Travels and Tastes - New Orleans

If you are cuckoo, eccentric, oddball and bazar, you might be thinking of making your way to the West coast.  But if you care more about “your music” and just having a good time, then saving dolphins and growing your own chickens, places for oddballs ( like Santa Cruz) will simply not take you.  You would be better off to just head straight for New Orleans, they will take anyone… no special butterfly loving skills needed, just an open mind.

If you are cuckoo, eccentric, oddball and bazar, you might be thinking of making your way to the West coast.  But if you care more about “your music” and just having a good time, then saving

dolphins and growing your own chickens, places for

oddballs ( like Santa Cruz) will simply not

take you.  You would be better off to just head straight for

New Orleans, they will take anyone…

no special butterfly loving skills needed, just an open mind.

Having now been to New Orleans twice, I am now thoroughly

convinced that it is the most insane place on earth.  Where

else can you get a drink at 8 a.m., drink it on the street, while

browsing windows of strip bars and fine antiques all on the

same block.  If you are to thoroughly enjoy New Orleans,

you need to check your idea of common sense and

inhibitions at the airport…you also might want to leave your

wallet, and liver there too.

The first time I was in New Orleans was a little less than a

year before Katrina.  This time around I was wondering if I

would see the effects of the storm…   No you can’t see the

effects with the naked eye (not in most neighborhoods

anyway), no damaged buildings or closed businesses… but

the damage is there.  “The Storms” come up in every single

conversation with anyone, cab drivers, tour guides,

bartenders… there is a “before” and “after” New Orleans. 

“Before” and “After” lives.  Some folks have recovered

financially and some are still struggling, but all, without

exception, are scared in some way.  And even though the

city has bounced back and lost none of its beauty or crazy

charm, even though the “good times” are rolling all over the

place, there will always be “the before and after” New

Orleans.

We have managed to do it all in the short two days, even

becoming a local attraction (you can see how attractive here).  More time would have been

nice, but if we have stayed two more days, I think I would

need a liver transplant.

So here is a little photo journal, on having a good time New

Orleans way:

You start with the breakfast of champions – a Bloody Mary. 

 You will have many more of them throughout the day, but

the first one is most important, it sets the whole’s day mood.

Toast to the new day!

Enjoy the music, dancing on the street is not only allowed,

but encouraged.

You many need a nap by 10 a.m., go ahead take one… you

will need the energy later.

 

Relax in a courtyard under

the beautiful cast iron work…

 Now I remember why I love

all the ornate wrought iron

and have it all over the place

in my house…

Or take in the Garden District.  If you are bold enough, you

may actually get to talk to some of the gardners to rich and

famous.

Stop by at the French Market and sample some local flair …

Have them shuck right in front of you.

I love oysters, they just don’t love me back… didn’t prevent

everyone from consuming dozens and dozens. So fat, so

juicy with the scent of the sea!

There are paintings of oysters all over the galleries of New

Orleans, I don’t know why, when you can just get the real

thing and eat it too.

Mountains of craw fish… if you are a craw fish fan, these are

boiled simply with lemon, bay leaf, red chilly flake, salt, black

 pepper corns and parsley…

Get a pound, or six and go ahead, make a mess…

After being thoroughly fed and watered (not with water… no

way), you may want to pretend to be the Queen of

England… go ahead, in this city no one will mind

Or put your “crazy” on!

Or take a bath to wash off the day!

And just before you settle for the never ending night of jazz

and party… one more snack at cafe Du Monde… chicory

Café O’ulait and Beignets.

We will certainly be back to this wonderfully nuts city!  In the

meantime, we will miss it, or it may miss us more!

And Another! 

Speaking of Bloody Mary’s, I don’t understand why only in

New Orleans they manage to make this cocktail this good.

And it is good almost everywhere, almost all restaurants, and

whole in the wall or not bars… everywhere.  They pretty

much got their mixology all figured out…even their Long

Island Iced teas taste better than in Long Island ( why do

they call it a LIT anyway?)

Have another!

