New Orleans Cuisine: Stanley, Vom Fass, and La Divina Gelateria

Seldom do I post to Clearly Delicious about foods that are not of my own cooking.  But there are those spectacular times when I run across cuisine, or restaurants that are so noteworthy, I cannot help but be stunned by their quality and their extraordinary culinary sights.  During a wonderful 24 hour visit to New Orleans, I experienced one of the most delicious, sensational experiences I've ever had in a city--rich, southern breakfast food, hand crafted gelato, imported and infused olive oils and vinegars.  A really incredible trip.

Below are photo highlights that I took along the way in all of my touristy glamour.  Many thanks go out to Mike Agan and John Browning for being such unbelievable hosts and whose enthusiasm and willingness to act as tour guides could not be more appreciated!

After going to the "Bourbon and Burlesque" fundraiser for the Contemporary Arts Saturday night, John, Mike, Bruno, Lydia, Jeramey, and me were in desperate need of delicious New Orleans hangover food.

First stop: Brunch @ Stanley: 

We gorged on eggs benedict and "eggs stanley"....

 but perhaps best of all was Mike's banana french toast...yum, yum.

During a not-so-quick visit to The Kitchen Witch--a bookstore that specializes in used cookbooks and opened after Hurrican Katrina as a way to "help the city rebuild"--I found an out of print copy of the 1971 edition of River Road Recipes, a regional cookbook on Louisiana cuisine.  Everyone should have a copy of this book.

THEN...oh THEN...my favorite and very possibly most ridiculously spent visit to this incredible business called Vom Fass.  There are only 4 in America (1 of which is in New Orleans), 250 worldwide, and the business specializes in handcrafting vinegars and oils ("fruit vinegars and exquisite oils").  Mike took me there as a surprise, and boy was it.  After dropping a little too much money on fancy jars and fancy oils and vinegars--see upcoming recipes for "extra virgin olive oil with basil" and with "orange," "truffle oil" and "waldburg balsam with Honey" and "balsamic vinegar with dates"--I made new friends and took these fantastic photos:

And finally, the last and possibly second-favorite stop: gelato at La Divina, a Gelateria on Magazine St.  Here, they make hand-crafted gelato with the craziest flavors--"Chocolate Azteca" (a chocolate gelato with cayenne), "Blueberry Basil," "Sorbetto di Limone" (a coconut lime gelato), "Honey Sesame Goat's Milk," and "Strawberry Balsamic Sorbet" were some notable flavors.

I said it before and I'll say it again: I cannot thank Mike Agan and John Browning for being such wonderful hosts during a very quick, but fantastic 24 hour visit to New Orleans.  I felt like a spoiled girl of 14 eating delicious food and going to specialty shops.  It was just too much fun!

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Crab Cakes

Crab Cakes--one of the tastiest, most savory dishes I've ever had (and I've had a LOT of different cuisines!).  Most people eat crab cakes in restaurants for their seafood novelty, but rarely, and I really do mean RARELY, does an American family make this dish at home.  Why? Well, they can be a tough crab to crack if you know what I mean.  Most homemade crab cakes fall a part or taste funny (probably from the use of imitation crab instead of the real crustacean) and the dish becomes a "professionals know best" seafood cuisine item instead of a clearly delicious homemade treat.

Thus, the key to making a successful crab cake lies on two essential, crucial, imperative, requisite, fundamental (GET IT? these two points are really important) facts: 1.) all crab cakes must be made with REAL crab.  None of that fake, man-made red dye #4 crap, and 2.) all crab cakes should be baked in the oven (not fried).

If you agree to these terms, then follow to the next paragraph.

I was inspired to make this recipe while running in the gym last week: Guy Fieri was visiting a diner where a behind-the-scenes cook was making Crab Cakes in massive quantities (I think the recipe yielded something like 32-33 cakes!).  Guy kept asking him, "and you're sure these aren't going to break apart?" to which the cook responded, "OF COURSE NOT.  We're baking them in the oven."  Guy was impressed, I was impressed, and I dare say this recipe is straight up IMPRESSIVE.  Although I do not have Guy's recipe exactly, my method and ingredients are pretty similar.  Make this as an entree in large quantities (recipe yields about 8 cakes), or an appetizer with smaller servings.

Crab Cakes w/Spice
There is no exact source for the creation of this recipe.  As always, I consulted Elise's blog Simply Recipes to get an idea of what works, but I ended up blending a combination of her spices/measurements with some of my own preferences.  See Elise's Spicy Crab Cakes recipe here, or Regular (first attempt at) Crab Cakes here. 


NOTE: The key is NOT to pan fry the crab cakes.  I don't care how much you know about what you're doing, it's just NOT going to work.  Bake them in the oven for less work (and stress) and you'll have a dish that impresses everybody.


Ingredients:
* 1 lb real crab meat (I got mine from Whole Foods at $20 a lb.  A bit pricey, but definitely worth it for a once in a while dish)
* 1/2 small onion, chopped
* 1/4 of a red bell pepper, chopped
* 1/4 of a green bell pepper, chopped
* 1 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 2 large eggs
* 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 2 tablespoons mayo (spicy mayo if you have it)
* bread crumbs, for dusting
* 2 slices of Whole Foods Seeduction bread, torn, or chopped into small pieces
* 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
* 2 teaspoons lemon juice
* 2 tablespoons Grey Poupon Mustard
* 1/2 teaspoon fresh, or ground thyme

1.) Prep all of your ingredients: chop the bell peppers, parsley, and onion and measure your spices.

