12 July 2009
Beau Ties
I found a neat peddler of ties similar to those of NOLA Couture and Vineyard Vines, but with a general southern theme.
Check 'em out at Southern Proper.
Check 'em out at Southern Proper.
29 June 2009
Creole Tomato Shrimp Creole
New Orleans during the summer time is a truly awful thing. But with it, comes two positively amazing things: Seafood and Creole Tomatoes. I combined this in a complete from scratch "Creole Shrimp Creole." My recipe for a six person serving is as follows:
Ingredients:
3lbs Shrimp
10 large Fresh Creole Tomatoes
1 Large Bell Pepper, Chopped
1 Large Yellow or White Onion, diced
1 rib Celery, diced
1 Stick of butter
1-2 tabs Flour
Thyme
Oregano
Tabasco
pinch of sugar
6-8 Oz. hoppy Pale Ale (I like Abita Jockamo)
Creole seasoning
a bay leaf or two
Begin by boiling a pot of water. Once at a rolling bowl, add tomatoes (not all at once). remove each tomato as it's skin forms a crack (1+ minutes). Once all tomatoes have been boiled and then removed, let them sit for 10 minutes. Separate them into a portion of 6 tomatoes and a portion of 4 tomatoes. Skin them, remove the seeds, and then chop them. Puree the portion of 6.
In a sauce pan, mix 1-2 TabS butter and an equal amount of flour to make a blond roux. Once a blond roux has been achieved, and the pureed tomatoes, some oregano, the pinch of sugar, the creole seasoning, and the pale ale. Stir and cook until tomato sauce consistency has been achieved. If you would like to reduce cooking time/effort, this may be omitted, and canned tomato sauce may be used (but it sure as hell won't be Creole Tomato Sauce).
In a LARGE skillet, over medium high heat, saute the onions and celery in 2 TabS of butter. Add in the the remaining portion of 4 chopped/peeled tomatoes and bell pepper (afterward you may want to add a pinch of flour to thicken things.) Cook on medium-high for 5 minutes. Throw with oregano, thyme, a bay leaf or two, the tomato sauce made in the previous step, and a dash of Tabasco, and maybe a bit more tony's. Let this simmer. stir.
While that is simmering, in a small skillet, begin sauteing the shrimp in the remaining half stick of butter. As the shrimp begin to turn pink, but before becoming fully cooked, toss them into the creole sauce in the other skillet.
Once it is all simmering in the large skillet, let it reduce until it reaches the proper consistency (5-10 minutes). serve over rice.
Ingredients:
3lbs Shrimp
10 large Fresh Creole Tomatoes
1 Large Bell Pepper, Chopped
1 Large Yellow or White Onion, diced
1 rib Celery, diced
1 Stick of butter
1-2 tabs Flour
Thyme
Oregano
Tabasco
pinch of sugar
6-8 Oz. hoppy Pale Ale (I like Abita Jockamo)
Creole seasoning
a bay leaf or two
Begin by boiling a pot of water. Once at a rolling bowl, add tomatoes (not all at once). remove each tomato as it's skin forms a crack (1+ minutes). Once all tomatoes have been boiled and then removed, let them sit for 10 minutes. Separate them into a portion of 6 tomatoes and a portion of 4 tomatoes. Skin them, remove the seeds, and then chop them. Puree the portion of 6.
In a sauce pan, mix 1-2 TabS butter and an equal amount of flour to make a blond roux. Once a blond roux has been achieved, and the pureed tomatoes, some oregano, the pinch of sugar, the creole seasoning, and the pale ale. Stir and cook until tomato sauce consistency has been achieved. If you would like to reduce cooking time/effort, this may be omitted, and canned tomato sauce may be used (but it sure as hell won't be Creole Tomato Sauce).
In a LARGE skillet, over medium high heat, saute the onions and celery in 2 TabS of butter. Add in the the remaining portion of 4 chopped/peeled tomatoes and bell pepper (afterward you may want to add a pinch of flour to thicken things.) Cook on medium-high for 5 minutes. Throw with oregano, thyme, a bay leaf or two, the tomato sauce made in the previous step, and a dash of Tabasco, and maybe a bit more tony's. Let this simmer. stir.
While that is simmering, in a small skillet, begin sauteing the shrimp in the remaining half stick of butter. As the shrimp begin to turn pink, but before becoming fully cooked, toss them into the creole sauce in the other skillet.
Once it is all simmering in the large skillet, let it reduce until it reaches the proper consistency (5-10 minutes). serve over rice.
15 June 2009
Ravigote
I made some more of my Crabmeat Ravigote. I used a standing mixer instead of a food processor (and update the recipie accordingly). I used jumbo lump this time. It was delicious.
