New Orleans Inspiration

This week, we had the pleasure of seeing New Breed Brass Band in Albany and we had such a good time! But we came away craving New Orleans cuisine! So today, we meandered through a few grocery stores collecting ingredients for Jambalaya.   I always start my Jambalaya with a standard recipe and work from there:

Ingredients:

12 oz. (or so) skinless, boneless chicken (breasts or thighs - your choice. Breasts tend to try out too much for me.)

2 Bell Peppers (we use green and yellow to add more color)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced or diced, whatever your preference

Raw minced garlic - 4 cloves, 6 cloves ... whatever your taste buds desire

Canned tomatoes (14.5 oz - we use a quart jar of our home canned tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

Broth - chicken, beef, vegetable ... whatever you have on hand - I use about 16 oz?

1 Tablespoon dried parsley - or a small bunch of fine cut fresh parsley

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil (or again - some fine cut fresh basil)

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon hot sauce (your preference!)

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 lb. shrimp, shelled and deveined (do NOT use pre-cooked shrimp - we tried that once and they got very rubbery)

3 cups cooked Rice

Directions:

Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces

Add all ingredients accept for shrimp and rice to your crockpot

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours

Add shrimp during last 15-20 minutes of cooking

Stir in rice when ready to dish up!

  Tonight we used chicken, shrimp and andouille sausage. We didn't put any hot sauce in, expecting the andouille sausage to bring the spice but the sausage we used was hardly spicy and the flavor was lacking. So we mixed in a little Melinda's Red Savina Hot Pepper Sauce and the flavors came right out! That sauce is amazing!  The key to good Jambalaya is definitely in the heat! :-)

 As for Shrimp Remoulade - there are just as many recipes for this as there are for Gumbo and Jambalaya. Everyone likes something a little different. I prefer a horseradish flavor and Brownie seems to agree. Tonight I switched from horseradish mustard to creole mustard and I ended up adding horseradish anyway. So I'll stick with my usual method. Don't mess with what works!

As for wines, we tried a few. The one we liked best was De Martino Estate Organic Savignon Blanc, it seemed to compliment the flavors best. It didn't blow me away paired together though, I'll try something different next time. Brownie said it would be a refreshing wine on a hot summer day, which is saying a lot because he's not a huge fan of white wines.

Our craving is satiated and our taste buds are dancing, no complaints here! Now we just need to put these bottles of wine to good use! :-)

Cheese Board

My dad made these cutting/bread boards when I was a kid.  He did a lot of woodworking and we had booths at Saturday Markets and craft fairs .... it was a blast!  I still remember bringing in the final cuts after the glue dried and sanding and sanding and sanding these until they were smooth.  I have two of them and can't bring myself to cut on them!  :-)  So we use them as cheese boards.

Tonight, cooking just didn't feel like an option, so I stopped at Trader Joe's and picked up what you see here.  TJ's has the best prices on cheeses and meats and wines ... not over-priced and just plain delicious.  In-home movie date night for us!  

Cheese Bar Quickie

Our Day in Portland is coming to a close, we've decided to head to the restaurant to see if we can find parking on Burnside and possibly get a seat at the counter to watch the chefs cook.  But our last stop is Cheese Bar on Belmont.

We decided to be authentic and just order the cheese boards.  They are simple, no-fluff, straight about the cheese.  I like that.  They have awesome wines, microbrews and ciders available and the atmosphere is very cafe-laid-back.

The staff was super excited when we wanted to taste some cheese in the case while we waited on our food.  They interpreted my 'I like the crunchy cheeses...." perfectly and found exactly what kind of cheeses I was talking about.  These people KNOW CHEESE.  No one made me feel like an idiot for only knowing the common everyday cheeses, they just enthusiastically offered me options and steered us expertly toward exactly what we wanted.

We ended up buying three cuts of cheese that we can't wait to make a cheeseboard at home with .... we enjoyed our time here and the staff .... just awesome.  I can't wait to go back and try some of the other things on the menu!

Stop by and get your cheese on!!!  I guarantee you'll learn so much and come away with something amazing and mouth-watering!

Sweet Red Bistro

We haven't had a date in a long while, we were due!  Tonight we chose Sweet Red Bistro in Albany, Oregon.  This wasn't our first trip to the restaurant, but I thought I would share a little about it here.

This space was home (for years) to the old Boccherini's Coffe & Tea House.  It's always been a quaint and relaxing space to spend time in.  Albany-ites were so sad to see Boccherini's go but now .... we have Sweet Red's in its place!

You can order from a list of beautiful wines (lots of sweeter dessert options here) or you can even bring your own bottle and they will open it and pour it for you.  I always like to try one or two of their wine flights to taste which goes better with what I'm eating and tasting.

Tonight I also decided to try the tomato basil soup - I was starving.  It was delicious and full of basil flavor!  

We ordered the cheese board, knowing that it would fill both of us up and we felt like playing and flirting and creating fun combinations of nuts and cheese and fruit.  It was perfection!  

The atmosphere here is perfect for a romantic date night.  The lighting is low, you can tuck yourself in the back and enjoy your food.

The staff is so friendly and knowledgeable about the wines and food!  They answered all of our questions without a blink and when my flights of wine came, I got to hear all about each of them. 

Tonight we also did something we rarely do:  we ordered dessert!  No need to order coffee, the wines went wonderfully with our chocolate dessert!

Overall, we adore this place.  The art on the walls, the ambiance, everything just screams 'relaxing sexy date night'.  It was perfect for our mood!  Love it!