The Praline Connection - New Orleans

Past the bustling and hustling French quarter you can find a more quiet New Orleans. The Marigny neighborhood at 4pm seems lazy with locals, drinking coffee on side walks lined with old houses and flowers hanging from French balconies, or else browsing in an old bookstore filled with everything from travel companions to foreign titles. Looking up at the corner of Chartres and Frenchmen st. I see an old sign that says the Praline Connection.

Inside the staff wears crispy clean white shirts, ties and black hats. They sat me down at the window so I can look out on the empty street filled with sunlight. I should have been more adventurous with my food, I know. There are fried chicken livers for appetizers and fried pickles for side. But I was hungry and on a budget. The shrimp po-boy came first, twice the size of what i expected it to be. Lightly battered shrimps fried to a golden brown inside a loaf of French bread with lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise. It tastes a lot lot better than it sounds.

My desert came next, creamy bread pudding with a praline sauce - tooth-achingly sweet; and yet I kept eating until there was no more on the plate.

The servers walk by occasionally, winking at me, filling up my water glass and chatting with me about the restaurant, New Orleans and food. And I feel happy walking back, passed empty verandas and sleepy cats, and started waiting for the time I can come back for more.

The Praline Connection
542 Frenchmen Street
New Orleans, LA

Sergio's fresh pasta: Roasted chicken legs with fresh spinach gnocchi in pesto sauce

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I am an avid user of groupon, and trubates, ad livingsocial and all the sites that offer deals. Do you know that yelp has deals as well, and travelzoo has what they call local deals? Check them out because it's great way to try out new places and things.

Back to food! So we got a groupon for Sergio's pasta shop, which is located in San Mateo and boasts twenty something types of fresh pasta, ravioli, gnocchi, not to mention fresh sauces and gelato. With $20 (for which we paid $10) we had difficulty choosing what to try, and finally settled on spinach gnochi, portobello and shitake mushroom ravioli and garlic fettuccine.

The best thing about fresh pasta, besides the superb taste, is how fast they cook. The gnocchi took about 3 minutes, although you do have to drop them in the pot a couple at a time. I serve them with my super easy baked chicken legs and some boiled broccoli.

For two:
1 pound of fresh spinach gnocchi
2 tbsp of genovese pesto from Trader Joes
2 chicken legs (drumstick and thigh together)
1/ cup chicken broth

Pat the chicken legs dry and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, dry oregano and ground chilli. Rub everything in, over and under the skin. Preheat oven to 375F. Put the chicken legs in a baking dish, add half a cup of chicken broth. Put the dish in the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken legs), rotating the chicken half way through so they don't dry out. Pierce the legs with a fork. If the juice run clear the chicken is done.

To cook the gnocchi, boil 4 cups of water. Add the gnocchi in a couple at a time (up to 10) and fish them out when they float to the surface (about 2 minutes). Once you are done with all the gnocchi, add the pesto and toss gently.


Serve the pesto with chicken and boiled broccoli.

Cookware testing 1: Greenpan hotpot cajun shrimp boil

The greenpan hotpot is not a hotpot the way I know it.  Growing up Vietnamese, when I hear hotpot, i think of cooking at the table, throwing in meat and seafood and vegetable and slurping the tasty broth until I fall into a food coma. The greenpan hotpot won't let you do that. It is exactly what the name say it is, a pot, that keeps your food hot at the table, not boiling hot, but hot enough for you to enjoy throughout the meal.

The green part of it: the greenpan hotpot is nonstick, but uses a different techonology than the traditional non-stick cookware.  If you are concerned with the PTFE (Teflon) coating, which, supposedly, releases toxic gas when overheated and is toxic to your body if consumed (for example when the layer peels off after long use), the greenpan assures you that their non-stick coating, Thermolon, will not peel or releases toxic fumes at high temperature. Not only that, the coating is mineral based, so more environmentally friendly than the plastic based Teflon coating. Lastly the greenpan hotpot has a double-layered lid, which helps trap moisture and heat to reduce cooking time, hence you save energy while cooking.

My experience with the pot: The pot does a good job keeping the food hot. I actually put the shrimp into the pot after taking it off the heat source and they cooked properly, albeit it took 2 minutes longer than then cooking them on the stove. Aesthetically, the pot looks pretty good with the red insulating bowl, which can also be used as a salad bowl.  I also have a greenpan frying pan, and find that it heats up fast and evenly. Both the frying an and the pot clean up very easily. I did hear though, that the non-stick layer will peel with time, but have not experienced it since I just started using both items. I guess I will update this post occasionally with how the products are holding up.

