Hauntingly Good Spirits: New Orleans Cocktails to Die For by Sharon Keating and Christi Keating, Reviewed

  

Considering how anxious I was as a child every year Halloween rolled around, it’s surprising that I now celebrate it with such unbridled gusto. Perhaps that’s because I don’t have to worry about going from house to house, and be pressured to entertain in exchange for a morsel of food, no matter how sweet and delicious that morsel be.

Because I now enjoy celebrating Halloween so much (and the spooky season, in general) I get great pleasure in reading books that help me do that. This recently released volume, Hauntingly Good Spirits: New Orleans Cocktails to Die For by Sharon Keating and Christi Keating is a wonderfully macabre tribute to the drinks culture of New Orleans, and those who make it happen. Here you will find beautifully photographed, unique cocktail recipes, all of which are Gothic, spooky, and hauntingly delicious. The book is divided into five sections:

Reverence and Revelry

Tomb Time

Ghosts & Haunted Libations

Vampire Bars with Killer Cocktails

Voodoo & Witchcraft

Each is fascinating in its own right, and where you will find cocktails like Axeman’s Ball, Ghostly Embrace, Corpse Reviver, and many more. This book has struck me as being as much about exploring New Orleans, as it was about making the cocktails. It did get me quite eager to experiment before the spooky month of October arrives, not to mention lay in a good supply of ingredients. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t tried a good number of these cocktails already. I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t have a good time doing it.Anyone interested in libations, the macabre, New Orleans, or serving something special on a dark and stormy night needs this cookbook. I highly recommend!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the authors, and Wellfleet Press for providing me with a digital advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Olive Salad & Muffuletta Sandwich from Napoleon House

If the tedium of every day lunches has gotten you down, have I got an answer for you! If the Muffuletta sandwich (using the recipe from the Napoleon House in the French Quarter of New Orleans) doesn’t change your attitude about lunch, then nothing will. Their unique choices of meats are topped with an incredibly flavorful olive salad that is so good I could eat it with a spoon, and have. Because I was making a sandwich for one, I didn’t bother with the large round loaf, generally associated with muffaletta sandwiches, I just used a slice of rustic bakery bread, layered everything on, topped it with the olive salad, and slid it into the oven. That’s right, they bake their sandwich, unlike other recipes where they are served cold. They also use pastrami in lieu of the traditional mortadella. This inspired substitution as well as the warming of the the sandwich enhances all of the wonderful and diverse flavors making it the perfect sandwich to enjoy on a winter’s day.

Napoleon House Muffuletta

As seen in Louisiana Cookin’

 Yields: 2-4 servings

 1 (9-inch-round) seeded muffuletta bun or Italian seeded bread, halved

Extra-virgin olive oil

4 slices ham

5 slices Genoa salami

2 slices pastrami

3 slices provolone cheese

3 slices Swiss cheese

⅔ c. Napoleon House Olive Salad (recipe follows)

 Preheat oven to 350°F.

Brush bottom and top half of bun lightly with oil. Layer ham, salami, pastrami, and cheeses on bottom half of bun. Top with Napoleon House Olive Salad, and cover with top half of bun. Wrap in foil.

Bake until thoroughly heated, about 20 minutes. Unwrap, and cut in half or quarters.

 Napoleon House Olive Salad*

 1 c. pimiento-stuffed Spanish queen olives, chopped

½ c. canned chickpeas, drained and coarsely chopped

½ c. pickled vegetables, drained and coarsely chopped

⅓ c. canned artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped

¼ c. cocktail onions, drained and coarsely chopped

¼ c. green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 T. capers, drained and chopped

½ t. Melissa's minced garlic

¼ c. extra-virgin olive oil

2 T. red wine vinegar

1 t. dried oregano

½ t. ground black pepper

 In a large bowl, combine olives, chickpeas, pickled vegetables, artichoke hearts, onions, bell pepper, capers, and garlic. Add oil, vinegar, oregano, and pepper, stirring to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Will keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

 *To make things easier on myself, I dumped all of the salad ingredients into a food processor, and pulsed a couple of times. What a time saver, and as you can see from the picture, it worked perfectly.

