Quick lunch

at Martin Wine Cellar.

1/2 an egg salad sandwich and a side of fruit.

I made Poptarts!

I used this recipe at smitten kitchen.  

Fig preserves for the filling and whole wheat flour for the pastry.

Chef Paul Prudhomme

Here he is riding in the NFL Kickoff Parade right before the Saints/Vikings game yesterday. Go visit his restaurant, K-Paul's: http://www.chefpaul.com/site.php





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Sushi Supper

a quick bite at Wasabi!

A Tainted Lady at the R Bar

the R Bar is fun & you can stay overnight if you need to.

Good Little Mint Juleps!

Fun at Pat O'Brien's!

3 Muses

The new gal on Frenchmen Street slid right in just like an old friend! Three Muses = great food, drinks and music.

I loved the ceviche, and Ms. Moon's Korean eggrolls are a dear tribute to Miss Sophie Lee's Mother.  Chef Esses has already added some new items to the menu and I've heard it will change with the seasons.

3M's signature cocktail, The Muse, is usually something I don't go for, but I am glad I did!  I believe the concoction includes St. Germaine, strawberry puree, cucumbers and gin(I opted for vodka - the bartenders are quite accommodating).

And the Music -- here's Washboard Chaz's Blues Trio on opening day!

Lunch

at Clancy's today with my dear friend.

I just feel special when my waiter is wearing a tuxedo, don't you?

Pictured below is 1/2 of a Jefferson salad in front and a fried soft shell crab with mango salsa.

I had a ball catching up over such a divine lunch!

Bud's Broiler

This is the one on City Park Avenue -- I did not know that this burger joint is open twenty four hours of each day.

Oops!

Dumpling Soup

veggie pot stickers

shrimp stock

water

diced carrots

diced celery

diced red bell pepper

chile sauce

lime wedges

mung bean sprouts

whole wheat linguini

torn cilantro

torn basil

fish sauce

soy sauce

super light, fresh & quick, quick, quick!

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

What's inside? Vermicelli, boiled shrimp, mint, lemon basil, thai basil, lettuce, carrots & cucumbers that I marinated in a little mirin, and mung bean sprouts.

Super fresh and refreshing for these dog days of summer that just feel like they are going to be with us for awhile.

Fresh Gulf Seafood

I made a trip to the West Bank today to the seafood stalls in Westwego -- I am going to make spring rolls soon and needed shrimp, plus it's just a cool place to visit.

While I was there I picked up a pound of crab claws.  Perhaps I should be embarrassed that I ate 1/2 of the claws on the ride home -- but I'm not!  They were outstanding.

Breakfast Burritos, early and late

top pic: 2 eggs beaten, a handful of frozen shredded potatoes, chopped tomato, green onion and shredded pepper jack, hot sauce and cilantro for garnish.  I cook the potatoes first in a little Grapeseed oil and add in the green onion when the potatoes are almost done.  Remove the potatoes from the pan and set aside.  Scramble the eggs in the same pan with salt & pepper and throw in the tomato when you turn off the heat -- assemble the tacos layering potatoes, eggs,  pepper jack, tomatoes, hot sauce and cilantro on top!

and bottom pic: one ready to go for the early riser and wrapped up for the late sleeper!

Cutest Labels Ever!

And -- they are a free, downloadable, printable transfer!  Available from just something i made right here!

Oh, I'm fixing to get crafty!

Bánh mì? Yes, please!

I do love to try pretty much anything served out of a truck -- or trailer in this instance.  The Bánh mì, a Vietnamese po-boy, at Amy's in the French Market is a special sandwich!  Super fresh AND

they run a tight ship in this little box on wheels.

 She has been serving food in the French Market parking Lot for over twenty years -- it's the red one, you can't miss it.  She also serves up a fresh squeezed lemonade, made to order.   Mmmmmm!

Quickie Supper

lettuce wraps:
iceberg lettuce, veggies, glass noodles, leftover brisket, chile peanut sauce

Brisket

Continuing my quest to master the charcoal BBQ...

(I have alot of practice ahead of me)

The brisket was dry rubbed and wrapped tightly in plastic overnight.  My rub was a combination of salt, black pepper, ground green chiles, red chile flakes, brown sugar and ground coffee.  I mopped throughout the day of smoking with Steen's cane syrup.  

For supper I added a little wedge-ette salad and a slice of white bread.  

Oysters on the Half Shell!

Caprese Cuties

skewer

basil

buffalo mozzarella 

&

tomato

with a drip of balsamic vinegar

Tonight's Supper

I went to the Crescent City Farmer's Market Saturday and I got all of this:

Tonight's supper consisted of a few of those things I found at the market:  chicken thighs with pesto, a caprese-like salad with cucumbers, steamed green beans and grilled peaches -- I'm grilling like crazy these days because it's summertime and it's fun!  I was so proud to spread my homegrown pesto under the skin of these chicken thighs, but honestly I didn't even notice the flavor.  Oh well ... you can't win 'em all.  The grilled peaches were divine and a first for me, such a sweet and bright flavor.

 I am not ashamed to admit that I am a gas grill kinda gal, but this week I have used the good old weber kettel charcoal grill ..... I'll figure it out -- eventually!

bananas and cream

so wrong?  nope.  so right.

one ripe banana cut into coins

pour enough cold cream to suit your taste

it takes less that you think 

Crabby patties? No, Salmon Croquettes.

It was time to get some things out of the freezer. A piece of salmon that was inches away from its expiration date was ready for action.

I read this recipe from Saveur and then I read this recipe from Epicurious.com

I was ready to make these Salmon Croquettes:

Here is my ingredient list:
salmon one medium piece of salmon

red onion chopped

cilantro roughly chopped
mexican crema
mirin
capers
old bay
lemon juice & zest
panko bread crumbs
assorted peppers: black, white and cayenne

Take 1/4 the amount of breadcrumbs as salmon and soak in soy milk, crema and a splash of mirin for a few minutes.  Combine all ingredients.  Chill the croquettes for 30 minutes each.  Coat each croquette in breadcrumbs, really pushing the breadcrumbs into each.  Pan fry in a very small amount of olive oil over medium heat.

I made a dipping sauce out of crema, mirin, lemon juice and ground green chile powder.

They were just terrific and so easy!!

$20.10 Lunch at Antoine's -- you better GO!

Our luncheon started off a little like this:

Oysters 1-1-1: Bienville, Rockefeller & Thermidor

Oh, and if you have not ever been to Antoine's ... you should.  

What's stopping you?  Oh right(insert sarcasm)....they also have 25¢ martinis and the cocktails are not served in a thimbles if you know what I'm saying.  After we stuffed ourselves we were treated to a guided tour of the entire restaurant -- what fun!

My Pork Butt

I cooked this 6.5 LB pork butt, my first time on the charcoal smoker, for about nine hours.  It has a green chile rub with salt and pepper that I rubbed into the meat 24 hours prior to cooking.

Then I made chiles rellenos.  (sort of , except mine had meat)From Marc Bittman's How to Cook Everything -- I used my iphone app for the cookbook -- it is THE BEST!  I served the stuffed chiles over creamed corn(also from the Bittman book or app) 

The next day we had shredded pork tacos.

Oh the joy of low and slow cooked meat!  I was incredibly proud!

Sesame Noodle Salad

I made this Sesame Noodle Salad with edamame the night I got home from a quick vacation with some fun friends!

I was hoping for this noodle dish, but I made do with what I had on hand.  Sometimes you just have to, right?