COOLinary New Orleans: Superior Seafood

Oysters Superior: Four Ways to Deliciousness

During the entire month of August the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau partnered up with a multitude of local restaurants to offer a special COOLinary dining experience.  Locals and tourists alike were treated to special prefix menus at a small price tag of $20 for lunch and $35 for dinner.  With that kind of price tag at some of NOLA's newest as well as most legendary restaurants, there's no reason not to eat out!

The New Orleans CVB invited me to experience a few of the COOLinary meals for myself.  Since I was in town anyway for the Louisiana Cookin' Magazine Chefs to Watch dinner, I figured it couldn't hurt to grab a couple lunches as well.  My first stop brought me a newer restaurant on St. Charles Avenue called Superior Seafood.  The restaurant has the same ownership as Superior Grill in New Orleans and Baton Rouge and Superior Steak in Shreveport.  The latest concept, a truly supreme seafood restaurant and oyster bar, is captained in the kitchen by Chef Justin Ferguson.  Chef Ferguson is a graduate of the Louisiana Culinary Institute in Baton Rouge and has worked at several Red Stick restaurants.

Fried Green Tomato topped with Crab Meat and Hollandaise

Strawberry Basil Mojito

While I came to Superior Seafood to enjoy the three-course COOLinary menu, there were a couple dishes that Michele and I just couldn't pass up.  Since Superior Seafood also dubs themselves as an oyster bar, I couldn't resist the Oysters Superior which came with four preparations: Bienville, Rockefeller, Char-grilled, and Angels on Horseback.  The Bienville, which contains bacon and shrimp in a creamy stuffing, were my favorite. The Angels on Horseback also featured bacon, but it was wrapped around the oyster then battered and deep fried!  Another appetizer came out before our sensation salads.  The crispy fried green tomato beautifully topped with crab meat and hollandaise tasted every bit as appetizing as it looked.  I'm a fan of fried green tomatoes so I knew I'd like it, and this dish did not let me down one bit.  I also managed to add a strawberry basil mojito to my lunch.  With rum, fresh strawberries, fresh basil, and lemon juice, the fruity cocktail refused to be overly sweet so I rather enjoyed it.

Glazed Salmon Entree from the COOLinary Menu

Summer Upside Down Cake

While Michele went with the Shrimp Vieux Carre for her entree, I stuck to the prefix COOLinary menu and had the glazed salmon.  I'm typically not a fan of salmon any way other than raw, but Superior Seafood proved me wrong.  The pan seared salmon had a honey and balsamic glaze that freakin' rocked.  This dish easily wound up being my favorite salmon preparation of all time.  The grilled asparagus also impressed me.  It remained rigid while being tender enough to eat with a fork and it partnered wonderfully with the salt and balsamic drizzle.  I made a happy plate in no time, enjoyed another cocktail, and prepared for dessert.  The summer upside down cake capped off the delightful three course COOLinary meal.  The captivating cake came topped with cooked down cherries and dollop of cream.  The cake provided a lovely ending to a damn good lunch.  I'll definitely be down to go back to Superior Seafood again to check out more of their excellent menu!

Three Gluttonous Sins Class: Bacon

Seared Sea Scallops, Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Maple Bacon Relish, Balsamic Reduction

As part of the recent cooking class I taught at Fresina's Pasta Company in Baton Rouge, I incorporated bacon into a dish as my second gluttonous food sin.  Bacon is fondly known to me as the candy of all meats.  It can be sweet, smokey, spicy, salty, savory, and more.  It is great for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert.  It pairs with beer, wine, whiskey, vodka, or anything else.

Had long been conjuring up a dish similar to this with sweet potatoes and seas scallops when I saw a post from fellow Master Chef contestant David Mathie Bersch that included a maple bacon relish over sea scallops with sweet potato gnocchi and a balsamic reduction.  Inspired, I decided to do my own version.  The following recipe is adapted from David's recipe, so I can't take all the credit... or I'm at least willing to share the credit with him!

