Lunch at the Little Village Doesn't Disappoint

Perfection on a Plate

Jason Agrees!

Sensation Salad, a Southern Treat

Today Jason and I met for lunch, which doesn't happen often even though we work in buildings next to each other. Thanks to restaurant.com, we had a great coupon that cost us $2.00 (by using coupon code CLEARANCE). We got $25 off of a $35 purchase at the the Little Village. I have been there a few times but was still undecided on the food. We started off with 1/2 loaf of the Village Bread, which is their most popular/well known dish. Jason tried to convince me to get a full loaf saying we could bring some home to my mum but I knew that wouldn't happen. We would eat the entire loaf and then not want the rest of our meal. The bread is golden and perfect, covered with sesame seeds and parmesan cheese. It is sitting on a sea of really good quality olive oil and comes with an olive spread that is out of this world. I tried sooo hard to keep from tearing off a piece and devouring it before I took a photo but I couldn't resist....I couldn't even wait the 10 seconds it takes to photograph the dish. We finished our 1/2 loaf very quickly and Jason commented again that we should have gone for the whole loaf. We were both ready to move on to the next course......One thing I love about Little Village is that the entrees come with a salad. I think all meals, especially Italian cuisine, should come with a good salad.. At Little Village you have the choice of Italian, Caesar or Sensation Salad. For all of you not from South Louisiana, you probably have never heard of the Sensation Salad. I know that I had no idea what it was before I moved to Baton Rouge. This salad is very similar to Caesar, they basically look the same. The Sensation, however, has more of a citrus based dressing vs. anchovy based. Our local news station, WAFB has a pretty good recipe. I really like the Little Village's version of this salad. When you first put a bite into your mouth you can immediately recognize the fresh citrus taste. At the end of the bite, there is a kick of something just a little spicy that is then relieved by the citrus when you have some more. This Sensation Salad is the only one I have had that has that extra heat component. The only negative I could say about my salad was that it was a bit overdressed which can be easily remedied by ordering the dressing on the side. On to the main event. I HATE that I am sometimes a reorderer...I frown upon those that do it but I am a hypocrite when it comes to Italian food. I always seem to end up ordering the chicken parmesan. At Little Village, I love that the side of pasta does not feel like an afterthought. It is artfully laid onto the plate next to the chicken. The chicken itself was moist and flavorful - definitely not a pre-formed chicken patty that you sometimes get. The crust on the chicken was a bit of a disappointment. First of all there was way too much of it. Second, probably because of the thickness of the batter, it tasted like old oil. It was a shame because, like I said, the chicken itself was really good. Lucky for me, the batter easily fell off leaving the delicious chicken breast for me to enjoy. One cannot discuss an Italian restaurant without mentioning the tomato sauce or "red gravy" as they say in Louisiana. And at the Little Village, it is the real deal. There is no denying the freshness of the sauce - you just know that it is homemade with good ingredients. It has just enough sweetness along with the perfect amount of seasoning. I also need to mention that our waiter, Blake, did a fabulous job of catering to our needs even during the lunch hour rush. The Little Village is certainly a culinary experience in which I will take part in again!

Beautiful and Tasty Chicken Parmesan

The Great (internal) Lunch Debate

I can have canned lentil soup

or Serops!

