April 2005 Archives
Crawfish Etouffee is one of the classic Creole/Cajun dishes from New Orleans and South Louisiana. You'll hear a bit of discussion/debate as to whether this is a "Cajun" or a "Creole" dish, but it's really a French dish, so it's essentially both. "Etouffee" is the French word for to stew or smother, so we're talking about "crawfish stew," and that sort of cooking is common to both city and country cuisine.
Here's a great etouffee recipe from Chef John Folse's website. If you can't get crawfish tails, you can use this same base recipe with two pounds of shrimp and make Shrimp Etouffee, or you could substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts and make Chicken Etouffee. While doing the podcast, it dawned on me that a Chicken Etouffee might even be made as a Kosher dish. I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of keeping kosher, so if anybody who is would like to comment on this possibility, please do.
The Podcast (28:38, 26.2MB)
The recipe:
Louisiana Style Crawfish Etouffee
PREP TIME: 1 Hour
SERVES: 6
INGREDIENTS:
* 2 pounds cleaned crawfish tails
* 1/4 pound butter
* 1 cup onion, chopped
* 1/2 cup celery, chopped
* ½ cup green bell pepper, chopped
* ½ cup red bell pepper, chopped
* ½ cup tomatoes, diced
* 2 tbsps garlic, diced
* 2 bay leaves
* 1/2 cup tomato sauce
* 1 cup flour
* 2 quarts crawfish stock or water
* 1 ounce sherry
* 1 cup green onions, chopped
* ½ cup parsley, chopped
* salt and cayenne pepper to taste
* Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce
* 2 cups white rice, steamed
METHOD:
In a 2-gallon stock pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic and bay leaves. Sauté until vegetables are wilted, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add crawfish tails and tomato sauce and blend well into mixture. Using a wire whip, blend flour into the vegetable mixture to form a white roux. Slowly add crawfish stock or water, a little at a time, until sauce consistency is achieved. Continue adding more stock as necessary to retain consistency. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce to simmer and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sherry, green onions and parsley and cook an additional 5 minutes. Season to taste using salt and cayenne pepper. Serve over steamed white rice using a few dashes of Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce.
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is second only to Mardi Gras in terms of attendance. Da Fest is two weekends of great music and great food, all on the infield of the Fair Grounds Racetrack in Gentilly.
The List:
1. Crawfish Sacks, Crawfish Beignets, Oyster Patties from Patton's (food area 1)
2. Meat Pies/Crawfish Pies, Mrs. Wheat's (food area 2)
3. Muffeletta from DiMartino's (food area 1)
4. Oyster Rockefeller Bisque, Food for Thought (food area 2)
5. Cannoli, Strawberry Ice, Lemon Ice, Angelo Brocato's (food area 2)
6. Pheasant, Quail, and Andouille Gumbo, Prejean's (food area 2)
7. Fried Soft Shell Crab Po-Boy, Galley (food area 2)
8. Cochon de Lait Po-Boy, Fried Eggplant w/Crawfish sauce, Love at First Bite (food area 1)
9. Crawfish Sushi, Ninja, (food area 2)
10. Mango Freeze, WWOZ, (various locations)
Recipes:
Crawfish Beignets
1 lb. crawfish tailmeat
1/4 lb. andouille sausage
2 egg whites
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar
2 Tbs. chopped scallion
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
salt, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne to taste
cornmeal
In a food processor, grind together the crawfish and andouille. Add the whites, vinegar, scallion, mustard, and season very well to taste. With a disher, form the mixture into balls and roll in cornmeal. Fry in hot oil (350 degrees) until golden and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.
Oyster Patties
1 Dozen Patty Shells
2 Dozen Small Oysters
1 med Chopped Onion
5 Stalks Chopped Green Onions
Chopped Fine Parsley
2 tbs Butter
4 tbs Flour
To Taste Salt
To Taste Pepper
Melt butter and make roux with flour. Add seasoning, add oysters and liquor from oysters. Place in baked patty shells and serve hot.
Yield: 12 Patties
Today's YatPundit Podcast is a review of Port of Call, home of the best hamburger in New Orleans.
Creole Cream Cheese is a "farmer's cheese" originally from France, and rarely seen outside of the New Orleans area. There are a few grocery stores in New Orleans that still make/sell Creole Cream Cheese, which is down from the large-scale production operations of the old local dairies like Gold Seal Creamery. Still, you can by Creole Cream Cheese at Dorignac's Supermarket on Veterans Blvd. in Metairie, or you can make your own.
