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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2021)
2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD For the oysters Peanut oil, for frying 3/4 cup buttermilk 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon paprika Dash hot sauce, such as Tabasco 1/2 cup cornmeal 1/2 cup all-purpose fl our 18 shucked oysters, see notes MARDI GRAS Continued from Page 1B Served on ordinary rice, this dish would be memo- rable. But I served it on John Besh’s Basic Louisiana White Rice, which is so good you may never want to make plain white rice again. You begin by sauté- ing minced onion in butter, chicken fat or olive oil. The dry rice is then cooked in that mixture for a couple of minutes before you add chicken stock, a bay leaf and a pinch of salt. You know how rice usu- ally has little fl avor of its own and acts merely as a pleasant background for other food? Well, this is the opposite of that. Meanwhile, if you’re going to have big fun on the bayou, you’ll probably want to be doing it with jambalaya. Jambalaya is basically the New Orleans version of pa- ella, the robustly seasoned national dish of Spain: rice simmered with broth, herbs, spices and an assortment of meats and fi sh. Jambalaya traditionally has sausage and shrimp in it, as my grocery-store friend knows well, but I like chicken in mine, too. The more the merrier, I say. My version also incorporates the trinity, of course, along with a bay leaf, smoked pa- prika, celery salt, thyme and Creole seasoning, a blend that you can either buy in the store or easily make yourself. In New Orleans, they add tomatoes to their jambalaya, which makes it Creole style. In Southwest Louisiana, they make it Cajun style, without tomatoes. I wanted a New Orleans Mardi Gras, so I used tomatoes. I like it spicy, too, so I used tomatoes with green chiles. Son of a gun! It is a waste of a trip to New Orleans if you don’t have oysters. Lots and lots of oysters. You can get them raw, you can get them grilled and you can get them fried. I like them fried, but then again I also like them raw and grilled. But for my Mardi Gras feast, I fried them. There are two secrets to making spectacular fried oysters. The fi rst is soaking the oysters in a fl avored buttermilk mixture before frying them. The second is coating them in a combina- tion of fl our and cornmeal, which gives them a highly satisfying crunch. The subtle sweetness of the corn goes particularly well with the briny oysters, too. The problem with oysters is that they can be hard to fi nd in the middle of the country. I bought mine at Whole Foods, though seafood stores should have them, too. Dessert was a diffi cult choice, because New Orleans is famously home to an impressive number of great desserts — beignets, pra- lines, Bananas Foster, pecan pie and king cake, among others. After relatively little thought, I chose bread pud- ding. With bourbon cream sauce. And spiced whipped cream. You can see why it did not take much thought to choose it. This is one of those cases where the whole is better than the sum of its parts, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2021 HOME & LIVING Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS Jambalaya, with shrimp, chicken and sausage, is a classic Mardi Gras dish. which is astonishing be- cause each part is amazing in its own right. The bread pudding itself is rich and creamy, with bourbon, brown sugar, cin- namon and vanilla, fl avors that elevate any custard. Slightly stale bread is soaked in this cream-and- egg mixture for two full hours before cooking, so when it is baked the cubes of bread form a homogenous, delectable loaf. The pudding would be exceptional on its own, but then you spoon a sweet cream sauce over it. The sauce is thickened with cornstarch dissolved in bour- bon, which is an absolutely brilliant idea by the recipe’s author, Emeril Lagasse, one of New Orleans’ most celebrated chefs. The bread pudding with the bourbon cream sauce by themselves would have been enough. But then Lagasse kicks it up another level, so to speak, by topping it with whipped cream spiced with cinnamon and a hint of nutmeg. If you closed your eyes, you’d swear you’re in New Orleans. keeping the beans covered by 1 inch or more of water. 