 
 "Eating, drinking and carrying on..." -- Adelaide Brennan
Today is Second Thanksgiving. It is gustatory pleasure tantamount to self-abuse. That's what I put myself through during the latter half of November every year. Not only is there my birthday dinner (not that I'm complaining, mind you; it's one of the highlights of my year), but there tends to be up to four Thanksgiving dinners -- one at work (a "progressive" meal, with each department taking a different set of dishes, and everybody takes a plate and moves around from department to department, filling their plate twice over, usually, and in which we learn that some of our cow-orkers are wonderful cooks, and some of them ... aren't), one at Wes' church (where there are so many requests for me to bring Pork 'n Pork 'n Pork 'n Beans that next year I'm going to have to make at least a quadruple recipe), Thanksgiving Day either at home or elsewhere, and then the Fat Pack tradition of Second Thanksgiving, in which we make our most indulgent dishes and enjoy a Thanksgiving celebration among close, food-freaky friends. I have no idea what to expect, except that there will be a LOT of bacon and that some things will be deep-fried, and there will be excessive desserts. (If I don't post on Monday, feel free to worry that one of these dishes has killed me.) Wesly has requested, likely futilely, hoping against hope, that someone bring a Turbaconducken: 
Yes, it's a Turducken, wrapped in bacon. UPDATE: There was a huge ham, glazed with brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg that was fabulous. I did okra and tomatoes with smoked sausage and ham, Steve did great roasted root vegetables, Nettie did fresh creamed corn, there were savory sweet potato pancakes topped with sautéed mushrooms, and a few other things I lost track of. Rick brought a ton of insanely over-the-top cupcakes from Yummy in Burbank, and I made a bunch of cocktails. We'll talk about those tomorrow. Mighty good Second Thanksgiving! [ Link to today's entries ]
Here Come The Cocktail Chicks! Our friends Ti Martin and Lally Brennan (cousins, proprietors of Commander's Palace and Café Adelaide in New Orleans, and collectively known as "The Cocktail Chicks") have been working like busy bees on their new website, and got it online just a few weeks ago (right before my li'l blogging hiatus, in fact). It's called In the Land of Cocktails, and already it's a doozy. There will be regular video features, and there are three up already -- two featuring King of Cocktails Dale DeGroff, plus one absolutely delightful one featuring Ti's mom, Brennan restaurant family matriarch Miss Ella Brennan and her sister, Miss Dottie Brennan. Y'all might wanna watch that one first. There'll be regular blog entries, cocktail recipes and more, so subscrbe to the RSS feed and keep up with 'em. Oh, and I must forewarn you ... Ti and her camera krewe caught me unawares at The Swizzle Stick a few months back, drink in hand, and there's a danger I might show up in one of those videos. Y'all might wanna avoid that one. The Imbibers' 100. A while back there was a list that was bandied about from blog to blog (originating from some guy in the New York Times, as I recall) about a list of 100 foods that everyone should try at least once in their lifetimes -- not necessarily a "best-of" list, but interesting things to try. My friend Darcy O'Neil, proprietor of the most excellent drink blog The Art of Drink came up with a similar list, but for drinkers. There are items both alcoholic and teetotaling here, and Darcy also emphasizes that "it's just a list of things you should try, not a 'best of the world' list." Participation is invited thusly: 1) Copy this list into your blog, with these instructions. 2) Bold all the drinks you've imbibed. 3) Cross out any items that you won't touch. 4) Post a comment here (and preferably at the original post) and link to your results. I scored a somewhat respectable 88 out of 100 (and I could very easily get that up to 92 -- I have molasses in my cupboard and milk in the fridge, I can buy barleywine and the Westvleteren ale when I go on my regular post-payday booze run next week, and next Wednesday I have a sushi lunch scheduled with some cow-orkers, one of whom is a self-taught sake authority). How 'bout you? 1. Manhattan Cocktail I'd drink the fermented horse milk before I'd ever touch Red Bull again -- God, that stuff is awful -- and although I'm not too keen on the idea of coffee made from beans which have have been pooped out of a weasel, Wes chimes in that he'd be up for it. Best. Spirits Review. Ever. While I'm not normally inclined to hyperbole (okay, I can hear certain friends of mine laughing right now), I can at least say that I highly recommend this review, written by Bobby Heugel of Drink Dogma and co-proprietor of what's about to be the best cocktail bar in Houston (that's Anvil, at 1424 Westheimer, opening soon). The review is for Jim Beam's new "premium" "boutique" rye whiskey called ... well, if I said "unpronounceable symbol" you might mistake it for Prince's former name, but it's actually spelled (rī)¹ and is supposedly pronounced "Rye One." I'll pass on the ridiculousness of that (and the fact that that, plus the fancy bottle, are solely responsible for the liquor's ~$50 retail price and let Bobby take it from here, after describing his feelings for all of the different liquors we've come to know and love::
I am skeptical of this product, to say the least. As Bobby rightly points out, given the fact that one of the best ryes you can buy retails in my neighborhood for about $17 these days, the only way I'm going to try a dumbed-down "boutique" product is if they send me one for free, which isn't likely to happen soon. If any of you have tried "(rī)¹" I'd be curious to hear your assessment. When I look at the bottles of Rittenhouse Bonded (and the five spare bottles in waiting), Sazerac 6 Year, Pikesville, Pappy Van Winkle, Michter's and every other rye in my bar, I don't see much rhyme or reason for (rī)¹. [ Link to today's entries ]
Cocktail of the day. Our friend Gregg directed us recently to The Spirit World, which we were familiar with but which was new to him. I was appreciative for the tip, though, because I hadn't read it in a while and the nudge was helpful. I've now added the RSS feed to my reader, so I won't forget again. Wesly was digging through the more recent posts, and noted a recent series called "Winter Wonders," a collection of wintry cocktails for the '08 season. He thought this one seemed the most appealing, which was our evening cocktail the night before Gluttony Day.