Course 2: Seared Sea Scallops, Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Maple Bacon Relish, Balsamic Reduction

(Inspired by my fellow MasterChef contestant David Mathie Bersch)

SCALLOPS:

20 U10 Sea Scallops
Bacon Fat Reserved from Relish (below)
Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Italian Parsley (or Oregano as pictured above) for Garnish

SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI:

5 Medium Sweet Potatoes
1 Cup Grated Romano Cheese
2 Eggs
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Cup Unbleached AP Flour plus more for Rolling
Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

MAPLE BACON RELISH:

8 Strips of Bacon, Chopped
1 Yellow Onion, Finely Diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, Julienned
1 Yellow Bell Pepper, Julienned
2 Serrano Peppers, Stemmed, Seeded, and Diced
8 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1/2 Cup Fresina’s Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 Cup Maple Sugar
Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

BALSAMIC REDUCTION:

1/3 Cup Fresina’s Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

Preheat oven to 425.  Wrap sweet potatoes in foil.  Roast for about an hour or until sweet potatoes are fork tender.

Seared Sea Scallops, Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Maple Bacon Relish, Balsamic Reduction

While potatoes are roasting, place a large sauté pans over medium high heat.  Render the bacon 3/4 of the way cooked.  Remove the bacon from the pan and transfer to a bowl, leaving as much bacon fat in the pan as possible.  Transfer half the bacon fat to another pan and reserve for the scallops.  In the first pan with the other half of the fat, add the onions and fry them until translucent.  Add all the peppers and cook for another 4 or 5 minutes until the peppers soften.  Add the garlic and the reserved bacon back to the pan, cooking for another 2 minutes.  Deglaze the pan with the balsamic vinegar and reduce.  While reducing, add the maple sugar and season with salt and pepper.  Set the relish aside until needed.

When the sweet potatoes are fork tender, take off the skins and let cool to the touch.  Place the potatoes in a mixing bowl and mash them extremely well.  Fold in the Romano cheese, then season with salt, pepper, and cinnamon.  Add eggs, and then add the flour a little at a time while mixing until it forms nice dough that’s not too sticky but just right.  Roll the dough into a ball.  Cut into quarters.  Dust a board or table with flour and roll the dough into snakes followed by cutting the snakes into one inch pieces.  Make indentions in the gnocchi with the prongs of a fork or roll them on a gnocchi board.

Place balsamic, sugar, and cayenne in small sauce pan over medium heat.  Allow to simmer and reduce by half until it has a syrupy consistency.

Boil the gnocchi for about two to four minutes till they float.  Remove from water.  Re-season with salt pepper. Reheat relish and place the reserved pan with bacon fat over high heat.  Dry scallops, season lightly with salt and pepper, and sear in batches for about two minutes on each side or until a golden brown crust develops on the outside.  Add more reserved bacon fat for additional batches or use canola oil.

Place three scallops on a plate in a triangle.  Add a handful of gnocchi to the middle of the triangle.  Top each scallop with maple bacon relish.  Drizzle the balsamic reduction over the gnocchi and around the scallops.  Garnish with Italian parsley or oregano.

Margherita Pizza with King Arthur Flour and Red Star Yeast

The latest challenge from Virtual Potluck was to create something amazing using some gifts from King Arthur Flour and Red Star Yeast.  I'm not much of a baker, so I knew I wasn't going to do any crazy breads (though I would like to experiment one day).  Instead I thought I'd make a pizza.  And not just any pizza, but a very simple yet delicious margherita pizza.  In my book, a margherita pizza should basically have three toppings: great tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and chopped basil.  After that, you're risking ruining the simplicity of the dish.  That being said, I thought I'd try something, just because it seemed right.  I also included an optional balsamic reduction with the recipe.  Use it to taste, if at all.  But tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and balsamic does work really well together, so I thought it couldn't hurt!

