 
 "Eating, drinking and carrying on..." -- Adelaide Brennan
Impeach Cheney. "The vice president," says Slate's Bruce Fein, "has run utterly amok and must be stopped."
Given the fact that they tried to impeach Clinton for lying about having sex with an intern as part of a deposition for a civil lawsuit that was eventually dismissed for lack of merit ... it as always prompts the question of what the fuck you have to do to get impeached nowadays? The Washington Post concludes its series on Cheney's "most outrageous usurpation of power that this nation has seen in decades, if not in its history" with two more pieces: Dominating Budget Decisions, detailing how he made himself the dominant voice on tax and spending policy, outmaneuvering rivals for the president's ear; and an examination of his environmental policy, i.e., how he gutted it, easing air pollution controls, opening public parks to snowmobiles and diverting river water from threatened salmon. I've heard people say that they pray nothing happens to Bush because it'd mean that Cheney would become president and that'd be scary. They don't realize that he's already president, de facto if not de jure. And that's really scary. UPDATE: He's flip-flopping now. Quotes of the day. From a TPM article linked above:
In that case ...
[ Link to today's entries ]
Love is all you need. It was 40 years ago today (well, yesterday actually) ... the world's first global satellite broadcast. The message is as valid as ever ... for this country, perhaps more so than ever before. (Thanks, Steve!) [ Link to today's entries ]
Cocktail of the day. It was gorgeous but warm on Saturday, and I felt like rum. My turn to mix, and I was looking for something with rum, but something a bit different. Recalling Gary Regan's excellent tome The Joy of Mixology, I tried to remember if there was a rum-based example of his drink category of New Orleans Sours (base spirit, orange-flavored liqueur, lemon or lime juice). I couldn't, so I looked it up. Turns out that oddly enough, there was no classic cocktail fitting this description, so Gary created one in 2002 and called The Missing Link (heh). It features his favored Margarita proportion of 3:2:1, with light rum, triple sec and lime juice. Okay, but I was looking for something just as refreshing but a little more complex. I had just picked up a bottle of Rhum Clément's Créole Shrubb, a once-rare liqueur from Martinique that I had tasted at Dr. Cocktail's house but which wasn't readily available in the States until recently. It's an orange liqueur in the same general category of Curaçaos or triple secs, but that's where the similarity ends. This liqueur is drier than most of those, is based on a type of rum called rhum agricole (made from fresh pressed sugar cane juice, not molasses), is sweetened by just a touch of pure sugar cane syrup and has a blend of really interesting Caribbean spices. I had tasted some straight from my new bottle, and was eager to use it in some sort of cocktail. This seemed to be the time for it to make its début in our bar. I thought of a light rum, perhaps, but decided to pair it with a fellow Martiniquan rum. I didn't have any Rhum Clément on hand, but I did have a Saint James Hors d'Age rhum agricole, which until then I'd only ever sipped and never used in a cocktail. It's got the complexity of a Cognac, and while it might not let the Shrubb shine through quite as much as a white rum would, I thought I'd see what kind of cocktailian-alchemical witches' brew of flavors might come forth. What kind? A startling kind. Neither Wesly nor I had ever tasted anything quite like this. The best way to describe the flavor would be ... exotic. We were both a bit taken aback at first, with all the flavors going on in here, but decided within two sips that we liked it. A lot. This is different enough from a Missing Link that I thought we'd give it its own name. "Missing link" is a term given (sometimes inaccurately) to a transitional fossil in the evolutionary line. The first skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis was a key transitional fossil, and it (or rather, she) had a name, which I've lent to this drink.
Next time I make this I'll make it with a lighter rum, to get more of a sense of the Shrubb flavor on its own. If not a Martiniquan rum, then certainly 10 Cane from Trinidad, which has become our standard rhum agricole these days. Cheney's "robust interrogations" The Washington Post continues its four-part series (here's the first article) about how deeply frightening our vice president is. Today we learn about how Cheney crafted our nation's torture policy, or what he liked to call "robust interrogations." Joe Sudbay of AmericaBlog says, "Reading these articles is intense. As bad as many of us thought Cheney was and is -- he's worse. This man, and the President who has enabled him, have seriously undermined the country -- and the constitution they swore to uphold."
I'm hoping this series of articles does for Cheney (and ultimately, Bush) what Woodward and Bernstein's series of articles did for Nixon, but with a new ending -- prison. [ Link to today's entries ]
Barack Obama speaks the truth. In a 30-minute address to the General Synod of the United Church of Christ, Sen. Obama excoriates the religious right-wing for "hijacking" faith.
Amen, brother. You can watch Sen. Obama's complete speech (with introductions) from the UCC's web archive. I'm not a Hillary Clinton fan (and if she's the nominee I'm afraid that she'll be so disliked that even some Democrats will vote for a Republican so as not to have her), so at this point it's either Obama or Edwards for me. I think Obama has a better chance so far, but it's still early. We'll have to see how they do as they go along. Lunch. Grilled asiago cheese with speck and quartered dates on OatNut bread. Honeydew melon slices on the side. (We used our panini press and they came out great!) (I decided to experiment with posting some minor food porn, with or without pics, about daily meals if I think it's warranted. These sandwiches were particularly good, so I thought I'd pass the idea along, and I'll continue to do so.) The fourth branch of government? The Washington Post begins a four part series (continuing tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday) on how Dick Cheney is completely without historical precedent as the most powerful and influential man ever to hold the office of Vice President of the United States, which only became possible because Bush is anxious to get out of the way, because Cheney makes the decision first before Bush "makes" the decision. As Steve Silberman said in MeFi, "Cheney set up his own government within the government of the United States, answerable to none." One scary passage (of many), describing Cheney's reaction on 9/11:
My friend Steve said in email, "This pretty much confirms something I've thought for quite some time: that instead of viewing the attacks as a tragedy, the Bush Administration saw them as an opportunity." Indeed, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their cohorts in the Project for a New American Century had been waiting for such an opportunity for years. Regarding Cheney's claim that he's exempt from rules overseeing classified document security because he's not part of the executive branch, Rep. Rahm Emanuel has raised the stakes -- he's entered an amendment to cut funding from the Office of the Vice President from the legislation that funds the executive branch.
Fair enough. [ Link to today's entries ]
Cocktail of the day. We hadn't had this in a while. It's yet another luscious creation by The Libation Goddess, Audrey Saunders of The Pegu Club in New York (and we'll be sampling her sacramentally delicious creations at one of the Spirited Dinners at Tales of the Cocktail next month, woo!). This takeoff on the sidecar turns the brandy into a Cognac-Calvados blend, the Cointreau into an orange-herb blend, and the lemon juice into a lemon-pineapple blend, maintaining the original character of the drink but adding many layers of additional flavors. I like it with the sugared rim, but as Gary Regan says in the next article, "Some folk like to rim the glass with sugar when serving a sidecar. I'm not one of them."
