Barbecue Bites: Skirt Steak Roulade

Week night dinners can get redundant. After a while, roasts and potatoes can get boring. Why not try out this skirt steak roulade recipe instead?

Skirt Steak Roulade with Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce marinade. Photo courtesy of Maria Do at Indie Plate. 

This delicious and simple dish by Chef Eusebio Gongora utilizes high quality, local ingredients from Indie Plate as well as Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce.

To up your dinner game, try the recipe below, or check out some of our other favorite barbecue recipes here!

Skirt Steak Roulade

1 cup Goat cheese

½ cup Jay D’s Barbecue Sauce

¼ cup green onion, chopped

Flank/skirt steak, 2 each

2 tbsp Jay D's Sweet & Spicy BBQ Rub (Red Stick Spice Co.)

In a small mixing bowl, combine goat cheese, half of the barbecue sauce, and green onions. Cut each steak in half lengthwise and fill each piece with 1/4 of the cheese mixture and roll each one up, securing with toothpicks. Place remaining BBQ sauce on rolled steaks and allow to marinate for 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat an oven-safe skillet on medium high heat. Season each steak with ½ tbsp of Jay D's Sweet & Spicy BBQ Rub and place in the skillet to sear on each side for 1 to 2 minutes. After searing, place entire skillet into oven to roast for 5 to 10 minutes for medium temperature. Remove from oven and allow steaks to rest for 3 to 4 minutes before cutting. Serve with your favorite vegetables!

Month of Salads: Nino's Italian

by Blair "B-Rex" Loup

Unlike my two counterparts, I embrace the Month of Salads with open arms. I am a long-time lover of vegetables, and I can go to town on a salad.

The Grilled Heart salad at Nino's Italian in Baton Rouge, LA

Maybe I just haven't lived enough life, but this is the only time someone's brought a steak knife to the table for my salad.

Nino's Italian is known for its fresh, in-house pastas and Chef/Owner Elton Hyndman's dedication to the local slow food movement, but when I think of Nino's, their Grilled Heart salad is the first thing on my mind.

Grilling the heart of Romaine gives it that grill taste: not charred, but charred-esque. Drizzled with a local honey and goat cheese dressing, salted with the hearty Pancetta, and topped with sharp Parmesan cheese, the warm Grilled Heart salad is worthy of love, even for the salad skeptic who considers greens to be rabbit food (looking at you Jay Ducote).

Louisiana Culinary Trails: Prairie Home Cooking

Kermit Lejeune talks to Jay Ducote as Fred Mince, Dan Jones, Jordan Lewis, and Blair Loup produce

Blair Loup helps feed the baby goats before we get back on the road

Filming the Prairie Home Cooking trail brought us away from New Orleans and the Northshore and to the more rural central part of Louisiana. Life slows down a little here but the food culture doesn't. Much of Louisiana's famous smoked sausages and other meats come from this part of the state. We visited smokehouses, slaughterhouses, and people's houses to capture the spirit of Prairie Home Cooking. We paid a visit to Chefs Cody and Sam Carroll at Hot Tails, Kermit Lejeune at Lejeune's Sausage Kitchen, Andy Fontenot and Willie Burson from the Eunice Superette, Marguerite Constantine from WesMar Farms, and Karlos Knott from Bayou Teche Brewing.

Jordan Lewis, Fred Mince, Dan Jones, Jay Ducote, and Katie hope producing a great interview at the Eunice Superette

Jay Ducote checks out cheese curds at Wes Mar Farms

Dan Jones in the smokehouse at Lejeune's Sausage Kitchen

Kermit Lejeune and his faithful companion check the smokehouse at Lejeune's

Chef Sam Carroll of Hot Tails in New Roads talking about Prairie Home Cooking for Louisiana Culinary Trails

