12 Great Bites of New Orleansfeatured
NOLA fare is not light. Things like butter, cream, and duck fat are used with joyful abandon. The deep fryer has a special place of honor in any given kitchen. And that French bread, sweet heaven on Earth, it is insane. For the record, I’d like a king-sized bed carved from a fluffy loaf of New Orleans French bread. K thanks.
There are just too many good things to eat and not enough hours in the day to digest it all (the story of my life). We, of course, indulged in the tried-and-true greats, but we also ventured off the beaten path a bit in search of the best eats. We ate at the classic spots, the new spots, the out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-swampland spots. Really, we ate a lot. Still, that didn’t keep us from feeling like we still need a few more trips here (or a second stomach) to really do this culinary heavyweight of a city justice.
With tons of fresh, local, seafood at our fingertips, meals naturally skewed heavy towards oysters, shrimp, crawfish, and fish…with an amphibious friend or two thrown in the mix.
On that note, let’s start with the frog legs…
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Flavors of New Orleans 101 {Video}featured
New Orleans is one of my favorite eating towns. Granted, San Francisco is where my heart is, but New Orleans speaks to me. New Orleanians just seem to eat life up with gusto. And I love that that they have managed to preserve a culinary history and food culture that is so distinctly their own. That’s why I was so excited when Zatarain’s invited me to join their Krewe this year.
Zatarain’s has been making New Orleans-style food since 1889. I headed down to the Big Easy (along with Rachel from A Southern Fairytale, Kristen from Dine & Dish, Laura from Super Glue Mom, and Jim from The Busy Dad Blog) to start my education on the flavors of New Orleans…
…(aka eat lots of King Cake)!
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Q&A with Craigie on Main’s Pastry Chef Jessica Scott: FOOD & WINE’s People’s Best New Pastry Chef Contenderfeatured
I was thrilled when I found out that pastry chef Jessica Scott of Craigie On Main in Boston, is one of 50 contenders in FOOD & WINE magazine’s first ever The People’s Best New Pastry Chefs award. Jess is a long-time friend of my husband (we’re talking grade school), and we are so excited that her mad skills are getting some recognition!
So…I don’t do this often, but I’m gonna pimp her out right now because she is a dear friend, phenomenally talented chef, and so deserving of this honor. ***Vote for Jess!*** (And please do it today because voting closes tomorrow on Valentine’s Day.)
Jess’s style leans toward comforting and sophisticated desserts that focus on balancing contrasts — smooth and crunchy, savory and sweet — often highlighted through the use of unexpected ingredients. Take her Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse Tart with White Chocolate-Miso Ice Cream with Huckleberry Coulis and Smoked Salt Butterscotch for example. Or an Affogato with Chocolate Mint Ice Cream, Chicory-Rum Chocolate Sauce and Espresso Cookie Crumbs (grown-up thin mint sundae, anyone?).
Hua and I already know Jess is awesome, but in case you are unfamiliar, here’s a little peek into who she is:
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American Eatery from Prather Ranch Meat Co.featured
Prather Ranch Meat Co., well known in the Bay Area for their quality meats humanely-raised on small ranches, has opened their first takeout eatery in the Ferry Building. Located right next to the Prather Ranch Meat Co. retail store, American Eatery features meaty American comfort classics like dry aged burgers, sausages, chili, ribs, grilled steak sandwiches, even pork scrapple.
The first thing to catch my eye on the menu was The Stonebreaker. Named after PRMC founder, Doug Stonebreaker, this ten napkin burger is essentially a poutine burger, loaded with fries, melted cheese curds, and gravy. When I asked chef Erica Holland-Toll the inspiration behind the burger, she said:
When I was hired to open The American Eatery, I knew I wanted to use Doug’s last name on a burger or sandwich, but it had to be a big bold sandwich to stand up to a name like Stonebreaker. Doug always says he’s a meat and potatoes kind of guy and it was an easy jump from that comment to a burger with french fries on it…the cheese curds and gravy came about as the next logical step, and suddenly The Stonebreaker came to life.
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