The Nifty Foodie

Summer officially started last Monday. However, being in Louisiana, we’ve been feeling summer-like weather since May. With the heat index hitting 110 degrees sometimes, we wanted to throw a summer party that was most definitely indoors!

I watch entirely too much Food Network. If it wasn’t for Food Network and reading food blogs, I’m fairly certain my husband and I would be living off of Hamburger Helper and take-out. One of my favorite shows lately has been The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Every show has a theme, and it features the cooks/hosts on Food Network and their favorite eats in that theme. So, when Foodbuzz emailed about this month’s 24×24 proposals, I figured it would be a fun party to feature the best things our families have eaten! Thanks so much to Foodbuzz for sponsoring this party!

To come up with the menu, I sent out an email to our families asking for their favorites in each category.

• On the Grill (recipes that are done on the BBQ)
• Dangerously Cheesy (major cheese in a dish)
• No Utensils (finger foods/apps)
• Keep it Comfy (comfort food)
• Frozen Treats (any dessert from the freezer)
• Mix it Up (a food that requires using a mixer—doesn’t have to be a sweet)
• Louisiana’s Best (Louisiana food)
• Cold and Colorful (like a salad or cold app with lots of veggies or fruit)
• Under the Sea (favorite seafood dish)
• Classic American (with 4th of July approaching, tell me a dish that screams American)

After getting many responses, here is the menu we came up with:

Drinks:
Strawberry Lemonade
Strawberry Daiquiris

Appetizers:
Cheese Fondue with Vegetables/Bread*
Bruschetta*
Boudin Balls

Entrees:
Steak Skewers with Chimichurri, Onion Cheese Sauce and Compound Butter*
Spicy BBQ Shrimp Skewers*

Sides:
Crawfish Fettuccine
Macaroni and Cheese
Vegetable Skewers*
Grilled Corn
Lettuce Greens with Honey Lime Vinaigrette

Desserts:
Strawberry Cake*
Assorted Cupcakes
Cinnamon Crumb Apple Pie
Fresh Berries with Ice Cream

* recipes will be featured in the blog in future posts

I will admit, I’m still getting the hang of entertaining for a large number of people. Despite doing a lot of prep, I felt fairly stressed in the last hour. Since the party was for family, though, I had loads of help at the last minute. Whew!

The fondue was an absolute hit. I was nervous to make this myself, but this recipe came together beautifully! I served the fondue with day old po’boy bread, carrots and broccoli.

We purchased the boudin balls at a local joint, since they are pretty much my husband’s favorite. The bruschetta was a lighter alternative to the other appetizers. I was super excited to use basil from our garden for this dish!

I need to thank the hubs for braving the sweltering disgusting heat to cook up this magic on the grill. The steak, especially was a real winner to family!

We made 3 sauces available for people to dip/cover their skewers in: a chimichurri, onion blue cheese (not pictured) and a worchestershire chive butter. The chimichurri ended up being a huge hit (and I used parsley from the garden for it)!

Here is some lovely grilled corn that survived a few flare-ups on the grill.

Here is a semi-decent picture of the crawfish fettuccine before everyone digged in. The hubs’ parents made this dish and it was delicious. Perfect flavor with a little Louisiana kick!

This is some macaroni and cheese that is my mother-in-law’s favorite. It was definitely pretty tasty (not to mention, cheesy).

After enjoying some serious eats, we waited a good while before putting out desserts and just chatted, watched TV and played some games.

I will say the desserts were absolutely amazing.

Fresh berries (and ice cream, not pictured)

Strawberry Cake (inspired by a local bakery). I would have just purchased one, but I had no idea an 8″ cake was over $30. What the heck?! I guess I’m just used to baking my own cakes to realize how expensive cakes have gotten!

This was a welcomed surprise. A local cupcake bakery occasionally has giveaways on Twitter, and I won some cupcakes! They were seriously delish! Thank you Sweet Wishes Cafe!