Month of Salads #9: Beausoleil

Beausoleil's Grilled Shrimp Pasta Salad

Beausoleil gets a lot of recognition for their curried chicken salad sandwich on their brunch and lunch menu, but their other versions of salad also highlight bold flavors that come together in a way that has this big guy craving something a little greener. I'm a huge fan of their seafood salad, but I ventured out of my norm for this post and gave their grilled shrimp pasta salad a try. The skewered grilled shrimp were lightly seasoned, superbly succulent, and slightly warmed atop a cool pasta salad. A rainbow of Rotini pasta dressed with a pistou sauce which is essentially a Provençal pesto with cloves of garlic, fresh basil, and olive oil was satisfying without weighing me down. For an added fresh bite, some red onion, peas, and tomatoes round out the textures and flavors. Chef Nathan takes things to an entirely different level with goat cheese. It marries all of the flavors together and makes this a truly restaurant quality pasta salad.

"Month of Salads" Post VII: Columbia Street Tap Room's Spinach Salad with Raw Oysters

Spinach Salad with Fried Oysters at Tap Room

While in Covington, Louisiana filming a bunch of beer I figured it would be the perfect time for fried oysters. Then I remembered that I should also make one last effort at a "Month of Salads" post. Fortunately the Columbia Street Tap Room allowed me to have my cake and eat it too. I added an order of fried oysters to my spinach salad and it turned out to be a winner. The oysters were delicately fried with a nice crisp exterior and a flavorful interior that retained the proper texture of an oyster. The spinach salad itself came dressed with slivered almonds, grape tomatoes, goat cheese, and a fruity vinaigrette. All of the flavors balanced each other well and the oysters proved to be a nice addition. Plus, the salad also paired nicely with my Old Ray, a mixture of the Old 504 Vanilla Coffee Porter and the Imperial IPA from the Northshore's Chafunkta Brewing Company!

Remarkable Root

Amuse at Root

Few restaurants in south Louisiana have gotten the buzz that Root in New Orleans mustered in 2012.  With a plethora of dining options in the Big Easy, it can be difficult for a rookie eatery to burst onto the scene, but Chef Phillip Lopez managed to do just that and more.  Root brings to life modern cuisine in Nola, rooted in traditional flavors and techniques.  But then they are twisted, mangled, and stretched.  They expand culinary palates and challenge even the most sophisticated taste buds.  Every dish plays with textures, flavors,  and art.

I had the chance to dine at Root recently, unannounced, and somewhat incognito.  I didn't get any special Bite and Booze treatment, nor did I ask for any.  I wanted the real experience.  I wanted to see if it lived up to the hype.  Unequivocally, it did.  Joined by Lindsay and Kimmie, a couple friends from New Orleans, we drank, we dined, and we enjoyed.  Now for some food porn: admire this, and know that you can eat it yourself at Root!

Charcuterie selection featuring "Face" Bacon, Chocolate Espresso Cured Lamb Bresaola, and Cochon de Lait Porchetta

Louisiana Pickled Shrimp: Shrimp Stuffed Deviled Eggs, Truffled Egg Yolk Mousse

Palate Cleansing Sorbet made with Liquid Nitrogen

"KFC" Korean Fried Chicken Wings, Pepper Jelly Glaze, House-made Kimchi

Moroccan Goat Boxes, Winter Tabouil, Bergamot Goat Cheese, Compressed Cucumber Salad

Pumpkin Schumpkin: Indian Spiced Pumpkin Ice Cream, Roasted Sesame Praline, Colombian Coffee Cake, Smoked Hay Peanut Butter Panna Cotta

Sweet Corn Caramel Flan: Salted Corn & Caramel Ice Cream, Vanilla Milk Foam, "Cracker Jacks"

I'm happy that I avoided the scallops in the cigar box.  Not because they aren't appetizing... I'm sure they are!  But rather because it is the dish that everyone had told me about.  The dish that I got 6 or 7 glimpses of while sitting in the dining room.  I could pretty much see it and taste it without having to order it.  But the dishes that I did order were sensational.  I'd gladly go back.  I'm also excited for Chef Lopez's next venture, Square Root, which will feature small seatings and outrageous tasting menus on Magazine Street.  Be on the look out for that in 2013!