If Calvados isn't on hand, try substituting Laird's Straight Apple Brandy, which is really good stuff. The Cocktailian. Speaking of Sidecars ... in this edition of Gary Regan's column, Cindy, a substitute for the Professor, our cocktailian bartender (who's in Peru at the moment) creates another Sidecar variation, this time retaining the principal ingredient styles and trying other types of brandy and orange liqueur for a subtly different character. Ardent Spirits. The new Ardent Spirits newsletter is out, covering a bar crawl in Blackpool, England and a trip to the Beefeater distillery; Gary's presentation at the London Bar Show ... ... Rhum Clément's 2nd annual Cocktail Challenge with the winning recipe (and can I say how great it is to see Rhum Clément's products easily available on the shelves now, especially their wonderful Créole Shrubb liqueur!); and much more! Mexican liqueurs you've probably never heard of. Yes, we've all heard of Kahlúa, but how many other Mexican liqueurs can you name? The Los Angeles Times Food Section has a nice feature on a lot of really lovely and complex liqueurs from Mexico. I'd always been curious about the Damiana one, which comes in a bottle shaped like a chubby naked goddess statue, and turns out to be "[a] bright yellow liqueur with a voluptuous aroma bright yellow liqueur with a voluptuous aroma -- an explosion of resin, mint and flowers; [t]heflavors are resinous, candied and flowery with a note of lemon leaf." You can also find ratings and tasting notes of the aforementioned Guaycura Liqueur de Damiana, along with Patrón XO Café, Agavero ("like a tequila-based Chartreuse"), Reserva del Snñor Almendrado, Kalani Coconut Liqueur, Xaica Hibiscus Flower Liqueur ("happy-hour jamaica," which sounds fantastic; I'd tried to do a jamaica infusion with limited success, but my skills have improved since then ... maybe I'll try again with tequila and do a homemade version, or ... maybe I should just try this!), D'Aristi Xtabentun ("Pernod for honey lovers"), and Reserva del Señor Licor de Café. Man, don't some of these sound fantastic? [ Link to today's entries ]
The Pimm's Cup. Continuing this great series being posted in The Times Picayune, master bartender Chris McMillian shows us how to make a Pimm's Cup, a very refreshing cooler for the summer and the signature drink at Napoleon House on Chartres and St. Louis in the French Quarter. I'm trying to remember where we were recently where the bartender took great pride in his Pimm's Cups, saying that not only did he hate the ones that are made at Napoleon House, but that he was actually offended by them. Wes might have to rememberize for us in the comments. Oh well. 26th place in that contest thingy. Thanks for all your votes; considering I was something like 79th when I started, that ain't bad. Screw 'em, maybe we'll go to Napa anyway. Cheney's latest outrage. I know, it's been a while. The joy of food filled in where my outrage overload burned a hole, but ... for fuck's sake.
Let's hear that again. Vice President Dick Cheney has asserted his office is not a part of the executive branch of the U.S. government, and therefore not bound by a presidential order governing the protection of classified information by government agencies. Well, exactly what branch of government does he think his office is a part of? The secrecy branch? The ignore-the-law branch? The go-fuck-yourself branch? The hippopotamus umbrella branch? Oh, he claims that since his only real job is to be the president of the Senate, that makes him a member of the legislative branch. Horseshit, especially for this vice president. The other 42 of them might have been lapdogs presiding over the senate, but this vice president is most assuredly doing the vast majority of his deeds through the powers of the executive branch. And indeed, he claims executive privilege for things like his energy deal, but is not a member of the executive branch?
Let's hear that again. The head of the government's Information Security Oversight Office twice questioned Cheney's office on its assertion that it was exempt from the rules. He received no reply other than the fact that the Vice President then tried to abolish his office. AmericaBlog points to a Washington Post story that tells us how Cheney is quite literally risking the security of classified documents:
John Aravosis:
This man is dangerous. What is it about the people in this country that keeps them from where they should be, which is out in the streets mobbing the White House (although not Cheney's actual office, because undoubtedly he's in An Undisclosed Location), demanding his resignation or impeachment? Laziness? Apathy? Self-entitlement? I'd be out there myself, except I fear I'd be the only one, and I'd end up under Guantánamo Bay. I won't ask what is wrong with Cheney. He's a power-mad would-be despot who cares nothing for the law, the Constitution or the American people but only in his own power. The question is, why don't they impeach over the long list of crimes, the long list of constitutional violations, perpetrated by this corrupt administration, yet they tried to impeach Clinton for lying about a blow job? The biggest question is, what is wrong with us? How low can he go? Astonishingly, his current approval rating is even lower than Cheney's.
I think he can beat Dick. Go, George, go! We're rootin' for ya! [ Link to today's entries ]
Whoring for votes. Last night I got the following email:
Welcome news? Well, sure! First off, whoever nominated me ... thanks! Second, I must confess that I've never heard of Culinate, but hey ... I'll still take a prize from 'em, what the hell. Thirdly, and here's where the "whoring" part comes in ... 
Vote for me, and send my ass to Napa! (Click the image to do so.) Can you imagine the food porn if I manage to score a reservation at The French Laundry? It's been ten years since I've been, and it's about time for a return visit. (Incidentally, the prices have changed slightly since then. In 1997 the five-course dinners were $65, and the nine-course "Chef's Tasting Menu" was a whopping $90. Nowadays it's just the nine, and it'll set you back a cool $225, plus all the "freebie" little bites you get in between courses. It's still a deal.) See, it's all about providing food porn for YOU! So whichever of you was kind enough to nominate, me, I accept. Everybody, call and email your friends and your momma and your Aunt Hazel and all your relatives, including those cousins you never see (even the drunk one and the one you thought was creepy at the family reunion) and tell them to vote for Looka! so that you can get more cool food porn. Also, and so that Wes and I can get a free vacation to Napa. (Oh, and there's apparently some class too, which I guess I'd go to as long as it didn't interfere with our dining and wine drinking.) In the long and glorious Louisiana tradition, I say vote early and vote often! Get your dead relatives to vote too! (Okay, just kidding, 'cause all those politicians are pond scum.) Vote Chuck! My platform ... um, bacon forever! Badly made cocktails outlawed! Barq's is ubiquitous AND it's root beer! I've debased myself enough now. Thank you for your indulgence. Bayona. Wednesday midweek of Jazzfest, meeting my Uncle Mike for a nice long lunch at a longtime favorite. We started off with a round of Sazeracs, and the Sazeracs at Bayona have been longtime favorites of ours, especially Wes. He's also always appreciated the fact that they break from tradition by serving the drink in a cocktail glass rathe than a rocks glass; not that we don't follow that tradition at home ourselves (in vintage Roosevelt Hotel Sazerac glasses from the 1940s, no less), but it's nice to see someoen putting their own stamp on a traditional tipple. Oddly enough though, this time the drinks, while still excellent, came in the standard rocks glass. Apparently Bayona has a new bartender who's a firm believer in tradition. Well, bless his heart too. Lunch was lovely, as I expected, although there had to be a quick change of plans from the very beginning. I zeroed in on two dishes that looked really great -- Eggplant Parmesan Soup with Tomato and Tomato Croutons for a starter, and Lemongrass Scallops with Coconut-Lime Broth and Roasted Eggplant for my entrée. I was in the mood for soup, and the scallop dish sounded light and bright and Vietnamesey, with the roasted eggplant tying it in to the starter. How perfect, and the decision took me all of ten seconds. Then our server arrived to take our drink orders and said, "Just a couple of changes on the menu today, gentlemen ... we have almost everything but unfortunately we've run out of the eggplant soup and the scallops." Sigh. "Um, could you take their orders first, please?" Eek! After a few moments of wrestling with indecision, I managed to settle on two dishes, and we were off to the races. For some reason I managed not to get a picture of Wesly's starter, but I've got one of Mike's: 
Goat Cheese Croutons with Mushrooms in Madeira Cream, simple but delicious and satisfying. 
