Fair Trade Dinner at Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro

Hi, have we met? If we had, you'd know I love my coffee. I blame my aunt for taking me on summer walks to get iced coffee when I was a kid and my father for brewing multiple pots every morning. My friend Melody calls me a "champion" coffee drinker because I can slug down a cup like it's going out of style. So when Green Mountain Coffee (which I just visited in Vermont) got in touch with me about a series of Fair Trade events in Boston, I just had to find out more.

October is Fair Trade Month, and Green Mountain is calling attention to it through a new website, Eat, Drink, and Be Fair, and by hosting events in Boston, which will be declared a Fair Trade city in 2010. They have challenged a few local chefs to a Top Chef Masters-type event to cook with Fair Trade ingredients, which I'll write about next week.

I got the chance to attend something of a test run for one of the competitors, Chef Richard Garcia of Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro in Foxboro. Chef Garcia uses local or Fair Trade ingredients as much as possible in the restaurant, so he seems like a perfect choice to create a Fair Trade dinner. In fact, he took the coffee theme all the way and included coffee in each of the courses, and not in typical ways like crusting a steak in coffee. The dishes were interesting and adventurous and absolutely delicious.

To be honest, when I sat down and saw our menu for the evening, I was not excited. There was nothing (not one thing) that I would ever order. But I figured I could at least enjoy the wine and coffee and then find something to eat when I got home. But then something miraculous happened - I loved almost every single thing presented to me. If the regular menu at Tastings is anything like this, I wouldn't hesitate to go back.

We started with a sea urchin cappuccino, served in the sea urchin shell. In reality, it was a creamy parsnip soup, blended with local sea urchin and coffee used instead of stock, and topped with a vanilla froth. The sea urchin lent a bit of umami to the puree, and the sweetness and creaminess of the parsnip combined with the coffee was definitely reminiscent of a cappuccino. I would have licked the bowl clean if it hadn't have been for the sharp spikes.

Next up was coffee cured Hamachi, topped with a grapefruit vanilla citrette, heirloom red peppers, Marcona almonds, and fennel fronds. The fish was sweet and tender, and the almonds on top served as a crunchy foil to the rest of the dish.

The main entree was duck two ways, highlighting a delicious heirloom breed of duck. Lola ducks are deep red in color and taste more like pork or beef (at least to me) than duck. Chef Garcia describes them here on his blog. The coffee-smoked duck breast was like a nice steak - juicy and meaty and satisfying. The real star of the dish, though, was the confit leg with French roast duck jus. It was so tender and perfectly salty - it reminded me a bit of corned beef or pot roast.

Dessert was the weakest part of the meal, but it still had its strong points. The highlight was coffee- and cardamom-infused dates. Cardamom is often added to coffee in the Middle East (in the Boston area, I know Karoun in Newton serves their coffee this way), and the dates were a great vehicle for these flavors. I could have eaten a whole plate of just the dates. They were served with a coffee gel which was perhaps a little too solid - I was hoping for something more like Durgin Park's coffee jello. But did I mention those dates?

During the meal, we were accompanied by Sandy Yusen, director of PR for Green Mountain Coffee. We spent the whole evening discussing fair trade and local foods (and, well, food in general). After dinner, Sandy walked us through a cupping, or tasting, of two different types of Green Mountain Fair Trade coffee. I enjoyed tasting the Kenyan and the Sumatran side-by-side because I got a much better sense of how they compared to each other. Sandy explained that coffee has about twice the flavor compounds of wine, so using wine tasting techniques can help with identifying flavors. The Kenyan was bright and acidic and earthy, and Sandy compared it to a sourdough bread, while the Sumatran was more full-bodied with a warm and round flavor, more like a Russian rye bread. I'm so used to doctoring up my coffee that actually tasting the profile of the coffee was a nice change - I might have to do cuppings more often!

I'll write more about Fair Trade next week after the Eat, Drink, and Be Fair event. To learn more about Fair Trade, visit the Eat, Drink, and Be Fair website and take the pledge.

Cheap Eats: Morse Fish Company

Yesterday may have been the official start to Fall, but Bostonist isn't ready to let go of the summer just yet. And what's more summery than eating fried seafood while sitting on plastic chairs? Luckily, the Morse Fish Company in the South End serves up fresh fish in a clam shack-like environment year-round. The nautical decor, highlighted by a giant mural of fishermen on one wall, might even make you feel like you're by the beach.