I am all over the Manhattan variations. Meal-in-a-cocktail of the day. We've talked a fair bit about the fat-washing technique, and how that gives us, among other things, bacon-infused Bourbon, which we've been enjoying quite a bit lately. (The other night I did Old Fashioneds with a dash each of Peychaud's and orange bitters, then sweetened them with 1/4 ounce of a Chinese five-spice infused syrup, recipe for which is in the current issue of Imbibe. Next time I do this I'm going to try it with the bacon Bourbon.) In Gary Regan's most recent column in the Chronicle, fat-washing is taken a step further, starting with a ham hock and a bottle of corenwijn (I suppose we'd have to substitute the new Bols Genever over here) and ending with something called a Ham, Cheese and Tomato Toasted Sandwich Martini (loath as I am to condone the misuse of the word "Martini," this does at least contain a form of gin). I ... kinda can't wait to try it. I'm a bit risk-averse on this one, though, so I think I'll start with half a bottle of genever and half a ham hock. I could also take the ham hock-infused genever and add some pot liquor from my collard, turnip and mustard greens ... am I crazy? Open Sound New Orleans: A Sound Map of The City. This is one of the coolest sites I've seen in a good while. Using the Google API, it's a map of New Orleans marked with myriad locations, giving us an audio tour of the city. Music, nature sounds, people and more -- when you click on one of the place marks, up comes a window with an audio clip. Don't miss Meyer the Hatter, the various street music, and a yet another wtf-is-he-on-about story from our idiotic mayor. The Abominable Charles Christopher. I have a new favorite web comic. 
Thanks (a million!) to Boo Radley at MeFi, who via a post there turned me on to The Abominable Charles Christopher, described by its author Karl Kerschl as "the adventures of a dim-witted yeti through a forest full of colourful animal characters." That only barely begins to describe the delight and sheer ... wonderfulness of this comic, published every Wednesday. Go to the archives and start at the first strip, and work your way forward. It won't take you all that long, and you'll be captivated, I promise. [ Link to today's entries ]
Oh. My. Gawd. Yeah, I took a little break. Combination of my being lazy bastard, a bit of periodic blogging burnout, and election decompression. I think all's well now. What better way to jump-start da ol' blawg after a couple weeks' hiatus than with some truly spectacular food porn? This comes ot us courtesy of Mary, who sent the following picture, which was taken by Pat Peeve: 
This, my friends, is foie gras beignets from Commander's Palace. To be completely specific, here's the exact menu description:
Mary adds, "Those are SLABS of foie gras on those beignets, which are savory. And the 'coffee' is made of pureed foie gras, with a richness and thickness like a fancy cocoa." I've been wanting this BADLY since the first time I heard it had been added to the menu. As far as I know they've still got it. I'll be home in a month. Just sayin'. Here's Mary's description of it from an email earlier this year, which I only kinda skimmed because I was so insanely jealous that she'd had these and I hadn't that I kinda didn't even want to know how good it was.
I'll be checking before I go home (I'm almost afraid to), but if this is no longer on the menu by then, I think I shall die. To me this sounds like a dish that they can never take off their menu, like bread pudding soufflé. Cocktail of the day.
Also from Commander's, and taken from Ti Martin and Lally Brennan's (a.k.a., The Cocktail Chicks') book,
In the Land of Cocktails: Recipes and Adventures from the Cocktail Chicks
When it's my time, I think I want to go to Miss Ella's heaven. The Foundry on Melrose. Yay, more food porn! Two weeks ago tomorrow was my birthday, and as is our tradition Wes took me out to a fabulous restaurant, the location of which is a mystery until we pull up in front of the place. I had been wanting to get to The Foundry for quite a while, so it was (as usual) a very pleasant surprise. 
