Butternut Squash: How does it end up so soft?

Tonight I had my first experience with the butternut squash. Generally I use squash alot -- yellow squash, zucchini, spaghetti squash -- but I had never cooked a butternut squash.

Let me tell you, it takes a little wrestling on the cutting board.

Mine had a long, thick neck and small, round bottom. I will admit the knives I have for my use right now are not the best, but there was a lot of splitting sounds and squash pieces on the floor as I tried to cube and peel this stingy squash.

I roasted it in the oven with some chopped onions at 425 for only about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, I am not used to this new oven I'm working with and the pieces started to burn, even though I was supposed to cook it for 40-45 minutes.

But, I must say, somehow this hard-to-handle squash had found its soft side. It was tasty and the dark brown I ended up getting it to actually kind of added to the flavor, in a caramelized sort of way.

I made Giada's Penne with Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese.

It was super tasty. The butternut squash lived up to its name, ending up as creamy as butter and really, really good.

This dish is best served as soon as you finish it. I reheated it a little later and it's already not as good. The creamy, goat cheese "sauce" sticks to the pasta and needs a little help from a bit of liquid to help it from being dry on the reheat.

Overall, I'd give this recipe a 7 out of 10 ... mostly because I didn't have that much fun fighting the squash.

Kangaroo anyone?

Not your typical Labor Day grilling menu

My dad wanted to fire up the grill for Labor Day and I insisted burgers and hot dogs were out -- we had them the weekend before!

Luckily, I had bought the Barbecue Bible for my dad a few years ago so I pulled out a recipe for the occasion -- Grilled Pizza.

This is not a recipe to mess with because the prep work takes more than THREE HOURS because you make your own dough. It's made out of a combination of yeast (of course), sugar, salt, olive oil, whole-wheat flour, fine white cornmeal and regular, white, all-purpose flour. You make it and knead it, form it into a disk/ball, cover it and leave it alone. About two hours later, you punch it down and then you leave it alone for another hour.

Here's where the process gets more intense. You spread the dough out on 9x13 cookie sheets, tugging and pushing and, eventually, stretching the dough out as far as you can (I never make it all the way to all four edges!).

Next for the toppings, I grilled three sliced roma tomatoes and some slices of two regular large tomatoes. Once a little charred, I diced the regular tomatoes but left the romas whole for one pizza.

With those ready, it was time to start the pizza-making process. Two-thirds of the grill need to be about medium high in heat and one side needs to be cool. It goes pretty quickly from here.

1. Pick up crust and place it on hot side of grill.

2. Wait for it to puff up, about one minute.


3. Use two spatulas to flip to cool side of grill.

4. Brush with olive oil then add topping, cheese first so it will melt (it suggests and I highly recommend using fontina because it melts so well). Then basil if you have it, then tomatoes, then pepperoni (or whatever else you want on yours).



5. Using two spatulas again, move crust over to hot side of the grill and cook until the cheese melts (about 3-5 minutes).

BEWARE, do not close the lid. That will burn the bottom of your pizza like nothing else. Trust me, I did it the first time I made this recipe.

The result was a very delicious, fresh tasting pizza that won over the critics who joined my Labor Day shindig. The crust is semi-thin but not crackery and definitely not anywhere near chewy. Charred edges just add to the flavors. Definitely a must for future occasions!

To add more grilling flavor, I charred a head of romaine lettuce for a caesar salad by cutting it down the middle, brushing the heart with a little olive oil and throwing on some minced garlic and then putting the heart size down on the grill until it got a nice little char to it. I just diced it up afterward, added some cheese and dressing and had a nice little side dish for my grilled pizza.

Pretty green ice cream

While guest blogger Adam was in California, he sent me a picture of this yummy treat and a little about it.



This green tea ice cream is from a Lappert's location in Sausalito, Calif.

Extra butter fat makes it "super premium."

Friendly service and LOTS of tourists (like me). Pricey, of course, but that's what you pay for "super premium."

Lots of specialty flavors: guava sorbet, Kona coffee and caramel coconut macadamia nut.

