Spatula Diaries

Lychees are in season

Maggie Heyn Richardson — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:38:00 EST

Lychees have a sweet, floral flavor and translucent flesh. You just have to peel back the thick pinkish skin to find the springy and succulent treat. They're great for snacking and making luscious summer cocktails.Lychee season starts in earnest in June. A few merchants around town are starting to see small shipments of the fresh tropical tree fruit. This week, the Asian supermarket Vinh Phat, began receiving lychees still on the branch from a vendor in Florida. The season there lasts only about a month, so grab Vinh Phat's lychees while you can (call ahead at 273-1175 to be sure).If you can find a serviceable supply of fresh lychees, peel, seed and puree 20 or so, then strain the juice and toss the pulp. Combine two tablespoons of the juice in a Champagne flute and add sparkling wine to create a Bellini.For a lychee martini, combine ice, 12 oz. vodka, 8 oz. lychee juice and a splash of vermouth. Shake until it's perfectly chilled, pour into four martini glasses and garnish with fresh lychees.If you can't find enough fresh lychees to make your own juice, canned lychees are available in Asian grocery stores and many Asian food aisles. Lychees can also be used as garnishes. If you are going this route, leave the lychee unpitted and warn your guests of the large seed inside.

Kids and Summer Weight Gain

Maggie Heyn Richardson — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:42:00 EST

In the ongoing childhood obesity debate, the school lunch is the perpetual whipping boy. However, there's good reason to be concerned about children's weight gain over the summer when they're at home.Researchers at Indiana and Ohio State Universities released a study a few years ago that found that children's body mass indexes increased twice as much during the summer as they did during the school year.The cause? A lack of structure. It's what we love and crave about the summer—a break from the overprogrammed fall and spring. But it can work against us if we're not careful. Our children may not be in as many activities, nor are they taking physical education at school. And while we whined about school lunches, kids were probably eating less during the school year simply because they're in class until mid-afternoon. It's something for us to think about here in Louisiana where our struggle with childhood obesity is daunting and where the summer heat is a convenient excuse for staying indoors.Here are a few tips to consider:

•If you don't want them to eat it, don't buy it. For every processed, high-calorie snack food, there is something fresh to serve in its place.

•Sign up for organized fun-runs or walks and participate in them as a family.

•Get into good food. June is one of the most robust months for the Red Stick Farmers Market. Make a point of visiting it on Thursday or Saturday mornings, and plan spontaneous menus together.

•Visit a u-pick berry patch. Homemade blueberry pie anyone?

•Take a family walk at night.

•Try a triathlon. There are two this summer designed just for kids and hosted by Rocketkidz.

Spotlight on Barr Estate Winery’s 2010 Albari�o

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:36:00 EST

This week’s warmer temperatures are a great excuse to work in a crisp, food-friendly white wine, and Barr Estate Winery’s 2010 Albari�o from Paso Robles is a nice choice.Albari�o has gained more traction in the U.S. in the last decade, but it’s still a varietal that remains underappreciated. It shouldn’t.I love it because it has the pairing range and versatility of a Sauvignon Blanc with additional creaminess and oomph. This one bursts with apricot and peach and an undercurrent of citrus. It’s perfect with seafood, bold cheeses, Asian fare and spicy food. Try it with a salad of fris�e and baked goat cheese or fiery green curry.

A line and a pole

Maggie Heyn Richardson — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:36:00 EST

One of Louisiana's best known and classic food festivals takes place this weekend less than a hour away—the annual Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, a event that pulses with Cajun and Zydeco music and features piles of steaming mudbugs and dozens of crawfish dishes. Crawfish are more available today than ever today thanks to the state's healthy pond-raised industry, but Louisiana's tradition of netting and boiling the freshwater crustaceans began not far from Breaux Bridge in the Atchafalaya River Basin. The festival honors this centuries-old tradition, which sadly, is in peril. Over the course of the twentieth century, the basin has seen changes in hydrology because of manmade flood control measures and canals dug by the oil and gas and timber industries. It has caused formerly swampy areas to silt in, making areas where crawfishermen once worked impassable. Still, hardscrabble types like Henderson native Jody Meche are still at it, setting traps throughout the basin because they can't imagine a more satisfying way to make a living. "It's in my blood," Meche says, as he prepared to take some travel writers through the basin. "I love to fish. But we basin crawfisherman, it's different for us. We crawfish in the wild, and it's full of challenges and it's not easy to make a living." The Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival marks the mid-point of the basin crawfish season, which usually spans April to June. For more information about the festival, visit bbcrawfest.com.

Perfect for cheese pairings

Maggie Heyn Richardson — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 08:29:00 EST

Kono Winery's 2011 Sauvignon Blanc is a clean, bright wine that works well with springtime pairings. It doesn't have the overpowering grapefruit notes that define so many New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs today; rather, it features gentle notes of citrus and enough acidity to stand up to a range of dishes from grilled seafood to a cheese plate. Try it with chevre, goat Gouda, Emmanthaler and Dutch Parrano. The secret is to sample the wine first, followed by a nibble of cheese, followed by another sip of wine. The first sip gives you a benchmark, and the second sip allows you to see how the flavors of the cheese mingle with the wine's notes. It's usually priced around $10-$12.