No Booze for 30 days

I got inspired to quit alcohol for 30 days after discussing the Whole 30 with a friend. While I ultimately decided that I didn't want to do the program, I thought it would be fun to give up something I've never given up before. Well, fun may not be the right word. I wasn't really drinking much anyway but still would enjoy a drink once a week for so prior to my 30 day experiment. The first two weeks were fine, it didn't bother me at all and I went to several social functions.

By the third week, I would have loved a drink but it still wasn't too bad. During this time, I accepted a new job and my husband took me out for dinner. Normally, I would have ordered a glass of champagne to celebrate but of course, I did not. My husband wanted me to get dessert instead, but I wasn't really feeling that either (I did not give up sugar during the experiment, but I wasn't eating much of it either). For someone who loves to celebrate with good drinks and good food, this was a little shocking, even to me.

As my time was winding down, I did make plans to jump back into the swing of things, and I was looking forward to it. Ben and I went to a fancy pants dinner at Arnaud's and I got a beautiful cocktail with gin, Aperol and grapefruit. What a way to enter back into the world of alcohol! But really, the whole drinking thing wasn't as exciting as I had imagined. It was not a big deal to quit drinking. Granted, I don't want to do it for the long haul! And while I did not notice anything much changed while I was alcohol-free (no change in energy, no weight loss), I did feel quite virtuous. And it really has changed how I think about when and what I want to drink. For example, I went out over the weekend and had one drink. We went to several places but that was enough for me. I may try this again, this time sugar-free. But it'll probably have to wait.

Product Review: Healthy-Ade Pomegranate Kombucha

Buffalo in Bloom

I got to go home this past week, which was beautiful in many ways. But the most obvious way was to stroll the streets in high summer and take in all of these stately homes and gorgeous gardens.

]

Artichoke-Avocado Tabouleh

I went through a phase several years ago in which I was obsessed with tabouleh. This surprised me as I don't really like parsley. but something happens when you mix it with tart lemons, fruity olive oil and sweet, peak of the season tomatoes. I also like it because it's one of those recipes that is a method and a canvas for a variety of ingredients. It's traditionally made with tomatoes and cucumbers but this week, I made it sans cucumbers and added artichokes and avocados. I believe that the typical proportion of bulgur wheat to parsley is rather low, so that it's more of a parsley salad. I know it's blasphemy, but I prefer the ratio of bulgur to parsley to be a little more even. But you make it how you like it! It's versatility is part of its charm. This version is beautiful to look at, bursting with freshness, and makes you feel pretty good too.

Serves one hungry woman at lunch time

1/4 cup bulgur wheat
1 whole lemon, zested and juiced
1 T. olive oil
S&P
cinnamon (optional)
sumac (optional)
1/2 bunch of parsley
a few springs of mint, approximately 20 leaves
15-20 of the juiciest, ripest cherry tomatoes you can find, halved
1/2 cup frozen artichoke hearts, defrosted and chopped
Sprinkling of pickled onions (alternatively, slice red or white onion very thinly)
1-2 cups romaine, chopped
1/3 of an avocado

I like my bulgur to have a bit of bite so I skip pre-cooking and pre-soaking. I just add it right into the dressing and let that soak into each grain, for maximum flavor. If you like things a little softer, feel free to cook it. So, soak the bulgur in the zest and juice of the lemon, the olive oil, S&P and, if you choose, a sprinkle of cinnamon and sumac. I'd let this sit at least 20 minutes but I usually prep this part at night for my lunch so it sits for some time.

Chop parsley and mint and stir into bulgur. Parsely can be done ahead of time but mint will get black from the contact with the knife so chop right before eating. Mix with the tomatoes, artichokes and onions. I always keep a jar of pickled onions in the refrigerator but you can use regular onions. I would just recommend soaking them in water for 20 minutes or so to take out some of the sting. Once this is all mixed up, I add it to a bed of lettuce (dressed with a little bit more olive oil) and top with avocado slices. Everyone at work will be jealous.

Fig Season!