Brash Brewing/Clown Shoes Beer Dinner at Juban's

Brash Brewing and Clown Shoes Brewing Beer Dinner at Juban's

Please pardon the quality of these photos due to lack of lighting, but I think you'll see that you still wish you were at this beer dinner.  Last month, Juban's Chef Jaime Hernandez put together a beer dinner with daring beers from Clown Shoes and the Brash Brewing Company.  A beer dinner with brews as bold and adventurous as this has not been done in Baton Rouge, to the best of my knowledge... and I would know... or this.  There were a couple beers that I had never tried before, like a sneak peak at the Texas Exile, a bourbon barrel aged brown sugar porter with coffee.  These breweries have good stories like this one told by Todd Price.  And more importantly, they have good beer!

 Belle Ecorce Farms chevre tempura, banana jam, dark chocolate

Chef Jaime started us off with an assorted charcuterie board as well as the above bad boys.  Local goat cheese fried in a tempura batter with banana jam and dark chocolate, inspired by the The Bullocks Imperial India Pale Ale.  With hint of banana and clove in the beer as well as rich dark fruit, the little ball on a stick paired very nicely.

Orecchiette Puttanesca: Fresh pacific sardines, marinated olives, fresh jarred tomato sauce

The sardines were served with the Clown Shoes Tramp Stamp, and Belgian Indian Pale Ale with and odd combination of yeasty and hoppy flavors.  The sardines themselves were fried to a delicate crisp and partnered with mouth-watering pasta and tomato sauce.

Roasted Bone Marrow: Honey bourbon brine, market pepper chow chow, crostini

Our third course featured roasted marrow straight from a bone.  It had been brined in Juban's signature honey bourbon and served with chow chow and some crostinis.  The fattiness of the marrow led to a succulent flavor that was cut by the bitterness from the Item 9 American wheat beer from Brash with an astonishing 80 IBUs.  The dish and beer were downright delectable. 

Pork Tamale: Braised Iverstine farms pork shanks, pecan mole sauce, wrapped in fresh banana leaves

With the Clown Shoes Chocolate Sombrero Mexican chocolate stout came Chef Hernandez's take on an authentic Mexican inspired dish.  Using local pork from Iverstine Family Farms in Kentwood, Chef created a banana leaf wrapped tamale with pecan mole.  The nutty and chocolate-y sauce partnered with the pork and made a dish packed with different flavors.

Fromage et Saucisson: Sharp white cheddar and pimento mousse, rabbit boudin blanc, satsuma marmalade

The cheese course, served with spectacular rabbit boudin, also came with the Clown Shoes Clementine 1.5 Double White Ale.  The cheese mousse had a sensational flavor and worked incredibly well with the boudin.  The addition of the satsuma marmalade tied the dish together with the citrus-y white ale.  Well done, Chef.

Red Velvet Cake: Nanette Mayhall's famous cake, cream cheese icing, toasted pecans

The dinner wrapped up with the most anticipated beer of the evening: Flight of the Pimp.  This beer features a combination of Pimp, a blending of Clown Shoes and Brash Brewing's brown ales, and bourbon barrel aged Blaecorn Unidragon, a Russian Imperial Stout from Clown Shoes.  The beer... amazing.  I need another.  And the red velvet cake didn't disappoint either.  I kept eating, devouring the chocolate and cream cheese flavors, and matching it against the ultra complex Flight of the Pimp.  Needless to say, everyone went home happy!

Vending Machine Winery Pop-Up Restaurant at Roux Wine and Spirits

For anybody who has been waiting to eat my food again (or for the first time), you're in luck!  On Thursday, October 25th I'll be cooking a pop-up wine dinner at Roux Wine and Spirits in Prairieville.  Along with Chef Brian Medlin for All-Star Catering and Smokin' Aces Barbecue, we'll cook up my menu inspired by wines from the Vending Machine Winery and vending machines themselves.  Each dish will have some item found in vending machines incorporated into it.  Neil and Monica Gernon from Vending Machine Winery will be there to talk about the wines as well!