Included in the set is the pot, a steamer/colander, a melamine insulating/serving bowl and a bamboo spoon and fork.

For testing I decided to make cajun shrimp boil.  The recipe is basic, the thing you see on the cover of any box of cajun seasoning.
The amount of food can be adjusted according to what you like or not.

1 pound of shrimp
1/2 pound of hot, smoke sausage
2 medium size potatoes
2 ears of corn
1 small onion
2 small tomatoes
8 cloves of garlic
1 lemon

2 tbsp of Zatarain's crab boil seasoning

optional: 1 tbsp of cayenne pepper or 1 tbsp of sriracha sauce

salt and pepper 

Add 4 cups of water to the pot and bring to a boil.  Meanwhile, cut the potatoes, onion and tomato into wedges, peel the corn and break them in half. Cut the sausage into slices. Add everything to the pot.  Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the juice and add the rest of the lemon as well. Add the Zatarain seasoning, and the pepper or hot sauce, roughly chop the garlic and add that as well. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Put the lid on and let cook for 5 - 8 minutes, or until potatoes are tender to your liking. 

Take the pot off the stove and put it in the melamine bowl.   Add the shrimp. Using a wooden spoon (included in the set) make sure the shrimps are submerged in the broth.  Put the lid back on and bring it to the table. The shrimp will be perfectly cooked after 5 minutes, so you can use the time to set the table.

Use a slotted spoon (I wish it was included in the set) or a tong to fish out whatever you want. I dip my shrimp in a concoction of chili lime salt and a squeeze of lime juice.  The broth was still pretty hot by the time we finished eating about an hour later.

If you eat a lot of soup and stews and would like to keep them hot throughout the meal, this is definitely a useful product.

Tapas Dinner

Have i told you that I LOVE tapas? If I haven't, you know it now. I had my first tapas meal at Ceviche in Tampa Florida, and until today the place remains my favorite tapas place. I guess it's matter of nostalgia. Last summer I traveled to Madrid with my boyfriend and ended up having tapas everyday. Tapas in Madrid are inexpensive, unlike in the United States. If you go to the right places (El Tigre is a popular place for American young tourists, but just look for a bar where you see lots of local people) you'll get it for free with an alcoholic beverage.
So this dinner is inspired by Madrid, because tapas in San Francisco is way too expensive. I made huevos rellenos, tortilla espanola (see the recipe in my earlier post), patatas brava and sangria.

Let's start with the sangria. This is a recipe I got from my cooking class 3 years ago at Hipcooks.
1 bottle of 2 buck Chuck (I used cabernet sauvignon)
2 cups of Trader Joes mango, pomagranate juice
1.5 oranges
1.5 limes

Cut the oranges and limes into slices and put them in a pitcher. Add the wine and the juice. Use a wooden spoon to muddle everything. Let sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving

Huevos rellenos

We had this at this at a bar (forgot the name) on Gran Via in Madrid and I love it. Think about it as a version of deviled eggs

3 hard boiled eggs
Here is my fool proof way of boiling eggs. Put the eggs in a pot and cover them with cold water. Bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, put the lid on and let eggs sit in hot water for 10 minutes. Pour out the hot water, rinse under cold water to shock the eggs and peel
3 oz of canned tuna (that should be half of a small can)
1 tbsp capers
1 tbsp chopped green olives
3 tbsp mayonnaise
a squeeze of lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Half the hard boiled eggs and take out the yolk. Mash the yolk,add the tuna, capers, olives. Squeeze some lemon, add the mayonnaise, add some salt, pepper and mix it all together. taste and add more salt, pepper or lemon if needed. Spoon the mixture back into the egg white. If you want, you can use a small spoon to carve out some of the egg white to make more space for the filling. I put them in a tupperware and refrigerate them for an hour before serving.

Patatas bravas

4 red potatoes
lots of oil to deep fry
chopped parsley mixed with some salt and garlic powder
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Scrub the potatoes really well and cut into wedges. Put oil into a small pot and let it heat up. I put a piece of potato in the pot with the oil and when the oil starts to bubble around the potato, I know the oil is hot enough. Have a piece of paper towel on hand to dry each pieces of potato to avoid oil popping everywhere. Keep the oil on medium heat and put in a few pieces of potatoes at a time. They should take about 3 minutes to become golden brown. Fish them out, throw them on a place lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil. Then, while they are still hot, sprinkle with some of the salt, garlic, parley concoction. repeat with the rest of the potatoes. Arrange the potatoes on a plate and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

Brava sauce (or my interpretation of it)

1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1/3 cup of spicy ketchup
1tsp of sriracha sauce
2 tsp of finely minced garlic
1tbsp finely chopped parsley leaves

Mix everything together and add salt and pepper to taste.

