New Orleans, Part III

saturday
started off sad but ended up good. we tried to go to mother's for breakfast, but ran out of time. we tried again for lunch and ran out of time again. we finally made it in the late afternoon when we didn't have anything else to rush off to.

so we waited in line--less than twenty minutes i think, although we were on a post-presentation high so i can't say for sure. with the kind of crowd they get, you get told where to go, "send the line that way" and all that. it's cafeteria style--you walk along the counter and feel like you are interrupting and slowing things down if you ask questions. but it is just cuz they're busy and trying to get people their food in an orderly fashion i think. anyway, so you order and then go to the register to pay. then you wait for them to call your name and you pick up your food. i think there's also some kind of process where you give someone your ticket and they bring your food to your table but i don't know how that all works.

anyway, i had the jambalaya, which was great. apparently jambalaya is very rice heavy compared to things like gumbo and etouffee. (see my cluelessness with new orleans cuisine?) one friend had the crawfish etouffee, which was also great. another friend had the seafood gumbo, which was a little too fishy for my taste. i believe it had oysters along with other kinds of seafood. definitely not my style. if i went back, i think i might also get a side of greens.

also headed to southern candymakers to pick up some pralines to take home. first off, the store just smells good. the employees are really cheerful. one of them taught us the correct pronuncation--praw-lines because pray-lines what you do in church. and then they gave us samples. they taste like they would be too sweet--like you wait for that sweet pain in your teeth, but it never comes. it's like magic. pralines and cream was one of my favorite ice cream flavors when i was a kid and i never even knew what a praline was. i bought some chocolate pralines and rum pralines for kea. and for me--until i realized all that cream and butter does not agree with me. they also had peanut butter pralines and coconut pralines but those didn't seem that appetizing to me.

Chicken Florentine

This is something Kea makes, a recipe from his mom.

chicken
mushrooms
spinach
monterey jack
cream of mushroom soup

1. If you want to do a square pan, use about four pieces of chicken. Season with salt and pepper (Kea also puts garlic but I don't know if this is necessary) and brown.

2. You can use frozen or fresh spinach. Put a layer of this on the bottom of the pan.

3. Layer the chicken next and pour cream of mushroom on top.

4. Slice mushrooms for the next layer.

5. Slice cheese and put on top.

6. Bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese is browned.

7. Eat with rice.

Time: 60-75 minutes

Amadeus and Cafe Zola

The food at Amadeus was good, some of it spectacular. We ordered two combo plates, one veggie combo, two extra salads, and two desserts for five of us. I'm not really sure what the logic was behind that becuase the husbands ended up still hungry, but I guess it is their own fault for staying at the sports bar across the street to finish watching the basketball game. I guess it was because the combo plates sounded really big. Anyway, I had too much to eat so they should've spoken up and I would've shared with them!

The kielbasa was very popular as was the apple torte. The cabbage roll was pretty good too. It tasted like the kind my mom used to make. Of course she is Chinese American so I have no idea if it's "authentic," but I liked it! The pierogis were underwhelming. I think that I expected fatter dumplings. I also like it when there's a mixed filling while these were only pork, mushroom, or cheese.

I think I'm also developing a taste for wine.

For breakfast at Cafe Zola, I had a ratatouille crepe and loved it. I'm not sure if I've ever had ratatouille before but somehow it was exactly what I expected--except for the purple crepe. Not sure why it was purple, but it was cool. The crepe also had sour cream on top and was the biggest crepe I have ever seen, like a half sheet of folder paper. Oh I did start craving cheese part way through so I might try a crepe with cheese next time.

Kea had the Black Forest waffle with a side of chorizo. I took some and both were yummy. Our friends had the strawberry banana waffle and the Turkish eggs. The fruits on the waffle and the veggies with the eggs looked really fresh. The eggs looked like they were done in an oven. I don't know, but I have decided that I like crepes even better than omelettes. Kea and I shared the Irish breakfast tea, which was good, but boring; I should have insisted on genmaicha. Our friends had coffee and said it was very strong.

