Mayhaw Man

I actually did this thanks to that episode. I am never satisfied with what happens to blueberries after I freeze them and thought this would be fun to try. It worked like a charm. The hardest part was finding carbonic ice. Te rest was a snap and they are pretty much just like fresh when you thaw them out.

Two Jacks

Look. I know this is all about the best, and probably more about homemade and finely done. But I feel that there is one thing about Southern Holiday Meals that has quietly changed in the last 10 years or so and that is the use of storebought yeast rolls instead of "Granma's Homemade Recipe that HER Grandmother drug when they moved West from Georgia in the 1850's". (no one in my immediate family has ever lived any farther north than Monroe, LA and any farther West than Austin, so I am giving the Southern perspective here, it may be different elsewhere) My favorite part of the holiday food ritual when growing up involved yeast rolls. Buttery, delicious, and slathered with Mayhaw Jelly (only Mayhaw, we always had it. I probably went most of my childhood without ever seeing storebought jelly. Other kinds maybe, but always homemade). My Mom made them from a recipe that came from our next door neighbor, Mrs. Aarron. She had been raised in Texas and had the best of both Southern Jewish(Shalom Ya'll)and East Texas food culture in her and man that woman could bake. She also had grown children and MISSED! the sound of fireworks on the holidays and she would often traipse out to deal with the Snopes' Like fireworks dealers and buy them for us to shoot. I loved her and miss her today. She also made awesome pickles, but that's another story.Anyway, my Mom is a consummate cook and learned how to make them better than Mrs. A. Now the point you may ask (and rightly so since I drifted about aimlessly above)? The point is listed below. Sister Schubert's Yeast Rolls are as good as any bakery bought or homemade rolls that I have ever had and while there may be some that can't do without the tradition or the Zen of baking old family recipes, I know I have got enough to cook without fooling with them. This gives me something in common with damn near every blue haired grandma in the South. If they are good enough for a "Baptist Sewing Circle" or a bunch of LOLs slapping around Mah Jong tiles they are good enough for me. These things are "da bomb". I highly reccomend them. Sister Schubert's has a great website and it has a link to tell you about availability. Don't slag me for this gross violation of the "Sanctity of Homemade". I stand ready to defend myself. I know yeast rolls and these babies are swell. Buttery Deliciousness

I got a couple of emails asking about Everette. He was a friend and a man of deep passion (although one of his passions was scotch and it killed him in a rather impassionate way) and you can read about his life and his swell funeral here.

Part two involves the use of retired gambling devices as picnic fodder. It also involves "reverse"instructions" on how to fry a turkey. (don't do as I do)

I have to work on Friday, so we will not be going up to my parents in North Louisiana until Friday p.m., so Thanksgiving dinner at home for the four of us and 3 guests who can't go home as well. The menu is simple as we will be gone for a few days and I don't want any leftovers that I can't either freeze or throw away without feeling like I wasted good food Relish Tray with all the usual suspects (tiny gherkins, pickled baby corns, pickled okra, celery with pimiento cheese, black olives, etc.) Cranberry relish (I don't like it, but Mrs. M loves the stuff) Fried Turkey (see the Daily Gullet on how NOT to cook one) Sweet Potato Souflee Cheese Grits Oyster Dressing (with gorgeous oysters I got last night from a local guy) Spinach Madeline (yes the one from the Original River Road Cookbook and yes, it does contain Jalapeno Velveeta. And no, it is not as good without it.) No Apologies. Okra and Tomatoes Satsuma and Chocolate Chess Pie Pecan Pie Alka Seltzer and a diuretic Have a Great Thanksgiving everybody.

No that would be my wife's friend Dr Bob, who I (my wife) once gave about 100,000 bottle crowns that had gotten a little past use. I have a "be nice or leave" hanging just inside my front door (it doesn't always work, but hope springs eternal ) Creighton was a gentleman and a scholar (really) and a fabulous signpainter. He painted things all over uptown and did t-shirt designs for all kinds of things, but particularly for a couple of companies in Costa Rica and the Columbia Gorge that specialize in boardsailing wear. Carrollton Station was kind of like his gallery, because Tom would pay him for things he really didn't need just because Creighton had the idea and wanted to make something. It was avery good relationship that those two guys had. He was a talented, funny guy who died a couple of years ago. He is one of those people that when you think about him and the things he did you hear his voice saying the phrases. edited for "worse than usual" punctuation

New Orleans is, in fact, an industrial town and Tourism is our biggest industry. The hotels pretty much have to be open and lots of people come to New Orleans just to spend the holiday weekend, so the restaurants jump on board.

