Barbecue Bites: Asian Glazed Black Drum

A little Cajun-Asian fusion always delights tastebuds. Flaky fish and Asian seasonings pair perfectly together, and thrown together with some vegetables, they make an easy and flavorful feast.

Fresh Louisiana black drum from Indie Plate combine with our Asian spin on Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce in this recipe by Chef Eusebio Gongora. 

Check out our website for more recipes, and buy a bottle of sauce here!

Asian Glazed Black Drum with Jay D's Asian BBQ Sauce. Photo courtesy of Mario Do at Indie Plate. 

Asian Glazed Black Drum

Black drum 5-7 oz filets, 4 each
1 cup Jay D’s Asian BBQ Sauce (see recipe)
1 lb squash, sliced

Red onion, julienned 1 each

½ lb Shiitake mushrooms, sliced

½ cup Cilantro, chopped

2 tbsp Sesame oil

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

2 tsp Jay D’s Sweet and Spicy BBQ Rub (Red Stick Spice Co.)

Preheat a non-stick skillet on medium high heat. Season each filet with ½ tsp of Jay D's Sweet & Spicy BBQ Rub. Place filet in the skillet and sear for 2 to 3 minutes until the fish is ⅔ of the way cooked. Flip fish and finish cooking. Remove fish from skillet and return pan to stove. Place sesame oil in the skillet, and once it starts to smoke, add red onions and squash. Don’t move vegetables for 1 to 2 minutes to allow them to brown. Add the mushrooms to the pan and sauté them for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Plate vegetables with fish filets on top and finish with Asian BBQ sauce and chopped cilantro.

Grand Isle NOLA Style

Smoked Fried Louisiana Oysters

Smoked fried oysters and hogs head cheese came out of Mark Falgoust's kitchen at the Grand Isle restaurant in New Orleans.  I wasn't quite expecting it from the seafood restaurant sandwiched between Harrah's and the Convention Center.  Well, I expected oysters.  And plenty of them.  But the smoked fried oysters are something worth venturing to Grand Isle for over and over again.  The crispy fried mollusks had a delicate layer of smoke on them, elevating the flavor from delicious (as most fried oysters are) to extraordinary.  When Mark brought them out of the kitchen, and then followed that with a plate of hogs head cheese, I knew this guy really knew what we was doing beyond the typical fried seafood platter.

Hogs Head Cheese from Grand Isle

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo with a Side of Potato Salad

After the deliciousness of a couple pints of Hopitoulas at the bar where I devoured the previously mentioned oysters and head cheese, we found a table to sample the rest of the fare from Chef Falgoust.  The chicken and house-made andouille gumbo hit the spot with a side of potato salad.  This is certainly more of a Cajun and Grand Isle way of serving gumbo than a lot of the Creole styles around New Orleans.   And the gumbo certainly delivered the flavor.  We also tried the Grand Isle version of Shrimp and Grits.  The Papa Tom's grits with Louisiana shrimp were smothered in an andouille gravy.  The dish was most certainly an interesting play on the classic dish, though truth be told I could barely stop eating it!  The grits and gravy were creamy and delicious, though the shrimp may have been lost a bit.

Shrimp and Grits at Grand Isle

Shrimp Caminada Poboy

As it turns out, Chef Falgoust has taken home a couple prizes at the New Orleans Poboy Preservation Festival.  The Shrimp Caminada is one of those award winning sandwiches.  It features a spicy citrus butter with Asian herb slaw and shrimp on Leidenheimer French bread.  It certainly had a unique taste profile compared to other shrimp poboys, which mean completely as a compliment.  It is nice to see something so classically New Orleans changed with just a few tweaks of condiments.  Heading back to his trusty smoker, Chef Falgoust concluded my tastings with a pork shoulder entree.  The smoked chunk of pork broke apart gingerly with an excellent combination of sweetness and smokiness.  Served with a bed of lima beans, cucumbers, red onions, and herbs, this pork shoulder is another example of Grand Isle being able to do more than just fry seafood.

