New Orleans!

Instead of posting a recipe today, I'm going to share some of the photos I took of the food and French Quarter.

I went to New Orleans for the annual conference for the International Society of Developmental Psychobiology. This is a small conference (~200 people) that took place at The Hotel Monteleone.

This hotel is beautiful!

The Lobby (The hotel has been around for ages, was flooded during Katrina and then redone. Its beautiful and just a block from Bourbon Street in the French Quarter)

The rooms and beds were small, but what it lacked in size it made up for in location

My first stop, Cafe Du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait

This is the cafe, just next to the river front. All they serve is beignets and drinks (coffee and soda). Cash only (and ask for the check... they add tip when they tell you the price).

The French Quarter is full of beautiful buildings

and great street bands

NOLA is Emril's restaurant in New Orleans. I didn't go there (it got $$$$ on urban spoon)

Jackson Brewery

Jackson Square, across from the river front

Bourbon Street after dark (where the party happens)

Hurricane from Pat O'Briens (famous for their hurricanes)!

Dinner on Wednesday: Bayou Burger

The Bayou Trifecta: red beans and rice, crawfish etouffee, cajun jambalaya

Also from Bayou Burger: Crawfish Beignets with Tobasco powered sugar

(Think conch fritter with sugar)

Thursday Lunch: Johnny's Po-Boys

This is a muffaletta. Its a sandwich with ham, salami, capicola, swiss cheese, provolone, and green olive and carrot relish. If you like green olives, you'll enjoy this sandwich (I sure did)

Before dinner: Hurricane from one of the slushy drink places, with a side of jello shot

Thursday Dinner: Royal House Oyster Bar

Seafood stuffed mushrooms (one of which was traded for an Oyster Rockefeller)

Hahahaha

Friday: Lunch at a local cafe. Got a 1/2 rubin, cup of spinach artichoke soup.

Snack: Sno-ball from Johnny's po-boys (wedding cake flavored). Pretty much a large snowcone.

Dinner: GW Fins - great food, high prices. I had an arugula salad with blue cheese and bruleed figs with the crab potstickers appetizer in a green pea butter

Saturday Lunch: Acme Oyster Bar

12 raw oysters on ice

shared a side of hush puppies and gumbo

This was my first time having raw oysters. I liked them... they were sweet/salty and very tender. Not slimy or chewy as I expected. This place is worth the wait to get in. 

Done. (again, traded one raw for a grilled oyster. I think I'd get the grilled oysters if I ever go again. It was yummy and cheesy)

Snack: Cafe Beignet

3 beignets, hurricane to drink

I think this place is better than Du Monde. Its cheaper, faster service, more selection (they have lunch items and quite a few baked goods to choose from), and I liked their beignets better. *gasp*

Oh yeah...! 

One last shot of the buildings. 

Overall, I really enjoyed my trip to New Orleans (or more specifically the French Quarter, as I didn't spend any real time outside of the FQ). I think a day or two is all I could take of it, but I would have liked to see more of the city and surrounding areas if I would have had more time.

Cons:

• Kinda smelly (like garbage and vomit)
• Expensive if you don't look around
• Lots of crazy people. Wednesday night at 10pm, the place was crazy
• Not great for young children, lots of drunks and topless ladies

Pros:

• Can bring drink from one place into another place (usually)
• Great food
• Fun shops
• Great pralines (eat lots of samples, they're expensive to buy)
• Lots of great music to hear on the street
• No open container laws, so feel free to roam around with a drink in hand
• Voodoo shops!
• Easy to walk around. I don't recommend driving because the streets are narrow, parking is limited, people like to jump into the street (me) and you'll be too drunk to drive most of the night anyways.

French Toast Bread Pudding

I love bread pudding! I love french toast!

OMG

Warm, gooey, sweet... it smells like a fun family breakfast.

I made this recipe for Easter morning. Bread pudding recipes are great for busy families because they can be made ahead of time and popped into the oven when needed.

Another thing I like about this recipe is that the ingredients are a little more wholesome than other recipes I saw online. Most called for either tube cinnamon rolls or frozen french toast sticks. This recipe called for challah bread, which I picked up fresh from my grocery store bakery. This recipe can also be modified by using lower fat milk, light cream cheese, and low fat or sugar free maple syrup.