Besides that, it was all about presentation, hence the artichoke/floral arrangement.

And oh so worth it!

Holy Guacamole Sunday meets Meatless Monday

My friend Janelle encouraged me to participate in Meatless Mondays a while back and I've never remembered to do it.

Last night I bought some avocados for a salad and decided to get extras for guacamole. Then, the wheels started turning and I decided to give Meatless Mondays a try.

I made my first guacamole Sunday, and after eating it for Meatless Monday, I would say it turned out fairly well.

Photo from whatscookingamerica.net

Here's what I did:
I halved and scooped out two avocados (watch out for those seeds! Mine popped out and rolled across the kitchen floor), cutting them up and mashing them. I added one diced, homegrown tomato and about 1/2 cup of a diced purple onion. I squeezed half a lime, added cumin and a little chili powder (Well, I didn't have any cayenne pepper!), diced some jalapenos (unfortunately not fresh) and put in some freshly minced garlic.

I let it sit overnight and made a wrap with some black beans and lettuce for lunch. It was pretty good, actually.

Unfortunately, the avocados did not have as much protein as I had hoped. But, they do contain 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, like folate, fiber, vitamin E and vitamin C.

I've never loved avocados or guacamole but I enjoyed this Meatless lunch and may have to do it again.

Please share your guacamole recipes with me. I'm always looking for new ideas.

No, I didn't buy a bunch of honey buns and throw them in a baking dish!

Honey Bun Cake is one treat I remember fondly from my teenage years. It was a dessert I only had at church functions, courtesy of our pastor's wife. Until now, since I have the recipe myself!

A few months back, the boyfriend's aunt made him a delicious honey bun cake and shared the recipe with me. Until a week or so ago, the poor little recipe went unused. When a potluck was planned and it was time for me to step up with a great dish, I drew a blank. Someone mentioned a honey bun cake and I decided to take on the endeavor for the first time.

It really was a fairly painless process, easy and straightforward.



The end result was pretty delicious, and a hit among fellow potluckers. See the yummy, swirly inside? It's much better than a store-bought honey bun. Here's the recipe!

Honey Bun Cake

Ingredients
CAKE
1 box yellow Betty Crocker cake mix
3/4 cup Crisco Oil (I was told only Crisco!)
4 eggs
8 oz. sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla (get the good stuff or you can taste the difference)
1 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2/3 cup chopped pecans

Mix first 5 ingredients together. Pour half of batter into 9x13 pan sprayed with Pam (I was told to use a glass baking dish but I used one of those disposable aluminum ones for the party). Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle half of sugar mixture over batter. Swirl with a fork. Pour other half of batter on top. Sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture. Swirl with a fork. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.

GLAZE
2 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix ingredients together and pour over hot cake.

Here is my review on the baking process:

• First, I did not have quality vanilla and I could taste the difference. Get the good stuff.

• Second, putting half of the sugar and pecans in the middle and half on top caused my top to be uneven and bumpy. Therefore, I needed more glaze to cover and it didn't make a pretty top. I think next time I will put all of the sugary goodness in the middle. But, I think I will pour about 2/3 of the cake in first, then swirl because the swirling is hard when there's not much mix.
  

• Third, my cake took a bit longer than 40 minutes -- the middle would not cook! Don't be alarmed if you need longer as well. But, the longer cook time did not take away the moistness of the cake, probably thanks mostly to the sour cream.

Try it yourself and let me know how it turns out. But, don't blame me when you become addicted!

Saved by the Steamer Basket

Two wonderful things happened when I cooked myself dinner on Friday night -- I made my first batch of ravioli and I used my new vegetable steamer!

First, I've had this recipe from my favorite Food Network chef, Giada De Laurentiis, saved in my e-mail for months, always saying I'm going to make the Roasted Chicken Purses when I have a leftover baked chicken. Friday was my day!

Thursday night I went to one of my favorite Shreveport restaurants, Bistro Byronz, and ordered the Rosemary Chicken. Little did I realize, for lack of reading I am sure, that it was half of a chicken. Needless to say, I brought about 3/4 of it home.