Well you could do that. they are open. but there are so many other choices that would make you much happier. Copeland's is sort of like Applebee's with seafood and extra salt. ah. i wasn't sure if it was the same in new orleans as it is in atlanta. the atlanta one i know does a thanksgiving dinner. but when i was visiting i thought i saw a copeland's (the original perhaps?) in the garden district, right on St. Charles, i think, which looked a little less pink and blue neon. so they're tacky regardless, huh? There is in fact a Copeland's on the corner of St Charles Ave. and Napoleon Ave. It is right next door to a frat hangout called Fat Harry's. The food is not bad, very dependable in a VERY salty kinda way. The drinks are reasonable and the place is usually crowded. It is not bad, and for a chain very good as foar as that goes. My point was that you can do much better for the same money all over town on Thanksgiving day. I used to live down Napoleon frim Copeland's and ate there ocasionally, but usually because they were open late and not because I was dying for coconut shrimp with spicy "mynez" (The New Orleans pronunciation of mayonaise)

pnap: Dock Street exists only in contract-brewed bottles now, a sad demise to a once great microbrewery. Its brewpub still sits empty and forlorn. Rich, I could be wrong (and unfortunately the New Brewer does not exist in an archived Web Edition, although I have them all at home) but wasn't Dock Street always a contract as far as the packaged product goes? Congratulations on your appointment as the "Beer Bard of egullet". It is a subject that is near and dear to my heart (not to mention my liver and my bladder) and I look forward to you forum.

I thought of another while I was posting on the corn thread. I have a wooden device with a metal blade and some really gnarly teeth that was designed to cut corn off of the cob. Not only is it much easier and more efficient to use a good, sharp paring knife, but this thing will scrape the skin on your knuckles down to the bone. The corn shucker is a useless, cutesy little piece of Americana invented by some guy with way too much time on his hands (and not much skin after he got through trying it out)

Champagne's Grocery in Breaux Bridge (on the main highway headed south as you leave the interstate), as well as the aforementioned Poche's (which is really easy to find in the daytime and not so easy after dark ), both have fine examples of the classic pork as well as shrimp and crawfish examples.

Nice work. It looks great and I wish that I could have tasted that chestnut stuffing. I did it once (Prudhomme's Recipe, had someone else do the deboning, but kept the carcasses for stock) and while it was an interesting experiment-I am really glad I live in Turducken land so I am not forced to do it again.

A Hot Irish is a fine thing on a cold night 2 oz Irish Whiskey 4 oz hot water 1 Sugar Cube 1 squeeze fresh lemon juice (about a 1/4 teaspoon) Put in a coffee mug and stir. Serve with a lemon twist. My wife doesn't drink beer (not very convenient for a brewer, but she's ok otherwise) and drank these things often when we were living in Enfield, Co. Meath, Ireland. The Harcourt Hotel (a funky hotel and a great live music venue) in Dublin makes a particularly fine version of this drink.

Well you could do that. they are open. but there are so many other choices that would make you much happier. Copeland's is sort of like Applebee's with seafood and extra salt.

Strong beers are the only thing worth aging, as most beer deteriorates rapidly due to oxidation and the closer to the aging tank the better for drinking. I have some 7.5 oz. bottles of Andygator (Abita Brewing Co., Abita SPrings, LA) that were bottled when I was still at the brewery (which makes them at least 5 years old) and they have aged beautifully. The beer is already pretty "winey" to begin with and has a nice perle bite to it, so it is well suited for aging. It is also 9% abv, so it naturallyholds up pretty well. This beer was bottled with absorber crowns and that probably helped initially to keep 02 levels down.

I have a Calphalon, non Stick, flat bottomed, wok like utensil. I really love that thing. Calphalon Professional Flat bottomed Wok. It is great for risotto (among other things) because of all the surface area.

