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Mayhaw Man

eGullet Society staff emeritus
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Everything posted by Mayhaw Man

  1. Fish Fries remain very popular in much of the South at election time. In Louisiana, Crawfish are not in season in the fall, or I am sure that big boils would be the fundraiser of choice for that purpose.
  2. Dinner Rush is available through netflix. I just ordered it. (a service I cannot reccomend highly enough, as it pays for itself several times over each month in late fees that I don't pay anymore at the video store).
  3. Mayhaw Man

    Deep Fried Turkey

    I have deep fried lots of turkies, but have never brined one. I suppose that I always thought that the excess liquid would be that much more explosive in the oil-but I suppose if you dried it well enough after brining that would not be the case. How not to fry a turkey.
  4. Great Tale. A very enjoyable ghost story. Brooks
  5. Those lists can be very useful if you are looking for certain things. Tom is crazy about lists, actually. Look back at the archives here on the Gambit Sight. They tend to cover lower cost (Think the weekly version of the NYT $25 and under) and there is a ton of stuff archived there.
  6. Blueberries! I hadn't even thought about that! I know nothing of the strange and mystifying habits of the people and plants that live in the North Woods. What is the season? July? August? Might I have a shot in mid July at "End of the World as We Know it Lake"? That would be very nice, and increase my baking options greatly.
  7. You won't have any trouble. Although it suprises many people (the same goes for Las Vegans I think) we live here and have kids. Lot's of people do. So, the upshot of that is that there are plenty of kid friendly places to eat (including some of the nicer ones if you are willing to risk it going horribly wrong ). I will work on a list and get you a couple of handy links that might help. Brooks
  8. As award winning beer afficianados you must have some favorites. What are they and what makes them your favorites. Just Beer? Beer and Food? Atmosphere? A combination of all three. And to ask a further question along those lines-What is your favorite chain (I am a huge fan of the Big River Chain run out of Chattanooga, TN and located in a number of places in the Southeast-brewmaster Rob Gentry, on top of being the Southern Gentleman brewer of the Century,a serious proponent of traditional English Style Brewing (complete to the point of using a very complicated, time consuming and traditional finings process), and apparently a pretty good manager of his limited time and personnel) I also generally find that Rock Bottom puts out a pretty dependable product, although I have always thought that their food was pretty lackluster, but I'm from New Orleans and as with most people from here, I have trouble with food in the rest of the country. Thanks, Brooks
  9. I don't really know what Hesser's focus was, but I can tell you for a fact that Jack's focus (and particularly that of his partner's) has not been to garner starred reviews in the Times. I believe that the initial idea for the restaurant, and the apparently low key way that they have promoted it, is due to the fact that they expect the same slavishly dedicated New Yorkers who show up on Oak St in New Orleans to show up in New York and to tell their friends. From what I understand business has been up to, or has surpassed slightly, what they originally had planned on. It has not been a smooth opening, from what I understand. Labor problems in the kitchen (at least one of the guys he was leaning on in the kitchen quit in the first week after opening) being chief among the difficulties. As to the review, I believe that they will probably be o.k. with it (if not completely happy) for reasons that Hesser points out in a roundabout kind of way: While I feel like there is a pretty good chance that they are doing some things very well and that some things will improve (but not the quirky service or servers, this is a Leonardi trademark-it takes some pretty good stones to have your boss table hopping all night-as Jack is prone to do) it occurs to me that if they are filling seats with repeat customers and continually trying to improve to satisfy both themselves and their customers, while keeping the seats more or less filled,-they'll be there for a while. It's a shame about the desserts up there as opposed to Oak St. They are really a high point (and a tough decision as Hesser is totally correct on the generous and sometimes larger than wanted portions) in New Orleans. People go there late in the evening just for drinks and dessert (the restaurant, smartly, encourages this behavior).
  10. Russ Parsons in today's LA Times This is the kind of recipe review that any cook book author would be satisfied with. Russ's whole description of the pork belly process makes you want to run out and buy some of the stuff. In fact, that's just what I plan on doing.
  11. Mayhaw Man