For the Roasted Chicken Purses, Giada used some leftover chicken breasts she had from a rotisserie chicken. The leftover chicken was great because, as she did on the show, I shredded most of it with a fork, which made it great for the ravioli-ish mixture.

This was a very, very easy dinner, just combining the ingredients and then putting them into the wonton wrappers. I had never used wonton wrappers, let alone made my own raviolis, but now I love them!

After putting the mixture on the wrappers, you just add some egg wash and fold them up. You kind of bring all four sides up to the middle and twist to make a "purse" out of them. If you steam or boil them, they don't have to be perfect.
Now, Giada says to boil them but I read the comments from reviewers beforehand who had their wontons fall apart. I decided to take a different approach, using my new vegetable steamer.
This was uncharted territory for me and there were no instructions on how long to cook them in a steamer so I was on my own.

I put half of them in the steamer and started my experiment. First, I tested them at 5 minutes (because that was the boiling time), then at 8 and finally at 10 I took them out. Well, sort of. They stuck! So, as carefully as possible, I removed them and had to unhinge some of their bottoms from my steamer basket for round two.

This time, I put my thinking cap on and sprayed the basket with Pam! Viola!! AND, I searched the Internet, that handy dandy little thing, to see how long to steam wontons or dumplings. Some said as little as 12 minutes and some recommended 20. Since my filling was cooked, I opted for 12.

Oh, the Internet and Pam were the answer. 12 minutes was just about perfect. I sampled them and they were tasty. Even my not-a-big-fan-of-pasta father liked them. They do have a good bit of that lemon flavor so I hope you like citrus with your chicken, or else, omit the lemon zest. I found it refreshing!

I did decide to saute them in a little bit of butter afterward. I only put one tablespoon in a skillet with one sprig of thyme. Once melted, I turned off the fire, put the purses in and put a lid on it, turning them in the butter occasionally.

For a side dish, I used my wonderful steamer basket again. I put in slices of onion, bell pepper, squash and some fresh green beans, with a little Tony Chachere's of course. Those steamed almost 30 minutes because I had a lot of veggies in there.

But, my steamer basket was a ROCK STAR!

I had a great dinner and it was a very healthy option. I'm sure it would have been better without the butter, but for the amount of purses I ate, it wasn't that many ticks on the caloric calculator.
Overall, I highly recommend a steamer basket for all of your healthy vegetable needs as well as wonton wrappers for ravioli!

Now I'm ready for shrimp dumplings and wontons...the possibilities are endless.

Plantains would be perfect!

Most every Saturday night my friend Rachelle hosts a dinner party with a theme, usually taking us to exotic regions of the world for at least an evening. We have been to Greece and Italy, Mexico and beyond. Regardless the dinners are always fun and full of good food!

This past Saturday night was Jamaica, which I took allowances to mean anything in the Caribbean and I'll tell you why: I wanted fried plantains!

If you have ever had these little delights, you know why I crave them, and if you haven't had them, it's high time you tried them. My favorites are at a Lafayette restaurant called Guamas (more on them at a later date). Unfortunately for me, calls around Shreveport yielded no plantains. Our dinner was Cuban-less. No black beans either, which are another of my favorites.

Instead we had fried coconut shrimp that are always delicious, even though I'm not a huge fried food fan. It's a pretty simple recipe for yummy shrimp, even for those of us (ahem, me) who don't like coconut. It's "stolen" from Red Lobster, but you can try it at home and see for yourself.

It has a pineapple, coconutty dipping sauce that I decided to add a little zing to, by way of dijon mustard, soy sauce and horseradish. Yeah, it was pretty good. My other advice: taste the sauce before adding the sugar. It gets sweet IN A HURRY!

Paired with this fried treat we had Jamaican Jerk chicken that Rachelle had marinating and threw on the grill as well as a zucchini casserole, a la Giada, called Verdure al Forno. I made this casserole, which was easy and yummy. Definitely worth a try with all the zucchini available in the grocery stores right now. If you want cheesy goodness, this casserole is for you!