We were first, of course, drawn to the list of house specialty cocktails. On first view it didn't seem to have too much to excite us. There was an absinthe-based cocktail (yay!), but they specify Le Tourment Vert Absinthe, which is more like a minty green mouthwash than actual absinthe (boo), and a Margarita variation with fresh raspberries that had one of the best cocktail names we'd come across in a good while .. the Mexican Radio. The one that finally caught our eye was The Billy Parks Cocktail -- Hendrick's Gin, fresh cucumber, Lillet and chile. (If you view the image in large format you can see the tiny flecks of chile on the surface of the drink.) It was very good. It had been highly recommended that on our first visit we try the chef's tasting menu, as chef Eric Greenspan has quite a reputation for exciting food (apparently a monthlong stint learning in Ferran Adrià's kitchen at El Bulli in Spain had an unsurprisingly profound impact on him). Trouble was, there were a lot of really good-looking dishes on the regular menu that I wanted to try, but ... I suppose we can always come back. Five courses for $80, and to our astonishment only $30 more for the wine pairings, which were all very generous. Six bucks a glass for some of these wines? That's a bargain. Hmm. It's actually six courses, if you count this fairly generous amuse bouche: 
Caramelized bay scallop with Jerusalem artichokes and artichoke foam. This wasn't just foam for foam's sake either; it was very light (natch) and had a wonderful flavor. Off to a good start. I have to admit I was skeptical at first, looking at dish no. 1 and thinking, "Christ, tuna fucking tartare? Has this not been done to death?" This was perhaps the main reason I was reluctant to get the tasting menu, even though most of the other dishes looked great (and I also confess to thinking that I wasn't terribly excited by beef tenderloin either). We talked about it and batted it back and forth, and yeah, this guy's supposed to be really good but man, was I sick of tuna tartare in restaurants. Even though it was my birthday and Wes was of course more than willing to defer to my wishes, I could see that he wanted to try the tasting menu. It's also a really good way to try out a new place, so we went for it. Tasting menu it was. Was it a good decision? 
Ohhh, yes. 1st Course: Albacore Tartare. "Tuna tartare? Has this not been done to death?" No. No one's done it like this. The beautifully seasoned albacore was nearly puréed, and sat atop a purple sweet potato purée with yet more layers of flavor and texture, then soy braised caramelized onions, sliced jalapeños, shiso leaf, orange and topped with fried lotus root chips. Okay, it might look a little weird (one commenter on Flickr likened the appearance to a dish sponge), but most of the ingredients are a bit unusual. I can't help it if the commenter has Peruvian purple potato-colored dish sponges. The symphony of flavor and texture was amazing. I quickly learned that this chef doesn't serve tired, done-to-death dishes. This was wild. The wine was 2005 Pablo Padin "Segrel" Albariño from Spain. 
2nd course: Roasted Cod. (Not Emerson.) The fish was lovely, served top tangerines, dates, kalamata olives with piquillo peppers and seared potato gnocchi. The wine was 2005 Kunde "Reserve" Chardonnay from Sonoma Valley. 
At this point we had decided on a mid-course interruption. There was a special listed on the menu which we could not resist. Duck liver terrine, covered with a layer of duck stock gelée and topped with a variety of chewy crunchy grains and stuff (which I can't for the life of me remember), accompanied by some frise, fleur de sel and some toasty bread. Mad! Super good! Oh, and the wine was a 2007 Bonny Doon, "Le Vol des Anges", which was gorgeous. Now, where were we? Oh yes, third (fifth?) course coming. 
3rd Course: Lacquered Quail with autumn squash topped with a sunnyside up quail egg. The quail in a pomegranate-stock reduction sauce with Parmigiano, with yam purée underneath. Afterwards, nothing left but a li'l pile o' bones. Wine: 2006 Moobazz Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast 
4th Course: Beef Tenderloin with eggplant purée, potato, mushrooms and harissa. This was the other one I was skeptical about. I do love beef in great restaurants (see that arm-sized shortrib I had at Spago last year), but I just didnt' think I was in the mood for beef. Hoo-boy. I was wrong. This was perfect beef, deeply rich, and with a lovely balance of flavors -- the earthy mushrooms, the rich, complex eggplant and the spicy harissa ... okay, okay, I was wrong! Wine was 2005 C&T "Rooftop Red" Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. 
