Momo's before Opera at the Ballpark, South Beach, SF.

Onion rings. Very nicely battered and fried.

Momo's is Richard's favorite so we went to have some drinks and food before heading to Opera at the Ballpark! I had press entry so it was nice not having to wait in the massive lines! Thank you SO much, SF Opera!

Cheese fries. These are just okay.

Wings. No complaints.

AT&T Field, home of the SF Giants. I love seeing crowds like this and it's always so fun to be out on the field, hanging out, eating and drinking with friends. :)

The SF Opera's Aida, telecasted from the Veterans War Memorial on Van Ness. The opera was fantastic, but we only stayed through the first half because it was freezing!

Kat's first brunch at Brenda's, Tenderloin, SF.

Breeeeenda's!

Kat's first time at Brenda's! Ahh! We've been trying to go for SOO LONG and something just kept coming up! This was perfect though--after running of a few calories at the Palace of Fine Arts, we thought it'd be a good idea to pack on 100000 more calories with a fantastic brunch! ;)

I've never seen Brenda's SO empty! I think it might be to do with the scaffolding outside. Thomas Lackey, of Stable Cafe, who designed this space for Brenda, recently told me about the new Brenda's expansion! It's nice to see it's in full swing--the new space will be the new restaurant. The current restaurant will be used for the kitchen and catering. Yay! I can't wait to see the new space--it's going to be fabulous and was very needed!

Shrimp po' boy. Mmmmmmmm. Kat LOVED this! :)

Hangtown hash special with their biscuit and grits. Fried oyster and bacon scramble? Yes, I am indeed asking for a heart attack! Such a delicious way to die.. haha. In my defense, I decided to break this all up into 3 breakfasts! :)

Previous Post

Website

Yelp

Paula Deen's Shrimp Etouffee with rice.

Nicole made this and it was fabulous! I'm going to have to put it in my recipe index! Such a yummy sauce and an easy recipe, too!

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra flour, optional
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more if desired
• 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 cup minced green onions, plus extra for garnish
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
• 2 to 3 dashes hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
• 1 (8-ounce) can clam juice
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes (recommended: Ro'tel)
• Salt (Cajun seasoning has salt already)
• 2 pounds small or medium shrimp peeled and deveined (recommended: (31/35 size count)
• 1/2 stick butter
• Rice, optional
• Diced green onions, for garnish

Directions

Note: To make roux, use oil instead of butter, because butter burns

Make the roux, mix oil and flour in a large heavy saucepan over low heat. Whisk flour into the oil to form a paste. Continue cooking over low heat and whisk continuously, until the mixture turns a caramel color and gives off a nutty aroma, about 15 to 20 minutes. To the roux, add the onion, green pepper, celery, and garlic and cook over low heat about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are limp. Add the black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, Cajun seasoning, green onions, parsley, and hot sauce to taste. Add 1 can clam juice and the tomatoes with their juice, stir to blend. Add the salt, starting with 1 teaspoon, then add more if needed. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add shrimp and stir. It will take about 3 minutes for shrimp to cook, don't overcook. Remove from heat. Add the butter and stir; the heat from the dish will melt the butter. Transfer the etouffee to a tureen, serving bowl, or if you prefer, over rice. Garnish with the green onions.

My first jambalaya.

And a horrible photo! Sad! Haha.. This is through all of the steam.

Jambalaya takes awhile, but is yummy. I don't know why, but I've been craving it and I have the spices and had a lot of the ingredients, so I thought I'd make some. I used wild rice, lots of spices and threw in everything I could think of--sausage, red & green bell pepper, onion, tomato, tofu, asparagus, mushrooms, and broccoli.

It was yummy, yummy, which is good because I made way too much and will be eating it for days! :)