Take in some historical scenery…. Go on a tour, preferably

before noon, you may not care very much about the city’s

history after a few of those excellent drinks.

Don’t Call me Muffin! – Coffee Cake

How many times have you contemplated a healthy breakfast?  How many times did you reach for a bran or carrot muffin, thinking,” this is not so bad, better than bacon and eggs, right”?  Wrong!  The word “muffin” actually means “cake”, and that is exactly what it is, laden with butter and sugar… I will stick to bacon and eggs, thank you very much.

But if you are in a mood for a sweet treat with your morning or afternoon coffee or tea… go for it, just  call it what it is…. a deceptively good, baked sweet.  I tried to lighten things up a bit, using no butter in this recipe for “not muffins”, let’s call them cinnamon swirl coffee cakes.

Cinnamon swirl coffee cakes

½ cup of yogurt or buttermilk

½ cup of sour cream

1 egg

1 ¼ cup sugar

4 tbs ground cinnamon

¼ cup vegetable oil

12 oz of cake flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp of baking soda

A pinch of salt

1 tbs butter for buttering the muffin forms.

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Make the cinnamon filling by combining ¼ cup of sugar with all the cinnamon.  Add a splash of water and mix.  You are looking for a thin paste consistency.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Whisk together the yogurt, sour cream, egg, sugar and vegetable oil until combined.

Add the dry goods and mix until just combined.  Don’t over mix.

Scoop some batter into the buttered muffin forms.  Top with about a teaspoon of the cinnamon filling, than add a little more batter to top off.  Do not fill the forms all the way to the top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pan half-way through the cooking.  Bake until an inserted toothpick comes out dry.  Once baked, invert the pan onto a tea towel right away and cool the cakes on the cooling rack so they don’t become soggy.

 

Don’t these just scream “Eat me, but don’t call me muffin!”

Country style braised ribs.

Lately this blog of mine has become something of a burden, after all it supposed to be about the food, yet I keep searching for a different format.  I find myself wanting to write about more profound things, thoughts that I have long awaited to put on paper.  I have the food and the recipes and the pictures all lined up, yet I keep searching for the context to put them in… luckily one just happen to pop up…

As I was sitting through a Cirque du Soleil tribute to Michael Jackson, I thought of the phenomena of one’s influence on society. A concept of one’s art (whether it a written word, a painting, a song, a building…) influencing thousands, millions of people, for generations to come.   A concept of recognizable white gloved moon walk, or a four boys with mop-top hair, or a sight of Roman amphitheater or a familiar quote, for fifteen minutes, a year, a century or longer….   How does one doing, influence a whole generation or a few, what imprint these icons have on our society?  I sat in a thousand full arena thinking that all the people there (and millions more around the world) sharing the same nostalgic love for this particular music, a single unifying thread linking so many against the odds… 

Our world consists of these individuals, the ones that left, or will leave an inerasable mark on our society.  They create their visions, sometimes with no regard of the consumer, profoundly absorbed in their love of their idea.  Some achieve stardom immediately and some are not recognized until long after their deaths, but they all have one thing in common, they unite likeminded folks all around the world, despite all the usual differences and times past… What would our world we be like without Shakespeare, Mozart, the architect of Notre Dame, Lady Gaga?  Some will stand the true test of time and some will fade, yet in their solace they keep millions of hearts and minds engaged, full of their vision….

We all search for some meaning in our lives; we search for it in different ways and in different contexts.  I think that being able to leave your mark on a world you live in is the ultimate goal.  Whether you engage a 10,000 people in an arena at a concert or you cook a dish that stimulates the senses of the few for just a couple of minutes, it doesn’t matter…. The fact is, if you have managed to invoke an emotion from even one person with whatever it is you do… you have succeeded, you have made your mark on the society, no matter how small or insignificant….  If today you wrote a paragraph that someone reads, painted a picture that someone contemplated or cooked something that made someone lick their plates… you are ahead of the game, on your way to making a small dent on your corner of humanity….

