Mayhaw Man

I freeze bbq all the time. When I go to all of the trouble to fire up the pecan wood in this thing http://images.egullet.com/u10237/i5229.jpg]My Webpage I usually cook more than I need. It is kind of a long day when I am cooking ribs or pork butts and it just seems to make sense that I do a little extra. THe meat that I am going to freeze gets pulled a little bit before it is done and is cooled at room temp. I then wrap it tightly in heavy duty foil, bag it in the vacu thing, and then freeze. I remove from the freezer and thaw overnight when I am ready to make a meal out of the meat. Pop it in a 300 degree oven until it is up to temp on the meat therm., and voila!-pretty close to perfect Q. It works great and it can save the day when we are having company and I know that there is a pretty good chance of rain the next day (as there often is, some parts of the Parish have had 15" since last Monday night ).

Do what I just got just finished doing--- I was making a little roux and instead of grabbing one of my usual wooden stirring implements I (who knows shy, must be three days and 15 inches of rain) grabbed a rubber spatula. A few minutes into the stirring (I was only making alittle bit to make some sauce for pasta) I noticed white threads in the roux. My spatula was mellting into it. After looking closely at the thing, I discovered it said, in pretty clear writing, not safe for hot items. DUH. I threw all of it (roux and spatula) out and started over.

I have edited the above menu to allow for the oyster challenged and those who must have meat ( I can understand the meat thing-we have sharp highly developed teeth and are genetically designed to eat tear and chew flesh with our teeth. Otherwise we would have big old flat teeth like cows and chew a cud). I also added an after dinner section. Cafe Brulot would be fun and would give you the opportunity to play with fire and knives to end the evening. If I can help you out let me know. Brooks

A Gulf Menu Amusee Bacon Wrapped Oysters Seared Scallops with wasabe dressing Salad West Indies Salad Apps Oyster Patties (oysters in pastry shells) Marinated Crab Claws Small Crawfish Pies Tuna Sashimi (you pick the cut-I like the fatty stuff) Soup Seafood Gumbo (the whole works-not cheap, but really fun to make and delicious) Crawfish Bisque Mains (Pick one or two Grilled, skin on, bbq'd red fish Marinated Grilled Lemon Fish Smoked Softshells (water smoked on a high heat to cook fast) Garlic Sauteed Shrimp on angel hair Crab Stuffed Shrimp (an overkill everytime-but delicious) Seared Skirt Steak with Marchand de Vin Sauce (if ya gotta have meat) Dessert Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce Peach Sorbet Blackberry Cobbler Pralines After Dinner Cafe Brulot (the full monty version-you will need to practice beforehand ) A decent rum to accompany the cigars And some cigars to go with the rum (scroll down a bit) There you go. I can provide all of the recipes if you wish, along with cooking intructions, although I think most of this would not be too much of a stretch. I can also help out with seafood acquisition if needed. Virtually all of this stuff could be cooked the day of with little prep (although the crab claws are better if they sit overnight) Katie can help out with the wine. All you gotta do is cook I will now return me to my regularly scheduled program of semi helpful, smart ass comments

Hell, you could fry stuff! Can't go wrong with that. Something to love for everyone! Although the wine thing would be leaning heavily towards whites, served pretty chilled- so that would be kind of a problem. Helpful Frying Party Tips Here

I am having trouble typing I am laughing so hard. I am not sure if it is the reference to me or the thought on the number of releases that must be required to have a room full of drunken lawyers with knives, fire, and any number of blunt objects and a bunch of terrified interns cowering in the corner. Actually that sounds like fun, but I am taking so much vacation in July (fishing in Canada and North Louisiana) and August (camping in Baja and a few days in Austin at Pedernales Falls (with a side to Schlitterbahn to keep the boys in line ) that I am not going to be going much of anywhere except work, home, and the Gulf to catch a trout or two when I can get away. It would be fun though. I like the Sushi idea. You could do a whole Japanese thing. Tempura, sushi assortments with really top notch ingredients, shabu-shabu, grilled meats-the whole deal. You could offer a permanent position after law school to the intern who could eat (and hold down ) the most natto. Not sure how that would work with the wine requirement, though Katie might be right about the Sake tasting and just for grins, you could probably get a few of the Japanese scotches (some of which are suprisingly good, if I my memory serves.

