Louisiana-Inspired Cajun Swamp Eggs Recipe
Jun 25, 2024
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Louisiana-Inspired Cajun Swamp Eggs Recipe
As you probably know by now, one of my absolutely favorite restaurants is Fogo de Chao. There is little out there that's better than the experience of enjoying great cocktails while enjoying an endless parade of meat served by friendly gauchos - well, except doing it in Brazil itself I suppose! Each season the folks at Fogo also update their harvest table with seasonal selections but they've now updated their bar menu too. They are so excited about their new offerings that they invited me back again to try some of their new cocktails and small plates before the full dinner that I already knew would be awesome.
A few weeks ago I experienced one of my new favorite foods. It was so simple, so delicious, and so easy to make that I'm shocked that this isn't a nation-wide treat on every breakfast table. Apparently though, the people in Arkansas like to keep the secret of Chocolate Gravy and Biscuits to themselves. No more though! The awesome folks at Edwardian Inn in Helena, Arkansas agreed to give me the recipe to share with you. Well, only half of it, because "LOL... Gotta keep some secrets" when I asked about the biscuit recipe.
Texas is known for being big and over the top, so I don't know why I was surprised to see a real live Texas Long Horn bull out front of The Ranch at Las Colinas when we arived. Not only was this cool to see, but it was there as a photo op for kids (of all ages!) to sit on as they took your photo. The bit of morbidity that you are quite literally playing with your food before dinner aside, this set the tone for one of the best steak dinners that I've had in a long while.
When you travel, it takes a toll on the body. Not just being exhausted from irregular sleep but your gut gets thrown out of whack too. While we know that eating better, drinking more water, stretching, and getting more rest can help – fiber is key too. I used to laugh when I’d hear people talking about “staying regular” but as I matured, I realized that keeping your digestive system happy has a lot more benefits than just being able to poop better! Now, it’s my key to avoiding the bio-lag due to poor food choices and chaotic schedules when I travel.
When I first got contacted by the folks at Biena I thought this was a joke - flavored chickpea snacks? Seriously? While I like hummus and I enjoy garbanzo beans when I can find them in a salad bar. However, not once had I ever thought of them as a snack food tossed in flavors like Habanero and Rockin' Ranch... much less Girl Scout Thin Mint! Yet here we are. I have a dozen or so bags on my table and I can't decide which one I like best.
You may have heard of Prince St Pizza as an iconic New York City pizza shop that has rapidly joined the ranks of regional favorites that are now available nationwide through Gold Belly. However, they have also been aggressively expanding with retail locations too. Most recently, that list of places that you can get authentic New York pizza now includes San Diego! I don't say this lightly but I was actually pretty impressed with these guys and as any fan of pizza in the Big Apple knows... it's all about the water.
The San Pedro Fish Market is one of the most famous restaurants in Los Angeles and dates back to 1956 when it opened it's doors as Vista Seafood. It's known worldwide as a fun place serving up huge portions of fresh seafood that people know is worth facing crowds of hungry people just to get a bite of. Now they are expanding into a new concept, delivering the food and fun of the classic Shrimp Tray and other items but now in a fast casual restaurant environment. While still family owned, the San Pedro Fish Market Grille has expanded to multiple locations including Rolling Hills Estates, Wilmington, and Harbor City - where they invited us to join them for a taste.
The flavor of fire-grilled meat is a primal experience that goes back thousands of years. Man has been drawn to the delicious char and juices dripping from a perfectly cooked piece of meat since the first time he tried it. Thankfully this is a skill that continues to be passed down through thousands of generations of men and that continues today in backyards across America! Unfortunately, it isn't something that just anyone can do properly. You need to equip yourself with a few basic skills. Just like any other craft, the technicalities of the process have to be carefully mastered.
Like many things this year, the 2020 National Hardware Show was a bit different. Instead of being able to navigate through endless rows of booths and network with folks in the aisles, this year was 100% virtual. Despite that, I sort of enjoyed the experience since it allowed me to connect with vendors by browsing their web profiles and setting up Zoom meetings and I left the conference without the sore back and legs that I normally have. Sadly I also didn't get to take home the bags of swag and samples that normally come with shows like this. However, despite the changing conditions of 2020, the BBQ and tailgating world is still cooking up some fun gadgets and gear. Here's some of our favorites that we found!
