Cookbook Review: Taste Of Tremé - Creole, Cajun and Soul Food From New Orlean's Famous Neighborhood of Jazz, By Todd-Michael St. Pierre

I received a copy of Taste Of Treme - Creole, Cajun and Soul Food From New Orlean's Famous Neighborhood of Jazz, By  Todd-Michael St. Pierre.

Taste of Tremé captures all of the amazing Creole and Cajun flavors of Tremé, the culturally rich New Orleans neighborhood that was the birthplace of Jazz and is the subject of the critically acclaimed HBO show of the same name.

If you've been to New Orleans and are missing the flavors, you've got to get this cookbook. 

Creole Tomato Jambalaya (photo from Louisianaboy.com)

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Things You'll Need
Breaking The Past
Getting Da Taste Buds Goin'
Entreés
Desserts
Cocktails

You'll find mouthwatering recipes for Po' Boys, Muffulettas, Gumbos, Fried Catfish, Hushpuppies, Crab Nachos and more!

About the Author:

Todd-Michael St. Pierre, a Cajun and Creole foodie and New Orleans native, is the author of several popular cookbooks and children's books.  he has served as a judge for the Reading Rainbow young Writers and Illustrators Contest and has developed recipes for Cooking Light Magazine.  His boks have been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Denver Post, and on AOL Food.  His is also a contributing writer to elementary and middle-school textbooks published by Oxford University Press.  For more, visit his website Louisianaboy.com.

Taste Of Treme - Creole, Cajun and Soul Food From New Orlean's Famous Neighborhood of Jazz, By  Todd-Michael St. Pierre is available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com, and your local bookseller.  It is also available on Kindle and The Nook.


Lola's Diner Disclaimer: I was given the cookbook Taste Of Treme - Creole, Cajun and Soul Food From New Orlean's Famous Neighborhood of Jazz, By  Todd-Michael St. Pierre to review. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this book review.

Lola's Diner ©2008-2012

Cookbook Review: "Modern Flavors Of Arabia - Recipes and Memories From My Middle Eastern Kitchen" By Suzanne Husseini

A while back I received a copy of Modern Flavors Of Arabia - Recipes and Memories From My Middle Eastern Kitchen By Suzanne Husseini.

I love Middle Eastern food, but in the area where I live, there just aren't any restaurants in the area.  This book solved my craving for all my favorites.  It offers the secrets of creating perfect falafel, shawarma, hummus, tabbouleh, spinach filled filo triangles, baklawa and so many more dishes I can't wait to try.  Just flipping through the book looking at the fabulous photographs will make your mouth water.

Recipes are arranged by Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Dessert, and Mezze.  Mezze translated from Arabic means sharing.  Small plates, similar to Tapas.  There are also Conversion Charts, a dictionary of Arabic ingredients and tools.  The book is full of the author's stories and ideas about how to serve each dish.
The hummus and tabbouleh recipes were fantastic.  I can't wait to plan an entire meal.
 
From Amazon.com:

About the Author

Suzanne Husseini was the host of one of the most popular Arabic cooking shows in the Middle East. She is a regular contributor to several publications around the world and frequently travels internationally as a featured food presenter. Suzanne lives in Dubai and Ottawa with her husband and three children.

You can find Modern Flavors of Arabia at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and your local bookseller.  It is also available on Kindle.  This would make a great stocking stuffer for your favorite cook.
 
Lola's Diner Disclaimer: I was given the cookbook Modern Flavors of Arabia to review. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this book review.

Lola's Diner ©2008-2012

Gluten Free Thanksgiving Feast

I had a very labor intensive menu this year, and since I did it virtually by myself, I had to pare it down as it got later and later, because I just didn't have the time, and I was fading fast.

This was the planned menu:

Pre-cooked Turkey courtesy of the local food pantry (sadly no giblets for the stuffing.)
Gluten Free Stuffing made with Udi's Gluten Free Bread
Mashed Potatoes courtesy of the local food pantry (lumpy, definitely not my Mom' Mashed Pototates
Lola's Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole
Cranberry Sauce (whole berry style.)
Lola's Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Lola's Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie
Lola and Mom's Gluten Free Pineapple Cheesecake

The 2 items that got scratched were Lola's Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese and the Roasted Brussels Sprouts because the stuffing was very time consuming.

Lola's Gluten Free Stuffing
3 loaves of Udi's Whole Grain Bread (that's all Meijer had, so I had to go with it.)
1 loaf of Udi's White Sandwich Bread (from my freezer)
Diced Onion
Diced Celery
2 large cans of Chicken Broth
Cooked and diced giblets (the turkey had none, so this year's stuffing was no meat and it was missed.)

As usual I skip the butter my Mom used to add to save on calories.  I also skipped the eggs that most stuffing recipes have, but I think next time I will use eggs because the stuffing was very dry and grainy.  I think the eggs will improve it greatly.