2.) Sauté onion for several minutes in 1 tablespoon butter and 1 teaspoon coarse salt.

3.) Add peppers and sauté until slightly browned and translucent (onions).  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

4.) Prepare batter: combine eggs and spices.

4.) Whisk to combine.  Add cooled onions and pepper mixture.

5.) Add crab meat and gently fold meat into batter.

6.) Add seeduction bread chunks and fold into crab and spice batter.

7.) Once your batter is prepared, it should look similar to a crab salad, only with significantly more hardiness to it:

8.) Now, the fun part! You are ready to make the actual cakes.  Begin by lightly dusting a baking sheet with bread crumbs.  

9.) Grab a small handful of the crab mixture and shape into a ball.

10.) Place on dusted baking sheet and press down lightly so that the crab cakes are not perfectly circular balls, but rounded discs.

11.) Dust lightly with bread crumbs and refrigerate until you're ready to cook them (for me, it was about 30 minutes).

12.) Cook in a 350F oven for 25-30 minutes, or until cakes are golden brown.  Remove from oven, allow to cool for several minutes, and enjoy! Makes 8 servings, or 4 double servings.  Serve with Elise's Horseradish Mayo Recipe or Tyler Florence's Remoulade.

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Shrimp Etoufée

Living in Louisiana comes with certain culinary expectations: you begin using crawfish in many of your dishes, you learn how to make a roux, you invest time and money in learning how to fry a turkey, prepare a crawfish boil, and the list goes on and on....

Sunday night, John and Mike (and Joe!) joined me for the True Blood premiere.  Those of you familiar with the show know that it's set in "Bon Temps," Louisiana, a small town in backwoods LA where the residents embody a certain southern stereotype and fornicate with vampires, maenads, and well...fairies.   Seeing as John is an extraordinarily well-recognized vampire specialist (check him out at Amazon here), it only seemed right to drink "bloody red wine" and prepare a very Louisiana dish: etouffée.  Now, I had originally planned on making crawfish etouffée, but the Neighborhood Walmart by my house was out, so I picked up pre-cooked shrimp instead (a result of the oil spill in the Gulf, maybe?).  Prepare with either shrimp, or crawfish, but crawfish tails add a little extra "Louisiana" to the dish.

What we prepared was creamy, spicy, and oh-so-Louisiana.  Make this dish with freshly chopped ingredients, prepare a roux, and allow everything to simmer in Cajun spices.  You will have a dish that's spicy (bot not too spicy) and clearly delicious.

Shrimp Etouffée
This dish is a combination of Emeril Lagasse's and Paula Deen's shrimp etouffée with a couple of tweaks (find the originals here and here).  I didn't use quite the quantity of ingredients Emeril's calls for, but used Paula's instead.  Yet, I used Emeril's overall technique and call for butter for the roux (Paula calls for oil, that crazy lady).  When in doubt, see Emeril for how to cook Louisiana, but see Paula for quantity sizing.


Ingredients:
* 1 cup celery, chopped
* 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
* 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

* 4 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
* 1 stick + 3 tablespoons butter
* 1 tomato, diced
* 1 cup onions, chopped
* 1/2 cup flour
* 1 tsp pepper
* 1 tsp cayenne
* 2-3 tsps Cajun Seasoning, to taste (i.e., Tony's)
* 2 lbs shrimp, deveined and de-tailed
* 4-5 cups water

Other Accompanying Dish:
* Prepare 6-7 servings white, or brown rice.  (Note: I use a handy-dandy, rice cooker.  I'll have to wait for water to boil again!)


1.) First, do your prep-work by measuring out all of your ingredients--celery, tomato, onion, peppers, flour, parsley, and spices.

2.) Then remove the tails from your thawed, pre-cooked shrimp.

3.) Now, you're ready to make the roux.  Begin by melting one stick of butter + 3 tablespoons butter in a saucepan.  Note: cut butter into 1 inch cubes in order to melt faster.

4.) After butter is fully melted and has coated the pan, add 1/2 cup flour slowly: flour should be mixed in a little at a time to integrate properly and prevent lumping. This process creates what we call a "roux."

5.) Now, add your onions and celery.  Sauté for about five minutes, or until tender, but with a little bit of crunch.

6.) Once celery and onions are tender-but-crunchy, add your bell peppers and tomato and mix in.  Allow to cook for 1 minute.

7.) Once mixed properly, add garlic, parsley, and spices.  Mix and add 2 1/2 cups water.  Mix to create a creamy roux.

8.) Now, this final step is probably the trickiest, because it requires that you know what you're doing.  Anyone who has had etouffée before knows exactly what the sauce/roux should look and taste like.  Those of you new to making this dish will need to follow this rule of thumb: add 2 more cups of water and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes.  The broth should be thick and creamy and not too watery.  Add the shrimp and allow to cook for another couple of minutes and for spices to integrate.  TASTE and adjust spices accordingly.  If, however, at any point during this final step, the sauce begins to get thick and gloppy, or thick and sticky, add more water.  The consistency you're looking for here is "creamy."  The roux's flour + water + butter ratio is want to make a thicker sauce naturally (it's similar to making a batter), but it's your job to add enough water to keep the sauce from clumping, or globbing up.

9.) Now, remove from heat and serve over rice as this dish is clearly delicious.

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