Seafood Paella (or Paella Valenciana), on the Grill!

Disclaimer:  I make no claims about how "authentic" this recipe is.  I try to write recipes that are true to the time-honored and time-consuming cooking techniques of the originators, while keeping in mind that most folks don't have pimento wood laying around for a true Jamaican jerk experience, for example.

After months of research, I've learned that paella-making varies with each cook, so there isn't any one "authentic" paella recipe. But you can't go wrong with seafood, garlic, and a grill-so use this recipe as a backbone for your own paella-making approach and have some fun.

Traditional paella is made over an open flame in a large, handled paella pan.  A lot of recipes call for cooking the paella over two burners on your stove, or sauteing then baking the dish.  My recipe is even easier, and there are a lot of benefits to cooking the paella on the grill.  One, your kitchen doesn't heat up, so it's great for summer. Also, people are impressed when you can cook more than brats and burgers over an open flame.  (Why? I have no idea, but try it and you'll see what I mean.) Finally, grilling the chicken and chorizo while you make your sofrito saves some time and adds the perfect smokiness to the dish that you don't get from sauteing them on your stove.

 This recipe can feed approximately 8 people, so plan on leftovers or call some friends.  Paella is even better the next day, so you can legitimately have guests over for "leftovers" with this recipe, and they will love you for it.

And I've said it before, but if you cook at home, there's no reason why you can't take the chicken carcass and the shrimp shells and make your own stock.  It's easy, healthy, and will save you loads of money. I can't tell you how many times I've been able to make last minute meals making soups or risottos with whatever is in my fridge/pantry and some homemade stock from the freezer. Think about it.


Paella Valenciana with Shrimp, Squid, Chorizo, Chicken, and Clams Recipe

1 whole chicken, skinned and cut into thighs, drumsticks, and breast pieces and seasoned w/saltpepper
8 cloves garlic, minced
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped (some say to "grate the tomatoes." That thought grosses me out)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 Tbs. olive oil
4 cups shrimp stock, fish stock, or clam juice
Large pinch saffron
2 cups arborio or another short-grained rice (important-the rice has to absorb the broth. Short grained rices do this well)
1 lb. uncooked shrimp, peeled but with tails intact
1/2 lb. chorizo sausage, pierced with a knife in several places
3-4 whole uncooked squid, with the bodies cut into rings
12-15 uncooked clams, scubbed
1 cup peas (can use frozen + thawed)
1 yellow and 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
2 tsp. salt,  more to taste
2 tsp. smoked paprika
3 Thyme sprigs
3 lemons, cut into wedges
Black pepper to taste

Bring the stock to a boil, then add the saffron.  Keep the broth/saffron covered and simmering on low for at least 1 hour before you add it to the paella. 

Prepare the grill for direct medium-high heat (If you're using your weber kettle, fill the charcoal chimney up with coals.  Once they are hot, dump them into the middle of your grill and add 8 or so cold coals on top of the hot ones.)  Cover the bottom of your paella pan with foil to protect it a little from the fire.

Put the pan on the grill, and heat the olive oil.  This may take a minute or two. Add the chicken pieces to the grill surrounding the paella pan and let them cook. The boneless breast pieces and will need to be pulled off the grill long before the bone-in pieces, so have a clean plate standing by. As you remove the cooked breast pieces from the grill, add the chorizo and grill until browned. (This adds flavor to the sausage, and allows some of the grease to cook out so your paella tastes fresh and light, not greasy). Remove the chorizo and once cooled, cut into slices.

Once the oil is hot, add the onion and cook 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook one minute.  Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring constantly until the tomato mixture darkens and reduces to the consistency of jam.  Now you have a sofrito.  Woohoo!

Bring the broth mixture on your stove back to a slow boil. Add your rice to the sofrito in your paella pan and toast the rice for 2 minutes. Stir in the boiling broth mixture, peppers, squid, chicken, paprika, salt, a pinch of pepper, thyme, and chorizo. (Classic case of "do as I say, not as I do." Don't add the peas yet!).