There's nothing like a beautiful bowl of figs. These are, ahem, foraged from some nearby trees. True, I'm pilfering, but no one seems to eat them and I hate waste!

Ciao, Italia!

I arrived in Italy several hours before my mother. I'm still not sure how I found the apartment (left on Via San Franceso, left at Piazza di Santa Maria, right at Piazza di Sant'Egidio and one last turn I don't remember!) but a kindly waiter helped steer me there. Naturally, I had to explore the neighborhood a bit (Trastevere), but first order of business was lunch. I had read about this little spot that sounded incredible, but what was even more amazing was that it was located right next door to our apartment! Kismet for sure. I had a salad with smoked swordfish, almonds and strawberries, plus a piece of wildly spongy and flavorful focaccia. The salad was nice, but I wish I had ordered pasta or a panino.

After lunch, I did some requisite wandering. I don't remember exactly what I did or saw last time I was in Rome, but several of the piazzas looked very familiar. I even stumbled upon the crepe place that Nicole and I went to back in 2008! (Fonte della Salute) I saw someplace with cassata flavored ice cream. Mmm...

About mid-afternoon, I stopped for the perfect afternoon cocktail. Reminder to get a bottle of Campari for the home bar. I love it, but I haven't had any around for far too long.

Finally, Mamma arrived and we went to Popi Popi for dinner. A little touristy but I was pleasantly surprised. We ordered out first of many (over the course of the trip, not the night) mezzolitro of the house red, fried zucchini flowers stuffed with cheese and anchovies, and cacio e pepe. We ordered the roman-style artichoke too but were told that they were out of season. I guess we have to come back in the spring for our next trip. Pleasantly sated, but not overly full, we dove into a deep sleep to prepare for our one full day in Rome together.

New York City-Round Three

I've been back from vacation now for a week and I'm still not totally unpacked, I have loads of laundry to do and in general need to get my life back in order. So catching up on all the details of my beautiful trip are slow but this post will mark the end of the NYC portion, then I can move on to ITALY!

On Monday, Ben wanted to see the 9/11 site and I wanted to get on a boat. So we headed to the Financial District and ended up at Ambrose for lunch. I was worried that it wouldn';t be good becasue we were in a sort of touristy area, but the blood suagr was low and I needed to eat. I was actually pleasantly surpised. We shared a Connecticut lobster roll (with butter, not mayo, mmmm) and a lobster-avocado lettuce wrap. As we left, Ben peeked into a candy store next door and I would have just passed it by but we went in. It was full of candies from my youth and lots of funny gift-type things, with my favorite being the blow up rafts that look like a slice of pizza. I want to get a bunch so I can make a pizza in my non-existent pool! I'll have to remember this place when I'm stumped for gift ideas for Ben, he loves candy and is easily entertained by things meant for children. I say that lovingly!

We decided to get a free ride on a boat by jumping on the Staten Island Ferry. I've never taken it, never been to Staten Island and I can't say that this trip I did anything more than step off the boat, just to reboard a few minutes later. But it was great to see NY from the water and you can't beat free.

My next mission was oyster happy hour. I love my Louisiana oysters but they're a particular breed. I'm a big fan of New England oysters too so I wanted to take the opportunity while I could. Most happy hours did not start until 5. If I had done my research first, I would have found a few all-day happy hours on Sunday but alas, I did not. So we found one at Bait and Hook that started at 3. The oysters were ok and they had a crappy drink selection for happy hour. But just fine and they do have $5 Mussels on Mondays. That might be worth checking out. Next I went to meet my freind Katie at the Mermaid Inn, which had a killer happy hour (didn't start until 5 though) with amazing oysters and great drinks. Oh, and Katie brought Suki from DC to surprise me. Yay! I had the pink flamingo (gin, strawberry, lemon and basil) and it was one of my favorite drinks all weekend.