Pork Shoulder, Lima Beans, Cucumber, Red Onions, Herbs

NYC's Momofuku Noodle Bar

Momofuku Ramen at NYC's Momofuku Noodle Bar

The East Village of Manhattan presents an astonishing array of worldly cuisines from which to choose.  Deciding where to eat a quick lunch in that part of Manhattan can be a chore in of itself.  Fortunately for me, I acted quickly in deciding where to dine on a recent trip to the Big Apple.  Momofuku Noodle Bar on 1st Avenue called out to me.  I'm not incredibly familiar with this type of Asian cuisine, though my curiosity certainly is.  I bellied up to the noodle bar itself to see what the James Beard award winning restaurant (and Chef David Chang) had to offer.  After looking over the daily-changing menu selections, I seconded guessed myself before deciding on the chilled asparagus soup and the Momofuku Ramen.  I narrowly missed out on the pork buns, which came highly recommended, but I really knew that I'd regret not getting noodles at the noodle bar.  If only I truly had a hollow leg.

Chilled Asparagus Soup with Jalapeno, Cucumber, and Sesame 

The chilled asparagus soup made me realize why I love cold soups.  The texture resonated on my tongue as the cool creaminess mildly transformed into a silky smoothness.  The fresh flavors intensified as the soup warmed up on my taste buds.  The jalapeno added a subtle spice that balanced well with the asparagus and cucumber.  I ate every drop, wondering if I could replicate this at home with any degree of accuracy.  Then I awaited my noodle bowl.

Momofuku Ramen, Pork Belly, Pork Shoulder, Poached Egg

I knew I needed to get my hands on the signature dish at the noodle bar.  The Momofuku Ramen carried the restaurant's name, so on my first and potentially only visit, I couldn't help but give it a try.  Plus, any dish that starts with pork belly usually gets my attention.  Momofuku Ramen contained noodles in a savory broth with braised pork belly, tender pork shoulder meat, and a poached egg.  Throw in some scallions and other fragrant goodies, and I had one heck of a meal in a bowl.  The rich egg yolk flowed from its surrounding whites upon a prick from my chopsticks.  It added even more depth to the artist's palate of flavors in the dish.  The pork belly melted effortlessly in my mouth as I shoveled noodles down the hatch as if they were a refreshing brew on a hot summer day.  Then I literally drank the broth.  I need more of this in my life.

The Buffet of Buffets: Las Vegas, Nevada

The Buffet of Buffets

Not too long ago a crew of mine from my younger days descended upon Las Vegas, Nevada for a reunion weekend of shenanigans and tomfoolery.  While most of the acts that occurred in Vegas will "stay in Vegas," I couldn't resist returning home to write about one of the most incredible offers known to man: The Buffet of Buffets!

Thanks to Cheetz for the Limo!

In order from left to right, Chetan, John, Tyler, myself, and Chad, met at the airport where a limo picked us up and brought us to the Plaza Hotel and Casino.  I really enjoyed staying off of The Strip as downtown is such a more relaxed and old-school Vegas atmosphere.  Still, a couple nights later we made our way to Las Vegas Boulevard to experience a culinary conquest like no others.  The Buffet of Buffets is offered by seven Harrah's owned properties.  For one very reasonable price ($39.99 for rewards card holders, $44.99 without the card), diners get 24 hours of access to all seven buffets.  Conceivably it is possible to do all seven.  Perhaps one day I'll try that.  But since we had other things to occupy our time in between buffets, we did manage to hit three of their most famous destinations of glutony.

Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas

Our first stop brought the clan to lunch at the Lago Buffet in Caesar's Palace.  No, Caesar didn't actually live there.  But, the casino/resort is a spectacular place with statues, vaulted archways, and decor that really brings you back to the days of old... minus the constant ringing of slot machines that echo the majestic halls.

Chefs at the Lago Buffet

Lago Buffet had a line accumulated outside its entrance at 1 PM.  Despite the wait time, we knew our dining experience would be worth it.  The Buffet of Buffets kicks off when you arrive at any of the seven buffets on the Harrah's list.  Upon purchasing the buffet, your rewards card is activated that allows their computer system to know exactly when its 24 hour window has expired.  With a time stamp of around 2 PM, we knew how long we had to make our rounds the following day.

The Lago Buffet stuck to their specialties.  The menu featured some Italian and Asian cuisines as well as some excellent herb-roasted meats, a divine dish of braised beef, and some of the best biscotti I've ever tasted.  All in all the buffet offered legitimate quality, wide enough selection, and a commitment to keeping up the standards of the cuisine they produced.  While the Lago Buffet did not offer food from all four corners of the map, they made up for it with doing what they do really well.