Everyday around 11:45am I head to the lunch/furniture storage room at work to eat. There are usually about 10 of us that eat at this time. We always seem to start off by checking each other's meals out...I have been trying to bring my lunch to save money and calories so I often experience a lot of food envy, especially on Mondays when some of the girls head to the cafeteria in the building next door for baked potatoes covered in fake cheese, broccoli, bacon, sour cream and other delectable toppings. Even worse, each day we get an email with a local restaurant that is going to deliver lunch. As a foodie, I always find time to read the menu, even if I don't intend to purchase anything. There are a few restaurants I cannot resist and one of them just happened to be delivering today. It isn't that Serops is my favorite Greek restaurant in Baton Rouge..in fact it probably ranks third, with Albasha being my absolute favorite (my mouth is salivating just typing that name). But there is no escaping the delicious smell of garlic when Serops is delivered. You can guess which of the four elevators the delivery person rode up in for a couple days after the delivery...I have tried to not give in to temptation...then lunch rolls around and I am eating a peanut butter sandwich and banana while everyone else has chicken shawarma and falafel and hummus and GARLIC. So today I didn't resist. I got the combo plate which comes with both chicken shawarma and gyro meat, hummus and pita, rice, and a feta salad. Everything except for the chicken was pretty good. The hummus was smooth and flavorful - there was definitely a lemon juice in the recipe, which I always like. I did feel like there was a little something missing, perhaps the nuttiness (or is it seediness?) of a good tahini. The gyro meat was well seasoned but the texture was a bit off. At Albasha, the gyro meat seems to melt in your mouth. This did not. The chicken was too dry and, unless covered with hummus, felt a little like sand in my mouth. I also feel like I got the little chicken shawarma tidbits instead of the delicious shaved pieces like that of the gyro. I, as well as my colleagues in neighboring offices, was very happy that Serops was thoughtful enough to include a mint to end this savory meal.

Tomorrow is another day at work, which means another restaurant to be tempted by...I can barely wait to get in to read the menu!

I scream (and bribe) for Ice Cream

It is time to admit it.  I 100% love ice cream...and when I say love, i don't mean that I feel fondly about it.  I mean I really and truly cannot resist.  To me, it is the perfect food - it's smooth and creamy and comes in any flavor that will fit my mood.  Sometimes after a hard day at work, I just want a simple soft serve vanilla cone.  When I am feeling nostalgic, I always go for the cookies 'n cream because it was my childhood favorite.  Every once in awhile, I go for something sophisticated like dulce de leche.....a few times I have felt adventurous and tried an exotic flavor like green tea.

This love has taken me to a new low..something for which I am not proud....I am using my daughter Abby as a pawn to get me to my ice cream.  Abby will do anything to keep from sleeping in her bed.  Every night her goal is to end up in bed with Jason and me.  So, as any mom would do in this situation, I decided to bribe her.  At first, I would let her watch an extra cartoon the next day or play outside for a few extra minutes.  But then I got sick of watching Little Bear or Harold and the Purple Crayon.  It got too hot outside and I didn't want to have to push her on the swing or play ball.  So I decided to make this bribe beneficial to me too.  If Abby went to bed on time (without getting up to go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, kiss daddy or Lucas goodnight again, tuck in her baby dolls...etc) and slept through the night in her own bed then I would take her out for ice cream.  It would be a win/win situation for both of us.  Right now, it is working out great.  She is following her sleeping rules about once a week.  On those lucky days I take her out for ice cream - sometimes it is Basking Robbins or TCBY.  Other times it may be Marbleslab.  I always get each of us the kiddie cone, just a small little taste of the perfect food.  But I am beginning to get fearful....she is starting to be better behaved, going to bed on time and almost making it all night without coming into our bed.  I know that it is unrealistic (not to mention unhealthy) to take her out two, three, or four nights a week for ice cream.  It is time for the bribery to come to an end.  So for now (it's about another year until Lucas says goodbye to the crib and hello to a bed) I must say goodbye to two things that bring a tear to my eye - the perfect ice cream cone and a little girl who cannot get through the night without her mama.

Rice Krispie Treats and Sweet Memories

Last night, Abby and I made rice krispie squares.  It has been years since I've made them and I can't believe how easy it was.  Cooking with Abby (and Lucas serving as helper, of course) is one of my favorite things to do.  I was lucky and actually didn't even realize my luck until I went off to college...I just assumed that everyone knew how to cook.  That assumption came to a screeching halt when I moved in with a girl who didn't know how to make mashed potatoes...seriously though...mashed potatoes??  I pretty much grew up cooking and baking in the kitchen with my cousin Molly and either my mum or grandma, and most often both.  We made everything from homemade bread to cookies to full dinners.  I remember once when we spent the entire, and I mean ENTIRE day cooking taffy...I just remember my grandma yelling to stretch, stretch, stretch the taffy before it got hard.  Our arms were exhausted by the end of the ordeal...but we had the most beautiful taffy.....I only wish we took pictures.  Maybe that's why I feel compelled to take photos of the creation and eating of just about every meal......I want to be able to capture the memories.  Foods brings people together.  Tolkien wrote, "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

Lucas agrees with Tolkien...food makes him merry!