Here is the cinnamon crumb apple pie. This is one of those frozen pies you can find in the grocery store, but has quickly become a favorite with my hubs’ family.

Of course, our puppy was very excited to get all of the attention she got at the party, and thanks to my mom, she tried a piece of steak for the first time. I think she enjoyed it.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a party without family! Here are some pictures of our family.

It was a great time to be had by everyone, especially in the milder indoors. Thank you so much to Foodbuzz again for the party! Everyone had a blast!

Po’Boys are just awesome. Usually in New Orleans, we eat ‘em in fried seafood form. There’s no such thing as a healthy po’boy. It just ain’t happenin’. Every Friday during Lent, it’s tradition for my family to buy some real New Orleans French bread and fill it with shrimp. Ever so often, I’d have a roast beef po’boy, but it just wasn’t the same as the fried seafood concoction I grew to love.

One time at a restaurant, I tried a meatloaf po’boy. I had my doubts, but it was fantastic. I decided it would be simple to replicate this at home, except I made meatloaf patties this time to make a quick weeknight dinner. Luckily, the meat was still moist and reminded me of meatloaf.

Meatloaf Po’Boy

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp. fresh parsley
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 tsp. ground pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning
• 1 tsp. canola oil
• French bread loaf
• brown gravy (use your favorite recipe)

Directions:

1. Mix first 9 ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Form into 4 long, oval patties (to fit on french bread).
2. Preheat skillet with oil on medium heat.
3. Cook meatloaf patties appx. 5 minutes on each side.
4. Add gravy to skillet. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 5-10 more minutes or until meat is done in the center.
5. Serve patties with french bread, topped with gravy.

We’ve had some skirt steak sitting in the freezer for a couple of months, so I decided to try my hand at making fajitas with this stuff. The meat can tend to be a little tough, so I figured the crockpot would help. I kind of made this recipe up in my head, so it was a big experimen! Luckily, these were very flavorful, and while the meat wasn’t super tender, it was much better than just cooking it on a skillet and serving it!

Crockpot Steak Fajitas

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. skirt steak, cut into strips
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 2 tbsp. taco seasoning
• 2 tbsp. olive oil (divided)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Add 1 tbsp. oil to a skillet on medium-high and allow it to heat up. Add steak pieces in with the taco seasoning and brown them. Don’t fully cook the pieces, but give it a little sear.
2. In a 2 qt. crockpot, add the water, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Add the seared steak and leftover oil.
3. Cook on low for 2.5 – 3 hours.
4. After the meat is cooked, add oil and a tsp. each of salt and pepper to a skillet and cook down onions and bell peppers on medium-high.
5. Toss in meat with 3 tbsp. seasoned liquid from the crockpot and cook the mixture for another 2-3 minutes or until the majority of the liquid has cooked off.

Serve with warmed soft tortillas and other toppings! Enjoy!

Like so many food bloggers, I watched Julie and Julia. I will admit, as a child, I hated when my mom watched Julia Child. I couldn’t understand a word she was saying, and heck, there was Nickelodeon to watch!

After watching this movie, I was inspired and knew I had to make this dish. I’ve been making it for a while now, but one of my blogger friends asked me to make this and show it step-by-step. Please realize that there is NO natural light in my kitchen, just in the dining area, so I did my best on the step-by step pictures!

I used a version found on Joelen’s Culinary Adventures, because it was done in steps, which made it way easier! Thanks Joelen!

Oh, and yes, this stuff is amazing. If you have time and a devoted dish washer (yes, this uses a LOT of dishes), definitely make this!

Boeuf Bourguignon
Source: found on Joelen’s Culinary Adventures, originally by Julia Child, mildly adapted by me

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces bacon
• 3 pounds lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 1 sliced large onion
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 3 cups full-bodied, young red wine , such as a Chianti (used Merlot)
• 2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• Bay leaf
• Chopped parsley for garnish

For onions:

• 18 to 24 small white onions (white pearl onions)
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1/4 cup wine (same type used in beef)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• salt and ground pepper
• 2 tsp. parsley

For mushrooms:

• 1 pound fresh mushrooms
• 1 tbsp. butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sauté the bacon in a dutch oven (no oil) over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. (The bacon will render and give off enough fat to cook with.) Remove the bacon from the pot and place in a bowl; set aside.