    Beer

    Daaaave, That's a little general, don't ya think? I can give you a list of the best beer stores in New Orleans and a list of good beers, but that is still pretty general. Are you looking for things that you might not be able to find in N. LA or just good beer in general? Brooks
  12. Just another reason that I am happy to argue with anyone who disagrees that the Main Central Market in Austin is the Greatest Grocery Store on Earth.
  13. Two things about lard. 1)When it's bad, you'll know. Yuck. 2) Buy it in the smallest possible amounts for what you need (usually not much). It keeps pretty well in the fridge, but honestly, how much do you need to keep? I am glad that it turned out for you. It really is a pretty amazing dish. I have no idea how old that recipe is, it came from my Grandmother (who passed in 85) and she said that her Mom used to make it for special occasions. My grandmother was born in 1897, so it is a pretty old recipe. We all consider chicken to be common and cheap these days, but until Mr Tyson and Mr Sanderson started mass producing cut up chickens, it was pretty much something that you ate for big meals with the family, not something you knocked out at 5 o"clock just because you couldn't find anything else in the fridge.
  14. I get mine from a custom packer. I would assume that if you know your meat counter guy well-enough, he would procure some for you. Just ask for uncured, unsalted pork belly. FYI, if you don't have a slicer, getting it in 1 pound chunks and trying to slice it nicely after you've cured and smoked it is a bit challenging for the novice. My butcher is GREAT about slicing up stuff that I have purchased from him, taken home and smoked, and then returned to him for slicing. No charge (other that a few slices for the butcher ). I am pretty sure that he is violating all kinds of health rules doing this, but they are great people to deal with. I have done bacon several times and it not only worked out well cooking wise, but was delicious to boot.
  15. What kind of steel are you using (in terms of texture of the surface). I need a new one and am trying to decide what to get.
  16. Smoked, grilled, sauteed lots of different ways, steamed, curried. I have had them cooked all of these ways. We had grilled softshells the other night. It's actually quite easy to do. We grilled them over a pecan wood fire after they had been rubbed with evoo, salt, cayenne, and black pepper and placed in one of those fish basket deals for the grill. They only take a few minutes to cook and are really delicious cooked by this method. There used to be an Indian place in New Orleans that had them on the menu all the time. They cooked them in a very spicy curry based concoction and placed them on a bed of basmati. It was a fantastic dish. I need to do it at home, but they seem to end up o the grill or in the water smoker more often than not. It's good to have them easily available and reasonably priced, as it makes experimentation a little less scary.
  17. You mean it's not? My whole personal food pyramid is spinning dangerously out of control. I suppose that the next thing you are gonna tell me is that these aren't meat and that these aren't fruit. Sheesh! What am I gonna do?
  18. I have notified child services. I am sure that the Carolina Bar and the AMA have some kind of counseling services that are available at a nominal charge and that after you and Dr Mrs. Varmint get out of treatment you will be able to get your jobs and your children back. Sadly, it is kind of the same situation at my house, although I will say this. I send both of my children to schools that cost plenty of money and are, in an educational sense, fine places-but the food they serve would be better suited to the Parish Jail. Same stuff every day, Red Beans and Rice on Mondays. Pizza, Tacos, Chicken Nuggets Mon, Tues., Wed, Fish on Friday (South La Catholics eat fish year round on Friday out of habit, not just for Lent). What ever we pack, it is generally more interesting than what they would otherwise eat. They do get some pretty interesting sandwiches and we never send peanut butter. Today they had hot sausage poboys with good cheddar on Leidenheimer mini po boy rolls. It's still a sandwich, but at least it's a good one. Edited to say that we would send peanut butter, but they would complain so much that it would not be worth it.
  19. This would be a good name for a band.
  20. Yes. I bought some 50's as well for oyster pattie molds and to use for bit size fruit tarts.
  21. Who boy, you must be having a slow day at work and are clearly looking for a fight! I am thankful that I am safely in the middle on this issue (geographically and personal tastewise). While I love pork as much as anyone, I think that it would be difficult to argue that all of that tasty Hill Country Brisket is not barbeque. I like 'em both.
  22. But they're from W-S. They must be better.
  23. Picture ettoufee heavy on the crawfish and the herbs, kind of thick, but not too, to make up for evaporation during the short baking period (roughly 15 min @350). Took some pictures of some of them, but I am not sure if they are the new shells or the ones I made using pre made shells from the bakery. I will post photos and recipe when I get home. Incidentally, those flex molds are very cool and pretty well priced, considering what a hunk of silpat costs.
  24. Wonderful. I'm glad that things were in good shape when you got there. I hate showing up at our camp and finding out that something has blown up, leaked, gone bad and started stinking, or has been broken into by the masked 4 legged bandits. It's nice when it is all o.k. Now, to the next matter. There is no way I would purposely get into 46 F water unless I was the Captain of the ship and had already put all of the other passengers into the water and nothing on the ship was above the waterline. No way. Not ever. Catch any fish?
  25. You're just not hanging around in the right places. On a nice afternoon, when the afternoon rain has just passed and the Quarter is steamy and hot, a soothing frosted Pimm's Cup consumed while listening to the ever present sounds of classical music can be a very sublime and satisfying drink. Highly underrated muffelettas, as well.
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