Adventures in Cooking: A Taste of New Orleans

Since Patrick and I both love food, you can only imagine that our DVR is full of foodie shows. From Top Chef to Chopped to Unique Eats to No Reservations to Man vs. Food, we love it all! This past weekend we were watching a particularly great episode of Bourdain's No Reservations where he visited a post-Katrina New Orleans in 2007 to learn about how the storm impacted the restaurant industry. While he was sitting eating a Po' Boy (a traditional submarine sandwich from Louisiana), I said "Mmmmm Shrimp Po' Boy!" I didn't realize I was planting a "what to have for dinner" seed in Patrick's head.

Patrick's aunt lives in New Orleans (Hi Aunt Kath!), and I was lucky enough to accompany him there twice last year. The city is incredible, the culture is rich and the food is some of the best I've ever had! Here's a picture of us in Jackson Square from our first trip to New Orleans together:

I grew very fond of Po' Boys while we were there (And Crawfish Monica. And King Cake. And Muffalettas. And Drive-Thru Daiquiris. And Beignets.) and last night I was really craving some good fried shrimp smothered in cole slaw on crunchy bread. Yum!

That was when inspiration hit. Yesterday, Patrick suggested we make homemade Shrimp Po' Boys for dinner. He's not only handsome folks, he's smart too! I was pumped.

We hit our favorite grocery store, Trader Joe's, because they have great frozen seafood. We ended up hitting the jackpot when we found their Reduced Fat Battered Shrimp.

The nutrition facts showed that when eaten in a moderate portion, they were hardly that bad at all. Then we picked up some broccoli slaw and a big loaf of focaccia and returned home with our treasures.

This is where I'd usually take all the credit for something, but since I spent most of the day yesterday writing, Patrick made dinner for us. He defrosted the shrimp in the oven as instructed, whipped up the slaw (just mayo for me; mayo, Old Bay & pineapple chunks for him) and toasted the bread in the oven. The result? Sheer perfection. The bread was crunchy (he drizzled olive oil on it), the shrimp were absolutely delicious, not at all soggy as I worried they might become and the slaw was a refreshing addition. Patrick also put ketchup on his because he loves lots of different ingredients in everything. Check it out:

This was (or at least, seemed) so easy to make! And it completely satisfied our craving. A little taste of New Orleans, right in our apartment in New York City.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Let the good times roll!

Have you ever seen food on TV and instantly started craving it? Did you then attempt to make it? Did it satisfy your craving?

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

Adventures in Cooking: (Mom's) Chicken Soup

During the winter, I tend to get a few nasty colds and can generally just feel gross. The best remedy for this is my Mom's Chicken Soup recipe. When Patrick wasn't feeling well a few weeks ago, I tried this recipe for the first time and found it easy & delicious, so I wanted to share it with you.

Ingredients:
1 4-5 lb chicken cut into pieces (bone-in)
1 package of carrots
4 stalks of celery
3 parsnips
1 Spanish onion
1 bunch dill (washed & diced up, remove stems)
4 32 oz cartons of either Swansons Natural Goodness Chicken Broth or
Progresso Chicken Broth (no MSG!)
Salt and Pepper

1. Wash chicken parts and add to pot
2. Peel carrots and cut into chunks, wash and cut up celery, peel and cut parsnips into chunks and add all to pot
3. Dice onion into small pieces and add to pot (Ever wonder how to cut an onion without crying? Click here.)
4. Pour all 4 cartons of broth into pot
5. Add dill and stir it into broth6. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer (should be a slow, rolling boil)
7. Cover pot partially
8. Simmer for one solid hour and then take from heat
9. Remove all chicken pieces and de-bone. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and put back into pot
10. Let soup cool for about an hour and then take a large spoon and skim off the fat from the top of the soup
11. Make either noodles or rice and add to soup. I personally prefer pasta, but you can use any number of items. A good tip is to not add this ingredient to the large pot of soup, but to keep it on the side and add to each portion as you eat. This way, the pasta/noodles/rice won't get soggy in the soup
12. Season with salt and pepper (to taste)

Enjoy!

