Thursday, April 22, 2010

N'alens Date Night

Tonight we took the closest thing to a trip to the Big Easy we will ever probably have.  We hold nothing against the food in New Orleans, just the dirty streets, binge drinking, and opressive voodoo are not really our idea of a great vacation spot.  But those Cajuns sure know how to cook up some flavorful food, so I thought I would give it a try.
I tried a dinner for 2 menu out of a recent issue of Cuisine at Home (I highly recommend this cooking mag, because there are no ads, just recipes and the food is always, always good).  The Recipes were Jambalaya Wraps, Fried Okra, and Hurricanes.  Drew, our household bartender, helped me out with the hurricanes while I finished up dinner.
The recipe for the jambalaya wraps was adjusted while I made them to increase the flavor profile.  I added some PC Cajun Rub, a lot more Tobasco, and left out the wraps.  I was thinking it looked so good by itself, I was wondering why the tortilla made it any better, so I left them out.  This is a great quick recipe for two (it actually makes enough for a third wheel, too) and tasted great.  As always, the ultimate compliment in our house is seconds.
For me the star of the night's dinner was fried okra.  My favorite southern vegetable...I will eat it any way you give it to me, but fried, it can't be beat...mmm...where is the rest of it?  Oh wait, there wasn't any more.
Now for the Hurricanes...Drew said took a sip and said they were a lot less rum-flavored than he was expecting.  I took a sip and said all I tasted was rum.  Such is life in this house.  I switched to water immediately and Drew was left to try to finish the drink meant for 2 without me.  Don't worry, I don't have an inebriated man in my house. 
Great dinner with my man.