Dixie Beer

dixie
Originally uploaded by Danno1.

Dixie Beer! To me, nothing goes better with a po-boy, Muffaletta, boiled crawfish, the list goes on and on! A lot of beer snobs talk trash about Dixie! But to me, Dixie is THE beer when I'm in New Orleans, or cooking up some New Orleans Cuisine. Crisp and refreshing. Nostalgia for Mardi Gras past. Dixie has been brewed in New Orleans since 1907! It showed it's face in Detroit again in about the last year, thank god, and for about $5.99 a six pack! I don't know why we couldn't get it. Anyway, check it out, it's great with spicy foods! They also brew Blackened Voodoo and Crimson Voodoo, both also really nice and readily available!

The Muffuletta Incident

Me with the Mighty Muffaletta
Originally uploaded by Danno1.

Damn! This is a sore topic for me! Not really (but well,... yeah really). I ordered a Muffuletta at The Central Grocery on Decatur last year, the day I was going home from Mardi Gras! Needless to say, I was a tad bit hung over and a little crabby! The guy at the register took my order, and, after a misunderstanding about if the order was taken, quite frankly, got a little shitty with me. He called over, who I call, one of the Muffaletta Nazis! This guy, said something like, "You're pretty impatient, you must be pretty hungry! ( Son of a Bitch basically called me Portly!! LOL!) Here's what I wanted to say, "Listen you &%@#&, you know what you can do with this sandwich? Shove it right up the Venitian Canal of your Italian Arse! Or, let me put this in terms you can understand...VAFFANCULO!!!!"
But I sucked it up, (and I'm still pissing & moaning about it) because the sandwich was for a friend back home, plus, I didn't want to pull a Castanza. But maybe Tom will tell his version of the story! I don't want to be one sided about the Central Grocery guys! After I get this out of the way, I can spill about how good their sandwich is, and why I'll go back for more abuse! I truthfully don't know why I got so bent over this, I would never eat at a deli with friendly counter people, because the food is probably horrible! After all, a corned beef sandwich in New York doesn't taste good unless you're verbally kicked in the nuts by the counter people. But that's another story!

Red Beans & Rice Recipes

Well the red beans turned out great! My wife said they were the best batch yet. The funny thing is, I didn't even use any pork products, blasphemy! Just a smoked turkey drumstick. Split the bone in half to let the marrow out of the corral. The beans came out nice and creamy, just like using a ham bone. Anyway since I'm in a RB&R mood I thought I would give a whole bunch of links to other recipes for you to check out, because that's what I always do. I've never made it the same way twice, it's a work in progress. I love reading new techniques. So here are some links:

Red Beans & Rice Recipe Links

~This is Louis Armstrong's version, well one of them. I've seen others, because like I said above, this dish is a work in progress, maybe the Great Louis was the same way!
~Chuck Taggart from The Gumbo Pages version.
~This page from La Belle Cuisine (which I love) has three versions. One is from a friend of the author, one from Emeril Lagasse, and one from Marcelle Bienvenu. Marcelle Bienvenu is a great food writer from Lafayette, Louisiana. I will do a post on her in the future. I love reading her books and articles.
~This is a brunch dish from Commander's Palace dish that uses Red Beans as a sauce. Eggs Louis Armstrong.
~Tom Fitzmorris, who is a food writer in New Orleans.
~Chef John Folse makes a Red Beans & Rice Gumbo
...more to come...

Take Your Drunken Ass Home

Big Al Carson
Originally uploaded by Danno1.

This isn't exactly about food, but damn, the food and music in N.O. flow from the same spring! If you're going to N.O. check out Big Al Carson at the Funky Pirate/Tropicale Isle! Late last Lundi Gras, I strolled into the Funky Pirate, ordered an Abita Amber and chilled out after a long day of madness. All this after I realized this was THE Big Al Carson! Take Your Drunken Ass Home! You have to go if you go to Bourbon! GREAT Blues! The Big guy plays six nights a week! Damn! He, and his band really are great! Check them out! Hang for all the sets, then Take Your Drunken Ass Home! Here is a link to their album! I don't have any affiliate programs or any type of advertising on this blog, so when I link to something, it's because I like it.