Yields: 3 cups

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Meal Plan Monday #13 - N'awlins Week

It’s N’awlins Week, where I’m trying some new-to-me Cajun and Creole Recipes. I’m in the mood for spicy, one-pot dishes, so we’ll see how things go. I’ll report my successes (if any) next week.

Monday – Grilled Cheese (you read that right), Cream of Tomato Soup with Indian Spices, New Orleans Bread Pudding

Tuesday – Gumbo

Wednesday – Mammogram today, I'm taking myself out

Thursday – Dinner out with the girls.

Friday – Jambalaya

Saturday – Muffaletta Sandwich

Sunday –Pecan Pie French Toast, bacon

Here’s a sneak peek at an upcoming table.

Antoine's Shrimp Remoulade

I'm sure you're all familiar with the Parade magazine that comes as an insert to the weekend paper. It used to be a bit more ample than it is currently and, sometimes, it gets tossed aside with the similar-sized ads. Fortunately, the edition from August 23rd did not because it featured a recipe for Shrimp Remoulade from the landmark restaurant, celebrating 175 years, Antoine's in New Orleans.

I tried this yesterday, and with the high heat and humidity that we're having around here, it was easy to imagine myself in New Orleans. This is tasty, refreshing, and halves beautifully. I mounded it in dessert dishes lined with Boston lettuce to create a kicked up, southern version of shrimp cocktail that I plan to serve often. The sauce can be made up to two days ahead and refrigerated. I do love those make-ahead dishes!

Shrimp Remoulade
Antoine's Restaurant, New Orleans, LA

1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup creole (such as Zatarain's) or whole-grain mustard
1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons minced green onion
2 teaspoons minced celery
1-1/2 teaspoons horseradish
1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
1-1/2 pounds cooked, peeled, and deveined shrimp
6 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

Combine first 10 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add shrimp, tossing gently to coat. Divide lettuce among six salad plates. Top with shrimp. Garnish with egg and parsley. Serve 6.

 This post is linked to:

Tuesdays At Our Home

Wake up Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesday
Work It Wednesday

What’s It Wednesday

Muffaletta Pasta Salad

If you have ever been to New Orleans, then you know that the food is as much of an attraction as are the sites. I loved every bit of what I had to eat from the beignets, to the soft-shelled crabs, to the pralines, and the iconic Muffaletta sandwich. The Muffaletta is a New Orleans original dating back to the early nineteen hundreds. Essentially it is a round loaf of bread, hollowed out and filled with meats, cheeses, and a deliciously tangy olive salad. It is one of my favorite sandwiches and I am thankful that a café down the street serves a darned good one.

I'm always looking for ways to inject New Orleans flavors into everyday foods, so when I spotted this recipe for Muffaletta Pasta Salad  on Allrecipes, I had to give it a try. The original recipe didn't quite make it for me, so I changed it up a bit, adding thinly sliced rings of pepperonicini for some zing, and a bit of creamy Italian salad dressing to make it darned near perfect. It serves equally well as a side dish or main meal, and it's tough to stop eating this one.

Muffaletta Pasta Salad
1 pound rotini pasta (I used Farfalle)
5 ounces tapenade 

 Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 (6.34 ounce) package Melissa's artichoke hearts,
drained and quartered
8 ounces sliced salami, cut into thin strips
8 ounces sliced baked ham, cut into thin strips
1 (6 ounce) can black olives, drained
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, cubed
4 ounces provolone cheese, cubed

2 whole pepperoncini, sliced into thin rings
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/4 bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons creamy Italian salad dressing

Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente. Drain and run under cold water to cool.

Mix tapenade into pasta and season with pepper. Add artichoke hearts, salami, ham, olives, mozzarella cheese, provolone cheese, pepperoncini, red bell pepper, and parsley to pasta mixture and toss to coat. Transfer salad to a serving bowl and stir in Italian salad dressing.  Serve immediately.

This post is linked to:

Tweak It Tuesday

Inspire Me Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays

Clever Chicks Blog Hop

The Scoop