French Toast Bread Pudding
1 large Challah loaf, about 12oz, cut into 3/4 inch cubes, dried for several hours
7 large eggs
2 1/2 cup milk (I used 2 cups skim milk, 1/2 half and half)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp nutmeg or cinnamon (I used a little of both)

Butter or spray with cooking spray a 13x9 (or similar) size baking pan. Place the bread in the pan. Whisk eggs and the rest of the ingredients together; pour over bread. Using a spatula (or hands if you're like me) lightly press the bread into the egg mixture. Cover with foil and let it rest for at least an hour or overnight (keep refrigerated).

Place the foiled covered pan in the cold oven. Set oven to 350 and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for about 35 minutes until golden and puffy.

Cool for a few minutes before serving. I suggest serving it with a maple cream cheese frosting (see below)

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese (I used 1/3 fat), room temp
1/2 maple syrup
4-6 cups powered sugar

Optional: Chopped walnuts or pecans

In a mixer, beat the cream cheese and maple syrup together. Slowly add powered sugar cup by cup until it makes a thin frosting. Drizzle the frosting over the bread pudding. You can also add chopped pecans or walnuts if desired.

Warm from the oven, before the frosting was added

With the frosting, it soaked in more as it sat

Chocolate Praline Cake

Yummm Pralines!

And chocolate!

This is one of the easiest cakes ever. It only takes 10 minutes to put together!

Chocolate Praline Cake

1 box Devil's food cake plus the ingredients needed to make it

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 brown sugar

1/4 whipping cream

1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Make the cake based on the directions on the box. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add the brown sugar and cream, stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the pecans to the mix, and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the bottom on a bundt pan (must use a bundt pan). Carefully pour the cake batter over the sugar and pecan mix. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes (or longer if needed, check with a knife). Cool for 10 minutes then invert the cake onto a platter. 

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

This was oh-so-good when warm.

Pecan Balls/Russian Teacakes/Mexican Wedding Cakes

I grew up calling these cookies pecan balls or Russian Teacakes. Sometimes we made them we pecans, other times we used walnuts. Whatever you call them or make them with, they're great!

Packaged, ready for shipping

These cookies are light, buttery (they should be with all the butter that's in them), and sweet. They are a great Christmas cookie because they're easy to make, look like little snowballs, and blend well with other foods. They're not over powering or too sweet. They're perfect in their simplicity.

The recipe I use is from my mom's old Betty Crocker cookbook. You can tell its a well loved recipe by the stains and spatters on the page. That's always a sign of a good recipe: a well worn page. When I moved out I scanned the page to have a copy on my computer so I can still see the stains, but I don't get to add any of my own.

Russian Teacakes:
1 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 c. flour (can use whole wheat flour if you want to)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c. finely chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts are best)
Powered sugar for rolling

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cream the softened butter, sugar, and vanilla together. Add flour, salt, and nuts until the dough holds together.

Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart (they don't spread much). Bake until they're set, but not brown, about 10-12 minutes.

1 minute after baking, carefully roll each cookie in the powered sugar (they're delicate), then cool completely. Roll in the powered sugar again. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

In my house, I make double or triple batches of these because I give them as gifts. They're a hit!

The month of December: brought to you by BUTTER.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

This recipe is a family favorite. We always had it as a Thanksgiving treat, and just like the pumpkin pie, my dad was in charge of making it. 

This pie is classic, sweet, and, oh yeah, chocolately.

Yes. I said chocolately. Our family always takes these types of things to the next level. Its like blinging out a pie. With chocolate chips.

Without further ado:

Pecan Pie
1 9in pie crust
4 tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
3 large eggs
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup dark cane or corn syrup
1 cup broken pecan pieces
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and then blend them into the butter mixture. Sift the cornstarch and salt into the mixture, and then add the vanilla extract. Blend in the cane syrup, followed by the pecans (and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips). Stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour into the pie crust, and float a few whole pecan halves to make a pretty design. Bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees, then reduce temp to 300 degrees for another 30 minutes, or until center looks firm. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Ta-Daa!

