Tag Archives: Cook

MiLa – a beautiful union

20 Friday Dec 2013

Posted by in Food, New Orleans, Restaurants, Travel, Uncategorized

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We had been wanting to try MiLA for a while now, a union created by a Mississippi and Louisiana Chef. It had been recommended to me over a year ago and then when we saw it on the list of New Orleans’ Top 10 Restaurants, we had to try it. If you are staying at the Pere Marquette Renaissance Hotel, it is conveniently located inside. We made an early dinner reservation because we were heading to a show at the Saenger Theatre. It was quiet inside and dimly lit, the décor was modern upscale, maybe a bit opulent. Our host seated us promptly and we had a lovely booth overlooking Baronne Street. The menu is neither large nor overwhelming, but has a fair amount of appetizing options.  They immediately brought out bread, but this was not ordinary bread.  There were sweet potato rolls served with a lima bean puree and biscuits served with soft sea salt butter. Yum!

Top from Left: Pan Roasted Sweet Breads over grits; Roasted Beet Salad; Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Top from Left: Pan Roasted Sweet Breads over grits; Roasted Beet Salad; Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

We were conflicted over what to order, but our waiter was knowledgeable about the menu and very helpful. We began with the Pan Roasted Sweet Breads served over creamy black truffle grits, Creamy Butternut Squash Soup served with generous lumps of blue crab and crème fraiche, and a Roasted Beet Salad served with a goat cheese mousse (I know, I have a thing for beets lately). The Sweet Breads could have easily been a meal themselves, but were worth every bite. For our entrees, we ordered the Roasted Beef Tenderloin wrapped in Bacon and served with creamy salsify, and Crispy Baby French Chicken with a crawfish in a lobster sauce served with fingerling potatoes. Pan-fried and served with two tiny wings and two tiny chicken breasts, each was beautifully battered and served over the lobster sauce. It was a cold winter’s night so both entrees hit the spot! For those of you who never tried or even heard of salsify, it is a root vegetable with an oyster like flavor, definitely an interesting vegetable.

From Top: Roasted Beef Tenderloin; Crispy Baby French Chicken

From Top: Roasted Beef Tenderloin; Crispy Baby French Chicken

Of course, we still ordered dessert! How could I resist a Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart? It was so rich, crispy and chocolaty served with a chocolate sorbet! We also ordered the Deconstructed Root Beer Float, which was really unique. It was made with a vanilla bean bavarois, a ginger snap tuiles and an Abita Root Beer Sorbet. It is presented as an ice cream bar, but the moment you cut into it and take a bite, it tastes like an actual Root Beer Float!

Top: Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart Bottom: Deconstructed Root Beer Float

Top: Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart
Bottom: Deconstructed Root Beer Float

Juban’s

20 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by in Food, Restaurants

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This summer, my fiancé and I were in a celebratory mood and decided to go back to Juban’s. I say, “go back” because we had went years ago and were not that impressed. However, recently they promoted a new Executive Chef, Joey Daigle. I have to say, I really like what he has done with the menu, it had become more modern and fresh. Also, they now use local ingredients, which I can appreciate.

Crispy Seared Pork Belly

Crispy Seared Pork Belly

We started off with the Crispy Seared Pork Belly and the Seafood Napoleon Salad. Two very different appetizers, but also very flavorful. The pork belly was served with a red bean relish and charred green onion chimichurri. I don’t know why, but I never thought to pair Pork Belly with red beans. The pairing was rich, savory and mouthwatering. We then had the Seafood Napoleon which was layers of Louisiana lump crab meat with gulf shrimp, and fried green tomatoes. It was heavenly, but also filling. We could have easily just eaten those two appetizers, had dessert and been done with it.

Red Snapper

Red Snapper

However, per usual, we carried on. He ordered the Hallelujah Crab and I ordered the red snapper special of the evening. The crab is a classic at Juban’s, flash fried stuffed with Louisiana crawfish tails, shrimp and crabmeat, topped with a creolaise sauce. The presentation itself is lovely and the dish delightfully filling. My red snapper was served with lump crab meat, local tomatoes, roasted garlic and corn puree. It was light and flavorsome. Needless to say, it was a pleasant return to Juban’s and we were glad we dined there that evening.