Creole Cream Cheese
PREP TIME: 4 Hours
INGREDIENTS:
* 2 gallons skim milk
* ½ quart buttermilk
* ½ rennet tablet (available at cheese specialty stores)
* Half & Half optional
METHOD:
Combine skim milk, buttermilk, and the ½ rennet tablet in a stainless steel pot. Using a thermometer, bring the temperature of the milk to 80 degrees, stirring constantly and hold for five minutes. Remove from heat, cover tightly and allow to sit 3 hours. Drain off the whey (liquid remaining after the curds are formed) discarding this liquid. Pack the solids in 8-ounce portions topping with equal parts of half and half cream. Chill and serve with sugar or fruit. Creole cream cheese is excellent in ice creams and pastries.
Creole Cream Cheese Evangeline
The classic brunch appetizer from Arnaud's Restaurant in the Quarter
Sweeten 2oz of Creole Cream Cheese with 1tbsp sugar. Mix thoroughly and spoon into a small glass ice cream dish and top with fresh fruit.
CRABMEAT CHEESECAKE
with Pecan Crust,
from the Palace Café
This fabulous cheesecake by Chef Robert Bruce is the signature appetizer at the Palace Café in New Orleans, one of my favorite restaurants back home. It's decidedly different from Chef Emeril Lagasse's savory cheesecakes, for which he is well known, primarily for its nutty crust and the special tang of Creole cream cheese.
Creole cream cheese is unfortunately impossible to find outside of New Orleans, and is even difficult to find within the city limits (Dorignac's Food Center on Veterans in Metairie still makes their own, bless 'em). You won't be able to make this like the restaurant does without it, but for the Creole cream cheese you can substitute equal parts of plain yogurt and sour cream. Believe me, the cheesecake will still taste fantastic!
Pecan Crust:
* 3/4 cup pecans
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
* 3 tablespoons ice water
Filling:
* 1/2 small onion, finely diced
* 4 ounces fresh lump crabmeat, picked over for shells
* 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
* 3 ounces Creole cream cheese (or 3 tablespoons each plain yogurt and sour cream)
* 2 eggs
* Salt and white pepper to taste
* Crystal hot sauce to taste (or your favorite hot sauce)
Garnish:
* 2 tablespoons chopped shallots
* 4 ounces sliced mixed wild and exotic mushrooms
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 3 ounces Worcestershire sauce
* 1 ounce hot sauce
* 3 ounces heavy whipping cream (UK: single cream)
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* 24 crab claw fingers
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the pecan crust: Grind the pecans, flour and salt in a food processor until fine. Transfer to a bowl. Add the butter. Work the butter into the flour until you have crumbs about the size of a pea. Toss in the ice water, lifting up the dough with your fingers to incorporate evenly. The dough will remain fairly crumbly. Starting with the sides, and then the bottom, press the dough into a 9-inch tart pan. Bake the crust in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes. Allow the crust to cool before filling. Meanwhile, make the filling ...
For the filling: Cook the onion in a bit of butter over medium heat until translucent. Add the crabmeat and cook just until heated through. Remove from heat and set aside. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand using a wooden spoon), blend the cream cheese until smooth. Add the Creole cream cheese and then the eggs one at a time. Fold in the crabmeat mixture. Season to taste with salt, white pepper and hot sauce. Pour the mix into the prepared cooled crust. Bake at 300°F for about 30 minutes until set and firm to the touch.
For the garnish topping: Sauté shallots until translucent. Add the mushrooms and sweat until just cooked through. Add the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce, and reduce by 3/4. Add the heavy cream and reduce by half. Whisk in the butter.
In a separate sauté pan, add crab claw fingers. Salt and pepper to taste, then pour the reduction over and keep warm. Each slice of cheesecake gets three crab claws and 2 tablespoons of sauce.
Yield: 8 servings from one 9" tart
I'd like to see them put on a New Orleans chef. They'd never do it because he'd kick any of the Iron Chef's ass, hands-down...
also known as Cafe' au lait and beignets.
Recipe for New Orleans Beignets:
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (105°)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup undiluted evaporated milk
7 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup soft shortening
oil for frying
confectioners' powdered sugar
In large bowl, sprinkle yeast over water; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt, eggs and milk. Blend with beater. Add 4 cups of the flour; beat smooth. Add shortening; beat in remaining flour. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. Roll out on floured board to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into 2 1/2-inch squares. Deep fry at 360° 2 to 3 minutes until lightly browned on each side. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle heavily with powdered sugar. Yields 5 dozen.
Links mentioned:
Cafe' du Monde
Morning Call
French Market Coffee
Community Coffee
Cool Brew
I've developed a new addiction--Tabasco Mayonnaise! I'm picky about mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is one of those things where I haven't changed what I use in 20 years or more. I'm a Blue Plate person. I've flirted occasionally with the low-fat Blue Plate mayo, but that's as far as my experimentation has ever gone. Blue Plate mayo is what's on most po-boys in the New Orleans area. It's the sort of thing that there's no need to tempt fate by trying something different--it works.