Dry the stewing beef in paper towels – it will not brown if it is damp. Add the beef, a few pieces at a time, to the dutch oven to cook in the rendered bacon fat. Sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Remove the beef from the pot and add it to the bacon in the bowl; set aside.

If the bacon fat has been absorbed by sauteing the beef at this point, feel free to add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. In the pot, brown the carrots and onions.

Return the beef and bacon to the pot and toss with the salt and pepper. Sprinkle on the flour over the meat in the pot and toss everything in the pot to coat the beef lightly with the flour. On the stovetop, heat the pot for about 2-3 minutes to lightly cook off some of the flour.

To the pot, stir in the wine along with the stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to simmer on top of the stove.

Then cover the pot and set in lower third of preheated oven. Allow the pot to braise very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

I decided to stop here for the evening and let the beef cool for an hour or so out of the oven and then refrigerate overnight. It’s a good stopping point and you can resume with the onions or mushrooms. OR, if you are ambitious, do these vegetables while the beef is in the oven.
For the onions – place the peeled onions in a skillet with the butter and sear them until they start to brown, move to a medium saucepan, adding the wine, water and herbs. Saute on low for 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.

For the mushrooms -  place butter in the same skillet used to prepare the onions. Saute the mushrooms in the butter until they start to brown. Remove from the skillet and set them aside to cool.

After the meat is braised in the oven or brought back up to temperature on a stovetop, remove and strain the beef and vegetables from the pot with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl; set aside. With the remaining sauce left in the pot, allow it to simmer. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If the sauce is too thin, boil it down rapidly to reduce and thicken. If it’s too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning.

At this point, return the beef and vegetables to the thickened sauce, along with the caramelized pearl onions and mushrooms. Gently heat everything over a medium low heat and then serve with egg noodles, rice or potatoes. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Sorry, this picture sucks. Taken on the iPhone since we just got our pup and well, finding the camera was not a necessity at the time!

I’ve been wanting to make this recipe for quite some time. You see, we don’t have really good BBQ out here in Baton Rouge, in my opinion. I miss Luther’s BBQ, which was in NOLA before Katrina hit. That stuff was the bomb-diggity, and sadly, I haven’t found a place in Baton Rouge that is anywhere close to it! Plus, BBQ out here is ridiculously overpriced for what you get…ugh!

So, when I saw this on Pioneer Woman’s blog, I thought that I had to try it! My biggest problem was finding a slab of brisket that was less than 10 lbs. It seems like Baton Rouge has some SERIOUS brisket lovers! I finally found this 3 lb. piece at one of the grocery stores out here, and knew what I’d make with it!

Let me tell you, this brisket is AMAZING!! It kicks our local BBQ’s butt in my opinion! I’m definitely making it again sometime soon.

PW’s Beef Brisket
Source: Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

• 2 cans Beef Consomme
• ½ cups Lemon Juice
• 1-½ cup Soy Sauce
• 5 cloves Chopped Garlic
• 2 Tablespoons Liquid Smoke
• 10 pounds Beef Brisket (we used 3 lbs. and this worked just fine!)

Directions:

1. Combine first five ingredients in large roasting pan (a disposable is just fine). Place brisket in the marinade, fat side up. Cover tightly with foil. Marinate in refrigerator for 24-48 hours. When ready to cook, place pan covered in foil into a 300-degree oven. Cook brisket for approximately 40 minutes per pound.
2. When fork-tender, transfer whole brisket to a cutting board. Slice against the grain and place slices back into the cooking liquid. Serve immediately, spooning juice over the slices. Barbeque sauce may be used, if preferred.
3. You may store pan in fridge for up to two days or freeze for use at a later date. If fat collects and hardens at the top, remove and discard.