Between Two Shells: Buffalo Chargrilled Oysters with Chafunkta's Kingfish Cream Ale

by Blair Loup

Buffalo Chargrilled Oyster and Chafunkta's Kingfish Cream Ale at Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar in Baton Rouge

It’s fall, and sports are happening. If fall means sports, then sports means spicy food and beer. There’s something about watching sports ball something covered in buffalo sauce in one hand and a crisp craft beer in the other. It really gets me in the (team) spirit.

Yet, I can get bored with the battered chicken wing. I find myself craving that buffalo flavor without all the bones and mess. And I don’t know, when I’m eating in public, I don’t want to need a roll of paper towels to keep myself in check.

Conveniently, Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar now has a buffalo chargrilled oyster.

Jackpot.

These buffalo-style chargrilled oysters are simple but delicious: Gulf oyster, Tabasco’s Buffalo Style Hot Sauce, and creamy bleu cheese. It’s a recipe for scrumptious-ness. Pair with Chafunkta’s Kingfish Cream Ale, and you’re looking at a good time.

The Kingfish Cream Ale is crisp, but flavorful with a slight maltiness. It’s definitely a go-to oyster beer for me, and combined with the buffalo flavors, it’s a W.

Some of my best times in downtown Baton Rouge include indulging in some Gulf oysters with a Louisiana craft beer in hand.

Below are some other pairings we suggest at Jolie Pearl:

Raw Gulf Oysters and Fresh Margaritas

Oysters Rockefellar and the Louisiana Mule

Raw Gulf Oysters topped with Cucumber Mignonette with Fresh Grapefruit Margaritas

Asian Style Chargrilled Oysters with Tin Roof Tunrow Harvest Ale

Chargrilled Oysters with Gnarly Barley's Catahoula Common

Raw West Coast Gold Creek Oysters with Jay D's Blanc Du Bois

Chicken and Buffalo Andouille Risotto - Virtual Potluck

The Virtual Potluck crew recently teamed up with The Buffalo Guys to do a round of blog posts about incorporating various buffalo sausages into a dish.  Since I needed to test out my recipe for chicken and andouille risotto anyway, I decided to give it a try with the buffalo andouille that was so graciously sent to me.

I knew the dish would be pretty similar to a chicken and sausage jambalaya.  The main difference is that the Arborio rice used to make risotto is a short grain Italian rice which cooks a little differently than a longer grain Louisiana rice.  The method for cooking risotto is to slowly add stock little by little, allowing the rice to soak in the flavors as you go, rather than boiling and covering the rice until it has absorbed all the water, as is common in most Cajun dishes.  A risotto should yield a dish that is ultimately similar to jambalaya (in this case, using the Trinity, chicken, and andouille).  The rice should end up cooked through, soft, and perhaps even a bit creamy without being mushy.

Chicken and Buffalo Andouille Risotto 

Makes 4-6 servings

Fresh Herbs from the Garden

• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 quart water
• Several sprigs fresh herbs (flat leaf parsley, thyme, cilantro, oregano from my Harb's Oasis herb garden)
• 2 small carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 pack (12 oz) buffalo andouille sausage
• 1 cup medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbs shopped curly parsley for garnish
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

In a 4-6 quart stock pot, add the chicken stock, water, herbs, and carrots and bring to a boil over high heat.  In an enameled cast iron pot (or another stock pot), heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan over medium high heat.  Cut the chicken thighs and Andouille into bite-sized pieces.  Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper.  Add the chicken to the oil followed shortly by the andouille and brown them until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes, but don’t overcook because you still want the chicken to be juicy.  Transfer the chicken and Andouille and juices to a mixing bowl, the return the pot to medium-high heat.  Add a tablespoon of olive oil followed by the onions, celery, green bell pepper, and garlic.  Saute until the onion becomes translucent. 

Strain the herbs and carrots out of the stock.

