NOLA Princess Parties

I recently started a new business and am launching my site today! Drum roll please..... I now am not only a food writer/waitress/non-profit slave, I'm also a party entertainer! Not just any kind of entertainer, a Princess Party Entertainer! This business venture is not exactly traditional, but it has been a pipe dream of mine since my 7th Birthday Party, when I had my very own Aladdin and Jasmine impersonators (a.k.a. my babysitter and her boyfriend).  So I am finally pursuing my dream career from childhood (yes, I am that desperate for extra cash and a job I can have fun with). I know many of my friends will laugh when they read this, but I need to spread the message on the web so I can get more customers!!!!

www.nolaprincessparties.com
 is tailored to girl's Birthday Parties, but I do all sorts of parties. Just name the occasion and I'll likely have a costume for it!

So tell your friends, sisters, brothers, parents, children, teachers, neighbors... There's a new Party Entertainer in town!

Check out www.nolaprincessparties.com to find out more about packages, booking, themes, and costumes!

Spread the word!!!!

Gumbo like Grandma Made It

My newest article for OffBeat, Get Good Gumbo, is out and you don't want to miss this one! Find out where to get spectacular seafood gumbo and chicken & andouille gumbo for under five bucks. For realsies. These deals are too good to miss!

Learn more about how to get your hands on some of this fabulous seafood gumbo from Hanks Seafood and Supermarket in the Bywater.

Or where to find this mouthwatering chicken and andouille gumbo from Orleans Seafood Po Boys & Grill, aka the old Taco Bell on Claiborne. 

Rule of thumb for any New Orleans eater: Never judge a book by its' cover, cuz most of the time the shadier it looks, the better it tastes! Click here:Get Good Gumbo to read more!

Viewer Poll: Video Blog Posts

I recently had the privilege of meeting Michael Dunaway, a director who's producing & directing a documentary on food in New Orleans (but that's another blog post all together). During our 2 hour conversation about food, writing, New Orleans and the like, he inquired what I ideally would like to do with my life, a typical discussion post graduation. 2 beers into the conversation and with little else in my belly, my answers became more and more honest. When discussing whether I'd like to continue writing about food I found myself saying that I'd rather have a television show.  To be honest, I was even surprised to hear my own answer. But Michael was thrilled to hear it and convinced me to give it some thought. Though I think it would be awesome to be the next Rachel Ray/ Anthony Bordain, I'm pretty sure this pipe dream is far out of my reach. But nevertheless, I've been entertaining the idea of starting short video blog clips (the director's idea) to go along with my regular posts. 

At the moment I don't have any idea what the theme or concept of the video segments is going to be, so I'd like to hear my readers' input! What do you think I should dedicate these short clips to? Are you opposed to the idea all together? Should I make the clips non-food related, dedicating video time to crafts and household tricks (like Martha Stuart)?  Or would you rather see footage of the restaurants I review? Let me know what you think! 

Never Before Seen Pictures!

If you want to see never before seen pics all you have to do is "like" my page on facebook: HungryHeretic and ogle at the many photographs that fill my photo albums! Here's a sneak peek of what you may find:

The coolest beer bottle I've ever seen. Wen I saw it at Martin Wine Cellar I knew I had to buy it. Viru Beer is a pilsner-style beer from Estonia, cool right?! It looks better than it tastes, but for 2 bucks it's totally worth it. I kept the bottle to use it as a little flower vase!

Here we have the largest specialty supermarket I've ever been to. Restaurant Depot has everything from styrofoam boxes and to go bags, to huge packs of fresh herbs and produce. 

This is how big their carts are, its like gourmet Costco!

The only catch is you need a Louisiana business licensee (or 591C3 non profit papers) to get a membership card. 

All you have to do is "Like" HungryHeretic on facebook to see more! Enjoy!

The Creole Creamery

If you're like me, and you love nothing more than ice cream and strange food concoctions, go no further than The Creole Creamery. This may in fact be my favorite place in the entire city, which can be validated by the friendly staff. I like to show my face at least once a week, but when I'm feeling blue it tends to be around 3 times a week! My frequent visits are due in part to the fact that one of my childhood best friends works there (Hi Michal!). But I fell in love with the Creamery long before Michal started working there.

They serve up just about the strangest flavors you could think of. I thought their Fig & Goat Cheese flavor was odd years ago, but its seems they have only become more wild and crazy over time. Just this summer they came out with a Foi Gras flavor - seriously! And it was good. Due to the expensive key ingredient a sample of this exotic flavor is 50 cents, but honestly that's about all you'll probably want. It tastes incredible, but foi and ice cream are about the two heaviest ingredients I can think of, together they are a heart stopping, artery clogging mastermind, but pretty darn tasty. 