Taking an epic road trip is my favorite way to experience what it means to be an American. While flying to a great destination is a quick way to get to a destination, with a road trip the journey is the destination. Along the way you get a chance to meet new people, taste new foods, savor new drinks, and spend time discussing various topics with your traveling companions. Last year I got a chance to do a short road trip in California for the launch of the all-new 2019 Toyota Rav4, a vehicle that quickly became one of our favorites. Now we've had the opportunity to spend some quality time with the 2019 Rav4 Hybrid, which aside from one frustrating item is about the perfect mid-sized SUV for a long road trip.
I've been hooked on Big AZ sandwiches since I first worked with them a few years ago. These aren't for foodies but they are for men with a big az appetite!
Just a few hundred feet from my loft in San Diego is Lionfish - Modern Coastal Cuisine - set inside the Pendry Hotel. I've walked by a few times but for some reason never had a chance to enter and check it out. Last week their PR team reached out to me to promote the fact that they have been recognized as a 2019 James Beard Foundation Smart Catch Leader, and would I be interested in stopping over for dinner sometime. Not one to pass up a chance to enjoy some food and drinks I graciously accepted their invitation. Now, I'm just wondering why I haven't visited before now...
Key West has no shortage of great places to get some awesome food and so when our host (The Florida Keys) sent us to the next island over, I wasn't sure why. As it turned out, this was no mistake - Matt's Stock Island Kitchen & Bar located in the Perry Hotel is an absolutely fabulous restaurant and while we just came here for dinner, the property is a great destination for guys planning a fishing trip since the marina is right there. Plus they are building out a distillery and a music venue complete with pool and bar service. What more could you possibly ask for?
While Valentine's Day is coming up this week, this really should be something that we think about all-year-round. Being a better husband doesn't mean you're not a great one already... but we can always be better. This passion for improvement and innovation is the first lesson I learned about being a better husband during the time I spent with the folks at Perdue Farms last fall and I've learned a lot more since then too. Let's take a look at some of the lessons that men can learn by following in the footsteps of Perdue Farms!
I'm not a huge fan of casseroles normally. However, the undeniable benefit of being able to stretch a dollar while feeding a bunch of hungry people can't be ignored. We live in a time right now where both of those take precedence over simply "looking great". Today I decided to challenge myself to try something new with what stuff I had available in the kitchen. Lucky for me, the first things I found were cans green chiles and Hatch green chile enchilada sauce. That inspired me to combine it with the potatoes and Niman Ranch ground pork that I had stocked up on recently as part of our quarantine food. The Pork and Potatoes Southwest Green Chile Casserole was born!
Sometimes you just walk by a place and have no idea what you've been missing. That was the case up until a few days ago with The Smoking Gun in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter. I live just a few blocks away and have walked by the place regularly, without stopping in. On the outside it looks like just any other "hipster bar" downtown but what we found inside was surprisingly good quality cocktails, a very creative menu and a great atmosphere that I can't wait to return to sometime soon.
2020 was a rough year in a lot of ways and generally, we like to do at least one restaurant feature every month, sometimes two or even three. With dine-in options mostly closed or simply not to my level of comfort, I stopped doing restaurant features the way I liked to do previously. I still continued to order out but it took time for the industry to catch up and start producing options that made sense beyond the typical take-out heroes like burritos, sushi, sandwiches, and sandwiches. I was a bit nervous for New Years Day dinner since not only is this a big night for foodies in general... but it's also my anniversary. Luckily we saw Parc Bistro on TV and loved their attitude and creativity so we decided to order their Beef Wellington and try it out.
When you are young and still on the "chase", date night is something you look forward to but over the years it can become redundant, expensive, or just something to put off until next week. Unfortunately, as wonderful as marriage and long-term relationships can be there's a trap that you need to avoid called complacency. Here's some tips to overcome that and impress your date with how much you care for her.
Are you hungry for something different when it comes to food on a cruise ship? Yeah, me too. While I love the tried and true mixture of buffet, main dining room, steakhouse, and Italian restaurant... variety is nice too. Virgin Voyages is a disruptor in the cruise industry. When you take a look at the food offerings, you will see why that is going to be very exciting for guests when Scarlet Lady starts sailing this fall from Miami.
One of my favorite parts of traveling is experiencing new food that you can't get anywhere else. Sure, you can get tacos in any state... but San Diego is king. Unfortunately we can't get good bagels or BBQ here either. With Goldbelly though, you can order from dozens of different restaurants, bakeries, and other food makers from around the country. While many of these are iconic foods like BBQ from Nashville's Peg Leg Porker or Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que, others are lesser known... despite being local's favorites for years. Armed with a $500 gift card provided by Goldbelly we started our journey. Here's what we bought for our backyard feast (and saved for ourselves to eat too!).