Ben had one request for our NYC weekend and it was to go to Momofuku. We went right as they opened and had nor problem getting a table for 4. If we had gotten there 20 minutes later, there would have been a wait. Luckily, I'm a senior citizen and I like to eat early. We ordered the soy sauce egg, kimchi sampler, ramen, brisket bun, shiitake bun, and asparagus with smoked trout. I really liked the pickled vegetables on the kimchi sample and the shiitake bun, although there was nothing I didn't like. All of the ingredients were not listed on the asparagus dish, it was set bed on a creamy base of garlic, ramps and ricotta, which was wonderful but very different from the flavors of all the other dishes. Too full for dessert, we stopped off at Hearth for an after-dinner drink. Very skippable but happy hour and dinner were both so satisfying, and the company was unrivaled, so no one really cared.

Product Review: Siggi's Yogurt

Wow. This yogurt is amazing. Why did I not know about Icelandic-style yogurt? It's made with skim milk, which would normally turn me off, but it's so rich and creamy that I don't care. I tried the pomegranate-passionfruit flavor, how could I resist that combination? It had the tartness of both fruits but no discernible fruit bits. This surprised me, but I actually quite liked it as there was nothing to interrupt savoring the luxurious texture. I will definintely buy this again. Or maybe I'll just start experimenting with making my own! Actually, probably not. This is pretty perfect.

Product Review: Maple Hills Creamery yogurt

What nice packaging! And it's from grass-fed cows! And reasonably priced at $1.25! Nope, a sorry letdown. First, there is the flavor. I should start by saying I've had goat yogurt, sheep yogurt, unpastuerized yogurt etc. but this had an unmistakable barnyard funkiness that just didn't taste good to me. Even if I got used to that, there was the awful texture. I like very smooth and rich yogurt, this tasted a little thin and gelatinous, which is NOT synonymous with creamy. They seem like a great company and I wish I could support them, but I won't be purchasing this again.

New York City-Round Two

Ben and I were not deterred by the rain and faced the city with our umbrellas! Luckily, the rain lasted only about an hour, but the downside was that we carried umbrellas around all damn day. No matter! Lunch was at Harry and Ida's on the LES. Ben and I split their classic pastrami, the Ida, and also a sandwich with smoked chicken, fresh cheese, huitlacoche and sage. I don't know which one was better but I endorse them both enthusiastically. We wandered the LES and Ben gamely accompanied me to several stores so that I could find a jacket. I didn't anticipate being cold when I was packing! He finally threw in the towl and left me to drink a beer at the Sly Fox. I visited my second H&M in less than an hour and a Nordstrom Rack. Ugh. So many people. I fled to meet Ben for a drink, a Grey Garden, with lavender infused something or other. Forgettable. More wandering, a third H&M (score, I found the jacket in my size!), Little Italy and Chinatown. Finally, it was time for cocktails! We met my friend Monisha at the Holiday Cocktail Lounge, which was equal parts scruffy dive and mid-century modern chic. I loved it. Afterwards, we had dinner at the impossibly tiny Graffiti. It was good, although I'm not sure it would make my list of not-to-miss spots. Get the paneer and the skate, skip the scallops (why do people cut scallops up in tiny pieces???) and the chicken with coconut rice. We ended the night with ice cream from somewhere nearby, a ginger ice cream that was a little too sweet on its own but a perfect foil to the sesame ice cream.