Not running away. Just not wasting my time repeating myself on a subject that, to me, has been discussed to death. I am not, in fact, a particularly great parent. I do live decently and try to provide my children with a decent example of how someone should behave in their daily life (and so does my wife, who incidentally, is a great parent). I, too often, put work before home and that is a major problem and something that I hope that my children never do. Outside of that they can pretty much live by our example and that, by the way, is exactly how I was brought up. Hopefully the trend will continue with my children. Now, back to the subject (since I regrettably took to the bait)- Parents are responsible for their kids when they take them out to eat (and incidentally-once a child is in that range-roughly 2-4- that they cannot control their emotions very well, it is probably better to take them out to someplace that is suited for loud active behavior-not fine dining-that being said, I always enjoy seeing parents out with sleeping babies ) and to teach them to behave. The trick is that they should be able to behave reasonably well BEFORE you take them out to eat. Manners start at home-not the first time they sit down at a public table.

This topic is rediculous. It is leading to nothing but generalizations and innuendo that are not, and frankly cannot be, supported by anything other than emotion. My children behave. I am not from France. I behave. I am not particularly self absorbed and both of my children have a very clear view of right and wrong. I got my ass kicked in Candyland and later bridge and gin regularly by my parents (although I started taking the old man in tennis when I was 10 and have been doing it ever since-no quarter given, none asked for). My kids have been eating pretty much whatever hits the table in front of them for as long as they have been out of high chairs. They are interesting, funny, can hold up their end of the conversation, and have reasonably good manners. My children are in no way unique. I know lots and lots of families with children who have been raised to behave this way. So don't lump everybody into one big basket. The world doesn't work like that. Personal responsibility is the key to the whole thing with raising chldren. Show them by example when they are young and when they get older- expect it and enforce it if they fail. This got discussed to death around the New Year and if you guys want to continue flogging this dead horse-fine. I think that I will withdraw from the field and take my kids out to eat tonight. I would reccomend that the personal attacks come to a halt. This could be an interesting subject, even after so much discussion 4 months ago, if the name calling stopped.

Welcome to eGullet William! I also think that I am a carnivore. The tomato paste that you mentioned-is it thick or is it thin like crushed, pureed tomatoes? What kind of beef (which part of the cow) would you use for this dish?

I live in the home of hot and sticky. I live in a swamp where we average roughly 65" (it has rained 10" in the last three days-really ) of rainfall per year and the average humidity is above 50% at almost all times. During the summer every day (June through late September) it is plus 90F every damn day and rarely below 75F at night. It is truly hot and sticky. I also live in an old house that was built for this kind of weather- tall ceilings, transoms over all interior doors, ceiling fans, etc.- and all of that works fine until I crank up my beautiful, but really hot, old O'Keefe and Merrit Stove. We try to avoid cranking up any of the ovens unless absolutely needed, as it takes a long time to cool the house off afterwards. The consequences of all of this is that we end up eating alot of cold meals during the summer. Lots of light stuff and even more stuff that can be cooked on the grill or outside in the smoker. Sliced, salted and peppered tomatoes out of my garden Sliced, vinegared (not pickled, just floated in spiced, chilled vinegar for an hour or so) cucumbers are pretty much a constant. We always have some of these in the fridge. Sliced melons of all sorts-I like cantalope, honeydew, crenshaw, etc. My wife likes watermelon (she eats it by the bowl full when they are fresha and cheap. Cold beef salads (sliced marinated beef that has been seared on the grill and marinated in various stuff-I have lots of recipes if anyone is interested) Pimento Cheese (made from great cheddar-we make a mason jar full about once a week-the stuff is great grilled, cold, on crackers, or as it should be-on white bread ) Gazpacho-a huge favorite at our house. We can make a big batch (I like the one out of the first Silver Palate book) and it will last for three or four days. I know that we are not talking cold and sweet here, but too bad for the rule makers- We also eat smoothies pretty regularly-more or less as meals-especially lunch and breakfast. I have a freezer full of IQF tropical fruit (I love that stuff, great invention), frozen strawberry puree (I put it up when strawberries were cheap last week and it will last for three or four months). We supplement that with fresh fruit and it makes for a cool, sweet, and nutricious snack. I love those things. Thanks Mr. Waring. You were one swinging inventor. Spring rolls of various sorts. I make a bunch of them at once with shrimp and they will last a few days in the fridge. Chicken Salad with Pecans (light on the mayo) Lots of fresh salad with greens out of the garden (mine and whoever's garden I can grab them out of)