What is your favorite thing to eat when you're feeling under the weather? Chicken soup is a classic, but really any soup will do for me. You can also alter the vegetables based on your own taste. I love the taste of parsnips, but you could also use potatoes if you like potatoes better. Let me know how you would alter this recipe.

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

Adventures in Cooking: Italian

Living in NYC makes it very difficult to find the motivation to cook. Being Lactose Intolerant and extremely allergic to butter is often the one thing that pushes me to cook, because most delicious dishes use butter.

One meal that I absolutely love is Chicken, Broccoli, Ziti with Garlic Bread, but there is usually a stick of butter in each serving, and the pasta is sometimes also loaded with heavy cream.

But not this time.

I told Patrick (my boyfriend) that I would be making dinner a few nights ago, but that he had to be okay with "fake butter." Because he's awesome, he didn't mind at all, so I stopped at Trader Joe's to buy all the ingredients.

Here is the recipe I used:
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white wine
1/3 cup olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken
1 bunch broccoli
1 pound box ziti
5 cloves garlic, minced
grated Romano cheese

Directions
Melt butter in deep skillet. Add oil and garlic. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Add wine and bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium low for 20 minutes. Cut broccoli into small bite size pieces and steam in microwave for 8 minutes. Cut chicken into thin bite size pieces and cook in the butter, garlic and oil. Remove chicken when done and saute broccoli in butter, garlic and oil for 5 minutes. Sprinkle broccoli with Romano cheese. Add cooked ziti with broccoli and chicken, and add more Romano cheese.

Of course, I substituted Smart Balance Light Original Buttery Spread in place of the butter because it is dairy-free. After tasting the food, you'd never even know.

Below is a picture of the result. As you may already know, I can't live without cheese. Thankfully it doesn't affect me the way butter does, so of course I covered both the garlic bread and the pasta with tons of cheese.

I could have taken the garlic bread out of the oven a few seconds earlier, but I actually really enjoyed how crunchy it came out.

After the meal, I thankfully didn't feel sick at all. Just full & happy. Do you ever substitute ingredients when you cook? Is it for health reasons? Allergies? Can you even taste the difference? I can't wait to try some more recipes that call for butter and trying this delicious non-dairy substitute again. The recipe made so much pasta that Patrick and I both had it again the next day for lunch. Yum!

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

Adventures in Cooking: Lobster!

Don't get me wrong, I love going out to eat more than anything, but sometimes, there's nothing like some good home-cookin'. Last weekend, I went to the Jersey Shore (fist pump!) with some of my girlfriends, and on our way home my friend Lauren wanted to stop at The Point Lobster Co. to buy some fresh fish. My first thought was "I am not riding in a car with a bunch of stinky fish for an hour." But then I went inside the store.

Not only did this place have all kinds of amazing fresh fish, but the prices were very reasonable. I'm used to $13.99/lb. for Salmon in NYC, but Salmon at The Point was only $9.99/lb. As I debated what fish I could bring home to cook for dinner, I saw some amazing lobster tails for only $6 each. When I inquired about them, the guy behind the counter pointed to a bunch of 1-1/2 to 2 lb. bright red (meaning already cooked) lobsters for only $4 each!

After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided that the already-cooked lobsters would be a great "Intro to Making Lobsters" for my boyfriend and me, especially because I am terrified of live lobsters and the thought of cooking them myself completely creeps me out. I picked up 2 large lobster with well-sized claws & 1/2-lb. of fresh scallops for dinner.

While I was on my way back to NYC from the Jersey Shore, my boyfriend went to buy some vegetables to make with the seafood, and when I got home he started making magic in the kitchen. I'd love to say that I helped make dinner, but I wasn't feeling well, and he managed to create the following menu all by himself:
-Baked Lobsters
-Pan-Seared Scallops
-Wild Rice
-Steamed Spinach
-Cherry Tomatoes with Squash and Zucchini
-Haricot Verts with Garlic and Lemon

Yum!!

What's your favorite kind of food to cook? Do live lobsters (or crabs) creep you out, or are you okay cooking them yourself?

The lobsters were delicious, and it was fun teaching my boyfriend how to crack them open (he's from Maryland, and his specialty is crab-cracking.) The scallops were some of the best I've ever had. I look forward to visiting The Point Lobster Co. again for more delicious, fresh fish.

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie