NOLA Food Adventure: Oyster Oyster....and More Oysters!

Endless fresh seafood and oysters!
That's what I've been eating for the past 4 days in NOLA,
A.K.A. New Orleans Louisiana.

But isn't the area currently threatened by the oil spill miles away?
Yep that's right...good thing I got there early,
However, the oil did spreading towards the gulf in a lightening speed,
Upon my first day of arrival, the oil was more than 130 miles away from the shore,
Just when I left NOLA, it was only 30 miles away from the coastline...

Some of the outer oyster beds have already been closed during my visit,
Devastating.
Not only to the marine life,
But also to the people who make a living from the ocean and from the tourists..plus more..
Hope all the mess can be resolved soon enough.

Either way, should I say --- "lucky me?"
Because I got to munch on the "still fresh" seafood, especially these large and succulent oysters before the contamination?

Let me share the three different oyster dishes I had in NOLA.

First, and the most classic one,
Raw oysters from the Red Fish Grill-

Add a dollop of the cocktail sauce,
Plus a drop or two spicy sauce and freshly squeezed lemon juice,
However, nothing compares to the flavor coming from the freshness of the oysters,
It's the best seasoning of all!

Oysters Rockefeller from the Royal House-

"6 plump Louisiana oysters topped with spinach sauteed with bacon and sambucca then baked to a golden brown."
The description tells it all.

Lastly, drum rolls please~!
Here it comes, my favorite, possibly made to my all-time-favorite oyster dish,
The signature char-grilled oysters from Acme-

Sooooooo good,
You can taste a little bit of garlic, a little bit of cheese, and a LOT of butter!!
All soaked in that precious oyster meat,
The edge of the sauce was still bubbling from the residual heat,
I wish, oh I wish,
I can just eat 5 dozens of oysters with tons of bread dipping in their buttery sauce,
Who cares about cholesterols when these yummy goodies fanning their lovely smell straight into my nose!

Seriously,
That was one hella awesome oyster dish,
Two thumbs up!

Red Fish Grill (Cindy's rating: 7)
115 Bourbon Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 598-1200
http://www.redfishgrill.com/

Royal House (Cindy's rating: 6)
441 Royal Street
New Orleans, LA 70130-2103
(504) 528-2601
http://www.royalhouserestaurant.com/

Acme Oyster House @ French Quarter (Cindy's rating: 8....maybe 9)
724 Iberville Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 522-5973
http://www.acmeoyster.com/

Rating "10" for all the can't-be-any-fresher oysters served at these three locations!
P.S. More NOLA travel notes coming soon.

Coconut Madeleines

5.5 hours...
That was the amount of time I put in for my school project meeting today,
Yes, on a Sunday night,
Surprisingly I still have some energy left to update my blog,
What can I say, food makes me happy!

Coconut Madeleines -
(I can never spell "madeleines right, had to Google it to make sure I got the right word!)

Ingredients (for 12)?

1 cup of all purpose flour
2/3 cup of granulated sugar
1/4 cup of packed brown sugar
1/3 cup of coconut milk powder
1/4 cup of sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup of melted butter (room temperature)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Small pinch of salt

How?

Sidetrack, this is my new found love, Mr. Blendi! -

It was on sale for $199.99,
I was happy like a bird when the price popped up on my computer screen,
After this heavy red thing arrived at my kitchen,
No more hard larbor blending work, hurray!

Anyways, back to the recipe,
Here's the post I had before for classic madeleines.
The steps are almost the same,
Just remember these basic baking rules:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl
2. Mix all the wet ingredients in the other bowl
3. Gradually pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients


That should do the trick,
For this particular recipe, mix in shredded coconut with the dry ingredient first,
I prefer them to be coated with the flour prior baking,
Sometimes, most of the times, it prevents the last added ingredients from sinking to the bottom during the baking process.

Simple, easy, and elegant,
What a way to indulge my little free time after group meeting huh?

Cindy's Rating: 7