Grouper Ceviche on a chiffonade of Iceberg Lettuce with Guacamole and Corn Relish. Odd that I'd get this in New Orleans, as it's the kind of dish I can get in California all the time, but ... 1) I like that Bayona thinks outside the Creole box, and B) I've never had ceviche made with grouper, and III) it was cool and light and fat-free (well, except for the guacamole ... and the chips ... but there were only five of 'em) and given what I had been eating and would be eating, it probably wasn't a bad thing. Nicely done, well seasoned. And who knew that iceberg lettuce would end up being one of the trendy new ingredients among chefs for the last couple of years? It's all for the texture, not so much the flavor, but the texture suited this dish well. 
We got this for the table, and I kinda wish I had gotten one all to myself. Sautéed Sweetbreads with Potatoes, Mushrooms and Sherry-Mustard Sauce, a signature starter at Bayona. I had sweetbreads for the first time in my life at Bayona many years ago, and became an instant convert and sweetbreads lover. I should get a t-shirt feating Homer Simpson saying, "Mmmmmm ... thyyyyymus glaaaands ..." Come on baby, don't fear the gland. The flavor is deep and rich and creamy and satisfying. If you haven't tried them, do so -- I'll bet you'll fall for 'em just as hard as I did. 
My main course was Crispy Skin Redfish with Moroccan Grilled Onion Salad and Yogurt Sauce, an excellent piece of fish atop some sautéed spinach. Mike got this also, and ordered a third one to bring home (Rhonda wasn't able to join us, unfortunately). It's a long-loved Louisiana ingredient, but given a really interesting non-Louisiana treatment. Wes got another favorite of mine from here, and a longtime staple of the lunch menu -- Smoked Duck, Cashew-Peanut Butter and Pepper Jelly Sandwich, grilled on multigrain bread, which I last had here about a year ago. Slight difference to the usual, as the pure cashew butter became cashew-peanut. I'm sure it was good, and perhaps a bit less rich, but I wouldn't know, as I didn't get a bite. Ahem. 
The dessert was the daily special, and I zeroed right in on the chocolate, unsurprisingly. Chocolate Macamia Nut Bavarian with Roasted Pineapple was the only choice for me, although they all looked good. The pineapple inspired me to accompany it was a glass of Zaya Guatemalan Rum, 12 Years Old, one of our current favorites. Very satisfying and enjoyable, yet not a huge food onslaught, because we had to save room for dinner, ova by my momma's! Eh, là-bas! Crawfish eh-touf-FAY! Later that afternoon Wes and I stopped at The Swizzle Stick Bar at Café Adelaide, where a preliminary event for the upcoming Tales of the Cocktail was being held. Three rum cocktails would be featured in a tasting prepared by their bar chef Lu Brow, some of the Tales folks would be there, plus Wayne Curtis, author of the new book And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails. Unfortunately we wouldn't get to stay for the whole thing, because we had to head up to the Northshore for dinner at my folks' place. We still had time to meet and greet and chat and sip (although not too much to make me wobbly on the Causeway, but just enough to taste). I'm trying to remember the three cocktails that were served, which I can't because it's after midnight as I write, and I'm sleepy, and my memory is as keen as a steel colander even at its best, but I do remember that one was this venerable quaff:
Try to use homemade grenadine if you can (it's easy to make from fresh pomegranates, or just use POM pomegranate juice from the store, mixing equal parts juice and superfine bakers' sugar plus a litle extra sugar, and stir or shake until dissolved), or else find a good one like Monin, something made with actual pomegranates. Don't use the artificial crap; even a dash of it will kill a drink. Recommended rums include Myers Platinum from Jamaica or 10 Cane from Trinidad. We met Wayne and got him to sign a book for us, talked to some Tales people and finally saw Lally Brennan, who runs Café Adelaide (as well as Commander's Palace) with her cousin Ti (hi, Ti!). We chatted for a while, then sadly excused ourselves as we had to leave to make it to dinner on time. "Ooh," Lally said excitedly, "what are y'all having?" My mom's signature Crawfish Étouffée, which is my favorite preparation of that dish anywhere. "Oh, that's wonderful," she said. "You're going to the right place. At the restaurant we couldn't do justice to a New Orleans mother's étouffée." As much as I love Café Adelaide ... 
Lally was right, of course. :-) Thanks Mom! It was fab, as always! [ Link to today's entries ]
Hey, they stole our idea! I have to say that the Fat Pack have been playing with this combination for a while now, although we have never actually enrobed our favorite ingredient in luscious milk chocolate. 