I'm sorry that it took me a week to get back to this and I hope that you are still able to read it before your trip. If you will go to Tom Fitzmorris's Website you will find a fairly comprehensive list of places open on Thanksgiving along with the menus that will be served. There is also an excellent description of the dining situation in New Orleans on Thanksgiving. As far as reccomendations go, I have been to Mr. B's twice on Thanksgiving and really enjoyed it both times. Great food served at bargain prices. As far as something fairly interesting and out of the ordinary-you could make a clubhouse reservation (if you can still get one) and head over to the New Orleans Fairgrounds on Thanksgiving afternoon. The Fairgrounds uses Thanksgiving as their opening day and it is a really old tradition. I know that this may be a bizarre reccomendation but most people who have been to New Orleans want to know "what do the locals do" and this is about as local as it gets. I promise you you will see a slice of New Orleans that you might never have a chance to see otherwise. Very well to do families spending their traditional holiday lunch gambling and drinking. What more could you want out of a holiday? The food is good and the atmosphere is great in the new clubhouse. This is the oldest racetrack in the country and they run good horses with decent purses.

My theory on Chicken Livers is that the livers do not respond well to the amount of chemicals in the average pen raised chicken's diet. The Health Food Store in my town in South Louisiana has organically fed livers (or livers from organically fed chickens) and they are plump and delicious. The ones that come in the little pint container in the grocery store are neither as tender or flavorful. Generally they are small and tough. As far as delicious chicken livers go, look at Jason Perlow's thread on Jacques Imo's. That bowl of livers pictured in the thread was probably the best thing on the menu that night. They were unbelievably good. They had been browned lightly in butter and finished up in white wine and chicken stock heavily dosed with Italian Herbs (I think that's how he did it anyway). This was served with thinly sliced and buttered toast points made from french bread. The livers were cooked to the point that they were pretty much spreadable. Rachel and I mowed through them like Sherman mowed through Georgia. Jason only documented the destruction as he has a low appreciation for livery goodness.

Another great thing to do to keep corn around is to remove it from the cob and freeze it, juice and all. Simply take a sharp paring knife (or one of those corn scrapers if you love gadgets and hate the skin on your knuckles) and slice off the corn on the cob over a bowl. Freeze in ziplocks. When ready to cook sautee crushed garlic lightly in butter and add corn (thawed). It only needs to be cooked until hot all the way through. It is absolutely delicious like this and really easy to do. If scraped off properly you WILL NOT get creamed corn, you will have all of the corny goodness and a little crunch to boot.

I grew up drinking raw milk. It hasn't killed me yet . Actually we have a great artisinal dairy here in South Louisiana called Mauthe's Dairy (I tried to link to the website but it does not seem to be working, but if it was it would be www.mauthescreolecreamcheese.com) They sell milk at the New Orleans Farmers Market and also at the one in Covington on Saturday. They make fablous Creole Cream Cheese and sell whole milk that has been pasteurized to the bare minimum and has not been homogenized. It is gh free and ceritfied organic. I don't care much one way or the other about organic, but I sure do like that milk. I had forgotten how much better it is and how much fun it is to cook and bake with.

Should guests bring their own corkscrew or is one available? I always carry a cup when I travel, so that won't be a problem.

I think Bill's is pretty much the standard. I always enjoy it when I can find it fresh (which is not always so easy in New Orleans).

We generally have Oyster-Artichoke Soup sometime during the Holiday Weekend. Rich, buttery, and full of plump, barely curled, fresh shucked oysters. I love that stuff. It is also fun to sneak into the kitchen and pick out the oysters and the artichoke humks and put them on warm, slightly toasted French Bread. No ne else will appreciate it, but you, as the diner, will be glad you did.

I've got a deep freeze and a second fridge. The second icebox is great for storing sheetpans full of stuff and for keeping really large items in. The deep freeze, on the other hand, has paid for itself many times over because it gives me the ability to store beef that I get a couple of times a year from a neighbor (grass fed) and to take advantage of big buys on seafood when it is cheap (shrimp, crabmeat, etc.) and since hunting takes up virtually all of my free time in the winter, by the end of the winter it is usually crammed to capacity with ducks, venison, doves, and quail. I also put up tons of peas and butter beans in the summer and the freezer holds them as well. Occcasionally I am lucky enough to get down to Cajun Land and stock up on stuffed chickens, sausage, and great bread (most recently I did this last week and picked up baked goods at Lejeune's in Jeanerette, La). I really should get another, but I have nowhere to put it.