La Septima Cafe, A Taste of Old Ybor

Angela and I traveled down to Brandon, FL (right near Tampa) this weekend to visit my new baby niece. While there, my brother in law and his wife took us to a wonderful "authentic Spanish" restaurant called La Septima Cafe.  The sign out front reads, "La Septima Cafe, A Taste of Old Ybor". Ybor is a historic neighborhood near Tampa, founded in 1880 by cigar manufacturers, and inhabited by immigrants from Spain, Cuba, and Italy. These folks brought more than their cigar-rolling skills - they also provided the area with a fantastic culinary tradition.

The establishment was voted "Best of Brandon" for 15 years in a row! Some of the featured dishes are Breaded Palomilla Steak, Jaiba Enchilada, Arroz con Pollo, Ropa Vieja, Picadillo Con Papas Fritas, Cuban Sandwich, Palomilla Milanesa, Lechon Asado, and the dish that I ordered, Boliche Ybor.

Boliche Ybor is described as "Tender slices of eye round roast that has been stuffed with chorizo and baked in a light tomato sauce." I added yellow rice, Platinos Maduras, and their homemade Sangria to my meal. I finished up with "un buchito", a shot of Cuban espresso!! Everything was delicious, and I'm sure we'll be back to La Septima on our next visit to the Tampa area.

Boliche Ybor and Yellow Rice

Platinos Maduras - friend plantain

 

"un buchito" - shot of Cuban espresso

Sushi and Saki

Do you like sushi? We do too. Here's how you can make sushi in the comfort of your own kitchen:

Cook rice. Add rice vinegar and cool in fridge.

Thinly slice ingredients - we used cucumber, avocado, carrots, and green onions.

Salmon. We chose to also add salmon. Slice thinly like the veggies.

Spread rice thinly over seaweed.

Add your ingredients to the middle. Notice, we added cream cheese to this roll.

Roll it up! You made need to employ a sushi rolling mat.

Slice full-size seaweed rolls into eight equal parts.

Serve with wasabi, soy sauce, and ginger.

We paired tonight's meal with Momokawa "Silver" Saki - delicious!

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches!

Not much to say about these except - AWESOME!! Angela and I made these little delights by combining a Martha Stewart chocolate cookie recipe with a mint chocolate chip ice cream recipe. Two notes: (1) We steeped milk in actual mint leaves (2) We have an ice cream maker.

steeping mint leaves in milk

 

Jalepeno and Cream Cheese Burgers

I was down at my parents' house this weekend where I watched A LOT of cable. Besides falling in love with a show called MANHUNTER I also stumbled upon Man VS Food where one man consistently pits himself against more food than one should consume in one, sometimes two, sittings. I was enthralled by a jalapeno burger he found out in middle-of-nowhere Texas. After a little research, I found an even more exciting enhancement of the jalapeno burger - the Jalepeno and Cream Cheese Burger!

This recipe is simple and genious! Make your burger patties as you like... salt and pepper, etc. Sautee about 1 jalapeno per patty. Toast your buns. Assemble with a liberal application of cream cheese - BAM! This is some tasty stuff!! We chased this big-boy meal with Abita S.O.S. (Save Our Shores), a tasty new brew from Abita dedicated to "assist with the rescue and restoration of the environment, industry and individuals fighting to survive this disastrous oil spill." More from the Abita website:

This Abita Beer is a message in a bottle... a distress signal for the troubled waters of our Gulf Coast. For every bottle sold Abita will donate 75¢ to the rescue and restoration of the environment, industry and individuals fighting to survive this disastrous oil spill. This unfiltered Weizen Pils is made with Pilsner and Wheat malts. It is hopped and dry hopped with Sterling and German Perle hops. It has a brilliant gold color, a sweet malt flavor, and a pleasant bitterness and aroma.

Crab Fricassee!

My grandma Lasseigne, Monie, announced that she would be serving her famous Crab Fricassee on Friday. It didn't take long for word to get around, and on Friday most of the family showed up for a crabby treat.

Crab Fricassee with a side of Potato Salad and Roast

Pork Chops with Whisky Sauce, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Asparagus

Angela and I visited with our friend Nicole D, where I whipped up my increasingly famous Pork Chops with Whiskey Sauce from America's Test Kitchen's 30-Minute Suppers. The next time I cook this one, a video will be made.

Eight pork chops meant that I had to use three burners!

Our host, Nicole D, presents the feast.

Corn Macque Choux

Chef John Folse's Corn Macque Choux recipe requires lot's of preparatory chopping and is a little expensive, but this dish is very easy to assemble and will feed the house for several days. Check out my video with music by Yo La Tengo from the album They Shoot We Score - by the way this track is titled Leaving Home and is from the film Old Joy.

 

Here is the recipe in its entirety as published on Folse's public web site:


Corn Macque Choux
Prep Time: 1 hour / Serves: 8

	COMMENT: Although Maque Choux is normally thought of as a corn soup, the River Road Cajuns cooked a similar vegetable flavored with the freshwater shrimp of the Mississippi River. Here is their version of that dish. INGREDIENTS: 8 ears fresh corn 2 cups (150-200 count) shrimp, peeled and de-veined 1/4 cup andouille, finely diced 1/2 cup bacon drippings 1 cup onion, chopped 1/2 cup celery, chopped 1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped 1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped 1/4 cup garlic, diced 2 cups tomatoes, coarsely chopped 2 tbsps tomato sauce 1 cup green onions, sliced salt and black pepper to taste METHOD: Select tender, well-developed ears of corn and remove shucks and silk. Using a sharp knife, cut lengthwise through the kernels to remove them from the cob. Scrape each cob using the blade of the knife to remove all milk and additional pulp from the corn. This is important because the richness of the dish will depend on how much milk and pulp can be scraped from the cobs. In a 3-quart cast iron Dutch oven, melt bacon drippings over medium-high heat. Sauté corn, onions, celery, bell peppers, garlic and andouille approximately 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are wilted and corn begins to tenderize. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and shrimp. Continue cooking until juice from the tomatoes and shrimp are rendered into the dish, approximately 15-20 minutes. Add green onions and season to taste using salt and pepper. Continue to cook an additional 15 minutes or until full flavor of corn and shrimp is developed into the dish. Serve as a vegetable or add stock to create soup.