I'm a big fan of Vosges chocolate and bonbons, and especially of their "Exotic Candy Bars"; we keep a selection of those in the house pretty much all the time. I got a tip via email (thanks, Mitch!) that they've just released a new one, obvious yet sheer genius -- Mo's Bacon Bar: Applewood smoked bacon, Alder wood smoked salt, deep milk chocolate (41% cacao). Oh. My. God. It all makes perfect sense, of course. Salt in dessert is the big thing now, and I've been a big fan of fleur de sel caramels and Vosges' own Barcelona bar (hickory smoked almonds, fleur de sel grey sea salt and deep milk chocolate at 41% cacao) for a while now. And we all know bacon's delightfuly desserty potential, from the bacon brittle I made to the cocoa-coated bacon candy Diana made a while back. Bacon in a candy bar was the next logical step. It's also the first Vosges candy bar I've seen to have a shelf life stamped on it -- 8 weeks. Their truffles have a 2-week life, as many of them have fresh cream ganaches and fillings, but the candy bars generally keep for as long as you want, provided they're stored properly. (We have a closet downstairs, where it's 10-15 degrees cooler than the rest of the house anyway, which we call "The Chocolate Closet," where we keep various kinds of chocolate, and our supply of 18-ounce Abbott's Bitters bottles, wrapped in towels to prevent earthquake damage). I just had four bars sent out, at horrific expense, thanks to the automated shipping tool in Vosges' checkout that informed me that "Due to warm weather in your shipping location, your shipping method has been changed to UPS 2 Day Air." *cha-CHING!* Well, feck it, I'm getting them anyway. I hope that after I'm done with this first batch, which in a Veruca Salt-like frenzy I had to have NOW, Daddy!, Surfas, who stock these bars locally, will start to carry the bacon ones too. Devils on horseback! I'm behind on blogs, even on friends' blogs, which is shameful, I know. I'm behind on everything, in fact, as three or two of you may have noticed given the fact that I only made one post last week. Poppy's husband Chris DeBarr, who's the chef at The Delachaise on St. Charles and who, as she pointed out recently, has transformed that place "from an anonymous wine bar into a destination restaurant since taking over the kitchen there in November 2005, a month after our return from exile," now has a site of his own. In the spirit of the above post, let me offer you a reason why you should check it every day (emphasis mine throughout):
We love this man. :-) Wesly makes bacon-wrapped dates -- one of two things he can actually make -- all the time when we have people over, and has gained quite a bit of kitchen cachet among our friends (Me: "Wanna come over?" Them: "Is Wes making dates?"), even though he freely admits that he "shamelessly" stole the idea from Suzanne Goins' menu at A.O.C. in West Hollywood. Neither of us had any idea that this combination was called "Devils on Horseback," though! It's our new favorite phrase, right behind ... "Bacon -- it's what's for dessert!" Sunday Gravy. The Sunday gravy (i.e., a thick, tomato sauce like a Neapolitan ragú, full of meat) I made for last weekend's finale of "The Sopranos" came out great. It was a lot of fun to make too (although a tad expensive with all that meat), but it was enough to feed a big Italian family (or a family of big Italians). We ate well that night, a couple of nights later, and then I froze enough portions for seven more meals for two. So ... it makes a lot, just sayin'. My take on the Sunday gravy might not be as purely traditional as some -- Mr. Frank Pellegrino of Rao's doesn't put onions or celery or wine in his, but ... well, I do in mine. If you're offended, leave 'em out. You can also alter the meats -- substitute cubed eye of beef round for the veal, or use pork loin instead of the spareribs, or add some braciola toward the end if you're so inclined. It's up to you. Don't be daunted either -- it may look like a handful, but it's really, really easy. I'll alter my name-above-the-title on this dish in rememberance of the only "Sopranos" character that shared it, even though he got whacked by Tony for conspiring with Uncle Junior to kill him. First, the recipe, then the pix.
Okay, pitchas!  The gathered ingredients  The pork spareribs frying in olive oil with garlic  The gravy starts to get goin'  Prepped meatballs  Now that's a Sunday gravy!  Dessert. Leave the gun. Take the cannoli. The cannoli were hand-filled for me to order that afternoon, at the Eagle Rock Italian Bakery and Deli, 1726 Colorado Blvd., and are accompanied by cucidate (Italian fig cookies) with chocolate chips and nuts, which are to die for. Oh, and the ending? (See comments.) [ Link to today's entries ]
The Martini. So simple, yet so complex ... the King of Cocktails seems to elude so many, but they're really a cinch to make, if you learn the relatively simple technique. Chris McMillian, of the Library Bar at the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans (and one of the city's finest bartenders) puts you through the motions in this first of what I hope to be a long series on cocktail making. The stirring is what gets it for me. My Martini epiphany came courtesy of Dale DeGroff, from whom I drank a perfectly made, stirred Martini, and it was a revelation. That silky smooth texture you get from stirring can't be matched, and can't be beat. The Times-Picayune article featuring this video is here, and I will interject to say that my own favored proportion for a Martini is 5:1 -- two and one-half ounces of gin and one-half ounce of vermouth -- making for my own taste the perfect balance and drink size. It's nice of Chris to include a bit on making vodka Martinis, but I have no use for such a thing myself. The Cocktailian: A bartender's new drink is the cat's meow. In this edition of Gary Regan's fortnightly column, explains how one can create new drinks by taking a classic and replacing a single ingredient. Gary rises to Dale DeGroff's challenge to create a new drink for a cocktail pairing dinner, with a little catch -- "And it must contain Laphroaig 10." To which he replies, "Gee, thanks Dale." You can do it, Gary! And he does. [ Link to today's entries ]
yes I said yes I will Yes. Happy Bloomsday! 
[ Link to today's entries ]
The Great Boudin and Tasso Sandwich Hunt of May 2007. Wow ... nice lofty title for stopping for boudin, cracklins and a sandwich on the way to a crawfish boil in Eunice, Louisiana. Sure, why not? It was An Event! Tuesday of the week in between Jazzfest weekends we usually head out to Acadiana for a day or so. There's an annual crawfish boil that day, and we also take the opportunity to hit a few other places along the way too. The first stage of our quest -- boudin, that fabulous sausage of pork, pork liver, rice, onions and spices, "Cajun fast food," and one of the things that makes gas stations and grocery stores some of the best eateries in the area. We have a number of favorite places to get boudin, but this time we were aiming for Don's in Carencro. Why Don's? A reputation for really great boudin, plus ..."They sell t-shirts that say 'Got boudin?'!" Well, okay then! We looked it up and off we went. 
Don's Country Mart looked promising, "specialty meats" being advertised on its sign as well. In we went, picked up some cracklins and some good-lookin' hot boudin to go (which they weighed and wrapped, oddly enough, rather than just wrapping it up in butcher paper and handing it to us. 
I had to be quick. This was the only photo I could get before the contents of that package disappeared in a feeding frenzy. We looked around but didn't see any of the anticipated t-shirts. Mary asked the lady behind the boudin counter. "Oh, we're all out of those right now, I'm sorry," she said. Awww! Disappointed! Well, not entirely, as I had boudin in hand and that means happiness. I wanted a "Got boudin?" t-shirt, though! The lady asked another lady up by the cash register. "Hey, we don't have any of those 'Got boudin?' shirts right now, do we?" "No, I don't think so," she replied, but looked unsure, and she asked a third lady who had just walked up behind her. "Hey, those 'Got boudin?' shirts are out of stock, right?" "Yeah, we haven't had 'em for a while... um. Uh ... no, wait. We've never had those, actually. Those are at the other Don's." The other Don's? Yes indeed. We had gone to Don's Country Mart and Specialty Meats on Bernard. Turns out what we really wanted was Don's Specialty Meats & Grocery, 2 miles away. We got directions and a "Where y'all from?", and off we went again. 