Now, our dinner would not be complete without dessert and Rachelle chose a tres de leche cake with mangoes on top. I regret I do not have this recipe to share but I will say that I think I am now in love with mangoes. I don't eat them often but have had them before. We heated these with sugar and served them on the cake and it was just delish. I'm going to buy some mangoes and pour them on every cake, all summer long.

On the plantain front, do not fear, I found some today and expect to fry one of them and salt some of them and sprinkle some with cinnamon and sugar. With the other plantain, I am going to pan-sautee it to capture the full texture and flavor. I like them both ways. It will be my first plantain endeavor so wish me luck!

If you are a plantain virgin, it is a fruit I like to say is kind of a mix between a banana and a potato as far as taste-texture is concerned. I mean, it is more banana but it is a muted banana flavor, hence my potato reference I guess. Maybe I think potato because I love them fried! Who knows, but come back for updates on the plantain cooking experience. Should be fun!!

*photos courtesy of Google images

Peanut butter and bacon burger ... you know you want to try it!

My friend Adam is going to be a guest blogger for this entry. When he said he had a hamburger with peanut butter AND bacon on it, I insisted he write for my blog. Here's to feeding your curiosity.

Last week I got three reminders of a culinary truth I should never forget: peanut butter is awesome.

The first two instances were obvious and simple: the stuff makes a great snack when mixed with an apple, and it's a great condiment for meat in Southeast Asian cuisine.

My surprise came in a French Quarter bar known for it's tequilla selection. Yo Mama's, on St. Peter's Street in New Orleans, also has got quite a list of burgers. Besides the common bleu cheese and chili varieties, they have ... wait for it ... a peanut butter and bacon burger.

Initially, I was intrigued and grossed out all at once. I didn't really want ground beef stuck in peanut butter on the roof of my mouth. But then again, my tastebuds have never had a bad experience with the stuff.

So I ordered mine cooked medium well, and out it came with shreeded bacon stirred into peanut butter. The half-pounder was massive, so I cut it in half.

Halfway through bite No. 1, I was sold. The peanut butter was smooth, and the bacon was soft. I don't know if it was whipped or heated a little, but it wasn't as thick as I feared. It definitely gave the patty a different flavor. I usually like mine with some ketchup or barbecue sauce - the stuff for meat. But this made it slightly more sweet, even dessert-like. Or maybe that was because it seemed like a novelty. The bun really got soggy. Not sure if that was grease from the meat or the peanut butter.

In the way of sides, the kitchen staff offers side salads and baked potatoes. I got a salad with bleu cheese dressing. It was average.

The burger itself was sort of like the place that sells it: at once funky and hip while altogether accessible and apparent. Yo Mama's is right across the road from Pat O'Brien's, one of Bourbon Street's most popular spots. But considering it's location it's a little hard to notice. But stepping off the street and into this place means you're sure to find something good to eat.

Asian inspiration

I've had an obvious affinity for Asian food lately, having made it for dinner twice in a week's time. Last week it was salmon marinated in my homemade teriyaki sauce with some sauteed vegetables and fried rice.

But Monday night, we saw some great looking yellowfin tuna steaks at the grocery store and decided they would make a tasty dinner.

So we decided Wednesday night was the night for our tuna. I love, love, love tuna but I have never actually cooked tuna steaks myself so I had a little anxiety.

First, I made a teriyaki sauce for the steaks. I started with some soy and added some brown sugar to the mix. I had to heat it a bit in the microwave because my brown sugar was kind of hard. Then, I added a splash of some garlic flavored rice vinegar I had on hand as well as some chili pepper flakes, garlic powder and some pineapple juice. Then, I put in some honey to thicken and sweeten my mixture. No exact measurements here, I just added by taste.

I put the teriyaki in a shallow dish to rest my pretty little tuna steaks in, just letting them sit in it for about 10 minutes on each side. I didn't want the steaks to only taste like teriyaki.