Cover the grill and let cook for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, check to make sure your paella is cooking. If some of the rice looks wetter than other parts of the pan, push it towards the center of the pan gently with a spoon. Once the rice is almost cooked, add the peas, push the clams down into the rice, and lay the shrimp on top. Cover the grill and cook another 10 minutes, or until the clams open up. Carefully remove the paella from the grill, remove the thyme sprigs, and serve with lemon wedges for people to squeeze over their paella before eating.

Saints are World Champs!! And New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp Recipe

Hey, guess what? THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!!!

Mama and Papa BaCon flew from St. Louis to get snowed in and watch Superbowl XLIV with us, Foxy, and some crazy, lovely D.C. folks. Black and Gold beads, the dark smell of gumbo, and friends in Saints gear filled our house while "Superbowl Mambo" streamed from the Times Picayune website, and it felt like a true N'awlins romp. To everyone who came out for the party and to those who couldn't come due to the storm/work but who were there in spirit (JKarlin, we missed you!): because of you guys, Mr. Luz and I didn't miss home when we could have missed it the most. So thanks for being there with us.

As far as the game goes, I couldn't tell you what actually happened because I was too amped up to think. All I know is the K. Gates song "Stand Up and Get Crunk/Black and Gold to the Superbowl" kept blaring on our speakers, Mr. Luz kept doing his own secondline dance through the crowd in the living room and dining room to the kitchen and back again, and I got and gave alot of "touchdown hugs."

But there was a moment towards the end of the game when I checked the clock and saw that there were only 44 seconds left in the 4th quarter, and then it hit me full force--"Holy S*** this changes everything-how fantastic for NOLA!" and then "Is this really happening??"  When I came to my senses after a few minutes, there weren't 25 different people, with different hometowns and even hometown teams, at our house . . . I only saw Saints fans, overcome with collective joy-shouting, hugging, crying, and all out getting crunk (look it up).

What a surprisingly blissful and unpredictably beautiful life we live.  

On to the recipe! This is Mama Bacon's recipe from Southern Living for New Orleans BBQ Shrimp, and it's one of my favorite foods, though surprisingly easy. You can serve it as an appetizer by itself, or as an entree over cheese grits.  The shrimp is marinated (in Nawlin's they do shells and head on, but peeled is okay too)and then baked in a spicy, tangy lemon butter sauce with a little Worcestershire sauce for depth and garlic. We double the marinade recipe so we have plenty left over for French bread-dipping. Only make this for the people you really love, because they'll likely request it at every pot luck you attend from now till the end of time.  Though if they are anything like my friends, they are worth it.

New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp Recipe

(photo and recipe courtesy of Southern Living)

4 lbs. large unpeeled shrimp (6 lbs. w/heads on)
1 cup Butter
1 cup Olive oil
1/2 cup Chili Sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
2 Lemons, sliced
8 Garlic Cloves, chopped
4 Tbs. Creole Seasoning (I use Tony's Light)
4 Tbs. Lemon Juice
2 Tbs. chopped Parsley
2 tsp. Paprika
2 tsp. Oregano
2 tsp. ground Red Pepper
1 tsp. hot sauce
2 loaves French bread



Spread shrimp in a large baking dish.  Combine butter and next 12 ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until butter melts, and pour over shrimp. Cover and chill 2 hours, turning shrimp every 30 minutes.

Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes; turn once. Serve with bread and/or grits.

Spicy Cioppino Recipe with Fennel and Herbs

Two weeks ago, Mr. Luz and I had the pleasure of cozying up for the weekend in beautiful Berkeley Springs, West Virginia with two of our favorite people.

We laughed alot, ate alot, and didn't change out of our pajamas at all on Saturday. It was preeettty fantastic, and just what we needed.

Whenever we go to WV, I like to cook something super-tasty as a "Thank You" to Rick and Kate, our hosts, for inviting us to their perfect get-a-way.

