Ugh... Too... Much... Food...
We just got back from Domenica to celebrate Candice's birthday. Still drunk. Very, very good meal. Menu (PDF).
We got there early and had a sazerac at The Roosevelt's Sazerac Bar.
Moseyed on over to Domenica, which if I had to sum it all up is Italian food gone mad. It was pretty hot in the restaurant. Almost every guy had their coat off. We went through the wine list. The first page is wines by the glass, the middle is all wines by region, the end is the cocktails. The Meyer Lemonchello (sp?) looked interesting. We just got a bottle of Abruzzo wine.
We got a sampler plate of meat and cheese. Really, really good. Good head cheese and prosciutto. The duck prosciutto was the best. Very chewy, but the chewyness forced you to enjoy the goodness.
We next had pulverized cauliflower soup (Candice) and meatballs (me). Candice's meatballs are better, and I'm not just trying to score brownie points. There was too much sauce and the meatballs needed more bread and more browning.
The next course was Risotto for Candice (rice cooked in tons and tons of stock) and Gnocchi + guanchale brussel sprouts for me. Wonderful brussel sprouts. Filled up too much on the meatballs. Barely enough room to finish my sprouts and Gnocchi.
I finished off with some cappuccino (best I've ever had) while Candice attacked some fried strawberry. I was mostly as full as can be and couldn't take anymore.
The service was good, but not great. They were pretty packed, so I wouldn't hold it against them. The food was fantastic. I'm going to go and crawl on the couch and die happy now.
One little observation: with the sole exception being Galatoire's, I've never seen 100% of a restaurant's clientele drunk.
Take care.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Gumbo Z'Herbes
Veggies that don't suck, Volume II.
Gumbo Z'Herbes is traditionally made a little deeper into Lent, but I decided to give it a whirl. We got a whole mess of greens from the Hollygrove Market, plus we had some dandelion greens in the fridge, so we needed a way to use them up. Gumbo Z'Herbes is the answer.
Greens shit takes over the kitchen
The first quandary is what recipe to trust. Pistolette didn't like the paper's recipe but mentioned Emeril's. I went through my cookbooks and found one in Commander's and in Foose's "Screen Doors and Sweet Tea". Martha Foose is actually a family friend who catered a great meal at a family friend's house while I was evacuated for Katrina. This is the first meal out of her book I've tried and I like the results.
The first thing to do once you settle on a recipe is sharpen your knife. Trust me, you've got a whole lot of chopping to do.
Start Chopping
The way to make Gumbo Z'Herbes is chop up a whole bunch of onions, garlic, and greens and make a sort of green-stock.
After it simmers for a while, make a roux.
Add the non-boiled veggies (1 bunch parsley, 1 bunch green onions, etc.) and then start skimming the greens out of the stockpot.
Once that mixture has cooked down for at least 30 minutes (smelling quite nice in the process) add your vegetable stock/broth. I left out a couple of cups worth because I thought it needed it and I think that was a good move. Give it a couple more hours to simmer.
Serve over rice with with about a 1/4 teaspoon of Filé dropped into and spread into the serving bowl. Never add it to the pot, because if you boil your main batch again, you'll get a goopy mess.
The gumbo was very, very different. It was almost like a green soup. The dandelion greens were very spicy and gave it kick. If I were doing it over again, I'd probably use more collards and kale and ditch the dandelion greens.
UPDATE- Here's the book that the recipe is based off of:
Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook by Martha Hall Foose
Gumbo Z'Herbes is traditionally made a little deeper into Lent, but I decided to give it a whirl. We got a whole mess of greens from the Hollygrove Market, plus we had some dandelion greens in the fridge, so we needed a way to use them up. Gumbo Z'Herbes is the answer.
Greens shit takes over the kitchen
The first quandary is what recipe to trust. Pistolette didn't like the paper's recipe but mentioned Emeril's. I went through my cookbooks and found one in Commander's and in Foose's "Screen Doors and Sweet Tea". Martha Foose is actually a family friend who catered a great meal at a family friend's house while I was evacuated for Katrina. This is the first meal out of her book I've tried and I like the results.