Course 3: Ruckus

Course 1: Ballyhoo
Double Shotgun: 50% Petit Verdot, 50% Cabernet Franc

Spinach, Arugula, Pickled Pears, Belle Ecorce Goat Cheese, Forte Grove Brioche Toast, Balsamic Skittles Vinaigrette

Course 2: Hoopla
Loula’s Revenge: 100 % Old Vine Chardonnay

Tuna Tartare with Cucumber served on Zapp’s Original Potato Chips with a Wasabi Aioli

Course 4: Kerfuffle

Cornmeal Dusted Catfish Nugget over Zapp’s Cajun Crawtators with Creole Tartar Sauce
Chili-Lime Shrimp Ceviche atop Zapp’s Hotter ‘n Hot Jalapeno Chips with Cilantro Crema

Course 3: Ruckus 
Crooked Mayor: 100 % Cabernet Sauvignon

Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Mole Braised Beef Short Ribs over Creamed Corn Polenta
 
Course 4: Kerfuffle 
Horror Show: 34% Sousao, 33% Montepulciano, 33% Tannat

Chocolate Panna Cotta topped with Ground Honey Maid Graham Crackers and Marshmallow Foam

To sign up for the event, purchase your tickets through the Roux Wine Eventbrite Page.  There are only 30 seats available, and at least half of them are already sold at the time I'm writing this!

Restaurant IPO Coffee Dinner and National Coffee Day

Good Morning

Chef Chris Wadsworth took on a new challenge with the attitude of an expert who had been there before.  Actually, he had.  In 2010, while serving as the Executive Chef at Nottoway Plantation, Chef Wadsworth won the annual WYES Cooking with Community Coffee contest.  He created a five course meal using ten different Community Coffee roasts.  Invited to cook again in 2012, Chef Wadsworth, who now runs the kitchen at Baton Rouge's latest smash hit, Restaurant IPO, decided to one up himself.  Or maybe two up.  He created a seven course tasting menu utilizing fourteen different Community Coffee roasts.  Since tomorrow, September 29th, is National Coffee Day, I thought I'd share the meal with you.  Chris decided to title the meal "A Day at the Office" in reference to The Office Bar that sits upstairs as well as the incessant need for coffee during a routine day at the office.  The dinner also came paired very well with wines from Republic National.  All of the pairings were fantastic despite me not really getting into them here.  

Warm Up

Cleverly naming his seven courses by activities in one's daily grind, we began with the Good Morning: creamy Louisiana grits accented with Breakfast Blend roasted grillades and garnished with a sunny side up quail egg and French Roast drizzle.  These may have honestly been the best grits and grillades I've ever had.  The pork had plenty of flavor and bolstered the grits with its fork tender form.  The use of the coffees came in huge as the drizzle had an elegant bittersweet combination that played well off the richness of the egg.  After this course, I couldn't wait to see what would come next.   Course two quickly came to be known as the warm up.  It featured a soup of garden carrots pureed in a blend of mirepoux and local honey laced with Cinnamon Roll Roast and highlighted by a Colombian Roast infused oil.  The soup brought about a sweetness from the carrots and honey in a refreshingly clean and palate pleasing way.  After the richness of the first course, this soup definitely warmed us up for what was still to come.

Getting Dressed

During any day, one of the first things we do is get dressed.  The Getting Dressed course rightly had a unique salad dressing of its own.  The dish featured baby mixed greens with baked Hazelnut goat cheese and pears tossed in an Almond Amaretto dressing.  The coffee balance had to be very delicate with the salad an Chef certainly pulled that off.  The goat cheese was crusted in ground up coffee that actually worked extremely well to deliver a unique flavor while not being overpowering.  The pears and greens worked very well with the dressing that had just a hint of the nutty sweet coffee roast.

Off to Work

After getting dressed it was off to work for the patrons at the WYES Cooking with Community dinner.  Our fourth course consisted of Pecan Praline smoked duck breast accompanied by a Medium Roast berry compote and crispy duck cracklins.  While the duck had been cooked past the ideal medium rare stage, it didn't present a problem with this dish because of the smoked flavors.  The duck didn't dry out and combined with the berry compote, made one heck of a dish.  Not to mention any time you have duck skin cracklins, you can't complain one lick!

