Mama Rosa's Place

Last event for my birthday week was a gathering of the full membership of the eating group. Unfortunately I blurred most of the picture of the people so here are the ones that were not too bad. From left to right is my enthusiastic friend, my sister, and my baking friend.

This is my particular friend and his wife my artistic friend. In the blurred pictures are my royal friend and towanda and her husband the engineer.

Antipasto Misto An assortment of salami, prosciutto, ham, capo collo, provolone and gorganzola cheese, served with garlic Bread and olives. Very nice especially the ham and cap collo (pig shoulder cured like a ham but spicy)

Calamari Fritti (fried squid) served with radishes. Mama cooks some the best calamari I have every tasted and it is always tender and never rubbery

Gnocchi al Gorganzola Potato dumplings cooked with Italian blue cheese and fresh sage in a rich white cream sauce This was my entree and I had been looking forward to it all week. Extremely rich and delicious. She had fried the sage so it provided a little crunch to this smooth and silky dish
This is Pizza Parma. Not Parmesan cheese but Parma ham. My friends loved it

Vitello alla parmigiana(Veal parmesan) Veal dipped in egg and bread crumbs, baked with home made tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese and served with spaghetti and marinara sauce. Unfortunately a misdelivery. Happens sometimes at mama's

Melenzane (Eggplant) alla Parmigiana Eggplant dipped in egg then baked in home made tomato sauce and topped with mozzarella cheese and fresh herbs and served with spaghetti. The right dish and fabulous as well

Spaghetti alla Carbonara (with Bacon) Spaghetti with Italian bacon, eggs, black pepper, topped with parmigiano cheese and fresh Italian parsley. Actually my favorite dish here but my taste buds wanted Gnocchi

Check out Mama's and Roger's wedding picture on the website. She was a fox back then and a fine looking woman now

http://www.mamarosasplace.com/about.html

Pig Parts

Well last Friday I gave my new pressure cooker a run. I seared the pig tongue with a fair amount of seasoning in lard. Then I added a combination of beef broth (had very little left), chicken broth, and water to cover. Then I added a sliced onion and dehydrated trinity and garlic. Fire it up to pressure and then cooked for 20 minutes. The steam releasing gave the house a marvelous smell. I cooled then sliced the tongue and had sandwiches for lunch. The tongue was only 12 oz so it went in one fell swoop. The afternoon I cooked the rest of the innards in a pot like my mother use to do. Basically kind of pot roasting them with little additions of water then cooking the water out to form a grease gravy. I ate that over mashed potatoes.

Refrigerator Staples

For the last few months I have kept two different items in the frig and used them for several applications.

The first is Chiptotle paste. Based on a hint in one of my cook books I put a can of chipotle pepper in adobo in the blender and zap until smooth. It gives a fluid paste that you can mete out by the spoonful. Once I get an idea of how spicy it is I know how much to add it to various things

The second is Nuoc Cham. This is the Vietnamese dipping sauce based on fish sauce. Although I use the fish sauce in some applications straight, I find the mixture better for others. Very simple recipe

1 part Nuoc Am (fish sauce)
1 part white sugar
1 part lime juice
1 part water
Chili Paste with Garlic to taste

I usually make a cup at a time. So that is 1/4 cup of the four ingredients and usually a overflowing teaspoon of chili paste.

One thing I made with these two items recently was a flavored Salad Dressing. I took a pint of Miracle Whip added three tablespoons of Chipotle paste and 1 tablespoon of Nuoc Cham. This delivery a level of smoky spiciness and backnote of salty taste I found appealing. Using the fish sauce is like using anchovies. When use right it does not taste fishy but enhances the product.

Yank Sing Again

My baking friend is also a candymaker. She needed to access Sam's for this years candy making and seeing as I have a Sam's card and time to take her we went today. Before we did that we ate lunch at this establishment. There are lots of Chinese places in town but this place does it a little different. Below is the orange beef that I got. Tender strips of beef in a dark soy, slightly sweet and very spicy sauce. Just the combo I like. With a bowl of perfect white rice it really hit the spot after several days of seafood

My baking friend go the General Tso chicken. Chunks of boneless chicken battered and fried in a lighter brown sauce with a nice level of spice served with white rice. My taste proved nice and tender with a good flavor profile. She concurred and ate with gusto.