The first thing to do once you settle on a recipe is sharpen your knife. Trust me, you've got a whole lot of chopping to do.
Start Chopping
The way to make Gumbo Z'Herbes is chop up a whole bunch of onions, garlic, and greens and make a sort of green-stock.
After it simmers for a while, make a roux.
Add the non-boiled veggies (1 bunch parsley, 1 bunch green onions, etc.) and then start skimming the greens out of the stockpot.
Once that mixture has cooked down for at least 30 minutes (smelling quite nice in the process) add your vegetable stock/broth. I left out a couple of cups worth because I thought it needed it and I think that was a good move. Give it a couple more hours to simmer.
Serve over rice with with about a 1/4 teaspoon of Filé dropped into and spread into the serving bowl. Never add it to the pot, because if you boil your main batch again, you'll get a goopy mess.
The gumbo was very, very different. It was almost like a green soup. The dandelion greens were very spicy and gave it kick. If I were doing it over again, I'd probably use more collards and kale and ditch the dandelion greens.
UPDATE- Here's the book that the recipe is based off of:
Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook by Martha Hall FooseWednesday, February 17, 2010
Cole Slaw
It's Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. While I'm not Catholic, I wanted to lose a little weight so I'm going to go easy on meat. I'm very scared of seeing a 2 as the first digit for my weight.
The goal for Lent is less meat, no beef (for the most part, not cutting out Pho Tai), and no soda. We'll see how long I can make it. I'm cutting my Lent a week short to the wedding date.
To make it through, I'll need veggie recipes that don't suck. The easiest way is add a little pork, especially bacon. That makes the greens so much better. Right now, I'm trying some Gumbo Z'Herbs and I'll let y'all know how that comes out.
A couple of weeks ago, we made some Cole Slaw from scratch that was pretty good and pretty easy.
Here's how I made it:
1/2 a head of cabbage
1 carrot
Chop these as finely as possible. Soak in salted water for about an hour.
The soak in salt water sort of "cooks" the veggies and softens them up
When done, rinse to get the salt off and dry them off on some paper towels
Sauce:
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 onion, small dice
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 Tbsp. Creole mustard
Pepper
You like-a da sauce, eh?
Mix thoroughly and let stand for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Should last 3 days or so.
After about 30 minutes of sitting in the fridge, we tried it and it was incredibly fresh and delicious. I don't know if I've ever actually had cole slaw that fresh before. Usually, it's made the night before at hot lunch places and it gets a bit goopy. This was anything but.
The goal for Lent is less meat, no beef (for the most part, not cutting out Pho Tai), and no soda. We'll see how long I can make it. I'm cutting my Lent a week short to the wedding date.
To make it through, I'll need veggie recipes that don't suck. The easiest way is add a little pork, especially bacon. That makes the greens so much better. Right now, I'm trying some Gumbo Z'Herbs and I'll let y'all know how that comes out.
A couple of weeks ago, we made some Cole Slaw from scratch that was pretty good and pretty easy.
Here's how I made it:
1/2 a head of cabbage
1 carrot
Chop these as finely as possible. Soak in salted water for about an hour.
The soak in salt water sort of "cooks" the veggies and softens them up
When done, rinse to get the salt off and dry them off on some paper towels
Sauce:
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 onion, small dice
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 Tbsp. Creole mustard
Pepper
You like-a da sauce, eh?
Mix thoroughly and let stand for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Should last 3 days or so.
After about 30 minutes of sitting in the fridge, we tried it and it was incredibly fresh and delicious. I don't know if I've ever actually had cole slaw that fresh before. Usually, it's made the night before at hot lunch places and it gets a bit goopy. This was anything but.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Mardi Gras 2010
We had immense amounts of fun today. Here's both of us in the Quarter.