Lunch Time

Lunch time came during the day at the office, and it most definitely did not disappoint.  This course tied with the grits and grillades as my two favorites, and it's not hard to see why.  The plate had a prime beef medallion rubbed with Cafe Special and topped with a 5-Star Hotel Blend demi.  It came served over a sweet potato hash and garlic braised spinach.  The steak's magnificent medium rare center cut apart with a butter knife.  The charred coffee rub on the outside lit up the steak with flavor while the sweet potato hash, cooked up with bacon, and the spinach were excellent choices with which to surround such a prize piece of beef.  I could eat this every day.

Break!!!

Our break came with a little play on a palate cleansing sorbet.  The Chocolate Almondine popsicle was one of Chef Wadsworth's more daring creations, but it certainly worked.  It had plenty of chocolate and coffee flavors in a frozen treat.  I only wish it would have served in between the duck and the steak courses to further accentuate the play on a sorbet rather than as a second dessert.  While it may not have cleansed the palate like a smooth fruity sorbet would have, it also would have broken up the two protein rich courses and the two sweet desserts.  Despite that, the popsicle worked brilliantly as a risky play to serve at a seven course wine dinner, and I applaud the chef for pulling it off!

The Drive Home

The meal ended with the way a day at the office ends: the drive home.  The Chicory and chocolate molten lava cake overflowed with Vanilla Nut ganache and came topped with Irish Cream ice cream scooped table side.  The cake had a moist brownie batter type center with chocolate and vanilla flavors, but the real highlight was the ice cream.  

The entire dinner seemed like a huge hit for everyone in attendance.  Chef Chris Wadsworth made a bold and daring dinner with seven courses and fourteen coffee roasts.  His attitude is refreshing for a chef that is new to Baton Rouge but really trying to make an impression.  He ended the dinner by saying he didn't cook this dinner to win the Cooking with Community contest.  He cooked this dinner to win it again.  After eating it, I'd be surprised if he doesn't. 

COOLinary New Orleans: Commander's Palace

Commander's Palace Restaurant

Somehow I had managed to not dine at Commander's Palace during my first 31 years on this planet.  I knew I had been missing out.  The legendary New Orleans restaurant is known around the world for their Creole cuisine and commitment to service.  While in New Orleans this past August, the New Orleans CVB invited me to take part in the COOLinary New Orleans program.  During August every year, restaurants around the Big Easy create a prefix meal for just $20 at lunch at $35 at dinner.  This offers tourists and locals alike a chance to visit some of the city's best eateries for a fraction of the normal price tag.  Since I got to pick my spots for the COOLinary trip, I knew that my time had come to check out what Commander's Palace has to offer.  The previous day I visited Superior Seafood, one of NOLA's newest joints, so on this day the most iconic of all Crescent City restaurants called my name.

The staff at Commander's started Michele and I off with a couple different amuse-bouche.  French for "mouth amuser," these sometimes single bite appetizers are usually just a little something to get a meal started.  The first dish remains a bit of mystery to me, though it was incredibly delightful.  It had some infused honey swirled around a plate topped with a brittle of some sort, goat cheese, and a bit of fruit.  I recall the nutty brittle and creamy goat cheese pairing very well together along with the sweetness from the honey.

The second amuse to be placed in front of us also impressed.  It had a well seasoned Louisiana shrimp wrapped around some pickled okra and onions.  The shrimp itself had been tossed in a hot sauce bath.  Everything rested on a splendid pool of pepper jelly.  This dish had a spiciness that contrasted well with the first amuse.  The shrimp reigned supreme while the pickling of the okra and onion were cause for celebration.  The multitude of spices in the pepper jelly worked even better as a dip for the crusty french bread that Commander's placed on the table.