More pickup trucks in the parking lot ... I knew we were in the right place. This place even had more of the look of the simple, no-frills exterior that tells you they didn't waste time on making a fancy building, that all the effort was going into the MEAT. (Well, something like that, we imagined, no matter how untrue.) The other Don's is more of a grocery store that has a meat section; at this one, it's all about the meat. Oh, and a few groceries too. We knew you're in business when you see the sign out front, with a partial listing of the products they offer. 
Ya had to love the logo, too ... 
I love it ... every other pork-serving place has these happy pigs, grinning ear to ear at the prospect of being eaten by the likes of me. This one knows the score. But we love and respect him for it. Thanks for the boudin, Mr. Pig! The other Don's is a paradise for the meat-lover. Boudin, of course, but several other different kinds of sausages; boneless chickens stuffed with rice dressing; cornbread; shrimp or pork dressing; onions, bell peppers and garlic; or boudin. Pork and beef roasts, also available seasoned and stuffed. The list goes on and on, and it made me wish I could bring back a giant freezer full of this stuff back with me. We settled for boudin, though, accompanied by our cracklins from the other other Don's.  
And ... they had t-shirts! We had a fairly large selection, in fact, and the nice lady there, who seemed mildly amused by all the fuss we were making over them. "Where y'all from?" she asked, inevitably. "Los Angeles," said Mary, but she might as well have told her that we come from the Klingon homeworld, "but we have a house in New Orleans." New Orleans, well, that's better. Closer. Like Mars, maybe. 'Round these parts you're a foreigner/alien if your family didn't come down in 1755 after the Acadian exile. Practically. The verdict in the Don's vs. Don's boudin-off? While this was really good, really A+ boudin -- really meaty, really porky, with great flavor and subtle heat, a few of us actually gave the nod to the first Don's as that one was a little spicier. Me, I loved 'em both, and if I had a choice would defintely go back to the second, Don's Specialty Meats, because of all that other wonderful stuff they've got as well. After that, we headed to Opelousas for, I hoped, my redemption. See, exactly one year ago this day we had been driving to the same
even, with a slight change of plans. We had found out that due to the uncertianty over the scheduling
of Jazzfest after the floods, plus the untimely death of her husband, Mrs. Merline Herbert, she of the
heavenly Creole's Stuffed Bread, would not be attending Jazzfest that year for the first time in over
15 years. I was horrified at the prospect of letting another year go by without my having the
opportunity to have at least ONE Creole's Stuffed Bread, so I This meant no other stops, though. I was driving and very single-minded about my destination. As we turned from I-49 into Hwy. 190 heading west toward Eunice, we drove through Opelousas and passed a gas station that had a big sign below its gasoline prices that said, "TASSO SANDWICHES." "Oh!! Look!! Tasso sandwiches!!" Mary cried. I was hell-bent (and some would say temporarily insane), so I kept going. "Chuck," she said, in a tone of voice best reserved for someone who is being given one last chance before his overthrow and eventual exile or execution, "you're not stopping." "We don't have time. We have to go to the Lunch House and be at Marc's by 3." And so, no tasso sandwiches. I did not hear the end of this for the next solid year. This time, I wasn't driving, we had already had at least three Creole's Stuffed Breads in our bellies by then, and by God we were going for tasso sandwiches. Fortunately, the Mobil station was cooperative, and right where we remembeed it. 
Inside it was a typical looking little gas station mini-mart, with the addition of handwritten signs giving us several choices: tasso or smoked sausage, sandwich (on Evangeline Maid white bread) or "po-boy" (on a jumbo-sized squooshy white hot dog bun ... um. Oh well, this is Acadiana after all, and that kinda fits, given the Velveeta-enrobed, crushed Ritz cracker-encrusted covered dishes the Cajun ladies bring to events), barbecue sauce (Jack Miller's, of course) or no. This was going to set us back a pretty penny, too -- the sandwiches were $2.25, and the "po-boys" a whopping $2.65. I decided to be extravagant and got the "po-boy," with tasso and barbecue sauce. 
I honestly can't remember the last time I've eaten this well for two dollars and sixty-five cents. The tasso was tender, smoky, long-cooked, and smothered in that tangy, mustardy, oniony goodness that is our favorite barbecue sauce. This was worth the year's wait. The sausage sandwiches were excellent too. And the gas was cheap (compared to what we're used to). We had Zapp's new Creole Tomato and Tabasco flavored potato chips as our side dish, and (comically) I drank a Coke Zero with it. All was right with the world, and I was finally vindicated. Well, momentarily, at least. "Wasn't that great?" Mary said. "I still can't believe you passed this up last year!" And so it went. Well, why not? When you deserve a good ribbing, you deserve it! [ Link to today's entries ]
Bombshell. Very, very bad news. Matt McBride is a New Orleanian, a mechanical engineer and has since the floods been a watchdog over the Army Corps of Engineers. Today he's made a big post on his weblog, Fix the Pumps, and it's not good.
Matt was also featured in an article in the Gambit that began thusly:
Write AND call your Senators and Representatives ... well, first thing Monday, as they'll be gone 'til then. Demand accountability. Demand an investigation. Demand IMMEDIATE action on giving New Orleans the flood protection it desperateliy needs right now. Insist that if the Corps can't or won't do their job, that outside engineers from the Netherlands be brought in to do it properly. And pray that there are no more hurricanes, even Category 1 ones, for a few more years at the very least. I only come here for the gabbagool ... Actually, we came to "The Sopranos" for the best show on TV, probably ever. And it's all over the day after tomorrow. Will Tony sleep with the fishes? Will Carmela finally find out about Adriana? The last few episodes have been so mindbogglingly good (we sitting on the sofa with muscles tensed, breathing shallow and hearts pounding last week) that I can hardly imagine what David Chase has in store for us Sunday night, and I kinda don't want to think about it or predict until then. If you need a little catching up (although it doesn't include the current half-season), a guy named Paul Gulyas edited together a recap of the first 6-1/2 seasons of the show that's both informative and hilarious (reportedly Chase and the entir cast have been watching it religiously ever since it went up on YouTube a couple of months ago) called "Seven Minute Sopranos" ... On Sunday I'm going to make a good ol' Italian Sunday Gravy, with pork spareribs, chunks of veal stew meat, sweet and hot Italian sausages with fennel and handmade meatballs, and I'm gonna cook that red gravy for about four or five hours. We'll start off with Negronis, then I'll slice up the rest of the Armandino Batali salumi that Gregg and Mike brought us from Seattle, then we'll have spaghetti with Sunday gravy and the meat on the side (although southern Italians would serve the meat later as a second course), finish up with some cannoli from the Eagle Rock Italian Bakery and Deli and maybe some grappa or anisette. Then we're gonna watch and see what happens. Cent'anni! [ Link to today's entries ]
The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess. I'm a bit overdue posting it, but here's Episode 2 of Robert "DrinkBoy" Hess' series of videos about the world of cocktails. In this clip he advises you on how to put together a well-stocked bar, and teaches you how to make one of my favorite drinks, The Last Word. Robert also has new short essay up called Cocktails: The Liquid Cuisine, illustrating why he feels that "the cocktail is a long-overlooked component in most restaurants culinary landscape." Drinky desserts. (Via MeFi, some recipes (a few of them really scrumptious-looking) for cocktails in dessert form.