Basic pizza dough, rolled out for 2 (12-inch) pizzas:

2 1/4 tsp Red Star Active Dry Yeast (1 package)
1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
2 cups white whole wheat King Arthur flour plus more if necessary
1/2 cup semolina flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Ingredients
Pizza dough from above
1 can (28oz) San Marzano Italian tomatoes, drained of juices, sliced lengthwise several times
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade cut
2/3 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced roughly 1/4 to 1/8-inch thick

Optional: Balsamic Reduction Drizzle

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cayenne pepper

(combine ingredients in a small sauce pan, simmer and stir until reduced by half and you have a syrupy consistency)

In a large bowl, combine yeast with water, olive oil, salt and stir well to proof. After 5 minutes, add half of the flour and mix well to thoroughly incorporate. Add all remaining flour and mix well with your hands. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead dough for at least 5 and up to 7 minutes, adding enough additional flour as necessary to form a smooth and elastic dough. Dough should not be sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled 2 or 3 quart bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, usually at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F and if you have one, place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven.
Divide dough into 2 portions (for 2 (12-inch) pizzas) and form into balls. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and cover with a damp towel. Let rest for 15 minutes, then transfer to a lightly floured surface, shape as desired and roll out to a thickness of 1/4-inch.

Arrange the slices of tomato around the pizza dough, covering over half of it but leaving space in between each slice.  Place the slices of fresh mozzarella in between the tomato slices.  Bake at 500 degrees F for roughly 12 minutes, waiting for the outside of the crust to turn golden brown and for the cheese to bubble.  Remove from oven.  Sprinkle chopped basil on top of the pizza.  Allow the pizza to cool slightly, slice, and serve.  Drizzle the optional balsamic reduction over the pizza slices to taste.

Yield: 2 (12-inch) pizzas, serves 4

Margherita Pizza with homemade dough using King Arthur Flour and Red Star Yeast

Interested in winning some products from King Arthur Flour and Red Star Yeast??

I'll be giving away all of this to one lucky winner:

From KA flour: a dough whisk, a coupon for a bag of flour in the supermarket, and a special item!

From Red Star: 3 strips of yeast, a bread pan, apron and bread knife.

Want to win?  Make sure to like both King Arthur Flour on Facebook or Twitter as well as Red Star Yeast on Facebook or Twitter.  Then leave a comment about something you learn from visiting each company's website.  Bonus points if you learn something about the social responsibility of each company!

Seared Sea Scallops with Maple Bacon Relish

When the Virtual Potluck crew got to choose from a selection of Coombs Family Farms maple products to cook with, I had no trouble going after the organic maple sugar. I've cooked with very nice maple syrups a number of times, but I had never played around with maple sugar before. So the next question was: what to cook?! Maybe one of these days I'll get adventurous (for me) and start baking with products like this. Not this time though. My mind rushed to one thing: maple bacon! And what to put the maple bacon on top of? How about some seared sea scallops? Yes, please.

Sear Sea Scallops with Maple Bacon Relish

9 Ingredients in the Recipe... Simple and Delicious!

I gathered my ingredients to cook what in my mind was sure to be a delightfully sweet and spicy relish to put on top of the scallops. I started by chopping up about half a pound of hickory smoked bacon into small morsels and then throwing them in a skillet over medium high heat. I wanted the bacon to brown and for the fat to render, because bacon fat is what I would use to cook everything else. After that had been accomplished I removed the bacon from the skillet and placed it in a bowl to reserve it. I transferred about half the bacon fat to another skillet that I would use for my scallops and turned that heat up to medium high. In the original skillet that had the bacon and still half the bacon fat, I threw in half of a yellow onion, diced fairly finely, one jalapeno, seeded and diced finely, and about five cloves of garlic, minced.

