Romancing The Chocolate: New Orleans Chef Competition Winner: Macadamia Nut Pineapple Up-Side Down Cake, New Orleans Restaurant Links

       Photo: Cynthia Campbell

                                                              
Romancing The Chocolate: New Orleans Chef Competition Winner: Macadamia Nut Pineapple Up-Side Down Cake, New Orleans Restaurant Links: From Denny:  Louisiana is fond of food competitions and New Orleans attracts the top chefs who are willing to compete for charity events and industry competition too.  This tasty recipe competed in a New Orleans Wine and Food Experience competition, developed by Pastry Chef Erin Swanson, Restaurant R’evolution, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the 2014 desserts category silver medal winner.  All those lucky tasters were found returning for seconds of this delicious simple cake!...

... To satisfy your foodie curiosity here's what the other medal winners were cooking and the New Orleans restaurants from which they hail are linked so you can go visit and check out their stellar menus: ...
                                                              
Romancing The Chocolate: New Orleans Chef Competition Winner: Macadamia Nut Pineapple Up-Side Down Cake, New Orleans Restaurant Links

Sleep Majesty King Duvet

Sleep Majesty: Restful, blissful, restorative sleep reigns supreme to pump up our attitude to take on a new day!  Easy to coordinate with other patterns!

Check out what other products besides bedding are available in this design.

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  Also note that I leave up all my designs from year to year so you have the security knowing that you can purchase as your budget permits to coordinate a room.

New Orleans Chef Recipe: Jambalaya For A Crowd

From Denny:  Need an easy recipe for a crowd during Mardi Gras season?  Chef John Besh of New Orleans paired with Zatarain's to create this faster version of jambalaya using Zatarain's Dirty Rice mix.  In fact, the famous chef has a lot of great recipes on their site.

What makes jambalaya so tasty is the browning of the chicken and andouille sausage, mixing in the veggies like celery and onion, some liquid (some people like to use chicken stock in place of water) and then the rice to cook in all those tasty seasonings and juices.

It's a fabulous one-pot meal that is easy to make and a real crowd pleaser.  Whether you take your time to make jambalaya all "from scratch" or choose this shortcut with the dirty rice mix (rice and seasonings) you will enjoy the result!

Jambalaya is such an easy dish to serve for entertaining, especially the holidays like Mardi Gras, Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays.  We make this dish all year round it's that popular.  If you have never cooked jambalaya then give this recipe a try!  If you live outside of Louisiana you can always substitute your favorite pork sausage.  You can find Zatarain's products online to order too, for individuals or restaurant service.

Funny Friday Weekend iPhone 5 Case

Tell the world how you really feel about coming back to work

* * *  Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  

Dennys Funny Quotes: 61 Best of Funny Mardi Gras Photos

Mardi Gras (05) - 24Feb09, New Orleans (USA) (Photo credit: philippe leroyer)

Dennys Funny Quotes: 61 Best of Funny Mardi Gras Photos: From Denny: Who said Valentine's Day had to be a bummer for the folks flying solo during this holiday? These funny Mardi Gras photos, mocking just about anything and everything that moves, will certainly bring a smile to your face.

So, if you know anyone feeling blue from this special day for lovers, send them this post full of funny photos that will have them laughing in no time.

Since it's 2012 and the whole world figures the Mayan Prophecy of the End of the World is at hand, well, we have the solution in Louisiana: party on. Our philosophy? You might as well go out in style 'cause you can't do anything about it anyway.

Related articles

• Comfort Food From Louisiana: Mardi Gras: Quick Mardi Gras King Cake (unusual2tasty.blogspot.com)
• Comfort Food From Louisiana: Mardi Gras: New Orleans Zulu King Cake (dennysguestbloggers.blogspot.com)
• Comfort Food From Louisiana: Mardi Gras: Winner Meatloaf and 3 Sauces (dennysguestbloggers.blogspot.com)
• Comfort Food From Louisiana: Mardi Gras: Muffuletta Sandwich (dennysfoodandrecipes.blogspot.com)

The Social Poets: Groundhog Day Louisiana Style: New Orleans T-Boy, Baton Rouge Boudreaux

The Social Poets: Groundhog Day Louisiana Style: New Orleans T-Boy, Baton Rouge Boudreaux: From Denny: Groundhog Day contenders are popping up all over America. Groundhogs are not native to Louisiana (because it's too hot) but we didn't allow a little factoid like that to stop us. Louisiana likes it's holidays so what effort was it to rustle up another creative idea than to draft the swamp rat nutria into the Groundhog Day?