Upon reading the above ravings, my son asked me if I ever considered a career as a standup philosopher.  He also told me that I should probably stick to lighter subjects on this blog, and I think he is right.  So, no more contemplating of greater questions in life, next week I will go back to what I do best… cook.  Oh, and by the way, I am going to New Orleans next week, so hopefully I will have enough inspiration for another Travels and Tastes piece.

Speaking of leaving a mark on this world… here is the recipe for country style braised ribs that are definitely worthy of being called society altering:

Country Style Braised Ribs

2 Lbs ( 8 -10 pieces) of country style pork ribs.  Country style cut is usually boneless, or with just a tip of the bone left.  Cut from the loin portion.

1 small onion chopped

4 cloves of garlic chopped

Vegetable oil

For the dry rub:

1 tbs fennel seeds

1 tbs of ancho chili powder

2 tbs of brown sugar

1 tsp smoked cinnamon ( non-smoked is ok too)

1 tsp dry mustard powder

1/2 tsp of cayanne pepper ( use less if you are heat shy)

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ tsp of kosher salt

For the braising liquid:

2.5 cups apple cider

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

3 tbs of tomato paste

2 tbs of honey

Salt to taste

Mix all the dry rub spices and rub the ribs generously.  Cover with plastic and marinade in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350F.   On the stove, preheat a heavy bottom, oven safe pot (Dutch oven is perfect).  Add the vegetable oil and sear each rib on all sides until nicely browned.  Set aside.  Lower the heat; add onion and garlic to the oil and sauté for a few minutes until soft.

Add all the braising liquid ingredients to the onion and garlic and bring to a simmer.  Add the meat back in, the liquid should just cover all the ribs.  If you need to add a little more liquid, add chicken or beef stock.

Cover and cook in the oven for 1 hour. After one hour, take the lid off and cook another 30-40 minutes or until the ribs are fall of the bone tender.

Once the ribs are done, the sauce should have become a thick glaze.  If it is still to liquid, take out the meat and reduce the liquid on stove top until it is a syrupy consistency.  Pour over the ribs and serve.

Now these are worthy of a following!

Classic but never Old.

We just celebrated by husband’s grandmother’s 90^th birthday.  This milestone has got me thinking about growing old and age in general.  This Grandma, by the way, is one of the most lucid, vibrant and independent people I know of any age ( I am knocking on wood, spitting in every direction and throwing salt over both shoulders, since I can’t remember which one wards off bad luck.  I figure more superstition has got to be better than less, where my loved ones are concerned).

So, back to contemplating aging.  When I was about 15, I perceived my 35 year old aunt and uncle as ancient, at the sunset of their days.  What can life possibly offer after the age of 30 was unclear to me.  Now I look at our grandma and I don’t see her as old, just older than me, even though our age difference is more than half century.  Her age is not haughtily unreachable or unreal to me anymore.  I look at her lifetime with wonder; just think how the world has changed for her generation – from horse and buggy to the digital reality we live in today.  I am excited to see what my lifetime will bring.  Will I see a man on Mars?  Will I experience virtual reality?  Will my daughter ever clean her closet?

Some things get better with age: wine, cheese, bread starters… as I grow older I don’t feel the weight of age, instead, I become like an old collector of cherished memories, experiences, joys and sorrows.  I build my collection recognizing that they make me who I am, that without them I am just a blank canvas.  I treat my precious collection like little treasures, wrapped up in lace and stored in wooden chest.  Sometimes I take them out and revisit them, lovingly going over every detail in my head.  For every wrinkle around my eyes and for every gray hair I will get, there will be years of life, joys of family and friends, pride for my children and more memories to store in the treasure chest.

My husband’s grandmother is not old, she is classic and classy.  There is something very timeless about how lady-like she is, with her lipstick, a new hairdo and attention to fashion.  She is classy in her dancing and cooking.   She is constantly reminding me that we should always be reinventing ourselves, learning, improving….  To celebrate all things classic but never old, I am remaking an old favorite 2 ways – Deviled eggs.. 

Smoked Salmon Deviled eggs.