After that, I rolled the steaks in some sesame seeds I had poured on a flat dish.

We heated the grill and sprayed it with some cooking spray after it was pretty hot and placed our steaks on the grill.

As tuna steak cooking virgins, I fear we cooked them too long, about 5 minutes on each side. They were thick and I was unsure if we could really eat them as rare as I like them -- medium rare -- since they were from a grocery store and I was unsure how fresh they were.

The steaks, admittedly, were well done but were still really good. I cooked down the remaining teriyaki from the marinade and added some pineapple chunks to pour over the tuna.

Along with our tuna, we also had some asparagus from the grill.

After washing and trimming the bottoms of the asparagus, I placed them on a sheet of foil and sprinkled some olive oil, lime juice and Tony Chachere's on top. Then I folded them up and put them on the grill to cook for about 8 minutes to help infuse the flavors into my favorite vegetable. After that, I took the aspargus stems out and placed them directly on the grill for about 5 minutes to give them a little char.

For our other side item, I looked to South Beach for an edamame salad. Matt did not like the salad because he is very opposed to radishes. I don't particularly like them but I thought there were enough other flavors to make a good dish with the garlic from my rice vinegar and the fresh cilantro. Plus, I love edamame.

Overall, I was very pleased with the meal. But now, I'll trust that I can cook those tuna steaks a little less time.

Lunch made better with a crumbly cookie

Deciding on a place to eat in Shreveport can sometimes take some imagination, I find. That is, I don't generally want to only venture to those chain restaurants that are so easy to remember, although I'm not saying I never go. But, today, for lunch, I definitely wanted a little local place to have a nice lunch. Since I was headed toward the Highland neighborhood for church, Lila's Cakes and Chocolates came to mind.

Walking in you can sense the charm -- cute cakes and goodies everywhere, an exposed brick back wall and, underneath the table tops, photos of houses and places throughout the Highland area.

It was my first lunch experience there, although I had tasted their sweet treats before. I can assure you, it won't be my last.

After much deliberation over the sizable menu, I decided to go against my normal inclination to order the veggie panini, which I tend to order ANYWHERE it is on a menu. I ordered what caught my eye instead -- the turkey sandwich with raspberry chipotle.

It was a simple looking turkey sandwich on wheat bread that was very fresh and, I assume from the advertisement to buy fresh loaves of bread, made right in the kitchen at Lila's. It had lettuce and tomato but instead of your regular condiment, mustard or mayonnaise, it had raspberry chipotle. It was not an overpowering flavor but a good one nonetheless. I might have used even a touch more of it, but not much. I did not want a soggy sandwich. It complimented the turkey nicely, which made me think of the turkey/cranberry combination, I guess just from a berry standpoint. It wasn't very hot, I found. I thought there would be a bit more punch to it.

Adam had the day's special -- a ham wrap with mango chipotle. Yes, I guess they like chipotle there and so do we. I know he liked it because he ate it all and even made sure to get every last ounce of that mango-chipotle mixture on his wrap and in his mouth. Adam has a thing for sauces, condiments and soups, so he wasn't going to let this one get away.

The sandwiches, wraps and paninis all come with either chips or a cookie as well as a pickle on the side, an obvious deli touch. I must tell you I went for the cookie immediately. I was in a bakery after all. I had a Greek wedding cookie.

I'd seen them but never had one before and the powdered sugar over the top of a buttery colored cookie was all I needed to be enticed. The cookie crumbled very easily and of course the powdered sugar was free to move in any direction while taking a bite. I watched out for flying white stuff to land on my dark shirt and enjoyed the creaminess in my mouth. I have to say the butter flavor was subtle, and I did hope for more of it. But when you had a larger bite in your mouth, the crumbles came together for more creaminess. It was definitely not dry.

Adam had a chocolate chip cookie, which I sampled. I have to say it wasn't my favorite bite. It had a more salty/savory flavor in the cookie portion in contrast to the sweet chocolate. But it was soft and moist, two keys to a good chocolate chip cookie for me.

