ah la lou Merry Christmas

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May your 2009 be filled with joy.

Feed it forward!

I was listening to the news today and there is a thing that restaurant.com is doing called feed it forward.  This site is giving away millions of dollars in $10 gift certificates. Go to the site scroll down to the bottom right of the screen and sign up for feed it forward.  Once you sign up, you can send the certificates to 3 persons per day up until Dec 25th.  If you know someone who could use a little help (and the is no wonderful personal chef around :-), send them one of these certificates. 

Gumbo time!

Well it is that time of the year, yes it is cold, yes it is the holiday season but better yet, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it, IT IS GUMBO TIME!  

Yep, cold weather and gumbo are such a wonderful marriage.  I truly believe besides miso soup, gumbo is a cure all.  Really I am serious.  I would rather grab some gumbo from my freezer and give it to one of my kids (warm it of course)  when that were sick then chicken soup.  

Being in Texas, cold weather = chili and that is all good but being a creole texan, that can only mean GUMBO :-)  

check out my web site ahlalou.com in the next couple of days and get the low down on how ya'll in the DFW area can get authentic New Orleans gumbo for your holiday table.

I was about to burst! In a good way....

I am part of the Dallas Chapter of the United States Personal Chef Association and this is my first year as a member so apparently each end of the year the chapter goes to a local restaurant to do a food tasting. Wow, I did not know what to expect but I can tell you this, I have never eaten so much food at one sitting in my life!  

Ok so we went to Charlie Palmer on Main and Ackard in downtown Dallas.  So here we go with the rundown of the food and I am sure I will miss something but trust me, it was all good in it's own way. 

lobster corny dog with three mustard cream

surf and swine: carmeized scallops, crisp pork belly with a cassis redcution

sauteed hudson valley foie gras: peach tarte tatin, chili blueberry compote with basil

seared halibut: halibut with melted sweet onion and mushroom soy

grilled squab or sauteed texas quail (there were 8 of us so 4 got one and 4 got the other and we shared*)

dry aged ny sirloin or filet mignon with a blue cheese crust (*)

Sides were: spinach, steak fries, polenta (YUMMY!), fingerling potatoes, trumpet royale mushrooms in toasted garlic, cremini mushrooms with oxtail ragout.

Ok then they brought a pre dessert, chocolate lollypops, dark chocolate rolled in rasberry dust, a choc type rice crispy, a nutty thing, and a choc powder thingy (technical terms I know!) Then we had a peanut butter layer cream cake (YUCKY PB) an apple cheesecake, assorted ice creams and sorbet, candied rasberries and I think that is it...oh we all walked away with a bag of ginger snaps.

Now one thing that was so neat about this all was the chef would come in before each course and tell us chefs what he made for us.  He was a great guy. The pastry chef did the same when it was dessert time.  One other big thing was there was wine paring.  Brandon, our Sommelier came in and talked wine and I was so impressed.  I did not do the wine tasting part but was in awe of his knowledge.  

This was a great experience good food, good company and this is something I would not have done on my own I don't think.  I am grateful for the experience to expand my pallet and foodie knowledge.

Cleaning tip

Ok, so last night for dinner I made baked chicken wings, chicken flavored rice, and choyote squash (mirliton, if you are creole!) Dinner was delicious but the clean up was no fun.  The pan that I cooked the chicken wings in was crusted and not very easy to clean.  I knew I needed to soak it.  I remembered a trick perhaps you already know to get on that caked on stuff from pots, a dryer sheet.  Yep, a dryer sheet, soak the pot in hot water and put a dryer sheet in over night and the "stuff" that is stuck will come right out.  Ok, that does sound like Martha Stewart but that is not where I got it from....

What ya cooking tonight?

ahlalou.com is UP!

My website is up!  I am so pleased with the way it turned out.  Thanks to Van Sneed III at joygazmmm.com  He did a wonderful job!  

One thing you may notice is that the splash page (first page you see) is advertising a service I am offering called "Everything but the bird". This is a Thanksgiving special to help with the side dishes and sweets for that big bird day.  Keep an eye out because gumbo is coming real soon....

ahlalou.com

chefalyssa@ahlalou.com

214.227.2055

I am breaking my own rule! I'm doing something Martha.

