Author Archives: Cupcake

Where We Have Been

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Hi! Long time no see. I’m probably kidding myself to think that you’ve been checking our blog religiously looking for new posts. But it has been quite a while since either of us has been around. I’m on a bit of a personal mission to see if we can turn that around though.

In case you’re wondering where we’ve been, we have been BUSY! (And, in my case, sometimes just a little lazy, but more on that in a minute.) It all started when our camera broke and we had to ship it off to Nikon to get it repaired. That completely stalled our operations in terms of posts about what we’re drinking or cooking at home. And as some of you may already know, $1.25 has been super duper busy with the launch and growth of a side project/passion: Atelier Vie. We’re talking, working full time at his day job and then putting in countless hours at night and on the weekends at the distillery. Words cannot express how proud I am of my hubby and how hard he works every day, but it doesn’t leave him a lot of room for blogging right now.

So, moving on, you would think that with $1.25 gone all the time, I’d probably have even more time to focus on things here at the blog, but I haven’t. Our camera came back and works great now. What’s my excuse then? Donuts. Well, really just one tiny person who we affectionately call Donut. Shortly before we went all radio silent on you guys, we found out we were expecting our first kiddo and I gotta admit, it has kind of stolen my focus. For the first few months I didn’t have enough energy to get off the couch and I certainly wasn’t feeling very adventurous in the kitchen. And then once we made it to spring, I literally became a broken record in terms of my eating. I want steak and blueberries…not together, but pretty much every day. So, I haven’t felt like there was a whole lot to write about.

But enough excuses, I’m going to do my best to do better! $1.25 still makes some pretty awesome cocktails at home (so I hear) and he’s got the inside scoop on at least some of liquor scene in town. Since I’m busy growing a person, I’m trying to cook and eat as healthy as possible and I’m always looking for new ways to accomplish that goal. Oh, and I am still on the blueberry and steak train, so hopefully you won’t mind seeing those two pop up more than normal. (Just to reiterate, I don’t actually eat them together, they just both always sound good!) As we get closer to our little Donut’s arrival I’ll probably be experimenting with things I can make ahead and freeze, so I’ll try to share my adventures in that department too.

This weekend we’re hoping to do a little festing, a little baby prepping (man oh man, that’s a big job!!) and at least a little cooking. Happy Jazz Fest Everyone!

What’s Cooking: Perfect Blueberry Muffins and Red Beans and Rice

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You know what’s funny?  This weekend I made my favorite blueberry muffins, thinking to myself “This is such great a recipe, how come I’ve never put this up on the blog?”  So, I took a ton of pictures, typed everything up, and then it hit me.   I have put them up on the blog before!  Duh. I guess I’m getting old.

So, anyway, I figured I’d still share the pictures and just link here to the original post.  I also made a big batch of red beans and rice from this post here so we’ll be eating on that all week.

Hope you had a good weekend!

Toss the blueberries in a tablespoon of the flour mixture to keep them from sinking in your batter.

Cream together butter and sugar

Alternate the dry ingredients…

…with the milk. Try to begin and end with the dry ingredients

Sprinkle sugar on the tops before baking. I used turbinado for texture, but any sugar will do.

Yum! Hot out of the oven!

Here’s the link again to the full recipe.  I’ll try to be more original next time, but really this is just a testament to how delicious these are!

Around Town: The Fresh Market on St. Charles

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I had a very fun opportunity last night to catch a sneak peek at The Fresh Market that is opening on St. Charles. At first glance the store is beautiful, but by actually touring the store with some of their fancy corporate team members yesterday, I gained a new appreciation for all of the care and consideration taken in planning out a store like this one. The Fresh Market focuses on high quality, fresh produce and other perishables, with nice grocery staples and gourmet additions thrown in for good measure. The store is designed to suit both shoppers who are hoping to grab something quick for dinner and those who want to browse for new inspiration.

This location is unique for The Fresh Market team because its the first location with retail on two floors. Lots of people have been wondering how they’d handle that and whether there’d be a Target-style “cart-scalator” to move shoppers between the floors. (Fun fact: those cart-scalators are actually called Vermaports. Oh the things you learn when your dad’s an engineer…)Turns out they opted not to use up space with an escalator and instead will rely on an elevator for that purpose. BUT never fear, although the second floor is predominated by beer, wine and booze, there are also some quick selections of beer and wine downstairs, so you could complete your quick run to the store without ever having to pop upstairs. If you do plan on browsing the selection upstairs, it’s convenient enough that you could just grab a cart and head straight there before you start makin’ groceries downstairs.

