Try dessert from the dashboard

  

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Whiskey Cake  "I’ll need a minute,” I told my husband and the signature dish in the Katy restaurant arrived at the table. The server had asked if we wanted cream on top or on the side and ended up just leaving the container. We were at “Whiskey Cake Kitchen and Bar” at just the right slow time on a Monday afternoon. Short ribs over spaghetti squash tasted lovely and everyone said the Brussels sprouts were famous. I never, ever thought I would like them but I would’ve tried them if I weren’t already decided on the other. Then came the whiskey cake. I will call you out and say you should feel guilty if you eat a whole one by yourself. You          could take it home and eat it for a couple days if you were really good. But I wasn’t necessarily that good. The cake here was made with layers and thoughtfulness of deliciousness. This is a chain restaurant, but the best kind.


 

                            Some more easy stuff

                      

                             Stuffed Puffs are marshmallows stuffed with real chocolate. So, did    your mind just go to s’mores? Bingo. That was easy. A Culinary          Institute of America grad designed this scientific wonder that you can pick up at WalMart stores. Now, here’s my trick. I put one in a dish on the dashboard in Southeast Texas heat. That afternoon I had a super-sweet reward. The marshmallow and chocolate were melted to perfection, but the little plastic dish was flat! Next time, I’m going with a deeper vessel, like on old-school coffee cup. Stuffed Puffs are easy to use around a camp fire. This melty trick doesn’t even need a flame. 

Garden District Kitchen

            What’s cooking behind the doors of those iron-gated, columned Garden District homes you view from your New Orleans street car? It could be Zatarain’s boxed dinners. Hey, sometimes you want easy prep so you can head out to hear the jazz. The beloved brand has released Garden District Kitchen boxed dinners with a flavor of the city’s Italian heritage. Parmesan Garlic features brown rice with white beans and Roasted Garlic Adobo is brown rice with black beans. It’s a little bit “different” and a lot of easy. Ten minutes of cook time? Who could argue with that from a trusted brand? While I did eat these hot off the stove, I’m imagining them served from a covered to-go bowl and mixed with sliced green onions and other vegetables. What a lovely dish for a summer’s evening picnic.

                 

                  Veggies Made Great

                             My husband called and said some “discs” had arrived for me to try. Huh? His description emerged to Garden Lites’ Veggies Made Great muffin-shaped pleasures. Little frittatas include new flavors Broccoli Cheddar Frittata and Mushroom & 3 Cheese Egg White Frittatas. They’re so easy to have for breakfast or a meal on the go, with less than 90 calories. New choices in their veggie cake line are Butternut Squash (my personal fave of the whole lot) and Broccoli Cheddar. I’ve excited some of my veggie-loving friends with samples of these, which can be found at Kroger and Costco. If you think you don’t have the time to eat better, stock up on these.

                  Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie ready to try anything new. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Get your soup on in January

                             The concept of a steaming bowl of hot soup is interchangeable with a bowl of “hot gumbo” around these parts. At Christmas Eve church services a number of families noted they were headed home for their traditional holiday gumbo.

                             January as National Soup Month should be celebrated by more than retailers. It’s a time to branch out into creamy delicacies, hearty stews and fortifying broths.

                             I’ve dropped some boullion cubes into a carafe of bean mix to serve as decorating until I have time to soak and simmer those beans into a soup to last all week.

                             Something I love about soup is that it revives leftovers, transforming those little containers of this and that into something new.

                             Some add-in or topping tips:

                             * Greek yogurt

                             * Cheese

                             * Chopped onions

                            * Sprig of oregano

                             * Nuts

                             Readers, feel free to share your favorite soups, recipes or tips with us via the e mail below. We love talking soup.

                             Celebrate the soup this month by trying a flavor from a different culture. It seems we all have a soup to identify ourselves.

                            

                            

                  Zatarain’s gets you seasoned for Mardi Gras

                              Zatarain’s has a box of Cinaltro Lime rice mix that’s a quick fix and history lesson, with the label noting that the Spanish introduced this crop to the Mexican culture centuries ago. The box notes this rice dish is an ideal complment to fajitas, tacos, enchiladas and burritos. I will add tamales. That’s what I serve another January birthday girl. This quiet meal turned into “the birthday that ended in a frantic search for Allen wrenches," but that is another story.

                             Zatarain’s jambalaya mix boxes suggest you add meat for a one-pot dinner. That’s the sort of  thing you need for Mardi Gras season when you’re headed to ball fittings, krewe meetings, etc. Mardi Gras of Southeast Texas is Feb. 8-11 this year. See you on the grounds in downtown Port Arthur.

Darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Get the Karbach tour and prep turkey leftovers for gumbo

                      Karbach Brewing Co.