New York City-Round One

I always seem to be jetting off to far-flung locations and it's usually without my husband. I'd love it if he could join me, but his jobs is the worst and he barely gets any vacation time. Luckily, we were able to spend a gorgeous long weekend in NY together where we, naturally, ate and drank every thing in sight. We stayed with my friend Dominick, who had pizza and snacks ready for us when we arrived well past midnight. These are the kind of friends you want to keep around. He is always on the cutting edge of something food-wise and introduced us to Maangichi, a Korean cook living in NY who has tons of delightful and very detailed videos on Youtube on making all kinds of Korean specialties. Hungry for more, we headed to New Wonjo, where we had a Korean style miso soup (Ben's favorite), a seafood pancake (not memorable), a chicken soup with dates and ginseng (delicate and lovely) and the classic bibimbap (my favorite). Briefly sated, we walked to Washington Square Park to enjoy the gorgeous weather, listen to some music and do some excellent people watching. I had a hankering for a cocktail at this point so we went to the rooftop bar at Eataly. Unfortunately, 1 million other people had the same idea so it was very crowded and very hot. We continued our search for drinks in an outdoor venue when we stumbled upon Bobo, which had no outside seating but was so charming we had to stop. Now that we were properly aperitifed, we made out way to Mario Batali's flagship restaurant Babbo. I had made the reservation weeks before and we were all very excited! My thoughts overall were positive. I thought the food was of high quality, some of it very impressive (smoked scallops with fava-mascarpone mash and pasta with tomato, pecorino and mint) and some of it could be improved (the pastas weren't all that, although they were sauced spectacularly). For dessert we had the buttermilk budino, which was not at all what I expected. D and B. didn't like the apricot sauce on it (I did), but we all agreed that the sesame gelato was sublime. Service was a bit chilly but perfunctory. It was really expensive, as I anticipated, and we definitely enjoyed it, but it's crossed off of my bucket list now.

Product Review: Vega One Coconut-Almond

I don't normally go in for protein shakes but a friend of mine gave this to me. My rationale for not partaking is that I could (and probably should) be getting all of this fiber and protein and other super-filling, super-healthy and super-slimming ingredients from, yup, my actual diet! The ingredients didn't seem too egregious and I had just read a pretty good review of their products. The generous friend said she liked their other flavors, just not this one. Hmm, not a great start but let's experiment!

I mixed up a little taste with some coconut milk. Whoa. There doesn't seem to be artificial flavors in this based on the ingredients but something about the taste was overwhelmingly unnatural to me. I looked again at the ingredients and it has a little bit of Stevia in it, which seems to be a real turnoff for me. I've tasted it in other things and always really dislike it. Undaunted, I thought maybe I could mask that with chocolate (yay!) and some fruit. So after spin this morning, I used 1 scoop of powder, 1 cup of coconut milk, 2 T. cocoa powder and about 15 cherries. I still tasted that taste! So I added about 2 oz. of coffee, a few sprinkles of cinnamon and a tiny pinch of salt. This was fairly tolerable. It was on the low-carb-ish side and packed a good wallop of protein (23 grams) and fiber (12 grams). I drank this from about 7:30-8:00 am and while I could have waited until 12 for lunch, I had a little snack at 11:15. On a normal morning, I could drink this and not eat a morning snack but since I worked out, I thought it better to feed the belly.

All in all, the nutritional profile is good and the flavor is not my favorite, but ok. I'll probably use the rest of the container, but I can't see drinking this more than 1 or 2 times a week. I wouldn't purchase this with my own money though.

Update:

Today I tried this with a few strawberries, a small piece of pineapple and a scoop of Trader Joe's Supergreen. Blech. I added a little matcha powder, i still don't really like it. I find that both versions tasted better after they sat for a while, it seemed to tone down some of that unnatural taste I can't get past.

Saturday in the French Quarter

At least once a year, I like to spend a Saturday tooling around the Quarter. I usually start out by myself and meet up with friends along the way, stopping in for a bite here, a drink there. Although the FQ is relatively small, I always stumble upon something I've never seen before. This past weekend I decided I needed one of those days. I actually started the day with brunch at Compere Lapin, not really in the Quarter but pretty close. Nina Compton's new restaurant is hot, hot, hot and I have been there for dinner, but never brunch. I met three friends and we were graciously attended to by Claire. If you go to CL, ask for her! She is delightful and very knowledgeable about the menu.

Although they have mimosas and bloody Marys, typical for brunch, I wanted the Andromeda cocktail that I've had there before. It's their take on a Pisco sour, which I have a well-documented love for, plus they add green chile vodka. It never fails to please. We started with zucchini fritter and a green bean remoulade, which I thought were just fine but nothing remarkable. I wasn't super hungry so I ordered an appetizer for my entree, curried shrimp with picked mango and avocados and fried plantains. I wasn't too wow-ed by this either but I did really like the curry flavor in the shrimp. I know not all curry powders are created equal and this one was special! We had a chia pudding for dessert with toasted coconut and berries, simple but delicious. I'll have to put this in my repertoire.