I think I may need to try some of these soon, especially that G&T Opera Cake! What the World Eats. Here's a really fascinating photo essay from TIME magazine, with images taken around the world of families and the food they consume in one week, with total expenditures as well as well as their favorite meals. Some of them are a bit disturbing, in different ways -- the very little that gets a family at a refugee camp in Chad through the week, and the appalling amounts of processed foods seen on the tables of Americans, Britons and Germans. I'd like to think a picture like this at our house wouldn't be too shocking. We get a bi-weekly delivery of fresh vegetables and fruit from Organic Express, and we eat very few processed foods -- prepared fresh dishes like meatloaf or stuffed peppers from Trader Joe's is about as close as we get, for the sake of convenience on nights when it takes me 90 minutes to get home from work and I don't feel much like cooking afterward. What do you eat in a week? Gypsy Caravan on the Long and Bending Road. I've been meaning to link to my friend Steve's new series of columns on spinner.com, and finally I remembered. This week he talks about a terrific documentary coming soon about an amazing tour of Gypsy musicians, with explorations of their lives and culture. Oh, and here's a shout out to Steve's dad, who stormed Utah Beach in Normandy 63 years ago today. (Wow.) [ Link to today's entries ]
Bud's Broiler. Best burgers in the city of New Orleans, some say. (I wouldn't argue, although Port Of Call and the Camellia Grill do great burgers too.) I hadn't been since the flood, and I'd been seriously jonesing for one. Wes had never even tried them! (My fault, sorry.) So, given the fact that we were likely in for a big dinner later that Monday night after the first weekend of Jazzfest, it was off for burgers we went. A few locations have yet to reopen after the flood, including the really cool one on City Park Ave., but we went to the nearest one, Uptown on Calhoun Street on the lakeside of Claiborne. I had my longtime usual, the same combo I've been getting since I was a kid. The #4 -- Charcoal Broiled Hamburger with Grated Cheddar Cheese and Hickory Smoked Sauce. Fries. But alas, no fried pie! I remember when my dad would pick me up from music lessons in Gentilly, and we'd have lunch at the now-gone Bud's location on Pelopidas Street, by the cemetery and across from Brother Martin -- I'd always finish my meal with a pie, peach being my favorite The fried pies, piping hot right out of the fryer and dusted with powdered sugar, were out of this world. Sadly, it seems that they're off the menu until further notice. The pies were all made at a central kitchen and fried on the spot at the branch locations -- that kitchen was at the Bud's on Banks Street, which ended up under 8 feet of water and hasn't yet been rebuilt. Soon, we hope! And now, a thing of beauty. 
That kicks the crap outta anything you'd get in a Burger King, bra. Restaurant August. It's taken us years to get to this place. Chef John Besh, formerly of Artesia on the Northshore, opened his flagship, Restaurant August (I believe) in 2000, and try though we may it took us this long to get there. Several years back we had a reservation, and I was excited to try it, but the reservation was on the Monday after the second weekend of Jazzfest, and Wes objected. "I can't eat any more," he said. "I'll burst." I had to agree. We were in kind of a food coma by then. We also have a good friend who knows restaurants well, who was never particularly impressed with August and found them overpriced. We were baffled, because we trust her food judgment but also heard lots of people raving about it (but then again, you never know people). In the meantime Chef Besh has done incredibly well, winning James Beard Awards, acquiring La Provençe and opening a steak house. Also, he's become a local hero -- as soon as he could after Katrina and the flood, he was out on the street cooking for people, folks who stayed behind, people who came to help, whoever. (I also made one of his dishes for a dinner party, attended by a food writer who declared, "THIS is the BEST maquechoux I have EVER had!" So Besh is tops in my book.) Finally, we had a reservation this year, relatively early in the trip, and weren't letting it go for anything. The restaurant was hopping for a Monday night, perhaps unsurprisingly as lots of places are closed on Mondays, plus Jazzfest was happening and we even had a few conventions in town. We were told we might have to wait a bit, to which we responded, "Great! More time to drink our Sazeracs!" (Front of the house folks, don't you love customers like us?) I nudged my way up to the bar, which was rather crowded, and got up to the first layer of people, right behind an older lady who was dining at the bar. I strained to see past her, trying to get a glimpse of what I thought was a drink menu on the other side of her. "What can I get for you, dear?" she asked in mellifluous Garden District tones. "I've been here for hours, and I can make anything happen." Well, thank you ma'am, I'd love to see that drink menu behind you. "I think that's a dessert menu, actually," she said, and beckoned to the bartender. "Miss! Could you please get this gorgeous man here a drink menu?" Aww, shucks ... I'll bet she says that to all the guys. No drink menu was to be had, but at that moment I spied a beautiful and rare beast behind the bar -- a bottle of Sazerac Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, 18 Years Old. Oh my. I don't see that in a bar very often. Ever, really. I don't even see it much in liquor stores any more. Supplies of that are getting scarcer and scarcer, and only a little bit is released for a brief period late in the year. Bottle prices have gone from $34.95 when was first released to north of $100 now, if you can find it. Feeling extravagant, I asked for two Sazeracs to be made with that whiskey, please. I'm on vacation, we'd saved up, I wanted something nice for us to drink, and quietly prepared myself for when she'd set the bill down and say something like, "That'll be $48.50, sir." Surely a serving from that bottle would end up costing us a pretty penny (or a pile of them). She returned with the drinks and the bill in an elegant leather folder. "That'll be $17.25, sir." I'm still not sure whether it was a mistake or a really great deal or if that's what it costs for a Sazerac made with 18-year Sazerac Rye at that bar, but I didn't ask any questions. I left her a Gargantuan tip, bade farewell to my admirer at the bar (who had turned her attention to another gentleman by then) and took the drinks to our table. They were exquisite. Back near the lobby we ran into Joshua Pailet from A Gallery for Fine Photography, one of the finest photography galleries in the country and from whom we'd bought a few things over the years. He's a great guy, and a great New Orleanian, and it's always good to see him. That night he was hosting a good-sized party that was to include one of New Orleans' (and America's and the world's) great photographers, Herman Leonard, whom we had finally met when appeared at a book signing at the gallery a few days earlier. Normally I wouldn't bring up meeting someone famous at a restaurant, but this will become relevant later. We were seated in the midsection of the restaurant, the Wine Room, behind the large main dining room which had a bright, Galatoire's-like atmosphere. This room was quieter, wood-paneled, and lined above our heads with wine storage. Much more intimate. I was glad we managed to score a table here. Menus came out, were opened, and ... oh dear. It had been a long time sine I'd been presented with such a difficult choice. Everything on the menu that night looked fantastic. We thought maybe a tasting menu might satisfy, and it indeed looked great. Five courses, described in detail, and the price was only $70. $25 extra for the wines. (!) This was an extraordinary deal, and we recalled that Diana had told us that August dropped prices somewhat after the storm. (No kidding.) Although those courses were tempting, there were other things from the regular menu we wanted to try but which weren't on the tasting ... sigh. Then below that was a small box offering Chef Besh's nightly degustation, ask your server for details. Wines included, dinner's duration will be three hours at a minimum, everyone at the table must participate, $150. Hmm. That's a lot, but when you think about it ... nine courses