Innholdsfortegnelse for November - December 2017 i Louisiana Cookin'

I REMEMBER MY FIRST CUP of café au lait like it was yesterday. It was a steamy October morning, and the French Quarter streets were just starting to wake up. The combination of the hot, slightly bitter coffee with the sweet, tender beignets made a lasting impression on me and were definitely part of the magic that drew me to New Orleans. Back then, I was just getting excited about coffee. I was learning my preference for lightly roasted chocolaty beans from Central and South America and trying different brewing methods. Around the same time, a coffee renaissance was taking place in Louisiana. Chefs and culinary professionals were looking toward those humble cherries to find the best ways to coax new and interesting flavors out of them. Whether you’re a…

I recently had the honor of speaking with the 2017 Queen of Louisiana Seafood, Chef Bonnie Breaux of St. John Restaurant in St. Martinville. In June, she competed in a field of 12 Louisiana chefs (including past Chefs to Watch Ryan André, Lyle Broussard, and Nathan Richard) and took home the crown with her Cracklin’ Crusted Black Drum with Fennel and Bacon Marmalade. What is your background as a chef? Well, I am not culinary trained. Basically, I taught myself and learned the basics from my mother and father. I was always interested in cooking, but I didn’t start cooking professionally until age 39. I opened my own restaurant after a divorce, and then I went to Clementine’s in New Iberia as executive chef. Then I went to Tampa, Florida,…

1803 Antoine Amedée Peychaud is born 1806 The word “cocktail” is defined in print for the first time 1843 The Times-Picayune prints the first reference to a drink resembling the Sazerac 1840s/1850s Sazerac Coffee House opens 1870s Phylloxera devastates vineyards in France; brandy becomes less available 1908 Sazerac recipe first appears in print in “Cocktail Bill” Boothby’s World Drinks and How to Mix Them 1912 U.S. absinthe ban goes into effect 1920–1933 Prohibition 1940s Herbsaint replaces absinthe in Sazerac 1949 Sazerac Bar opens at the Roosevelt Hotel 2008 Sazerac named offi cial cocktail of New Orleans…

BAKED ALASKA MAKES 1 (8-INCH) CAKE 3 large eggs 1¾ cups plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons vegetable oil ½ cup whole milk 1 tablespoon sour cream 1½ tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon lemon zest, divided 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1½ teaspoons honey 1 cup all-purpose flour 1½ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon plus ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt, divided 1½ pints strawberry gelato, softened slightly 1½ pints pistachio gelato, softened slightly ⅓ cup water 3 large egg whites 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 1 (8-inch) round cake pan with baking spray with flour; line bottom of pan with parchment paper. 2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat eggs, ¾ cup sugar, and vanilla at medium-high speed until…

FOR MORE THAN 70 YEARS, LEAH’S PRALINES has delighted generations of New Orleans locals and visitors with delicious confections made by hand at its French Quarter location. The business, which has been part of the same family since 1944, is thought to be the oldest continually operating family-owned praline shop in the city. Cecil Cook originally opened the candy shop on South Rampart Street in 1933, though some references date the founding to 1925. After relocating to St. Louis Street, Cecil sold his business and original recipes to Leah Johnson, a fashion model, and her husband, OK Johnson. Today, the family business is in the able hands of Leah’s niece, Elna Stokes, who bought the shop from her aunt in 1984 ahead of the World’s Fair. She runs the shop…

NOVEMBER 3 Boudin, Bourbon & Beer New Orleans boudinbourbonandbeer.com 3-4 Main to Main Trade Days Minden visitwebster.net 3-5 Louisiana Pecan Festival Colfax | 318.627.5196 lapecanfest.com 4 Carnivale du Vin New Orleans carnivaleduvin.com 4 Louisiana Swamp Stomp Raceland lacajunbayou.com 4-5 Giant Omelette Celebration Abbeville | 337.344.9232 giantomelette.org 9-12 Cracklin Festival Port Barre | 337.692.3311 portbarrecracklinfestival.com 10 Big Boy’s Main Street Cook Off Thibodaux lacajunbayou.com 11 Southern Soul Food Showdown Jeanerette | 337.365.8185 iberiatravel.com 11 Thibodeauxville Fall Festival Thibodaux lacajunbayou.com 11-12 Covington Three Rivers Art Festival Covington | 985.327.9797 threeriversartfestival.com 11-12 Destrehan Plantation Fall Festival Destrehan | 985.764.9315 destrehanplantation.org 15-18 Mistletoe and Moss Lake Charles | 337.436.4025 jllc.net 18-19 Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival New Orleans jazzandheritage.org 19 Minden Fasching Fifth Season Festival Minden | 318.377.2144 visitwebster.net Nov. 24-Jan. 1 Celebration in the…