Bleachboy I generally don't mind crayons when I am dining alone when there is a dearth of other entertainment. They do get testy when I draw on the tablecloth, but I tip pretty big so generally they get over it. Minister of Drink-you clearly had not had enough to drink , but if you want plenty to read on both sides of the coin take a gander at this lively thread, which started out in DC, concerning Babies in Restaurants! The conversation turns to include children of all ages and behavior abilities. Funny how both of these threads began in DC, though.

Mickey's Malt Liquor used to come in those big mouth bottles. I still can feel the pain in my hand that would occur after standing behind the bar for 8 hours opening those things on Wednesday night for the "Big Mouth Special".

I am available for dining at Charlie's any time you want to tee it up. The place is an old world throwback and while I am sure that there are better overall steakhouses in New Orleans (Ruth's did start here and the original location on Broad St. is a dinosaur of expense account dining here and John Besh's Steakhouse in the Casino is pretty damn swell) it is certainly a fine example of the genre. Mrs. Dottie has been running the show in the upstairs dining room since I was a tot (think 35 years or better) and dealing with her is worth the price of admission. Charlie's is also conveniently located up the block from Pascal Manales and if one is so inclined, you can do a surf and turf in one night split between two places on the same block.

If you like lists there are some pretty interesting things on this one. I don't always agree with Tom Fitzmorris, but the guy knows what's happening in New Orleans as well as anyone ever has. He has the longest running radio food show around (one of the oldest in the country, I believe) and aside from the fact that he advertises for many of the places he touts (but not nearly the majority and as far as I am concerned he does a good job of keeping the restaurant issues seperate from the adverts) he is a really funny guy. I did his show several times for various reasons (beer a couple of times and a restaurant opening/promo) and enjoyed it immensely. He usually knows as much as his guests about most things food. I could nit pick, but mostly the things that he says in this list are reliable, but I don't agree with the ranking part of the list. He also left off the Wop Salad at Moscas and ranked the iceberg and blue cheese at Charlie's last in the top ten. That salad at Charlies is da bomb. Blue Cheese so strong it could peel paint over super thin sweet onion and all of that on top of an ice cold 1/4 head of iceberg. Overall it is one of the most interesting lists of "things Food New Orleans" that I have seen in a while. I would certainly be useful for people looking for something specific. Lemon Fish is the best grilling fish in the history of the world, though. Tuna can be great, but nothing beats lemon fish cooked over a hot WOOD fire.

There needs to be a mention of the artwork at Upperline. Joanne has quite an eye and has been a fearless supporter of local artists over the years. It may not be The Ogden Collection, but it is quite a collection. And speaking of the Ogden, I highly reccomend that any visitors (especially conventioneers stuck in the CBD with a few hours to kill-it is an easy walk from the Convention Center) walk over and take a gander at the collection. It is a pretty amazing collection, especially when one considers that the primary source was one guy with a good eye and a bunch of money.