14 June 2009
Ouefs Côté de Fleuve
I made eggs benedict the other night, with intentions beyond my normal replacing of the canadian bacon in traditional eggs benedict with andouille adding a Colbert Sauce a la' Antoine's Oysters Foch. The sauce I ended up adding wasn't Colbert Sauce though. With the help of my friend Collin a better sauce was derived. The sauce we added is prepared as follows:
Ingredients
-enough andouille for your eggs
-1/3 cup Sherry
-2/3 cup tomato sauce
-oregano
-Creole Seasoning (i.e. Tony's)
-Cayene
-1/4 cup Hollandaise Sauce
1. Heat the andouille in slices (sliced on a boase) in a fry pan.
2. Once all of the andouille has been cooked, a fiar amount of detritus/dregs shold remain in the pan.
3. Deglaze this "rubbish" with the 1/3 of a cup of sherry.
4. Once this mixture begins to cook downs, add the 2/3 of a cup of tomato sauce and the seasonings/spices.
5. cook while occasionally stirring until it reduces by 1/3 to 1/2
6. If so desired (to make it more like a traditional Colbert Sauce) let coll then mix into the Hollandaise
Ingredients
-enough andouille for your eggs
-1/3 cup Sherry
-2/3 cup tomato sauce
-oregano
-Creole Seasoning (i.e. Tony's)
-Cayene
-1/4 cup Hollandaise Sauce
1. Heat the andouille in slices (sliced on a boase) in a fry pan.
2. Once all of the andouille has been cooked, a fiar amount of detritus/dregs shold remain in the pan.
3. Deglaze this "rubbish" with the 1/3 of a cup of sherry.
4. Once this mixture begins to cook downs, add the 2/3 of a cup of tomato sauce and the seasonings/spices.
5. cook while occasionally stirring until it reduces by 1/3 to 1/2
6. If so desired (to make it more like a traditional Colbert Sauce) let coll then mix into the Hollandaise
08 June 2009
GMH: Nor-Joe's
Finally, I bring y’all another chapter in the Great Muffuletta Hunt. This time I went to Nor-Joe’s, and here’s the run down:
Bread – The bread is a lot like Central’s, but slightly spongier. It had sesame seeds, but was not completely covered in them. It was pretty good, but its sponginess, soaked up a bit too much oil.
Meat – The meats were delicious, and plentiful (and if you want more, they’ll add extra meat for a small surcharge). They were really high quality; they quite possibly may be of a higher quality than central uses. The mortadella, which was real mortadella, was amazing.
Cheese – Nailed it.
Olive Salad – This was not where this muffuletta shined. It didn’t taste like olive salad. The olives tasted like olives. The celery tasted like celery. There was way too much olive oil, and everything had a strong taste of peppercorns.
Save the olive salad, this has been the best one yet, and the olive salad trails only slightly behind Just Italy. Nor Joe’s is cheaper than just Italy though. Also of note is that the interior of the store feels like central grocery more than any other place I’ve been; they are both Italian markets.
Bread – The bread is a lot like Central’s, but slightly spongier. It had sesame seeds, but was not completely covered in them. It was pretty good, but its sponginess, soaked up a bit too much oil.
Meat – The meats were delicious, and plentiful (and if you want more, they’ll add extra meat for a small surcharge). They were really high quality; they quite possibly may be of a higher quality than central uses. The mortadella, which was real mortadella, was amazing.
Cheese – Nailed it.
Olive Salad – This was not where this muffuletta shined. It didn’t taste like olive salad. The olives tasted like olives. The celery tasted like celery. There was way too much olive oil, and everything had a strong taste of peppercorns.
Save the olive salad, this has been the best one yet, and the olive salad trails only slightly behind Just Italy. Nor Joe’s is cheaper than just Italy though. Also of note is that the interior of the store feels like central grocery more than any other place I’ve been; they are both Italian markets.
03 June 2009
Bachelor Party
Lets rewind, for a moment, back to Good Friday, the day I had one of the two or three best meals I've ever had...
I showed up in the Hermes Bar about a half hour before the Seven O’clock reservation, to find many of the party already having drinks. Before I knew what happened, I had a Sazerac in my hand. After a few drinks and a few arrivals, we adjourned to the Proteus room. The rest of the party was in there awaiting us, and before we knew it the nineteen of us were seated with a fresh round of drinks and appetizers being brought out. As one would expect of Antoine's the appetizers were mind blowing. The sampler (which I had never had before) contained Shrimp Rémoulade, Crabmeat Ravigote, and Oysters Foch. The Oysters Foch were completely new to me and were absolutely amazing. I had only once in my life had oysters so perfectly fried, but these were covered in what Antoine's calls a Colbert Sauce, which is apparently made from hollandaise and sherry, although no one would ever be able to tell from the color - a rich-dark brown. We also each (by request, not part of the sampler) got a Oyster Rockefeller.