Up in the northern part of America it's considered really bad news when a groundhog sees its shadow, foretelling another miserable six weeks of winter. But here in Louisiana it means a spring that is shorter than usual.

A short spring means summer's grueling heat and drippy humidity will return sooner than desired. So, you see, burrow-loving animals can come in handy to predict the weather both in the chilly North and the hottie Deep South.

Related articles

• Groundhog Day: How Many Talented Psychic Rodents In America? (thesocialpoets.blogspot.com)

Mardi Gras: Winner Meatloaf and 3 Sauces

From Denny:  Looking for a healthier recipe for the Mardi Gras season?  While the kids are busy jumping off and on to the porch to grab fistfuls of chips and quick sandwiches and then run back to the parades, the adults might enjoy taking a plate of this crowd pleaser.

This recipe is so easy to make it's kid friendly.  The versatility of this meatloaf is that it can be topped with something as simple as a warmed can of cream of mushroom soup or any of the three sauce recipes that follow.

One is a tomato sauce with brown sugar and mustard.  Another is a sweet and sour taste.  The final one is an Asian flavor using hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ginger and ketchup.

Chef Recipe: Crab Calas with Remoulade Sauce

From Denny:  Chef Poppy Tooker is a New Orleans icon, much loved and respected as she is interesting.  She is like a walking trivia foodie encyclopedia and she sure does relish telling the tall tales of Louisiana food and history.

Check out some of her latest trivia offerings and appearances to tantalize your mind as much as your tastebuds:

* Louisiana's Crystal Hot Sauce was used in WWI Army field rations. I'm a bigger fan of Louisiana Hot Sauce.  It's milder than Tabasco and less vinegar.  Goes great on eggs in the morning.

* Camellia red beans are the finest grade of red beans.  Camellia buys up all the Hayward (finest top grade) beans, leaving grades A and B for the rest of the country.  Hayward grade beans are named for the family that founded Camellia in New Orleans back in 1923.  They still own it today.

Can we ever imagine the Monday wash day without Camellia red beans?  Life might never have been the same in New Orleans.  Even Louis Armstrong might not have been known for his endearing signature statement, "Red beans and ricely yours."

* Her radio show is "Louisiana Eats"
* Hosted Animal Planet's Jeff Corwin
* Hosted Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame
* Celebrates the food of many religions like the feast day of Purim, a Jewish festival to Saint Joseph's Day and Saint Patrick's Day for the Catholics.
* Got UNESCO to recognize New Orleans as an International City of Gastronomy


Poppy Tooker is energetic, upbeat, enthusiastic and forever entertaining as she teaches you a new dish to cook.  Sure works for me! :)  Check out her latest offering.

Crab Calas with Remoulade Sauce

From: New Orleans Chef Poppy Tooker

Yields 18 calas

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked rice
6 tbsp. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 lb. claw crabmeat
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp. hot sauce
2 eggs
Oil for frying

Directions: Mix the rice and dry ingredients together thoroughly. Add the crabmeat and green onions. Add the eggs and hot sauce. Mix thoroughly into a tight batter. Drop by tablespoonfuls into hot oil (360 degrees) and fry until brown. Drain on paper towel. Serve hot with remoulade sauce for dipping.

New Orleans Chef Sclafani Silver Medal Winner: Seared Scallops, Truffled Corn Pudding

Another scallop recipe by ulterior epicure via Flickr

From Denny: President Obama is a huge fan of scallops, often ordering them when he dines out.  Yeah, me too, as long as they are those huge honking ocean scallops!  The beauty of scallops is they cook up quickly and are a light food for the summer heat.

This is one of the winning recipes from last week's New Orleans Wine and Food Experience (NOWFE), one of the top food and wine shows in America. The five-day event entertained a hungry and discriminating crowd in the Crescent City.

Baton Rouge Ruffino's Italian Restaurant's new chef and co-owner, Peter Sclafani from New Orleans, won two Fleur de lis Culinary Awards Medals at the prestigious event: one gold and one silver for his tasty creations. He competed against dozens of great New Orleans chefs. He won the gold medal for his recipe of "48 Hour Pork Belly with Candied Bacon Jam and Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding."

While there still exists the friendly rivalry between New Orleans and Baton Rouge chefs, the two cities are beginning to blend more into one mega-city mindset. New Orleans has discovered there is cooking talent in Baton Rouge since so many moved here after Hurricane Katrina five years ago.