Bonus picture of my tortilla espanola and how the feast came together.

Garlic noodle

We bought 5 pounds of spaghetti because it was on sale. That's a lot of dry spaghetti, and I need some diversity in what I can do with it. Ideally, something non-tomato-sauce based. So Andrea Nguyen's take on garlic noodle is just perfect. I modified it with suggestions from her comments and the result is ... divine. I am craving it right now again, even though I just had it yesterday.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound dry spaghetti
2 sausage link (I had some from Trader Joe's, but you can skip it)
4tbsp butter
5 cloves garlic: very finely minced (I use a grater), and mixed with 2 tbsp of water
2 tbsp soy sauce
a dash of fish sauce
2 tbsp each chopped green onion and cilantro
salt, pepper, parmegiano cheese

Bring water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Add some salt. When water starts boiling, cook pasta until tender (about 12 minutes). Drain the pasta, but reserve a cup of the pasta water
In a deep skillet, melt butter, then add the garlic mixture. Cook for 1 minute. If you use sausage, add it to the skillet and cook until heated, about a minute or two. Add the soy sauce, the pasta water and a dash of fish sauce. When the mixture is boiling, add the pasta and toss with a tong.  making sure the pasta is coated with the sauce. When liquid is almost fully absorbed, add green onion, cilantro. Toss. Turn off the heat, add however much parmegiano cheese you want and toss again.
Serve with some boiled veggies.

The list of the ingredient sounds really weird, I know, but in the end, everything works so well together, you'll only taste wonderful, creamy, garlicky noodle. Promise!

Vietnamese chicken salad

Another way to use my left-over garlic chicken legs, but you can also use left-over rotisserie chicken, or just roast some chicken legs or breast. The key of this dish is the fish sauce dressing. I give you my recipe, but it is subjective, so just keep tasting until you have found your perfect combination.

Ingredients (for 2 as appetizer, for 1 as entree)

1/4 medium cabbage
1/2 small sweet onion
2 garlic chicken legs
some chopped cilantro (or Vietnamese corriander - rau ram)
2 tsp crushed peanuts

for the dressing
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp sugar).
If you like it spicy, have some some thinly sliced chili pepper on hand.

Thinly slice the onion, put it in a small bowl and cover with vinegar (I use rice vinegar). Thinly slice the cabbage and put it in a big bowl (makes it easier to mix later). Add a pinch of salt and toss. Shred or cut the chicken into long pieces. Add to the cabbage. Drain the onion and add to the mixture together with the cilantro. Toss.

Mix the fish sauce with vinegar (you can re-use the vinegar that you used for the onion) and sugar. Stir to dissolve everything. Add some chili if you like it hot.

Add the dressing to the cabbage, meat and onion mixture and toss. Let it rest for 5 minutes then serve with crushed peanuts sprinkled on top.

Garlic chicken legs

Chicken legs are cheap and tasty - the perfect student food. I know it, because my student life is long, very long, in fact it still hasn't ended. So, unless you stay in dorms and eat in the dining halls, you'll find yourself buying a lot of chicken, especially when they are on sale for 99 cents/pound. What you can cook with chicken legs - a lot and a lot of things.  You can make porridge, 3 drumstick will be enough for a medium size pot, you can de-bone them and grill, or you can leave the bones on and roast, for a quick and easy meal, like with the recipe below.

Ingredients
4 chicken drumsticks (or 2 leg quarters: 2 drumsticks and 2 chicken thights)
1/2 cub of chicken broth (or whatever broth you have on hand)
4 large gloves of garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp chilli powder
1tsp oregano
if you don't have oregano, substitute it with whatever other herb you have on hand. I have made it with fresh cilantro, dried thyme. The chicken will taste slightly different depending on the herb you use, but it will taste good. Also, if you use fresh herb, increase the amount, since the flavor is less concentrated.

Now wash the chicken legs and pat them dry with paper towel.  Mince the garlic really fine then mix it with all the spices, salt and pepper. Rub the mixture onto the chicken. Push it under the skin as well as massage it onto the skin. Place the chicken legs in a baking dish. Add the broth and bake for about 40 minutes in the oven, preheated to 425F.

Serve with salad, mash potatoes, fries or rice (in a word, whatever you desire).

If you want a gravy with it: add 2 tbsp butter to the baking dish, 1 tsp of flour. Stirring, cook until the mixture turns into a brown paste, slowly add 1 cup warm broth, whisking. Let it simmer for 5 minutes or until you have the desired consistency.