This time I decided to make cioppino, a tomato-based seafood stew, because it's tangy, rich, and so filling. My favorite part of the cioppino is the fennel--it adds a freshness to every bite and nicely complements the the tomato and seafood flavors without overpowering the dish.

I especially like this recipe because blending the base adds flavor while letting the seafood really steal the show-presentation-wise. And you can make the base ahead of time and then throw in the seafood right before you serve it for maximum freshness. It seems like a daunting list of ingredients and steps, but everything cooks quickly and provides great flavor. To speed up the process, you can skip the blending step and just let your cioppino be chunky, and you throw the fish into the pot to cook with the rest of the seafood, but it will fall apart once you start stirring it up with those mussel shells.

Requisite Cute Foxy Shot.....

Cioppino--Tomato and Fennel Seafood Stew Recipe

3 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 cans of diced tomatoes in juice
1 bunch fresh basil
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 large fresh parsley sprigs
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 cups shrimp stock
1 cup clam stock

1 lb. mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1 lb. large uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 1/2 lb. firm fish, cut into 2 inch chunks
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 large fennel bulb, thin sliced
2 cups white wine
3 Tbs. flour
2 Tbs. butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

To make the base:

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the onion and garlic and saute until cooked. Stir in tomato paste and saute, stirring frequently, until slightly browned. Add the tomatoes, herbs, and shrimp and clam stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour, uncovered.

Allow the base to slightly cool. Remove bay leaf and any remaining thyme and parsley ribs. Add the base to a blender and blend to a thick, slightly chunky soup.

To make the stew:

Bring the blended base to a simmer. Add the wine, chopped parsley, and fennel and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary.

Rinse and pat dry the fish cubes. Dredge the fish in flour with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a large, shallow pan over medium heat. Add the fish to the pan and cook, stirring gently, until browned.

Add mussels and shrimp to the stew base, cover, and cook until the mussels are open and the shrimp are done. 5-7 minutes. To serve, put the fish in the bottom of a bowl and cover with the stew.

Mr. Luz doesn't hold back with his handmade Sourdough breadbowl...

Pickin' Crabs: Summertime is Finally Here

Last weekend was sunny and breezy, so Mr. Luz and I packed some friends into the car and drove out to Annapolis, Maryland to "pick some crabs."

Now, I'm from Missouri, and we just fry our seafood there, since it's probably taken at least 3 weeks to get to us and seen the inside of way too many freezers along the way.

So until I came to D.C., I'd never picked apart some poor, unsuspecting Maryland crab and snarfed it down with an extra helping of spicy, thymey Old Bay seasoning. Once you add in a bucket of coronas, and a dude with a guitar covering Jimmy Buffet, I've officially hit Zen.

These photos are from Mike's Crabhouse, which has been outside Annapolis, MD for 45 years. It's off a little inlet of the Chesapeake Bay, and when you sit on their huge deck overlooking the water, the rest of the world just melts away.
Something about Mike's brings me back to the vacations I spent with my family at the lake. We'd spend all day hanging out in our cutoff shorts in the sunshine or jumping off the deck of our rented pontoon boat to paddle around the lake. Everything was laid back, but it still felt like we were celebrating something special. In a way, we were just celebrating Summer.

If you're in the D.C. area, you should really head out to Annapolis and grab a picnic table and a dozen large crabs. (At Mike's, the waitresses will just sit down next to you and give you the speediest crab-shredding tutorial you'll ever see, so don't be sheepish if you've never done it before. Crab pickin' is work, and it's worth it.)

If you're somewhere else, take an evening this weekend to eat on an outdoor patio, or fill your cooler with some cold beer and grill. Do something, anything, to celebrate the return of the Summer months, and forget about everything else for a bit as you enjoy some sweet, easy flip-flop livin.'

Before, a dozen large Maryland CrabsAfter, pure carnage

(Jambalaya) Crawfish Pie (File Gumbo) Recipe

"For tonight, I'm gonna see my ma cher-amio..."

