New Orleans Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce.

We love this New Orleans Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce. It is addictive. I found the recipe, based on a recipe from the Bon Ton Café, at http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/bread_pudding/

It serves about 10 diners

Ingredients

Bourbon Sauce:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup Kentucky bourbon whiskey (I used Southern Comfort, which was invented in New Orleans. I only used 3/4 cup.)

Bread Pudding:

• 1 loaf French bread, at least a day old, cut into 1-inch squares (about 6-7 cups) (I used about 8 cups.)
• 1 qt milk
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp vanilla
• 1 cup raisins (soaked overnight in 1/4 cup bourbon - I used Southern Comfort.)
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions

Bourbon Sauce:

In a saucepan, melt butter; add sugar and egg, whisking to blend well. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. (Do not allow to simmer, or it may curdle.) Whisk in bourbon to taste. Remove from heat. Whisk before serving. The sauce should be soft, creamy, and smooth. (It did not thicken until I put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.)

Bread Pudding:

1 Preheat oven to 350°F.

2 Soak the bread in milk in a large mixing bowl. Press with hands until well mixed and all the milk is absorbed. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, and spices together. Gently stir into the bread mixture. Gently stir the raisins into the mixture.

3 Pour butter into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan. Coat the bottom and the sides of the pan well with the butter. Pour in the bread mix and bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes, until set. The pudding is done when the edges start getting a bit brown and pull away from the edge of the pan. Can also make in individual ramekins.

Serve with bourbon whiskey sauce on the side; pour on to taste. Best fresh and eaten the day it is made.

New Orleans Creole Gumbo

I love this Creole Gumbo recipe which I found at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/good-new-orleans-creole-gumbo/. It serves 20 people. I made it for a dinner for 7 people, so we have been having lots of leftovers. I cooked the gumbo a day in advance and refrigerated it. Since the recipe is so large, I had to use a very large pan that we used to use to steam blue crabs.

Ingredients

(Bacon drippings are called for in 2 parts of the recipe below. I did not have enough so I used a combination of butter and bacon drippings. I used the butter in a 1 to 1 ratio.)

- 1 cup all-purpose flour

- ¾ cup bacon drippings

- 1 cup coarsely chopped celery

- 1 large onion, coarsely chopped

- 1 large green pepper coarsely chopped

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 pound Andouille sausage, sliced (I used a 12-ounce package from Trader Joe's. I also noticed that Publix carries a 1-pound package of Johnsonville, New Orleans-style Andouille sausage.)

- 3 quarts water

- 6 cubes beef bouillon

- 1 tablespoon white sugar

- salt to taste

- 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco sauce), or to taste

- ½ teaspoon Cajun seasoning blend, or to taste (Publix carries it.)

- 4 bay leaves

- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves

- 1 (14.5 oz. can) stewed tomatoes

- 1 (6 oz. can) tomato sauce

- 2 teaspoons gumbo file powder (Publix carries it.)

- 2 tablespoons bacon drippings

- 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen cut okra, thawed

- 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

- 1 pound lump crabmeat

- 3 pounds uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

- 2 teaspoons gumbo file powder

 

Directions

1. Make a roux by whisking the flour and 3/4 cup bacon drippings together in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat to form a smooth mixture. Cook the roux, whisking constantly, until it turns a rich mahogany brown color. This can take 20 to 30 minutes; watch heat carefully and whisk constantly or roux will burn. Remove from heat; continue whisking until mixture stops cooking.

2. Place the celery, onion, green bell pepper, and garlic into the work bowl of a food processor, and pulse until the vegetables are very finely chopped. Stir the vegetables into the roux, and mix in the sausage. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat, and cook until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.

3. Bring the water and beef bouillon cubes to a boil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Stir until the bouillon cubes dissolve, and whisk the roux mixture into the boiling water. Reduce heat to a simmer, and mix in the sugar, salt, hot pepper sauce, Cajun seasoning, bay leaves, thyme, stewed tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Simmer the soup over low heat for 1 hour; mix in 2 teaspoons of file gumbo powder at the 45-minute mark.

4. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings in a skillet, and cook the okra with vinegar over medium heat for 15 minutes; remove okra with slotted spoon, and stir into the simmering gumbo. Mix in crabmeat, shrimp, and Worcestershire sauce, and simmer until flavors have blended, 45 more minutes. Just before serving, stir in 2 more teaspoons of file gumbo powder.

Crab Ravigote

Crab Ravigote is understandably one of the most popular appetizers in New Orleans. It is very easy and fast to make, but a bit costly because it requires a pound of jumbo lump crab meat. There are many variations of this recipe. The one below appealed most to me. It serves 8. I served it in ramekins on top of a couple of pieces of romaine lettuce. "Ravigote" comes from the French verb, "ravigoter," which means to refresh, revive, resurrect. Originally ,the sauce was used to save crab meat or fish that was on the edge of freshness.