We got up relatively early and made it all the way down to the Quarter before noon (quite an accomplishment!). Saw lots of wonderful costumes. We saw the Mefferts, Brett Favre, Jesus, a platoon of green army men, Col. Mustard and the rest of the gang from Clue, and a bunch of other flying pigs.
Pigs have flown! Hell has frozen over! The Saints are on their way to the Super Bowl!
We got up relatively early and made it all the way down to the Quarter before noon (quite an accomplishment!). Saw lots of wonderful costumes. We saw the Mefferts, Brett Favre, Jesus, a platoon of green army men, Col. Mustard and the rest of the gang from Clue, and a bunch of other flying pigs.
Pigs have flown! Hell has frozen over! The Saints are on their way to the Super Bowl!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Lombardi Gras 2010
Wow, it was cold, cold, cold last night. Lots of wind and I got hungry waiting on the parade. All that being said, I watched the Lombardi trophy go past New Orleanians packed shoulder to shoulder packed 15-20 deep the entire route. The traffic snarl was epic and almost none of my photos came out well, but here's a few.
This is 3 hours before the parade arrives at Poydras and St. Charles
Hargrove adjusting his boot
One of the coolest ideas was to grab the Muses shoe for Morstead, Hartley and Jason Kyle (? Long snapper):
Ticker Tape and NOLA at Night
One final thought: Someone was carrying around a sign calling for renaming Lee Circle "Brees Circle". I like that idea.
This is 3 hours before the parade arrives at Poydras and St. Charles
Hargrove adjusting his boot
One of the coolest ideas was to grab the Muses shoe for Morstead, Hartley and Jason Kyle (? Long snapper):
Ticker Tape and NOLA at Night
One final thought: Someone was carrying around a sign calling for renaming Lee Circle "Brees Circle". I like that idea.
Monday, February 8, 2010
...I want to be in that number
Saints Superbowl Victory Celebration from Cottage Films on Vimeo.
I caught video of these guys passing by on Magazine:
We stayed out on Magazine Street and had a HELL of a time.
Some cops started playing with their siren so it played "Whoop There It Is":
Absolutely the coolest thing last night (other than the TV's that said "SAINTS WIN SUPER BOWL") was a brass band that just showed up outside the Rendevous.
In New Orleans, a brass band is liable to show up at any time. Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Men, Women, all joined in celebration. There were all of the above making out in every combination possible. It was pretty much Pat Robertson's nightmare. Fun times.
UPDATE- And I made Gambit:
5 Words That Will Never Get Old
Do whatchu wanna!
Originally uploaded by Noladishu
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Saints, Race, and Moon
One of the hardest things to do when going through history is coming up with a complete, accurate portrayal of relatively recent history. History that's too old to easily get newspaper articles, TV reports, and your own memory, but not old enough for good history books to be published. James Lowen referred to this as the "disappearance of the recent past."
During the Rachael "Madeaux" Show, she interviewed Dr. Norman Francis.
Dr. Francis talking about the founding of the Saints, which he was a party to.
Throughout the 50's and 60's, many in the New Orleans business community desperately wanted an NFL franchise to prove that New Orleans was a big city that could rank beside Houston and Atlanta. Momentum slowly built, but there were constant threats to derail the efforts.
One of the worst incidents happened after New Orleans hosted a Pro-Bowl. There's a brief mention at the end of this Google Timeline article from the St. Petersburg Times.
I've never heard a really thorough explanation of what happened, but it's something along the lines of what happened when Louis Armstrong was king of Zulu. Out of town black football players, used to at least some level of equal service and integrated facilities, were horribly offended by segregated public spaces, especially the hotels and bars. If anyone knows of a good account of what happened, I'd love to read it.
Keep in mind, other cities were struggling with what to do with the "Integration Question." New Orleans was way behind the curve. Atlanta was selling itself as "The City too Busy to Hate" (aside- if you weren't so greedy, you'd love to hate? Is that it?). New Orleans businesses were being hit due to the city's "racist" reputation.