Dessert: Filo & Apple Basket. There are those who say that dessert is not dessert unless it employs chocolate in some form. I am ... sometimes one of those people, but I do enjoy a good fruit dessert. Tongiht was one of those times. Apples and currants with pistachios and a caramel sauce, accompanied by honey ice cream, this was perfectly seasonal and appropriate and yummy and just the way to finish this grand meal. The wine was a 2006 Uroulat Juraçnon. That was one hell of a birthday dinner. I'm very much looking forward to getting back to this restaurant! [ Link to today's entries ]
Nobody likes a math geek, Scully. I am a prime number today! Cocktail of the day. This is one of the house cocktails at The Doheny in Los Angeles, but might drop off, as they're debuting an all-new cocktail menu this week. It's worth remembering, particularly to those who are skeptical about cocktails based on a big, smoky Scotch.
Jeff the Tweedy. Wilco's lead singer is interviewed on "The Colbert Report," then Wilco perform a new song entitled, "Wilco the Song" (kinda like Joe the Plumber, only not like that at all). Speaking of whom ... Those are three words I never want to hear again, ever, when spoken in that order:
Fortunately, our plumber's name is Keith. If it were Joe, he'd have to change his name or we couldn't hire him anymore. At the very least, he'd just have to let us call him "Keith" (which we already do, 'cause it's his name, so we don't have to worry about that). You can still say "plumber," and obviously "the," plus I have friends and relatives named "Joe." That's all okay. But no ... that guy, the ... pipe ... fixer. Ever. So say we all. Well, all of us who decided to behave as humans. Keith Olbermann, in a moving special comment on Proposition 8.
All you need is love. Love is all you need. [ Link to today's entries ]
Celebrating through music. Thanks to my friend Barry for sending these! Change is what I beleive in - R.E.M. on Election Night. They were onstage in Santiago, Chile, announced the election results to a jubilant crowd, then played a fantastic version of "I Believe." I keep faith in every single one of you: Barry said, "Billy Bragg's 'I Keep Faith' is just a wonderful song about hanging in there, even when the bad guys seem to be winning. I know this is mostly a time for being happy, but the Prop 8 business is a real pisser, so this is for Chuck." Thanks, man. Here's a spoken introduction by Billy to the above song from a concert he did in Chicago this past June because, as Barry says, "we all love to hear him talk." Keep the faith. This ain't over by a long shot. Gloria Allred and the ACLU are gonna kick some asses.
Take that. [ Link to today's entries ]
A change is gonna come. Raise your hopeful voice. Yes we can, yes we can, yes we can. (Yes we did!) On January 20, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama will be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America. Our long, national nightmare will finally (I hope) be over. President-Elect Obama. I just like saying that. [ Link to today's entries ]
This is it. It's time to take our country back, to vote for hope, for change, for unity, for the future. It's time to put away the politics of hate and resentment, the politics of seeing and accusing Americans you disagree with as traitorous or disloyal or unpatriotic or anti-American. It's time for you to cast your vote in the most important election of our lives. 
Barack Obama for President. Vote Democratic. In California vote No on Prop 8. UPDATE, 9:49am:  
Barack and The Boss. "We are at the crossroads, and it's been a long, long, long time coming. It's how we will accomplish this task that'll tell us just what it means to be an American in this new century, what the stakes are and what it means to live in a free society. SO I don't know about you, but I want my country back ... I want the dream back ... I want my America back. Now is the time to stand with Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll up our sleeves and come on up for 'The Rising.'" Republican Mayor of San Diego supports same-sex marriage. Via Kos: "Turns back on campaign promises to oppose gay marriage in emotional press conference:"
Unlike so many supporters of Prop 8, he truly understands the meaning of family values. [ Link to today's entries ]
You! Shall Not! Pass! Defeat the Balrog. Defeat Proposition 8. I see that the Yes on 8 campaign has bought some adwords on Google, and because I write about the lies perpetrated by the Yes campaign and am fighting for us all to vote no No on Prop 8 it seems that Google is feeding Yes ads to this site. I only noticed this today, and added the URL of the hate-filled bearers of false witness to my ad filter, but it could take 4 hours to take effect. I've commented the ad-generating scripts out of the top part of the blog for the rest of the day, but if you see a Yes on 8 ad, click on it -- it costs them money. Then if you live in California, make doubly sure you vote NO. From the Los Angeles Times:
Tell them NO. October Looka! entries have been permanently archived. [ Link to today's entries ]
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. I'm not sure if this drink was created by or created for Miss Ella Brennan -- matriarch of the Brennan
family and its restaurants, the flagship being Commander's -- and it's named after her vision of the afterlife, in which "[t]he bar looks like
the one she and her siblings ran in the 1950s, the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon and Bienville in the French Quarter. Fats Pichon is playing.
Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald are singing. The food is great, the drinks are better, and the company perfect."| 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. |
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