My NOLA Cookbook

In my previous post, you met Ms. New Orleans 2014, Lindsay Reine. In this post, you’ll get a chance to win her cookbook.

This review is different than most. There are no spoiler alerts. No characters to introduce you to. Just some mighty fine eats.

The first two recipes I chose were the Mayonnaise biscuits (Pg. 24) and the Baked Potato Soup (Pg. 9). They paired well together. Or, they would have. I’m not a perfect cook and I had one of those moments when the recipe called for self-rising flour but This Girl used all-purpose instead. The flavor was good but the density was atrocious. That was my fault. And this week I hope to make them the proper way. You can see the biscuits trying to crowd their way into the soup photo here:

Baked Potato Soup, from Laughter is Louder with Good Food Cookbook

So let’s ignore those little biscuits and focus on the soup. That heavenly, creamy, warm, soothing, comfort-food, old-fashioned baked potato soup. It’s reminiscent of my mother’s Egg Gravy she would serve over boiled potatoes. I never thought to put the potatoes in the gravy! Lindsay’s recipe calls for something extra, as well: green onions. What a flavor boost.

Baked Potato Soup from Lindsay Reine

I’d love to say we all enjoyed the soup. I’d love to, but I can’t. Because there wasn’t enough to go around. Dot was at work all day and well, I was hungry. Really hungry. And so I did the Hobbit lunch thing and had three servings over a few hours. I shared some with my mother down the street. I put some away for my lunch at work the next day. I did save Dot a small serving. But that’s all she got. Okay. Two small servings. The recipe makes six good-sized servings. But like I said. I was hungry. And it was good.

The next recipes I’m salivating over are the Mexi-Corn Dip (Pg. 3), Oven-Fried Pickles (Pg. 4) and the Strawberry Lemonade Beer (Pg. 7). Oh, and the Lasagna Soup (Pg. 14), Brunch Egg Casserole (Pg. 28), Brown Sugar Maple Ham (Pg 39), and well, pretty much the rest of the book, too.

Laughter is Loudest with Good Food

With 150 recipes, there’s something for everyone. Printed through Morris Press, this cookbook has a spiral binding which makes it great for laying flat on the kitchen counter. There’s a complete Table of Contents in the front, and an Index of Recipes in the back. There are pages of helpful hints like how to use different spices, how to buy and cook different vegetables and fruits, and fun things like creative napkin folding. Do you need to substitute dried herbs for fresh? Or cocoa powder for chocolate? Yup. There’s a page for all that. Oh, and an Equivalency Chart. How much is one pound of raisins? About 3-1/2 cups. Now that’s useful information!

As mentioned in my interview with Lindsay, there are a few typos in the book. That’s okay. It’s not hard to figure them out. You wouldn’t really bake biscuits for 152 minutes, would you? Aside from the typos, the cookbook is really put together well.

Lindsay and her boyfriend Mike hand-typed each recipe from old, faded recipe cards. What started as a fundraising project for her turned into a labor of love to create a family heirloom collection. And they succeeded.

There’s plenty of NOLA-based recipes, too. Crab Meat Dip (Pg. 2), Shrimp Spread (Pg. 5), Crawfish Soup (Pg. 13) to name just a few. There’s also Shrimp and Grits (Pg. 35). But I’m really looking forward to making the New Orleans Praline Brownies (Pg. 70).

So. Are you hungry? Can’t wait to win one? Click here to order.

But if you want to win one, just enter below. YOU MUST COMPLETE THE MANDATORY ENTRY OR ALL OTHER ENTRIES WILL BE VOID. Leave a comment answering this question: What is your favorite comfort food?

Lindsay and I can’t wait to read your answers. But first . . . let me grab something to eat.

And Frankly, My Dear . . . that’s all she wrote.