Mayhaw Man

We've been working in the yard today and I was headed for a break (and to check peach poundcake in the oven). My wife came in a bit later and saw me at the kitchen computer. She asked just what in the hell I was doing inside instead of working outside? I explained that I was taking a break and looking at a man's butt. She hit me before I could finish explaining. Really. That just happened. I'm going back out in the yard where I'm safe from abuse. That thing looks great.

Two things butthead, 1)Go buy a pair of wekding gloves at the industrial supply place. You will be a happy, manly, fireproof barbequing fool when you put those things on. 2) Roll up that hose. Someone could trip and run into your butt.

And now you expect us to hunt for it? Well, it is nightime.

Welcome to eGullet and don't worry about the out of bounds part. Figuring out where the boundries are is half of the fun (I still haven't found them ) Great suggestions, by the way. Brooks

Ask and ye shall recieve: Behold my butt. Excellent photos provided in this thread. Controlling the Smoke You would think that I would have some work to do since I am stuck at work, but alas, I do not. Nice work if you don't have it.

It's awesome on melon sorbets. Looks cool too (actually, I suppose since it's frozen and on top of ice, it really is, in actuality, cool )

I found the It's OK to be a cheapskate thread oddly comforting. It somehow validated my tendency towards skinflintedness (find that in a dictionary ). Some excellent ideas and sources in there as well.

Excellent point by the gentlewoman from Texas. If any of you are interested and are real nice to them on the phone, the nice folks at P. Prudhomme's spice blending facility will be happy to show you around. THe smell of all of those giant bags of various spices will blow you away. It is pretty overwhelming. The place is in an industrial park out by the Huey P. Long Bridge, in Elmwood. Incidentally, as far as spice blends go, Prudhomme's are the one's that I prefer-as they are not nearly so salty (hence the much smaller containers-just active ingredients-not so much salt). It's a shame that Baumer Foods doesn't give tours but the plant is such a wreck I think their insurance guys might not be very happy with tours(Crystal Hot Sauce and a million other custom labeled brands of all kinds of stuff). The place is state of the art 1950 and when they dump a truckload of those peppers into the grinding thing, you need a gas mask to be near it (really, they give you one). The mustard making process is pretty odoriphic as well.

You're supposed to come here to get answers and ideas. Not answer your own questions. Get with the program. Nice piece. Would the cost of raw ingredients be a factor? Macadamias cost a ton here on the Mainland and although I am sure that they are cheaper there, virtually all of the other ingredients would have t be shipped in (although I suppose that there is a local dairy industry, as I know that you have a beef industry-but I could be wrong about the dairy).

I suppose it's no different than putting "magic stones" in a hat, I can believe that it happened if you say so.