 

Regional Craft Beer Dinner = Good Food, Drinks and Company

Let me start off by saying I am a connoisseur of neither beer or gourmet food.  But Jason (my husband) is good friends with Mike who is a manager at Jubans.  Mike emailed Jason about this dinner and sounded like an experience in which we could not resist.  I am so glad we decided to go!

The dinner was set up in one of Jubans private rooms and it was banquet style, 8 to a table.  I kind of felt like our table was the "kids" table since all of us were probably about 20 years + younger than the rest of the diners.  We lucked out with good conversation and lots of laughs...

The dinner started with a reception at 6:15pm with two beer choices (hubby and I chose to try both) and a passed appetizer.  The first beer was from Tin Roof Brooming Co. located right here in Baton Rouge.  Each batch of beer there is made by hand, 30 barrels at a time.  At first I thought it was a bit bitter for my taste but it certainly grew on me.  I am so proud to know that a beer of this caliber is brewed in the city in which I live!  What great Christmas gifts it will make....I I preferred this beer over the other served during the reception, which was Covington Brewhouse's Bayou Bock.  My husband preferred the bock and put it on the list of beers to buy in the future.  I just thought it tasted like a typical bock.  Okay, now to what I have been dying to share, the appetizer.  We started this night full of delicious food with a smoked three cheese fondue, with bayou bock-battered popcorn shrimp and grilled sourdough bread.  Now, I am not much into seafood and would normally have given my shrimp to Jason without even trying it. But it was covered in cheese so I decided to give it a go.  You can imagine my surprise when I realized how yummy it was - the shrimp was perfectly cooked, crispy on the outside and almost like melt-in-your-mouth butter on the inside.  The bread was cubed and perfectly grilled and the fondue had a perfect smokiness that paired well with each of the beers selected for this course.  In fact, Jason and I realized that fondue brought out the complexity of the beers so much, that I ended up liking both of them.  We both ended up eating four or five of the shrimp skewers, with each one being as perfect as the first.

Okay, on to the next course.  Bayou Teche Brewing Co.'s LA 31 Pale Ale was paired with grilled quail, green tomato jam, and an smoked bacon hollandaise.  Personally, I am not a fan of pale ales, but I can say that many at my table raved about this beer.  It is from  Arnaudville, LA and their goal is to create beers to compliment cajun cuisine.  The glasses the beers were served in rocked and I tried to get Jason to put his under the table so we could bring it home but he wouldn't do it.  On the front they had a map of Louisiana and on the back it said, "Rt 31 Beer Drinkers Paradise."  LOVE IT! Okay, on to the food....I have never had quail before and was afraid it would be too gamey...I was wrong!  It was really delicious and meaty and moist.  Jason and I joked about making teeny tiny buffalo wings but don't think it would be worth the trouble.  The hollaindaise sauce was also delicious, I just wish there was more of it.  That is sometimes the problem with "gourmet."  The sauces look beautiful and the presentation is like a work of art but it is just a tease for my taste buds.  Surprising to me, the green tomato jam was the highlight of this dish.  It had the perfect sweetness and texture and it made me wish the quail had a little more spice to it.