10 Extra-large or jumbo eggs

½ lbs of smoked salmon finely chopped

1 tbs capers finely chopped

1 tbs fresh dill finely chopped

1 tbs Japanese mayo ( you can use regular, but I like the Japanese kind, pure umami)

2 tbs sour cream

2 tbs crem fresh

¼ tbs of sweet smoked paprika

Fresh ground pepper

Salt to taste

Harissa Deviled eggs.

10 extra-large or Jumbo eggs

5 strips of bacon

1 tbs harrisa paste (start with ½ tbs if you not sure about the heat level)

1 cup mayo

1 tbs of lime juice

½ tsp chopped fresh parsley

½ tsp chopped fresh mint

Start by making hard boiled eggs.  If you think you know how to do it perfectly, great, skip ahead, but honestly it is not as easy as it sounds.  It is difficult to time eggs perfectly, so the yolks are fully cooked and the whites do not get rubbery.  I also hate when the yolk becomes gray on the outside.  So here is my trusted method. 

In a shallow pot cover the eggs with hot water ( this will help the water come up to a boil quicker, making for more even cooking).  Bring to a boil.  Turn the heat to the lowest setting and cover the pan.  The water should not be bubbling; very gentle simmer is what you are looking for.  Cook for exactly 7 minutes.  Rinse under cold water and peel right away, using the cold water to rinse as you peeling. 

Let the eggs cool.  Split them in half lengthwise, gently tease out the yolks and set the white “shells” aside.

To make the Smoked Salmon deviled eggs.  Combine all the ingredients and the yolks in the bowl and mash with a fork until you get a smooth mixture.  You can also use the food processor; it makes for a mousse like texture.  Do not salt the mixture right away, try it first.  Add salt as needed.  Spoon or pipe the mixture back into the white’s half-shells.  Garnish with smoked paprika.

To make the Harissa Devil Eggs.  Cook the bacon to very crispy.  I use my husband’s method for this, little mess, quick and easy.  Place 3 or 4 paper towels on a plate (paper if you got it).  Spread the bacon on the paper towels.  Cover with 3 more paper towels.  Microwave on high for 2 minutes.  After 2 minutes, check if the bacon is crispy, if not, cook at 30 second intervals until it is.  Nice crispy bacon, zero mess.  Husbands are good for something.

Crumble the bacon until fine.  Combine all the ingredients and the yolks in a bowl and mash with a fork.  For this one, I don’t like to use the food processor as the bacon loses its crunch.  Spoon or pipe the mixture into the white’s half-shells.  Garnish with chopped parsley and mint.

Next time you go through your photos of years past and start feeling old, just think of yourself as classic instead!

I have my kitchen and my life back!

Aside for a few very minor details my kitchen is back and I am beyond exited.  It turned out exactly how I wanted, with touches of the old world and my own personal quirks. Of course I am still missing one cabinet glass, one shelf and all the trim, but who is keeping score.  I just keep the kitchen guys on speed dial until it is all delivered and installed.    I even got to cook today, for the kids first of course.... they missed a normal meal.  It is funny, but it took longer to cook such familiar food because I couldn’t find anything.  In my quest to improve the layout of everything, I have moved all the dishes, pots, pans and gadgets to new spots.  I may have over improved a bit... it felt like cooking in someone else’s house.   Plus everything is so shiny and new, I hate to dirty it up.   My favorite parts of the new kitchen are the granite (it so pretty, almost like a painting, I keep staring at it), my butcher block ( this thing is awesome, and I have not gotten to baking yet), my new magnetic knife bar ( I don’t have to rattle around in the draw for the dulled knives anymore), my new sink ( it is so big and deep it seems more like a bath tub than a sink), all my wood, the pantry door, the chalkboard with the daily specials ( my kids love that one), all the parts I made myself.  The new huge peninsula, doubling up as my kitchen table is a hit ( I was very worried that it would look funny and out of place), my new old-fashioned lights, the bricked up wall ( I am working on making another one by practicing my concrete skills in the garage for now).  And these are just my most favorite parts… everything else is just plain great.  I can’t wait for everyone to see it…. I can’t wait to do what I always did in my kitchen… relax and be happy.