I will try to compile a list here. I have two boys who have been raised eating in New Orleans and I am giving you the tried and true, there are certainly others that would probably work out fine. Deanie's in Bucktown (Rachel's right) R and O Seafood in Bucktown (I love this place) Frankie and Johnnie's (Uptown)(boiled seafood-serious neighborhood vibe) Mike Anderson's Seafood on Bourbon (FQ) (I think this is the most forgotten good place in the Quarter-Get a Guitreau-it's my recipe from many years back) Central Grocery(FQ) (get a muffeletta and take it to the Moonwalk and let the kids run while you eat. Stock up on Olive mix) House of Blues for lunch (really, the foods tasty and real-a great plate of red beans-it's kind of a fun place as well) Praline Connection (Faubourg Marigny) (Great food and they love kids) Elizabeth's (9th Ward) (Go for lunch-you can't miss the kids will find plenty to eat) Red Fish Grill (kind of a step up dollar wise, but a nice place and my kids loved it) Mandina's (Canal Lakeside of Claiborne)-(just go. The vibe there is New Orleans-The food is great (get some crab fingers and feed them to your children-we used to fight over them) and the atmosphere is well....local. You'll dig it) Bozo's (Metairie-the burbs)-this is one of the Yugoslav seafood places that abound here (the oyster business has been dominated by Yugoslavs for a hundred years-the guy who runs the shrimpers association is named Tee Ben Mahalovich- I love that name-talk about cultural crosses!) and they have great seafood and there will be lots of kids. Zachary's on Oak St-(Uptown/Carrollton)-this place is one of the last bastions of true creole cooked by true creoles. The Baquet family has been cooking here in three centuries and these guys do it right and real. The place is large, the service is good, and the food is even better. I love the place. (Jacques Imo's is 4 doors down from here on an otherwise unremarkable street) Upperline (Uptown/Garden District)-Make a reservation-tell Joanne you're bringing kids, and relax. It's not cheap, but it can be stunning and is always above par. Lovely place run by a more lovely woman/ You can't come here and not do it up right at least once. They'll behave, I promise I will make a longer list as soon as I can talk to my wife-the one in charge of where we used to eat with boys There are a number of links that you might find useful-Here are three- 100 places to eat Local Food Guy Tom Fitzmorris has lots of opinions and likes lists -here is a long one Gambit Archives (click on archives on center-right) Well, that'll give you something to do. If you want a babysitter, just ask-I have a fully qualified 6'3" 14 year old that can handle the job and is saving for a badass new computer (he loves money and is very motivated). Also, there are TONS of things for children to do here (and if you do the zoo you might want to think about a combo zoo aquarium if your children are up to it-the boat ride is fun). And speaking of boat rides, there is a free one and it is really fun. Walk to the foot of Canal St., walk on to the ferry, cross the river, go see the floats and stuff at Blaine Kern and see the city from the West Bank (better than it sounds) and then ride the ferry back. I do it all the time (really, if I've got a few hours to kill and want to walk, sometimes I cross the river and walk the levee over there). Great Farmers market downtown on Wednesday and Saturday. Take em on a swamp tour. All kids wanta see a gator. Why not show them show or a hundred? If you decide to go West, there is lots of info here and you can always give me a call if you need anything. Have a great trip! (dramamine works wonders on making kids more pleasant on long flights-think of it as beer for kids Calms 'em right down.)

If Hesser doesn't like the decor on the UWC she would be appalled at the decor on Oak St. I believe that it could easily be called "early cajuns on acid". I kind of like it, but of course I do not have the impeccable taste of Ms. Hesser. She would also be shocked at the behavior of many of the patrons. They are generally casually dressed and seem to be enjoying themselves-not nearly serious enough about the food.

With turkey, I almost always err on the pulling the bird early side of things. It is going to need to rest and the internal temp will rise for a little while, even when pulled from the oven. I am kind of a thermometer freak (I have a bunch of kinds), but I have also recently started using those little pop out things that you can buy at Kitchen Supply places. They sell them to go off at a couple of different temps and side by sides with a therm show them to be suprisingly accurate. That being said, a remote therm with an alarm will always prevent overcooking and instant reads are great as long as you don't forget the stuff in the oven-but they do involve a lot of opening and closing of the door, which slows cooking time considerably (not so much in a convection oven). I am stuck at work (again) roasted turkey breast sounds swell.

Anchor Steam-draft- as close to the brewery as possible (in the brewery if possible). It is one of the best beers on Earth and Fritz Maytag will rightfully take his place next to Bacchus when he departs this Earth.

I like this one. But of course I would, I know the people who invented it, although you would ever be able to tell that by the revisionist bullshit in the company history. It's still good root beer (somewhere in the midrange between creamy and herbal, probably slightly o the herbal side) though (and incidentally, the description is wrong-yucca was an addition we made as it helps the drink to RETAIN head, not create it).

Seafood Gumbo Believe me, this is another part of the world.

