Crawfish Trapping Montana Style...

Rumors of the freshwater Crawfish to be found in the surrounding glacial lakes prompted Mr. Rocky Point to start laying traps. Much to my surprise he came back with about 3 dozen Montana crawfish. You never really think about crawfish in Montana but in New Orleans we use them as much as we possibly can while they are in season.

The Crawfish that we have been trapping are much darker in contrast to the murkey red mudbugs from Louisiana. Hopefully, as the weather and water warms we will be able to procure them in greater numbers.

For now, we have them soaking and we will be enjoying the few that we have in a bisque and most importantly stuffing the heads! Get a first hand look at the Crawfish in the video below.

This is what happens....

This is what happens when you feed the dog from the table! Many thanks to Pug Henry for
perfecting her begging skills this summer!

Meat on the Bone

There really is nothing like meat cooked on the bone! As a gift, a few of the guests had some absolutely beautiful bone-in Veal Loin Chops sent to the lodge from Allen Brothers. (www.allenbrothers.com)

So for dinner we enjoyed... Thyme and Orange marinated & grilled Veal Loin Chops served with a savory Morel Mushroom & Asparagus Bread Pudding sauced with Veal Jus.

The chops could not have been more delicious. Perfectly cooked (if I do say so myself) and enjoyed all the way down to the bone.

The bread pudding was inspired by a book that I just finished by Barbara Kingsolver called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. A truly amazing book that documented the life of Mrs. Kingsolver and her family as they spent a year procuring as much of their food from neighboring farms and their own backyard. I highly recommend the book, it is an inspiring look on how much we are missing in the short trip from fork to mouth. (www.animalvegetablemiracle.com)

Below is the recipe for the Morel Mushroom Bread Pudding, I have made a few changes from the original recipe provided by Deborah Madison that was included in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Book. Eat Well!

Morel Mushroom & Asparagus Bread Pudding

3 cups skim milk
4 egg yolks
2 egg whites, whipped lightly
2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
1 baguette, torn into 1/2 inch pieces
Salt and freshly, ground Black Pepper
3 Tablespoons unsalted Butter
1 Pound Asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 Pound Morel Mushrooms, washed & roughly chopped if large
1/2 cup chopped Parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl whisk together the Milk, Egg Yolks, grated Cheese, Salt and Pepper. Add the torn Baguette to the bowl, toss to combine and allow to sit for at least 2o minutes.

In a saute pan, heat the Butter over medium heat and cook the Shallots for 2-3 minutes. Add the Asparagus, cooking for 1-2 minutes followed by the Morels, cooking until they are just wilted. Season with Salt and Pepper, allow to cool to room temperature.

Once the Morel/Asparagus mixture is cool, toss with the soaking Bread, fold in the Parsley and then fold in the whipped Egg White.

Divide the Bread Pudding between 10 greased 6 ounce ramekins and bake in the preheated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. Serve either in the ramekin or unmolded. Alternatively the Bread Pudding can be baked in a greased casserole dish for 45-50 minutes and served family style.

Eat Well!

Time for Lunch

As I mentioned in an earlier post I am doing my best to watch our sodium and fat intake this year. Another way I am accomplishing this mission is to control portion sizes.

In the past I have plated all of our dinners, restaurant style, and left lunch as a buffet. Buffets be damned, I am plating everything this year. Portion control plays a huge role in diet and I am going to give it a whirl!

For lunch today we didn't invent the wheel. We enjoyed...Dill and Lemon Marinated Chicken Breasts with a salad of Montana grown Spinach, shaved Cucumbers, thinly sliced Shallots, chopped Kalamata olives, toasted Almonds, and crumbled Spanish Goat Cheese all tossed with a Dijon Tahini Vinaigrette.

Meat on a Stick

Who doesn't like a kebab? One of our first dinners here at the lodge was this delicious dish... Grilled Pork Loin and Red Onion Kebab glazed with a Curried Peach BBQ Sauce and served on a bed of Sweet Potato Puree and Wilted Spinach.

I am doing my best this year to watch our fat and sodium intake this year and this BBQ sauce was a great way to achieve that.

The pork was cubed and marinated in a fresh Cilantro from the herb garden (Did I mention that Jessi, our wonderful breakfast cook and Gardner extraordinaire also grows all the herbs, a majority of our lettuce, tomatoes and other goodies? More on Jessi and here gardens to come.) then threaded with Red Onion. Grilled for 2-3 minutes per side and then glazed with the BBQ Sauce. A fun, flavorful change of pace. The recipe is below. Enjoy!


Curried Peach BBQ Sauce:

1 Tablespoon curry powder
2 Peaches, peeled, cubed
4 Tablespoons canola oil
2 Tablespoon tomato paste ( I always use no salt or low-sodium)
2 Tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

In a small sauce pot, toast the Curry Powder over medium heat until fragrant. In a blender combine the cubed, peeled Peaches, Canola Oil, Tomato Paste, Honey and Vinegar. Add to the sauce pot with the toasted Curry Powder and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Ready to go!

This sauce would also be great as a condiment, I think it would be great on a Turkey Burger!?

Have you noticed...

So I am going to be very upfront and admit that I forgot to pack the cord that attaches from the computer to the camera (I'm sure that there is a technical term for that particular dohicky; but I'm a chef.) making the downloading of pictures for the blog difficult.

So, I am taking today June 27th, to catch us up on everything that has been going on up here for the past few weeks.

So pardon our date stamp and lets all just pretend that I have been on top of this blog from the beginning!

The view from my kitchen window...

The view from my kitchen window has definitely made a change for the summer. I arrived in Montana after a long day of flying, knives packed and dog drugged, ready to start a summer of
Rocky Point cooking.

The lodge, Rocky Point Lodge, where I will be cooking is the home to a wonderful family from the state of Texas. New Orleans and Monroe natives, this
family has been traveling to Northern Montana for over 15
years and I have had the pleasure of cooking for them for the
past 5.

Last year, I started a daily journal entry on my website-nolabean.com, documenting our daily lunch and dinner menus as well as commentary on the locally available produce and the "goings on" around the lodge.

So here is the view from my summer kitchen window, I hope you will enjoy the view with me through the pictures and recipes that I leave for you here.

Eat well!