Red Beans & Rice

Okay. I've been cooking Red Beans around once a week now for about 4 or so years now, not every week, but just about. I've said before that it's my favorite dish to cook, and here's why. I learn something everytime, also, it's one of those lazy, day off dishes, the longer it cooks the better, well, within reason it gets; my house feels like home with a pot of red beans simmering away on the stove, it's comfort food. Right now, the fireplace is crackling, and the beans are bubblin'. It's home. Anyway, sentiments aside. Here is what I've learned about red beans: It's all about the marrow! Whether it be a ham bone, ham hock, or today it's a smoked turkey drumstick, stripped of meat; bone split. The marrow is what gives the beans that creamy, uh... they're just not the same without it, it's as simple as that! Another thing for the eating, which I find essential, is a salad. Nice little side salad, nothing complicated, a vinaigrette salad. Today I made a creole mustard vinaigrette. In case anyone wants it:

Creole Mustard Vinaigrette

3 Tablespoons Creole Mustard (homemade or I also like Zatarain's)
2 Tablespoons Thinly Sliced Green Onions
1 Tablespoon STEEN'S Pure Cane Syrup (Optional)
2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Cayenne or to taste
Kosher Salt to taste

Whisk this up.

Drizzle in 1/4 to a 1/2 cup Vegetable or Canola oil whisking until emulsified.

I think the salad, lightens up the double starch meal. A bite of RB&R, a bite of salad. It just goes nicely together. The other thing I learned, from the recipe of Louis Armstrong, no less, is to add a bit of tomato sauce, be it canned or homemade, towards the end of cooking.
But, the best pot of red beans I've ever cooked was made with pickled pork, homemade! I will post a recipe later, but the pork just disintegrated in the pot leaving behind all that flavor. I don't know why I didn't make it again; hell this week I will. Actually one of Louis Armstrong's recipes, I think, actually included it. Anyway more on red beans later.

Uglesich's Cookbook

Uglesich's has recently released a cookbook. I'm looking forward to checking it out! Of all the times I've been to New Orleans, I've never been there. When you go to N.O. during Mardi Gras you kinda' just get picked up by the crowd and swept away for a few days. I always have it on my list of restaurants to get to, but I never quite make it there, maybe next time. I understand the food is fantastic. Simple, honest good food. Oh, I read on their website they will be featured on Emeril Live in April. It was supposed to be last Sunday, but they changed it.

Louisiana Cookin' has Great Chefs of Commander's Palace this month!

Check out Louisiana Cookin' this month! Great Chefs of Commander's Palace, and boy what a line up they've had! Paul Prudhomme, Emeril Lagasse, the late Jamie Shannon and current Chef Tory McPhail. I think the success of these Chefs has partly, if not largely to do with the wisdom, vision and guidance of Ella Brennan. She has the smarts and direction to let people be their best! She is truly a restaurant icon! I understand she is semi-retired, but the new generation seems to be following suit. Anyway, great recipes and articles on New Orleans Cuisine in this mag! More on Commander's in the future....

Cajun & Creole in Chile Pepper Magazine this month!

Chile Pepper Magazine has an issue dedicated to Cajun & Creole foods this month! It has articles about oysters, Louisiana restaurants outside of Louisiana, and a great article about Jacob's Andouille Sausage. I haven't tried Jacob's yet, but I will after reading the article and checking out their site. The guy's family has been doing it for four generations in LaPlace, Louisiana. It's all smoked with pecan wood for 10-12 hours in cypress and pine smokehouses. Another thing I like is, they say they don't gouge on the shipping. We'll see. I'll surely post when I get some.

Natchitoches Meat Pies

I made Natchitoches (prounounced nak-uh-dish) Meat Pies for dinner last night, my wife and I loved them! I've never made them before, but I think I'm going to make some for our annual Christmas party! They're meat filled turnovers, that are deep-fried. Here are a few links to different recipes I picked from. I usually find a few recipes, then take what I like from each one.

I used the crust from this one Emeril's Natchitoches Meat Pies.
Here is one from Recipe Goldmine that I kind of based my filling on Natchitoches Meat Pies RG.

I added celery to my filling, along with a touch of hot sauce, and my Homemade Worcestershire Sauce.

Red Beans and Rice

Where do I start on this topic? How about Louis Armstrong! This was his comfort food, his "birthmark" as he once said. He actually signed his name Red Beans and Ricely Yours. I've been a huge Louis Armstrong fan since I discovered him in high school. I've actually tracked down two different red beans recipes from Louis Armstrong. Everyone has their own recipe, most of which change a little with each cooking. This traditional Monday lunch in New Orleans, stems from lean times, and a good cook's sense of how to make something, out of nothing! It's my absolute favorite thing to cook! I usually make it once a week, usually on Monday, or whatever my day off happens to be. Sometimes I make it for staff meal at the restaurant. I never follow a recipe, but you can always find nine, or so, cookbooks open on my table when I'm cooking it. I always search for a new technique, they almost always turn out good, but once in awhile, there's magic in the pot. I'll share some techniques later, if anyone is interested, or if no one is interested, because like most blogs, this is written for me. Red Beans & Ricely Yours - Danno
...to be continued...