It took some locals sticking their neck out to placate the players union enough for the league to give the OK for a New Orleans franchise. For example, Moon Landrieu battled as one of the only members of the Louisiana Legislature to vote against the infamous "hate laws" of the early 60's. During the LEH lecture series, one person said that Moon, at the time, "looked into his political grave every time he voted against those measures."* He was reviled by whites at the time for being a traitor to his race. As a city councilman, he fought to remove the Confederate flag from Council Chambers (put there as a symbol against integration, not any Grandiose delusions of history). He also passed the "Public Accommodations Act" in 1965, referred to by Dr. Francis in the interview as one of the keys to bringing the franchise to the city.
Finally, New Orleans got the nod. Here's the Google Timeline article of New Orleans being awarded the franchise that would soon be known as the Saints on Halloween.
New Orleanians have every right to enjoy this game without intrusion of politics, but before the game, let's recognize the political history of franchise. Without integration and the heroes that championed it (like Moon Landrieu, but he was only one of many), there would be no New Orleans Saints. Thank God for them and thank God for our New Orleans Saints.
_________________________
* Video here. I highly recommend all of the LEH lectures. All are biased towards the mayors, but do a good job of filling in the "memory hole" of the recent past.
During the Rachael "Madeaux" Show, she interviewed Dr. Norman Francis.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Dr. Francis talking about the founding of the Saints, which he was a party to.
Throughout the 50's and 60's, many in the New Orleans business community desperately wanted an NFL franchise to prove that New Orleans was a big city that could rank beside Houston and Atlanta. Momentum slowly built, but there were constant threats to derail the efforts.
One of the worst incidents happened after New Orleans hosted a Pro-Bowl. There's a brief mention at the end of this Google Timeline article from the St. Petersburg Times.
"The American League would love to have New Orleans, but the city does not want A.F.L. resentment over the walkout staged by some of the league's Negro players prior to the All Star Game held here last January. Their grievances were slight, but the league moved the game to Houston, causing a furor in the rejected city.
I've never heard a really thorough explanation of what happened, but it's something along the lines of what happened when Louis Armstrong was king of Zulu. Out of town black football players, used to at least some level of equal service and integrated facilities, were horribly offended by segregated public spaces, especially the hotels and bars. If anyone knows of a good account of what happened, I'd love to read it.
Keep in mind, other cities were struggling with what to do with the "Integration Question." New Orleans was way behind the curve. Atlanta was selling itself as "The City too Busy to Hate" (aside- if you weren't so greedy, you'd love to hate? Is that it?). New Orleans businesses were being hit due to the city's "racist" reputation.
It took some locals sticking their neck out to placate the players union enough for the league to give the OK for a New Orleans franchise. For example, Moon Landrieu battled as one of the only members of the Louisiana Legislature to vote against the infamous "hate laws" of the early 60's. During the LEH lecture series, one person said that Moon, at the time, "looked into his political grave every time he voted against those measures."* He was reviled by whites at the time for being a traitor to his race. As a city councilman, he fought to remove the Confederate flag from Council Chambers (put there as a symbol against integration, not any Grandiose delusions of history). He also passed the "Public Accommodations Act" in 1965, referred to by Dr. Francis in the interview as one of the keys to bringing the franchise to the city.
Finally, New Orleans got the nod. Here's the Google Timeline article of New Orleans being awarded the franchise that would soon be known as the Saints on Halloween.
New Orleanians have every right to enjoy this game without intrusion of politics, but before the game, let's recognize the political history of franchise. Without integration and the heroes that championed it (like Moon Landrieu, but he was only one of many), there would be no New Orleans Saints. Thank God for them and thank God for our New Orleans Saints.
_________________________
* Video here. I highly recommend all of the LEH lectures. All are biased towards the mayors, but do a good job of filling in the "memory hole" of the recent past.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Congratulations, Mitch!
We'll see how the down-ballot votes go, but so far, congratulations Mr. Landrieu.
You won outright majorities every way you break it down: black, white, male, female, Uptown, Downtown. You're the only thing other than the Saints that the entire city has gotten behind.
