Wordless Weekender: New Orleans-Style BBQ Shrimp

Pay It Forward Giveaway

Just a reminder that today is the last day to be entered into the running for the Pay It Forward giveaway.

Leave a comment on this post or the original post to be entered. See original post for details.

Swiss Chard Bruschetta

We have some Swiss Chard in the garden and the other day we thought up this quick afternoon snack. We sauteed two large handfuls of the Swiss Chard and two cloves of garlic with a bit of salt and pepper in some olive oil and served it on some toasted baguette slices. We loved the sharp taste of the garlic as it mixed with the bitter greens with both flavors balanced by the chewy bread. We'll add that to our growing list of bruschetta varieties!

Cincinnati Chili

It was a cold, dreary day last Saturday, with weather watchers predicting that Tropical Storm Danny would cause windy, rainy conditions. Although some plans had to be postponed due to the weather, we were secretly happy to stay in, relaxing in pj's and catching up on our TV shows after the first week back to work, post-summer vacation. What better way to celebrate such a Saturday than with one of the best comfort food dishes we know: Cincinnati Chili.

We first tried Cincinnati Chili in its actual namesake city, on a one-month road trip that took us from Connecticut to Florida to Louisiana to Ohio to Toronto and back (with many more stops along the way!) during the summer of 1999. Our food guide on the trip was Jane and Michael Stern's Roadfood and while we didn't find the exact chili joint they recommended, we found out that this chili specialty can be had at quite a few great spots in that city.

True Cincinnati Chili is five-way chili: spiced ground meat on top of spaghetti noodles that is then topped with beans, cheese and onions. On our stop, we were told some secrets - that in the best Cincinnati Chili recipes, bull meat and chocolate are key ingredients. Well, we didn't have any bull meat on hand on Saturday, but here is our version of Cincinnati Chili, a four-way chili since our onions are cooked within the chili and are not a raw topping.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 large onion, diced

2-3 cups water

1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa

1 cardamom pod (split and use the contents)

2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 pound bucatini pasta

1 small can red beans

shredded cheddar cheese, raw chopped onion, salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, brown the ground beef and the onion together with the water, making sure to break down the beef finely. Cook until the onions are translucent and there is no pink left in the beef. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to mix well. Bring it to a boil, then cover and allow to cook over low heat for about an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. When ready to serve, boil pasta according to package directions and warm the red beans. Serve the chili over the pasta, then top with beans, cheese and onions.

"Slap Ya Mama!" Heritage Pork Chops

We started school last week, and since then, we've been trying to prepare quick and easy dishes to get us through until we're back in "the routine." However, "quick and easy" doesn't have to equal "from a box/can" or "doesn't taste good." It was with "quick and easy" in mind that we spotted Hurricane Farm selling heritage breed pork at the Coventry Farmers' Market and we were interested. For $10 a pound, would we be able to tell the difference? Would it be worth the money?

The quick and easy answer, a strong and heartfelt "YES." The chops were bone-in and came two to the cryo-vac package, weighing in total at a little over a pound. We seasoned them only lightly, with a sprinkling of Louisiana-made Slap Ya Mama original blend Cajun seasoning, and a drizzle of olive oil, then grilled them for a three or so minutes on each side. The end result was the tastiest, juiciest, most tender pork chop either of us have had outside of a good restaurant.

Was it Chris, for being such a master griller and cooking the chops to a perfectly juicy medium? Was it the seasoning, a nicely balanced mix of salt, red pepper, black pepper and garlic? Or was it the high-quality, lean, all-natural, heritage breed pork? Who can tell for sure? In the end, we're sure that we'll buy chops from Hurricane Farm again, even at $10 a pound.

The Fungus Among Us

Throughout Connecticut, this time of year is synonymous with tomatoes. There are usually heirloom tomato festivals to be found, people are singing the praises of their beefsteaks, bags of cherry tomatoes pass from neighbor to neighbor, and home cooks are cooking down their plum tomatoes to freeze for the long winter ahead. Alas, not this year.

This year, Connecticut was hit with late blight, the same fungus that destroyed the Irish potato crop in the 1800s, and farmers and home gardeners alike have witnessed the destruction of their beloved tomato plants. In an August 12 article, the Hartford Courant reported that Urban Oaks Organic Farm in New Britain lost over 80% of its 7,000 plants, a loss equal to over $100,000 in sales, and that the blight had spread to six out of eight state counties. Add to that the wet summer which made some fungicides ineffective, and there are few good tomatoes to be found.

Last week's Coventry Farmers' Market theme should have been "Heirloom Tomato Fest." Instead, the market masters put their chins up and held "Fungus Fest," a celebration of mushrooms and an attempt to make light of the blight. The CT Valley Mycological Society was on hand to show off some prized specimens and to take folks on foraging walks. Local chefs performed culinary demonstrations showcasing mushrooms and other CT grown products. Even the soapmakers got into the spirit - Rich Valley Farm offered a special "Dirt" fragrance goat milk soap.

If you are lucky enough to have tomatoes this summer, please enjoy them, celebrate them, and have one for us. While we enjoyed the celebration of the fungus among us, we miss our tomatoes.

100th Post!!! Pay It Forward Giveaway

To celebrate our 100th post, we are going to Pay It Forward.

Back in May, we read this post written by Cathy from Wives with Knives and fell in love with the idea. A couple of weeks later, we got an email saying we were selected, and later, we received in the mail an apron with the Wives with Knives logo. How excited were we to get a package from a fellow foodie?!?! Well, you too can find out because it's time for us to Pay It Forward.