Recipe Gold Mine Regional Louisiana

Check out this great site! Lots of New Orleans Cuisine & Louisiana recipes! This is my kind of site! I'm going to make Natchitoches Meat Pies tonight, I'll post on how they turned out and the recipe(s) I used.

Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen

I just wanted to share my favorite cookbook. I have a lot of favorites but this is the number one! If you haven't heard of it check it out:

Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen.

The reason I love this cookbook is the man's knowledge of cooking. Chef Paul will tell you everything that should be happening while you're cooking, smell, look, taste, etc.. at certain stages. I've really learned a ton about cooking from this book! The Chicken and Tasso Jambalaya recipe is one of my favorites. I cook all of my Jambalayas this way now, which is, after sauteeing ingredients, add rice and liquid, finish in the oven, similar to a Paella. Most recipes finish Jambalaya on the stove top, I think it comes out far better from the oven. I've never made a bad recipe from this book, and most are phenomenal! The Crawfish Etouffee I had from K-Paul's during Mardi Gras was one of the best things I've ever eaten, and certainly the best Etouffee. Speaking of which, if your going to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, K-Paul's usually opens their window at night and serves a variety of different items to-go for about $6 or $7 bucks a-pop! Last year they had Crawfish Etouffee, Chicken etouffee, Blackened Drum, as well as a few others, including my favorite heart stopper, Deep-Fried Ham Po Boy! That's right folks bread and all, battered and fried! Atkins be damned! Pure heaven!
Anyway, if you've never checked out this ground breaking book, do so! It's very popular, so you should be able to find it anywhere, including the local library!

A word about Rice

The kind of rice I enjoy with Gumbos, Red Beans, Etouffee, etc., a lot of New Orleans Cuisine dishes, is a boilied rice. I like it because the grains stay seperate from one another, essentially, they let the main dish be the dish. Not that the rice is second fiddle, I just don't like an accompaniment rice where the grains are like glue. We're not making Sushi Rice, we don't want sticky rice. I have a pot of Red Beans on the stove (even though it's not Monday), and my rice is as important as my beans, which means, Very important! I take Red Beans & Rice very seriously. Not too seriously, nothing should be too serious, but I hold them in high esteem! more on Red Beans later. But this rice, which was inspired by the Commander's Palace cookbook, Commander's Kitchen (more on Commander's Palace later), is a great, simple, accompaniment rice. Not great because it's simple, just great! Real easy... 1 quart of Boiling water, to 1 cup of Rice. The goal here is not to absorb all of the liquid into the rice. The goal is to make the rice tender, and drain the rice! I use Uncle Ben's original rice, you know, converted long grain, parboiled. I just think it's a great product. I'll put this in recipe format. I don't believe in hoarding recipes. Share man!

Creole Boiled Rice

1 quart of Boiling Water
1 Cup Uncle Ben's Rice
4 Fresh Bay Leaves (If you have to use dried, do so, but damn..... the fresh are so much better!)
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter (Optional)

Bring the water to a boil with the bay leaves. Add the salt. Add the rice, stir to make sure the rice doesn't stick! Do Not Stir again! If you agitate the rice too much, it gets sticky! So give it a good stir, when it comes back to a boil, partially cover it. Cook for about 11 minutes, but taste it, don't trust me! It should have some bite, but a crunch is bad! When finished, drain it, pluck out the bay leaves, if desired place it into a 400 degree oven with the butter patted on top of it; this helps dry the rice out. ( I don't always do this, it's up to you)

I love this rice, I love the fragrance the bay leaves give the finished dish! It's simple and it's a great accompaniment rice! I use this for my Gumbos, Etouffees, Red Beans, etc, etc.. I hope you enjoy it!

Creole and Cajun Cookbooks

Welcome to my New Orleans Cuisine blog! I'm excited about this; a place to share what I've learned about the great food of Louisiana, and hopefully learn some things from others! Speaking of which, I like to collect Creole and Cajun cookbooks, so when I found this link I was pretty happy. It's from Tulane University and it's a very thorough Bibliography of New Orleans cookbooks. Check it out.

Ersters

What I wouldn't give to be standing at the bar at Felix's with a cold Dixie and a couple dozen oysters. Oysters aren't super easy to come by in the Detroit area, and they're on the pricey side. At the last two restaurants I've cooked, we served a few different varieties, it was nice to have that connection. So when I get to New Orleans I eat my fill! My buddy Tom and I always say, Oysters save our lives during Mardi Gras! I love 'em all ways: Fried, fried on a Po' Boy, baked, in soup, skewered, and on and on. But the best way is raw on the half-shell, with a couple of drops of Tabasco. I'll surely have more posts about oysters, as well as some great recipes on New Orleans Cuisine.