This location is also the first to offer gelato by the scoop. Many of the products at The Fresh Market will be sourced locally and the store proudly prepares a multitude of options right on the premises.

I can’t wait to head back to The Fresh Market. After my sneak peek last night I can already tell you its going to be hard to get out of there without a very full basket.

The Fresh Market opened this morning at 9:00 with a ceremonial “cheese cracking” rather than a ribbon cutting. It’s in the old Borders located at 3338 St. Charles Ave.

Tools of the Trade: Favorite Cookbooks

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These days it seems like more and more recipes can be found online, and I certainly love surfing the net for meal planning ideas. In fact, $1.25 just bought me a new appendage, um, I mean iPad, and I’m loving it for recipe hunting.  Internet searches are super convenient and usually you can rely on the comments to help you decide if what you’ve uncovered is worth the effort or not. And of course, with my new-found love of Pinterest, I’m finding whole new worlds of recipes to try out.

But, sometimes I just love to sit down with a good cookbook and physically turn the pages. My cookbook collection is pretty solid, with two Gourmet magazine cooking “bibles” and a slew of other options that are either cuisine-specific or targeted in some way. And then there are my very favorite cookbooks, that are already spotted, marked up, dog-eared, and loved.

Here’s a quick run-down of the cookbooks I turn to ALL the time for favorite recipes and new inspiration. In random order, the winners are…

Barefoot Contessa Family Style, by Ina Garten
Honestly, I love everything about this cookbook. The pictures are gorgeous, the recipes are simple but delicious, and Ina Garten’s laid-back personality shines in her writing and techniques. Some of my favorite dishes from this cookbook are the Parmesan Chicken, Tequila Lime Chicken, Linguine with Shrimp Scampi, and she has THE BEST recipe for Mac & Cheese. Some of the recipes seem so simple (like tomato & mozzarella salad), but there’s something to her emphasis on quality ingredients and helpful hints that really make the simplicity work.

Barefoot In Paris, by Ina Garten
My love for this cookbook is very similar to my love for Barefoot Contessa Family Style, except it is amplified by the fact that I ADORE Paris. Ina gives you a little glimpse into her life when she’s visiting Paris and I’m absolutely dying to try out some of her recommendations for French markets and cooking next time I get the chance (someday!). My absolute favorites here are the Profiteroles that my family insists on having every Christmas Eve, the Creme Brulee, Cheese Straws, and the Cauliflower Gratin. All of these recipes are awesome and I find myself making them over and over again with fantastic results.

Everyday Italian, by Giada De Laurentis
This cookbook is my absolute go-to for risotto. I also use it for ideas and inspiration for simple roasts and pasta dishes for an every night meal or for a special occasion. Remind me to tell you about how I exploded a blender one time when I was making the Roast Pork Loin with Fig Sauce. I swear, that kitchen would still have purple spots if I hadn’t replaced the cabinets along the way. But that’s not Giada’s fault and there are so many other great recipes that all use simple ingredients. $1.25 and I have a new soft spot for anything Italian, so this cookbook sees a lot of action these days.

Martha Stewart’s Dinner at Home
This cookbook has in interesting format, based on the premise of preparing 52 meals at home and the recipes are collected together into menus based on the season. Although this is a newer cookbook in our house, I LOVE the Steak with Chimichurri Sauce. Considering how many times we’ve relied on that recipe for ourselves and entertaining, I’d say the cookbook was worth the price just for that recipe alone.

So there you have it.  When I’m looking for inspiration or planning a meal for company, you can bet that I’ve used at least one of those cookbooks in the process.  Even with all the technology out there, I love to curl up with a good [cook]book every now and then.

Tools of the Trade: Festival Essentials

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Festival season is definitely upon us and we’ve hit the ground running this year.   We’ve already been to the Kite Festival, Hogs for the Cause, and Festival de Los Islenos.  We’re counting the minutes until French Quarter Fest starts.  And we’re tapping our feet in anticipation of this year’s Jazz Fest.  One thing we’ve learned over the years is that with all-day festivals, it is important to come prepared.  I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve gotten sunburned when I thought I had slathered on enough sunscreen or (yuck) I waited in line for 20 minutes only to find that the Port O’Potty I picked was out of everything even remotely resembling toilet paper.  So, I’ve compiled a list of things I consider crucial for surviving festival season in NOLA (and added in a couple of wish list items that I’ve been eyeing already this year).