Okay, the next course was my favorite of the evening.  The beer was Heiner Brau Marzen.  It was everything I hoped it would be...smooth, slightly nutty with a little spice, which was a perfect accompaniment for the cumin spiced roasted carrot soup with chilled duck confit and spicy duck cracklins.  The beer was so good that when I got home, I immediately went to their website to find out when the offered tours of their brewery and was disappointed to read that they have been temporarily suspended.  Okay...on to the food...the carrot soup was thick and comforting with the perfect spice.  The soup itself is something I will crave again.  It was smooth, hearty and absolute perfection.  I can still close my eyes and taste it.  The duck confit was chilled, which I did not love.  Of course anything cooked in it's own fat has to be good and this was no exception.  I was scared of the cracklins and actually tempted to avoid them all together.  But Mike convinced me to give them a go and I am glad he did.  They were crispy, tasty and had a deep, rich  flavor that complimented the spicy soup.  To be honest, I would have been happy with the carrot soup served solo and that is what I will want again.  This afternoon I plan on researching roasted carrot soup recipes to see if I can replicate this unbelievable dish.

i knew going into the dinner that the next course would not be a favorite of mine.  I was surprised, however, to find out it was not a favor of Jason's either.  Blue cornmeal fried oysters were served over spicy mirliton coleslaw.  Your first question (if you are not from southern la) will probably be, what is a mirliton?  It is a small, green squash that doesn't have much flavor.  More often than not, they are served stuffed with a spicy mixture of crawfish and/or tasso.  I thought this coleslaw was okay, at best.  It was really spicy and had an overpowering onion flavor.  Since I am not into seafood so much, Jason ate my oysters.  He, along with others at the table, thought they were over-salted and over-cooked.  To me, this course felt like an afterthought that was sandwiched between two unbelievable dishes.  The beer with this course was also from Heiner Brau - their Kolsh.  It was tied for second with the next dish's beer. It wasn't spicy or nutty like Marzen...it was smoother and went really well with the spice of the coleslaw. 

Finally, the course Jason and I had been waiting for - a bison prime rib with sweet potato souffle, praline crumbles, and steen's cane syrup horseradish glaze paired with Lazy Magnolia's Southern Pecan Beer.  The prime rib was perfectly cooked for Jason and I although I heard others complain that it was too rare.  We never had bison before and weren't sure if it would be too gamey.  It was not gamey at all and had a mild flavor that went really well with the glaze.  I felt like the sweet potatoes were not much of souffle.  Rather they were mashed and served in a halved orange.  They were really sweet and yummy and, as one of the diners at my table said "makes me feel like it's Thanksgiving."  This dish did feel very Fall and was a treat after our hot summer.  There was bartering at our table so we could get a few more bites of our favorites.  One diner offered to trade her bison fat for some sweet potatoes......  the beer was really, really amazing.  I have had pecan beers before and find that they usually focus on the bitterness of the nut.  However, the pecan flavor in this beer caused an unbelievable depth in each sip.  When I got home I went to this website too and learned that the pecans are actually used like a grain to make this beer and it is evident in it's nutty characteristic.  In all, this course did not disappoint and came in a close second for me.

Finally, it was time for dessert.  I am usually pretty partial to chocolate desserts so, if I was ordering from the menu, I would not have chosen the key lime cheesecake with lemon creme anglaise and candied blood orange.  To me, this cheesecake may have been the best I ever had.  It was more tart than sweet, which turned off some of the diners.  I, on the other hand, thought it was a dish I wish I could eat in private so my moaning during each bite would not be frowned upon.  Other diners thought it was too rich but, to me, "too rich" does not exist.  I don't understand how people can say that.  It's like saying something has too much butter or frosting.  There is no truth to it.  The lemon creme anglaise added a sweetness that offset the tartness of the key limes.  And the candied blood orange was really a tiny dessert in itself.  It was pure heaven - sweet, tart, with a perfect smooth texture.  The beer served with dessert was another from Covington Brewery - their Pontchartrain Pilsner.  To me, it was a typical pilsner and, because of it's lightness and smoothness,  it paired perfectly with this decadent dessert.

In all, this was a dinner that I will not forget for a long, long time.  I am so thrilled to learn that there are numerous breweries in the area to visit and sample.  These beers are just another way my family can support the local economy.  I have already decided to hold my own local brewery tasting when my family is in Louisiana for Thanksgiving.  I can't wait to introduce them to all of these tasty local brews!