Next, to the Quarter we go! We went to Sobou for happy hour. One of my friends had told me about a Barbar punch special with rhubarb bitters that sounded incredible. Sadly, I think they made the punch differently that day, it tasted like a Sweet Tart? Meh. I got a shrimp and tasso pincho, $3 for one shrimp. Double meh.

Speaking of happy hour, Tableau has a great one, so we went there next. I get the same thing every time I go; a French 75 to drink and the burrata with pesto and honey for nibbles. I could eat those all day. In colder months, I usually get the turtle soup too. My companions ordered some other things (a pork quesadilla, some yellowtail crudo), but we ended up ordering several more burrata appetizers because they are just that good.

We saw some street performers, bopped into some boutiques and caught a performance of one Ms. Valerie Sassyfras. All I can say about her is that she is one of New Orleans' most delightful delusionals, and there are many! All in all, a very good day.

New Direction

So many thoughts on the past 8 or so years of documenting my life. I'd like this space to be a forum for myself and others on a similar path. My interests are many; healthy eating and fitness sure, but also whole body wellness, reducing stress in my life, appreciating the simple things, finding the "sweet spot" between work and home, family and friends, responsibility and freedom, joy and pleasure. So this space will probably feature mostly my experiences in the kitchen, in the grocery store and pounding the pavement in my tennis shoes. I also will share my travels and talk about financial freedom. Maybe I'll even get inspired and start pursuing more creative outlets besides cooking and writing! Since it's been a while, I'll practice my chops here before I do a whole new design and launch. But all in good time...

I'm getting really excited for my upcoming trip to Italy! I will be gone for two weeks, spending some time in Rome, Positano, Naples and topping it off with cooking school in Sicily. I get to travel with my beautiful mother, with whom I've never had the to opportunity to travel solo before. Our plan is pretty loose; in Rome, I think we'll do a lot of walking, cafe sitting, gelato eating and pizza consuming. I've been to Rome before and I wasn't really into the tourist sites. Renaissance art is not my thing and I've seen enough churches to last a lifetime. I've done a lot of traveling in my time and I've found that I like to do some research ahead of time, but mostly I just like to wander and people watch while eating and drinking like a champ. In Positano, I would like to do lots of staring at the sea, I mean, look at this place!




I can't wait! Have a great weekend.

Fesenjan

I came across this dish in a recent NYT article about holiday dishes from around the world. I had never heard of this Iranian stew of chicken, walnuts and pomegranate molasses but was intrigued. Although it is somewhat presumptuous to make changes to a recipe I have no parameters for, I did. And it was outstanding!

First, I did not have boneless, skinless chicken. I had some chicken drumsticks and needed to make chicken stock anyway. So I de-skinned the legs (saved the skins to make schmalz!) and browned them in some olive oil for my base. Then I removed them and caramelized my onions for about 20 minutes. Added the chicken back to the pot and added water to cover. Let that simmer for an hour. While that's simmering, toast nuts in a pan or the oven about 15 minutes. Let them cool, then puree in the food processor. After you've simmered for an hour, add the nuts to the pot, along with the molasses and spices. Cook on low for another 30-45 minutes. Be really careful here. Recipes I looked at told me to stir every 20 minutes because the nuts could burn. Of course mine burned, I'd stir a lot more frequently. But even so, it was still so good. Taste it to make sure you've got enough salt and pepper. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and cilantro.

2 T. or so of olive oil
6-7 de-skinned, bone-in chicken drumsticks, seasoned with S&P
1 onion
about 2 or 2.5 cups of water
2 cups pecans or walnuts
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
1 T. spice blend (mine included turmeric, cardamom and cayenne)
salt and pepper
pomegranate seeds
cilantro

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Well, even if I don't post here very often, I am thankful for this space. I often think I'll remember how I made something and of course, I never do. So to be able to search the archives here really helps me clear the cobwebs in my cranial attic.