4. Continue cooking the beans until they are creamy and beginning to fall apart when they’re served. 5. Remove the ham hock meat from the bones, roughly chop it and add it back to the pot of beans. 6. Stir in the green onions and season heavily with salt (beans need a lot of salt), black pepper and hot sauce. Serve with white rice. soft, about 5 minutes. Add bay leaf, 2 teaspoons of Cre- ole seasoning, thyme, celery salt, smoked paprika and rice; cook 2 minutes, stirring. Add tomatoes and broth. Bring to a boil, lower temperature to low, cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring frequently. 3. Stir in shrimp and pars- ley. Cook until shrimp are pink and curled, from 2 to 5 minutes depending on their size. Stir in chopped green onions and serve. JAMBALAYA BASIC LOUISIANA WHITE RICE Notes: Creole mustard is available at most grocery stores, or you can somewhat re-create the fl avor by mix- ing 11/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard with a dash of Worcestershire sauce and a dash of hot sauce. Shucked oysters are oysters that have been re- moved from their shell; this requires a special shucking knife (a sturdy glove helps, too). Shucked oysters can also be purchased in a can; they are fi ne for frying. 1. To make the remoulade sauce, mix together the may- onnaise, mustard, paprika, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce in a small bowl until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving. 2. Heat about 3 inches of oil in a pot to 350 degrees. 3. Whisk together the — Recipe from “My New — Recipe by Daniel Neman buttermilk, garlic powder, pa- Orleans: The Cookbook” by (Creole seasoning recipe prika and hot sauce in a bowl. John Besh adapted from allrecipes.com) Whisk together the fl our, cornmeal, salt and pepper together in a separate bowl. 4. Add the oysters to the Yield: 8 to 10 servings buttermilk and let soak. Then Yield: 6 servings remove, letting the excess drip off, and dredge through 2 tablespoons canola oil the cornmeal mixture, tapping 1 pound andouille 1 tablespoon chicken off the excess. Fry in the hot sausage, sliced fat, extra-virgin olive oil in batches, until golden Salt and pepper oil or butter and crisp, about 2 minutes. 4 boneless, skinless 1 small onion, minced Remove to a paper towel- chicken thighs, cut 1 1/2 cups long-grain lined plate and sprinkle with into 1-inch pieces white rice salt and pepper. Serve hot 2 cups diced onion 3 cups chicken stock with the remoulade sauce. 1 cup diced celery 1 bay leaf 1 large red bell pepper, diced 1 to 2 pinches salt 4 garlic cloves, minced — Recipe by Patrick and Gena 1 bay leaf Neely, via Food Network 1. Put the fat, oil or butter 2 teaspoons Creole and the onions into a medium seasoning, see note saucepan and sweat the on- 1 teaspoon dried thyme ions over moderate heat until 3/4 teaspoon celery salt they are translucent, about 1 1/2 teaspoons 5 minutes. Pour the rice into smoked paprika the pan and stir for 2 minutes. Yield: 8 servings 2 cups uncooked Then add the chicken stock Yield: 9 servings long-grain rice and bring to a boil. Add the 2 onions, diced 2 (10-ounce) cans diced bay leaf and the salt. 1 green pepper, seeded tomatoes and green 2. Cover the pan with a lid, For bread pudding 1 teaspoon unsalted butter and diced chiles, such as Rotel reduce the heat to low and 1 rib celery, diced 3 cups chicken broth cook for 18 minutes. Remove 4 large eggs 1 cup fi rmly packed 2 tablespoons rendered 1 pound peeled raw the pan from the heat, fl uff light brown sugar bacon fat or other shrimp, deveined the rice with a fork, and serve. 1/2 teaspoon ground fl avorful fat such as 1/2 cup chopped — Recipe from “My New cinnamon duck fat or olive oil fresh parsley Orleans: The Cookbook” by 1/8 teaspoon freshly 1 pound dried red 4 chopped green onions John Besh grated nutmeg kidney beans Note: Creole seasoning is 1 teaspoon pure 2 smoked ham hocks available in the spice aisle vanilla extract 3 bay leaves 1/4 cup bourbon 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper of many grocery stores, or you can make it yourself by Yield: 3 servings 2 cups half-and-half 3 green onions, chopped Salt and pepper combining 1 teaspoon onion For the remoulade sauce Vinegar-based hot sauce, powder, 1 teaspoon garlic 1/2 cup mayonnaise