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Picture 1 from 11: Chef having fun with the food

In case you didn’t know, Emeril’s newest cookbook, Emeril 20-40-60, will be available in stores Oct. 7th!  It’s a book dedicated to the time sensitive cook.  With Emeril 20-40-60 a healthy, delicious, and affordable meal is still possible - it’s gourmet cooking for today’s crazed and budget conscious family.  I thought it would be nice to show some behind the scenes photos from the shoot.  Enjoy!

Emeril 20-40-60 is available for PRE-ORDER NOW!

Ever wanted to be able to create your own doughnut?  Well now you can!  Here’s a fun online tool from Dunkin’ Donuts to help you design and share your dream doughnut.

As mentioned earlier, a group from Emeril’s and Martha Stewart Living has been hosting monthly cooking competitions. The first was a chili cook-off, the second was called, ” Your Signature Dish,” and the most recent was a taco cook-off. The events are a raging success, and at each cook-off, there are more competitors with increasingly creative dishes. The Taco Cook-Off entries included: Tuna Sashimi Tacos with Tomatillo Salsa, Korean Short Rib Tacos, Grilled Swordfish Tacos, Pork Tacos with Roasted Pineapple-Habanero Chile Salsa, Grilled Cod Tacos, Chicken Tacos, and a “Bahn Mexicano” Taco (Vietnamese Slow-Cooked Pork with Sriracha Mayo). Fancy, right?

The way the cook-off works is that the event and theme are announced a few weeks ahead of time and all guests are invited to bring a dish to compete. At the cook-off, the food is served, along with drinks and snacks–like a typical dinner party, but at the end of the buffet-style meals, guests vote for their favorite dish.

When the Taco Cook-Off results were tallied, there was a tie for first place: TJ’s Tuna Sashimi Tacos, and Tim’s Bahn Mexicano Tacos were the favorites, and Brian’s Grilled Swordfish Tacos came in second.

Regardless of winning or losing (which is something a good loser would say) the event was a great time and it was exciting to be a part of competition full of adventurous cooks. And while the winning tacos were amazing, I think that a re-count would reveal the Cod Tacos as #1.

Homemade hard taco shells for TJ’s winning Tuna Sashimi Tacos

Tony’s Braised Short Rib Tacos

Tim’s winning Bahn Mexicano Tacos

The pork for Alison’s Pork Tacos

Tequila, the Official Beverage of the Taco Cook-Off

A team of culinary enthusiasts (ok, fine, we just like to eat) from MSL and Emeril’s have been hosting monthly cook-off competitions — the theme of the first was chili, and for the second, everyone was asked to bring their signature dish. The competition has been heating up at these events, so when a Taco Cook-Off was announced, I knew I had to pull out all the stops. I began researching taco recipes (more on that later) but I knew that whatever I made HAD to be served in a homemade tortilla. I might have been intimidated by the thought of making my own tortillas, but I was emboldened by a recent tortilla-making how-to that Marc Matsumoto posted on twitter, and of course, motivated by the thought of taking the taco crown.

TJ Pitre, my friend, colleague, and cook-off cohort happened to have a near-full bag of masa harina, which is pretty much the only ingredient in tortillas, and I happen to have a brand-new tortilla press, so we teamed up to make a large batch. 7 large batches, in fact. The results were incredible in every way. I couldn’t believe how easy the tortillas were to make; we were adventurous enough to tackle both hard and soft shells. The hard shells were a little trickier, but after our 30th or so, we had all of the bugs worked out. They were so delicious and fresh, that I may not ever purchase packaged tortillas again.

 

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Picture 1 from 11: Masa harina and my new tortilla press.

Get the recipe after the break:

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I’ve been a big fan of the Sazerac cocktail since my first sip.  It’s a cocktail rich with history and flavor.

I thought I’d share my photo journey of some of the different Sazeracs I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing over time (forgive the quality of the photos, they were all taken with my camera phone).

 

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Picture 1 from 8: This is a sazerac I prepared in my very fitting fleur de lis glass.

This post wouldn’t be complete with out a recipe:

Sazerac Cocktail Recipe

• 1 lump sugar
• 3 drops Peychaud’s bitters
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 1 jigger rye whiskey
• 1 dash Herbsaint or Pernod or Absinthe
• 1 strip lemon peel

Fill a small old-fashioned glass with cracked ice and set aside. In another small old-fashioned glass, put the lump of sugar and just enough water to moisten it. With a spoon, crush the sugar, then add the Peychaud’s bitters, Angostura bitters, whiskey, and several ice cubes. Stir. Never use a shaker. Empty the first glass of ice, add the Herbsaint or Pernod, twirl the glass around, and shake the liqueur out. Strain the whiskey mixture into the glass, twist in the lemon peel, and serve immediately.

Yield: 1 drink

For more info on the Sazerac cocktail you can go here and here.

As a kid, I grew up eating Hubig’s Pies, as did my parents and my parent’s parents.  I got a major craving for them after reading this story from the New Orleans magazine The Gambit.  Now that I live in New York City, it’s difficult for me to get my hands on this tasty treat, but luckily I have a good friend who did me a huge favor and sent me these (minus the one apple pie I couldn’t wait to eat):

Check out this great video by writer Katie Van Syckle and director Bob Weisz on how Hubig’s Pies are made:

 

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Picture 1 from 9: Made in Florida, but certainly loved by this beach town.

While on a weekend trip away from the Big Apple, I shot some photos of some beachy snacks, signs and even seaweed!

…at my friend Ryan Dill’s backyard bbq!

Originally from New Orleans, and now residing in Brooklyn, Ryan invited me over for a summer soiree where she and her roommate cooked up some serious Louisiana goodness–gumbo, alligator sausage, boudin and crawfish-stuffed baked potatoes (the latter being my favorite)!

Nothing like a little crawfish to make me realize just how much I miss the Crescent City…

This simple salad made of blanched farmer’s market green beans, sliced radishes and imported sardines, dressed with a little red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil was delicious!  I ordered it at a small Italian restaurant in my neighborhood that serves mostly small plates.

And while I love going out to eat (almost 5 nights a week!), I might skip the visit to the restaurant next time I want this and just making it at home because it would be so easy to make myself.  I think I might even throw in some chopped Kalamata olives to my version!

I’ve been on a wee bit of a sushi bender.  My pal Ann took notice of the situation and brought over this set of sushi roll soaps.  I went looking for them on line and found a site that sells, sushi soaps, pillows, bandaids and even a sushi fragrance.  By the way, no detail is missed, the sushi roll soaps smell like ginger and they’re vegan.