I didn't cook or travel for Thanksgiving this year, which never happens. At first, I was kind of sad about that but then I realized how great it is to enjoy the various spreads at other peoples' homes and not have to clean my house or do dishes afterwards. It also opened up my whole morning since we didn't have our first dinner until 3. Ben just bought a canoe so we took it out for a spin on the bayou, with some champagne, naturally.

Before I tell you about the recipes I test drove, a couple of musings:

-I didn't mean to put cayenne pepper in my pancake batter this morning but it actually wasn't too bad.

-I have had my food processor since receiving it as a birthday present in 2008, so almost 7 years. I JUST used the blade to shred potatoes and parsnips. It's like magic! How did I just figure this feature out? Also, shredded potatoes turn black overnight. Now I know.

To bring to our friendsgiving celebrations, I made potato-parsnip latkes with horseradish-dill sour cream. It was a Smitten Kitchen recipe so it goes without saying that it all worked well (even with black potatoes) just as written. They are also delicious room temperature, in case you wondered. I did, and read every single one of the 100 or so comments on her page to find out what others had to say about that.

I also made two desserts, a salted caramel-chocolate ganache tart and an Atlantic Beach pie, kind of a love child between key lime and lemon meringue. Both were very good but require notes.

Salted caramel-chocolate ganache tart


Damn, now I can't find the recipe. Well, it's easy. Basically, crush 36 Oreos with a stick of melted butter to make your crust. Press it into a tart pan and freeze for ten minutes. Then melt one stick of butter with 2/3 cup brown sugar in a sauce pan until it bubbles. Stir constantly for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup heavy cream. Allow this cool for a few minutes, then pour it over your crust. Put it back in the freezer for 30 minutes. Finally, melt 12 ounces of dark chocolate with 1 cup of heavy cream and stir until completely mixed. Pour it over the caramel and out in the the fridge until time to serve.

My thoughts:
-The recipe called for sea salt sprinkled on top. I put it in the caramel but didn't taste it too much.
-The recipe also pushed cookie crumbs along the bottom and up the sides. I just did the bottom but realized that was a mistake as it was hard to remove from the tart shell. And then the softened caramel oozed out of the sides.
-The final product was insanely delicious but it gave me a terrible headache because it was so very rich. Proceed with caution.

Atlantic beach pie


This recipe was really easy and really good. I think I liked it better than the chocolate bomb, but maybe only because it didn't put me in pain. One important note, and I'm shocked I didn't see anything about it in the comments. The recipe calls for 1.5 sleeves of Saltines or 6 ounces. I put in two sleeves and that was only 4 ounces! Plus, it made way too much by about two times and there wasn't enough butter to bind. My advice would be to just use one sleeve of crackers (ignore the weight) and the same amount of butter and sugar. I also ignored the note to not sweeten the whipped cream because it's Thanksgiving ya'll! I didn't use a lot of sugar but still....

Finally, I am making a cake as we speak for my friend Paige's birthday. She really loves Ooey Gooey cake and I searched about 4,000 recipes before I found one that didn't start with one box of yellow cake mix. I tried it once last year (of course I didn't make note of the recipe I used) and it didn't really turn out. So hopefully this one will be good and if not, at least I've documented that here.

King Cake Diaries

Well, 'tis the season for king cakes and on the 8th day of Carnival season, I have already sampled almost as many king cakes. OK, well actually only 5 but I've certainly had at least 8 slices.

January 6th: First day of the season. I went to a party on the 4th where a king cake was present but I DID NOT EAT IT because it's blasphemy to eat king cake before Three Kings Day. Anyway, the 6th found me in Metry so I picked up a cream cheese-filled cake from Manny Randazzo's. (They had already run out of the pecan one I wanted). Their medium was pretty large but $17 for plain and $23 for cream cheese had me scratching my head a little. $6 add on for cream cheese? It was pretty skimpy on the filling too. Anyway, I liked the soft, tender cake, good icing, meager filling. It was good but I'd never pay that much for a king cake again that, to me, was just middle of the line.