After we all ordered our entrees, I snuck off and asked a waiter if I could get some crawfish bisque, to which he obliged. The bisque was not accompanied by stuffed crawfish heads, but it was sinfully delicious nevertheless.
My Entrée was Trout Meuniere with Crabmeat on top. Typing that made my mouth water. Yikes, I can taste it right now. Oh my god was this delish. Other entrees I saw around the room were Soft-shell Crabs Meuniere/Amandine, Trout Crawfish Cardinal (which looked AMAZING, and will likely be what I will order next time I dine there), Chicken Rochambeau, Chicken and Mushrooms, Pompano, and even the Oysters Bienville as an entrée.
After we had all finished our entrees I was handed the oversized football of ice cream and meringue that is Baked Alaska. The desert for 20 must have weighed in at over 40 lbs ( I estimated this while I was holding it up for the photo op.) and cost over $100.
We were treated to a tour of the 2nd floor after we finished eating, before being given a final drink on the house.
I showed up in the Hermes Bar about a half hour before the Seven O’clock reservation, to find many of the party already having drinks. Before I knew what happened, I had a Sazerac in my hand. After a few drinks and a few arrivals, we adjourned to the Proteus room. The rest of the party was in there awaiting us, and before we knew it the nineteen of us were seated with a fresh round of drinks and appetizers being brought out. As one would expect of Antoine's the appetizers were mind blowing. The sampler (which I had never had before) contained Shrimp Rémoulade, Crabmeat Ravigote, and Oysters Foch. The Oysters Foch were completely new to me and were absolutely amazing. I had only once in my life had oysters so perfectly fried, but these were covered in what Antoine's calls a Colbert Sauce, which is apparently made from hollandaise and sherry, although no one would ever be able to tell from the color - a rich-dark brown. We also each (by request, not part of the sampler) got a Oyster Rockefeller.
After we all ordered our entrees, I snuck off and asked a waiter if I could get some crawfish bisque, to which he obliged. The bisque was not accompanied by stuffed crawfish heads, but it was sinfully delicious nevertheless.
My Entrée was Trout Meuniere with Crabmeat on top. Typing that made my mouth water. Yikes, I can taste it right now. Oh my god was this delish. Other entrees I saw around the room were Soft-shell Crabs Meuniere/Amandine, Trout Crawfish Cardinal (which looked AMAZING, and will likely be what I will order next time I dine there), Chicken Rochambeau, Chicken and Mushrooms, Pompano, and even the Oysters Bienville as an entrée.
After we had all finished our entrees I was handed the oversized football of ice cream and meringue that is Baked Alaska. The desert for 20 must have weighed in at over 40 lbs ( I estimated this while I was holding it up for the photo op.) and cost over $100.
We were treated to a tour of the 2nd floor after we finished eating, before being given a final drink on the house.
28 March 2009
Oeufs Benedict
I cooked Eggs Benedict Wednesday night. Here's what to do.
1. Begin by heating some thinly sliced Andouille and Tasso in a skillet.
Poach the Eggs
I poach eggs by taking a very large pot and filling it 2/3 with water and raising it to a rolling boil. Once boiling stir the pot rapidly until a funnel is created in the center. dump and egg with a thick firm yoke it to the rapidly rotating water. Once the water has stopped rotating, the egg is perfectly poached with a liquid center. remove with a slotted spoon and palce on a Holland Rusk.
If you can not find Holland Rusks DO NOT USE ENGLISH MUFFINS. Toast bottoms of hamburger buns in the oven with butter instead.
Hollandaise Sauce
1. Separate 1 to 2 egg yokes per serving.
2. On a double boiler, whisk egg yokes completely then squeeze half a lemon per yoke in while continuously whisking until COMPLETELY incorporated.
3. Continue whisking, and VERY SLOWLY poor in clarified butter. Poor the butter in in small increments, whisking it in until completely incorporated in the interim. Continue this until the consistency of thick pudding is reached.
1. Begin by heating some thinly sliced Andouille and Tasso in a skillet.
Poach the Eggs
I poach eggs by taking a very large pot and filling it 2/3 with water and raising it to a rolling boil. Once boiling stir the pot rapidly until a funnel is created in the center. dump and egg with a thick firm yoke it to the rapidly rotating water. Once the water has stopped rotating, the egg is perfectly poached with a liquid center. remove with a slotted spoon and palce on a Holland Rusk.
If you can not find Holland Rusks DO NOT USE ENGLISH MUFFINS. Toast bottoms of hamburger buns in the oven with butter instead.
Hollandaise Sauce
1. Separate 1 to 2 egg yokes per serving.
2. On a double boiler, whisk egg yokes completely then squeeze half a lemon per yoke in while continuously whisking until COMPLETELY incorporated.
3. Continue whisking, and VERY SLOWLY poor in clarified butter. Poor the butter in in small increments, whisking it in until completely incorporated in the interim. Continue this until the consistency of thick pudding is reached.
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