Hallelujah Crab

Hallelujah Crab

26 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in Food, Restaurants, Travel

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This is going to be a long one folks, so stay with me (WARNING: YOU WILL PROBABLY BECOME UNBEARABLY FULL JUST FROM READING THIS). I have been spending a lot of time in New Orleans, lately. Not that I have any problem with that, I love New Orleans. But as usual, my trips there are all about the food. The night we arrived we headed to Pho Orchid in Metairie. New Orleans has many fantastic Vietnamese restaurants in the area, so I suggest you try one while you are there (if you have not). Of course we had some delicious pho while we were there but we also tried steam bún, labeled on the menu as Orchid Tacos. These were delicious and the most adorable little buns. The texture of the dough was amazing! Not too dense or soft and chewy, but just right.

Steam Bun a.k.a. Orchid Taco

Steam Bun a.k.a. Orchid Taco

The following day we drove out to Lacombe, Louisiana, anxious to try John Besh’s La Provence restaurant. It is a charming and welcoming restaurant set on acres of land, where they serve what they grow. Everything on the menu sounded mouthwatering. I began with the crispy cornmeal fried oyster and artichoke salad served with saffron vinaigrette and my mother had the crispy Brussels sprouts salad served with pork belly, fig mustard and toasted almonds. For both our salads, the seasoning and ingredients combined perfectly. The taste superb! For our entrees we ordered the slow roasted duck breast served with red cabbage, rapini and duck spring rolls in a plum sauce. I think duck spring rolls may be my new favorite thing (or at least one of them). My mother had the whole roasted mangalista pork with ratatouille. At this point we were filled to the brim, but when does that ever stop us from ordering dessert? I of course ordered the peanut butter chocolate candy bar served with caramel ice cream and my mother had the Meyer lemon Ile Flottante. La Provence was a divine eating experience.

Crispy Cornmeal Fried Oyster and Artichoke Salad

Crispy Cornmeal Fried Oyster and Artichoke Salad

Because we hadn’t blissfully tortured ourselves the night before, the next day we went to Commander’s Palace for brunch. I had never been and really wanted to try it. Have you ever been around the world in Disney? Well, if they had a place for New Orleans in Disney World, Commander’s Palace would fit right in. Ever since I moved to Louisiana, I had heard that if you want to try turtle soup, Commander’s Palace is the place to try it, so I did. To be honest, it’s not my favorite soup in the world, but it is flavorful. I also liked that they topped it off tableside with Sherry. For our entrees we ordered the truffled Louisiana blue crab and crawfish frittata and the blue crab stuffed flounder. Both were equally delicious, butter roasted flounder stuffed with Brie cheese and local crabmeat and the frittata spiced with white truffle oil were tasty. To go out in style, we ended our meal with the creole bread pudding soufflé and LOCAL Fresh Strawberry Shortcake.

Frittata

Truffled Louisiana Blue Crab and Crawfish Frittata

And to answer your question, yes, we ate all of that in one weekend.

Cooking with The Messy Chef – Portuguese meets Cajun

04 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by in Food, Recipes

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I like to call my mom the “Messy Chef”.  While she creates the most fantastic meals, she also creates a fantastic mess!  On the last day of her trip here in Louisiana (with my sister), she wanted to make a home cooked meal for us all to share.  In addition to that, my mother had just come back from a cooking class in Italy and I wanted to see what she had learned. My fiancé also wanted to make some home cooked jambalaya for our guests. Together, we ventured to the grocery store and bought some fresh crabmeat, gulf shrimp and Andouille sausage.

Fresh Cut Ravioli

Fresh Cut Ravioli

During my mother’s trip abroad, she learned how to make hand cut pasta and delicious sauces. So to begin her meal, she made fresh ravioli stuffed with crabmeat and covered in a delicious sauce! This was our appetizer of the evening, but we could have just as easily eaten that.

jambalaya

Jambalaya

My fiancé made spicy Andouille sausage and chicken jambalaya. To complement the jambalaya my mom made one of my favorite dishes, Shrimp Mozambique; a Portuguese dish using lots of garlic and beer. Except my mother doesn’t use beer (sorry I can’ tell you what she uses, family secret!). The dish originated from Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony. It is slightly spicy from the piri piri pepper (you can substitute this with any hot sauce) and it goes great with rice or crusty bread to soak up all that delicious sauce. One important step of this shrimp dish is to clean the shrimp but leave the peel on to lock in the flavor. Of course remove the peel as you eat it, which makes it a messy dish but well worth it!

Shrimp Mozambique

Shrimp Mozambique

To sum up the evening, crabmeat ravioli, shrimp Mozambique and jambalaya.  I would say Portuguese meets Cajun was a successful evening (and of course a little bit of Italy for fun). We all slipped into food comas, happily.