Add the Arborio rice to the pot with the onions, celery, bell pepper, and garlic, and let it soak up any liquid that might be in the pot.  When everything is dry, scoop in two ladles worth of stock and stir with a wooden spoon until all the stock has all been absorbed.  Add another ladle of stock and stir.  Continue to add stock, one ladle at a time, stirring regularly, for about 10 minutes.  Add the reserved chicken and sausage and continue to ladle in stock and continually stir for another 10 minutes or until the rice has absorbed enough liquid.  Taste the risotto for seasoning and texture of the rice.  Adjust salt and pepper as needed.  If rice still has a little crunch, continue to ladle in stock and cook, stirring regularly, until the rice has absorbed enough stock to be soft throughout but not mushy.

Scoop a pile of risotto onto a plate and grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top, then sprinkle with chopped parsley as a garnish. 

Discount on Buffalo Sausage

Would you like to try some buffalo sausage for yourself? The Buffalo Guys will offer a 15% discount off any hot dog or sausage purchase through the end of March 2012. Just go to their online store and enter the code VIRTUALPOTLUCK when you check out. I’m sure they would also appreciate it if you gave their Facebook page a LIKE.

Hollywood Casino's Bourbon Dinner

The funny thing about bourbon dinners is that while they are supremely delicious, you don't always remember the fine details of the evening.  The Hollywood Casino in Baton Rouge had a bourbon dinner a little while back and I had the pleasure of attending.  I knew the night would be good when they were passing out whiskey sours and mint juleps upon arrival!

What I don't remember is exactly which bourbons were in each drink.  I know I had some Bookers, Bakers, Knob Creek and more... but I can't tell you which bourbons are photographed above.  I looked for notes and couldn't find that either.  Ah, bourbon, how I love you!

We had a salad.  It was, well, as salad.  There were some mixed greens.  And sprigs of thyme.  I recall the salad being really good, but I was far more concerned with the bourbon.  Oops!

I did mention that there was more bourbon, right?  This reminds me of my time on MasterChef! 

Okay, I do remember the steak.  This was actually a buffalo ribeye topped with a garlic and bourbon infused butter!  The tender buffalo meat caressed my tongue as it partied with the lingering bourbon in my mouth.  The grilled endive that accompanied the steak really stood out as well.  I was a happy man after this course... I just needed more bourbon!

We finished the meal with a bourbon milkshake and a chocolate raspberry cake.  I really can't argue with that.  At all.  The shake had a great flavor that tasted of bourbon but not so much that it stung.  

I know when I left this meal I had a big smile on my face.  Every dish pleased the palate and even more importantly, the bourbon reduced my inhibitions enough to go play a little blackjack.  I was way up until I had a huge hand that I had to split and double down on... then I got robbed.  Oh well.  Such is life in a casino, but at least I had some tasty bourbon to drown my gambling sorrows!

Vegas Baby, Vegas: Hubert Keller's Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay

There are two ways to travel.  The first option is to plan everything out, be sure of all the details, buy all your tickets and passes ahead of time, and stress out when anything veers off course.  The second kind of traveler does not make plans that are set in stone, chooses not to worry about minor details, does not purchase anything ahead of time, and enjoys going wherever the wind blows, even if it might be unexpected and off the beaten path.  I, obviously, am the second kind.  I hadn't planned on a night in Las Vegas after my trip to San Francisco but, that being said, I certainly did not complain about it!

After leaving San Francisco, Eusebio and I flew out of Oakland to Las Vegas where we were supposed to catch a flight an hour later to New Orleans.  The problem occured because we were flying stand-by and the flight was already overbooked.  We basically didn't have a chance to catch that flight to New Orleans, which happened to be the final flight of the day, so we were stuck in Vegas for the night.  Oops!

I pulled out the laptop and used Kayak.com to find a cheap hotel room in Las Vegas.  If you are a fan of Priceline, Hotels.com, Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz, you need to try Kayak.  It searches all of them for you at once and compares the prices!  Apparently it isn't very hard to find a cheap room in Vegas on a random Sunday night in November!  We booked a room at the Excalibur hotel and casino for a whopping $31 and carried on with our business.  Our checked bags were already on their way to New Orleans so we took our carry ons, got in a shuttle to The Strip, and started reciting quotes from Swingers such as "Vegas Baby, Vegas!" and "You're so money".  What a great film.