Chicken salad

This is a great recipe for leftover rotisserie chicken. Everywhere I go I have my favorite rotisserie chicken. In LA it's Zankou chicken, in Vegas, Crazy Pitas. If Zankou has a garlic sauce to die for, Crazy Pitas' chicken is just full of garlic (and other flavors). As it always happens, I tend to think I can eat so much more than I really can, so I would end up with lots and lots of left over. This is also a great recipe if you don't like white chicken meat, because the sauce imparts more flavor and moisture to the meat.

Ingredients:

2 cups cubed rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion.
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tblsp mustard
a splash of vinegar
salt, pepper and some chili powder to taste

In a bowl mix the mayonnaise with mustard, vinegar, some salt, pepper and chili power. Add the chicken, onion and celery. Mix well. Taste and add more salt, pepper and chili if necessary.

Serve with some greens for a salad. Put some on salad leaves for a tasty appetizer or with toasted bread as sandwich.

Enjoy.

Spanish tortilla

I first had Spanish tortilla at a tapas bar, called Ceviche, in Tampa Florida. Maybe it is the nostalgia, I haven't been back since my first two times in 2009, but Ceviche remains my favorite tapas bar, even after I have been to Spain.  They have great Sangria, 9 different types of ceviche, and Spanish tortilla, a small, thick omellette filled with potato and onion and served with a secret sauce that I just cannot figure out beyond guessing that it just has to have mayonaisse.  After going to Spain I realize that their version of Spanish tortilla is not necessarily most authentic. The ones we had in Madrid and Barcelona, and we had Spanish tortilla a lot during our 10 days in those 2 cities, were sweeter, and did not come with a mayonnaise sauce. Call me what you want, but the non original stuff taste better to me, so here is a rendition of that deliciousness from Ceviche.

Ingredients:
3 medium potatoes
1 small onion
6 large eggs
1/4 cups of milk
optional: 1 medium zuchini
optional: 2 pieces of spicy sausage
oil, salt, pepper, pimientos or spicy chili to taste

Peel the potatoes and slice them into slices, not too thin, but not too thick. The original way of making Spanish tortilla is to fry the potatoes until they are cooked. I just mix the sliced potatoes with olive oil, some salt and pepper, spread them evenly on a baking tray and bake them for 25 minutes at 350F.

In the mean time chop the onion. Beat up the eggs, add the milk, and onion and mix it all up.  Add some salt, pepper and pimientos. Mix some more. If you use zuchini, slice them up and add to the mixture as well. If you want sausage. Slice them up, but keep them separately.

When the potatoes are cooked, add them to the mixture of eggs and veggies. Mix it up, so all the ingredients are distributed in the egg mixture, otherwise some of you tortillas will have just potatoes, while other too much zuchini.

Heat up a medium, deeper skillet. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil. Pour in half of the mixture and using a spatula distribute the ingredients evenly in the skillet.  The egg should cover most of your veggies. Turn the heat to medium/medium low depending on your stove. If you use sausages, place them on top of the tortilla now.  Let it cook for about 5, 6 minutes.  Until, the eggs are set.  Take a big place (should be bigger than your skillet.  Cover the skillet with the plate and flip so the tortilla falls onto the place, then just slide the tortilla back onto the skillet.  Voila, you just managed to flip the tortilla. If some of the eggs are dripping, just keep practicing.

Cook the tortilla on the other side for another 4,5 minutes until it's golden brown.  Slide it out onto a clean place. Repeat the cooking with the rest of the egg mixture.

Spanish tortilla should be serve warm, or at room temperature, on its own, or as filling for a sandwich.  You can use my simple sauce below.

Mix up 3 tbsp of mayonnaise, 1 tsp of mustard, 1 tsp of vinegar, 1 tsp of sriracha hot sauce, 1 tsp of minced green olives, salt, pepper. Spread the mixture on a piece of toated bread, top it with a piece of tortilla and enjoy.

Btw, Spanish tortillas make awesome left over.