The notion of spicing up mayo itself has never really done much for me. Hellmann's came out with that mayo-dijon mustard combo some years ago, and my first thought was, if I want a little mustard on my sandwich, I'll add a little mustard on top of the mayo. Same goes for hot sauce, if I want a bit of an extra kick, I'll kick it myself.
Given that I did the podcast yesterday on why I don't use Tabasco on sandwiches, this might sound like a contradiction, but I like the mixture of Blue Plate and Tabasco that is the new Tabasco Mayonnaise. It's not the same as just adding some hot sauce to the sandwich. Hot sauce, be it Crystal or Tabasco, is vinegar-based, so adding even a couple of drops changes the overall taste of the food. Adding the spicy flavor directly to the mayonnaise changes the chemistry. You get the hot without the extra vinegar bite. It makes for an interesting way to pick up a sandwich.
I tried a small jar of Tabasco mayo a couple of weeks ago, using it on things like your basic ham sandwich on a pistolette. The difference was remarkable. I went through that jar and made note to pick up some more yesterday at the grocery. When I went to Zuppardo's, I noticed that the label on the mayo had changed. The first jar I bought was "McIlhenney Farms" mayo, with the same logo as the barbecue sauce. Now it's "Tabasco" mayo, with the familiar Tabasco logo. It's an interesting marketing switch, as if they used the McIlhenney logo to test the product a bit, then when it was solid, the company "graduated" it to the big-league logo. Either way, there's a small Blue Plate logo on the label, to let you know that the base mayonnaise is the product that you grew up with (if you're a local).
I'm not sure where I'm going to go in terms of experiementing with this mayo, but the next logical step is potato salad. I always add a bit of creole seasoning to my potato salad to spice it up, but I don't want to overdo it. That may be a project for this weekend...
In this week's YatCuisine Podcast we talk steak, and what you can do to "Creole" the basic American steak dish. Also: Crawfish-Stuffed Filet Mignon from Emeril's.
Recipes:
Bernaise Sauce
1/4 c Vinegar
1/4 c White wine
1 ts Tarragon, dry
1 tb Scallion, minced
1/2 c Butter, melted
3 ea Egg yolks
1/2 ts Salt
1/4 ts Pepper
Serve with beef or fish, yield 1 1/2 cups (6 tbls per serving). Combine vinegar, wine, pepper, scallions and tarragon in saucepan. Cook over low heat until reduced to half, about 8 minutes.Strain mixture into top of double boiler. With wire wisk or rotary beater,beat in beaten egg yolks and salt. Cook over hot water until thickened.Beat in butter 1-tbl at a time. Stir over heat till creamy, about 1 minute.
Marchand de Vin Sauce
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup scallions, finely chopped
1/2 cup boiled ham, finely chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups beef stock
1/2 cup red wine
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
salt and black pepper
Melt the butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven and saute' the onion, garlic, scallions, and ham for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2 minutes. Blend in the flour and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes, then add the Worcestershire, beef stock, thyme, and bay leaf. Simmer until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Before serving, remove the bay leaf and add the parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Yields 3 cups.
Crawfish-Stuffed Filet Mignon with Crawfish Bordelaise Sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp finely minced onion
1 tsp finely minced green onion
1 tsp finely minced celery
1 tsp finely minced green pepper
1 tsp finely minced garlic
1/4 lb crawfish tails
2 tbsp Shrimp Stock (may substitute fish or chicken stock here)
2 tsp bread crumbs
1 tbsp creole seasoning
1 1/2 cups Crawfish Bordelaise Sauce (see below)
4 filet mignons, 6-7 ounces each, trimmed
1. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Add the onions and green onions, celery, bell peppers, and garlic and saute' for 1 minute. Add the crawfish tails, stock, bread crumbs and 1 tsp of the creole seasoning and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool, at least 15 minutes. Makes 1 cup.
2. Prepare the Crawfish Bordelaise Sauce (see below)
3. Sprinkle the remaining 2 teaspoons creole seasoning over the meat, using 1/2 tsp on each steak and inside its pocket. Use your hands to coat the meat thoroughly, inside and out.
4. Using a small sharp knife, cut a slit about 2 inches long into the side of each steak, cutting about 2 inches in to make a pocket. Stand the filets on their uncut edges and open the pockets. Using a spoon, fill each pocket with 1/4 cup of the cooled stuffing.
5. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in a skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the filets and saute until rare, for about 3 minutes on each side. Saute the steaks 4 minutes on each side for medium rare, or longer if desired.