Prime rib (left) and bacon-wrapped pork (right)

Plate #2 at Lago Buffet.. the mac & cheese and green beans held their own

Dessert plate at Lago Buffet: the biscotti (far left) stole the show

No caption needed

By the time that evening rolled around we had somehow rolled our way over to the Rio.  We killed a couple hours gambling and allowing our stomachs to settle before meandering over to the world famous Carnival World Buffet.  This behemoth of an eatery seems easily as large as a football field.  It is a hike to get from one end to the other.  Carnival World's gimmick is to offer such a wide variety of international and American cuisines that it would be impossible to not find something to satisfy your taste buds.  The buffet stretched from country to country, continent to continent to come pretty darn close to capturing global cuisine all in one spot.  On my first plate I hit up the meats that were right in the center of the World.  Fresh glazed ham, tender and rare prime rib, and surprisingly delicious sausage were sliced on site and plated to order.  The clear winner, among everything that the Carnival World Buffet had to offer, was the prime rib.  That night, I'd venture to say they had the best prime rib in Vegas.  It was cooked rare, expertly seasoned, and as juicy as a fresh peach.  I got both the end and a center cut off the slab of beef and went to town.  The flavor popped in my mouth and for a brief moment, while I was sitting there amongst a sea of indulgence, I didn't care about anything in the world other than getting that next fork of cow into my mouth.

Ham, prime rib, and sausage awaiting their digestion

Immaculate.  Glorious.  Beef.

Unfortunately, while the prime rib highlighted the trip to Carnival World, the rest of the fare didn't stack up.  It seemed to me that they tried to do too much and focused way more on quantity than the quality of all the little niche cuisine offerings.  The Mexican section didn't even look edible, the sushi was a poor attempt at sub-par rolls, the pizza was alright, but not stellar for the kind of oven they had there, and the American section was downright disappointing.  Still, I'd go back from the prime rib.  I hope it wasn't a fluke.

Carnival World plate #1: check out that prime rib!

You think they go through some crab legs?

Carnival World plate #2... you can actually see the plate in this picture!  And yes, that is a corn dog.  No, it wasn't good.

Desserts at Carnival World... the cookies and cream gelato rocked.

After another night at the blackjack tables at the Plaza with our new friends Janice, Toi, and Kimmy (oops, maybe that was supposed to stay in Vegas... nah, it's on Facebook, so it's official), we were set to leave Vegas.  However, none of us flew out until around 6 PM the next day so we naturally had time to hit up one more buffet in order to make the Buffet of Buffets worth it.  We had stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, so needless to say we skipped breakfast and decided to head back to The Strip where we would hit up lunch at Planet Hollywood's Spice Market Buffet.  While our bellies and digestive tracts were still a little out of sorts from the two buffets the previous day, I was really looking forward to the Spice Market Buffet.  Unfortunately, it fell flat on its face.  We made it through the line just in time to be within our 24 hour window, and from a distance the food looked great.  Like the setup at Carnival World, the Spice Market had a carving station in the middle and was flanked on each side by as series of international cuisine stations.

Plate #1 at the Spice Market Buffet in the Planet Hollywood Casino

After loading up a plate with a selection of prime rib, some Asian fare, a small taste of Mexico and France, and a few morsels of dried out chicken that represented the Middle East, I met my buddies at the table and began to chow down.  Unfortunately, I was hard pressed to find something on my plate that I wanted to take more than one bite of.  The prime rib was the biggest disappointment by far.  One look at that picture and you can tell how well done and over-cooked it was.  It looked to me like they left last night's beef in the oven for too long.  After eating the beautiful rare prime rib the night before, I pushed this rubbish off to the side and refused to take a second bite.  I went back to the prime rib station at Carnival World twice more before leaving, and every chuck of bovine glory that they sliced was well done.  What a shame.  As for the rest of the food, the best item may have been the spicy boneless chicken wings.  Yeah, exactly.  If that's the best thing, I could have just gone to get chicken wings at Hooters (or anywhere else for that matter).  Oh well.  I guess "lunch" on a Monday at Planet Hollywood really just means "Sunday dinner's leftovers."

All in all I was still blown away by the value of the Buffet of Buffets.  For $40 I got three full, gigantic meals at three totally different buffets inside of three of Vegas's most famous resorts... and there were still another four that I never got to try!  The Lago Buffet at Caesar's Palace wins my award for best all-around buffet of the three.  The selection wasn't as great, but what they lacked in quantity to the other two buffets was easily made up for in quality.  My other award for best single food item goes to the prime rib at Carnival World at the Rio.  I could have eaten nothing but that for three days and been satisfied.  The biscotti at Lago would come in second.  In closing, God Bless America, and thanks to Harrah's for allowing us to wallow around Vegas in such glutinous glory!