Weekend cooking

Saturday: Rice with green onion and cilantro omelet and saute Mexican squash with garlic


Sunday: Vegetarian Lasagna with soy Italian sausage, Mexican Squash and green peppers

Hue food

Hue, the old Vietnamese capital, a city like a shy girl hiding her face behind the gentle flow of the Huong river, with shady streets winding between castles, temples and old glory. I only had half a day here on my last visit to Vietnam, a few hours of driving alongside the river, walking amongst the trees and old buildings that form the old town with its Forbidden City, an hour to eat like a Hueian, with my eyes, my ears and my heart. Portions here are small. Tiny dishes with spoonfuls of food, which are meant as much for your palate as they are for your stomach. Hue people eat slow, too busy contemplating on past and present, too engulfed in music and conversation to devour what is being put down before them. Each dish requires a different dipping sauce even if it is only a bite of steamed rice flour topped with shredded shrimp. I fell in love with Hue by the second course of lunch. A plate with four different types of hearty pastry,very simple in ingredients yet so sophisticated in the way you eat. Each with such distinct flavor my palate finally wakes up and asks for more. I fell in love with Hue leaving the city behind to continue on my journey, a longing in my mind for something I have discovered way too late. But I will be back. There are too many things we have not yet shared with each other.

Chicken Piccata and sautee mushroom

Chicken Piccata must be one of my boyfriend's favorite dishes, so it became the first dish we have tried to cook together. There have been ups and downs, but what follows is the best that has turned out, so I am sticking with it from now on. My secret ingredient - green olives. It goes oh so well with capers and lemon juice. I usually serve this with some pasta and a side of sautee mushroom because most of the ingredients from the chicken piccata can also be used for the mushroom.

Chicken Piccata

Ingredients:

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (1 pound total)
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup chicken stock or dry white wine (or water if you have nothing on hand)
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup capers
1/4 cup green olives, sliced
4 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp butter
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Butterfly the chicken breast, cover the whole thing with plastic wrap and give it a few whack with the back of your knife. This will help the piece of chicken cook more evenly and tenderize the meat. Don't overdo it though! This is your meal, not your stress reliever!
Mix the flour with parmesan cheese and a dash of salt and pepper. Take your piece of chicken and dredge it in the flour mix.
Add 2 tblsp of olive oil in a hot, deep frying pan (the deepness will come in handy later). Add the dredged chicken pieces. Make sure not to crowd the pan so the chicken can cook properly. Cook each side of the chicken for about 5 minutes, or until they are nicely brown. Flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Put aside, cover to keep warm. Repeat the process if necessary with the rest of the chicken.
To the hot pan (after you are done with the chicken) add the wine/chicken stock/water. Using the spatula scrape up all the brown pieces at the bottom of the pan. Then add the rest of the ingredients, stir and bring to a boil.
Reurn the meat to the pan. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Move the chicken in the pan half way through to make sure each piece is cover with sauce.

Sautee mushrooms:

Ingredients:

8 oz mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp oregano leaves
1 tblsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter (you can omit this and use 2 tblsp olive oil instead of 1)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Clean the mushrooms.
In a pan add the olive oil, butter and garlic. Cook the garlic for about 2 minutes or until the butter is melted and hot. Add the mushroom, oregano leaves, salt and pepper. Give the pan a shake. Add the white wine. Let the whole thing cook for about 6-8 minutes, shaking it occasionally. The wine should be reduced to a third.

Serve hot with pasta, chicken piccata and white wine.

Jambalaya

This recipe was based on the original recipe from all recipes.com
see link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-and-Shrimp-Jambalaya/Detail.aspx?src=etaf
However, I made a few changes due to lack of ingredients and it came out fine. I especially like the heat from the jalapeno.
The best thing about jambalaya - it is an one pot dish, which means less to wash and rinse. You will spend about half an hour chopping everything, but once you start cooking, it's a breeze. The house will smell wonderful and you will still have the time to set the table while the rice is cooking.
Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 pound fully cooked smoked sausage link, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 2 cups sliced celery
• 2 cups chopped green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped jalapeno peppers (that's a about 2 full ones, I kept the seed for extra heat, but you can cut out the white part with seed for a milder flavor)
  
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups chicken breast, cut into 2 inch pieces
  
• 1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper ( I actually did not have it the last time I cooked it, but if you have it on hand, use it. Your dish will have a nice smoky flavor)
  
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• about a tbsp of olive oil
  

Directions:

1. In Dutch oven over medium heat add olive oil, sausage, onion, celery, peppers, and garlic. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 3-4 minutes. Adding the sausage first will help rduce the amount of oil you need to get the rest of the ingredients cooking. Add the chicken and sautee until chicken is opaque on all sides, about 4-5 minutes. The pieces of chicken don't need to be fully cooked, you will continue to cook them some more. Now add the remaining ingredients, start with the canned tomatoes, then the spices and herbs, then the rice). Give everything a stir. Bring to a boil. Cover; reduce heat and simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove bay leaves. Serve with a side salad or some boiled veggies.