For tailgaters who like the heat

It’s been determined I don’t know much about sports but you can still invite me to your tailgate. Snacks and heat are this week’s topic. That’s pepper heat, not this year’s excessive heat. So ‘bae” means sweetheart as in Before Anyone Else. Sauce Bae is as funny a name for a sauce as Damn, Man is for snacks. You can like it funny, but these are “good and funny.”

Yee Haw – Tailgating? Bring a box of man stuff. That’s the Roasted Memphis BBQ Almonds and Spicy Smokie Beef Sticks that are stars of the Damn, Man offering Snacks Guys Love in the Cowboy Starter Kit. What does this starter lead to, more sweet, meaty, cheesy goodness sold to you by manly, bearded, muscled men who are probably more than models. They’ve got to love these snacks, too. It’s clever, humorous packaging for really good food. Listen to these “tasting notes” promoting the cowboy kit: “The prairie sky is wide and high with the many flavors of the south and you'll be feeling the freedom of the open terrain when you crack open this box of snacks fit for a cowboy.” Laugh a little then gobble it up. www.dms.com

                  Sauce Bae – Hot sauce could be an addiction down south. If you’re willing to trust a guy whose health steered him to create Sauce Bae with anti-inflammatory turmeric, pineapple and habanero with his New Jersey Sauce, then enjoy. I did. Y’all know I love the heat and often I don’t feel the “kick” that knocks others out. Sauce Bae made me deliver a single hiccup. Yes, sir, I felt it. This version has less sodium, too. www.saucebae.com is a clever site showing how hip the heat gets.

 

 They are “Souper!” – Update on Souper Cubes trays. I still love them and they freeze food so well. Pop out smaller servings from silicon trays that feel superior to handle. Speaking of handles, the line has a “No Mess Utensil Set” spoon and ladle with a balanced curve so that they hang on the side of your pot. Really, and the thick, food-grade silicone handle keeps a cool grip. Creators have their own story, and Shark Tank investor Lori Greiner has her name on these utensils. Seriously, look up this site for ideas from banana treats to freezing your own breastmilk. www.soupercubes.com

 

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie always reaching for the spice. Connect to her via panews@panews.com

Whispering pines can smudge you up

 

I like the idea of a smudge stick. It’s going around the house with a bundle of smoking sage with the notion that the smoke will cleanse all corners of your home. I haven’t actually done it, but I like the idea. You can use an abalone shell to catch the ashes. With all the pine needles falling on Port Arthur area lawns, I have been mulching and them mentally prepping for fall in 100 degree heat. I got curious and found recipes for pine needle tea and watched how to make baskets and brooms from pines. The crafts looked challenging, until I got to the smudge sticks. Doable! I’ve made several and found them just to lovely and natural to look at. So I’m stick ready and still haven’t smudged. Let me know if your raking turns to crafting.

 Pizza - Gather the peaches, grapes, broccoli, arugula, salmon, jalapenos and radishes. We're making pizzas. 

A lot of them. 

While it isn't legally mandatory to have a red-checkered tablecloth with your pizza, it is part of the cover design for the "The Big Book of Pizza: Foolproof Pies in Every Style" from the Food Network Magazine.

Consider it a picture book, because down south we may not all envision what a New York-Style Pizza is all about. I've got my eye some "alternatives," such as Butternut Squash-Soppressata Pizza, Grilled Pizza with Hummus and tomatoes, and a Potato-Rosemary Pizza with think slices of crispy tater goodness adorning the top. White Clam Pizza? Let's do this. 

Learn how to "dough it up right" and go beyond a box of the frozen stuff. But, like my mama used to, consider those frozen discs that come with a little cheese and sauce as your canvas for creating something special. 