I found the recipe at http://www.nomenu.com/recipes/CrabRavigote.html

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of Creole mustard
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
- 1 green onion, tender green parts only, finely sliced
- 3 sprigs flat-leaf parsley (Italian parsley), leaves only, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dill
- 1/2 teaspoon tarragon
- pinch white pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 dash Tabasco sauce
- 2 tablespoons small capers
- 1 pound lump crab meat (I used jumbo lump.)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except crab meat, and mix with a wire whisk.

2. Add the crab meat and very carefully toss. (Careful so as not to break up the lumps of crab.) It's best to let it sit for an hour or two before serving. (I let it sit in the refrigerator for about 4 hours.)

Cajun Spiced Pecans

The first appetizer I served with my recent New Orleans dinner was Cajun Spiced Pecans. This dish is very easy to make and was very popular. There were no leftovers. The cayenne pepper gives it a little bit of a kick. It should serve about 8 people.

I found the recipe at: http://myluscioustemple.com/2010/07/25/cajun-spiced-pecans. The recipe is reportedly from Susan Spicer's Bayona restaurant in New Orleans (http://www.bayona.com/#)

Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups pecan halves
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon & 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Melt the butter over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add the pecans and sprinkle the remaining ingredients over the pecans. Stir everything together and make sure to coat them evenly with the butter and spices. Pour the coated pecans onto a baking sheet or jelly roll pan covered with foil or parchment paper. (I used parchment paper.) Spread the pecans out in a single layer.

Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly toasted. (I found that 10 minutes was not long enough in our oven. I added another two minutes, and they turned out just right.)

Cool completely. Remove from the baking sheet with a metal spoon.

Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for a few days (or in the freezer for a few weeks.)

A New Orleans Dinner (Mostly)

Last Saturday evening, I made a New Orleans-style dinner for special friends. I was very happy with the results. I'll post the menu here, and do a separate post for each of the dishes. The menu was:

Appetizer 1 - Cajun Spiced Pecans

Appetizer 2 - Crab Ravigote

Main dish - Creole Gumbo over Rice

Side - Cornbread (I used a tried and true southern cornbread recipe rather than a New Orleans cornbread, even though I found a recipe for New Orleans cornbread.)

Dessert - New Orleans Bread Pudding.

All of these dishes are delicious keepers.

The wines I served were:

Korbel Brut California Sparkling Wine, made in Methode Champenoise style.

Cren del Ape Cortese from the Piedmont Region of Northwest Italy. This is a nice, very inexpensive white summer wine. (Cren del Ape means, "Bee Ridge." The Cortese grape is principally grown in northwest Italy.)

2009 Siltstone Oregon Pinot Gris for the white wine drinkers

Campo al Mare Bolgheri red wine from the Maremma area of Tuscany (60% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, & 20% Cabernet Franc)

All of the wines were very nice.

I created a CD of lively Cajun songs, which I purchased at Amazon.com. I played these songs during the meal.

A Mostly Cajun-Country Dinner

This evening, I made a mostly Cajun-country dinner for my wife and me. The main course was shrimp etouffée, the bread was cornbread, and the salad was a strawberry-pecan-mandarin orange-lettuce salad with homemade dressing. I was happy with the results of all three dishes. I've made the shrimp and corn bread recipes before and love them both. The salad is new, but I will definitely make it again. The recipes were all easy to make.

I found the shrimp etouffée recipe at http://www.food.com/recipe/shrimp-etouffee-27625. I used only 1 pound of shrimp for just the two of us. Instead of water, I used seafood stock. I kept all other ingredients and measures the same.

Shrimp Recipe (Serves 4-6)

Ingredients  

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 6 green onions, and tops chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 2 cups water (I used 2 & 1/4 cups of seafood stock.)
• 3 lbs shrimp, peeled,deveined (I used 1 lb of shrimp.)
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• salt and pepper
• 1 small bay leaf
• Tabasco sauce
• rice, cooked

Directions

Prep Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 50 mins

1. In a skillet, melt the butter and stir in the flour.
2. Cook stirring constantly until this is a rich brown.
3. Add the vegetables and cook until tender.
4. Stir in the water, shrimp, parsley and seasonings.
5. Simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes.
6. Serve over hot rice.