Overall a very good lunch. I'm glad they have been able to make a successful business at their location on Olive Street. It is a good place for lunch in Shreveport with a variety of options at an affordable price.

The Art of the Grilled Cheese

It could be the ultimate in comfort food, right along with macaroni and cheese that is.

The grilled cheese sandwich has long been one of my favorites, a standby when you can't figure out what else to eat or the perfect accompaniment to a bowl of soup, especially of the tomato variety. Today was just the day to make one and it was yum!

A few months back, I decided to concoct my own grilled cheese, a little different from my American singles days.

I tend to have a bent for Italian food and my "new" grilled cheese showcases that quite openly.

It started out with two slices of fresh Italian bread, but don't worry, it has since been bookended by Sourdough, white and wheat, depending on what's on hand. I'm kind of a stickler for having the edges match up and all so I make sure my two pieces are right next to one another. I open them up and butter the insides, yes the insides first. Then I sprinkle the insides with my favorite Italian spices (this is where the originality can begin) and those vary depending on what's in the pantry.

Those inside, spiced up sides end up in a preheated and lightly buttered skillet first (WARNING, there is quite a bit of butter in this recipe). As those begin to brown wonderfully, I butter the top sides staring back at me, which will eventually be my outsides. Once the insides are browned and the aroma of the spices is drifting nicely through the kitchen, I turn them over and place my selected cheese on one of the insides before placing the other spiced side on top of the cheese to create what now looks more like a regular grilled cheese.

The cheese is not a mere afterthought here. I'm definitively into white cheeses on my grilled cheese these days, having started out with mozzarella and sometimes moving into pepper jack. There are others I'm going to try out soon, but these are my main staples for now.

Of course, then you just brown both sides as you would any grilled cheese.

I serve mine with a nice marinara sauce for dipping to "finish off" my Italian meal but soup is always a great side.

Throughout my ongoing experiment I have added sliced tomatoes, turkey and even baby spinach to the mix for variety.

Many variations still await my tastebuds but I'm enjoying my taste-testing in search of the perfect, grown-up grilled cheese. There are so many possibilities beyond that yellow cheese in the wrapper.

I've had a few "samplers" who love it, too, although of course they have their own preferences on how it should be made. As long as I'm the chef, they'll get it my way and just be excited. Of course, it's not as if they are complaining as they clean their plates!

NOLA

It's been about two weeks since my trip to New Orleans and I CANNOT believe it has taken me this long to post about the food. That is why I GO to New Orleans!

For my younger sister, Jenna's, 21st birthday, we decided to head to New Orleans for a weekend of shopping and eating. She's a bit of a picky eater so I was slightly worried about where and what we could eat and make the weekend most enjoyable for her. My friend, Shana, aptly suggested Emeril's restaurant, Nola. She said it was no-nonsense good food with a more casual atmosphere. Or, if she didn't say it like that, that's what she meant because that is the best description of the famous chef's place on St. Louis.

As we walked in, it was exactly the kind of hip New Orleans place I wanted to go -- exposed brick, bustling, renovated warehouse chic. There were four of us for dinner and we were ushered through the packed place to the second of three floors.

I will fail you here by telling you we ordered a bottle of Spanish red that I do not know the name of because I did not order it but it was super tasty. And it finished my friend's Roasted Garlic-Reggiano Parmesan Bisque with Basil Pesto off so delightfully. Mmmm cheese and wine!

My sister was impressed right off the bat with the jalapeno cornbread we were served and I thought it was pretty tasty as well as the onion roll that accompanied. She's not an onion fan -- one of her many picky characteristics.

Shana had the barbecue shrimp appetizer and I think this sealed Jenna's obvious approval of our restaurant choice I had to say the sauce was pretty divine -- not too much Worcestershire, just enough garlic. Her entree just solidified it. Jenna had the dish she always wants someone to fix for her -- Shrimp and Grits. The full description was “Shrimp & Grits” Sautéed Gulf Shrimp, Grilled Green Onions, Smoked Cheddar Grits, Apple Smoked Bacon, Crimini Mushrooms and Red Chili-Abita Butter Sauce, but minus the mushrooms for Jenna.

