The Nifty Foodie

I know this isn’t like my usual recipe posts for this blog, but since this trip was so food heavy, I just HAD to post on here! I hope you don’t mind, and I certainly hope you aren’t too hungry.

Back in the wedding planning days, I blogged for an awesome site called WeddingBee. My moniker was Ballet Flat, which is perfect for this flats-wearing gal. I really just thought this was another blog, but little did I know that these women I blogged with would become really good friends of mine.

Every year, these ladies plan a meet-up. Last year, it was in Vegas and this year, it was in NOLA. I had no excuse–I had to do this! It isn’t very often that I meet my Internet friends. I’m pretty shy in real life, so I’m always pretty nervous about shutting down and being super quiet. And before you laugh at me, it has happened before. I actually remember sort of shutting down and not talking to anyone (with the exception of the friend I went with) at a local blogger meet-up. Fail.

For this meet-up, I got to work with the fabulous Serena of Big Apple Nosh to plan all of the foodie events for the trip. Serena and I had a blast introducing everyone to some fabulous NOLA fare.

You might notice that quite a few pictures of food are missing. I totally forgot to take pictures most of the time, because I was probably talking my mouth off. This gal did NOT show her shy side over the weekend…thank goodness.

Thursday evening, we started with some great (CHEAP) food from Cafe Maspero’s. It was such a fun place to meet everyone for the first time, and heck, where else can you get a draft beer and HUGE sandwich with fries for about $10?

On Friday morning, we attended a cooking class, where we learned about gumbo, etouffee, pralines and bread pudding. It was a fun, interactive class, but I found that the instructors made the dishes pretty mild. I guess they want to gradually ease in the tourists to some Louisiana flavors? Boo…

You know this is a blogger trip when everyone is snapping pictures at the food.

Busted, Big Apple Nosh!

On Saturday, we organized a mini food tour for everyone. We made sure that we let everyone try some real gumbo (not the bland stuff from class) from Coop’s Place, yummy muffalettas from Central Grocery and of course, beignets from Cafe du Monde!

That evening, we had a dinner at Oceana Grill in the French Quarter. We surprised everyone with some king cake, since Haydel’s Bakery makes them year-round! And of course, there had to be a prize for whoever got the baby!

Sigh…Sunday. This was the end of the trip for everyone, and we knew we had to offer everyone a brunch to remember. The Ruby Slipper fit the bill. Bananas Foster Pain Perdu anyone? I think I’ll only make french toast with french bread from now on!

I’m still super bummed that the weekend flew by. It was so fabulous to meet these amazing ladies, and I can’t WAIT for the next meet-up with everyone!

As of January 6th, it’s now the Carnival season! Of course, this means king cakes are back in stores. I absolutely love king cake. It’s a sweet, yeast bread with cinnamon and topped with icing and colored sugars (I made mine in black/gold for the Saints game on Saturday.). They make king cakes with so many fillings too, from cream cheese to apple to bavarian cream! This time, I made a plain king cake, since people are pretty particular about what fillings they like with king cake.

I’ve made king cake before, and it turned out tasting like bread. It was NOT king cake. This recipe, however, is MUCH better. This recipe actually comes from Haydel’s Bakery, which is where we had our wedding cake and groom’s cake (which was a tiered king cake) made. I found it fairly easy to make too, however, I think their recipe would be much better if you ice and sugar after baking, which is different than what their recipe suggested. When I made it their way (bake with sugar already sprinkled on), most of us just pulled the chunks of sugar off of the king cake while eating it.

King Cake
Source: adapted from WWLTV via Haydel’s Bakery

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup all purpose shortening
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 lg. eggs
• 1 cup milk (room temperature)
• 2 sm. packs active dry yeast
• 1/4 tsp lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp orange zest
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp butter extract
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar

For the icing:

• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. water

For the colored sugars:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar for each color that you want to make
• assorted food coloring

Directions:

1. In a mixer at first speed combine 1/3 cup granulated sugar, salt, and shortening until well creamed. Add eggs and continue to cream.
2. Dissolve the yeast in the milk and add the flavors. Once dissolved add to creamed mixture and continue to mix.
3. Add flour a cup at a time and mix until dough tightens.
4. Remove from mixer and knead into a ball. At this point sprinkle some flour on top and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rest for 1½ hours.
5. While the dough is resting mix your colored sugars and icing. Mix the 1/2 cup of sugar with a few drops of food coloring until the color you reach is desired.
6. For the icing, whisk the confectioners sugar with the water and vanilla.
7. When dough has rested roll out into an oblong piece. Brush on canola oil covering the entire piece. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar liberally over the whole piece.
8. Once the dough is covered with the cinnamon sugar and oil, fold it in half lengthwise. Cut into 3 strips and braid the dough. Gently roll the dough by starting at one end and working all the way down to the other end. This will make the dough a nice long piece that can then be shaped into a circle. Once shaped place on a baking pan covered with piece of parchment.
9. Allow the dough to rest again until it doubles in size. Bake at 370 degrees F for 12-15 minutes until dough is golden brown.
10. Let the cake cool and spread the icing on top. Then, sprinkle with your colored sugars. Enjoy!

“Hey, uh, Amy? You’ve posted this picture before. You know that, right?” I’m sure you guys are thinking that, but this time I’m going to rave about what’s on the right side of that plate. Oh yes, those potatoes.

These aren’t your ordinary mashed potatoes. They are spicy, flavorful and make you want to start peeling crawfish at a newspaper-lined dinner table. Delicious!

I had a similar tasting dish at a local chain that, as a Louisianian, had me thinking, “Why didn’t I think of doing this?” It’s so simple and such a great idea!

Basically, at a crawfish boil, there is more than crawfish there. You have boiled veggies, like corn, potatoes, onions, garlic, etc. This recipe takes those potatoes to a dinner plate-worthy level, if you get my drift. Oh, and you can easily make these in the kitchen. No need for the 100 gallon pots here, folks!

Crawfish Boiled Mashed Potatoes
Source: an original

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs. small red potatoes
• 1/8 cup crawfish boil seasoning
• 4 tbsp. butter
• Milk (as needed)

Directions:

1. Fill a pot with water and add pre-washed red potatoes and seasoning.
2. Bring to a boil for about 20-25 minutes or until fork tender.
3. Let the potatoes sit in the water for 5-10 minutes to absorb the seasoning. (We did 10 minutes. Husband loved them…I thought WAY too spicy, but I’m a wuss!)
4. Take the potatoes out and put them in a large bowl. Mash them with the butter added in. If you find this too thick, add milk, a little at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

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!

Wow! I’m so excited that there were 71 entries in this contest! You all definitely made me hungry with your comments about Louisiana food, and because of all of the positive responses to this giveaway, I’m definitely going to do one again in the near future! Stay tuned!

So, without further ado, random.org picked the winner and it is…

Congrats Katie!! Please email me at niftyfoodie @ gmail . com to claim your prize so I can send it out to you!!

By the way, Katie entered the maximum of 5 times, so that proves it really does help your chances to get extra entries! Thanks again to everyone who participated!