A Little Taste of Home

I claim Little Rock and New Orleans as home. Technically, Little Rock is my true home. New Orleans has an equal place in my heart too. I lived there for three years and like most people do, I adopted it!

There are many foods I have to eat when I go to New Orleans, but there are only three restaurants I must visit. I can't remember a place that ever gave me shrimp or gumbo that weren't good, but not everyone makes certain dishes: Cafe du Monde for beignets (you can get those elsewhere, but they don't taste the same), Louisiana Pizza Kitchen for the Greek Pizza and Palace Cafe for Shrimp Tcheufuncte.

This post is about Shrimp Tchefuncte. (I'm so proud I can spell that without looking it up.) I almost died when I saw the Palace Cafe Cookbook at the airport bookstore last year. At long last, I could make this at home! (I never even thought to ask the restaurant for the recipe and I didn't see this book during my French Quarter cookbook trek.)

These are more pictures I found on the memory card in the old camera. I remember that I didn't make the dish perfectly, but it was close enogh to give me some of the flavors. Hence a "little" taste of home.

 Well a shrimp dish starts with shrimp, so here we go. Peel 'em and clean 'em.

Don't you dare throw those shells away! You'll need them for seafood gumbo. I think I see a shrimp peeking through the shells.

Now let's work the Creole meuniere sauce. You'll need lemons, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, heavy cream and butter. Here is where I messed up the recipe. I was trying to make a half recipe. I rememembered to do this for everything but the lemon!

I can't really say if there is a difference among hot sauce brands. In New Orleans there are three, Crystal, Original Louisiana (or Red Dot) and Tobasco. Red Dot is the #1 brand in Little Rock. Tobasco is in a different league compared to the other two in terms of heat. You'll want to use a regular hot sauce for this. Add Tobasco to taste later. I can't speak to Frank's or Texas Pete -- I refuse to buy them!

Now, let's move on to the shrimp. Saute chopped garlic in butter.

Cook until the garlic is golden brown. Add the shrimp, sliced button mushrooms and Creole seasoning (Tony Chachere's, please). When the shrimp are almost done, stir in the meunier sauce and chopped green onions.

Cook the shimp all the way through and serve with rice.

Tools of the Trade:

• Shrimp Scissors
• All-Clad 2-qt Saute Pan
• All-Clad 10" Fry Pan

NOLA Eats

Rarely, do I post about food I didn't make. I figured that if you have a chef hook you up or you visit the culinary capital of the South, one can post about it. I spent a week eating my way through New Orleans and the North Shore. Here are the restaurants and the food:

The Palace Cafe is one of my favorite restaurants in New Orleans. Shrimp Tchefuncte is my dish of choice. Here it is in all of its glory.

I skipped right to the main course. I started with their take on a Caesar salad, the Werlein Salad.

For dessert, I had fresh peaches and rum cake. It was flambéed! My first tableside presentation.

Look at the finished product! Yep that's homemade ice cream.

One of my other must-haves is a Greek pizza from Louisiana Pizza Kitchen (with extra olives). This thing rocks. It is my favorite pizza in the country. I love it so much that I had it two days in a row. These pics are from the French Quarter location. I prefer the pizza Uptown at location, but I love the character of the French Quarter Location. These pics are from the one in the Quarter.

Next up, and excuse the camera phone pics, are cafe au lait and beignets. I had these almost every day for breakfast. I absolutely adore Cafe Du Monde.

Then there was Drago's. Had to get my crawfish étouffée on! Shrimp and corn bisque too. Sorry -- more camera phone pics.

Oh, how I love the Crescent City. Best food ever. I also made it to New Orleans Seafood & Spirits, but I didn't take any pics. What I realized as that when I ate with my family, I didn't take any pictures. When I was by myself, I took plenty. It's hard being the only foodie blogger in the family.

