Louisiana Cookin’ magazine

I occasionally pick up a copy of Louisiana Cookin’ magazine, but I’m not a subscriber–I already have too many magazines cluttering up my house.

So I was happy to learn that the companion website offers most of the content online…check it out here.

 

Naan on the Big Green Egg

Can you believe it?  You don’t have to pinch yourself—we’re not having  a collective regional hallucination.  THE SAINTS REALLY WON THE SUPERBOWL LAST NIGHT!!!!

While the boys in Black and Gold schooled the Colts, I stuck to my football-season ritual of non-traditional football foods and cooked up a mess of tandoori chicken wings on my Big Green Egg, accompanied by a pile of naan.  Buttery, flaky naan (plain or filled) is the highlight of an Indian meal.  The Cajun in me delights at any form of bread designed to soak up liquid.  But naan at home seemed too tricky; I occasionally resort to frozen naan from the international supermarket.

But then I got a Big Green Egg, which is just a cousin of the tandoor oven (or tanur, or tonir, or tone, depending on the country).  Tandoori ovens are cylindrical, charcoal-fired clay ovens, and naan (and many other flatbreads from many other cultural traditions) is cooked directly on the hot, inner surface of the oven.  While the Egg’s design doesn’t allow for direct-contact interior cooking, it’s easy enough to add the plate setter and a baking stone to create a hot, dry, ceramic surface perfect for flatbreads.  A half-moon stone allowed me to turn out a few breads at a time while the wings continued to cook.

After checking out various naan recipes, I (mostly) followed Neelam Batra’s formula from 1,000 Indian Recipes (p 594), allowed the dough to rise for 1 hour at room temp, stretched & folded it a few times, then refrigerated for more than 4 hours.  An hour or so before cooking, I rolled the breads as thinly as possible, stacked them between parchment, and fired up the grill.   The breads cooked in mere minutes, so I didn’t miss a second of the BIGGEST GAME OF THE 21ST CENTURY.

Big Green Egg Tandoori Naan

• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/2 plain nonfat yogurt (NOT drained greek yogurt; if all you have is greek yogurt, thin it with a little water or milk)
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 cup melted butter, mixed with 1 clove garlic (run it through a press), for brushing finished breads

Mix yeast, sugar, and water in a 2-cup measure with a spout or small bowl.  Add yogurt and vegetable oil.  Reserve.  Place flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor; pulse 3-5 times to mix.  With the motor running, pour the liquid ingredients into the processor through the feed tube.  Continue to process until a dough forms and the mixture becomes cohesive.  Remove the dough from the processor and knead three or four times by hand.  Place in a lightly oiled bowl, covered, at room temperature.  Wait 10 minutes, then stretch and fold the dough three times.  Wait an additional 10 minutes, repeat the stretch & fold, then refrigerate until ready to use (dough will keep, chilled, 4-8 hours).  It will rise slightly in the refrigerator.

When ready to bake, set up a charcoal grill for indirect heat and place a baking stone atop the grill surface.  (Using a Big Green Egg, insert the plate setter, legs up, replace the grill surface, then place a baking stone atop the grill.)  Preheat the baking stone at least 45 minutes to an hour at a dome temperature of at least 350 degrees.  Hotter is better, as the breads will cook quickly, puffling & flaking.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator; cut or pull off golfball to tennis ball sized hunks of dough.  Roll out as thinly as possible, flouring the rolling surface very lightly as needed.  (Rolled breads can be layered in parchment or placed on a baking sheet until cooking time.)

To bake, carefully transfer the rolled dough onto the stone and close the lid.  Wait 2-3 minutes (or more or less, depending on the temperature).  The breads will puff and swell, browning/charring slightly in spots on the bottom.  Once the breads puff and brown, quickly flip each one over.  Continue cooking, lid closed, until browned in patches on the bottom side.  Remove from heat, brush with the garlic butter, and serve hot.  Recipe makes 7-10 breads, depending on size.

To flavor the breads, add garlic, tumeric, chopped cilantro, or other flavorings into the food processor along with the liquid ingredients.  Or, sprinkle kalonji seeds or sesame seeds onto the breads while rolling them out.  Or try my absolute favorite–keema naan—and spread seasoned, ground lamb or beef  onto one rolled-out bread, fold it in half, and re-roll.

 

Record sales of New Orleans products

Seems that the Who Dat Nation runs on Abita beer:  the Northshore brewery is reporting 14% increase in sales, compared with the same week last year.  According to the Times-Picayune, Pat O’Brien’s is shipping record amounts of its Hurricane drink mix.  Win or lose, booze will flow tonight.  While you’re drinking, raise a cup and toast New Orleans’ new mayor-elect, Mitch Landrieu.