Good job, Mitch and good job, New Orleans.
UPDATE- NY Times writeup. With a nice little jab at Jefferson Parish in there.
UPDATE 2- The Mitch-mentum came through in a total repudiation of everything Nagin.
My favorite quote:
So the Mayor's race is decided. New Orleans is a predominantly black city with a white mayor-elect, a Vietnamese-American U.S. Representative, and a state governor of Indian descent. Gumbo coalitions, baby.
You won outright majorities every way you break it down: black, white, male, female, Uptown, Downtown. You're the only thing other than the Saints that the entire city has gotten behind.
Good job, Mitch and good job, New Orleans.
UPDATE- NY Times writeup. With a nice little jab at Jefferson Parish in there.
UPDATE 2- The Mitch-mentum came through in a total repudiation of everything Nagin.
My favorite quote:
So the Mayor's race is decided. New Orleans is a predominantly black city with a white mayor-elect, a Vietnamese-American U.S. Representative, and a state governor of Indian descent. Gumbo coalitions, baby.
GO VOTE!
Voting is today. Polling places and sample ballots can be found here.
Jeffery's slate of predictions is here.
The Oyster Ticket is here. Also, who knew that Marcello was in on the Canal Street Brothel? It makes a lot of other things make sense...
Dambala provides a motivational poster.
UPDATE- Forgot some. Eli's endorsements.
Adrastos weigs in.
Friday, February 5, 2010
It was Mauberret, but Janis fights back
Click to see fullsize
Well, it looks like the dirty fliers were Mauberret after all. New mailer by the Maubarret campaign uses the same graphics as the "Citizens for Fair Assessments."
On the bright side, instead of just sitting around whining about it, Janis Lemle's campaign has hit back with a great mailer of her own that arrived the same day as Mauberret's.
If you want real change, instead of just voting for the lesser of two evils, that's what you have to do. You have to get a ticket, like the I.Q. ticket, organized, raise some money, hit the established politico's across the board. Despite the fact that only one I.Q. candidate won (there were a lot of close losses), that one candidate was able to enact enough real change to lower millage rates citywide. All she had to do was assess a few grossly undervalued properties up to what they should have been and boom, lower taxes for the rest of the city. Nowhere else could one of the I.Q. candidates have done more good than Uptown.
Now, the I.Q. movement is still going strong behind Lemle and pushing the last of the old dogs out. It's not enough to just run a superior candidate and just sit on your hands while they lose. You've got to kick the incumbents in the teeth over and over until they cry for mercy. Then, piss on the ashes of their campaign so they never think about screwing the citizens again.
Clancy DuBos likes to say, "politics is a full contact sport." Real Reform is too.
Cross Promotion?
A bunch of these popped out around the neighborhood:
Here's what it looks like inside (just the top two, the rest is the pile of political mail):
John Georges and Shaw Enterprises LLC bundled together and stuffed in a bunch of mailboxes and gates. Is that legal? Some sort of political/commercial tie-in? Lazy/double-dipping campaign workers?
Just curious. Also, from all the fliers Georges has printed and littered town with, I think he's lost the recycling vote.
Here's what it looks like inside (just the top two, the rest is the pile of political mail):
John Georges and Shaw Enterprises LLC bundled together and stuffed in a bunch of mailboxes and gates. Is that legal? Some sort of political/commercial tie-in? Lazy/double-dipping campaign workers?
Just curious. Also, from all the fliers Georges has printed and littered town with, I think he's lost the recycling vote.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
A Wild Weekend
So, tomorrow I turn 26 and we have the first day of parades. Saturday is the election (we get a new mayor! Yay!) and more parades. Sunday is even more parades and the Saints in the Superbowl.
It's going to be a hell of a weekend. For now, we're headed to Cochon to celebrate my birthday before the parades and the crowds and the madness start to envelop us.
It's going to be a hell of a weekend. For now, we're headed to Cochon to celebrate my birthday before the parades and the crowds and the madness start to envelop us.