Morse Fish is part fishmonger and part fast food joint. You can pick up fresh fish to take home and cook or order that same fish cooked for you in just a few minutes. The sandwiches ($5.95-$13.95) and the lunch plates ($5.95-$11.95), both served with french fries, are great deals and big enough to keep you full for quite a while. For fried seafood, the breading is light and doesn't overpower the flavor of the fish itself. You can also order seafood broiled for an extra dollar.

Morse Fish is also great if you're looking for a little seafood snack. Fish cakes ($.75 each), crab cakes ($1.75 each), shrimp cocktail ($5.95), stuffed clams ($2.50 each), and small side orders of things like calamari ($4.95) are priced just right to be a quick bite to tide you over.

Morse Fish Company is located at 1401 Washington Street in the South End. They are open Monday-Thursday, 11am-8pm, Friday 11am-9pm, Saturday 11am-8pm, and Sunday noon-8pm.

Originally published on Bostonist.

Cheap Eats: Stix

Hot and muggy summer days call for cool and light food, and there's nothing like a raw bar to leave you feeling virtuous yet well-fed. But seafood is not usually the cheap option. At Stix, however, you can enjoy a variety of raw bar offerings for only $1 a piece.

Stix' raw bar includes oysters, littleneck clams, shrimp, scallops, and crab legs. "Raw" bar may be a bit of a stretch here - oysters and clams come raw, on the half shell, but all the other choices come cooked and chilled. Selection varies, so make sure to call ahead if there's something specific you're looking for. There are a variety of condiments to accompany the seafood - traditional cocktail sauce, a spicy sriracha sauce, and a smoky aioli - which lend bite to the offerings.

Stix also offers some great drink deals if you'd like something to sip along with your oysters. Frozen mojitos, like liquor in slushie form, are only $5, or choose to add a flavor like mango or coconut for $6. And all bottles of wine are currently half off.

Stix is located at 35 Stanhope Street. The raw bar deal is available Tuesday through Friday, 5-7pm, in the bar and on the patio. Drink specials are available Tuesday through Saturday, 5pm-2am.

Originally published on Bostonist.

My Boston Day-cation

My high school friend Sarah was in town Friday and Saturday, bringing along her friend Dominique, who had never been to Boston. The plan for Saturday, therefore, was to fit in as much touristy stuff as we could and show Dom the town.

After a trip to Regina's on Friday, we were driving along when we heard a commercial on the radio talking about "day-cations." If "stay-cations" were all the rage last year, it seems "day-cations" are this year's trend. But we soon realized that the ad was for Mobil's convenience store, On The Go, and their "day-cation" deals. Seriously? Because if I only had one day off to relax, I highly doubt I'd be hanging out at my local Mobil station...

Anyway, we crammed a lot into Saturday, and hopefully, Dom got a lot out of Boston. It's always fun to play tourist in your own town, and the weather couldn't have been better for it. We walked over 7 miles, proving that Boston really is a walking city.

After picking up our friend Kristen, we started by strolling down Charles Street, ending at the Public Gardens for a Swan Boat ride. I miss the days when everyone would be dropping bread off the sides so that the boat was just trailing ducks as it glided along.

From there, we started the Freedom Trail, making a stop at the Granary Burying Ground. There was a guy handing out pamphlets about some of the famous inhabitants of the cemetery, including Mother Goose and Samuel Adams. I had a good time photographing the tombstones - I did some research in college about the motifs on New England tombstones, and I think it's fascinating how the imagery changed over the years.

We stuck to the Freedom Trail for a while, then split off to wander through the financial district over to the waterfront. We grabbed lunch at the Barking Crab, which has fun ambiance but just ok food. It's loud and crowded, but when the weather's nice, it's always great to sit on the water and enjoy a beer and some fried food.

I hadn't been to the Barking Crab in years, though, and was surprised at how limited their menu was. I was expecting all kinds of fried food baskets, but all they offered was fish and chips and a fisherman's platter. So I ordered off the appetizer menu instead, choosing calamari and onion rings. The Rhode Island-style calamari was decent, with almost no chewy pieces, but the peppers were too wet and turned a lot of the basket soggy by the end of the meal. I always prefer when the hot peppers are battered and fried as well - the texture matches the calamari a little better. The onion rings, on the other hand, were delicious - light and ultra crisp, well-seasoned and thinly sliced. I might have been happier just eating the onion rings...

