O! Cochon

Cochon is a wonderful restaurant, we all know this to be true. It's almost a waste of time for me to write about it because, you all know and have heard over and over and over and over and over and over again about the fabulous Cochon Restaurant. You've heard it from local, national and even international media outlets and what is one more, puny, insignificant blog going to do?

It's going to say it AGAIN!

A few weeks ago, John and I heard the squealing siren song all the way Uptown and could not longer resist it's magnetic pull. It had been way too long since we'd been to Cochon.

We arrived a bit later in the afternoon and the restaurant was about half full. I had requested a table near the window when I made the reservations, but they were summarily ignored by the blasé hostess that seated us. Thankfully, she was not our server, though we remarked on her obliviousness and complete lack of enthusiasm or charisma during the course of our "gorge-fest" which made for entertaining lunchtime banter.

Instead of ordering any entrees, John and I just chose several small plates and sides. After a short wait, everything flooded out of the kitchen at once, the plates just kept coming. We had fried alligator with a spicy, chili-garlic aioli and a pork & black-eyed pea gumbo that was quickly inhaled and swabbed up with soft, buttery dinner rolls.

John had specifically requested a dish of grilled shrimp with white beans and tasso that he coveted in a corner of the table, but I made him share the pork cheeks with feta and fried sauerkraut cake. I know, I know, everyone raves about the pork cheek dishes at Cochon, but dammit...there's good reason! We also had a massive, twice-stuffed baked potato that was creamy and cheesy and delicious...oh my...and an eggplant & broccoli casserole, both of which we couldn't finish, despite how tasty, until we got home.

We finished off this fabulous meal with a huge slab of Malted-Milk Chocolate with a sour cream ganache created by Cochon's pastry maestro, Rhonda Ruckman. John realized too late that he didn't like malt so the whole wonderful slice was mine all mine. We really shouldn't wait so long between visits.

Caffeine clip: Satsuma Cafe

Dreaming of another cappuccino from Satsuma Cafe on Maple Street. They use GTO Espresso Blend from Coffee Roasters of New Orleans. Not only do they have great coffee and food, but they are the nicest staff ever... an unfortunate rarity when surrounded by college students and snobs...or snobby college students!

Cookbook: Taste of Tremé

A couple of months ago, author Todd-Michael St. Pierre sent me a copy of his brand new cookbook, Taste of Tremé. What with the holidays and work, I have been so busy, but I finally got a chance to check out the cookbook and try several of the recipes. This is the first cookbook by St. Pierre that is offered with a ton of gorgeous food images and lots of local art. I really enjoyed the little descriptions before each recipe, but you know what I enjoyed more? The food!

The first recipe I tried is called "Ernestine's Easy-Peasy Black-Eyed Peas & Rice." I'm always looking out for simple recipes to whip up on a busy evening and this one sounded perfect. It consists basically of ground beef, the Holy Trinity (chopped onion, bell pepper and celery), long-grained rice, Cajun seasoning (can you say Tony Chachere's?) and canned, black-eyed peas - Trappey's brand if you can find them. The dish turned out pretty tasty, but since I am not a huge fan of plain ol' ground beef, the next time I make this I might add 1/2 pound of ground pork or sausage just to jazz it up a bit.

Although I've played around with my own version of stuffed mirlitons since I discovered this amazingly delicious vegetable upon moving down here, but I have always been on the lookout for different recipes. In Taste of Tremé, St. Pierre has his version called "Pretty Boy Zane's Stuffed Mirlitons." The dish turned out perfectly. I invited my friend Dani over to try it and between the three of us, we almost demolished the whole pan. The mirliton were sweet and juicy, but I think the key to this dish is fresh Louisiana shrimp. My mouth is watering while I write this...time to make it again!

Now you just know I had to try one of the dessert recipes and I picked the "Devil's Halo Pie," which St. Pierre describes as "the epitome of the devil and angel on each shoulder." Basically, a graham cracker pie shell is filled with a mixture of brown sugar, cane syrup (I used Steen's, of course!), corn syrup, butter, eggs, pecans, semi-sweet chocolate chips and a healthy shot of Southern Comfort. Although the filling was a bit too much for the pie shell, the pie turned out perfectly! It serves up very gooey and sloppy, but what it lacks in presentation, it makes up for in flavor...absolutely fantastic!

I can't wait to try more recipes from the cookbook, I already have quite a few marked for future indulgence. Kudos to you Todd-Michael! You've done it again...

House of the week: Castle on St. Charles Avenue

When I was in high school, I used to joke with my friends that one day I would own a castle and they could all live there, performing different duties in exchange for room and board. Johnny was the chauffeur, Eva organized the parties, Charlene took care of the horses...you get the idea. Although the castle I had in mind back then was one of those classic, stone monuments in England replete with battlements, turrets and a moat, I think this pretty purple palace on St. Charles Avenue would do.

This abode fit for a princess was built in 1877 and is far bigger than I imagined from seeing its facade many, many times while cruising down the Avenue. The house features close to 6,000 square feet of living space, five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a separate cabana, in-ground pool and a whirlpool hot tub. This fantasy property has all the features I want in my New Orleans dream house including hardwood floors, sliding pocket doors, high ceilings, stained glass windows, ceiling medallions and (as you can tell from the picture) a turret! It's not surprising that this palace is listed at a whopping $2,995,000...