Cooter Brown's is a cave-like bar in New Orleans that serves GIANT sandwiches loaded with fatty, meaty goodness. Mr. Luz and I went there after our first date and ran into native of my hometown, St. Louis, Missouri. As I wolfed down my GIANT reuben sandwich, Mr. St. Louisan told Mr. Luz "Only a St. Louis girl could appreciate a sandwich that much!" As they say, the rest is history.

When a few of my friends told me that they celebrate March 14th with a Pi/e Party, I immediately thought about Cooter Brown's Boudreaux Special, made with mini crawfish pies. The menu description is as follows: "Ms. Wheat's crawfish pies on french bread with remoulade sauce. So good it'll make you wanna slap yo grandmamma!" By the way, I don't mess around with grandmamas. When Grandmama P. passed away, she told me that if I ever felt a swift kick in the ass as I was doing something wrong, that I shouldn't turn around, it's just her telling me to knock it off. And Grandmama McBride took on an F-350 pickup truck. No sir, I don't eff with grandmamas. But I do love crawfish pie.

I made my pie crusts based on The Parsley Thief's recipe, found here. I also realized that I hate making pie crust in general, much less 25 mini pie crusts; next time I'll just use the store bought crap. Amateur Gourmet, I am decidedly not a pie dough personality. For tweaks on The Parsley Thief's recipe, see Tips and Tricks below.

Crawfish Pie Recipe
5-6 prepared pie shells, thawed
1 lb. peeled crawfish tails
1 package crab boil
1 1/2 cup sliced okra (if using frozen, thaw first)
2 tsp. oil
1 large tomato, coarse chopped
1 stick butter (woot!)
1/2 cup flour
1 cup diced white onions
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup chopped green onion
2 cups smoked sausage, diced
3 Tbs. Tony's Lite Seasoning, or another low-sodium cajun spice blend
Cayenne pepper and salt to taste
Flour
3 egg whites, lightly whisked

Put crawfish tails and crab boil packet in a large pot, barely cover with water. Bring pot to a boil, immediately turn off heat, and let crawfish tails soak for 30 min.-1 hour. Drain and return to the pot.
Saute okra in oil on medium-low heat, until the ropiness is gone and the okra has caramelized on the bottom of the pan. (10-15 minutes.) Remove okra, let cool, and chop OR pulse several times in a food processesor. Add okra to the drained crawfish. Saute tomato in the okra pan on low, stirring until the browned bits have released from the bottom of the pan.
Melt the butter and add the flour. Stir constantly to make a light roux (approx. 4-6 minutes).
Add the trinity (white onion, celery, green pepper) and saute until the veggies are soft. Add the sausage and saute for 3 minutes. Add the crawfish & okra, the tomato mixture, Tony's Seasoning, and the green onions. Stir until heated through. Set aside to cool.
Spread pie crusts out onto floured surface. Use a biscuit cutter, or a water glass to cut circles in the dough. Spoon filling onto the pastry circles, and fold in half. **It is easiest to assemble the pastries if you pull one side of the pastry to meet the other, lifting both sides off the counter and sealing with your fingertips pressing on either side. You can use your fingers to push the filling to the center of the pastry as you seal.** If the pastries do not seal, use a small amount of water on the seamed edges.

Crimp with a fork, and place onto a floured baking sheet. Freeze until ready to bake, or bake immediately, spaced out on a separate baking sheet. To bake, preheat the oven to 450 F. Spray baking sheet w/non-stick cooking spray or cover with parchment paper. Brush pastries lightly with egg whites, and bake for 18-20 minutes--until golden brown. (If frozen, bake for an additional 5 minutes).

Tips and Tricks:

If the pastry gets too sticky, add flour and/or return to the refrigerator to set.

It takes time to get the filling/dough ratio correct, and these boogers are yummy but they are not easy to put together.

Serve w/a remoulade sauce, (see below) which can be made w/many ingredients you already have in your fridge, plus some leftover from your crawfish-pie filling.