I had the Hickory-Roasted Duck with Whiskey-Caramel Glaze, Buttermilk Cornbread Pudding, Haricot Verts-Fire Roasted Corn Salad, Natural Jus and Candied Pecans. I've always heard so much about duck and have rarely had it so this was my chance. This is the only entree I can truly critique, having had such small bites of the others. I thought it was done well. I enjoyed the texture and roasted-ness of the duck. It was cooked well but it is a dark meat and I am partial to white meat, personally. The cornbread pudding was a little soggy, probably from the jus, but for this cornbread-dressing lover I could have stood all the jus on my meat and not my pudding. When taking a bite of all of the elements together, especially adding the candid pecan, it was, however, a pretty divine bite of food.

Our other diners had the mahi-mahi with risotto and the buttermilk fried chicken breast. And that fried chicken was not greasy it was just good with its country ham cream dressing.

Everyone was pleased but saved room for dessert.

This is where we did it right. We all ordered something different and then passed our places around for sampling. Cinnamon Pain Perdu with Sautéed Bananas, Drunken Monkey Ice Cream and Brown Sugar Bacon, Warm Ooey Gooey Cake with Layers of Moist Chocolate Cake, Marshmallows and Toasted Coconut served with Coffee Ice Cream, Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie with Sweet Potato Ice Cream and Caramel Drizzle and a peanut butter cheesecake (they don't have the description on the online menu, sorry).

I had the chocolate pecan pie and I think it was my favorite though I must admit the Ooey Gooey cake was good (though I don't like coconut) and was probably my second favorite. The most important thing is my sister LOVED her peanut butter cheesecake and thought it was THE BEST EVER!

21st birthday dinner = success!

Subway's new breakfast

On our early morning drive to New Orleans (more posts from the food
capital will be coming this weekend), we stopped to try the new Subway
breakfast sandwiches.
I had the Western and cheese on an English muffin. I had pepper jack
cheese and opted for the egg white omelet. It was pretty good. Beware,
those fresh jalepenos are kinda potent. For $2, I was satisfied and I
felt like I definitely got a healthy alternative to fast food.
My lil sis had the double bacon with cheese on flatbread. She liked it
but she really likes bacon.
I say, go to Subway and give it a try.

Sent from my iPhone

Food for thought

"That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his
toil -- this is the gift of God."
Ecclesiastes 3:13

Sent from my iPhone

Yummy pork tacos

These were the FABULOUS pork tacos I ate for lunch today at La Michoacana. Let me break this down for you: the workers are from Mexico, they cook the food in a truck next to their storefront and mostly they just speak Spanish.

I'm glad I didn't go alone. My friends Adam and Mark are much better with the Spanish than me and their recommendation to have lunch there was well received.

As you can see, my tacos were stuffed with yummy pork, cilantro and onions with pineapple on top. They were on the best homemade corn tortillas and served with a side of green sauce I can only imagine had some avocado in it because it was nice and creamy.

My lips were still burning after I finished them but in such a good way. I had to stop myself from ordering more!

Noble Savage – April 9, 2010

It just seemed like a dark bar when we first stepped in. It wasn’t an unfamiliar place to me, but I had only been a few times and briefly at that. However, my boyfriend’s suggestion to have dinner at Noble Savage had been one I had immediately liked, thinking of all the good things I had heard about the food. It was just a place I never thought of when I pondered, “Where should I go eat dinner tonight?” By the end of the evening I was thinking how I just accidentally found a foodie when got together and I didn’t even KNOW IT!

The bartop may have been popular at 6:30 on a Friday but the numerous tabletops were yet to find many takers when we took a table near the bar. As soon as my menu was opened, even through the dim light, I found myself intrigued by the veggie pizza, I think it was called the Herbivore, and it had goat cheese. I kinda have a soft spot for goat cheese, just so you know. But then our server told us they had specials. Well, bring on the specials, let’s hear them by all means.

