Showing posts with label bacon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bacon. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Big Bowl of Comfort
This Monday night, the New Orleans Saints crushed the New England Patriots in a game that put us one step closer to a black and gold Superbowl. The next day, the Patriots exacted revenge by sending their crappy Boston weather down here, in the form of freezing temperatures and all-day rain. Ugh.
On days like that, the only thing I want to eat is comfort food. To me, comfort is served best in a bowl of steaming hot pasta, so that's what I made. I should mention that I left town for five days for Thanksgiving, and the weather was absolutely not encouraging me to make the trek to Rouses. I got to work with what I had around the kitchen: orzo (small, rice-like pasta), a few vegetables, staples like chicken broth/garlic/seasoning, and -- always -- bacon.
Sounded like the makings of a carbonara to me. I didn't have eggs, but you could certainly try the recipe below with egg mixed in to create more of a true carbonara. The result I got was filling, hot and delicious, and managed to be exactly what I wanted on a freezing day. It was also pretty simple.
What I used: half an onion; 1.5 tsp pre-chopped garlic (or 1-2 cloves); 2 tbs olive oil; 3 cups chicken broth; 1 cup orzo (uncooked); 4-5 slices bacon; half a cup of Romano cheese (Parmesan would be excellent as well); 1 cup broccoli florets (steamed); salt and pepper.
What I did:
- Heat olive oil in a pan (one that will eventually need to fit 3 cups of liquid and 1 cup of pasta).
- Chop up the onion and garlic (unless you've discovered the miracle of pre-chopped garlic) and throw into pan w/ hot olive oil.
- Sauté until onion is soft, three to five minutes.
- Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil, covered.
- Once the broth is boiling, add the orzo. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, until pasta is al dente.
- While orzo is cooking, steam or boil your broccoli. I only had frozen broccoli on hand, but it worked well. Drain and set aside.
- Also take a minute to cook your bacon in a skillet, or microwave it. This was lunch, not a fancy dinner, so I didn't feel terribly guilty about microwaving mine. Peter & Rene would likely kill me for this.
- When the pasta is done, drain off any excess liquid (if necessary). Return to original pot; stir in Romano or Parmesan cheese. It should get nice and gooey. Then add broccoli and bacon and stir well.
- Serve it up and top with salt and pepper to taste. Crushed red pepper would also be a tasty addition.
Bon Appetit! Let's hope this awful weather goes right back where it came from, stat.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Cochon Butcher, Twitter and $25
'Hot Roast Beef Monday', bacon friends! We serve it with White Gravy + Provolone on a French Roll. And we got an Egg Salad on White.
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But this post isn't just about a good sandwich. It's about a pound of Kurabuta Bacon too. On the way out after contemplating it for the forth time, I finally took the plunge and forked over the $12 for a pound of what I am sure is going to be delicious bacon.
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So that's how one twitter post turned into $25 for Cochon Butcher. They really are one of the few establishments around that I think really use Twitter the right way. Not too much, not too little... they are the baby bear of Twittering restaurants. And I have to imagine it pays off for them.
There are plenty of NOLA restaurants I follow but don't read because they bombard me with 20 posts a day. Cochon does it right so when they post I read it- and often it leads to them making a few extra bucks and me drinking a Mexican Coke.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Birthday Food
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Someone had a birthday a few days ago and someone else threw me a party.
So I'm 25 now. I'm not sure it's quite time to start worrying about eating too healthy, but maybe it's time to consider it a little. That's probably why Kerry decided on bacon-wrapped potatoes AND tomato and mozzarella skewers.
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These little suckers were good. It was like a deconstructed Caprese Salad (is Caprese Salad already a deconstructed dish?). Three grape tomatoes and a chunk of mozzarella on a stick, drizzled with some homemade, home grown basil olive oil. Everyone loved them and I ate a bunch, but not so many that I didn't have room for the main attraction...
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In general people don't eat enough bacon-wrapped things on their birthdays. These went fast. Small red potatoes quartered, boiled for a few min, tossed with some fresh rosemary, salt n peppa, and olive oil, then wrapped in a half slice of bacon and cooked at 400 degrees for about 40-45 min.
Oh, don't worry - the bacon grease they sucked up was countered by the sour cream and Tabasco dip we had for them. These were so good we made then again the next night for a meal.
There were some banana nut cup cakes to top the night off as well, but somehow we forgot to get a picture of them... it's a shame because they were delicious and looked pretty good too.
So - turn 25 if you haven't yet, get some bacon, and a girl that will throw you a party and life will be pretty good.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Elizabeth's
I had a friend drive through on her way back to Mobile from Louis Armstrong. She wanted brunch so we took her to Elizabeth's on Gallier over in the Marigny. We had to drive further than expected but I'd say it was worth it.
We got there at 11 on Sunday so they sent us to an upstairs bar to wait. Other was pretty lively and we had a Mimosa.
We sat and had we all split a plate of the praline bacon. Here was my piece. The bacon alone was worth the drive.
Kerry had the Red Neck Eggs. Fried Green Tomatoes and poached eggs with grits. It looked pretty good. I'm not a big poached eggs guy but she seemed to like it.
I had the Carolina Shrimp and Grits. They were pretty good too and came with a big biscuit. And I just remembered that I have the left overs in my fridge so I'm going to go eat them. Good reasonably priced brunch stop though.
jpv
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