My appetite had grown and my palate was properly prepared for the rest of the meal.  But first... a little something from the bar!  Commander's Palace offers 25 cent martinis for lunch with the purchase of an entree.  That's right, a quarter!  I would have preferred for my martini to be a tad dirtier, but it still wasn't bad at all for a the measly price.  With an option to get up to three of these cocktails for lunch, you could definitely need to take a nap afterwards or just call it a day!

Commander's Palace $0.25 Martini

Pig & the Peach

I'm a sucker for anything with pork belly.  Throw in some peaches and Louisiana cane syrup, and I can't think of much better.  Sweet fruit pairs so well with salty, fatty pork that it is nearly indescribable.  The Commander's Palace version will make anybody a believer.  The "Pig & the Peach" dish features a root beer braised pork belly over house made boudin with whiskey-soaked peaches, Abita beer cane syrup, and red pepper coulis.  I have tasted few more magical dishes in my life.  Seriously... this plate of food would wind up in the my death-bed meal.  It is Bite and Booze put together at its finest.  Supreme compliments to Chef Tory McPhail on this one.  I probably should have ordered two... or stolen Michele's portion, at least.  It'll bring me back, for sure.
   

Commander's Turtle Soup with Sherry

The two-course COOLinary offering for Commander's included a soup or salad and an entree.  We made sure to sample as much as we could, so Michele ordered the famous turtle soup while I went with the smoked chicken and garlic gumbo.  My gumbo had a rich, dark roux and plenty of chicken and garlic flavor.  It came with no rice whatsoever, which I thought to be a little odd, but because of its thickness, the gumbo certainly didn't need any.  Michele's turtle soup won the prize though.  Spiked with plenty sherry, the soup hit multiple delicious notes on my taste buds and I wish I could have stolen a few more bites!

Chicken Saltimbocca

Griddle Seared Gulf Fish

The COOLinary menu had several entrees for us to choose from at only $20 each including the soups as well!  Michele opted for the Chicken Saltimbocca.  The plate featured paneed chicken filled with tasso, mozzerella, and sage.  It came over a pasta salad with tomatoes, olives, grilled eggplant, basil, and more with a smoked tomato butter sauce.  I went with the griddle seared gulf fish as my entree.  The black drum came delightfully seasoned and placed atop a bed of andouille, legumes, tomatoes, and summer corn with sauce Acadian.  Despite being stuffed, I managed to eat every bite of the flaky fish the readied myself for dessert.  

Creole Bread Pudding Souffle

We decided that splitting dessert would make the most sense.  Our fantastic wait staff convinced us that we couldn't leave without trying the Creole bread pudding souffle.  It didn't really take much arm twisting.  The souffle featured a decadent bread pudding that had been whipped up and coerced into rising in the oven.  The puffy souffle was delivered to our table where the waiter punctured the top only to pour a whiskey sauce into the gorge.  Each spoonful of souffle popped fireworks of flavor in my mouth.  The creamy, smooth texture along with the sweetness of the bread pudding and bite from the whiskey made this an absolutely all-star dessert.  It capped off the entire meal with the flare that the Commander's experience deserved.  And that was just lunch on a Tuesday.  I can't imagine getting spoiled with dinner on a Friday at Commander's Palace.  Maybe one day!

BR Foodies experience Le Creole

On a mission for our BR Foodies group to experience a new restaurant all at the same time, I arranged a trip for the group to dine at Le Creole on Highland Road.  Nobody had been before so other than some word of mouth, none of us knew what to expect.  

Le Creole is reasonably new to the Baton Rouge fine dining scene.  It is the latest creation of seafood lover, caterer, and restaurateur Wayne Stabiler.  His other restaurants include both Little Village locations and the City Cafe.  Wanting to get back to his Louisiana seafood distribution roots, he opened up Le Creole.  Chef Ryan Andre, who had previously be on board at Commander's Palace in New Orleans, took the reigns of the kitchen of the while Clark T. Ellis assumed the General Manager position.  

Upon arrival at Le Creole our group gathered in the bar with some cocktails while we caught up and chatted.  Clark greeted us and offered a little tour of the kitchen where we could meet Chef Andre.  The kitchen bustled with activity of chefs at their stations. 