They have an appetizer special: it was the oriental crab cakes; soup – peter leekie soup just for Easter time, complete with diced hard-boiled egg; there were pasta and sandwich specials I remember thinking sounded good but apparently I wasn’t in the mood for whatever they were. The fish was going to be topped with oysters and mussels in a white wine sauce I think. I love mussels but oysters aren’t my favorite so while my BF was intrigued by that one I passed. The wild game was pineapple-stuffed, bacon-wrapped quail. This is what he got and he said it was very good but while I love pineapples, I just don’t like them cooked so much. It’s weird, I know but I let him get it. The red meat was a sata bucco al ramone, which was pounded out veal and proscuitto sautéed in a pan scallopine style. That’s what I got. When servers say “scallopine,” I listen. The white meat was almost the BF's choice for the evening (you will probably learn of his affinity for pork as the blog continues although I don’t make it much). It was a pork and crawfish tandoori, I think, which would have the Indian spices he really enjoys.

We started with the oriental crab cakes which I thought was cooked excellently but I found there needed to be more of the sauce that accompanied it in my opinion because otherwise it got a bit bland. The BF always orders crab cakes if there are available and he thoroughly enjoyed it perhaps not as much as the crab cakes we had Red Rock in Oklahoma City for his birthday (those were topped with a mango and black bean salsa and that was fabulous).

Next came the peter leekie soup and let me say the rabbit was mingled perfectly with the broth and leeks. There was not a hint of a gamey flavor and I downed that soup and loved every bite. I only added a tinge of pepper but, as you will also learn, I tend to really like some pepper. The salt can sit on the table for years but the pepper will be gone in short order in my domain. The diced egg pieces were a nice, playful touch in memory of our recent Easter holiday.

The salad was good but after you read about the entrees, then you will see why they are the more forgettable portion of the menu: I barely remember this course after being awestruck by my plate of luscious food.

Immediately as our plates were placed in front of us, the black granules on one side stood out as an unfamiliar substance. Not for long because that could have been my favorite part of the dish and it was a side item. The Chinese black rice was alone on the plate, topped with some course salt and was delicious. It has the exact consistency of a regular grain on white rice but the taste was smooth with a creamy aftertaste all its own. It apparently has a lot of gluten and is used often in sweet dishes as well as savory ones. It was such a surprising addition to my plate. It sat alongside my favorite vegetable, asparagus, and hearts of palm.

Oh, did I mention I got the veal? Yeah, it was pretty good, too. The BF and I just couldn’t quit talking about that rice! We are adventurous enough eaters to enjoy a surprise or two during a meal and to be trying something that was new to both of us was an excellent twist on our date night dinner. The BF must have liked the quail pretty well because he did leave a clean plate where I just couldn’t eat it all after appetizers and three courses, I was pretty full.

Well, of course the BF is the quintessential dessert eater and he had to have something. Our server, who I’ve forgotten to mention was excellent and fun throughout the evening, suggested the mousse because it was lighter and she even threw in a few slices of bananas and strawberries to makes us feel better.

I have never had a better mousse, even though to be honest I’m not sure how many I have had. The mousse was light and airy. It reminded me of fresh whipped cream but obviously with a delectable creamy chocolate flavor. Oh, and did I mention there was a little raspberry sauce at the bottom. I don’t know where that combination has been all of my life – chocolate and raspberry – but I’m making up for its absence these days with plenty of it in my life now. It was delish! I thought I was full and ate probably more than half of it and didn’t feel any more full than before I ate it. Talk about heavenly.

The final tally: Our bill was over $70 but we had drinks, an appetizer, two, three-course meals, and a fabulous dessert. You can’t get better food or a better deal in Shreveport-Bossier. I mean, it was a great experience for us. I was so glad to have tried out a new place for me with the BF and I think he was pretty proud of himself for suggesting it after we walked out full and satisfied.

Check them out on Facebook (I guess I'm now into shameless promotions, I don't know): http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Shreveport-LA/Noble-Savage-Tavern/165626324258?ref=mf