Recipe: Nawlins Cali Po' Boy

This recipe is inspired by my recent trip back to New Orleans, one of my favorite cities. I am a big fan of po' boy sandwiches, especially the ones with fried seafood. However, I honestly cannot resist putting a Cali twist on a Nawlins classic...

Ingredients:

Crab salad:

1 tbsp. crushed garlic

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 cups of fresh lump dungeness crab meat

Sandwich:

1 two foot long sourdough French baguette (if you find somewhere that makes New Orleans style French baguettes, feel free to get one of those!)

2 lbs. of peeled, deveined, and de-tailed small shrimp (if you can get Gulf Coast "popcorn" shrimp, they are the best)

1 1/2 cups of flour

1/2 cup of corn meal

2 tbsp. of sea salt

2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. paprika

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. coriander

1 tsp. black pepper

2 eggs, beaten

3 cups of canola oil (for frying)

1/4 cup of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3 tbsp. of finely chopped chives

2 large heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced

2 1/2 cups of fresh arugula

Directions:

Crab salad:

Combine everything but the crab meat into a small bowl. Using a whisk, whip all of the ingredients together until a creamy emulsion forms - an aioli. In a larger bowl, place the lump crab meat and use your fingers to well separate the strands and parts. Add the aioli to the bowl and mix together thoroughly using a wooden spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator.

Sandwich:

Combine the flour, corn meal, and all of the dry spices well together in a large bowl. Heat the canola oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Place the shrimp into the flour and spice mixture first to coat, then into the egg wash, then back into the flour and spice mixture before placing into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 5 - 6 minutes. Drain on paper towels or a large paper sack.

Add the chopped chives to the room temperature butter. Using a fork, mix the chives into the butter thoroughly. Slice the baguette in half lengthwise. Spread the chive butter all over the bottom half. Spread the arugula out evenly on top of the butter. Place the tomatoes evenly atop the arugula. Spread the fried shrimp out evenly on top of the tomatoes. Top the shrimp evenly with the crab salad. Place the top of baguette back on and push down to tighten the sandwich. Cut width-wise into 8 equal portions. Serve immediately.

Makes 8 servings.

Recipe: Spicy Cabbage and Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

3/4 cup shredded red cabbage
3/4 cup shredded green cabbage
3/4 cup julienne cucumbers
1/2 cup finely chopped scallions, green and white parts
3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest
1 1/4 cup of sour cream
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast

Directions:

Place the chicken in a large pot and cover with cold water until the chicken is fully submerged plus 1 1/2 inches. Add 2 tsp. of the salt to the pot. Bring the pot to a boil over medium-high heat. Poach the chicken for 20 minutes until it can be easily shredded with a fork. Shred it thinly and set aside.

In a bowl, combine the reamining 1 tsp. salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, lime juice, lime zest, and sour cream. Using a whisk, whip the mixture until all ingredients are fully combined and it thins out a bit. In a large bowl, add the cabbages, cucumber, and scallion. Add the shredded chicken. Pour the sour cream dressing over the mixture and use a large wooden spoon to fully combine with all the ingredients. Place into the refrigerator for about an hour before serving.

Makes 4 servings.

Review: Conduit

I have found a new favorite restaurant :). I have now taken my parents here, all of my best friends here, my out-of-town visitors here, my co-workers here, my sister here, my cousin here... and they all do nothing but rave. So, I thought it was about darn time that I wrote a review.

First off, the lovely hostess at the front was so pleasant and polite and was genuinely happy to have us there. And she remembers me every time - and the servers have started to recognize me, too! Major kudos for that...

Admittedly, I haven't explored as much of the menu as I would like - but, it changes so often, I doubt that matters much. First time I went there, I had the duck confit appetizer and the pork chop main... both really good. Oh, but the dessert... the boca negre... I literally thought I had died and went to dessert heaven. The dark chocolate with the slight anise flavor... I almost had a chocolate induced orgasm... THAT good. 2nd time, I had the quail appetizer and the halibut main... and that boca negre, again... both also really good (and I also noticed that the chef, in the quail appetizer, used the same trick I use for fried green tomatoes - tempura batter. I was born and raised in deep south Georgia, so I know green tomatoes... and my mom thinks tempura frying them is sacrilege - but, trust me, it's better :)). 3rd time I barely remember because of the wonderful house manhattan with the brandied cherries - I just know it was another type of fish and again, really good! And the most recent experience was the hamachi sashimi drizzled with dark soy and pomegranate as a starter and then the seared sea bass put over a bed of butternut squash puree and kale sauteed with bacon and cippolini onions - my mercy, how good that was!!!

All the times I have been, the service was absolutely impeccable (MUCH better than I would have expected from a Mission restaurant with relatively moderate prices) and my guests, who are foodies just like me, all raved.

It's just disheartening to me to see reviews on Yelp! and other sites about really petty things (get over the modern bathrooms, people! :P) when the people who own this place truly do have their act together. And that's more than I can say for other restaurants in the Mission that I've been going to for years...