One of their classic flavors (and my 2nd favorite) is Creole Cream Cheese. When paired with their Lavender Honey (my #1 favorite) it is out of this world. But really all of their flavors are awesome! Even the alcohol infused ones. 

I'm such a fan of their newest flavor: White Chocolate Truffled Popcorn that I wrote a whole article about it for OffBeat magazine. Click here to check it out!  

So if anyone ever wants to take me out for a treat, you know where to go! 

Extreme Makeover: Website Edition

Now that the Hungry Heretic is getting more publicity I figured I had to spruce things up a bit and make my website nice and fancy like all my favorite food blogs... so with my limited knowledge and endless patience, I figured out how to make a page bar! As you can see, there are now pages which organize both restaurant and recipe by cuisine. I am planning to also create a tab that organizes restaurants I've reviewed by neighborhood, but that one may take a while. But that's only 3 more tabs and I can have up to 9 more!

So I need all of my trusty readers' help thinking up more idea of what to put in my fancy new site. Here are some examples yall can vote on: "Photo Gallery"- of the best pics I've taken, "Favorites"- Restaurants/Bars..., "Mishaps"-photos and mini descriptions of food gone wrong, "Contact", "Guest Blogging Corner" (where any of my readers can submit their own food discoveries)... there are so many options! If yall think of anything crazier/funnier/trendier/etc let me know and I'll use your idea!

So the next time you're bored in traffic you know what to think about. You can tell me your ideas by just commenting on this post (on blogger or facebook), tweeting it to me @hungryheretic or email me @ hungryheretic@yahoo.com!

Happy Eating everyone!

Birthday Vacation!

Apologies for the writing hiatus, as I mentioned in my last post, Wednesday the 13th happened to be my birthday! So of course, along with all the birthday shenanigans (including a surprise trip to Florida) I was unable to get much work done. But no fear, I am back in the land of internet access and here to share all my b-day food finds with yall! Get ready to get hungry.

To start off my birthday shenanigans I whipped up some incredible red velvet cupcakes with my roommate Mackenzie. I won't lie, though we are good cooks and not bad at baking, these were not from scratch, but they weren't any old Duncan Hines mix either! This was a fancy shmancy kit from Sprinkles cupcake (all the way in L.A.). Although I'm from L.A., we actually were able to find this lovely cupcake helper at William Sanoma. The directions were super easy to follow (although you do need a hand held mixer) and the cream cheese frosting was incredible!!!! I think I actually liked these homemade Sprinkles cupcakes better than the ones from the store, still rich and sweet, but not a sugar/butter overload.

After the cupcakes I was taken on a surprise picnic to a park near my house. Aside from the lovely destination, I was thrilled to find out what food had been packed for this secret outing. 1. We had pink Champagne aka Rose (pronounced Rose-AY) thanks to Whole Foods (of course) 2. We had brie, green apple, and honey pressed sandwiches, which are one my favorite summer time snacks 3. We had nutella dream cookies!!!!!! These cookies are some of the richest bite sized treats I've ever had but sooooo good! If you like nutella you will LOVE this.

Eric found the recipe from Serious Eats (one of my favorite food blogs) a little while back and knew they would be perfect for my birthday. He was right. They are AWESOME! But so filling, beware. Click on the link above to check out the recipe!

If you're more interested in making the sandwich it's pretty easy. All you need is brie, french bread, honey, and green apples. Simply slice the apples and brie and layer thick onto the french bread, then drizzle with honey (I like to use local Acadiana Honey) and pop it on to a hot pan/ panini press/ George Foreman and watch it melt. Leave it there till the bread is crispy and the brie is warm and shazaam: awesome sandwich. Happy Birthday me and happy eating to everyone else!

Coquette Happy Hour!

Tomorrow is Wednesday (Wednesday) and Thursday comes after...wards We-We-We We so excited, We so excited, We gonna go to Coquette Happy Hou-errrrr! It's Wednesday (Wednesday), gotta get down on Wednesday, lookin forward to some cocktails. Which one should I pick????

Yes, that was a shout-out to Rebecca Black's super overplayed "Friday"... I was actually starting to miss it! But seriously, tomorrow is Wednesday, aka hump-day, and July 13th, my birthday! Among the many fun shenanigans I may find myself doing tomorrow on my celebratory day I may in fact end up at Coquette for one of their two incredible Happy Hour specials! Unlike most bars that only reserve a few hours for drink specials, Coquette hosts day-long Happy Hours! Every Wednesday from open till close they serve 5 dollar glasses of wine, and every Thursday offers any of their specialty cocktails for just 5 bucks also!