Ok so I am a chef right?  Well I have a confession to make,  I am NOT a Martha Stewart fan.  Never really liked the lady.  Although, she does good things in the kitchen.  I never watch her show, do not buy her mags, nothing, until now.  Martha Stewart has a book out called Martha Stewart, Cooking Class.  It is good and I must confess I am buying it.  Breaking my own rule to swearing off all things Martha. Not sure this will get me to watch the show or read the mags but I will support this book.

Saigon Mall

There is this new asian market place down the street from my house called Saigon Mall.  Now immediately I got pictures in my head of hanging ducks and those sort of thing and don't get me wrong, it was all that.  Parts of animals I would not think of eating but it is so much more.  There are items that I discovered  living in Japan that I can get there and that made my day.  Also what really made my day was the live blue crabs that they have...and you know why, because it is time for GUMBO!  Well by the time I got there, no more live crabs, they had taken the shell off of them and froze them but nevertheless, whole blue crabs in my famous gumbo saves me the boiling time :-).  Real excited about that.

Reminder....Nov 4th is TOMORROW

Don't forget to vote.  I will be working at the polls from 11-3 tomorrow.  Can't wait.

So out of my norm....and again, not about cooking....

Ok, so today after the Lance Armstrong Foundation cancer walk, I had a bit more energy so with Austin's motto being Keep Austin Weird, they held the thrill the world simultaneous thriller dance for the world record.  I found out about this a few days ago and looked up the site and started learning the 8 lessons to be able to do this dance, well life got in the way and I only learned to lesson 3.  But I have a over zealous 16 year old who really really wanted to do this so after the 5K walk, we learned to the best of our ability the 8 parts to this dance and along with 779 other Austin folks, set the world record for the most folks doing this dance at the same time....take a look.... www.vimeo.com/2065295  We are in there somewhere....I will post pics when I download them from the camera.

Not about food at all.....

Ok so today was the Lance Armstrong Foundation walk In Austin, Texas.  We had a team, Lou's Crew in honor of my mom Louise Downey.  Our team raised $2000.  The walk was great.We ended up with 6 walkers for Lou's Crew, my sister Vanessa, brother in law Bernie, My girl Dana, my daughter Madelyn, and my husband Ed.  Vanessa and Madelyn did the walk in 48 minutes and some change, Bernie and Ed were probably more like 55 minutes and Dana and I were 59 minutes and 02 seconds (we casually walked and talked).  I want to thank all my peeps for donating to this worthy cause.  Next year Lou's Crew will have more members, raise more money and sport team shirts...I have a dream that one day, there will be a cure for cancer....

The Web The Web The Web is up! (doing the happy dance)

My web site is up, ahlalou.com ..well it is still posted as "coming soon" but there is a web site. Right now it will take you to my blog (this one) and my e-mail site, chefalyssa@ahlalou.com, which I am in the process of being able to retrieve messages from. 

 And, I just got a booking for a baby shower, ok normally I do not do catering but it is for a friend, and sometimes I bend the rules for them :-).  Just to be clear, I do personal chef home cooking, cooking classes, intimate dinner parties, and interactive cooking parties (the whole Food Network in your kitchen deal) .

Early voting!

Early voting begins on October 20th.  Why not cast your vote early and beat the November 4th rush?  My thing is this, if by now you do not know who you are voting for, you will be no closer on Nov 4th.  If you are undecided, replay back all the debates, read more past news on the internet and look at the hard facts, not the negative campaigning, the facts.  And vote for who you feel will lead us through these hard times we are going through.  This may be the most important decision you have made EVER!  Remember, there was a time when women and people of color could not vote.  We all have that right now to be able to change our country for the better.  

New banner page. See the image above.

My artist son, created the banner page for me.  I should have the web site up soon.  I am very excited about the direction my site and branding is going in.  Ah la lou, ah la lou, ah la lou :-)

My logo!

