Monthly Archives: February 2012

Around Town: Gambit Food Revue 2

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Last year, Gambit started a little thing called the Food Revue. You may remember we told you all about it over on GoNOLA.com. You know the all you can eat and drink event that let’s you sample food from the places Ian McNulty’s been writing about? Apparently plenty of you headed our advice and set out for it for yourselves, as Gambit has decided to renew the Food Revue’s contract (if only Loomis and Drew would do the same already!).

While the participating restaurants have changed significantly, prices have not: tickets are still $45 and VIP (1 hour early admittance) are $65. We’re typically not ones to splurge on VIP tickets for most stuff, but we did last year. And let me tell you, I found the extra $20 totally worth it. The pre-hour preview is perfect for this event. We were able to stroll around, try all the places we were interested in and even talk to a few of the chefs at our own pace. We almost didn’t appreciate what we had until the general admission folks started swarming in. Our little private affair quickly became like a miniature NOWFE Grand Tasting, tons of people making for huge lines around everything you want to taste and tying up people to talk to. Fortunately, we had tried almost everything we wanted by then.

Even if you don’t go VIP this year, here’s who’s showing up to dish out samples of their work:

Mandina’s, G.W Fin’s, Cowbell, The Rib Room, Manning’s, The Bombay Club, The Irish House, Carmo, Bayou Hot Wings, Fat Hen Grocery, Banana Blossom Thai, Parasol’s, New Orleans Ice Cream, Panchita’s, La Petite Grocery, Grand Isle Restaurant, Little Chinatown, Crescent Pie & Sausage, Heritage Grill, Katie’s, High Hat, Theo’s Pizza, Saffron Nola, Brazilian Market & Cafe, Taceaux Loceaux, Courtyard Grill, LOLA, Mayas, Liberty Kitchen, Cafe Abyssinia, Fatoush, Cordina Mar-Go-Rita’s, Redemption, Sylvain and K-Paul’s

Seeing a few new and mostly new places on the list makes me happy, as it will give us a chance to preview the place with no commitment. Hopefully we’ll see you there!

Gambit Food Revue 2
March 7, 2012
City Park Pavilion of Two Sisters
7-9 pm (6 with VIP entry)
For tickets, click here.

What’s Cooking: King Cake Cupcakes

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King cake cupcakes


The other day, Cupcake made the suggestion of some king cake cupcakes. I thought it was a great idea, until I figured out that she wanted me to make them and not her. But with a weekend of king cake experimentation upon me, I figured the cupcakes wouldn’t be too difficult and they weren’t.

I used the same basic recipe that we’ve been working off of (see here) and took it down to the step where it was time to braid the king cake. This was where I learned how easy the cupcake would be compared to the real deal, as no braiding is required. You see, before I learned this lesson I tried to painstakingly braid a tiny king cake that I would then slip into a muffin tin. It took numerous tries before I finally had a perfectly braiding mini-king cake ready to drop in to the muffin tin. Then I realized it wouldn’t fit!

The result of fitting an oval king cake in a round hole.

As usual, Cupcake stopped by at that moment to casually provide me with the solution to my problem, “why not just make knots? You get the appearance of the braid on top with minimal work.” As per usual, her analysis was spot on. Making a knot was simple. Roll out a single strand, which is like making snakes in pottery class.

Comic from the amazing Gary Larson's Far Side

After you’ve brushed with butter and sprinkled with the cinnamon/sugar mixture simply tie a knot in the middle of the rope. Fold the ends up underneath the know and place in muffin tin. If you so choose, add in a cherry piece before sticking in the oven.

Minimal effort, braided appearance on top

Now set you cupcakes aside (covered) to let them rise a little longer (~45 minutes). While they’re rising, pre-heat your oven to 375. Drop them in and pull them out when they start to turn golden brown on top. This should take about 15 minutes (but ovens do vary wildly). As they are cooling, make the glaze per the same directions (but cut all amounts in half). When cool, glaze and decorate.