Lola's Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole
Progresso Vegetable Classics Cream of Mushroom Soup (Gluten Free)
2 pounds of frozen green beans
1 onion sliced and caramelized
Sprinkle of Crushed Tortilla (Gluten Free) (or crush your own corn tortillas)

Defrost the green beans, dump in a casserole dish or aluminum baking pan.  Dump in the entire can of Progesso Vegetable Classics Cream of Mushroom Soup (Gluten Free) (do not add anything, the soup is complete in the can.)
Mix.
Add carmelized onions (reserve part to add over the top of the casserole.
Spread the mix evenly in the casserole dish or pan.
Sprinkle reserved caramelized onion over the top.
Sprinkle Crushed Tortillas (Gluten Free) over the top for some crunchiness.

This turned out fantastic!  (I couldn't take a photo before everyone dug into it!)  The Caramelized Onion was my son's idea.  The Crushed Tortillas (Gluten Free) added just the right crunchiness missed by not having the Fried Onions.

Lola's Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie
1 small can Libby's Pumpkin Pie
Honey Nut Gluten Free Chex Cereal (pulverize in your food processor or blender) About 3 cups worth after pulverizing.
Gluten Free Bisquick about 1 Cup.
2 tablespoons melted Butter
2 eggs

Mix ingredients together.  The dough should be slightly moist and clump together.  Press dough into 9 inch pie plate.  Press dough up the sides of the pie plate and even out the dough.  Prepare the filling according to the Libby's label and pour into pie plate.  If you have any excess dough and filling, grab a few ramekins and press dough into the bottom and add filling.  Bake according Libby's label instructions.  Be sure to use a pie ring to prevent the top of the crust from burning ( I forgot this part.)

Lola's Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie was a big hit.  The Gluten Free crust tasted cookie like and was the perfect match for the pumpkin filling.

Lola and Mom's Gluten Free Pineapple Cheesecake
1 Box of Jello No Bake Cheesecake Mix (remove the Graham Cracker crust packet and toss, or save for a recipe for the members of the family who are not allergic to gluten.)
Honey Nut Gluten Free Chex Cereal (pulverize in your food processor or blender) About 3 cups worth after pulverizing.
6-8 Tablespoons melted Butter
1 small can Crushed Pineapple (squeezed and drained.)

Mix the pulverized cereal with the melted butter and press into 9 inch pie plate.  (Just as you would have done, had you used the Graham Cracker Crust Packet).
Prepare Cheese cake filling according to package directions.
Add the drained Crushed Pineapple and mix to distribute evenly throughout the filling.
Pour filling into prepared pie plate.  Smooth out the top of the pie evenly.  Add whole Chex Cereal pieces on top for decoration if desired.

OMG!  Was this a hit!  Everyone loved this.  Just the right amount of pineapple, and just the right amount of sweetness in the crust.

I will be preparing Lola's Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese sometime over the weekend, and I'll put the recipe up then.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! 

If you have any Gluten Free recipes to share from your holiday, please put them in the Comments.

Lola's Diner ©2008-2012

Sunday Stealing Social Meme

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim's post. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to select that meme's best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior featured meme. Let's go!!!
Today we ripped off a blogger and one of our players named Kwizgiver  from the blog What if this is as good as it gets. It's 33 questions, we did edit it to make the right amount of questions. She states that she got it from Bev. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. Take the time to comment on other player's posts. It's a great way to make new friends! Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

1. Where was your profile picture taken?  For facebook?  In my room in front of my computer, using the cybercam.

2. Name someone who made you laugh today.  My son always makes me laugh.

3. Do you believe exes can be friends?  Yes!  But not if the person in the new relationship is too insecure and jealous.  Unfortunately, speaking from experience.  This is how I lost my bff.

4. How do you feel about Dr Pepper?  I like it.

5. Who was the last person you took a picture of? Probably my son.  He's always goofing when I start taking pics with my phone.

6. Are you upset about anything?  Yes, money and lack of it for Christmas.
 
7. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? Yes, always.  I've learned that people that come into our lives come into it for a reason, and I've always found this to be true.
 
8. Are you a bad influence?  Oh yeah!  I definitely can be!
 
9. Night out or night in?  It's been night in for as long as I can remember because we don't have the funds to go out.  Last weekend we had an opportunity to double date with friends of ours, but had to cancel because I had $700 in unexpected car expenses which really killed an already sad budget.
 
10. Has anyone ever called you perfect before? Hardly.

11. What song is stuck in your head? I don't really have one right now.

12. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be?  A friend.

13. Do you think too much or too little?  I think way too much.

14. Ever been kissed under fireworks?  Oh yeah...cuz I'm cheesy like that.  Fireworks show, moonroof, gf sitting next to me in my SUV...fireworks!

15. When was the last time you cried really hard?  Earlier this week when my gf's Mom cancer was diagnosed.

16. What items could you not go without during the day?  Cellphone, SUV.

17. How do you feel about your life right now?  Sad...profoundly sad.

18. Name something you have to do tomorrow.  Go to work.

19. Wanna have grandkids before you’re 50?  Noooo!  I'm already 51 and my kids are still teenagers.

20. Do you smile a lot?  Around my kids and gf, yes.

Thank you for playing this week on Sunday Stealing! Please leave a comment or link when you have posted. Stop back and visit other player’s posts. That is really what this is all about, making new friends! Have a great week. See you next Sunday!

Lola's Diner ©2008-2012