6. To serve, place 1 filet on each of 4 dinner places and cover with a generous 1/3 cup of the sauce.
Crawfish Bordelaise Sauce
1 tbsp minced shallots
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp creole seasoning
1/2 dry red wine
1/4 pound crawfish tails
1/2 tsp salt
4 turns freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups veal or beef glaze (may substitute beef stock)
2 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tbsp chopped green onions
1. Combine the shallots, garlic and creole seasoning in a small nonreactive saucepan and place over high heat and cook for 30 seconds. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Add the crawfish, salt, and pepper and bring back to a boil.
2. Stir in the glaze or stock and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, skimming off the fat and impurities several times for about 10 minutes. Turn up the heat to high, skim the remaining impurities from the top of the sauce and cook for 1 or 2 minutes.
3. Whisk in the butter and continue to whisk until thoroughly incorporated, for about 30 seconds. Add the green onions and remove from the heat.
1-APRIL-2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: YatPundit, comments@yatpundit.com
food.yatpundit.com or www.yatpundit.com
New restaurant offers classic New Orleans atmosphere with contemporary cuisine.
I had the pleasure of attending a preview event for the city's latest restaurant last week. Clerk of Court Kimberly Williamson Butler is broadening her horizons by opening The Voting Booth today.
New Orleanians are often conflicted when it comes to restaurant style. While we will go on and on about how we don't want a lot of atmosphere, preferring that an establishment focus more on the food than the appearance, we still have a soft spot in our hearts for romantic settings. The Voting Booth strives to give the diner both.
The main design theme of the The Voting Booth is secrecy. Our nation prides itself in the sanctity of the secret ballot, and the restaurant has carried that theme to the dinner table. A number of standard voting machines have been converted into individual enclosed tables-for-two. The curtain that guarantees your privacy when casting your vote has been converted into one of the most romantic dining experiences in the city. When you arrive for dinner, the maitre d' will politely wait until nobody is looking to escort you to your private table. This attention to discretion is important to patrons who like to keep secrets.
But The Voting Booth is not just about privacy. The restaurant expects to fill up not just the romantic curtained booths but the thirty-five additional tables of the main dining room. There is little doubt that they can accomplish this feat, because the food is excellent. Creole-fusion is the main theme of the menu, a blend of classic New Orleans cooking with modern influences. Start off your mail with Right Thing Remoulade, an interesting variation on the traditional appetizer. Follow that up withBallot Box Bisque, the restaurant's signature soup. It's a subtle corn-and-crab bisque, brought to your table or booth in a locked ballot box. The filet mignon is a great choice, topped with the Seven Seal Sauce, an updated version of Marchand de Vin. The Courthouse Crawfish Pasta, is a great alternative to the steak, prepared tableside by armed sous chefs. Side items include the Patron's Potato, a baked potato that's stuffed according to the needs of Butler's campaign contributors. There's also Revival Rice, a creole pilaf dish served while a quartet from the choir of Butler's church serenades the diners.
Dessert is a real treat at the Voting Booth. In addition to classics such as bread pudding, the restaurant has two signature desserts. Cop Car Cake is parked on your table when you give your dinner order to your waiter. It looks like a car from the Criminal Sheriff's office. While the cakes look big enough for two, it's an illusion, because there's really nothing in the car. The caked looked yummy, but I opted for Connick Crème Brulee, an delicious chocolate twist on the classic dessert, where the hard coating has a subtle citrus taste. It comes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. If you're not in the mood for ice cream, you can order Creme Jordan. It's essentially the same dessert, but your waiter will scoop off the vanilla when it's brought to the table.
If all this has you reaching for the phone to make reservations, pay close attention. One of the lovely quirks of The Voting Booth is its location. The restaurant has no fixed abode, moving around to various school cafeterias in the city. Aware of therisks that this arrangement poses to quality, the kitchen is in a self-contained moving van. The booths and tables are contained in a second van. The interior of the restaurant can be easily set up in a new location and broken down at the end of the evening. It's such a simple process that even elected officials who arrive early for dinner can lend a hand.
Reservations are essential for dinner at The Voting Booth, and we recommend that you make them for early in the evening. While we had no problems being seated last week at the cafeteria at Gentilly Terrace School on Mirabeau Avenue, we did hear stories of problems with the delivery of the booths the night before at McDonough #35. Several diners told us they arrived for their 7:30pm reservations and the moving vans had not yet arrived at the school. They were told to come back "in a couple of hours" when the booths would be delivered.
In spite of this rocky start, we strongly believe that The Voting Booth has the potential to be as much of a New Orleans classic as Clinton's Combat Cafe or Bonnie's at the spillway.
Rating: 9 Stars * * * * * * * * *
