Genêt, Chandler, Brennan, Blair and Beignet (our Christmas Cavachon)
Category: Christmas
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24
Dec 2011
Dec 2011
Have you ever made canned biscuit donuts? It’s a fun, semi-homemade way to make donuts. We’re planning on making them tomorrow morning for Christmas breakfast. I’ll probably set up the fryer and make the icings sometime today. So tomorrow, when the grumbling of the kids’ hungry bellies finally overcomes the excitement of Santa’s arrival, I’ll be ready to roll.
These donuts can be eaten plain or decorated any which way. I’ve included quick recipes for vanilla and chocolate icings. The donuts are also good coated in cinnamon sugar. But my youngest, Blair, and the hubby insist they’re best dusted with powdered [ ... ]