January 11th: Saints vs the Seahawks. We went to a friend's house to watch the game, eat oysters and drink champagne. Minus the football part, that's pretty much my perfect day. King cakes from Sucre and Haydel's were featured. Now my dear friend works at Sucre and last year she told us they changed their recipe (I was glad, I previously thought it too dry). It was pretty much perfection in my book. On Saturday she reported that the recipe underwent another tinkering, I think last year's was better. Why mess with a good thing??? But she brought two and one didn't even get cut into so I did not protest when she told me to take it home. It really benefited from a 10 second warming in the microwave. The one from Haydel's was not filled, usually kind of boring to me, but it was so tender and perfectly (not too) sweet.

January 12th: Dropped in at a friend's house during a beautiful Sunday afternoon bike ride (to counteract all the king cake!). I spied a king cake from newcomer Gracious bakery. They only make one kind with a chocolate-cinnamon filling. The chocolate was dense and delicious but I tasted nary a bit of cinnamon. The cake was dry and dull as day old bread. No matter how good the filling is, I detest this bread-esque cake.

January 13th: Coworkers eating king cake at 7:30 this morning. We have 50 days left of king cake season I worry for all of our waistlines. Anyway, for the sake of journalistic integrity, I ate a piece. This one was a La Louisiane, apparently they don't have a retail bakery anymore but you can pick them up at a few places around town, including Sam's of all places. This is another traditional, unfilled king cake and it was pretty good, considering I prefer a ribbon of cream cheese or a smattering of candied pecans to liven things up.

Verdict: So far, Haydel's was my favorite, with Sucre running second. Hmm, or maybe Randazzo's. Gracious was definitely dead last. La Louisiane was good but when you've got the $8 Rouse's king cake to compare to, everything else just seems grossly overpriced.

Liberty's Kitchen and Cowboy Caviar

If you don't know about Liberty's Kitchen, you should. It's an unassuming little cafe near Tulane and Broad with a great mission and delicious food. They're only open for breakfast and lunch, which means I don't get there very often but I consider it a real treat when I do.
I've never had anything there that wasn't good; black bean burger, hot sausage po-boy, the salad with green onion-tarragon vinaigrette, the SCONES and their specialty, shrimp and grits, is to die for. They are also very reasonably priced and their sandwiches come with cowboy caviar, chips or coleslaw. You will want the cowboy caviar! But I'll get to that in a minute. I want to reiterate that their prices are lower than a lot of just ok sandwich shops AND include a side (I'm looking at you, ManhattanJack!) I've also dealt with them on numerous occasions for catering and find that they are not only delicious and a good value, they are among the few outfits in this city that can properly estimate how much food will be needed for different sized groups. I'm shocked at how many catering places don't seem to understand that.

Anyway, all that aside, their cowboy caviar is an incredible black-eyed pea salad that I've tried to re-create. I'm sure it's not as good as theirs but it's pretty tasty. The husband went back for seconds and THIRDS! I eat it as a salad/side dish, husband eats it more like a dip, with corn chips. This is just an outline, you can certainly vary the amounts.

Cowboy Caviar

1 lb. black-eyed peas
2 ears of corn, husks removed, charred on the stovetop and cut from the cob.
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, diced
2-3 ribs of celery, diced

1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch green onions, greens and whites
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
a little squirt of Dijon mustard
a little squirt of Steen's cane syrup
a few dashes (or several) of hot sauce

Combine all the legumes in a bowl. For the dressing, whiz this up in a blender, then pour over the legumes. I didn't have any tomato or avocado but I think both would make nice additions here. You want to let this sit for at least a few hours so the flavors can meld together and it's just keeps getting better!

Ratatouille Baked Ziti

Again inspired by our time in Provence. I wanted to make ratatouille but also wanted baked ziti. So I combined the two and topped it with béchamel and mozzarella.