I obtained the salad recipe from http://www.cajun-recipes.com/html/salad/31678.htm. The manadarin oranges are not in that recipe, but I thought they would work well with the strawberries and pecans. They did. I used a small can of mandarin oranges (drained). The dressing is really good (but some may find it too sweet). It includes raspberry balsamic vinegar and I used Cajun mustard instead of the Dijon mustard. I also used about half the lettuce called for because it was only for the two of us.

Salad Recipe

8 cups assorted lettuces, washed and chilled

1 cup roasted pecans

1 pint sliced strawberries

I added a small can of mandarin oranges

Dressing:

1 cup extra light olive oil

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup raspberry vinegar

1-1/2 tablespoon poppy seed

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cut lettuce into 2 inch squares. To make dressing ahead of time, mix all ingredients and shake well. Chill. Combine lettuce, pecan and strawberries. Add dressing just before serving.

The web site with the salad has lots and lots of Cajun and other recipes that sound very good.

The cornbread recipe is a 5-star recipe that has 2,465 reviews!!! It's very easy to make. I found the  recipe is at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/grandmothers-buttermilk-cornbread/detail.aspx

Cornbread Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2. Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

High on Low Country Cuisine

Last night, I took a stab at preparing a South Carolina - Georgia Low Country dinner for our German friends M & T, and for our neighbor friends P & L. The dishes were all ones that I had never prepared or tried. I was very happy with the results. In fact, I personally loved every dish. While not all of the dishes were strictly Low Country, those that were not were definitely southern. I found all of the recipes on the Internet.

M & T brought a beautiful orchid plant, which delighted my wife, and a bottle of Barolo, which delighted me. L & P brought a very nice champagne. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends. Thanks for the great gifts!

The evening's menu was:
1. Appetizers
- Spiced Pecans
- Shrimp Stuffed Celery
2. Salad
- Vidalia Onion Salad
3. Main Course
- St. Simon's Island Shrimp Bog
4. Side Dish
- Low Country Zucchini & Yellow Squash
5. Bread
- Honey Cornbread Muffins
6. Dessert
- Peach Cobbler
7. Wine
- Bortolotti Prosecco
- Fess Parker Riesling (for T, who prefers whites)
- Castello di Brolio 2003 Chianti Classico
- Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel 2004

The Spiced Pecan recipe was very simple, with only a few ingredients, primarily pecans, sugar, and cinnamon. I prepared it the previous evening. I obtained the recipe at

http://southernfood.about.com/od/nutsnacks/r/bl01101k.htm. I used only two cups of pecans rather than the 5 cups in the recipe because we had so much other food. The pecans disappeared.

The shrimp stuffed with celery included crushed pineapple, scallions, lemon juice, mayo, and tobasco sauce. It was very easy to prepare. I found the recipe at

http://southernfood.about.com/od/appetizersandsnacks/r/bl30409a.htm

The vidalia onion salad was from Savannah, Georgia. It was wonderful and easy to prepare. It included the onions, tomatoes, kernels of fresh corn basil, and a dressing of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt. For those who don't know, vidalia onions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidalia_onion)  are an unusually sweet type of onion first grown near Vidalia, Georgia. Cutting the kernels off the corn cobs was a bit of a pain, but worth the effort. I obtained the recipe at http://www.savannahbest.com/cooking/cooking.htm

While I found the dishes easy to prepare, they did take a bit of time due to all of the chopping involved and due to my inexperience.

I was happy with the wines. I did not try the Fess Parker, but T said it was good. For those who are old enough to remember, Fess Parker played Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone on TV in the l960s. We visited his winery in California several years ago.

We've also visited Castello di Brolio and Tablas Creek.

The Shrimp Bog was great. It had a number of ingredients I love, including shrimp, bacon, rice, and tomatoes. The recipe I used was only slightly spicey, but that could be changed by upping the amount of cayenne or adding tobasco sauce. Can't wait for the leftovers tonight. The recipe is available at

http://www.chefrick.com/st-simons-island-shrimp-bog-2/

The Low Country Zucchini and Yellow Squash was nice and also healthy, but not exciting. I could not find an exciting Low Country side dish that was easy enough for me to prepare and that did not include rice, which was already in the main dish. Otherwise, I might have prepared something like Hoppin" John or Low Country Red Rice, both of which sound delicious. The recipe for the zucchini and yellow squash is at

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Low-Country-Zucchini-And-Yellow-Squash-Recipezaar

The Honey Cornbread Muffins were great and easy to make. The recipe is a 5-star recipe with 181 super reviews. It can be found at

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/down-home-with-the-neelys/honey-cornbread-muffins-recipe/index.html

The peach cobbler was delicious. We served it with vanilla ice cream. I was fortunate to find fresh and tasty Florida peaches at Publix. The recipe is at

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/southern-peach-cobbler-2/Detail.aspx