Big Easy Desserts

This is my fifth and final Mardi Gras 2008 post. Here is a recap of my Fat Tuesday menu:

• Hurricanes
• Cheese Straws
• Gumbo, Chicken Étouffée, Red Beans and Rice
• Dirty Rice

Now, what is all that without a good dessert? My goal was to make beignets and cafe au lait. I was too tired and had no space left in my kitchen to do so. This was supposed to be in addition to bread pudding and a Doberge cake that was a lagniappe surprise. Yes, I cooked for four straight days. I actually made the dirty rice later in the week and took it to work for lunch.
Now for the bread pudding and Doberge cake. Here are the disclaimers:

1. I forgot to take pictures of the finished bread pudding. The one above is from Food Network.com
2. I forgot to make the sauce for the bread pudding
3. The things I suck the most at are torting a cake and icing a cake (you'll soon see why this is a problem.)

Let's tackle the bread pudding first. Emeril Lagassee has a wonderful recipe and it hasn't failed me yet. Start by cubing your French bread.

I cube fresh bread and leave it out to stale.
Once you have stale bread, make your custard and soak the bread. I like to soak the bread overnight.

See that little lone raisin in the corner? The rest are at the bottom of the bowl. Pour this into a buttered casserole dish and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.

Moving on to the Doberge cake. This cake is unbelievable. It is six or seven thin layers of cake separated by pudding. The cake is then covered in buttercream. Lemon, chocolate and caramel are the flavors of choice. I chose chocolate. Some chocolate versions are all chocolate. I like yellow cake with chocolate filling and icing.

Here's a picture of a professional cake from Haydel's in New Orleans.

I'll show you my poor facsimile later. I started with the recipe in New Orleans Classic Desserts by Kit Wohl. However, it had so many crucial errors that I had to find additional recipes on the Web.
This is a job for Old Faithful, (stand mixer) and Miracle (food processor) too. If you have a second mixing bowl, now would be a good time to use it. (You'll have to beat the egg whites separately.) Cream the butter and sugar. Take the dry ingredients for a spin in the food processor (unless you prefer to sift the long way.)

After the eggs have been added to the creamed butter and sugar, Add the wet and dry ingredients to the batter. Start and end with the dry. Do not over mix!
Fold in the stiff egg whites.

I'll say it again. I am not good at torting cakes. I thought I'd help myself out by baking this cake in three layers and then splitting each layer. Prepare the pans with parchment and a baking spray. I like Pam for Baking and the Crisco version.
The cake strips around the right and center pans help the cake bake evenly. The cakes will brown perfectly and won't be domed. See the makings of cheese straws behind the cake pans? It was a marathon cooking session. This was Super Bowl Sunday and I also worked out some nachos.

Needless to say, I failed again at torting. I could've easily just stacked the three layers and been done with it, but where's the challenge in that? And once again my buttercream refused to be light and fluffy. But, I got it all together. Not flawlessly beautiful, but good. I forgot to tell you how I made the chocolate pudding. I didn't take any pictures of that either.

I know you can't really see them, but I promise there are six layers. My issue when torting is that by the time I get to the center of the cake, the knife is coming through the top of the cake. I just need more practice.

Tools of the trade:

• Shun Offset Bread Knife
• Totally Bamboo Chopping Block
• KitchenAid Stand Mixer
• KitchenAid Food Processor
• Wilton Baking Strips

Dirty Rice

I have two more posts related to my Mardi Gras meal. You've heard about the gumbo, chicken étouffée and red beans and rice. You know the cocktail was a traditional hurricane and the appetizer was cheese straws. I have to tell you about the dirty rice and the desserts don't I? I know you want to know.

I hadn't had dirty rice in years. My favorite fast food restaurant version used pork sausage, so I had to let it go when I gave up red meat and pork. Who knew it would taste good using only chicken? Thank you, Williams-Sonoma.

This dish is so inexpensive and feeds a crowd. It's made with chicken livers and gizzards. Now, I am opposed to organ meats. They have such a gross factor for me. I haven't had liver of any kind since Mama stopped forcing me to eat it. I didn't figure out what a gizzard was until my 30s and I haven't eaten one since! I decided to put my fear aside for Mardi Gras. Besides, after two hurricanes, I wouldn't care what I was eating.

In a large pot, sauté the trinity (celery, bell pepper and onion) and garlic. Remember to give the trinity a head start. Season with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne. Grind the livers and gizzards or take them for a spin in the food processor. You'll obviously get a more even texture with a grinder. That was not a pretty sight, so I will spare you the picture. Add the meat mixture to the veggies. Season again. Simmer until every thing is well cooked and mushy. (We Southerners do not believe in al dente.)

Add cooked rice. I made mine with chicken broth. It's a little mushy. Trust me. My coworkers would not care. Make sure you've seasoned your rice with Tony Chachere's.

Now toss in hefty amounts of green onion and parsley. Stir and make sure everything is warmed through.

Serve with hot sauce and grab a fork.

Tools of the trade:

• KitchenAid Stand Mixer
• KitchenAid Grinder Attachment
• KitchenAid Food Processor (if you don't have the mixer and the grinder attachment)
• All-Clad Dutch Oven
• Oxo Wooden Turner
• All-Clad 3-Qt Saucepan
• Totally Bamboo Butcher Block
• Shun Chef's Knife

Hurricane

This hurricane is so good and so potent my friends have named it crunk juice! One is nice. Two means you shouldn’t drive! I made these by the pitcher for my Mardi Gras gathering and served them with the cheese straws. I even drink them with the desserts. I had some leftover to go with the dirty rice later in the week.

This recipe is from Big Easy Cocktails by Jimmy Bannos and John DeMers. These are the best I've ever had (Yeah. better than Pat O'Briens.) Bannos is the owner of Heaven On Seven here in Chicago. I'm not a fan of his food, but I am a fan of his book. The problem with New Orleans and Southern food outside of New Orleans and the South is that chefs have to adapt it to fit the tastes of their current clientele. I can make the real thing at home.

Hurricane

• 1 1/2 oz cranberry juice
• 1 1/4 oz orange juice
• 1 1/4 oz pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz grenadine
• 3/4 oz sour mix
• 1/2 oz Bacardi Light Rum
• 1/2 oz Bacardi Limon
• 1/2 oz Bacardi Select
• 1/2 oz spiced rum
• 1/4 oz Bacardi 151 (I always omit this)

Shake with ice. Garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry.

Lagniappe!

Multiple posts today and all about New Orleans. Lagniappe means something extra, so this post is the something extra for the day. I served cheese straws as the appetizer for the Mardi Gras gathering at my home on Tuesday. They went well with the hurricanes. Other additions included bread pudding and Doberge cake. I eventually got around to making dirty rice.

I have to admit (and my aunt reminded me for emphasis) that I did not like cheese straws when I first tried them. I know, New Orleanean and other Southern women are just gasping right now. I'd never tried them until I lived in New Orleans. I was unimpressed. Granted these came from a bag (I'm telling you -- I have some discriminating tastes when it comes to processed food. Except for Velveeta. Velveeta is a necessity.)

Enter one of my role models, Paula Deen. Say what you like; that woman has built an empire around Southern food and family. She made cheese straws on her show that looked so good. Besides, I'd get to use a piping bag. I had to give it a shot.

This can all be done in a food processor. Miracle was up for the task. First shred sharp cheddar cheese. I used extra sharp white Wisconsin cheddar. Make sure the cheese is at room temp. Mine was straight from the fridge and the dough was too stiff for me to work at first. I had to microwave it for a few seconds.

Switch to the metal blade and add room temperature butter, flour, salt and cayenne. Take everything for a spin.

Put the dough in a piping bag, cookie press, or cut the corner out of a food storage bag. I used a piping bag with a 1M tip. Pipe the dough onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. I'm a Silpat and parchment kinda girl. With all of the butter and oil from the cheese, I doubt that you really need and extra oil, but insurance is always good. Paula made 2-inch straws. I wanted mine longer.

Head to a 350 degree pre-heated oven. Baked 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

Boy, are these good!

Tools of the trade:

• KitchenAid Food Processor
• Wilton Disposable Piping Bag
• Wilton 1M Tip
• Silpat

Le Bon Temps Roule!