The recipe is good for impressing in-laws, guys, southern ladies (Paula Dean), and co-workers.

Pie crust has a fickle bitch of a girlfriend and her name is fillo dough. This stuff is something you don't want to touch unless you're in a very zen mood or have just taken a mood stabilizer. Trust me.

The first thing you need to know about fillo dough is that it has the texture of tissue paper but much more delicate. When you touch fillo dough, it tends to fall apart and it makes your finger feel thick and clumsy. 


Second, is that you have to work fast. It tends to dry out quickly so you have to put a damp cloth (I use paper towel) over it so that it doesn't dry up and get brittle. It also can't be too wet or it sticks to itself, causing it to tear. 


Also, never try to unroll the package (I'll assume you've purchased your dough, not made it from scratch. That'd be crazy) before its fully defrosted otherwise it will break into a million little piece. Been there, done that. Had to go to publix and buy another package and then wait patiently for it to thaw all the way.


Other than that (and the time factor) baklava is a joy. Well, not to make, but to eat. And wow, this stuff is good.


I got this recipe from Alton Brown's Good Eats collection after seeing his episode about how to make baklava. It was a huge help when it came to making this recipe. If you've never worked with fillo dough before, make sure you either have someone experienced at your side or watch the episode first. I'm sure you can find it on youtube.


And on a personal note, I'm pretty sure this is the first time I ever worked with fillo dough and didn't end up in a fit of swears. I'm telling you, I was zen today!


Here is the recipe (my notes are in parenthesis):

Baklava

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2008

• For the filling:
• 1 (5-inch piece) cinnamon stick, broken into 2 to 3 pieces or 2 teaspoons ground
• 15 to 20 whole allspice berries (~1-2 tsp)
• 6 ounces blanched almonds
• 6 ounces raw or roasted walnuts
• 6 ounces raw or roasted pistachio
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon rose water (found this at Whole Foods, in the cosmetics area... look for the one that says edible... please)
• 1 pound phyllo dough, thawed
• 8 ounces clarified unsalted butter, melted (I needed another .25 of a stick)

For the syrup:

• 1 1/4 cups honey
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick (1 tsp. I also added a little sprinkle of cloves)
• 1 (2-inch) piece fresh orange peel

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the cinnamon stick and whole allspice into a spice grinder and grind.

Place the almonds, walnuts, pistachios, sugar and freshly ground spices into the bowl of a food processorand pulse until finely chopped, but not pasty or powdery, approximately 15 quick pulses. Set aside.

Combine the water and rose water in a small spritz bottle and set aside.

Trim the sheets of phyllo to fit the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch metal pan. Brush the bottom and sides of the pan with butter; lay down a sheet of phyllo and brush with butter (the first sheet of dough will never be good, just come to terms with it). Repeat this step 9 more times for a total of 10 sheets of phyllo. Top with 1/3 of the nut mixture and spread thinly.

 Spritz thoroughly with the rose water. Layer 6 more sheets of phyllo with butter in between each of them, followed by another third of the nuts and spritz with rose water. Repeat with another 6 sheets of phyllo, butter, remaining nuts, and rose water. Top with 8 sheets of phyllo brushing with butter in between each sheet. Brush the top generously with butter. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cut into 28 squares. Return pan to the oven and continue to bake for another 30 minutes. Remove pan from the oven, place on a cooling rack, and cool for 2 hours before adding the syrup.

Make the syrup during the last 30 minutes of cooling. Combine the honey, water, sugar, cinnamon stick and orange peel in a 4-quart saucepan and set over high heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Once boiling, boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally (careful, this will want to boil over). Remove from the heat and discard the orange peel and cinnamon stick.

After the baklava has cooled for 2 hours, re-cut the entire pan following the same lines as before. Pour the hot syrup evenly over the top of the baklava, allowing it to run into the cuts and around the edges of the pan. Allow the pan to sit, uncovered until completely cool. Cover and store at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to overnight before serving. Store, covered, at room temperature for up to 5 days. 

This was right after I poured the syrup on

Look at all the yummy syrup (this is after it sat for ~4 hours)

Look at that sticky awesomeness!

Pay no attention to the underlining and the red text... I'm having difficulty formatting on this thing tonight.