New Orleans Trip

As some of you may know Catie and I took a trip to the Big Easy last month. It was an eating extravaganza! It was our intent to go to New Orleans and just enjoy the food, we didn't have any special plans other than reservations at Commander's Palace and plans to visit the Audubon Aquarium.

I guess the simplest way to do this is to just go in more or less chronological order. Our flights went without a hitch and we arrived in NOLA and our Hotel about 1:30 in the afternoon. A bit early for our 3:00 PM check in. We stayed at the JW Marriott. I must take a minute to say that customer service is alive and well in New Orleans. I have never been anywhere that people at restaurants, hotels and airports were quite as helpful as in New Orleans. We inquired at the hotel check in desk to see if they would store our bags while we went and got a late lunch. They said that they could do better than that if our room was ready we could just go on up early and get settled in if we liked. Our room was ready so we were able to get settled in and then off to Dene's for lunch. We asked at the front desk if there were any good places close by and they recommended Dene's. It was a big place with a family atmosphere. The food while good was not outstanding. I got the stuffed shrimp, which was a set up for disappointment. As a child my parents used to take us to a place in Galveston called the Golden Greek. They had the best fried stuffed shrimp ever. Alas they have been gone for years now. Catie got the crawfish, fried and étouffée I believe, hers was better than mine. If I go back again I am just going to get the fried fish. Some people at the next table who looked like locals had the fish and it looked good!

We wondered around the french Quarter for the rest of the afternoon. It was rainy and not too crowed for a Friday afternoon. We thought we would try to see if we could get into Irene's. I had tried three weeks earlier to get reservations for Friday evening, they just laughed! Well it turns out that Irene's only allots 30% of their seating for reservations, preferring to have 70% of their tables for walk ins. Go figure. We had been told that if you get there about 5:00 PM and hang around the front door you can get in at 5:30 when they open and as long as you are seated in that first service you are set. Otherwise you may end up standing around for a couple of hours. This rainy evening there were only two couples waiting at 5:30. Catie and I were one of them so we got right in. We had a fried soft shell crab for an appetizer and it was delicious. Catie had the Duck and she said it was possibly the best fowl she had ever eaten. I had the gnocchi, topped with grilled black drum. Big mistake, first of all I have never been fond of gnocchi, but I thought I just won't eat the gnocchi and I will enjoy the nice fish. The gnocchi at Irene's is still gnocchi and it set on your stomach like you swallowed a roll of quarters! Unfortunately the fish was so overcooked it was like fish jerky. I should have complained but I just hated to after ordering the gnocchi, I sort of deserved to go hungry. I was surprised at the fish jerky but it was not good. I would give Irene's another try, it simply has to be better than what I got, and I tried Catie's duck and it was delicious. So a lesson to be learned is this; while you go to NOLA thinking seafood, don't be afraid to try other things if they sound good!

After we walked off the dinner, which didn't take long for me we went to Cafe Du Monde for coffee and beignets. It was good, the chicory coffee was good with the beignets. I understand there are better places for beignets but you just can't go to New Orleans and not try Cafe Du Monde. It's convenient that they are open 24 hours.

The next morning we were up early and asked at the desk where a good place to eat breakfast that was nearby. They sent us to the Ruby Slipper. Catie and I both had the Eggs Sardou. Wow! This dish was originally invented by Antoine's, the oldest restaurant in New Orleans open since 1854 I believe. They also invented Oysters Rockefeller. Eggs Sardou Ruby Slipper style is two poached eggs, on top of French Bread, lightly sautéed fresh spinach, tasso, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, topped with Bearnaise sauce. It was good i made it at home for Jane and mine tasted just like the Ruby Slipper although I used Hollandaise sauce like the original and it didn't come out too well. It tasted fine it just didn't come out as smooth as I would have liked. Not Bad at all!

 Lunch, I can't remember the name of place we went for lunch. We just walked in and it was sort of a new generation new Orleans place. We ate out on the patio since the rain was clearing ad it was nice outside. We had Braised Beef Cheeks. It was on a bed of mashed potatoes and topped with a dollop of black eyed peas. It was like a very tender rich pot roast, it was very good.

I am going to leave off here for now, and I will continue with our Commander's Palace adventure. See you soon.