 Step One Foods – Are you willing to rip open packages of dark chocolate walnut bar, mix up oat pancakes with a packet and water and grab a filling oatmeal for breakfast? Colorful, formulated goods from this company ask you to dine on them daily for a path toward better health, specifically lower cholesterol. Need to bring those numbers down while elevating your breakfast? I truly think these foods taste way, way better than others that make your family cringe when they hear the phrase “healthy.” Those dark chocolate bars are great with coffee and an Anytime Sprinkle for yogurt, fruit or whatever gives you: Oat bran, chia seeds, flax seeds, dried cranberries, almonds, walnuts, raisins, plant sterols, Saskatoon berries. You will be full and you’ll enjoy getting that way. My pancakes typically turn out a mess but this good-for-you packed helped me turn out a serving so pretty a skeptical onlooker got jealous. Strawberry and banana smoothie mix is easy enough in the blender, or you could just pour it over yogurt for a meal in moments. www.steponefoods.com

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie ready to smudge with you. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Staying toasty in excessive heat

 

 

Toast to the Heat - You always hear you can fry an egg on the sidewalk in hot weather. I totally believe that, but why waste an egg? And it would make a sticky mess. So I thought of toast. I love my metal bento box and thought I'd try putting a slice of bread in the lid and leaving it on the dashboard in the morning. At lunch I came out to a perfect slice of crunchy toast. Very good, actually. I left half to see if it would brown any more from noon to 5 p.m. It was still light, because there was no butter or oil, but yes, even more dry. Dry crumb dust flew off the half slice when it passed in front of the AC vents. It was still 96 degrees on my way home.

Dillys Pickled Veggies – Beans picked one day are pickled the next at woman-owned Dillys. Signature spices and brine started with asparagus and green beans and now offers jars of baby dills, those appealing red onions that are popping up everywhere and a Texas fave, jalapenos. The crunch and tartness are addictive. Pop open Dillys and see if I’m right. Pickled and fermented veggies are trending. Pucker up:  www.dillyspickles.com

Seas the Day –  Many foodies need to update their take on tuna, and Tonnino  can do it. It’s in the underbelly. Appealing jars of tuna, albacore and yellowfin responsibly caught in the wild are packed with a fine taste and texture we did not grow up with in those little cans. I had to convince my husband to try some and he ended up asking for more.  I’ve been enjying Tonnino's Tuna straight from the jar. Or add it to pasta, niçoise salads, etc. The flavors are already in the jar.  It’s fancy. Tropical waters yield: Tonnino’s yellowfin tuna is hand cut and hand packed with 10 plus choices from olive oil and spring water to Jalapenos in olive oil, lemon and pepper in olive oil, and now olive oil infused with truffle. Tonnino’s albacore tuna captures the white meat with its mild flavors in five aromas: in olive oil, spring water, herbs de provence in olive oil, ginger soy in olive oil and olive oil infused with truffle. Makers invite you to Seas the Day at: www.tonnino.com.

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who has been getting pickled. Share ideas with her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Showbowls

                              Display Counts – An organic kind of guy, my bachelor musician friend is a hummus expert who can also do justice to rice, guacamole and plant-based main dishes. An almond “centerpiece” dressed up a spread so much I had to snap a photo. Remember, spice dustings, garnishes and displays can elevate meals, even if you are entertaining a party of 1, as in yourself.

                              Sarge’s Shrimp and Grits Sauce –  You might think it’s hard to “elevate your grits” because there’s so many of those tiny little grains. Haha. Let’s get serious about grits like they do in Raleigh, N.C. where Sarge’s Shrimp and Grits sauce works for you. The grits served alone were crazy good even when I used less butter and cream than called for. Sorry Sarge. I didn’t follow orders. Then I opened up a jar of the sauce for my next go round and added fresh shrimp from Marie’s Seafood in Port Arthur and man, those grits were singing to me. Billed as the first and only dedicated shrimp and grits sauce already made for you, it’s rich, easy and a winner. I’ll be drizzling this sauce on eggs when the shrimp is gone. Let me re-write that. The shrimp was all gone at dinner. No leftovers here. Meet Sarge at www.easyshrimpandgrits.com

                                      Refreshed – Wakeup! Is the focus blend inside BioLift that makes it a caffeine alternative to ditch the jitters. I find tall cans of Mandarin Orange, Mixed Berry and Peach Mango to be a delightful treat with great taste. If reading about how healthy something is could put you to sleep, pop open a can and learn how you are doing yourself good with: Guaran for a stimulating, steady awakening flow; elderberry for a constant sugar level; ginkgo biloba for mood and cognitive performance; and carob. “Works in Minutes, Lasts for Hours” is the tagline for this focus blend. I’m not sharing my cans. Look into it at: www.drinkbiolift.com

