Unboxing Kitch-inspirtation: The Magic that is CrateChef

by Sophie Spring, intern

The whole office was excited when the CrateChef box addressed to “The Charming Jay Ducote” showed up at the #officehouse. This box, created by Chef Karl Worley featured selections from his restaurant Biscuit Love, with two popular locations in Nashville, and a third coming soon. Chef Worley is known for his southern, homestyle dishes and his warm, fluffy biscuits for obvious reasons.

My challenge: use the box’s ingredients to make something delicious- preferably in the office during work hours. This box was chock full of ingredients: Biscuit Love gravy spice mix and Summer Peach preserves, an Olive and Sinclair 67 percent cacao sea salt chocolate bar, Red Clay Southern hot sauce, Weisenberger Mill stone ground grits, and Aretha Frankenstein Insanely Great Pancake Mix. 

I decided to go for the breakfast route, and have some hot pancakes waiting for the crew when they came in. I used the Aretha Frankenstein Insanely Great Pancake Mix, and the name does not lie. The pancakes turned out fluffy and light, and the batter took all of 3 minutes to make. FIlled with melty Olive and Sinclair chocolate or fresh juicy blueberries, the pancakes were the perfect texture and beautifully golden.

Raspberry and Sea Salt Chocolate Pancakes

Using the Summer Peach preserves from Biscuit Love, I made Whiskey Peach syrup to top the blueberry pancakes. The syrup was fruity and sweet, with a little whiskey kick at the end. With a side of crispy bacon, CrateChef’s goodies gave us a great breakfast to kick off this rainy Wednesday!

Sign up for CrateChef and keep a look out for Jay’s specialized box coming soon!
Below, you can find my recipe for the Whiskey Peach Syrup and try it out for yourself!

Whiskey Peach Syrup:

12 oz jar summer peach jam
¼ cup water
1 oz whiskey
1 cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon vanilla
pinch of ground cloves

Mix all ingredients in a small pot and simmer for 15-20 minutes on low heat. Serve hot over pancakes.

Louisiana Culinary Trails: Delta Delights

Chef Cory Bahr and Jay Ducote filming
at Restaurant Cotton in Monroe.

The Louisiana Culinary Trails crew made its way up to North Louisiana to dig into Delta cuisine for the final video in the series. From Louisiana wine to Ruston peaches, we learned a few things from Chef Cory Bahr at Restaurant Cotton, Joe Mitcham, Jr. of Mitcham Farms, Chef Mark Smith from Restaurant Sage, Mike and Katie Coullard of Panola Pepper Company, Jeff Landry from Landry Vineyards, and Log Cabin Grill's Chris Garriga. There's a lot to be said for traveling within the state. There's much more than Cajun/Creole cuisine in Louisiana, so grab a fork and start exploring!

Jay Ducote, Dan Jones, and Fred Mince filming an interview with Jeff Landry

Tommy Talley and the tommysTV crew about to roll on the Mitcham Farms interview

Month of Salads #6: MJ's Café

The peach and blueberry salad at MJ's Café

MJ's has been one of my favorite hidden gems in Baton Rouge for several years now. Despite my carnivorous ways, popping in to MJ's for a freshly made soup, vegetarian sandwich, or a locally constructed salad really hits the spot for me at lunch time. Maureen Joyce, the owner, has always made it a point to serve the freshest and most local ingredients she can get her hands on. While she has a regular menu, I tend to stick to the rotating soups and salads of the day. This particular salad was made with fresh Louisiana peaches and blueberries atop a bed of mixed greens, fresh feta cheese, and roasted Louisiana pecans. The flavors worked so well that once Blair finished Instagramming and eating her cup of pinto bean soup, she took one bite of the salad and proceeded to praise the merits of the fresh flavors and diverse textures until her bowl contained no more. If you're ever in the mood for something amazingly delicious and local, stop in and let Maureen set you up!

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!

Vote for Bite and Booze in Draft Magazine's Annual Great Grill-Out Recipe Contest!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm at it again.  This year, a recipe of mine has been selected as a Top 10 finalist for Draft Magazine's Annual Great Grill-Out Recipe Contest.  The theme of the contest was right up Bite and Booze's alley: "recipes are limited to 10 ingredients or less - one of them must be beer - and your dish should be made on the grill."  The only pantry ingredients we were allowed to include that didn't count as our ten were salt, black pepper, and olive oil.  This contest was a no-brainer for me to enter and I'm thrilled that my recipe has been chosen as a finalist.  If I win, I could get another Big Green Egg Smoker/Grill Package, a dual faucet kegerator from BeverageFactory.com, Omaha Steaks, a beer club membership, and more!

Please help me vote.  This contest has a 1 vote per IP address per day limit and only lasts until September 9th.  Give it all you've got and help me win another grilling contest!!  Share this link of Facebook, Twitter, message boards, etc. or email it to all your buddies!  Thanks so much everybody!

