Hello Everyone!

My name is Angela Sagabaen and I work as a culinary writer for the Culinary Department here at Emeril’s Homebase. The Culinary Department helps Chef Emeril with recipe development and testing; it’s a fun and unique job and there’s always something new to learn and experience  (not to mention eat).

I’m going to start blogging on the site regularly and I just wanted to introduce myself! I hope to bring you interesting information about food, New Orleans and maybe a tidbit or two on life.

I’m originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and lived in NYC preceding New Orleans. I have been a NOLA resident for 2 years now and would love to show you the city through my eyes. So, nice to meet you and I hope to take you along a fascinating journey.

~Angela

In case you were wondering, this is what I look like.

On Saturday, several Martha Stewart/Emeril Lagasse colleagues and I embarked on a New York Pizza Crawl. One day and 6 pizzerias — all in the search for the best slices in NYC!

 

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Picture 1 from 27: Here's the Pizza Crawl crew minus me. From left to right: Alison Sickelka (online editor for marthastewart.com), Tiffany Sun (online editor), Todd Hodgson (managing editor), Michelle Buffardi (online editor), Mallory Cruz (sister of Katie Pitre), Katie Pitre (friend and wife of TJ), TJ Pitre (developer) and Paul Kodila (radio producer for Martha Stewart Living Radio).

As mentioned earlier, a group from Emeril’s and Martha Stewart Living has been hosting monthly cooking competitions. The first was a chili cook-off, the second was called, ” Your Signature Dish,” and the most recent was a taco cook-off. The events are a raging success, and at each cook-off, there are more competitors with increasingly creative dishes. The Taco Cook-Off entries included: Tuna Sashimi Tacos with Tomatillo Salsa, Korean Short Rib Tacos, Grilled Swordfish Tacos, Pork Tacos with Roasted Pineapple-Habanero Chile Salsa, Grilled Cod Tacos, Chicken Tacos, and a “Bahn Mexicano” Taco (Vietnamese Slow-Cooked Pork with Sriracha Mayo). Fancy, right?

The way the cook-off works is that the event and theme are announced a few weeks ahead of time and all guests are invited to bring a dish to compete. At the cook-off, the food is served, along with drinks and snacks–like a typical dinner party, but at the end of the buffet-style meals, guests vote for their favorite dish.

When the Taco Cook-Off results were tallied, there was a tie for first place: TJ’s Tuna Sashimi Tacos, and Tim’s Bahn Mexicano Tacos were the favorites, and Brian’s Grilled Swordfish Tacos came in second.

Regardless of winning or losing (which is something a good loser would say) the event was a great time and it was exciting to be a part of competition full of adventurous cooks. And while the winning tacos were amazing, I think that a re-count would reveal the Cod Tacos as #1.

Homemade hard taco shells for TJ’s winning Tuna Sashimi Tacos

Tony’s Braised Short Rib Tacos

Tim’s winning Bahn Mexicano Tacos

The pork for Alison’s Pork Tacos

Tequila, the Official Beverage of the Taco Cook-Off

I’ve been a big fan of the Sazerac cocktail since my first sip.  It’s a cocktail rich with history and flavor.

I thought I’d share my photo journey of some of the different Sazeracs I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing over time (forgive the quality of the photos, they were all taken with my camera phone).

 

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Picture 1 from 8: This is a sazerac I prepared in my very fitting fleur de lis glass.

This post wouldn’t be complete with out a recipe:

Sazerac Cocktail Recipe

• 1 lump sugar
• 3 drops Peychaud’s bitters
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 1 jigger rye whiskey
• 1 dash Herbsaint or Pernod or Absinthe
• 1 strip lemon peel

Fill a small old-fashioned glass with cracked ice and set aside. In another small old-fashioned glass, put the lump of sugar and just enough water to moisten it. With a spoon, crush the sugar, then add the Peychaud’s bitters, Angostura bitters, whiskey, and several ice cubes. Stir. Never use a shaker. Empty the first glass of ice, add the Herbsaint or Pernod, twirl the glass around, and shake the liqueur out. Strain the whiskey mixture into the glass, twist in the lemon peel, and serve immediately.

Yield: 1 drink

For more info on the Sazerac cocktail you can go here and here.

As a kid, I grew up eating Hubig’s Pies, as did my parents and my parent’s parents.  I got a major craving for them after reading this story from the New Orleans magazine The Gambit.  Now that I live in New York City, it’s difficult for me to get my hands on this tasty treat, but luckily I have a good friend who did me a huge favor and sent me these (minus the one apple pie I couldn’t wait to eat):

Check out this great video by writer Katie Van Syckle and director Bob Weisz on how Hubig’s Pies are made:

…at my friend Ryan Dill’s backyard bbq!

Originally from New Orleans, and now residing in Brooklyn, Ryan invited me over for a summer soiree where she and her roommate cooked up some serious Louisiana goodness–gumbo, alligator sausage, boudin and crawfish-stuffed baked potatoes (the latter being my favorite)!

Nothing like a little crawfish to make me realize just how much I miss the Crescent City…

Olive salad is a thing of beauty.  Often it’s comes in jars as bits and pieces of olives and pickled veg, the very thing to gild a Muffaletta (a large round sandwich piled with ham, provolone, salami, mortadella, and Swiss, topped with chopped olive salad).  Recently the Louisiana Restaurant Expo beautifully showcased a lot of local flavors, and among them, Perrone & Son’s line of stellar foods -  most notably, the return of “whole olive salad.”  Giant whole, pit-free green and Kalamata olives tangle in a sharp, briny oil and vinegar-based dressing with tender-crisp carrot rounds, cauliflower florets, pimento bits, capers, and the ocassional pepperocini…heaven.   Sometimes, there’s no need for the sandwich, it’s just me, a bowl of olive salad, an ice-cold Moretti beer and my food mags.  Ahhh Sunday.

Are you gambler, willing to take risks in the name of food and taste?   Well, you just might want to try.  These petite, bright green, mostly mild, peppers hail from and are named for, the Spanish municipality of Padron.  They are also known as “Roulette peppers,” because 1 in 10 is hot.  During the months of July and August, the number of hot peppers can increase, but it’s always a gamble with this “Capsicum Annuum.”  Prepared simply by pan frying or oven-roasting with olive oil and a generous dusting of salt, the gently smoky flavor is addictive and the small size of the pepper makes them easy to pop, one after the other, like chips.  Come on, roll the dice.

Right??  Oh yes.  Especially from Poche’s in Breaux Bridge, LA - meaty, soft and earthy.

I’m a pickle fanatic.  Sour, dill, briney, winey, or sweet, I love them all.  Traditional pickling is a glorious labor of love, but I simply haven’t been able to make the time, so “quick” pickles call out to me for a multitude of reasons, and they are simply delicious.  Earlier this week I quick-pickled baby carrots, baby French beans and cucmbers, in organic brwon-rice vinegar spiced with herbs and peppers from my garden, and good-quality whole spices from Flavorbank.  This morning these bright, bold pickles decorated my favorite new eye-opener, a Tres Generaciones Anejo Tequila “Sangrita” created by genius bartender “Bobby G.”  The only thing to say is Ole!