But wait, there's more! Aside from their incredible variety of affordable fancy beverages they also serve delicious food. Awesome, right?! You can read more about their food here in my newest article for OffBeat magazine. Enjoy!

Chef Eric Shares: Fried Fish Tacos

Apparently none of my readers like to make tacos, or they at least are too shy to send in photos and recipes of their own concoctions so I have no choice but to give the Taco Week award to Eric's Fried Fish Tacos. I feel super lame giving the award to my boyfriend so I'm actually going to give it to his mom (since it's her recipe anyway)!

Whether or not they won by default, these tacos really are incredible. These tacos are filled with home fried catfish, coleslaw, and a delicious sauce. To make this scrumptious dinner all you really have to do is fry the catfish and mix together the sauce. The idea of deep frying at home may seem scary to some people but it's super easy, I promise! The first step is buying small pieces of catfish (or chopping up the fish to two inch strips) then simply dust with flour, dip in a mixture of eggs and milk and coat with fish fry (available in the seafood section at the grocery). Then simply drop the fish in hot oil that is at least one inch deep and hot enough that it sizzles when it drops but cool enough that its not boiling and splattering (350 to 375 degrees F). Then just let the fish cool down on paper towels (to remove excess oil) and you just fried yourself some catfish!

To make the sauce here is all you have to do first gather these ingredients:

1/2 cup plain yogurt (or Greek yogurt, which I like better!)

1/2 cup mayo
1 lime, juiced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1 tsp minced capers
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper

Then simply mix together yogurt and mayo in a medium bowl, gradually stirring in fresh lime juice until consistency is slightly runny. Finally season with jalapeno, capers, oregano, dill, cumin, and cayenne and you have yourself a meal. This one does take longer than 30 minutes, but I think this makes it 3 to 1 Jenny vs. Rachel Ray... She's going down!!!!

1,000 Hits In Under a Week!

After 7 months of steadily growing in popularity I think the Hungry Heretic is finally picking up speed. We got over 1,000 hits in under a week this week! And it is all thanks to all my loyal friends, family, and random folks who accidentally stumble on this site and keep coming back fro more! Thanks to all your support I now am being published in places other than my own blog!!!! Yipeeeeeee!

To celebrate the recent success I figured I should include some never before seen pictures of delicious food. The best kind of porn is food porn, enjoy! I've taken the liberty to plan out your friday in case you're at a loss of what to do with the best day of the week. First things first, you always have to start off your day with a healthy (or not so healthy) breakfast. I'm feeling a little rebellious today, so I'm going to recommend probably one of the least healthy breakfast options (aside from the Paula Deen Brunch Burger), a McGriddle! My good friend Jenn and I have been weening ourselves off these things for months, but they're so gosh darn good! Warning: the sweet and salty combo mixed with crispy bacon and syrup infused hot cakes is dangerous: they ARE addictive. But they come with southern fried chicken now so I need to go to Mickey D's ASAP and get me one of those bad boys!!!

If you wake up too late for breakfast you can always go straight to lunch, especially if you're going to be eating BBQ! Voodoo BBQ is by no means the best BBQ in the city, but it does the job if you have a hankering and you're on St. Charles. Their Jerk Chicken is my favorite thing on the menu, and the corn pudding is soooooooooooo good! Sweet and buttery like all the best things in life!

For a midday cocktail definitely head over to Cure on Freret and get a fancy cocktail for only 5 dollars during their happy hour special. I love their Pimm's Cup, the cucumber is super light and refreshing, great for a hot summer day.

Finally, for dinner head on over to the CBD to Rock n Sake, a fun sushi bar that's great for large groups. Honestly, the music is a little loud for me and the sushi isn't the best you can find but their BBQ eel roll is super tasty and their drinks are even better! Plus, they are just a hop skip and a jump away from Vic's Kangaroo Bar, Lucy's, and even the Republic or Red Eye, if you're feeling like having one of those nights.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Drink Responsibly, Eat Lavishly and Dance your Ass Off:

A Recipe for Success!

Day 4: Chorizo!!!!

Like the chicken recipes from yesterday, this taco is so easy anyone who knows how to turn on the stove can do it! There are only 5 steps, so get ready!

Step 1: Saute onion in olive oil on medium (add fresh corn for a slightly sweeter, crunchier taco)

Step 2: Add chorizo to the pan once onions are half way caramelized and add any left over chicken for extra texture and flavor diversity (no seasoning necessary).

Step 3: Warm tortillas in a lightly oiled pan.

Step 4: Garnish with cheese, salsa, greens, lime, sour cream... whatever your heart desires.