Mom's Italian Chicken & Not Your Mom's Banana Nut Bread

One of the things that is hard about trying to eat better when you are a food lover is that we don't really like to give up on flavor. So the first thing I did when I started "dieting" is dig through my recipes to see if I had any that were already fairly low cal with out trying. And I did! Part of this is proper portioning but not everything that tastes good has to be full of fat.

The main dish I am sharing was one of my favorite recipes long before I started counting calories (I try and keep dinner between 500-800 calories as it is the biggest mean of the day for us). Its sort of like a lighter version of Chicken Parmesan, but there is no breading so I just call it Italian Chicken.

During my senior year of high school I realized that I really needed to learn how to cook properly before I got married the following August so I volunteered my mother to teach me how. Now I grew up helping in the kitchen and was at an advantage for it, but preparing a meal all by yourself and helping a pro are two very different things. This recipe was awesome because it was so easy that anyone could do it and it's super yummy. It boosted my confidence at being able to cook and became a keeper recipe in part because it was inexpensive enough for us as a broke couple living of military pay to afford.


This recipe serves 3 people but you could easily add another chicken breast with out a problem.

Italian Chicken:

1 Jar Pasta Sauce (What ever brand and type you like. I buy what ever organic marinara I can find.)
3/4 cup part skim shredded mozzarella
6 Tbsp parmesan cheese
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (6 oz)
PAM

Preheat you oven to 375°.

Lightly spray a 9x7 pyrex casserole dish with PAM, empty 1/2 the jar of sauce into the bottom of the dish. Place the chicken breasts on top of the sauce and sprinkle each of them with 1/4 cup of the mozzarella and 2 Tbsp of parmesan. Cover chicken the other 1/2 jar of sauce. Bake for 1 hour or until chicken is fully cooked.

Serve over pasta. I alot 3/4 cup (dry) pasta per person wish is about 150 calories, the sauce and cheese (depending on the sauce you use) per person comes out to about 300 calories, and the chicken another 200. So you have a dinner for a grand total of 650 calories per person. Add ten spears of steamed asparagus for 50 calories or 1/2 cup of peas (frozen, popped into the microwave for a couple for a minute or two) for 70 calories to round out your meal if you like.



Next is my recipe for "Not Your Mom's Banana Nut Bread". This has come about from me trying countless Banana Nut Bread recipes over the years and combining the parts that I like and adding things and playing until I got it just the way I like it. The result is a bread that isn't like anyone else and defiantly not like moms.

Our house ALWAYS has banana's in it and it seems like we eather eat all of them in a matter of a day or two or we have several left hanging out till they are over ripe. Ripe bananas can be frozen until you are ready to use them so anytime I have one or two lonely ripe bananas I pop them in the freezer. Now keep in mind that when you do this the skin on them will turn COMPLETELY black. That's normal...don't panic. When you are ready to use them make sure you take them out and let them thaw for 24 hrs or until they aren't frozen anymore.  Or you can stick them in a ziplock and let them rapid thaw in warm water, either way works. You will need 2 bowls, one for wet ingredients and one for dry, as well as a 10 in bundt pan (if you don't have a bundt pan you can use loaf pans instead).

Not Your Mom's Banana Nut Bread:

Wet:

4 bananas mashed (the riper, the better)

4 Tbsp orange marmalade

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 Tbsp nutella

Dry:

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup chopped nuts of your choice (I like almond slivers but I also often use pecan bits)  

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Mix together the wet ingredients in their bowl, the dry ingredients in their bowl, and then combine the two, mixing all the ingredients together well. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan (PAM Baking also works really well. If not, spray regular PAM or rub sides of pan with butter then sprinkle a very small amount of flour in. Shake flour around and then invert pan over trash, tapping lightly to get rid of any extra flour).

Bake for one hour, testing for doneness with a knife.

This bread freezes really well so if this is way more than you can eat, don't worry! Freezing is also a good way to stope yourself from eating to many servings. Just pre-slice, freezer bag (removing air) and freeze! Take out a bag and nuke for 30 seconds when you want a slice!

This makes about 24 small slices and are only 150 calories each. One slice is perfect for breakfast or a fast snack. This is one of those times that its all about proper portioning, but really can be done and feels like you are getting to indulge.

Enjoy! 

- Catie