I HAVE A FEELING I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE who has a Louisiana bucket list. The difference is that mine is probably more food-obsessed than some others’. Around this time of the year, I start thinking about fulfilling some of my annual holiday fantasies. OK, full disclosure: I eat a LOT during the holidays. I’d start with Thanksgiving dinner at Mariner’s in Natchitoches, sitting at one of their outdoor tables overlooking the water, although I think my eyes would be more focused on my plate of Crab and Shrimp Oscar in béarnaise sauce. Hey, this is my fantasy, and yes, I want seafood for Thanksgiving. Please don’t judge. If I couldn’t get to Natchitoches, then I’d fantasize about a bountiful Thanksgiving dinner in Old-World elegant surroundings at The Roosevelt…

FALL BRINGS MANY OF MY FAVORITE SEASONS in Louisiana, most notably football and hunting. When the air begins to get crisp, it brings flocks of migratory waterfowl. From rice fields in southwest Louisiana to flooded timber in the piney woods, duck hunting is a rite of passage for many of us. My father’s 12-gauge shotgun filled with steel shot would sit across my lap as day broke on the horizon. I’d be listening to the sounds of nature while bunkered down in a trench with family and friends and usually somebody’s trusty black Lab or golden retriever. As the sun rose, the birds would start flying and the steel would start singing. Wild duck meat makes for a great gumbo. I remember duck and andouille gumbos being a staple meal…

THAT MUCH MALIGNED MARTYR of late 18th-century France Marie Antoinette never suggested that the hungry population deprived of bread should eat cake. The exact word was “brioche,” and most probably it was a quote from Rousseau (later borrowed by propagandists) who had written the line in his Confessions at a time when the then-princess was only 12 years old. Although naturally quite fond of sweets, having been born Austrian, whatever her other sins, she was not insensitive to the suffering of others. My father needed no regal advice to be induced to eat cake, for cakes he had aplenty. Except during Lent, I cannot remember many days when there wasn’t one sitting proudly on the sideboard. These confections rested on a ruffled cut-glass stand, only rarely under a dome. I…

AFTER OPENING NEARLY A YEAR AGO in Baton Rouge’s Southdowns neighborhood, Kalurah Street Grill has invigorated the local dining scene with fresh, contemporary cuisine with a touch of international flair. The modern American restaurant, housed in the former Chelsea’s Café location, has won over the Capital City with a gorgeous new interior and a seriously mouthwatering menu from Executive Chef Kelley McCann. A Baton Rouge native, Kelley spent summers washing dishes at a family friend’s restaurant and afternoons snacking on maraschino cherries at the bar where his mother worked. Yet it wasn’t until he was in his early 20s and had been working front-of-the-house positions at Galatoire’s Bistro when Brian Landry (now executive chef at Borgne in New Orleans) came on as chef that Kelley imagined a culinary career of…

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA CRAWFISH FRITTERS MAKES ABOUT 20 Recipe courtesy of Katie Shirkey-Leithead, Lake Charles ½ cup olive oil ¼ cup unsalted butter 1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes ½ cup chopped onion ½ cup chopped celery ¼ cup chopped green bell pepper 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning 1 pound cooked crawfish tails, chopped 1 teaspoon minced garlic 3 large eggs, lightly beaten 4 tablespoons whole milk, divided ⅔ cup all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons baking powder 1 (10-ounce) bag Zatarain’s Crispy Southern Fish Fri 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon ground black pepper Peanut oil, for frying Rémoulade sauce 1. In a large skillet, heat oil and butter over medium heat. Add eggplant, onion, celery, bell pepper, and Creole seasoning; cook until softened. Add crawfish and garlic; cook until…