What do you think about my logo?  The logo color is actually maroon but blogger is limited to just the color blue :-)  So use your imagination (lol).  Weigh in and tell me what you think.

Chef Alyssa Tips October 2008

I found this wonderful breading for pork, chicken, and seafood from zatarians called Bake and Crisp.  This is like shake n bake but with a kick:-)  The breading is more like japanese panko bread crumbs then regular bread crumbs.  Yum! 

Clean your chicken (the breading is seasoned so you do not need to season the chicken)

dredge in egg

roll in bake and crisp

spray baking sheet with oil

bake at 425 for amount of time on box (port, chicken and seafood have same temp, different times)

Enjoy!

One thing I also want to mention, when I cooked my yummy chicken last night, it browned wonderfully but some of the breading stuck to the pan.  A quick tip for getting that cooked on stuff off of pans is to soak the pan with a dryer sheet and the stuck on food will come right off!

Register to vote

Texas folks!  You have until Monday October 6th to register to vote. This includes changing your address if you have moved.   For all others, please remember to exercise your right to vote!  

A unique gift idea!

I was reminded that my friend Rachel Shields has a wonderful candy wrapping business.  If you need a unique party favor, advertising or holiday decoration, consider candy over wrapping.  I have ordered personalized chocolate candy wrapping from her for my nieces wedding and personalized lollypops for the announcement of the birth of her son.  Great idea!  

Check her out at:

MyJazz Candies

MyJazzCandies@Yahoo.com

Personalized overwrap for any event

It's getting closer!

Well it is getting closer to show time!  The site is just about done. The logo is complete and so awesome and I have ordered a bunch of chef "stuff" to get me started.  I will hang out my shingle soon and I am looking at good things happening.  The economy is in the toilet so I am going to explore more teaching how to cook as opposed to cooking for folks.  Some of that will happen but I will teach those to "fish" so that they can be self sufficient and for those who just can't handle the pole, I will "fish" for them.  This is going to be exciting!  Stay tuned.

Putting it all together

Well today is Sept 1st.  My goal was to start on this date to pair down my recipes and have a catalog of offerings for the personal chef side of the business.  Today I will put the final touches on the verbiage for my web site.  I plan on passing it on to my adopted daughter (daughter from another mother :-), Jenee who is a columnist for the KC Star to tweak it where it needs tweaking   It is kind of nice to have an art department (my oldest and youngest child) a marketing department (my middle child is graduating from UNT in Dec with a degree in marketing, and my niece who is working in the public relations field in ATL), editor and publisher (my daughter from another mother Jenee) and a project manager (my niece who lives here in Texas).  I also have a top notch cheering committee in my sister and brother in law.  My sister is my confidant and the one who I bounce ideas off of on a regular basis.  And of course my everything, my wonderful husband Ed who is all else and then some.  So today, I guess I officially am open for business.  

Waiting on the good stuff so I can get rolling.

I am waiting on my terrific son (graphic designer extraordinaire)  to complete my logo and finish my web site in order for me to roll out my business.  I am still pumped up about it.  I have been busy working on our home so it is not that I am out looking for business but just that I am antsy about getting started.  Ah La Lou is going to be fabulous!

A dream realized!

Finally, a dream realized.  For as long as I can remember, I have loved and I mean absolutely loved to cook.  I learned as I like to say, at my mothers knee. I would watch her with wonder as she tied up a roast, stuffed a pork loin or made gumbo.  I would take mental notes to remember how to do what ever wonderful thing I witnessed her doing.  She was the ultimate personal chef, she would cook on Sunday for the week. Being a single mom and working a full time job with three kids to feed, this worked best for her.  Who knew I would eventually use that same method to make a living at something I loved doing?  I named my company Ah La Lou after my mom who lost a courageous battle with cancer in May of 2007.  As an adult, when we would cook together and when she would "doctor" up a recipe, she would say Ah La Lou (mom's name is Louise :-)  So today, I am Chef Alyssa all because mom took the time to cultivate my love for cooking at her knee.  I am so blessed to have her as a mom and mentor.