After lunch, we wandered down the Harborwalk to the aquarium, where we got on a harbor cruise. For 45 minutes, we soaked up the sun as we sailed in a big circle, viewing the coast of South Boston, East Boston, and Charlestown. I even got to wave hello to the USS Constitution, where I worked last year.

As we disembarked on Long Wharf, The Landing was right in front of us, and we were lured in by the hordes of people drinking from plastic fish bowls. The four of us shared the giant drink as we took in the surroundings and enjoyed the sun a little more. Long Wharf is always a mob scene, so it was nice to have a little piece of real estate to ourselves from which to watch everything going on. And for $25, our fish bowl wasn't outrageous - we probably would have paid more if we had each gotten our own drinks. The bowl was a little fizzy and tasted exactly like the blue ice pops that we all enjoyed as kids - mmm blue!

Slightly tipsy, we wandered through Quincy Market, over Beacon Hill, down Commonwealth Avenue, and over to Fenway. We ate at Boston Beer Works (after an earlier discussion about sweet potato fries, it seemed like an obvious choice), then headed over to the Bleacher Bar for drinks. What a cool space! The bar is at field level, looking right out onto the warning track. If you're lucky enough to snag one of the tables, you can see all the way to home plate.
The men's room even has a window at eye level so the guys don't miss one pitch. I'm looking forward to heading back to watch another game (and hopefully actually grab a table at some point).

Lunch at the Barking Crab got me thinking, though - there really aren't a lot of places to get clam shack-type food in Boston itself. Anyone have any suggestions for good (cheapish) seafood?

- Barking Crab

Bloggers' Dinner at Fleming's Steakhouse

Steak houses are, to me, a special occasion-type place. My visits are few and far between, and they tend to mark big occasions (like my brother's graduation, although that meal didn't go so well...). When Fleming's Steakhouse invited me and some fellow bloggers to dinner, I was sure we'd be treated to a great meal, but I wasn't sure if Fleming's would be a restaurant I could go to for something other than a special occasion. I'm definitely glad to see that's not the case.

As always, these events are as much (if not more) about getting to know other bloggers as it is about the food. I was happy to see some familiar faces (The Leather District Gourmet, Tales of the Basil Queen, and Megan from Menupages Boston), and even happier to get to know even more bloggers (FoodieMommy, BellyGlad, Grow. Cook. Eat., Forays of a Finance Foodie, and Fork it Over, Boston!). We had a great time talking about food and blogging and why we even bother with it all (not that we actually came up with an answer for that one). We were joined by Michael Dearing (operating partner) and Jason Carron (head chef and partner), who answered our questions and learned a little about bloggers in return.

Now, granted, I know this meal was amazing and plentiful because Jason and his crew were trying to show us what they can do. I would never order everything that they showed off to us. But the quality of everything was fantastic, and the dishes were all plentiful. We started out with the cheese plate, which is given to all customers in place of a bread basket. The specifics change frequently, but the variations we were given were champagne-infused brie and cabernet-infused goat cheese. Um, yes please. Whose brilliant idea was it to combine these flavors, and can they move into my kitchen and do all my cooking from here on out?

Once everyone was settled in their seats, the appetizers began to arrive. The most beautiful was the chilled seafood tower, heaped with shrimp, king crab legs, snow crab claws, and lobster tails. I found myself reaching for seconds and thirds because there was a GIANT TOWER OF SEAFOOD IN FRONT OF ME! How could I not? Each piece was impeccably fresh, and the dish was big enough to share with multiple people as a meal. My other favorite appetizer was the lobster tempura - buttery lobster wrapped in a crispy shell and served with tempura veggies. It was even better than it sounds.

For dinner, we each ordered our own main dish (steak for 90% of the table), and the chef brought out a variety of sides for us to try. I topped my petit filet with Bearnaise sauce (all the while thinking "Don't be saucy with me, Bearnaise") and took little portions of each side.

As much as I enjoy steak (and this was perfectly cooked), I'm more a fan of the sides. Shoestring fries, ginormous onion rings, mashed potatoes (two types - roasted garlic, and parmesan peppercorn), chipotle cheddar macaroni and cheese, sauteed spinach, grilled asparagus, spicy sauteed corn - all delicious.

