Seafood Sensation - Culinary Trails Taste

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Dinner Party A Complete Success!

Sept. 15, 2014

     A surprise dinner invitation is wonderful although the outcome can led to some trepidation.

     Depending on the hosts’ culinary skills, you can either leave belching from satisfaction or belching due to a bad taste in your mouth

     Let’s agree on something from the start. A person has to think a lot of themselves to open their home to casual or a close group of friends.  Not to mention, they have to have a strong sense of themselves – bordering on rabid egotism (like a chef) -- if they decide to prepare a meal because the line between cooking success and failure is as thin as a guitar string.

     Too many things can go wrong once the thought of spending a pleasant evening with friends and family gives way to kitchen reality, especially if the host decides to cook something complicated.

     Food allergies, undercooked meal, overcooked meal, terrible wine paring, hard to please guests and  folks who don’t eat meat or sweets are a few of the factors that can  turn a dinner party into a bloody Sons of Anarchy episode.

I know you get the picture.

      Therefore, I normally have a healthy sense of caution when I accept a dinner invitation and honestly that is how I felt heading to Moss Bluff, Louisiana to eat at my friends home.

     Daila Matheus and her husband opened their home to a small group of us.

     My nerves weren’t on edge because I had any problems with the couple. No, this was a matter of eating. This was the first time I was going to sit at their table. Cooking ability was at question.

     Matheus is from Venezuela. When she made her invitation,   I must admit, thoughts of sancocho – a root vegetable and meat infused stew or soup -- titillated my taste buds. Sancocho is a dish readily prepared by South American cooks.

     Matheus tipped us off that paella – a wonderful saffron infused rice dish that originates from Valencia, Spain – was the main attraction.

     “I learned how to make this dish from someone in Wyoming,” Matheus admitted.

     Huh?

     Ok, she is from a South American country where the Spanish had some influence. Yet, paella is from the European continent. I know Spanish residents who take pride in the dish and aren’t into off the wall kitchen interpretations.

     This was a dinner that could have gone wrong at any moment because due to the cook's lack of homegrown expertise.

     Matheus laid it on the line and here are the results.

     Well, after filling my plate three times and eating dessert, survey says: the lady can cook.

     Matheus and her husband are also expert hosts.

     I’d be content to sit on their front porch and happily await whatever creations and aromas come out of their kitchen.

    I know belches of pleasure will follow dinner.

Matheus' paella filled with seafood, vegetables, meat and rice.

Matheus twisting and turning the delicious ingredients that went into the paella.

Matheus with a few of her dinner guests who made sure they enjoyed
 wine with the paella.

     

Drinking hole find in Houston

I'm tempted to write a 500 word food column about a cool and comfortable place that I visited in Houston on Saturday. But the following pictures will sum it up. The owners of Julep (Alba Huerta and Clumsy Butcher) located the bar in a warehouse (wonderful!) on Washington Avenue. If you appreciate southern styled cocktails (prepared with mixologist precision) with small plate delights, then Julep should be put on your "To-Do" list. The mint juleps are sinful. Other cocktails like the French (Dry Gin, Lemon and Sparkling Wine) and the Rail To Satsuma (Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac, Satsuma Jelly, Lime and Buffalo Bayou More Cowbell Double IPA) are ohhhhhh my goodness good!

Here are a few pics from Julep's Facebook page.

Visit them at www.julephouston.com

Saturday morning breakfast smells

Sitting at the computer, with the aroma of eggs, tomatoes and turkey bacon cooking. As a pork lover, I must admit that healthy eating can be a drag.

On Friday, I was confronted with a dilemma.
Surf or turf?
While having a few brews at my favorite pub in Lake Charles, the discussion among the guys sitting at the bar was what would be a orgasmic dinner?
A grilled ribeye, rare to medium rare with a sunny-side up egg perched on top or boiled shrimp and crabs.
Seafood called out to me and Sha Sha's in downtown Lake Charles prepares boiled seafood the way you might get it at someone's home.
It tasted it as good as it looks.
The restaurant is a "must-do" for anyone who appreciates the wonders of the sea.

I have a coffee date with my mother Tuesday morning.

We decided on Monday, Oct. 1 to meet...a day after I turned 41-years-old.

The plan is to get together at Stellar Beans in Lake Charles at 8 a.m. and start the day with Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee.

Is there any way to start the day?

Franchises are not my favorite restaurants. Even when the menu is decent there is something fundamentally wrong with herd eating.

Yet, last night, the gods of the roadway put Pappas Seafood House on my radar.

As a point of self confession, I have eaten at other Pappas owned restaurants -- in a previous life mind you.

The dish that caught my attention was catfish topped with a sauce filled with grilled oysters, shrimp and crab meat. All of that was layered over a bed of jambalaya.

Actually, the dish was tasty, a bit over-kill with the dirty rice though.

Here's a picture...

This plate will set you back $25. Actually, this seving is big enough to share with a guest. Just grow the herd.