Medical Scrubs Collection -  I like to think of my medical professionals as being so busy taking care of me and keeping up to speed that they don’t have time to shop. But they look so stylish because they’re getting the fitted, fun and sassy gear from the brands at Medical Scrubs Collection. If you don’t have a medical license and hang around the house in stylish scrubs and footwear, wouldn’t you feel like snacking on kale juice and seaweed instead of chips and soda? Let’s see. Koi has a top that just feels silky and WonderWink Pro is designed to work with pockets to spare. I didn’t know what I was getting into when a source steered me to www.medicalscrubscollection.com, but I get it. These are the togs that comfort children getting shots and grownups getting root canals. This is quality fun stuff that washes well. In high school, the trend was to wear scrubs that were “acquired” from medical facilities. They were faded and ripped and my art teacher would not allow this garb in her classroom. This stuff, however, is way cooler and looks good on kitchen duty.

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie ready for adventure. Share at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Port Arthur is officially Cajun and we have the "real gumbo book.

 

Port Arthur is now the official Cajun Capital of Texas and we’ve got the goods to celebrate. Gumbo is one of our favorite foods and Jim LaBove has a new book about it. No matter how much you already know, you’re sure to learn something new from the man who grew up harvesting seafood out of Sabine Pass waters with his dad. Cotton’s Seafood fed the area. LaBove’s many books and drawings, which often pop up at farmers markets and craft booths, share his “Cajunisms.” Look for talkative Jim and his ever-smiling and friendly wife, Dodie. You’ll leave as friends.

               His latest release is “The (Real) Gumbo Book,” offering “A Deep Dive into the Lifeblood of Cajun Culture.”  If you’re lucky enough to have met LaBove, you know that his writing is just like having a conversation with him. Drawings of local ducks, boats, musicians, kitchen tools and even the plant that gives us file help complete the feeling of being down on the bayou.

               I always say everybody should think their own grandma’s gumbo is the best. There’s room for plenty of good recipes, though. I’d love to try all the different duck and seafood ones discussed in this book. Just follow the recipes.

               Here’s what LaBove says: “Gumbo is an evolving dish that seems to be in a constant state of evolution. Her opinion aside, my Mama would be the first to tell you to make gumbo the way you like it and make the final recipe your own.”

In “The (Real) Gumbo Book,” Get the basics on the components of what makes various types of gumbo sing:

·       *  Roux? Basic and important.

·        * Eggs? Sometimes.

·        * Sausage? If you like.

·        * Holy Trinity? We need that.

·        * File? A thing unto itself.

Lagniappe:

·                Okra and the Cajun Diaspora is a chapter title that makes our bowl of gumbo seem legendary.

·        Learn about dried shrimp and water gumbo

·        The glossary includes words such as lapin, La PAN, Cajun French for Rabbit and

poisson rouge, as in redfish.

Flagship Mailroom and Emporium features some of LaBove's oeuvre. You can shop online at www.cottons-seafood.com. Now as for me, I gotta go get some gumbo.

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie already awaiting the next crawfish season in Port Arthur. darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Dare to try a kimchee bowl for a fermented breakfast?

 

What if you took a shopping list of foods that make many people wary and served them up for breakfast? Kale, onion, garlic, rolled oats, eggs and avocado are in the Small Town Cultures Kimchi breakfast bowl. My eyes got big when I saw the photo and now my supply of this lovely yellow jar is getting low as I work up the nerve to try it. Recipes for fermented Small Town Cultures products can make everything from burgers and faux burgers to drinks such as Jalapeno Paloma to gut-friendly nachos and smoothies. A  jar of raw-fermented pro-biotic sliced red onions looks like a pink jewel. Red onion, water, salt, sumac berry and white tea make these a side dish to anything. That's why I'm almost on empty while energizing my diet. Get into the www.smalltowncultures.com world for flavor and health. Meet you there for breakfast. 

“The Horror Movie Night Cookbook” is not for everyone. The food is for me and the movies are from someone whose tastes I tolerate. You get gourmet and fun stuff and may I mention, adult beverages in this book from Richards S. Sargent, who plans some “killer” parties. Drink up for product placement, knife wipes and more while watching these spooky tales. The subtitle is “60 Deliciously Deadly Recipes Inspired by Iconic Slashers, Zombie Films, Psychological Thrillers, sci-Fi Spooks, & More.”