Dessert was good, but honestly, the savory sides were so good that I was still focused on those. The chocolate lava cake was the stand-out dessert, with a center that was actually molten (unlike in so many restaurants) and served with fantastic pistachio tuille cookies.

This meal showed me that Fleming's can be a typical steakhouse, with finely cooked steaks served with massive side dishes, but it can also be a place to experience 100 different wines by the glass (or in flights) while enjoying your favorite appetizer or side dish, or taking advantage of one of their great deals, such as their Sunday prime rib dinner (prime rib, salad, one side, and dessert, all for $35). Fleming's is also participating in the upcoming Restaurant Week, so if you're feeling like a complete meal, it's a great chance to try the place for little money down.

Bella Luna Blogger's Lounge

Bella Luna, the restaurant over the Milky Way bowling alley in Jamaica Plain, hosted a Blogger's Lounge last night to introduce Boston's blogging community to Bella Luna's new executive chef, Jacob Zachow. Of course, it was also a great chance to meet and chat with other bloggers. I even got my friend Ann to go to her first blogging event!

I've gotta say, I already enjoyed the food at Bella Luna, but from what I saw last night, it's even better now. The fried Bella Moon Mozzarella was tender and light, a far cry from the typical fried mozzarella. The flat breads were full of flavor and topped with unique combinations, like house-made sausage, fennel, and ricotta. The Lemon and Basil Grilled Salmon was well cooked and served with a delicious sauce. And the Key Lime Pie.... just yum! The cocktails were also delicious and well-mixed - I'm a fan of the Martinique now.

So thanks to Bella Luna for the great food and for hosting all the crazy local bloggers!

The Savant Project, Brigham Circle

So, I've gone over a year with this blog, having met only a handful of local bloggers. It's not that I'm reclusive, it's just that, well, blogging isn't the most social of activities (I'm sure everyone who's at BlogHer this weekend would object to that). That being said, yesterday I had two blog meet-ups, and there's yet another planned for tonight. Crazy.

After drinks at Eastern Standard with This Boston Life, I headed over to the Savant Project in Brigham Circle to meet, drink, and eat with Boston Food and Whine, Calamity Shazaam in the Kitchen, and the Food Monkey. We had a great time discussing various restaurants and restaurant personalities in the city, as well as sampling the food and drinks that the Savant Project had to offer. We were seated on the patio, and I'm so glad that we were, because it was much hotter inside the restaurant than out. The patio was very cute, walled off by a picket fence - it felt like hanging out in someone's backyard (which is actually exactly what it is).

Since it was Cocktail Week ("like Restaurant Week, but for lushes," as I called it on Bostonist), we all ordered the special - a berry mojito, one of four tapas (we got them all, for the sake of research), and berries in sake with lime whipped cream. The mojitos were a deep pink shade and were delicious, albeit a little too sweet. The tapas (tuna sashimi in a lime soy marinade, tamarind grilled shrimp (above), scallop and shrimp ceviche crostini, and veggie spring rolls) were likewise good but not great. The berries for dessert were served in a sake and Bacardi mix, topped with lime whipped cream and a fried mint leaf. Honestly, I was a bit distracted the whole time by the fried mint leaf - it tasted nothing like mint and had the weirdest texture. I can't see myself going back there to have those dishes, but there were other things on the menu that intrigued me.

We were still a bit hungry, so two of us split the blue cheese-stuffed burger, and the other two split the veggie burger. I really loved the veggie burger, made from chickpeas and spinach and topped with red pepper sauce, goat cheese, and onion rings. The flavors and textures worked beautifully together. The fries that came with the burgers were interesting - a mix of regular potatoes and sweet potatoes, tossed with a garlic parmesan "dust" that reminded us of cheetle. We also tried some of the other drinks on the menu, and I was quite happy with the Master Splinter on the rocks (gin infused with lychee and cherries).

So overall, I think the Savant Project is better than Cocktail Week was letting on. Just like Restaurant Week, the restaurants have more expected of them while the customers pay less money, often resulting in inferior product. I really enjoyed what we had from the regular menu, and would happily go back to try some more of the items that caught my eye.