Maple Bacon Relish at the Deglazing Stage

After the onion, jalapeno, and garlic had all cooked to the point of being soft, I added the bacon back in. Next, I deglazed the skillet with about half a cup of balsamic vinegar to free all of the buildup on the bottom of the skillet and get all the flavors to meld. I added a little freshly ground sea salt and black pepper and let the balsamic reduce a little more. When the contents of the skillet began to dry up and the flavors really looked like they had come together, I added another quarter cup or so of balsamic and about 2 tablespoons of Coombs Maple Sugar. After stirring it all in, I reduced the heat to a simmer and turned my attention to the scallops.

Scallops Searing in Bacon Fat

In the other skillet I already had the other half of the bacon fat pretty hot. I sprinkled each side of the U10 scallops with sea salt and black pepper, then bumped the heat on the burner up to high. When the bacon fat began to pop, I added the scallops the grease and rejoiced at the sound of the sizzle. Scallops searing in bacon fat: there isn't much sweeter of a sound! After a few minutes on one side I used a set of tongs to test their readiness to flip. If it is ready, it should easily let go of the pan. You might think that if the scallop sticks the pan that you might be burning it, but it actually means you should allow it to cook a little longer. When the scallop is flipped over you want to see some golden brown Maillard reaction effects (like caramelization). If your skillet isn't hot enough or you don't cook the scallop long enough, this sear may not develop. After searing like this on both sides, the scallop should be ready to go. You certainly don't want to overcook your scallop and dry it out, so don't be afraid to pull it off. A couple minutes on each side ought to do it!

A Second Plating of the Seared Sea Scallops with Maple Bacon Relish

To plate the scallops I simply arranged three of them on a dish in triangular fashion and then spooned a generous portion of maple bacon relish on top of each one. With some fresh parsley out of my Harb's Oasis herb garden, I'd say the dish was a tremendous success. The balsamic, bacon, and maple worked incredibly well together. I didn't get quite as much heat from the jalapeno as I wanted though. Still, it certainly worked as an interesting flavoring component. The scallops themselves were wonderful and paired deliciously with all the flavors in the relish!

Emeril's Stir-Fried Squid with Chili Sauce

My final recipe from Emeril Lagasse's new cookbook Sizzling Skillets and Other One-Pot Wonders is probably the quickest recipe to make from the entire book.  That's not why I chose it though.  While I've eaten calamari and squid salads at many restaurants before, I hadn't ever actually worked with raw squid.  That needed to change.  Emeril's recipe for stir-fried squid with chili sauce seemed intriguing so I decided to see what I could do.  I found everything I needed, including the frozen squid bodies with tentacles, at Calandro's Supermarket.  Once I got home, the time was right to cook something spicy!

The recipe had three main components.  First, the squid itself had to be sliced into rings, dusted with crushed red pepper and then stir-fried.  Second, the chili sauce had to be made with the vinegar, sesame oil, brown sugar, salt, Sriracha chili sauce and ginger.  The final component included the cabbage, green onion, garlic, jalapenos and chilies.

After all of the prep had been taken care I got the squid in my pan (a wok would have been preferable) to give it a quick fry.  It didn't take long in the canola oil to cook it off, then I set it aside to focus on the rest.  I quickly put the cabbage and accompaniments into the same pan to stir-fry them until soft.  Once the cabbage started to wilt I added the chili sauce and then returned the squid to the wok as well.

The stir fry had a great flavor and I was impressed at what I had been able to accomplish in just about 15 minutes of total time.  The spice ended up being rather intense but not too much for my palate.  The squid had an excellent texture.  I knew the most important part would be to cook it just right to where it wasn't overly chewy.

I really enjoyed my blogging party time with Emeril's new cookbook.  Having made nine of the recipes from the book, I'd definitely recommend it to anybody who is looking for some creative ideas for dishes to make in your own kitchen.  I certainly got to step out of my comfort zone with a few of these dishes and I encourage any chef, foodie, or fan to do the same!

