Acadiana

We went out for an impromptu dinner at Acadiana the other night. We split a bottle of wine, the meat pies, and redfish with cheesy grits.  It was my first time there, and I don't know why I haven't been before. The biscuits they served as bread would have been much better had they been warm, and we were a bit taken a back by the abruptness with which they gave us our 2/3 completed bottle to go. But it was a nice, early night out and what has been a mediocre week.

I am actually hoping to do some real cooking this weekend. I really want to take a stab at making chili. I might break down and get a slow cooker. I bet I could get a decent one from Target. I have all of these magazines and recipes I've ripped out but have been too exhausted to cook. It's time, especially if it will be somewhat rainy this weekend and I'll be held hostage by football.

Top Chef: Top Season

This season of Top Chef has easily been the best season with the best chefs, and last night's episode of the eagerly anticipated Restaurant Wars was my favorite episode yet. For chefs have established themselves as the likely final four, barring a major upset--Kevin, Jennifer, and the Voltaggio brothers of Michael and Bryan. Then there is Eli and Mike a step below, followed by Laurine and Robin. The top four divided into two teams in their challenge of Restaurant Mission vs. REVolt (awful name!!) left me on the edge of my seat. Kevin and Jennifer really slipped for the first time this season, Mike coasted as he usually does, and then Laurine just flopped as the front of the house for Mission. She was sent home. Robin had a surprisingly first-rate pear dessert, while the Volt brothers crushed and Eli proved far more adept than his counterpart as host for the evening. I was so nervous that Jennifer would have been sent home, but she survived it, as Tom's blog stated, justifiably so.

Top Chef definitely inspires me to cook more, though I'm still a little nervous about trying anything beyond my usual pasta dishes (chicken florentine, clammy pasta, farfalle and salmon, spicy shrimp--the usual rotation). So maybe I should attempt the corn chowder or the pumpkin or squash soup this weekend--yummy recipes from Shape and Cooking Light. I need to branch out, and at least I have a stellar enough kitchen to enable me to do that.