January Lemon Harvest

I finally picked the last of the lemons off my tree today. Some of the fruit was as big as a softball.  I mixed up a pitcher of lemonade for this balmy January day and froze the rest of the juice for future recipes. Making lemonade reminded me being a little girl in Mississippi and of my dear friend who was working in town this week. What fun I had talking, visiting and catching up with her like no time had passed since we had seen each other. Thank you Rachel for being my friend. I hope you come back soon! Cheers!

Cochon

On a busy Saturday night, M and I were headed to La Boca and we ended up at Cochon.  

Two seats at the Chef's Bar?  

Yes, please!  

We snacked on house made hog head cheese, marinated cucumbers .  But the ham hock with quinoa, pickled butternut squash and barely cooked greens just blew us away!  What a treat.

Macaroni and Cheese & Spinach with bacon

Sliders, Slaw & Corn

Asian Sliders

grated ginger - an inch 

garlic - 2 big cloves

the zest of a lemon

salt & pepper

1 - 1.25 LB ground beef

Top sliders with Slaw

shredded cabbage

olive oil

the juice of a lemon

pinch of brown sugar

splash of ponzu sauce

Corn on the grill too!

Bite Size Stuffed Sweet Peppers

Brisket or crabmeat topped with a Pimento Cheese-like variation.

Stuff and bake or grill about 20 minutes.

Spaghetti Egg

How do I mage my spaghetti with red gravy a different supper from the night before?  Poach an egg in the sauce.  So simple and quick.

Blueberry Pie for My Sweetie!

He said he likes my Pie!

9" Pie Crust - you gotta make one, or not! 
I used a crust top, but a crumble would have been delicious too

Blueberries - 5 or 6 cups

sugar -  1 cup

cornstarch 1/4 cup

lemon juice

lemon zest - a little

ginger root - fresh grated - as much as you like

Get your Lent ON!

$8.00 Fish Plate

Although we did not win the 50/50 (congratulations Laverne) we were delighted with our supper just off Bayou St. John and Esplanade at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.  Catfish, potato salad, hush puppies and fries.  It's the beginning of Lent and the man in line behind us was envious of our beer (another vice we did not give up).  Here's a list of other Lenten Suppers during the season

Cooking Class with My Momma

We enlisted in a cooking class while on vacation in Todos Santos.
Iker from Cafe Brown was our teacher.  

Chile Rellenos -- stuffed with smoked Tuna was on the menu.
Super easy and relatively quick.

roasting the poblanos

the filling:  smoked tuna, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, dried oregano, olive oil

Iker showing my Momma how to make the filling

The Stuffed Chile

Supper:
The Margaritas have a splash of Damiana Liquor -- a new favorite for me!

Pasta Supper for One

I used this recipe and did make a few substitutions, but what an easy, rich treat!

Really hearty for a cold night.

tacos, tacos, tacos!

Visiting the Baja in Mexico means lots of roadside tacos for my husband and myself.  Todos Santos always seems to have a new taco stand each year we have visited and since it is the closest town to the house where we stay, we try a new one every chance we get.  Everyone is so friendly here and the food is incredibly reasonable and delicious!!

Wish you were here & Happy New Year to You!

Refried Beans and Ricely Yours,

cookietreat

Homemade Oreos

Homemade Oreos

The Recipe is from Smitten Kitten -- I just love her!
Merry Christmas!

Lemon Trifle Parfaits

Lemon Trifle Parfaits

layer the following:

lemon cake -- a really wet ugly one if you have it

sprinkle cake with grand marnier

sprinkle of almonds

dollop of lemon curd

dab of whipped cream

Repeat until your glass is full.

Top with a dollop of whipped cream and a cherry

so festive!

Lemon Goodies

lemon zest

lemon wreath cookies with thin glaze & sprinkles

lemon "cake" with hand whipped cream

I have a new appreciation for the Meyer Lemon.
So happy to have it in my yard and bearing fruit.
The wreath cookies are fabulously light, lemony, and sweet.  My lemon cake didn't fare so well, and I am 100% responsible -- baking is a science and I was going on feeling -- not so wise.
The cake's taste, however, is spot on --- thinking of morphing it into trifle parfaits for Christmas Eve.
We'll see!