Consider this out of the ordinary Chinese on Nelson road just south of McNeese St

La Truffe Sauvage Dinner

I saved the best for the day of my birth. Last night I went to La Truffe for my birthday dinner. I ate light for lunch as I want to do the whole nine yards. I have been to Europe and both coasts of the United States and I would put Mohammed Chetto and Arthur Durham cooking against anyone. I have had some of the best meals of my life at this restaurant. I sometimes wonder why I go seeking fine food in New Orleans and Houston when this gem is in my backyard. It is not especially cheap but sometimes you do get what you pay for. Here you pay for the freshest ingredients possible put together in a thoughtful and professional manner. I have encountered few missteps and have enjoyed many wonderful dishes. To see what I ate here for lunch recently investigate the August posts. Below is my go to aperitif the Negroni. It consists of equal parts gin, campari, and vermouth. It not only stimulates the appetite but puts me the proper frame of mind to enjoy my repast.

Bread bowl with Arthur's fabulous sun dried tomato bread and Mo's olive oil dip with balsamic and herbs. A highlight of any meal here.

Lamb Shank-Kalamata Olive-Sundried Tomato Tortellini with black truffle cream sauce and Parmigiana Reggiano. Three pockets of perfection. The pasta al dente, the filling savory and hearty,and the sauce earthy. It make for a trifecta of taste and texture.

Louisiana Crab and Corn Chowder en Croute. A perfect soup. All the vegetables brunoised so they were the size of the corn kernels and cooked to perfection. A light cream broth full of corn and crab flavor and lumps of blue crab. Below is first a picture of when it came to the table with its puff pastry hat. Then the deconstruted on with the hat is the soup. Being in a ceramic ramekin it stayed warm to the last spoonful.

Chèvre Chaud over Spinach Salad Breadcrumb crusted goat cheese, lightly sautéed, and dried figs served with crostini & roasted shallot vinaigrette. You may have noticed I am not a big salad person. That does not apply here. The salads here are so inventive and tasty sounding that I usually get one and have never been disappointed. This one was no exception. I spread the goat cheese on the croutons and dove into the spinach. The shallot dressing and sliced figs gave a sweet backnote that went well against the crusty butter bread and sharpness of the cheese. Opposites do attract you know.

A complimentary lemon sorbet to cleanse the palate

The main entree. Pan Roasted Chilean Sea Bass. This was a stacked dish. It started with a thick slice of Yukon Gold potato (boiled then pan sauteed), a trimmed piece of Portabello mushroom (steamed), then a piece of roasted green pepper and red pepper, the sea bass and topped off with zucchini noodles light sauteed and Italian flat leaf parsley as garnish. Unfortunately the mushroom was a bit too firm to cut through to get a bit of everything. However each component was cooked to perfection and very tasty. The fish especially was absolutely great

White Chocolate Creme Brulee with berries. As you can see I let slip it was my birthday. Thank God they did not gather round and sing Happy Birthday. Plating the brulee in a shallow dish like this gave what I consider the perfect proportion of custard to crust. The berries were ripe and tasty for this time of year. All in all a perfect ending to a perfect meal

http://www.thewildtruffle.com/

Mazen's

After attending to a computer emergency at the restaurant I went to Mazen's for my continuing birthday celebration. The bread plate consists of pita bread and a version of Skordalia (creamy garlic dip). Quite delicious. The only problem is that they nuke the bread. It comes in a little plastic bag. If eaten right away it is fine but let it sit for any length of time and it turns to rubber. The microwave stimulate the gluten in the bread in such a way it over bonds just like when you knead dough too long.

Next came a very nice pan sauteed soft shell crab in lemon butter sauce with concassed tomatoes and green onions. Quite tasty and a change from deep fried. I enjoyed it.
Then a cup of Crawfish Bisque. Not a traditional but a creamy one. I expected as much. It possessed loads of taste and a nice spicy bit to it

The main entree was a special. Fish Chipotle (pan toasted fillet topped with shrimp, crawfish and mussels. The fish of the night was red grouper, a fish I am not familiar with. In future I will have to avoid the phrase "pan toasted". Evidently it means rolled in bread crumbs and then cooked in a pan. I am not really a fan of crumb coatings. Also I will probably avoid red grouper in the future as it seems to be very mushy when cooked. These things are personal peccadillos. What was not was that the mussels and crawfish were off. I could smell the fishiness when they set the dish down. The shrimp and chipotle cream sauce were good and that saved the dish for me

Potatoes Brabrant and Haricot Vert were the side. Excellent as usual

Last but not least a Grand Marnier souffle with Orange Zest Whipped Cream. A never fail dessert that has always been good here

http://www.mazens.com/

TV Appearance

For those who care or not, I will be on Sunrise on 7 at he 6:15 spot talking about restaurants and such.