We'll follow Cathy's rules, which are:

We will randomly select a food blogger who leaves a comment on this post and send him or her a Connecticut-themed gift within the next 365 days. The catch is that you must be willing to do the same thing. thus Pay It Forward. To enter, leave a comment on this post no later than midnight (Eastern) on Friday, September 4, 2009.

We will announce the winner on Sunday, September 6, 2009. Hope to hear from you!

Whirley Pop Popcorn Popper

We love popcorn. Not the chemically-enhanced microwave version, but real, cooked on the stove popcorn. With butter. Not butter sprinkles or any other butter substitute, but real, melted butter. And salt. Can't forget the salt. My best friend Karen knows this about me, and years ago, she bought me the Whirley Pop Popcorn Popper. This is probably the one kitchen "appliance" we use the most. We usually use Orville Redenbacher's original kernal popcorn, but every now and then we get some gourmet kernels at a farm stand or a specialty food shop. Whatever corn we use, the Whirley Pop ensures that virtually every kernel comes out crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The stirring mechanism prevents sticking and burning, and it's easy to clean. Best of all, we have fresh, hot popcorn in about three minutes. Yes, we love popcorn. But we love our Whirley Popper even more.

Canoe Club, Hanover, NH

(Originally written long-hand, July 8, 2009)

The end of the school year went by in a blur of papers, exams, coffee and take-out. Now I find myself spending a week on the campus of Dartmouth College at what my husband lovingly calls "Latin Camp." The pros? Professional development, personal enrichment, a week in charming Hanover, New Hampshire. The cons? Living in a dorm room and eating every meal at the campus dining hall. I'm half-way there, and I have no choice but to skip the "mess hall" and take myself out to dinner.

I first read about the Canoe Club while browsing the New England travel books at Bank Square Books in Mystic and remembered it this afternoon after deciding to "go gourmet." I enter and take a look around. A canoe on its side behind the bar holds high-end bourbons and scotches while postcards, old photos, and canoe-race awards adorn the Dartmouth-green walls. I am reminded that the Connecticut River is a short mile away and appreciate the unique functionality of the well-placed canoe.

The menu boasts of partnerships with local farms. In fact, I caught the tail-end of the Hanover-Area Farmers' Market on the walk to the restaurant. I'm seated at a high table facing the bar and my server greets me straightaway. I order wine and peruse the menu.

I start with the black-bean and sausage soup. It's full of tomatoes, carrots, celery and onion, all in a spicy minestrone-type broth. I sop up what remained with the chewy Portuguese dinner rolls. The soup is hearty and nicely seasoned with a hint of heat in the sausage. Off to a good start.

Maybe I'm in a soup mood or maybe it's the damp weather, but I order the cioppino next. I can't believe the amount of seafood that comes in the bowl: two large tiger shrimp, six "rope-cultured" mussels, and two dozen bay scallops. All of this, along with onions, stewed tomatoes, carrots and potatoes, rests lightly in a saffron sauce. I dig in and enjoy while I observe my surroundings. Next to me, a young buck seemingly new to the workaday world is chatting with his mentor over beers. A couple is sharing a romantic meal at a table near the window. Two college-age girls are gossiping over wine at the bar. With its warm feel and ideal location, this seems like the perfect place for all types.

Desire for decent food, a touch of PMS and an abhorrence of my recent Spartan living style drives me to order three, yes three, desserts. The first, called "Lime Cloud," I can't resist - it is sweet-tart, has bits of lime pulp, and is as light as its name implies. Next, "Canoe Club Chocolate Kisses," slightly larger and more squatty versions of those made by Hershey, these are darkly decadent and melt without bitterness on my tongue. Finally, the seventy-five-cent shortbread cookie is the crispy balancer of the other two treats. I ordered a couple more to enjoy with a later-that-night cup of tea.

An evening lecture draws me away from my leisurely dinner, just as the live entertainment, a female jazz singer, belts out the opening lines of "Girl from Ipanema." Darn professional development!

Cajun Shrimp Alfredo

Chris came upon one of Emeril's shows while channel-surfing the other day. He didn't catch the beginning, but it seemed to be some sort of "hot and spicy" cooking contest. It was the last contestant's dish that really caught his eye: a spicy Cajun shrimp alfredo. He DVR'd it, and when I entered the living room, he looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and asked me to grab a pen and paper. We did our best to jot down everything Emeril did to recreate the dude's dish but forgot to take down the contestant's name. We cooked it the next night, and here's our version of it. It has many layers of flavor, from the heat of the spices to the smokiness of the andouille, as well as texture, from the bite of the shrimp to the creamy cheesiness of the sauce to the al dente pasta. This one is a keeper. Way to go, guy from Emeril's show!!!

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. andouille sausage, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

8 tablespoons Worcestershire

1 cup milk

2 cups heavy half-and-half

3 tablespoons Cajun seasoning

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 stick butter

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound shrimp, peeled

1 pound fettuccine

In a large, deep skillet, render the diced andouille in one tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for four or five minutes. Add the chopped garlic and red pepper flakes and continue to cook so the andouille starts to caramelize. Meanwhile, put the pasta water on to boil. Coat the peeled shrimp with two tablespoons of Cajun seasoning and set them aside. Deglaze the sausage/onion/garlic pan with the Worcestershire sauce and cook for two minutes, stirring. Add the milk and half-and-half to the pot and continue to stir and cook. Add the butter and parmesan cheese and lower the heat on the sauce to simmer. Cook the pasta according to the directions. In a separate skillet over medium heat, saute the shrimp until they turn pink. Toss the drained pasta in the sauce and serve the cooked shrimp on top. Garnish with some parsley and serve with crusty bread.