King cake cupcakes, your decorating results may (hopefully) vary

For more pictures of the king cake cupcake process, check here.

What’s Cooking: Bacon Jam

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You read that right, bacon JAM!  I eyed this recipe for a while before I took the leap (with an eager nudge from my bacon loving sister-in-law) and decided to try it out around Thanksgiving.  There was no doubt in my mind that $1.25′s sister would love it, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that everyone else in our family loved it too.  But really, what’s not to love about this sweet, savory, spreadable bacon??

Not only is bacon jam delicious, but it is also very easy to make.  It takes about 4 hours in the slow cooker so make sure you give it some time.  The bacon jam also keeps really well in the fridge for at least a month…if you can pace yourself that long!

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 lbs good quality bacon, cut into small pieces

2 sweet yellow onions, roughly chopped

3 cloves of garlic, peeled, smashed and/or roughly chopped

3/4 cup fresh coffee

1/2 apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

And here’s what you do:

Cook the bacon in a frying pan over a medium-high heat.  (Quick tip: I found that a serrated knife works better than a chef’s knife for slicing the raw bacon.)  Then, pull the bacon out of the pan with a slotted spoon and allow it to drain on some paper towels.  Reserve about 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings and pour off the excess.  Then saute the onions and garlic in the reserved drippings until the onions are translucent.  Add in the remaining ingredients and allow it to come to a boil.  Combine the onion mixture and the bacon in the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours.  It will be much thicker and sticky when it’s done.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor (in batches if necessary) and pulse until coarsely chopped (don’t overdo it!!).  Let the jam cool and refrigerate in airtight containers….or just dive right in!  The bacon jam is AWESOME on biscuits and it also makes a really unique appetizer on some crackers or baguettes.  As I type this, $1.25 is testing a crazy off-the-wall recipe using the bacon jam, so be on the lookout for the big reveal of his super secret bacon jam project. (Want a hint? It’s got purple, green and gold sprinkles on top.)  In theory it sounds amazing, but it also has the potential to go oh so wrong…sorry, husband, but it’s true.

Update: it did indeed go wrong.  We tried to make a bacon jam stuffed king cake, but it really didn’t work.  To be fair, I think the actual bacon jam was a little overcooked, so maybe that was the problem, but I think we may have just gotten a little overzealous.  King Cake is good, Bacon Jam is good, but they’re not all that good together.

Around Town: NOLA Brewing Pub Crawl and Krewe du Vieux

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As you’re certainly aware, it is carnival time once again! That means king cake, doubloons, and beads are all returning to the local consciousness. While Mardi Gras has officially started, for most it really kicks off this Saturday, February 4, with the irreverent parade of Krewe du Vieux. NOLA Brewing has also chosen this Saturday to kick-off the release of their Mardi Gras themed Spring seasonal Flambeau Red Ale with a pre-Krewe du Vieux pub crawl. I’m excited because I like the Flambeau Red and I love pub crawls. Best of all, the NOLA Brewing folks have orchestrated the crawl to get you in perfect position to catch Krewe du Vieux. Here’s the line up:

Be on the look out for Flambeau Red's distinctive Mardi Gras themed label

1:00 pm — R-Bar (1431 Royal St)
2:30 pm — Balcony Music Club (1331 Decatur St)
3:45 pm — Turtle Bay (1119 Decatur St)
5:00 pm — Molly’s at the Market (1107 Decatur St)

Each bar will be serving the Flambeau Red for $3.00 a pint while the crawl is there (~1 hour). The Krewe du Vieux Parade starts at 6:30 and will stroll right by Molly’s, so you’ll be in prime viewing territory. One word of advice, unlike most everything else in town, I’ve been informed that this party will run on time. So don’t be late.

Think you can hang all day and all night? You may want to check out the Krewe du Vieux Doo after party. Just be sure to get tickets in advance, because they won’t be available at the door.