GM Clark T. Ellis gives the BR Foodies a tour of the kitchen (left); Chef Ryan Andre poses for a picture at Le Creole (right)

My evening began with a Maker's 46 Old Fashioned.  The bartender muddled a maraschino cherry and a wedge of orange before adding the bitters, simple syrup, and bourbon.  The beverage got my taste buds kick-started as I prepared myself for a tasty meal.  I don't drink too many Old Fashioneds, but this this one could get me to change that.  I thoroughly enjoyed the beverage.  I had a whiskey sour later in the meal that did not impress me nearly as much.  I wished I had ordered a second Old Fashioned!  Before I got started eating, I first had to do some tweeting and posting which Kelly Spell happened to capture on camera!  Good times with the BR Foodies gang!

Le Creole started us out with their fresh-baked bread and some lemon herb butter from Plaquemines Parish.  The bread had a thick crust with a soft center and the butter had a tremendous flavor.  Following the bread came a cochon de lait bruschetta for each of us.  As a sampling portion of the their cochon de lait flatbread, the bruschetta featured tender pulled pork with goat cheese and provolone melted on top.  While I actually liked the flatbread version better, the pork and goat cheese combination stood out as a delicious combination.  The fork-tender pig mixed beautifully with the creamy cheese.  I could have eaten nothing other than that and been happy.  Come to think of it, I need to make a cochon de lait style pulled pork and goat cheese sandwich!

I continued my meal with tastes of Le Creole's boudin spring rolls with a raspberry sauce and a delightful watermelon, spinach and goat cheese salad.  The salad impressed me with its refreshing nature while still offering some great flavor combinations.  The sweetness of the watermelon played off of the goat cheese tang as the two danced in my mouth.  After the salad I opted for the turtle soup with sherry.  It was not the most memorable turtle soup I've had but it still satisfied my craving for more booze in food!

The true highlight on the night came in the form of the above pictured crab cake.  Chef Andre took jumbo lump crab meat and formed cakes that were held together by just a small amount of spicy mayo.  The cakes were then broiled in a hot oven instead of fried.  Served with a spicy remoulade sauce, the crab cake exploded with flavor.  Sweet crab and spicy sauce filled every bite and the texture of the lump meat with crispiness and creaminess gave a great mouth feel to each additional taste after taste.

My entree, pictured at the top of this post, featured a whole deep fried mangrove snapper served with sauteed squash, zucchini and red onion.  The whole fish presented an awe-inspiring spectacle of a dish.  Our wonderful server Erica placed it in front of me and I actually wanted to photograph the fish slightly more than I wanted to eat it.  Perhaps that is because I started to get full a course or two before the main entree, but still, it looked pretty amazing.  Once I dug into the fish and veggies I became just slightly underwhelmed.  As great as the fish looked, the flavor didn't quite deliver upon the visual expectations.  I enjoyed picking the fried flesh off the bones, but the taste failed to blow me away like some of the appetizers did.  The vegetables added nothing special to the dish and really forced the snapper to attempt to stand on its own.

We wrapped up our meal by passing around a trio of desserts.  We had a banana cake, a bread pudding and my personal favorite, a homemade cookie with ice cream.  The vanilla bean ice cream melted rapidly over a oven-hot chocolate chip cookie in an individual cast iron skillet.  Simply put, this dessert capped the meal right back up at the top of the delicious scale.

Overall I had a wonderful meal and a great experience at Le Creole.  Clark, the General Manager, and his staff took great care of us all evening long.  Erica, our waitress, delivered amazing service and it seemed like everyone else in the restaurant received plenty of attention as well.  The food belonged among Baton Rouge's upscale dining elite.  While my entree didn't amaze me, the snapper still tasted quite good, and rest of the courses certainly made the entire experience into a memorable meal.  On the way out of the dimly lit and intimate dining area I realized that the music I had been hearing all evening was coming from a live pianist.  Yet another fun touch to make me want to go back for more from Le Creole!

Thanks to Kelly Spell of the BR Foodies for most of the pictures from a great evening!