 

Pupuseria La Macarena

Pupuseria La Macarena (8120 Hampson Street, New Orleans, 504.862.5252) is a friendly little Central American spot, operated by oh-so-gregarious Manny Ochoa and his mom.  After stints out on Airline Highway, West Metairie, and Williams Boulevard, the Ochoas moved their operation uptown to a tiny spot formerly occupied by a takeout location of World’s Healthiest Pizza (now re-branded as Naked Pizza).  A greatest-hits Salvadoran menu takes diners on a culinary tour of the Ochoas’ homeland, ranging from pupusas served with curtido, fried plantains, creamy black beans, a juicy chicken sandwich, and more.  Lunch specials priced around $10 deliver a variety of tastes, pairing pupusas (or delicious flautas or tostadas) with a small salad, fried plantains, and beans & rice.  La Macarena’s pupusas aren’t as cheap as the ones you’ll find at taco trucks, but you can sit down (inside–try that at a taco truck).

 

Tet is just around the corner

Tet, the Vietnamese festival celebrating the Lunar New Year, is just around the corner.  2010 is the year of the tiger, a symbol of bravery.  I think I’ll head over to the Westbank to St. Agnes Le Thi Thanh Church, 6851 Le Thi Thanh, Marrero, for the church’s annual Tet celebration this weekend (Feb. 6 from 5 to 11 p.m., and Feb. 7 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.). 

I’ll be out of town for my favorite Tet celebration, the big three-day festival at Mary Queen of Vietnam Church, 14001 Dwyer Blvd., New Orleans (Feb. 19 from 6 to 11 p.m., Feb. 20 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and Feb. 21 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.)  Last year’s festival was fun.  In addition to the wonderful array of Vietnamese foods, new-to-the-neighborhood vendors offered their own traditional foods, ranging from menudo and tacos to char-grilled oysters.

 

Coming soon: pizza in Naples

Very soon, I’ll be in Naples, eating all the pizza I can possibly hold.  Meanwhile, I’m churning out a few homemade pizzas to warm up my pizza-comparison skills.  It’s the taste equivalent of listening to your favorite musical group in anticipation of seeing them perform live.

So stay tuned for some pizza neapolitana notes…

 

Ginger squares, with a Louisiana twist

Sweet-hot, spicy ginger ranks as one of my favorite flavors.  Whether it appears in sweet or savory dishes, I’m a fan:  Tazo’s green ginger tea, ginger Altoids, the Ginger People’s soft chews, homemade gingersnaps, Newman’s ginger-o cookies, ginger cinnamon gelato, Sprecker Brewery’s ginger ale, Siamese Thai’s stir fried ginger (#30 on the menu):  the list could go on and on.  In addition to its delicious culinary uses, ginger’s medicinal properties are legendary:  anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-nausea, with a long list of other reported but unconfirmed effects like reducing cholesterol and supressing coughs.

I’m always on the lookout for new recipes showcasing ginger.  King Arthur Flour’s sticky ginger squares fit the bill:  two kinds of ginger, dried and candied, spice up a thin gingerbread layer, while candied ginger takes center stage in a streusel topping.  Of course, I had to tinker with the recipe, slipping in a little local flavor.  I substituted Steen’s cane syrup for the original recipe’s molasses, and I added chopped pecans to both layers.  With a nice contrast between sticky and crunchy, the bars are assertively gingery and not for the faint of heart.  I’m delivering a batch today to a friend undergoing chemo–maybe they’ll tempt her appetite and chase away a bit of the nausea.

Pecan ginger bars

Cookie layer

• 1 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup diced crystallized ginger
• 1/4 cup Steen’s cane syrup
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans

Streusel layer

• 1 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup salted butter, cut into 1/2-tablespoon chunks
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup diced crystallized ginger
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Make cookie layer first:  combine flour, ginger, allspice, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bow; next, stir in the crystallized gingerl and set aside.  In a medium bowl, beat together cane syrup, eggs, brown sugar, and melted butter.  Stir in the flour mixture, continuing to  mix until well combined.  Stir in the pecans, then spread batter evenly in the prepared pan.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the streusel mixture:  place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor.  Process in short bursts until rough crumbs form (some chunks of butter may remain).  Sprinkle the topping over the partially baked cookie layer, then return to the oven and bake an additional 30 minutes until the crumb layer is deep, golden brown.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Lift the bars carefully from the pan by the edges of the parchment paper.  Using a long slicing knife, cut bars into 2″ squares.

 

Thin-cut onion rings

Why are thin, crispy onion rings so hard to find?  Sure, I know about Mahoney’s ultra-thin onion shards, but the list of area restaurants frying up old-school o-rings is a short one. Thick, battered rings abound:  Liuzza’s, Rivershack, Mandina’s, and seemingly every other south Louisiana restaurant with a deep-fryer and a modicum of kitchen pride can turn out righteous thick rings.  Problem is, I don’t crave thick-cut rings.

What I crave are rings so thin-cut and lightly coated, the onion itself browns during cooking. The snowball stand/snack bar a few blocks from my house turned out a credible version before it imploded in a tragic grease fire several years ago; my taste buds still mourn the loss, while my arteries are eternally grateful.  My platonic ideal of thin-cut rings used to be found inside a greasy paper bag at Danny’s Fried Chicken in Galliano, LA.  Hand-cut, flour-dusted, and fried right up to the crunchy edge of burnt, these onion rings cooked into a tentacular mass of crisp, savory-sweet, salty, greasy goodness.  Pull one ring, and you ended up with a handful, which was good, because no one ever wanted one onion ring.  [The Danny's outpost is no more; in its place is a short-order cafe with Mexican plate lunches, but that's an entirely different post for another day.]