Frederick Brewing is one of the best examples of microbrewers who somehow deluded themselves into believing "if we build it, they will come". The original ownership group went heavily into debt to build capacity (with really swell, dreamworld equipment-the brewery is a gorgeous state of the art facility) to provide beer to consumers that may or may not have existed at that time. Beer is a business and many, many microbrewers (and to a greater extent brewpub operators) went into the business thinking that if they made good beer, the rest of that "business stuff" would work out. This has not been the case. The breweries that are still standing, and to one degree or another thriving, are the brewers who thought about the business equally as much as they thought about their yeast. There are some seriously sucessful breweries in the United States that opened in the late 80's and early 90's, but they struggled for market share and capital as they grew. The failures were the ones that got sucked into the go-go mid nineties capital boom when capital guys were actually CALLING US and asking if there was "anything that they could do to help us out?". Some brewers got sucked into the thought that the beer market had plenty of room for people who make good beer (regardless of the size of their local market or their ability to make a profit) and that beer from Key West might be attractive to someone in Portland, OR and that beer from Portland, ME would be attactive to drinkers in San Diego just because they found a wine and liquor distributor willing to take a couple of palletes off of their hands. This is not marketing or expanding your market-this is putting beer on the back of a truck and shipping it farther than it should be shipped in conditions that almost guarantee mishandling and ruination of the product. The key to the success of the Micros that are thriving is that to a very large degree they covered and serviced their local markets almost completely before they EVER thought seriously about moving farther afield. People like Frederick Brewing (the original owners were really nice people, incidentally) thought that if they had enough brewing and aging capacity that they would be able to keep adding distributors (once again-whiskey and wine distributors for the most part-not people who are able or qualified to handle beer-particularly beer that deteriorates fairly quickly) and keep growing. What they failed to see is that once the distributor pipeline is full, they are screwed. THe beer that they shipped is just one more beer on the shelf, far from home, with no one or nothing to promote it and by the time some beer lover does pick it up off of the shelf, the stuff has gone bad. So that's one more person that won't buy another one and one more beer nerd who will likely get on the net and trash your much beloved (by you) product on any of 25 or so beer sites that enable people to post their own "reviews" anytime they feel like firing up the p.c. The same thing is true today as was true in 88, take care of your local market as best you can and don't borrow past what you can pay back with local sales. The rest of the stuff is just icing on the cake and needs to be treated that way.

Thanks so much! You have provided more than I had hoped for. We are only going to be there for a short while (a Friday night going and coming) so two dinners and two breakfasts. Posh is not us on this trip. My boys, my brothers, my Dad on a trip to get away from the phones and the computers. I can't wait. Thanks again.

I was part of a "smoking movement" for years. Pecan, walnut, oak, and the occasional orange wood are all I smoke these days. I will post some details on the oysters, it is late and I am finally going home. Long day. Thanks to the eGulleteers that kept interupting my exciting day in the alternate universe of Excel. I would have lost it without some occasional diversion.

Fifi is safely ensconced by Galveston Bay in her new pad, no doubt plotting ways to torture people who enjoy a few beans in their chili and like this stuff. Your smoker looks great. I hope that you get some fish soon. I also highly reccomend gettin ahold of some soft shell crabs and better yet, freshly shucked, on the halfshell oysters. Smoke em in the shell, in their liquor with the heat up pretty high (kind of like the crabs) they don't take long and with a little experimentation you have something that will blow you away (my kids like 'em with Crystal Wing Sauce (not much) on top before they go in the smoker).

Nick, I have a question. How do you clean that thing? Can you pull the element and hose it out, or is it a wiping thing only? How about the shelves? Can you adjust the levels like in an oven, or just take them out to make more room for a big hunk o' meat? Thanks, Brooks

I was looking for a smoker on the web and ran across The California Barbeque Association Website. The site is huge and there is some pretty interesting reading there. Perhaps some of you will find it useful.

This week's news from the Picayune and Gambit Weekly- Local Chefs (and an expat from West Monroe) make mincemeat of the James Beard Awards- Local James Beard Candidates Apparently the management at the Sazerac likes California Judy Walker, the new editor of the Picayune Food Section is off to a great start with this well done article about cooking schools in New Orleans (the kind that tourists come to and spend a few days, not the "get a job" kind) New Orleans Cooking Schools And conveniently here is a list of the schools: Cooking School Directory Marcelle likes frittatas! (with recipes) Frittatas Dale Curry (retiring editor of the food section) writes about wine, women, and....wine: Women and Wine Sara Roahen is crazy about the beef at Kim Son in Gretna: Kim Son Review

Ingridsf- I think that the argument that these are HOLY items when combined with abandon and glee can pretty easily be made. I stand with all who have praised the authors of this class. It is truly inspired and wonderful work.

The term "food grade" generally implies that the purity level of the product is such that it can be used in food processing. It does not imply (at least not always) that the product SHOULD be used in food. A good example of this is propylene glycol. This chemical is mostly used as an antifreeze. The "food grade" version of this product is often used in closed loop "cold water-often incorrectly called brine) cooling systems in food plants and beverage plants (just about every microbrewery built has this type of system). Occasionally, the product will actually be used IN something. You will note when you read the labels of many soft drinks that they contain small amounts of propylene glycol (it is used to add body to some soft drinks). The term "food grade" generally means that the purity of the product is such that it contains no (or at least a very low level) of contaminants.