New Orleans themed dinner for four

A great idea for the next dinner party! I have to look for the David Guas book, too.

Thanks, ChefJune! (Husband doesn't eat pork.) Meatloaf sounds like a fun idea.

Hi, Bevi, did you miss my note about the dinner? I made shrimp creole with salad and chocolate pecan pie for dessert.

Shrimp creole sounds wonderful. "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?"

How did you make the pie chocolate? I've experimented with several methods but am most curious to know what you did, and how it turned out! ;o) P.S. How fitting that you chose that recipe. Did you see in the head note that it's derived from an ancient (really cute!) little pamphlet style 1950's era cookbook on the cooking of New Orleans?

@AJ, I did notice where you derived the recipe, and I love it because it's so chock full of pecans. I added 1/4 cup of Penzey's high fat cocoa powder and a pinch of instant espresso to the egg, butter and golden syrup mixture, and left out the orange and nutmeg (although they'd still be good with chocolate I think). The cocoa dries out the filling a bit, but it tastes delicious.

The original recipe calls for only 1/2 cup each of chopped pecans and pecan halves. Not surprisingly, with so few pecans, the pie is just like so many pecan pies -- full of sweet, gooey filling with relatively few nuts. That was my first revision, ages ago. I love what you've done with the chocolate! I have made it with chocolate chips, which tasted pretty good, but once cool, the pie was rather hard to cut. Using cocoa makes so much more sense! Mr T would love it the way you made it, so I will certainly be following suit, the next time I make one. ;o) P.S. I'm thrilled the pie turned out well for you. I do think that carefully placing the pecans on top makes it particularly attractive.

Yes, I love the fact that the pie is so chock full of pecans. I've also melted chocolate into the filling and it was difficult to cut-- that's why I tried the cocoa this time. It does dry the filling out a bit, so it doesn't have quite as gooey a consistency. And I agree- the placement of the pecans on the top of the pie makes it really pretty-- so perfect for a dinner party, and easy to do.

I would love to make chocolate pecan pie and am reading the comments, do you think adding an extra egg yolk and maybe an extra tbs of butter would help with the drier consistency?

Suzanne, I think those are both good ideas. I actually don't mind the drier consistency, though.

I just found this hotline thread and I was about to suggest pecan pie! My Mississippi-born grandmother used to make it when I was little. I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks, Cristina, that was fun.

Pierino, as you know marriage has left me challenged in the what to cook department-- my husband pretty much hates all the food I love. That unfortunately extends to coffee with chicory-- I even have an old French drip coffee pot for authentic cafe au lait, but I almost never use it anymore. Thanks for the Saveur suggestion.

Thanks-- we're going for decadent dessert.

Hmmmm, Sazeracs-- great idea-- this is more of a wine group, but thanks for the suggestion.

Hi Suzanne. Our friends would LOVE Abbie's gumbo, but unfortunately I don't have "all day" to make it.

Absolutely! (Actually, we're probably about a year away from actually being able to do that...). We can't get Abita beer, unfortunately, and as I told Bevi below, I can't do any last minute stuff, so I'm sticking with some standbys and a new dessert. ( I would make maque choux-- I've made both yours and chefjune's and love them both-- but it's not corn season here.)