Happily, I discovered this weekend that Phil’s Grill (3020 Severn, Metaire; 504.621.3738) offers onion strings, pictured above, that fit the bill:  cut just thick enough to hold a light, seasoned-flour dusting yet thin enough to allow the onions to caramelize a bit.  The onion strings are available as an appetizer or a complimentary side with any burger.  Phil’s burgers leave me lukewarm, and I always seem to visit the place when it is stuffed to the rafters with vibrating 5-year-olds.  But I’ll definitely go back soon, just for the onion strings.

 

No-knead focaccia

The first time I attempted Jim Lahey’s no-knead focaccia, it was a miserable failure.  The baked bread stuck to the pan so badly, I couldn’t pry, scrape, or hack it out of the sheet pan.  The entire loaf went into the trash, pan and all.  What made it stick?  The dough is quite wet, but it’s not the hydration that’s the culprit–it’s the potato starch.

Lahey’s recipe calls for 200 grams of peeled potato, boiled in 600 grams of water, pureed, and then added to the dough.  The potato starch adds flavor and tenderizes the focaccia, but it also makes the dough behave a bit like wall plaster:  friendly when wet, but impossible to remove once baked dry.

Two new sheet pans later, I decided to try baking this loaf again.  This time, I used parchment paper to line the pans, then oiled the parchment for good measure.  It worked like a charm, and the olive-topped focaccia rose high enough to be split & used for sandwiches.

Note:  I’ve decided to use metric weight measurement in baking recipes; it’s more precise and easier to calculate when halving or doubling recipes.

Jim Lahey’s no-knead focaccia

• 200 grams peeled potato, cut into chunks
• 600 grams cool water
• 600 grams bread flour
• 10 grams instant yeast
• 4 grams sugar
• 10 grams table salt
• 60 grams extra-virgin olive oil (for oiling the pan and drizzling atop the dough)
• a generous handful pitted olives, roughly chopped

Place potatoes and water in a small saucepan.  Boil until potatoes are very soft, then puree using an immersion blender.  Cool to 120 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and half of the salt.  Using a wooden spoon, stir until a wet, sticky dough forms (about 1 minute of stirring).  Cover the bowl and rest at room temperature until the dough triples in size (2-3 hours).

Line a half-sheet pan (18 inches by 13 inches) with parchment.  Lightly oil the parchment.  Scrape the risen dough gently onto the parchment-lined pan.  Stretch it to fit the pan, using oiled hands.  Press deep dimples into the dough with your fingertips or knuckles.  Drizzle oil atop the dough and sprinkle with remaining salt and chopped olives.  Set aside in a draft-free location and rest for at least an hour, or until the dough just barely rises above the rim of the baking sheet.  Bake for 30 to 45 minutes in  a pre-heated, 400-degree oven.

 

Cuban sandwiches, in Morgan City

Last week’s Times-Picayune article on the area’s best Cuban sandwiches cost me a tank of gas.  After reading Brett Anderson’s personal list of favorite pork-ham-pickle-and-toasted bread masterpieces, I had to drive over to Morgan City and eat my favorite local version  of the iconic sandwich.  The Latin Corner (201 Railroad Avenue, 985-385-2404; no website) is just a short detour off of U.S. 90, located along the waterfront in downtown Morgan City.  It is an unassuming little place, hemmed in by the railroad tracks and the Atchafalaya River.  Mismatched tables and chairs fill up a (somewhat) renovated, cheerful corner storefront, complete with a small bar in the second dining room.

The low-key vibe is a cover for the kitchen’s ambitions:  they’re cranking out serious Cuban home cooking, offering weekday lunch specials and slightly more ambitious fare on Saturday nights.  Tender, fragrant black beans are redolent of oregano and garlic; their broth is the perfect match for the restaurant’s generous basket of toasted Cuban bread, sprinkled with a pungent dried spice mix.  Maduros (available with or without sour cream) emerge from the kitchen fried to a dark-brown state, tasting like salted caramel on the outside and sweet, earthy plantain on the inside.

Back to the Main Event, that Cuban sandwich:  as with the po-boy, so much of the Cuban’s nature depends on the bread.  Latin Corner uses a proper roll:  chewy but not hard, with a tender, smooth crust that only improves after being buttered and press-toasted flat.  Thin-sliced ham gets a sizzle on the griddle (and thus crispy edges) before it cozies up to house-roasted pork, a generous layer of sour pickles, and properly restrained swathes of cheese and mustard.  Pair the sandwich with the french fries; ordinary fries become irresistible after a shower of the same tangy herb blend used on the toast.

Latin Corner is open for lunch Monday through Saturday and is open for dinner Thursday through Saturday.