N'awlins Remoulade Sauce Recipe

Now there are two types of people in the world...people who like the French "white" remoulade w/mayonaise and capers, and those who prefer the spicy, tangy, N'awlins "red" remoulade best known for coating fabulous cajun boiled shrimp at New Orleans restaurants everywhere. (Prounounced "reh-mu-lawd," sort of quick, like you're about to jump into a huge sack of boiled crawfish and don't have time to talk about it.)

Ok, maybe that overstates things a bit. Regardless, here's my recipe for the red New Orleans style remoulade. It's super-tangy, with a little bit of spice and alot of green onion flavor.

New Orleans Remoulade Sauce
6 Tbs. Creole mustard
1 Tbsp. paprika
2 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
8 Tbs. vinegar
3/4 cup chopped green onions
4 dashes hot sauce
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup yellow mustard (I know it sounds like alot of mustard, but it gives the recipe the tangy flavor plus some heat, makes it mauh-velous).
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 small eggs or 1 extra large, brought to room temp with a hot water bath
2 Tbs. lemon juice
2/3 cup oil

Place all ingredients besides oil in a blender, and puree. With blender on high, slowly add oil in a stream. The mixture should emulsify, giving it the texture of a thin mayonaise. Cover and store in the fridge overnight, so the flavors can develop. Serve with seafood, toss with boiled shrimp and serve over lettuce, or use to smother some unsuspecting french fries.

For the Love of Chowder

While visiting Annapolis, MD and just prior to my very first experience "picking crabs," I found a fun cookbook at the tiniest bookshop ever(with a great view of the Annapolis waterfront).

Anya Von Bremzen's "The Greatest Dishes: Around the World in 80 Recipes" is perfect for anyone who wonders what makes a ratatouille a ratatouille vs. a caponata, a relish, a chutney, or anything else.

Every recipe comes with a narrative detailing the author's quest to figure out the dish's "life story." The narratives include history, lore, and a description of the characters Von Bremzen encounters as she searches for authentic recipes for some of the world's favorite dishes.

This is a modified version of her New England Fish Chowder. It's surprisingly easy and light, and the ingredients enhance the sweetness of the fish for great flavor without any funk. If you have a free evening, I urge you to give it a shot.

**Pics complements of JeffBigNerd, who is so graciously coaching me on food photography and its attendant gadgets, and allowed me to use his Nikon D80 (right?) to get the hang of it. It made life sooooo much easier!***

Gratuitous Use of Aperture

New England Fish Chowder

Fish Stock:

6 cups Prepared Fish Stock (I use Kitchen Basics Seafood; made from fish, veggies, and herbs)
1 cup dry white wine
1 leek (white and light green parts) sliced
1 onion, coarse chopped
1 carrot, coarse chopped
1 rib celery, coarse chopped
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. black pepper
2 Tbs. unsalted butter

Chowder:

1 cup meaty bacon, diced
3 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 large leek (white part only), diced
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dried thyme)
3 large yukon gold potatoes, cubed
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cup heavy cream (trust me on this)
2 lbs. skinless haddock (sub. cod, or hake) fillets, cubed
2 cups fresh corn kernels
Salt and black pepper to taste

To make the stock:

Melt the butter, add the vegetables and saute just until fragrant. Add the bay leaf and pepper, stir. Add the wine and prepared stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat until you have approx. 4 1/2 cups stock. Depending on how vigorous your simmer, this could take 20-40 minutes. Strain and set aside.

To make the chowder:

Melt 1 Tbs. butter over medium heat in a large pot, and add the bacon. (Oh hells yeah!) Cook the bacon until it begins to lightly brown--6-7 minutes. Add the remaining butter, onion, celery, and leek. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are soft.

Add the bay leaf and thyme, and reduce the heat to low. Cover, and "sweat" the veggie mixture for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the potatoes and stock, and bring to a boil. NOTE: I used potato slices, but this is a case of "do as I say, not as I do"--a quote pulled directly from my father--because I was unhappy with the results. That's not to say that the pics aren't adorable.

Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are cooked--about 15 minutes. Remove 1/2 of the potatoes and mash them with a fork. Stir the mashed potatoes back into the soup. Add the cream, milk, and corn and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.

Add the fish and cook just until the it begins to flake--approx. 4 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with crusty bread for dipping.

Tips and Tricks:

The chowder's better after it has sat overnight--if you can contain yourself. Just refrigerate, and be careful to reheat over low and stir often so the potatoes don't burn on the bottom of the pot.

Spicy Butter with Shrimp a.k.a. Shrimp Etouffee Recipe

Whew! I've started a number of projects lately, and while I'm happy to be churning away (see: the DSM IV's diagnosis for "Control Freak") I hate to be away from the food blog for very long.

I also have what Mr. Luz's therapist would call an "enmeshed" family. I don't think he meant that as a compliment, but my family represents some of the coolest people on the planet. My little brother flew a plane all by himself this week! Can you do that? Even better, my older brother got a call from his son's teacher--she just wanted my bro to know that he and his wife were raising my nephew to be a "wonderful man."

Sigh. Hearing about these things brings me more comfort and satisfaction than anything else, which may explain why I'm constantly on the phone right now in lieu of sleeping, eating, and bathing.

Another thing that offers me comfort and satisfaction is spicy butter with shrimp. (See how I transitioned there? Good, huh?) Since I've already shared my familial celebrations with you --Go Scooter! Go Nikko! You guys make me so proud--I'd also like to share a culinary celebration. This recipe is largely courtesy of Nola Cuisine, with, of course, some Control-Freak-tweaking. I like it because you get all the benefits of a roux (nutty flavor and thickness) without the work.

Shrimp Etouffee Recipe

2 Tbsp Tony's Light Creole Seasoning, or another low sodium Creole Blend
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 Onion, cut into 8 parts
1/2 cup Onion, Finely Chopped
1/2 cup Celery, Finely Chopped
1/2 cup Bell Pepper, Finely Chopped
1/4 cup Flour
1 cup Fresh Tomatoes, diced
1 1/2 cups Shrimp Stock (instructions below)
2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
2 bundles Fresh Thyme
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 1/2 tsp Louisiana Hot Sauce
1/2 cup Green Onions, thinly sliced
2 lb Good Quality Shrimp, Peeled and De veined--reserve the shells for stock
Salt, Cayenne Pepper, and Black Pepper to taste
4 cups Prepared rice

To Make the Stock

Put tails and shells from 2 lb. of shrimp in stock pot. Roast the shells on medium-high heat, stirring often, until some of the shells begin to darken beyond a red color. Add the onion you cut into 8ths and one bundle of thyme and cover with water.* Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for at least one hour. If you do not have a fine mesh sieve, strain first through a colander, and then through paper towels folded into a funnel.

*The original recipe calls for a more involved stock recipe, but I simplified it and it still tasted wonderful. Also, if you want to simmer for longer than an hour, the lemon in the original recipe releases some of the bitter oils in its rind and ruins your stock.

To Make the Ettoufee

Chop all the veggies ahead of time. This recipe comes together quickly, so you'll want your ingredients on hand. Season the shrimp with 1 Tbsp of the Creole Seasoning. Melt the butter in a soup pot, and add the Holy Trinity (onions, bell pepper, and celery). Saute on medium heat until translucent.Whisk in the flour and stir until the mixture turns a dark yellow, about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining Creole Seasoning. Add a small amount of the shrimp stock, stir well to form a paste, add the remaining stock gradually, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add the tomatoes, garlic, thyme, worcestershire, and hot sauce. Add salt, cayenne, and black pepper to taste. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.Add the shrimp and green onions, cover, and simmer for 7-10 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through. The shrimp will release some water as they cook and thin the ettouffee. Serve over rice. I prefer a 1:1 ratio of rice to ettouffee...it should be stew-like on serving. Immediately share with your favorite family member. (Syd, we have a date w/some N'awlins food the next time I come home!)