Some things may seem pretty obvious, but I’ve found that if I don’t double check myself before I run out the door, I will have forgotten something and (in most cases) once you’re inside those festival gates, there’s no running back home or to the car for reinforcements.  And keep in mind that some festivals require more or less gear than others.  For example, we prefer to keep it light for French Quarter Fest because we do a ton of walking around.  But for Jazz Fest I like to have enough gear for contingency plans because that ticket is too darn pricey to head home if I’m uncomfortable after just a couple of hours.

So, without further ado, here is Cupcake’s Festival Survival Guide for 2012:

Festival Essentials

First things first, if it rains any time close to or on the day of the festival, flip flops really don’t work.  I have tried and tried and tried to wear flip flops in the mud, but walking becomes so darn difficult and by the end of the day my legs are worn out.  Plus, if it’s really muddy, you’ll be wearing it thanks to the “flip” in those flip flops, which sends mud flying with each step.  When it gets that bad, you may be tempted to just go without shoes entirely, but once I started thinking about what I was stepping in, I couldn’t do it.  And honestly who wants to walk around in all that muck barefoot?  A pair of good rain boots is essential.  I got my pair from Target a few years ago for a particularly muddy Jazz Fest, but I keep eyeing these Hunter boots as my next upgrade.  Paired with a fun sundress, these actually make a pretty cute festival outfit if I do say so myself.  Of course, you don’t need fancy boots.  A good pair of shrimp boots will do the trick too.

Next you’ll need sunglasses.  If it’s not raining, it’s going to be sunny, and your peepers will thank you for remembering the shades.  Even if it is raining, you know that the weather can change at any moment, so toss ‘em in.

Rain or shine, you need sunscreen.  As fair skinned as I am, I ALWAYS manage to miss a spot and get a lovely burn at least once a year.  But the spray sunscreen has definitely helped me minimize that discomfort.  Apply early and apply often.  Whether you think you need it or not, you’ll really hate being stuck out there if you start burning and don’t have any way to stop it.

You need a hat.  I like having one with me that I can toss in my backpack, but at some point in the day I’m always glad you brought one.  If nothing else than to hold your hair out of your face, a hat is a must.

Folding chairs are really nice for a long day of festing.  Pick something that comes with a carrying case, and that’s light enough that you won’t mind having it with you when you’re walking around.  $1.25 snagged an awesome chair last year that has a cup holder big enough to hold the iced tea at Jazz Fest and it’s his pride and joy.  So, if you’re like $1.25, you might want to confirm that the cup holders will accommodate your festival beverage of choice when you’re shopping.

Wet wipes, hand sanitizer, and napkins.  This one may seem self explanatory, but really there are a multitude of uses for all three.  Just think about how much delicious food they serve at all these festivals. And then think about the fact that at least one major festival is held in a horse ring and another is in the Quarter. It probably isn’t a bad idea to give your paws a few quick swipes before you chow down.  Plus a lot of the foods are messy, so having these around is just a good general practice if you ask me.  (And as I menitoned earlier, you’ll probably want to take a handful of napkins with you to the Port O’Potty line, just in case.)

This next one is really a wish list item for me.  It’s called a Sport-Brella.  I’ve been seeing more and more of these umbrellas-with-sides at festivals.  I’m pasty white and burn like a lobster, so these things make a lot of sense to me.  They offer shade, ventilation, and they fold up to a manageable umbrella that you can carry.  Plus, for those of you who are concerned, they are pretty low profile, so you won’t obstruct the views of people around you. $1.25 and I tend to sit in the back anyway, but I don’t think these would be too bothersome in the crowds as long as you’re not trying for the front row. It seems like most chairs fit nicely underneath too.

$1.25 loves these shoes as an alternative to the rain/shrimp boots.  For the aforementioned flip flop problem, another solution would be to just wear sandals with a back.  Think 1990′s Tevas or something along those lines.  But since $1.25 refuses to wear anything resembling a “mandal” he recommends these sneakers made by New Balance that actually have holes in the soles and the sides to allow water to flow through.  Not really my thing, but he loved his (until they mysteriously disappeared when he left them on the porch to dry one night).  They are good for running on rainy days too.

A very lightweight rain jacket is also essential.  Even if the skies are blue and there’s not a chance of rain for days, pack the darn thing.  If you don’t have it, you’ll need it.  Not that there’s anything wrong with festing in the rain.  $1.25 and I had some very fun times at the rainiest Jazz Fest I can remember.  But it’s still a little easier to take when you have a way to stay (somewhat) dry.  I’ve been known to use mine as a shelter from the sun sometimes too. (Notice a theme here?  I have no choice but to hide from the sun.)