Weekend Plans

A few friends from school are coming over this weekend. It's sad when Ann Arbor is the escape for food and shopping, but *shrug*

Anyway, we'll be headed to Amadeus European Restaurant on Friday night. I have always wanted to try pierogi; I think I am a dumpling kind of person. And I figure I should stop eating mediocre Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese food and just eat white people food cuz that is the kind of place where I am living. Like you don't go to a steak house and order sushi (although I did once--holy moly), you don't come to the midwest and eat... sushi. Unless you are really craving it that bad. Anyway, I like white people food. Mac and cheese, tuna casserole... mmm... So here is another kind of white people food. Check out this menu. Everything sounds so good. I think I may have to be a piggy and get the combo cuz I want to try everything!

Saturday morning we'll have brunch at Cafe Zola. They say that they're named after the writer. Ew. I don't know... somehow Francophilia seems the worst of all the philias. Oh, except Asiaphilia. Okay, and I have eaten at total Asiaphile restaurants. Cursed New York--it tricks me. Oh and of course Francophilia is not as bad as like pedophilia and necrophilia... but definitely, of the regional philias, one of the most obnoxious. Anyway, despite it's potentially snobby name, I am eyeing the crepes. And also the tea selection. Yum...

Will report later...

Florentine Cannellini One Pot (off a can of Bush's Beans)

This is one of the recipes Kea and I have in rotation, truly off a can of Bush's Beans. It's quick, easy, yummy, and full of fiber.

4 slices bacon, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (14 oz) can chopped spinach, drained*
3 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
1 (15-16 oz) can of EACH drained and rinsed: cannelini beans,** dark red kidney beans, light red kidney beans
1/2 c. sun-dried tomatoes, cut in thin strips
1 t dried basil
Garnish: shredded parmesan

Brown bacon over high heat in large stockpot, about 8 minutes.*** Add garlic and onion, saute 6 minutes. Add spinach, saute 2 minutes. Add beans and all remaining ingredients. Simmer 10 minutes.

*I use frozen spinach because canned spinach seems gross to me.
**I use something called Northern beans because cannelini's cost more and they look the same.
***My onion pieces were about twice the size of my bacon pieces so the bacon got burnt. So you probably either want to throw the garlic and onion in earlier or make sure the bacon is not chopped too small and the onion is not chopped too big.

Savory Pancakes

Kea and I got this idea from Rachael Ray's $40 a Day, when she went to Europe (either Amsterdam or Belgium--can't remember which episode it was). Rachael was introduced to savory pancakes for lunch.

She told the chef, "You know, in America we usually only think of pancakes as breakfast food."

And he looked at her like, "You Americans--you're stupid."

I tried finding recipes for savory pancakes and found these: Cheddar Chive Pancakes (you may have to scroll down), Corn Pancakes, and Ham Pancakes. We decided to go the easy route, however, and just mix in some savory ingredients in our typical Bisquick pancake mix.

We put in a cup or two of shredded monterey jack, some bacon (cooked and chopped, not too much, just enough for some meatiness), a handful of fresh spinach, and a couple handfuls of frozen broccoli (just cuz we didn't have much spinach). The batter was pretty thick by the time we put this all in, which made for thick pancakes. We first tried making big ones--the size of our non-stick pan, but I lack the skill to flip those so we went back to ones just about three inches in diameter.

I think the version on $40 a Day was thinner--more like crepes, with the filling done more omelette style, but I knew there was no way we could pull that off. Ours tasted good though--a little reminiscent of biscuits or quiche.

We'd like to experiment with this more in the future--especially adding some spiciness.

30 Minute Shepherd's Pie via Rachael Ray

This recipe has been in my file for like a year. It looked kinda labor-intensive--I generally like recipes where you do the whole thing in one pot. I decided to do it now though since school's out.

It wasn't bad, though I did dirty a lot of dishes. It was my first time making mashed potatoes, my first time making shepherd's pie, maybe even my first time eating shepherd's pie. I don't think I even heard of shepherd's pie until high school or college, but it sounded good!

I used chicken broth rather than cream in the potatoes, but I think I would try it with cream next time. Cooking with cream is just foreign to me. Cooking with butter is even kind of new for me. I think I was a vegetarian when I first started cooking.

I couldn't find sweet paprika, so just used regular, but I think that's just for looks anyway.

We also threw some parmesan on top since the mashed potatoes were a little bland.

I would also put the onions in earlier than it says because I ended up overcooking the meat while waiting for the onions to cook.