For those who didn't know, Tuesday was Mardi Gras. New Orleans is my adopted second home, so Mardi Gras is an important holiday for me. Mardi Gras is best celebrated with a crowd, so I decided to invite my team from work to my home for a good New Orleans meal. We were due for a teambuilding exercise anyway. (This pic came from nola.com. Go there to check out more.)

The menu was ambitious: cheese straws, gumbo, dirty rice, red beans and rice, chicken étouffée and hurricanes. Now of course I promised beignets and cafe au lait, but I was just too tired to make those happen. I made the dirty rice Thursday morning and brought it in for lunch. (We ate the other half of the gumbo for lunch on Wednesday.) I did bang out bread pudding and a Doberge cake. We'll focus on the gumbo and red beans and rice here. This meal is best prepared and served with good music. Make sure you throw in a Rebirth CD too.

Now that the mood is set, let get to cooking. This meal is built around the trinity -- celery, onion and bell pepper. The bell pepper replaces the carrot in the traditional mirepoix.

Lay hands on some dried red beans. I was all about authenticity, so I had my aunt ship me some Camellia red beans. Pick through these and soak them overnight.

When you're ready to cook the beans, start by giving your veggies a sweat in a little oil. Season with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, cayenne and thyme. As the veggies soften, add minced garlic.

Once the veggies are soft, add your seasoning meats to the pot. I used smoked turkey necks and wings and smoked turkey sausage. Cube the turkey sausage.

Add the soaked and drained beans and cover with water. Season with salt and pepper and add bay leaves. Cook until the beans are tender, about 2-2 1/2 hours. Now, remove the turkey necks and any wing bones that are meandering around in the pot. Grab a potato masher and smash about a quarter of the beans. Stir the mixture and cook for another 30 minutes.

Serve with rice and with green onions and parsley for garnish. Okay so I forgot the garnish. I'll garnish the leftovers.

Moving on to the gumbo. Gumbo is time consuming. It is a labor of love and requires patience. Start with your shrimp. Yes, I peeled and de-veined four pounds of shrimp. I bought the shrimp wholesale. After your shrimp are peeled, refrigerate the meat and add the shells to a stockpot. Add celery, onion and garlic. Bring to a boil and simmer for two hours. Discard the solids and bring the stock to a boil.

Use the two hours wisely. Peel, seed and chop your tomatoes. Prep your trinity and make your roux. The roux will require equal parts of flour and oil and your undivided attention. I used a cup of canola oil and a cup of flour. Heat the oil over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir constantly. The OXO wooden turner is my preferred tool for this. It's so much better than a spoon for scraping the bottom of the pot. I cannot emphasize this enough -- stir constantly. If you burn your roux, you will have to start over.

Roux can range from blond to chocolate brown. For gumbo, my roux is about the color of caramel. For the chicken étouffée, it was chocolate brown.

After your roux is ready, toss in the trinity. Season with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, cayenne and thyme. As the veggies soften, add minced garlic. Sound familiar?

Here are the roux and veggies for the étouffée, note the darker color of this roux.

Once the veggies are soft, drop the mixture into the hot shrimp stock, stirring well after each addition. Now add the okra and tomatoes. Reseason and simmer until the mixture is thick and the flavors have melded, about 45 minutes. Add your reserved shrimp and other seafood. I added crab. When I can find them, I add crawfish or langostino. Make sure the heat is on low and cook just until the shrimp is done. Toss in some filé powder.

Serve with rice and garnish with green onion, parsley and filé powder. This bowl is already decorated with hot sauce!

A note about rice: the gumbo, chicken etouffee and red beans are all served with rice. You have to season your rice. I can make this real easy for you. Once you get your water in the pot, add several shakes of Tony Chachere's. That's all you need! Tony Chachere's is also used to season the above dishes. Gumbo tasting flat? Add some Tony Chachere's.

Tools of the trade:

• Totally Bamboo Butcher Block
• Shun Chef's Knife
• All-Clad Multipot
• All-Clad Pasta Pentola
• All-Clad Soup Pot
• Oxo Garlic Press
• Oxo Wooden Turner