                      Look for Love Street in Houston. It’s an actual address, and a Kolsch style blonde from Karbach Brewing Co. When I got a postcard invite to a marriage reception, I thought the Love Street can was designed by the artist groom. But it’s a thing. There’s also a Karbach Street where a groovy brewery is available for tours. Best yet, there’s a hip restaurant and upstairs reception area and the food and beverages were all of the best. The blend of informal and thoughtful creativity was seamless, beginning with appetizers in the hall that, simply put, was an artful mountain of cheese with grapes, nuts and sundries studding the landscape. It was a delicious conversation starter.

                      Our tour guide let us taste the barley, which I noted would be a fiber-filled crunchy topping for Greek yogurt. Later he proclaimed us the most adventurous group he’d guided per our willingness to sample the barley.

                      Thanks C&E, for the invite.

             

              Zatarain’s saves the turkey

                      They make turkey hash after Thanksgiving in some regions. We make gumbo in Southeast Texas. We look forward to it, plan for it and fight over the carcass as much as the drumstick.

                      Zatarain’s  suggests a box of their gumbo or jambalaya mix would make it even more easy to keep the flow of leftover turkey from fridge to table. Look on their web site for ideas. We hardly need a recipe down here, so pick some up when you do your seasonal, seasoned shopping.

                      Makers sent me some to play with so I asked my mom what she had in her freezer to mix in. She usually is meticulous about labeling, but we had to wait for this package to defrost to discover its contents. Crawfish! Bingo. Zatarain’s blessed another Sunday dinner.

                      T-fal PerformaPro Cookware

                  This September foodies got another taste of what T-fal can do with the new PerfromaPro Cookware featuring their new Techno Release™

technology, which means the textured interior, little indentions in regular folk talk, create “soft contact zones for easier food release and clean up. Stainless steel pans look so gleaming and clean well. Surely you know someone who loves to cook this holiday. A set of 14 is $99.99. I didn’t have some of these pot sizes. As I write this for you, I’m simmering a pot of giant Peruvian lima beans in the perfect pot.

darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Going tangy trend and what else is new

               Go smoky, tangy

                      McCormick Flavor Forecast has announced that smoky, spicy and tangy flavors are trends of the 2016 grilling season. Are you on board?  Some new products include Smoky Montreal Steak seasoning, Hot Pepper Blackened Seasoning, Smoky Applewood Mrinade and Brazilian Steakhouse Marinade. Look for these under their Grill Mates line.

                      I oven—baked ribs doused in the single-use liquid marinade packet of Brown Sugar Bourbon to great reviews. I loved the sweet aroma if basil released with the new Herb Grinder. The little bottles contain larger herb pieces that are gently dried to protect color and essential volatile oils from a patented ergonomic. This will be my first occasion for keeping parsley on hand. Italian Blend and Oregano grinders are also available. New packets of chicken sauces include Herb Roasted Chicken, Italian Parmesan Chicken and Bourbon Chicken. Get grilling. Go to www.mccormick.com for more ideas.

              What else is new?

              * Zatarain’s now offers single-serve portions ready in just under 4 minutes. Keep flavors such as Jambalaya Rice Mix and Red Beans and Rice in your desk drawer for a quick lunch or add leftover sausage or chicken at home to extend this convenience into a more sturdy meal. Love the Zatarain’s brand.

 * Hipster coupon holder - Huzzah! Announces BroCards makers as they offer charismatic gentlemen a thin wallet with a titanium card that is all-at-once a bottle opener, hair and beard comb, milimetre ruler, thee screwdrivers and two hex wrenches with a 2-grade file on the back. This is a manly-man product that you will have to put on the tray at security if you fly to try to meet the makers in Australia. I say, women might like these minimalist wallets to hold coupons and cash when they are out being charismatic. Bonus Bro-ness is recipes at www.thatbroco.com. Yes, I said recipes. I like

these Bros.

* Forever Flawless Skin Care & Cosmetics uses diamond dust for anti-aging products and other skin, eye, and nail care for men and women. But I think of it as creamy diamonds. Infusions of dust go into creams, facial exfoliators, and microdermabrasion products for deep cleansing. They throw in natural goodies like avocado oil and vitamins A and E. It’s spa-quality product designed for home use. There’s a fragrance, so you can even “smell” diamonds. What a kick. Start with an infused cooling and hydrating mask, mess around with HYDRA-AM Moisture Complex in jars that look downright artistic/futuristic and then there’s purifying toner and cleansing complex for when you need to “sparkle” again. Remember what diamonds look like in the rough. It’s more of a sexy science experiment that a jaunt to the jewelry store. And it feels very, very nice as they cleanse the skin.

              * Frebreeze is one of those products that has become a verb, as in “Frebreeze it.” These fresh makers sent a sample of new Frebreeze Laundry Odor Eliminator, pitching to a food columnist that you wouldn’t want to head to brunch in smelly gym gear. We Southeast Texas get hot enough heading from our air-conditioned buildings to our cars, so my experience with this sample, which you add to your detergent, was very nice. My husband complains of the scent of some products, but this one just smelled super clean to me and went unnoticed by his “are you wearing perfume?” sort of inquisition.  darraghcastillo@icloud.com