J.T. Farnham's, Essex

Sometimes it sucks not to have a car. Like when you want really great seafood - the city is just not the place to be. Essex, on the North Shore, seems to be the center of the clam shack world in Massachusetts, boasting what some consider to be the top three options - Woodman's, Essex Seafood, and J.T. Farnham's.

My family took a day trip up to Newburyport last week, and we pushed through the lunch hour, growing grumpier by the minute, so we could have clams instead of eating at one of the restaurants in town. Using my father's GPS, the trip from Newburyport to J.T. Farnam's front door was quick and easy. Ordering, however, was not quick and easy, since we were all starving and couldn't make up our minds.

We eventually settled on "boats" - your choice of fried seafood, plus fries or onion rings. Two orders of clam strips, one order of clams with bellies, and one order of scallops. My mother and I aren't big fans of whole clams; I think I've had too many bad ones, with bellies filled with nasty grit, for me to really be a fan. But sampling the bellies, I was blown away - they were small, sweet, and juicy, proving to me why so many people love whole clams. The clam strips were also delicious and not at all chewy - cut a little big for my taste, but absolutely delicious. I only tried one bite of scallop, but it was also perfectly cooked - Farnham's knows what it's doing with the fryer.

As far as sides go, the options are fries, onion rings, or cole slaw. Without a doubt, the onion rings are the way to go here - delicate, with just the right amount of batter. The fries were good, but didn't have the same cache as the rings. And slaw... ew, mayo.

God, I've made myself hungry just by writing this...

Restaurant Week: Davio's

Restaurant Week is in full swing here in Boston. There are plenty of pros and cons to RW, and plenty of discussions over whether it's even worth eating out during this time period. Many restaurants do a miserable job, making bad impressions on diners who were using the $33 menu as a chance to experience a new place.

Some places, however, do an excellent job at showing what they can do. They either serve smaller portions of their regular dishes or make cheaper dishes in the style of their regular menu. Davio's goes off-menu with delicious and fresh ingredients, really showing off what they can do.


I started with the clams Casino were a great start to a great meal. The presentation was beautiful, with the clam shells perched on top of a little tangle of seaweed. The mixture of clams, chorizo, crabmeat, and breadcrumbs were savory and delicious. The smokiness and saltiness of the chorizo was well balanced by a squeeze of acidic lemon juice. The two clams were the perfect size to get me excited for the next dish.


For my entree, I chose the gnocchi alla Sorrentina. I have a hard time passing gnocchi up whenever it appears on a menu. The gnocchi were perfectly made little puffs of love. They literally melted in my mouth in little sighs of potato-y goodness. Mmmm. The tomato sauce was well-balanced, with plenty of oregano, and the fresh mozzarella was just stringy enough to serve as a chewy counterpart to the soft gnocchi. If this is what Davio's can do with tomatoes, I'd be curious to try their regular gnocchi dish with wild mushrooms and truffle oil. (Coincidentally, Davio's is the first place I really enjoyed mushrooms, so I know they do them well).


There was no choice for dessert on the RW menu, but instead, everyone received the same 3-piece sampler. I like this tactic, as it gives more of a chance to try the different offerings of the restaurant. My favorite of the bunch was a piece of puff pastry with custard, cream, and raspberries. The raspberries were very flavorful, not the crappy things you find in the supermarket at this time of year. Plus, I'm a sucker for anything with puff pastry. The carrot cake was also tasty and very moist. The "molten" chocolate cake, on the other hand, was no good. It was more like a dry mini-cupcake. Most likely, this was caused by scaling down the dish and serving it at room temperature - I'm sure a full-sized cake would be gooey and warm and much better. But then again, if there's puff pastry to be had, I won't be opting for the chocolate cake.

Overall, Davio's does an excellent job handling Restaurant Week. The chefs are able to prove their capabilities in the kitchen while the waitstaff shows exceptional courtesy to people dining below the price point of the restaurant. I definitely want to try Davio's regular menu sometime soon.

Say It, Frenchy! Say "Chowdah!"

It wasn't until this past year, when I dragged my non-pork-eating roommate to Chowderfest, that I realized that most commercially-produced clam chowders contain bacon. Stupid of me? Probably. But I had my reasons.