New Orleans has a long and storied past with coffee, at one time being one of the largest receiving ports in the country for the raw beans. Thanks to European immigrants, a taste for heady dark-roasted coffee, often flavored with bitter chicory, took root and steered Crescent City coffee culture for generations. Big steaming cups of café au lait paired with powdery beignets are, and will always be, an essentially New Orleanian treat. In the wake of the culinary revolution that flourished during the city’s revitalization, a new crop of coffee-obsessed individuals has set up shop. Now more than ever, from New Orleans to Lafayette, Baton Rouge to Shreveport and Monroe, coffee lovers can get their old familiar cup or try any of the small-batch craft-brewed versions from these top-notch…

“IF YOU HAVE A RECIPE THAT YOU LOVE THAT YOUR MOTHER COOKS OR YOUR GRANDMOTHER COOKS, GET IT FROM THEM! WE TAKE A LOT OF THAT FOR GRANTED, AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO BE AROUND FOREVER.”—HARRIET ROBIN TREASURED FAMILY RECIPES and New Orleans classics take center stage in Across the Table: Recipes & Stories from Two New Orleans Friends (New Orleans School of Cooking, 2017), a new cookbook from Anne Leonhard and Harriet Robin, instructors at the New Orleans School of Cooking. The New Orleans natives grew up in the same neighborhood and crossed paths as they both had families and careers, but it wasn’t until they had both retired and were working as tour guides that they came back into each other’s lives. When Harriet heard Anne talking about…

Are you hungry for Louisiana? Baton Rouge-based freelance journalist Maggie Heyn Richardson sure is. You may already have her book, Hungry for Louisiana: An Omnivore’s Journey (LSU Press, 2015), but have you visited her blog? Check out hungryforlouisiana.com for Richardson’s recipes, musings on indigenous Louisiana foods, nostalgic moments about food, and really beautiful photographs. One of our favorite New Orleans chefs, James Beard-award-winner Alon Shaya, will release his book, Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel (Knopf, 2018) in March. This is Shaya’s cookbook, but it is also his personal life story. Finally, a little something sweet just for you. Baker and all-around sweet provider Robyn Selders has opened Cupcake Junkie in Baton Rouge. (She had me at “cupcake.”) Insider’s tip: try the “Denial,” chocolate cake with…

THE SAZERAC HOLDS A SPECIAL PLACE in the hearts of New Orleanians. The drink, which is a New Orleans version of a whiskey cocktail, typically consists of rye whiskey, sugar, bitters, and an absinthe or Herbsaint rinse. It is believed that the drink was first invented in the Big Easy, and legend long held that it was America’s first cocktail. Though we now know the latter assertion is improbable, the lore surrounding the drink is still riveting as questions remain about its origins. The most common version of how the word “cocktail” came to be stems from a narrative laid out by Stanley Clisby Arthur in his 1937 book Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em. He writes that the Sazerac was invented by Antoine Amedée Peychaud, a…

WHILE LOUISIANA SWEET POTATOES are tasty enough on their own—roasted to perfection or served casserole-style with pecans or marshmallows—we decided to kick it up a notch this holiday season. Hasselback potatoes make for a showstopping side dish, and this sweet and savory version benefits from Cajun spices, cane syrup, and a liberal sprinkling of crushed cracklin’s. HASSELBACK SWEET POTATOES MAKES 4 SERVINGS 4 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds) 2 tablespoons canola oil ½ teaspoon kosher salt ½ teaspoon Cajun seasoning* 6 tablespoons cane syrup 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme ¼ cup coarsely crushed seasoned pork cracklin’ strips Garnish: chopped fresh thyme 1. Preheat oven to 425°. Spray a small rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. 2. Cut ⅛- to ¼-inch-thick…

“ A ROUX IS A STAPLE JUST LIKE THE HOLY TRINITY IS. YOU CAN’T BUILD YOUR FLAVORS IN CERTAIN DISHES WITHOUT A ROUX.”—CHEF RYAN ANDRÉ FOR MANY LOUISIANA STAPLES, the key to success lies in the roux, a traditional thickening and flavoring method for gumbos, étouffées, and more. Making it from scratch can be tricky to master, but the perfect roux can be achieved with practice and patience. One of our favorite roux-based dishes is crawfish bisque, which is traditionally served with stuffed crawfish heads. To talk about this essential technique and give some expert tips, we turned to 2012 Chef to Watch Ryan André of City Pork Brasserie in Baton Rouge. Ryan is known for experimenting with international flavors in classic dishes, but he took a more traditional route…