Another hint: throw in some ziplock bags.  Your camera, your cell phone, your watch, etc. will thank you if the skies open up.

There you go.  My list of festival essentials.  Is there anything you can’t live without this time of year?

What’s Cooking: Strawberry Basil Jam

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Strawberry Basil Jam on a Biscuit for Breakfast

After the weekend we had, everyone can agree that spring is definitely here.  Along with our love of everything outdoors this time of year come my love of light, fresh flavors from the kitchen.  This Strawberry Basil Jam is ridiculously easy to make and I highly recommend it if you’ve got a bumper crop of basil coming in faster than you can use it.  This recipe calls for a lot of basil, but the flavor really is subtle in the finished product.  You can use other berries if you’d prefer blueberry, blackberry, or even a mixture.  $1.25 just loves anything strawberry, so this was his request.

About 3-4 cups of fresh basil

Bring defrosted strawberries and their juice to a simmer on the stove.

Run basil through a food processor with the juice of one orange, one lemon, and 2/3 cup sugar.

After cooling overnight in the fridge, the jam is thick and set.

Here’s the very simple recipe:

3-4 cups of fresh basil, rinsed

16 oz frozen strawberries, defrosted, juices reserved*

1 lemon, juiced

1 orange, juiced

2/3 cup sugar

Pour the berries into a saucepan and bring to a slow simmer on medium heat.  Place the basil, the lemon juice, the orange juice and the sugar in a food processor.  Pulse until the basil is finely chopped and everything is well blended.  Add the basil mixture to the berries and simmer for about 25 minutes until the mixture has reduced and thickened.  Depending on the berries you use, you may need to mash them with a fork.  I actually just dumped everything into the food processor and gave it a quick spin to break up the big chunks of berries. This is personal preference though, if you like a more “chunky” jam, skip this step.

Refrigerate overnight or until cooled.

* I know I said fresh flavors were perfect for the spring, but I do think the defrosted/frozen berries are key here.  The defrosted berries are much softer and the juices help with the consistency.  If you have a ton of fresh berries on hand, I’m sure you can get the same result, you’ll probably just need to adjust the liquid and cooking time a little bit.  BTW, if you adjust the cooking time a lot, you may want to hold the basil out until later in the process to keep the fresh flavor alive.

What’s Cooking: Chimichurri

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Chimichurri on grilled pork

If you’ve had dinner at our house any time in the last year, chances are we’ve made this chiminhurri sauce for you.  There was a stretch of time when I seriously think I made it every weekend for six weeks straight.  Needless to say, we’re BIG fans of this recipe.  I think we love it so much because it’s incredibly versatile.  It works well on poultry, on steak, heck, it’s even good on some toasted baguette.  You’ll have to do a lot of chopping to get to the finished product, but trust us, it’s totally worth it.  Between the red onion, parsley, garlic, and red pepper, this chimichurri pulls together a slew of otherwise strong flavors into a mellow, savory topping for just about anything.

Parsley, Garlic and Red Onion

The finished chimichurri, marinating

1/2 cup minced red onion (about 1/2 onion)

1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh oregano (I’ve also gotten by with about 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.  Season with 1- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.  Add the salt slowly and taste along the way.  Remember you can’t take it away once it’s in there.  Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.

We’ve usually served the chimichurri over grilled flank steak, sliced thin against the grain.  Last night we had it over grilled pork and I think we might have the leftovers tonight on some grilled chicken breasts.  It would also be great with some grilled shrimp with a little extra lemon.  Can you tell we like this stuff??  I do think grilled flavors work best, particularly with the bite of the chimichurri and the smoky flavors from the grill.  But if you find it’s great on something roasted or otherwise prepared, we’d love to hear about it.

Around Town: Fiesta de Los Islenos Recap

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I’m going to start this post by telling you to grab your calendars and make a note for the weekend of March 16-17 next year to remind you that you really want to go to Fiesta de Los Islenos in St. Bernard. $1.25 and I had the pleasure of attending this year’s festival as a function of our participation in the Festival Fanatics program and we really enjoyed our day. Not only were the organizers and vendors all very warm and welcoming, but they were all eager to share their traditions and history with us at every turn. And you all know we love to eat and drink, so trust me when I tell you the libations at this festival won’t disappoint.