Growing up, clams skeeved me out. Fried clams from any of the regional clam shacks were traditionally summer food, but the clam bellies were just gross to me - gritty and weirdly salty and not at all appealing. The only way I would eat them - the only way I would trust them - was in my mom's clam chowder. She only makes her chowder about once a year, usually when the whole family is down the Cape, ready to head off for a day at the beach. My mother, who is of the persuasion that soup is not a meal, thinks that something that contains butter, cream, and milk is a perfect food to consume before laying out in the hot sun.

Fortunately, I've gotten past my abhorance of clams - they're still not my favorite, but I'll eat them. I've come to see clam chowder as a showcase for the shellfish, but my mother's clam chowder is still what I consider Clam Chowder. The recipe quite clearly is lacking any bacon, which is why I'm always so confused by bacon-y chowders.

Anyway, although clam chowder is traditionally a summer food in my family, the cold and snowy weather have gotten me in a mood for warm and hearty meals. This was my first stab at the recipe, and I think it measured up to my childhood memories.

Mom's Clam Chowder

1 stick butter
2 white onions, chopped
2 large potatoes, small cubes
3 Tbsp. flour
3 cans minced clams
1 pint heavy cream
2-3 cups whole milk
salt and pepper

In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and potatoes and saute until onions are translucent. Stir in flour until incorporated and cook to form a roux. Add clams (including the juice in the cans), cream, and 2 cups of milk and stir. Cover and simmer over low heat until potatoes are soft, about an hour. Add extra milk if you like a thinner broth. Salt and pepper to taste, and serve with oyster crackers.

*The title of this post? A salute to Massachusetts' own Quimby family.

Bella Luna, Jamaica Plain

When I go out to eat, I don't usually think of going to the bowling alley. But I was meeting my friend Michael for lunch, and he suggested Bella Luna, part of Milky Way Lounge & Lanes in Jamaica Plain, so I was more than happy to give it a try.

For the sake of trying a bunch of different things, we shared a couple of appetizers and a pizza. First, we had the curry fries and the crab cake. The fries, served with a curried mayo, were tasty, but nothing spectacular. The crab cake, though, was fantastic - crispy exterior, moist interior, and plenty of crab. There was very little filler, so it was a rather loose cake (it would have been tasty in a sandwich, but would have fallen apart in seconds). It was served on top of cole slaw and red pepper aioli, all of which went deliciously together.



For our pizza, we ordered the Latin Quarter - chicken, avocado, bacon, cheddar and jalapeno peppers. This was probably the most unique choice on the pizza menu, although you can design your own with any of their ingredients. The chicken was a little dry, but over all, this was an awesome pizza. The flavors were all bold, but not overpowering, and complemented each other nicely. And any time there's bacon on pizza, I'm happy.

Over all, this is much better food than I would have expected at a bowling alley (granted, they are in a separate space, but I couldn't get the bowling aspect out of my head). I can understand why so many people make a night out of the Milky Way.

In Defense of Caesar Salads

I read this Michael Ruhlman post a few weeks ago, and I've been thinking about it a bit. I agree with much of what he says - that the ubiquitous chicken Caesar is something that is expected to be on a menu, not something that a chef would necessarily choose to serve. I mean, what does it say about the American palate (or psyche, for that matter) that people order "healthy" by ordering the least nutritious green covered in basically garlic-flavored mayo?

But I also agree with Ruhlman that restaurants should be taking the Caesar, obviously popular, and playing with the dish. My favortie Caesar in Boston is at, of all places, a small Tex-Mex chain.

The Border Cafe has branches in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia (although for years, I thought the one in Harvard Square was one-of-a-kind). It's been one of my favorite restaurants since my brother and his now-wife took me out for my birthday during middle school. The margaritas and chips saved my sanity during stressful times in college. For years, I would only order the quesadilla or the burros, both basically melty cheese wrapped in a tortilla (which I would push aside in favor of more chips). I don't know when I finally tried the Border's Caesar, but I am now unable to order anything else when I go.

Yes, it still uses Romaine lettuce, virtually devoid of nutrients. Yes, the dressing is sometimes globbed on. And yes, you can order it plain or with grilled chicken. But the dressing has more flavor than just garlic - there's a brightness from lemon that adds a nice amount of zing to the dressing. You can also top the salad with blackened chicken, blackened salmon, or my personal favorite (and pictured above) spicy, sauteed shrimp and crawfish.

I mean, how often do you think to yourself "Today I'm going to have a salad with creole seafood on top!"?

OK, now I'm making myself drool...