WITH wine, for about $80 less than a meal with fewer courses, a lot more attitude and a funereal atmosphere cost at Charlie Trotter's, and I bet the food would be way, way, way better given what we'd already seen on the menu. What to do, what to do ... Our waiter returned. "Gentlemen, what shall it be?" We described our dilemma, and Wesly inquired about the nine course tasting. Can you tell us anything about it, what's on the tasting tonight? The waiter looked a bit pained and said, "No, actually, I can't." Hmm? "There's no telling, really. Not only is it different every night, but Chef does a different one for every table." Oh my. "You just tell me what you don't want, what you won't or can't eat, and Chef takes it from there." We started getting that ... hungry look in our eyes. He replied with, "Well, how hungry are you? It's a lot of food." This also told me that one of the courses wouldn't be a tablespoon of sorbet, like Charlie had so generously provided. Well, we were fairly hungry, actually. "When's the last time y'all had something to eat?" A charbroiled burger with hickory smoke sauce, Cheddar cheese and fries, about eight and a half hours ago, I told him. He smiled broadly and warmly, and with a mischivous twinkle in his eye closed our menus and took them away. Oh! Um ... so we're doing it?! Yep, we're doing it, we knew we wanted to do it, he knew we wanted to do it, and that's why he's a really good waiter. And off to the races we went. Now, here's the thing. We were seated right next to the Herman Leonard party. I could have reached over and tapped Herman on the shoulder during dinner. And it struck me that I was far, far too self-conscious to be sitting three feet away from one of my heroes, one of the world's gerat photographers, popping off the flash for each of these nine courses. I had felt a bit self-conscious doing that in restaurants before, but tried to be as discreet as possible and didn't let it bother me too much (and hoped it didn't bother anyone else). But there was no way, no way I was going to do this while sitting behind Herman Leonard. So ... for the majority of this meal, you'll have to make do with my pornographic prose, as I didn't take any pictures until after Mr. Leonard and party had left. As it turned out, it was really 10 courses, if you include the amuse bouche that was brought out -- Seafood Sabayon, as it was described. An egg, served in an egg cup (coquetier!), with the end lopped off, filled with a savory sabayon touched with a little reduced seafood stock and a little truffle, topped with Louisiana caviar. Gone in three bites, and absolutely yummy. 1. Gravlax of hake, tuna, salmon and shrimp, with fresh fava beans, fresh dill and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Long rectangular plate with eight thin squares of gravlax, each one of which very different. The shrimp one was fascinating, and looked as if it was half gravlax, half terrine, and filled with herbs. With this came our first wine, a lovely Cristalino Brut Rosé from Spain, crisp and light and fruity with berries and cherries. I enjoyed all the gravlaxes (gravlaces?), and size-wise, this course was nothing to worry about. Eight more to go, no problem. 2. Vichyssoise with lobster tail. Classic, cold potato-leek soup, this time with a half a large lobster tail perched in the center, with a little drizzle of truffle oil. Creamy, lovely flavor, and a great lift from the sweet, tender lobster meat (hmm, wonder if he butter-poaches it). I enjoyed this down to the last drop, and the last scrap of lobster meat. We drank a Domaine Talmard Chardonnay from Burgundy along with, and by the way, the pours were very generous all along. So far so good, very enjoyable, but nothing extraordinary yet. Chef Besh was about to turn the amps up to 11. Wes was thinking that a salad might not be a bad thing at this point, and he wasn't wrong. But he wasn't exactly right either. Oh, it was a "salad," all right. A spring vegetable salad, at that. But actually, it was ... 3. Fried soft-shell buster crab atop spring vegetable salad, tossed with bacon vinaigrette. You've gotta love New Orleans, a city where a salad is topped with an entire fried soft-shell crab. Relatively small, but whole. The salad consisted of heirloom baby red and golden beets, green and white asparagus, green and yellow squash and snow peas. The vinagrette was made with Allan Benton's cherrywood-smoked country bacon, one of the best anywhere. The crab was perfect. The dish was outstanding. And I began to get a bit worried. This was substantial. This was a lot of food. (Well, he told ya!) In fact, back in the days of the late, lamented Cinnabar a dish this size would be my entire dinner at that restaurant (after splitting an appetizer of their legendary No-Ri Rolls). This was dish number three, and we had six more to go. I finished my wine and steeled myself. Oh, speaking of wine ... I think I may have gotten the wine wrong for this dish -- what I scribbled down looks like Faisey Chardonnay from Sonoma, but nothing came up for that in Google ... oh well. 4. Seared scallop with cauliflower purée and veal cheek sauce, with sliced asparagus and morel mushrooms. This was a fascinating pairing, seafood with a veal sauce. Actually it's a bit of a reversal of local dishes I'd gotten that were veal topped with crabmeat, but this time the seafood was the star. Beautifully seared, slightly crisp on the outside yet still slightly underdone inside -- my favorite way to eat scallops. This was seemed about half the size of my fist too, sitting in a creamy purée, and veal cheeks, veal cheeks! I love love love them, and the dish really worked. Then the wine was set down, and it was a red, matched to the sauce, not the main ingredient -- Acacia "A" 2005 Pinot Noir. This led right to ... 5. Veal ravioli with pan-fried sweetbreads, tête-de-veau (calf's head) sauce, fava beans, white truffle foam and topped with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano. Oh my. Did I mention how much I love veal? Not just the cheeks, either. Two large ravioli, a generous amount of sweetbreads (did I mention how much I love sweetbreads?), an incredibly rich sauce, as tête-de-veau is pretty fatty, the nutty cheese being an ideal accompaniment, and ... foam. Wes rolled his eyes a bit, because these days many chefs go really overboard with taking ingredients and turning them into foam. ("Here's our 21-course foam tasting menu!") Shades of Poppy Z. Brite's Chef Jaap? Not at all. Foam didn't make itself known until our fifth course, and it was more as a garnish with a little flavor accent than anything else. Actually, a fair bit of a flavor accent, as a little truffle goes a long way. This was an extraordinary dish, as were the two before it. Another Pinot Noir came along with this one, a bit more full-flavored -- 2005 Morgan "Twelve Clones" from the Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey, spicy and full-bodied with dark berry flavors. I began to get a little worried ... I wasn't full yet, quite, but we had four more courses to go. 6. Sugar and spice duckling over grilled peaches with foie gras "butter." Here's where we almost lost Wesly due to fainting. This was his most coveted dish on the menu, the one he would have ordered had we ordered off the menu instead of getting the tasting. And yet it was different from the menu version, which was still sugar and spice duckling but was prepared and served with different accompaniments. The combination of the sweet, aromatic, medium-rare duck breast slices with those grilled peaches was pure joy ... and then they put soft, barely cooked foie gras on top. We stayed with the Pinot Noir grape but moved to France -- 2004 Domaine Bernard Morey Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge "Vieille Vignes", which was nuanced and fruity and lovely with the duck and the peach. Right around this time we noticed camera flashes going off, and at the next table the Leonard party had finished their dinner, and some of the folks there were taking snapshots of each other around the table. Well shit, I thought. Maybe I could have gotten away with it. Wes was quick to point out that they were all finished with their dinner, though, and would be leaving soon, so maybe not. Fortunately he understood, and agreed that I wasn't just being a paranoid worrywart all along, but I finally got the huevos to take my camera out of its case, just in time. Chef had weakened me, and it was time for him to deliver the knockout punch. 