Anticipate:

• “Contagion” from 2011 seems on target with The Pandemic,  a banana liqueur, Scotch and Sherry concoction.

• “Shaun of the Dead” – There’s  an I in Meat Pie featuring elbow macaroni and The Winchester, an apple Schnapps named after the pub the gang holed up in.
• “28 Days Later” offers A Feast, Jones of omelet muffins and homemade apple sauce with The Monkey Brains shot. With a dropper, drizzle Irish cream liqueur on the bottom of a shot glass full of vodka and lemon juice and add grenadine “blood” and what you end up with looks enough like brains as to be creepy.

• For dining pleasure while viewing “Night of the Living Dead,” the 1968 classic, try Burial Plot, a dessert of pudding, whipped cream and crushed Oreo dirt, and sip The Farmhouse, a drink named for an iconic break-in scene.

 

The Farmhouse

1 ounce mezcal

1 ounce apple grandy

2 ounces amaretto liquer

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 dash of angostura bitters

1. Add all the ingredients to a shaker over ice an shake well.
2. Pour the contents into a rocks glass over ice and serve 

“The Cousins are Coming!” – This title encapsulates all the excitement and planning of classic cousin love. Dallas educator Kay Jones describes planning of shows with costumes and characters, laughing at styles in vintage family photos and popcorn movie night. When they’re pooped from a full day and piled into a sleepy heap, they even blame the cat for a naturally occurring “mystery” common to most kid sleepovers. Peter Trimarco’s cover illustration shows the host family kids literally climbing a tree to look out for the approaching car full of cousins. The part that resonated to this foodie is that simple mac and cheese is the dinner of choice with a passel of kids needs feeding. Memories… 

“Hillary Flies to the Moon” – Even ladybugs dream big. In this book, a real cutie bug hears about a full red moon while in class and falls asleep dreaming big. From the moon there’s a black hole and a mission. This Jongleur Books paperback is from a team of 6 and good to read aloud to children. I figure we are close enough to NASA to merit interest in Hillary’s tale. 

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who is pro probiotic. Share with her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Culinary "Trill" Seeking at Trill Burgers

 

 

Keeping it Trill

Forgive me for showing off. I experienced Trill Burgers. Yeah, it was good.

An OG smashed burger with Trill Sauce was what a burger should strive to be. Celebrity buzz was a great add-on. But maybe the most fun part was telling people I actually got in to this hot ticket spot in Houston. There’s a wait for those juicy burgers.

Bun B, formerly of Port Arthur, is now famous in Houston. If you didn’t know, he was half the legendary hip hop duo UGK, with the late Pimp C.  They merit a popular display in the Museum of the Gulf Coast music hall of fame.

So this new restaurant is done in yellow and black on Shepherd Drive. It’s a former James Coney Island and it’s the talk of the town. A new Texas Monthly story proves my point. The burgers are famous and I enjoyed an OG with smashed all-beef patty, Trill Sauce, pickles, caramelized onions and American cheese on a potato roll. It’s a classic and worth the wait. “Good Morning America” thinks it’s good, too.

Going is an adventure with parking lot attendants guiding constant flow. People are taking photos they’re so excited. It was kind of like getting into a club. The security guard counted off rounds of who could get in next. Once you make that cut, check out bright yellow picnic table seating, a merch booth and more excited music foodies. Murals include compact Port Arthur, Texas lettering in a corner.

While in Houston, I mentioned to area vendors I’d been to Trill Burgers and each time they asked me to fill them in. They’d heard good things but had not yet braved the line. I felt like a celebrity as they called staff over to hear my experience.

Trill, if you didn’t know, means true and real. It’s the real stuff.

 

Trill Tips for When You Go:

·        The line moves fast. On the hot day I went, cooled water bottles were provided outside.

·        No cash is accepted. Bring the plastic.

·        Bun B’s photo is a pop up on the burger box. It’s like he’s dining with you.

·        Take photos. Everyone else does!

·        Selfie spot: A neon Keep it Trill sign is over the soda machines.

·        Look in the branded fridge for fruity flavors of Cool Cup Juice.

·        Make sure you tell everyone you’re from the Port Arthur area!

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who’s proud of Southeast Texas flavors. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com