Showing posts with label an. Show all posts
Showing posts with label an. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
A Food Lovers Weekend in New Orleans Part 3 Plus an Aunt Sallys Pralines Giveaway!!
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| From the moment you walk up the steps to Commanders Palace, you know youre in for a fabulous experience! |
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| Looking over the brunch menu while we enjoy our eye-openers, signature house-made garlic bread, and peach gazpacho. |
The food was excellent, starting with the appetizers. The guys had Commanders excellent Creole gumbo, Crystal (social media guru extraordinaire) had a tuile cookie filled with sweetened Creole cream cheese and topped with sweet diced cantaloupe. I adore shrimp remoulade, so I gave theirs a try: the shrimp were plump and sweet, and the remoulade had a perfect punch!
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| A sweet appetizer: tuile cookie filled with sweetened Creole cream cheese and locally grown cantaloupe. Add in some vanilla bean-infused syrup and candied pecans, and youve got a winner! |
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| A savory appetizer: Louisiana shrimp served with spicy remoulade sauce. |
Next came the entrees. First up was the Pecan Crusted Gulf Fish with Prosecco Poached Crabmeat, Spiced Pecans, and Crushed Corn Sauce. We also tried the Barbeque Shrimp with Andouille Cracked Corn Grits and Abita Beer Barbeque Sauce. The fish was moist, spicy, and nutty...and the crabmeat provided a nice sweet counterbalance. The shrimp were plump in a spicy sauce...and the grits were earthy and spicy from the chunks of sausage.
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| Pecan-crusted Gulf fish topped with lump crabmeat...served in a pool of crushed corn sauce. |
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| A spicy entree: Seared shrimp in Abita beer barbeque sauce, served over andouille-spiked grits. |
Between the entrees and the dessert course, the strolling jazz combo stopped by our table to play a New Orleans standard. It was great fun...and everyone in the dining room was clapping and enjoying it as much as we were! Before we knew it, dessert arrived. My two favorites were their signature Creole Bread Pudding Souffle with Whiskey Sauce and the Praline Parfait. The souffle takes a down-home favorite and elevates it to gourmet status...fluffy, rich, and sinful (in the best way possible)!! The parfait was almost too pretty to eat: vanilla bean ice cream layered with house-made pralines, whipped cream, and candied pecans...wrapped in a honey tuile and topped with sticky praline sauce.
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| Commanders signature dessert: Creole bread pudding souffle...with whiskey sauce added tableside, just before eating. Ethereal... |
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| Praline parfait...sweet, but not overly rich! Pralines, vanilla bean ice cream, and whipped cream. Encased in a crunchy honey tuile cookie and topped with candied almonds and caramel sauce. |
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| The Weekend Gourmet crew is all smiles as we enjoy Sunday Jazz Brunch. |
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| A duo of sorbet at Sucre: coconut basil and fresh strawberry. The perfect way to cool off on a warm, humid afternoon in New Orleans! |
Everything they sent with us was fabulous! We especially enjoyed the White Chocolate Bread Pudding and the Turtle: chocolate bread pudding topped chocolate mousse, salted caramel mousse, and a hidden gem! Both were decadent, and the small portion size made them not overly rich. The chocolate collection included flavors that were reminiscent of New Orleans.
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| White Chocolate Bread Pudding from Sucre...good warm or at room temperature! |
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| The Turtle: layers of chocolate and caramel mousse topped with ganache and a candied pecan. |
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| The New Orleans Chocolate Collection: handmade and flavored with local flavors, including chicory, bananas foster, and a fleur-de-lis-shaped chocolate ganache. |
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| Locals...and The Weekend Gourmet...line up to purchase authentic Italian ice cream and baked goods at Angelo Brocato. |
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| A sampling of cannoli and Italian cookies from Angelo Brocato. |
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| Pralines bubbling away in a well-used copper pot...in the kitchen at Aunt Sallys Pralines. |
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| A batch of pralines cooling in the kitchen, while another batch is cooking away in the background. Each pot makes approximately 300 pralines. |
In business since the 1930s, Aunt Sallys offers a wide variety of pralines, including traditional Creole, creamy, and chewy. They also come in several flavors, including original pecan, triple chocolate, bananas foster, and even a spicy one flavored with a bit of Louisiana Tabasco sauce! Even better, Aunt Sallys is going to give one of my readers a 12-pack of their Creole pralines: six each of Original and Triple Chocolate! To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment below telling me how you might use Aunt Sallys pralines in your kitchen...or if you plain to enjoy them straight from the box "as is." Make sure to leave your e-mail so I can contact you if you win. I will accept entries until this Friday, September 21st, and the winner will be notified this weekend.
Bounce Back After the Holidays With Driscolls Berries Featuring an Antioxidant Bounce Back Smoothie
Its a wrap, folks! Just like that, Christmas is the books for another year. We had a great time celebrating the holidays with our families and friends back home in Houston this week! Nothing beats great company and lots of tasty treats. As usual, Santa was quite generous. While I absolutely adore the holiday season – time spent with loved ones, colorful lights, beautiful music and décor – it’s also a very hectic and tiring time. Nearly every year, I end up with a post-holiday cold or virus. That’s not fun…so this year, I’m determined to do my best to stay healthy during cold and flu season. Im starting by eating more healthy fruits and veggies. I was feeling tired and run down after returning home yesterday, so I decided to whip up a tasty and healthy Antioxidant Bounce-Back Smoothie featuring vitamin-packed berries from my friends at Driscoll’s.This smoothie is just what I needed to bounce back after a hectic week of indulging in holiday foods! I selected berries that are naturally high in Vitamin C and healthy antioxidants for my smoothie: blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. To up the antioxidant factor even more, I also added tangy pomegranate juice. For a smooth, creamy texture, I added some ripe banana and a bit of low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt. Depending on how sweet you want your smoothie, feel free to add a bit of honey or agave. This recipe makes enough for two smoothies. Theyre a fabulous on-the-go breakfast or healthy snack.
Antioxidant Bounce-Back Smoothie
a Weekend Gourmet Original
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Driscoll’s blueberries, frozen
- 1/2 cup Driscolls raspberries, frozen
- 1/2 cup diced Driscoll’s strawberries, frozen
- 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
- ½ very ripe banana, sliced
- ½ cup lowfat vanilla frozen yogurt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tbs. honey or agave (optional)
Step 1: Add the ingredients to the container of a blender in the following order: juice, frozen berries, sliced banana and frozen yogurt. Top with the honey/agave (if using) and vanilla extract.
Step 2: Blend on high speed until the frozen berries are completely blended with the juice and yogurt. You may need to stop once or twice and tap the blender container if your mixture is very thick. Pour into two glasses. For a pretty garnish, place a strawberry on the rim of your glass...and a brightly colored straw is a nice touch as well!
This smoothie will have your flagging energy bouncing back in no time!! Its also a gorgeous shade of purple-pink. This smoothie tastes great and is totally guilt free…I could’ve used plain Greek yogurt, but the frozen yogurt provides an almost shake-like consistency. The brand I used has only 1.5 grams of fat per serving, and it provides just enough sweetness so that no added cane sugar is needed. I plan to incorporate lots of healthy smoothies into my meals in the coming weeks. They’re a tasty and fast way to incorporate more fruit into my daily eating.
Disclosure: Driscoll’s provided me with coupons for free berries to facilitate this article. I received no further compensation, and all opinions expressed are my own.
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