7. Olive Oil-Poached Beef Tenderloin, with oxtail sauce and tomato foam. The beef tenderloin was seasoned and quickly seared, then cooked sous-vide, in 140°F olive oil, for eight hours ... and yet never cooks past medium-rare. It was incredibly tender, incredibly flavorful and if you look at the large photo at the link you'll see that none of the fat has rendered out, it's all intact, and the meat is rosy red even at that long cooking time (the sous-vide technique is amazing). Out came a big powerhouse wine to help carry this along -- a 2005 Robert Foley Charbono, which has a touch of Cabernet and Merlot in the blend. My head was spinning. The deeply rich sauce, the hint of tomato sweetness from the foam, and that meat, that meat ... it was quite possibly the most amazing piece of beef I have ever eaten. Absolutely mind-blowing. And I couldn't finish it. Defeat! Capitulation! Well, not quite ... I cleaned my plate except for one bite of meat, which Wes was kind enough to dispatch for me; there was no way I was going to waste any of this. But I knew I had two more courses to go, and I knew that if I wanted to even have just a bite of them I'd have to stop. Better to stop early on dish #7 than to be completely unable to eat dish #9. I know I had made fun of Charlie Trotter for serving a tablespoon of sorbet as an entire course (and making it sound on the menu as if it were something far more substantial), but actually at this point I was kind of praying for a sorbet. Or maybe a light cheese course, a few slices of intensely flavored cheeses in which a little cheese would go a long way. Well, be careful what you wish for. No sorbet, and yes indeed, it was cheese. But it was a ... 
8. Fleur-de-Têche Grilled Cheese Sandwich on Brioche, with pine nut honey and a shot of Riesling grape juice. Grilled. Cheese. SANDWICH! He is undoubtedly trying to kill me. With kindness, obviously ... he read our minds and knows we just had three grilled cheese sandwich parties in the last couple of months. Fleur-de-Têche (Flower of Bayou Têche) is made by Chef John Folse's Bittersweet Dairy in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and is a great local artisanal cheese, triple cream with a layer of ash at the center, buttery, creamy and RICH. Rich. Très riche. So rich you're basically kicking a man while he's down, here. This was fantastic, and that sticky local wildflower honey, full of toasted pine nuts, made it even more so. The genius touch was the tall shotglass of fresh grape juice from Riesling wine grapes, with the acidity and sweetness cutting right through the incredible richness of everything on the other side of the plate. Monstrously good. Here's a shot of the whole presentation. 
Sadly, I couldn't finish this either. I shouldn't have had that goddamn hamburger, I should have fasted all day. (Actually, no ... scratch that.) Maybe it's because my habit of eating smaller portions over the last few years has lowered my capacity, which is probably just as well. I did manage to dispatch half of it, though, along with the Riesling grape juice and the lovely glass of Mer et Soleil Late Harvest Viognier, Central Coast 2002, which echoed the flavors in the honey and brought in apricots and pineapples. Which led right to the next dish, but before that, our waiter came back and asked, "Hey, do y'all like tequila?" Why yes ... yes, in fact we do like tequila very much indeed, why do you ask? "Well, normally you'd get another dessert wine with this course, but with this particular dish that Chef's about to send out, I personally think it really goes better with a chilled shot of Patrón silver tequila, which I'd be happy to offer you instead of the wine. No extra charge." Well, duh. Who're ya talkin' to here? 
9. Pineapple Upside-Down Cake with mascarpone ice cream. Simple, classic, almost something like mom would make (but from scratch, and with fresh pineapple. The mascarpone ice cream gave it a little extra elegance, and although comforting raised it slightly out of the comfort food zone and lent a little luxury. This I finished. No petits-fours, no bonbons, nothing else afterwards but coffee, thank GAWD. I didn't want a Mr. Creosote incident. What I did want was just a little extra room inside my body to allow my diaphragm to expand and take in somewhat larger lungfuls of air than what I was getting at that moment, given how full my stomach was. I was happy, though ... very, very happy, having just had one of my most memorable meals in many years. After that, Wes said it all. "I feel big." May Looka! entries have been permanently archived. [ Link to today's entries ]
|
| Several of my friends and loved ones (and a few kind strangers) contribute regularly to this weblog, providing links, comments and sometimes lots more. Thanks to Wesly Moore, Mike Luquet, Mary Herczog, Steve Hochman, Dave Schmerler, Nettie DeAugustine, Diana Schwam, Andy Senasac, Michael Yasui, Steve Gardner, Michael Pemberton, Steve Kelley, Barry Kelley, Eric Labow, Tom Krueger, Greg Beron, Sean Burke, Shari Minton and Barry Enderwick. |
chuq's links | the gumbo pages
creole and cajun recipe page | search this site
chuck taggart | email chef (at) gumbopages (dot) com
|
This site ©1994-2007 by Chuck Taggart. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. |
|
This means that you may not copy my writing onto other web
pages or anywhere else without my specific written permission. (Quotes of
short passages, properly attributed, may be considered fair use.)
If you do copy my work and pass it off as your own, it's called "stealing"
and "plagiarism". People who steal my stuff will be étoufféed and served to Dr. Lecter, with a nice Chianti. (I'm serious. Just don't do it. Thanks.) |