Pear and Bourbon Reduction Chutney

This week a group of friends and I celebrated our Third Annual Friendsgiving.  Friendsgiving is a dinner club meeting where we eat a pot-luck, family-style, Thanksgiving-themed feast during the week before Turkey Day.  It is typically our largest dinner club gathering of the year, and it has been extremely memorable on every occasion.  There will be another post about Friendsgiving, but for now I wanted to share the pear and bourbon reduction chutney that I created to top the bacon and scallops that I cooked for a Friendsgiving appetizer!

I began my culinary creativity at Southside Produce where I came across a delicious display of fresh pears.  Not knowing which variety of pear to choose, I went with one of each!  I'm pretty happy with that decision.

Red Pears, Bosc Pears, and D'Anjou Pears at Southside Produce

After doing a little more shopping I returned home to begin the cooking process.  Like a lot of good dishes, I started with a little olive oil in a nice, thick bottomed skillet.  I'm not much of a measurer, so I just eyeballed what I thought would be enough and put it over medium heat.  I know this doesn't help for perfectly recreating the dish, but what's the fun in that anyway!?

My Olive Oil Heating Up

Next, I diced a few shallots to create a base for the sauce.  Shallots are an interesting vegetable and one that I don't use very often.  I typically go with a full white or yellow onion, but this occasion seemed too special for that.  I needed the mild nature of the shallot to give a little flavor to the chutney without being overpowering.

Sliced Shallots Getting Ready to be Diced

Once I had the shallots finely diced I transferred them to the pan with the olive oil and let them sauté for a few minutes until the little pieces of shallot were turning clear. 

Shallots Sautéing in Olive Oil

As soon as the shallots were cooked down enough, it was time to add the fun stuff!  I momentariy removed the pan from the heat while I added a generous portion of Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon.  Knob Creek is one of my favorite mass-produced and widely available bourbons on the market. 

After adding the bourbon to the pan I placed it back on the heat and then added about two-thirds of a can of Swanson chicken broth (that's about how much bourbon I used as well).  I left those ingredients over the medium heat of the burner and allowed a little time for the mixture to heat back up.  I then sprinkled in some of my absolute favorite Cajun seasoning, Slap Ya Mama!  Thanks to the recommendation from Luna to include white pepper in the sauce, I used Slap Ya Mama's white pepper blend, which is fantastic and simple.  For those that can't get it in your local supermarket, you can order it online!  The white pepper blend contains four ingredients with no preservatives or other filler: red pepper, white pepper, salt, and garlic.  The Cajun spices were followed by a fair amount of pear infused vinegar, a sizeable portion of brown sugar, and about a third to half of that small bottle of honey.  All of the ingredients were stirred together and brought to a slight boil before I added the fruit.

Knob Creek Bourbon, Swanson Chicken Broth, Slap Ya Mama White Pepper Blend, Pear Infused Vinegar, Brown Sugar, and Honey

With everything above fusing in the pot, the time had come to turn my attention to the glorius pears that I selected from Southside Produce.  I took my knife to the fantastic fruits, carving out their stems and seeds while leaving the juicy flesh on the cutting board.  The wedges of pear were then diced into small morsels and added to the pot of simmering sauce.  I actually only used about half of each pear in the chutney with the rest going straight to my belly!

Red Pear, D'Anjou Pear, and Bosc Pear

With all of the ingredients now in the pot, all I had to do was wait and stir every once in a while.  I put the burner on low heat and let the flavors combine with each other while the sauce reduced to a chutney consistency.  I let the mixture simmer for what was probably a full hour or more before I removed it from the heat and let it cool.

Pear and Bourbon Reduction Chutney Simmering on the Stove

I created this chutney to go over some bacon wrapped scallops that I cooked the next day for our Friendsgiving feast.  For that recipe and to see the finished product with the chutney on top, you'll have to check back for the next post.  As much as I like to eat, sometime I forget how much I also like to cook every now and then.  If I only I had somebody to do the damn dirty dishes for me!