Step 5: EAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe that makes it 3 for 3 Jenny vs Rachel Ray, watch out Food Network, I'm about to dominate with my 15 minute meals, Bam!

Don't forget to submit your entries before friday to be featured on this site as a guest taco chef!

And if you like the way that taco sounds, but you're too lazy to get off the couch and cook it yourself you can head on down to The Saint Bar and Lounge on St. Mary and get a gourmet chorizo taco tonight only!

El Pollo Taco

It's Day 3 of Taco Week, and it's time to get cookin!!!!

Today's lesson is chicken tacos. There are many ways to make this tantalizing Mexican finger food, but I'll just share two of my favorite. The first is the easier version that mostly requires assembly and very little cooking, and the second a more complicated recipe from scratch. We'll start small and go from there.

Rotisserie chicken tacos: Even if you don't know the difference between the oven and the dishwasher you cannot fail with this recipe. I like to call this my Sandra Lee concoction; these are so simple you can even make them in a microwave! (But I recommend the stove). There are 4 main ingredients: store bought rotisserie chicken, tortillas of your choosing, shredded cheese, and salsa; and lettuce or sour cream if you so desire. Simply melt the cheese on the tortilla (using the microwave, stove, or oven) and add the fresh rotisserie chicken (I like to shred mine). Then top it off with your favorite garnishes, my favorite is fresh corn and caramelized onions, and you have a healthy, 5-minute meal. Watch out Rachel Ray, I think I just kicked your 30-minute meal's butt!

If you're more of a Martha/Paula Deen fan and not that into the whole fast and easy ingredient-assembly shtick, I have a slightly more complicated chicken taco for you to try out! This recipe is still super simple, so don't get too excited future Cordon Blue students. To make this low fat taco you will need two medium chicken breasts half an onion, one yellow bell pepper (or serrano peppers for extra spice), and the other basic ingredients listed above. Saute the peppers in olive oil for 2 minutes and then add the (cubed) raw chicken and half an onion (diced). Saute on medium for around 10 minutes, depending on your stove/pan... until it is cooked thoroughly (I don't want any of ya'll to come down with salmonella!). Add salt and pepper to taste while the chicken cooks, and garlic powder or soy sauce for extra flavor.

Simply dress your taco up with all the other fixins, and you have a low-fat quick and easy fresh meal, all in hopefully under 30 minutes (so I can beat Rachel Ray again).

Remember to send me your photos and recipes before friday if you want to be featured on hungryheretic.com!

Breakfast Taco

Many people know and love the infamous breakfast burrito but few know the merits of a morning taco! This is by far the simplest of the upcoming taco recipe's, but very delicious.

To make your tasty egg filled taco simply prepare your eggs in any way you like (I like over easy, but scrambled is a nice quickie too). Then add some cheese on to a tortilla as it's warming in a pan. Once the cheese is melted simply pile the eggs on top and garnish salt/pepper/salsa/hot sauce... whatever you like!

Bada bing bada boom you got yourself one mean mexican breakfast and in under ten minutes! How bout them apples!

Taco Week Competition!

I'm realizing that this whole no competition thing makes Taco week significantly less exciting than Po Boy Week. So to spice things up this week is going to have a reader competition. Everyone is welcome to submit their own favorite taco recipes (with pictures of course) to hungryheretic@yahoo.com and the tastiest one I receive by the end of the week is the winner! The prize for best taco recipe is the opportunity to write your own guest post on hungryheretic.com and have your name and photos featured along side your recipe. If you are not the writing type you still can receive the fame that comes along with a shout-out from the #2 blog on Urbanspoon in New Orleans! So email your photos and recipes to hungryheretic@yahoo.com, and make them pretty so I pick you!

Almost Famous

The Hungry Heretic is finally getting some hype! First it was featured on The Shed's facebook page, then on some random UK food blog called Chubbs and Chunks, and now on the wall of Dat Dog, one of my new favorite restaurants!

Apparently, Constantine Georges, one of the owners of Dat Dog found my post while googling his fine restaurant one night. Flattered by my raving revue he printed out my article and hung it up right next to a review from an actual publication! It's actually hung in two places, one is on the wall next to the counter and one is in the bathroom. I couldn't be happier to be someone's bathroom reading.

I discovered my new fame the other day when friends of mine saw my article hanging on the wall.

Of course, I had to thank the proprietors for being so kind so I naturally went right over to show my appreciation. Little did I know that Constantine would be such a warm and friendly man. He was so pleased to meet the girl who called his delicious dogs "orgasmic" that he told me next time I come in I get a dog on the house!

Hopefully there will be more friendly owners and free swag to come.

Happy Eating!