Since I made this meatless and I knew my husband would want meat, I made meatballs on the side. I've posted one version of my meatballs before but it's basically for every pound of meat, use 1 egg, a large handful of breadcrumbs, a few cloves of garlic, 1 small onion, about 1/4 c. grated romano and seasonings. Sometimes I do all beef, sometimes 1:1 beef and pork. I add red pepper flakes, basil or whatever else I've got. A glug of red or white wine, it's always different but the structure remains the same. This time, I ground up about a teaspoon of fennel seeds and I loved this addition.

I would have liked more sauce but I'm writing the recipe as I made it. So perhaps next time I would reduce the amount of pasta used (1 lb.) or increase the ratatouille recipe. Or maybe just add another can of whole tomatoes. I think this recipe is fairly forgiving.


Ratatouille:
1 medium eggplant
1 bulb fennel
1 large onion
2 medium zucchini
1 red bell pepper
1 head garlic
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
salt and pepper
basil
chives
marjoram

Cut all vegetables (not including tomatoes) in large chunks, coat with olive oil and roast. Also, the garlic doesn't need to be cut, just roast the whole head. Temperature can vary but I did it for about 25 minutes at 375 degrees. Once roasted, add to a pot with the canned tomatoes, bring to a soft boil, then reduce heat and simmer. Add herbs and seasoning. Cook until it tastes good to you. I think this step took me about 20 minutes.

Bechamel (from Mario Batali, Food Network):
5 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 6 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg, and set aside until ready to use.

Assembly:
Toss the ratatouille with 1 pound of boiled ziti or penne or any other shape you like. Pour the béchamel over the top. Sprinkle about 1 cup of grated cheese over the whole thing and bake for 30 minutes at 375. If the top isn't browned, put it in the broiler for a few minutes.

Flops

So sad when you make something that just doesn't turn out the way you want it to:( So we just got back from a delightful trip to France and of course I tried to recreate a bit of the magic here at home by having people over for dinner and crepes last night. Not having made crepes since I was but a teen, I consulted Alton Brown and smitten kitchen.com. I was surprised at the differences between them, not major really but I expected to see a the same standard proportions. See? They both call for two eggs but with significantly different amounts of flour. I went with Alton because I figured SK's more egg to flour ratio might be more omelette-y than crepe-y. Plus, I added 2 T. of sugar and a splash of vanilla. I have to say that they really didn't taste of sugar or vanilla, nor did I like the texture. It was thick, or maybe dense? And kind of chewy? Anyway, I guess I'll just have to keep practicing, which I'm fine with.


Alton Brown:

2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons melted butter

SK

2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Two pinches of salt
Few gratings fresh nutmeg
2 tablespoons honey

I was also yearning for some hearty bread, seeded and rich with different textures. I found a recipe from the Harvard School of Public Health and I can't really fault them because I deviated from the recipe. But they say "There is no right and wrong when making this bread!" And I believed them. Anyway, here's what I did. First, I cut it because I just didn't need three loaves. Plus, I subbed some flours for others that I did not have. Finally, I made a sponge with the flour before adding the seeds and whatnot, unlike the recipe, which says to add flours last and no sponge. The sponge was going a-ok, growing rapidly and smelling deliciously yeasty. Then I added the seeds and it all went to shit. When I started kneading, I can't even explain it. I've never felt dough like that before. There was absolutely no stretch or pull to it, if that makes any sense. I did what I could on the kneading front and then let it rise into a pathetic little ball. I let it go for an hour, during which time it rose almost imperceptibly. Let it go a while longer and then put it in the refrigerator overnight. I didn't even have the heart to turn on the oven for that sad mess. There's only so much kitchen disappointment I can take in one day. I finally baked it, the cruel, hard-hearted knot that it was, but haven't yet tasted it. I'm hoping that, once toasted and gilded with butter, it will be somewhat edible but we'll see. What did I do wrong???


1 1/4 cups of warm water (110–115°F)
1 packets of dry active yeast (1/4 ounce each)
3/4 cup whole grain rye flour
1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
2 grams of salt
Canola oil or canola oil spray, as needed
Seeds and Grains

1/3 cup of ground flax seeds (grind them in a coffee grinder, or buy milled flax seeds)
1/3 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup whole rolled oats
1/4 cup wheat bran