I am sad to be missing the Abita Beer Dinner that is scheduled at Jubans in September because of the family vacation we already have planned.  Check out the menu for that dinner on Juban's website.  If you go, I can't wait to hear the play by play, including photos of course.

Ambrosia Bakery...a little slice of heaven in Baton Rouge

My mum and I got up early because one of our favorite stores, the Royal Standard, was having it's annual tent sale.  After we got most of Christmas shopping done, we decided to take a little detour to Ambrosia Bakery, my favorite bakery in Baton Rouge.  Before we even stepped inside we were overwhelmed by the sweet smell of their baked goods.  I don't know how anyone works there.  I would totally get fired for "sampling" the goods.  There are SOOO many choices, they are all reasonably priced and seem to be mini works of art.  We took about 20 minutes taking in all the sites and enjoying the view until we made our choices.

I decided to bring home Jason a Napoleon - which is his all time favorite dessert.  Unfortunately they were out.  As far Jason goes....you can never go wrong with a cinnamon roll.  At Ambrosia they are about the size of loaf of bread and delicious, of course.  My mother got the lemon danish for her and an apple fritter for my dad.  I got Jason's mom and step dad some cannolis and mini cheesecakes.  For Abby and me....I can barely even believe it.  They had a whole tray of Black and White Cookies..that might not sound like much, but believe me, they are hard to find in South Louisiana.  I actually think this is the first time I have seen them.  I haven't eaten mine just yet..it will have to wait until tomorrow.  Jason and I are getting ready to go to Jubans for a beer pairing dinner.  I can barely wait to describe that experience!

Musca...what? Making Muscadine Jelly.....

Today I ventured on a new culinary adventure - making muscadine jelly.  Until recently, I had never even heard of a muscadine, forget about cooking with it.  A colleague of mine, Chip, brought them to work.  I guess they grow on his property and he had enough to go around.  As soon as I saw the big container of beautiful muscadine grapes, I knew I had to make a phone call.  I immediately called my mum and asked her if she was ready for a new food project.  She (as always) was.  Now let me tell you something about my mum....she is the best cook, baker, cake decorator, cooking question answerer I know.  My husband thought I was a good cook until my parents moved from Taunton, MA to Baton Rouge, LA to be closer to my children and me.  After he had her cooking, mine will forever be considered mediocre at best....okay back to the muscadine grapes....I brought them home and we made jelly this evening.

We started by washing those beautiful grapes and mashing them...we joked about using our feet to do this but instead stuck with the potato masher.  We all took turns - my three year old, my mum, and me.  Next we put the grapes on to boil so the juices could be released....then the real fun began.  Did I mention that my mum is a MacGyver in the kitchen? We had purchased cheesecloth to strain the grapes and thought that we could put the cheesecloth in a colander on top of a bowl to drain.  It didn't work.  There was no place for the juice to go.  So my mum had to "rig" something that ended up working light a charm.  All you need is some cheesecloth, a rubber band and a cabinet.  We let them drain until we had about 5 cups of juice.  From there, we added the Pectin and brought the juice back to a

boil.  We added the pectin and let it boil for a bit before we added the sugar.  We let all that boil....the thing about jelly...when it is hot you have no idea how to tell the thickness of it and we all know there is nothing worse than runny jelly...My mum, once again, saved the day.  She told me to stick a spoon in ice water until it got cold.  Then you quickly dry it off and dip it into the hot jelly.  Let it cool to room temperature and test the texture.  If it is not the texture you are looking for (ours wasn't the first time), add some more pectin and boil again for one minute.  All in all, it took about two hours and we ended up with 7 jars of jelly!  We chose not to can the jelly.  Instead, we put it in Bell's new jars that are plastic....we figured it wouldn't last long enough once we started eating it!

I am so excited about the finished project!  I just wish it made more.....as always, this culinary adventure was a success and a great excuse to spend time with my mum!

I can't wait to find out what foodie experiences await me for tomorrow!