After a painless drive out to St. Bernard, we started our morning with a taste of some Arehucas honey rum. OMG, that stuff is GOOD! We even tried to hunt down a bottle at the Mereaux Quick Stop* on our way home, but it was sold out. From the taste of the rum on, we ate our way through the day. We sampled the tapas plate of assorted spanish cheeses, chorizos and fresh warm breakfast tortilla. Then we tasted gumbo, Shrimp Islenos, fried bacon wrapped bananas, croquettes, paella, shrimp and grits, more chorizo, more tortilla, and some fresh homemade ice cream. We even got to go behind the scenes to watch them make the tortilla and I have a feeling $1.25 is going to be trying his hand at that dish one morning soon. For those of you who don’t know what it is, this tortilla is a delicious frittata-like dish made with thinly sliced potatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, chorizo and eggs.

Of course, all that food worked up quite a thirst, so we hydrated with sangria and someone’s secret stash of homemade blackberry wine (shhh…we’re pretty sure it wasn’t “officially recognized” by, well, anyone).

We rounded out the day with a hefty dose of culture, watching traditional folk dances, visiting a few museums on site, and learning about the Islenos culture and population in our state. $1.25 even learned how to shuck an oyster thanks to our friends at the St. Bernard Tourist Commission. We cannot say enough how much we enjoyed the people and the very warm welcome we received from everyone at this festival.

All in all we had an amazing time and really enjoyed the laid back, family atmosphere of the Fiesta de Los Islenos. We highly recommend it to those of you looking to shake up your festival season next year. And, if you didn’t pull out your calendar already, we’ll try to remind you about it again next spring too.

We took a ton of pictures and uploaded them all to Facebook, so click here to have a look.

*We were told that the Mereaux Quick Stop is the only place anywhere near here to pick up a bottle of the honey rum…we’ll be on the lookout for it and if we get a bottle we’ll pass along the info. Apparently the Quick Stop will have more bottles in stock later this week, so if you live in the area, you’ll be able to get some then…but save some for us!

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.

What’s Cooking: “Garlic” Bread Pudding (sans garlic)

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Silly snafus must run in my family.  And this impromptu weeknight dessert showcases that perfectly.  Here’s the story.  My parents invited us over for dinner last night.  When we got there, they had a yummy dinner in the works and asked me to make some garlic bread.  They handed over a baguette and all the fixings, but when I started working on the baguette, it was completely stale and dried out (snafu #1).  To give you an idea of how bad it was, my dad decided he could snack on some of the dried pieces with a bit of cheese but I think he almost broke a tooth (which I guess could be snafu #2?).  Earlier in the night my mom had confessed that she didn’t have anything for dessert, so I decided I could turn that dried out bread into bread pudding!

So I scavenged around in her kitchen and pulled out some milk, eggs, triple sec, vanilla, sugar, caramels leftover from Thanksgiving, and whiskey.  I chopped the bread into small cubes (which, by the way, is way easier with a serrated knife).  Then I whisked together 2 cups of milk, 2 eggs, a teaspoon of vanilla, 1/2 cup of sugar, and a splash of triple sec.  Spread the bread cubes out in a buttered baking dish and pour the liquid over.  Bake for 25 minutes at 350.

While we were eating dinner, we realized that it wouldn’t really be bread pudding without a sauce, so then I remembered the caramels.  $1.25 suggested a whiskey caramel sauce, so I got to work.  I have no clue how many caramels we had, so you’ll have to improvise…when they were peeled it was a big handful, does that help?  I melted the caramels down in a double boiler with a splash of milk.  Once they melted, we added probably about 1/3 cup of whiskey.  You’ll probably want to add it a little bit at a time depending on how many caramels you have.  BTW, we had WAY too much sauce (snafu #3?), but give me some credit, I was winging it and my original goal was garlic bread!

You’re probably wondering what my big snafu was, considering I just told you about my creative solution to the stale bread.  Well, snafu #4 (or wherever we are in the counting) came when I got the bright idea to blog about the whole thing.  You already know I tend to have more “technical difficulties” than most.  Last night I took that to a whole new level when I tried to use the Word Press App on my iPhone and ended up posting a couple of pictures of the bread pudding LIVE to the blog, without any explanation or anything.  Just some random bready pictures for your viewing pleasure.  If you happened to get that post, sorry bout that!  $1.25 rescued me this morning and pulled them down.  Now they’re in their rightful place in the post where they belong, surrounded by words and explanations like they deserve.  See, this bread pudding was just a big cluster…from start to finish.

But, speaking of the bread pudding, it was really good!  I’m very proud of myself for swooping in to resuscitate the baguette to give it a new purpose in life.  And for the record, I think everyone enjoyed it more than they would have enjoyed the garlic bread.  Just goes to show what a little flexibility and creativity can offer in the kitchen…oh and it helps to have a well stocked pantry.  Garlic bread turned bread pudding!