such as Tabasco or Crystal powder, 1 teaspoon dried 1 1/2 teaspoons Creole 4 cups cooked Basic oregano, 1 teaspoon dried mustard, see notes Louisiana White basil, 1/2 teaspoon dried 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika Rice, see recipe thyme, 1/2 teaspoon black 1 1/2 teaspoons white pepper, 1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar 1. Sweat the onions, bell pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cay- peppers and celery in the enne pepper, 21/2 teaspoons 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce rendered bacon fat in a heavy paprika and 1 1/2 teaspoons Take out and Catering is Available. Dash hot sauce soup pot over medium-high salt. 515 Campbell Street Baker City Salt and pepper heat. 541-523-4318 1. Heat oil in a large Dutch 2. Once the onions become oven or stock pot until hot; translucent, add the kidney beans, ham hocks, bay leaves add sausage and cook until and cayenne, then add water browned on both sides, stirring frequently. Season to cover by 2 inches. chicken with salt and pep- 3. Increase the heat and bring the water to a boil. Cov- per, add to pot and cook er the pot, reduce the heat to until browned on all sides, stirring frequently. Add onion low, and allow the beans to and cook, stirring occasion- slowly simmer for 2 hours. Periodically stir the beans to ally, until brown, about 15 minutes. make sure they don’t scorch 2. Add celery, red bell pep- on the bottom of the pot, add- ing water if necessary, always per and garlic, and sauté until CLASSIC NEW ORLEANS BREAD PUDDING WITH A BOURBON SAUCE RED BEANS AND RICE Still running unsupported Windows 7? We’ll help you avoid critical issues by installing Windows 10! FRIED OYSTERS 8 slices day-old French bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups) 1/2 cup raisins, or more if desired Sprigs fresh mint, for garnish (optional) Powdered sugar, for serving For the spiced cream 1/4 cups heavy cream 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg For the bourbon sauce 1 cup heavy cream 1 cup half-and-half 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 6 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch 3 tablespoons bourbon 1. For the bread pudding: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 6-cup (9-inch-by-5-inch) loaf pan with the butter. 2. Whisk the eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and bourbon together in a large mixing bowl until very smooth. Add the half-and-half and mix well. Add the bread and raisins and let the mix- ture sit for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into the prepared pan. Bake until the pudding is set in the center, about 55 minutes. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. 3. For the spiced cream: Beat the cream with an elec- tric mixer on high speed in a large mixing bowl for about 2 minutes. Add the sugar, cin- namon and nutmeg and beat again until the mixture thick- ens and forms stiff peaks, another 1 to 2 minutes. 4. For the bourbon sauce: Heat the cream, half-and-half, vanilla and sugar in a sauce- pan over high heat, whisking, for 3 minutes. Dissolve the cornstarch in the bourbon. When bubbles form around the edges of the cream, whisk in the bourbon mixture. As the cream boils up, remove the pot from the heat and continue whisking vigorously until thoroughly blended and slightly thickened. Place over low heat and simmer for 1 minute. (This is not a thick cream sauce; it’s meant to be fairly thin.) 5. To serve, cut the pudding into 1-inch thick slices. Lay each slice in the center of a serving plate. Spoon some of the bourbon sauce over the pudding and top with the spiced cream. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and pow- dered sugar. — Recipe by Emeril Lagasse VISIT BAKER’S MOST INTERESTING STORE Store is open 24 hours 7 am to 7 pm Take Out Only Computer not running as fast as when it was new? Let us install lightning-fast solid state drive! Aching Feet? Step right into our office. We specialize in quality medical and surgical care for all types of foot and ankle problems. 541-963-0265 888-843-9090 www.GVfoot.com La Grande 1408 N Hall Street New Name. Same Great Team. Same Exceptional Service. Travis T. Hampton, D.P.M. 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