We checked into Excalibur and found ourselves with a renewed energy and substantial hunger.  After doing a quick internet and Urbanspoon search, there was one obvious choice for us within walking distance and affordable price range: Hubert Keller's Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay!

Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino

Everything in Vegas is built on such a grand scale that it is really hard to describe what it is like to walk around all the glorious hotels and casinos on The Strip.  Mandalay Bay stands tall among the casinos with its iconic building inviting patrons into its massive wings.  Each individual casino exists as a city in itself with more to do than one could find in most entire American towns.  Nestled inside the walls of Mandalay Bay sits the Burger Bar, where Eusebio and I stopped in for a bite and booze.

Hubert Keller's Burger Bar in Mandalay Bay

My Beer Selection at the Burger Bar

We took a seat at the bar and ordered samplers of splendid suds.  From left to right, my beer choices included: Bitch Creek ESB, Dogfish Head 90 Min IPA, Primo Premium Hawaiian Lager, Pyramid Snow Cap, Sin City Amber Lager, Monsoon Double IPA, and New Belgium 2 Below.  Every single brew tasted terrific on my lips and quenched my thirst with great glee.  The Dogfish Head 90 Min IPA and the Monsoon Double IPA stood out from the rest with their tremendous hops and fantastic flavor.  They were true IPA lover's beers, and I enjoyed every drop!

The Hubert Keller Burger with Zucchini Fries

I went ahead and ordered the chef's namesake burger.  This feast on a bun came with a generous chunk of ground buffalo, caramelized onions, baby spinach, and blue cheese on a ciabatta bun.  Every bite that entered my mouth contained the juicy and savory buffalo meat with an incredible accompaniment of fixings.  Hubert Keller did well!  I got my burger served with some zucchini fries that needed no condiment to dress them up as they were crispy and delicious all by their lonesome.

Creamy Cheesecake Burger

Eusebio splurged on the signature burger with 100% Kobe beef, truffles, and foie gras which also came with a free dessert.  I'm sure he'll post about his burger and dessert on Chef Thinks, so I'll just explain the dessert burger and move on.  The creamy cheesecake burger consisted of a warm donut sliced in half and filled with cheesecake, caramelized pineapple, and strawberries.  It wasn't good at all.  That was sarcasm.  That wasn't sarcasm.

Custom Made Milk Shake at the Burger Bar

Knowing that the Burger Bar's milk shakes are nearly as famous as their burgers themselves, I ordered one for my dessert.  My custom milk shake included vanilla ice cream with peanut butter, hot fudge, and, of course, Maker's Mark bourbon!  If you've ever seen Pulp Fiction, then you know about a $5 dollar milk shake that doesn't have any bourbon in it or anything.  In front of me stood a real milkshake, made with bourbon, that was worth every penny... though it certainly cost me more than the $5 that Travolta complained about!

After the Burger Bar, Eusebio and I made one more stop in Mandalay Bay before retreating back to Excalibur for the night.  We stopped by the Minus 5 Ice Lounge for some cocktails in a bar made completely out of ice.  Even our glasses were made out of ice, so the drinks were sure to stay cold!  The Minus 5 experience made it worth going once, but the entire thing was certainly there for the tourists.  But Hell, it is Vegas, and I was, in fact, a tourist.  So I enjoyed my cocktails, got some pictures with a chick in a penguin suit, and had a good time with it all.  The place really did create an interesting environment and a unique setting, which I'm all about.

Eusebio and Jay in the Minus 5 Ice Lounge, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas

Jay, a penguin, and Eusebio in the Minus 5 Ice Lounge

The next morning we had a little more drama with catching a flight back to New Orleans with a freak November hurricane bearing down on the Gulf Coast and flights still full from the day before.  However, this time were able to snag two of the last available seats on a plane so we made our way back to Cajun country a day late, a few dollars short, and with a weekend full of delicious food, plentiful drinks, and fond memories that wont soon be forgotten!

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