Sliced & Baked

I got the recipe for these cookies in the Times Picayune, but here it is online from the Washington Post.  I made some around Thanksgiving and then another batch this week after freezing the dough.  The flavor seemed more believable in round two.  Super cute, small, crunchy, cookie.

Root Beer Pinwheels

Sucre

A must see on Magazine street.

Really! -- just melt-in-your-mouth candy.'

Holiday Lunch at Rio Mar

Steamed Mussels with Chorizo

Hanger Steak with Chimichurri

Pressed Sandwiches -- one with Jamon with Manchego & another with Eggplant and Peppers

We ate and ate until they rolled us out the door -- delicious!

Here's the all tapas lunch menu.

Lemon Harvest

I get a little nervous when my TV weather-gal says it's going to freeze.  My precious Meyer Lemons are important to me.  I harvested about a dozen last night "just in case".  The lemons that remain on the tree are fine and the high is expected to be 67 degrees tomorrow.  

Sugerman's Bagels

Think you can't find a good bagel made right here in New Orleans?  

I beg to differ!

Just shoot Laura of Sugerman's Bagels an email to place an order.

laurasugerman@gmail.com  

$14 a dozen for REAL Everything Bagels.  I picked up my order, but delivery is also available.

She is using the same bakery space as Pizza Delicious in the Bywater.  

Sugerman's Bagels - 1 dozen Everything

Po-Boy Fest 2010 Recap

You really just had to be there.  Check out my photos here!  Here are the same photos in slideshow view.

It is ironic that this Festival is still such a tight squeeze! By the end of the day I have to wonder; is this Festival so crowded because of the numbers of Festival goers, or because as the sun sets on Oak Street we are all a little larger in the waistline due our Po-Boy over-indulgence?


 Is that irony or just odd?

Po-Boy Fest --> Tomorrow!!

Get yourself ready!

Sunday, 11/14/10, 11AM - 7PM

check out their cute website here

Shrimp Po-boy

Louisiana Oysters on the Half Shell

I grew up about 5 hours North of New Orleans in Mississippi and my family's first stop was almost always the Acme Oyster House for a few dozen raw and Po-Boy's.  Although they are more expensive these days than ever (I think these were $18/dozen - ouch!)-- My husband and I splurge pretty much every week -- sometimes twice.  I always think the best seat in the house is at the bar and if it's an Oyster Bar -- well, that's a win win situation!  In my experience Oyster Shucker's almost always love to talk!  Make a friend -- it's easy to do over a dozen or two!

Here are three of our favorite French Quarter Oyster Bars listed below and all three are within a couple blocks of each other, so if the line is too long at the Acme, we just move on down the list.

Acme Oyster House

Bourbon House

Deanie's

Chocolate Milkshake at Stanley

A shake in old fashioned glass at a lunch counter makes me feel all nostalgic and happy.  I have already professed my love for Stanley's Breaux Bridge Benedict and the their milkshake is one to surely bring all the boys to the yard -- I love you , Stanley.  So in the spirit of the olden days, we're biking over to BJ's to see King James and the Special Men, 10ish.  I hope I see you there.

Potato Galette

Have you ever made on of these?  You should.  Could not be easier and so pretty.

preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Potatoes - enough to fill your skillet thinly sliced.  I used russet.

garlic - 2 or so big cloves, minced.  enough to sprinkle between layers

olive oil, herbs de provence & parmesan 

- enough to sprinkle between layers

iron skillet - this one is 6 inches in diameter

45 minutes in the oven

serve it with a big salad. Oh! and it goes so well with a dirty martini. YUM!

I also like Kale

It's 2010 and I discovered that just love kale.  I like it best when cooked in bacon fat!  I can enjoy it raw too, but not today:

Pasta

Bacon

Kale

Sweet Peas

Parmesan cheese

Squeeze of Lemon

coarse salt & cracked pepper

eat!

I could eliminate the bacon fat and substitute olive oil, but I don't want to!