Vote here: http://draftmag.com/recipecontest/vote/
My recipe, which is also seen below, is the "Grilled Pork Chop with Spicy Peach Chutney."  Click on it and it'll show you the recipe... then click on the vote button and you'll cast your ballot for me.  Come back daily until September 9th to vote again!

Grilled Pork Chop with Spicy Peach Chutney

Grilled Pork Chop with Spicy Peach Chutney

Ingredients:
6 bottles of slightly fruity wheat beer
2 cups brown sugar
1 Tbsp Allspice
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
4 thick cut pork chops
1 stick of butter
2 shallots
2 jalapenos
1 garlic clove
2 peaches
salt
pepper

Step 1: Make a beer brine.

Pour 2 bottles of beer into a grill-safe pot. Heat the beer until simmering or slowly boiling. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of brown sugar, 1 Tbsp of allspice, 2 tbsp of cinnamon, 2 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp ground black pepper. Heat keep over heat until all ingredients have dissolved into the beer and come together as one. Remove from heat and chill.

Once at room temperature, add the pork chops to the brine and allow to soak for at least an hour or two.

Step 2: Drink a beer while the brine is cooling and the pork chops are in the brine. Okay, drink two beers.

Step 3: Make spicy peach chutney.

Once the pork is getting close to coming out of the brine, finely chop the shallots, jalapenos, garlic and peaches. Melt some butter in a pan over the grill. saute the shallots in the butter. Once soft, add in the jalapenos and garlic. Saute until cooked down and soft, then add the chopped peaches. Continue to cook down. Add about half of a beer (drink the other half), the 1/2 cup of brown sugar that remains, and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook it down while moving on to step 4.

Step 4: Cook the pork chops.

Remove the pork chops from the brine. Place on the grill over a medium heat. Cook for a few minutes, then flip. Cooking times will vary depending on thickness of the chop and temperature of the grill. Probably 5-10 minutes per side. Cook to a medium temperature.

Remove the pork chops from the grill. Allow them to rest for just a few minutes. Top each chop with the spicy peach chutney, and enjoy with your last beer from the six pack.


I have made this with Bayou Teche Brewing Company's Grenade, which is a Louisiana Passionfruit beer. I suggest something with some fruit characteristics but nothing overly sweet. Pork and fruit work really well together, and a lot can mix with peach, so perhaps a raspberry beer, strawberry beer, or even a pumpkin spiced beer could work.

Grilled Pork Chop with Spicy Peach Chutney

I came up with this recipe on the fly while walking around Rouse's Supermarket in Lafayette prior to doing a Louisiana MasterChef cooking demo.  I really wasn't sure what I wanted to cook, but all of the sudden it hit me: pork, fruit and booze.  I've seen that combination play out well for me before! Walking through the store I found some lovely peaches and some amazing thick-cut pork chops.  I just went with it from there.  Here is the recipe of what turned out to be a great dish.  I'd make that spicy peach chutney again any day!

Grilled Pork Chop with Spicy Peach Chutney 

6 bottles of slightly fruity wheat beer (I used Bayou Teche's Grenade)
2 cups brown sugar
1 tbsp Allspice
2 tbsp Cinnamon

1 bay leaf
4 thick cut pork chops
1 stick of butter
2 shallots
2 jalapenos
1 garlic clove
2 peaches 

Slap Ya Mama white pepper blend
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground black pepper

Step 1: Make a beer brine. 

Pour 2 bottles of beer into a grill-safe pot. Heat the beer until simmering or slowly boiling. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of brown sugar, 1 tbsp of allspice, 2 tbsp of cinnamon, 1 bay leaf, 2 tbsp salt and 1 tbsp ground black pepper. Heat keep over heat until all ingredients have dissolved into the beer and come together as one. Remove from heat and chill.

Once at room temperature, add the pork chops to the brine and allow to soak for at least an hour or two.

Step 2: Drink a beer while the brine is cooling and the pork chops are in the brine. Okay, drink two beers. 

Step 3: Prepare spicy peach chutney. 

Once the pork is getting close to coming out of the brine, finely chop the shallots, jalapenos, garlic and peaches. Melt some butter in a pan over the grill. saute the shallots in the butter. Once soft, add in the jalapenos and garlic. Saute until cooked down and soft, then add the chopped peaches. Continue to cook down. Add about half of a beer (drink the other half), the 1/2 cup of brown sugar that remains, and Slap Ya Mama white pepper blend to taste. Continue to cook it down while moving on to step 4.

Step 4: Cook the pork chops. 

Remove the pork chops from the brine. Place on the grill over a medium heat. Cook for a few minutes, then flip. Cooking times will vary depending on thickness of the chop and temperature of the grill. Probably 5-10 minutes per side. Cook to a medium temperature.

Remove the pork chops from the grill. Allow them to rest for just a few minutes. Top each chop with the spicy peach chutney, and enjoy with your last beer from the six pack.


And in case you missed it, here is the little video I put together of the cooking demo with myself, Brant Langlinais, and Jason Broussard... all in the Top 100 on MasterChef Season 2!