Mardi Gras of Southeast Texas is set for Feb. 27-March 2 in
downtown Port Arthur and the Mardi Gras Store is open for business. Catch these
goodies to put you in the MG state of mind:
Gulf Seafood
Picture a map of the coast and eating your way along the shore
line. Tom Bailey knows his way around a publishing house with 15 titles to his
credit. He is showing us the way to amazing dishes through “The Complete Guide
to Northern Seafood,’ new from Pelican Publishing. The cookbook goes from
onion-baked mullet and a coral sauce with paprika, to horseradish-crusted
snapper and an apricot swordfish. Other critters of the sea, like crab and
shrimp, get their pages, too.
If you were thinking seafood is too intimidating, know that many
of these recipes are short, with a focus on good ingredients and exquisite
flavors. Here’s an example:
Shrimp Cocktail Sauce: Would you be buying the stuff if
you knew you could create your own with ½ cup chili sauce, 1 tablespoon lemon
juice, a half cup ketchup and two teaspoons ketchup?
I put out this next recipe with a nod to outdoors writer Chester
Moore, who calls our part of the coast a flounder capital:
Flounder with Citrus Marinade
Juice of 2 limes
Juice of 1 orange or one half cup orange juice concentrate
2 sprigs fresh rosemary or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
4 flounder filets
In a shallow dish, combine lime juice, orange juice and rosemary. Add fish. Cover with
plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Remove fish from refrigerator, spray
with cooking oil and grill for 4 to 5 minutes per side. Serves 4.
Note: Alternatively, bake the fish in a 3750-degree oven for 30
minutes.
The Chocolate Study
SweetWorks Inc. makes
premium gourmet chocolates taste good and look amazing in packaging designed to
wow. Check out Celebration Pearls in Mardi Gras colors to make your King Cakes
one of a kind. We’re talking greens, purples and gold that you may need to try
in gumballs, too. Creative people, come and play. Are you at all familiar with
Sixlets? Little balls of candy coated, chocolate flavored candy may have been
part of your youth, but I’d never noticed them until they started showing up as
wedding favors. With the colors I’ve seen, those wedding candy bars have a
match for any bride.
Ovation: The Orange orb
of foil is designed to bang against a table. Peel off the foil to reveal
sections of citrus-flavored dark chocolate. Sections even have little etchings
like they were of fruit, instead of amazing chocolate you can’t put down. This
is the very stuff you’ll eat right for a long time so you can splurge on an
experience.
Ovation Sticks or
“batonnets” in cappuccino come in a six-sided column with some kind of origami
top and packets of slender, rich sticks that are just enough in size and nearly
too much in flavor. They’re intense and I can’t wait until my next ration. It
should come as no surprise that I am equally impressed if not more so with the
caramel version. You get a rich, melt-in-your-mouth sensation from this super-thin
stick.
Niagara Chocolates - Sweet ways to say, I Love
You:
Chocolate
Champagne Bottle: Even though I immediately informed the birthday girl that the
realistic looking foil covered bottle was made of chocolate and contained no
actual Champaign, she didn’t believe me. Finally we had to brak it open and
spend the night eating a wall of milk chocolate. Dinner guests loved the
concept. I’ve already bitten heads off Niagra white, milk and dark chocolate
bunnies which are ready to hop to shelves this Easter. Don’t worry, lovely
chocolate eggs in foil pastels will arrive with the bunnies.
Foot Massage
Prep your feet for walking the Mardi Gras parade route. Combine
tea tree oil, wild mint and lavender and your feet will thank you. Thank Earth
Therapeutics for Reflexology Foot Massage, a New York-based company reminding
us of the notion that feet contain “reflex” pressure points that mirror
pressure points throughout the entire body. Could a foot massage get to your
“chi” and harmonize your entire body? If feels great when I use it. I can only
imagine the contents unleashed in the hands of a professional.
It could be that the very phrase “foot massage” puts you in the
mind of a scene from “Pulp Fiction.” This greaseless glide cools, heals,
soothes, stimulates and releases an aroma that will send your mind to a spa, or
an Asian garden, or a secluded waterfall…
ddoiron@panews.com
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