I wonder if there is a money back guarantee if your star falls?

Well, I will try and be brief I used to have a thing about bread. I made it plenty and most of the time it turned out to be a resonable facsimile of what I was shooting for-the problem was that I could not accept that I was probably going to screw it up once in a while. I can cook basically anything I set my mind to and I have always been good with sweets and sweet baked items of all sorts, no matter how complex. Bread, on the other hand, represented a process that was in and of itself a chance to fail spectacularly on a regular basis. Every step needs to be done perfectly (to get what you started out to bake, anyway) and there is not much room for error or innattention. Even when you get everything right (mix, knead, rise, press, rise, whatever) you can still wreck the whole thing in the oven. The entire process can be nerve racking. At some point I stopped worrying about it and now I find baking bread to be fun and quite relaxing. If I screw it up a little bit, so what? It's not like you have a bunch of money in a loaf of bread (even when using the best ingredients the stuff is pretty cheap to fool around with) and it's also not like my kinds are going to tell me that they have had better brioche in Paris (one more reasn to take them fishing in Canada this summer ). At this point I am not even sure what it ever was that bothered me so much about baking, except that I used to be too much of a perfectionist to do it well and now that I have lightened up a bit it seems like bread baking is no big deal. It's really satisfying, in fact. So, in summation, tell your mom that Brooks said to lighten up and have fun with it. Baking is fun.

Strawberries Peaches Figs Tomatoes Okra Watermelons Plums Pears

It's fun, the boys like playing with dry ice, and it gets the things as hard as steel shot in about 20 minutes. Home IQF-it works and the fruit thaws perfectly in the fridge. So yeah. Fancy schmancy freezing can be good Man that was a lot of yak for something that the incridibly succinct Jinmyo summed up nicely (succinct is something that no one will ever accuse either you or I of being ): Jinmyo sums it up perfectly (once again)

I concur on the frozen fruits that are now available. Right now, in the big freezer, we have all sorts of tropical fruits that would not be available (in decent shape anyway) around here for large hunks of the year. While all we really ever do with them is make smoothies or puree in order to make sorbet, I find them to be quite acceptable in terms of flavor. Blueberries, which we pick fresh in the summer time, can be flash frozen using the dry ice method that Alton Brown used on one of his shows. While it can be a pain in the ass for some people to find carbonic ice (not around here, in seafood land) it is a great way to freeze freshly sliced fruit. Edited to try to change my evil off topic ways (I am easily led astray by others )-My paternal grandmother couldn't cook a lick. Every Sunday at her house (rarely were we forced to eat there-she usually ate with us or at my maternal grandmother's house (she was a champion among champions of old school southern cuisine)-conveniently located next door) was "a little roast", mashed potatoes, yellow squash and onions, and rolls from the bakery-served with a jello mold or tomato aspic. Trust me, this done right is not a bad thing (I do not have the jellophobia many of you gastronauts seem to be afflicted with ) but done her way that roast had not one drop of juice left-dry as the Sahara and tougher than Tanya Harding. The jello was usually ok, but tomato aspic is one thing that I have never really developed a taste for-much to the amusement of my aspic loving mama who serves it and laughs at me for every holiday occasion. The rest of my family loves the stuff. In fairness I should say that she made the most gorgeous and elaborately decorated birthday cakes one could have wished for (with 7 minute icing, God I love that stuff ). The decorations were always over the top and all of them edible. Why is it that so many people who can bake can't cook a lick?

There was, for a long time, a seafood place in Bucktown, New Orleans (directly across the street from Deanie's) that was apparently named "Fresh Hardware". I am sure that the place had another name, but they did not have enough money for a whole sign. The joint had previously been the location of a local hardware store and they only had enough paint for "Fresh" and ran out before they got the "Seafood" painted. It was like this for years.

We've been saying that in New Orleans ever since General Butler started shipping all of the "Fair Flowers of the South" to Fort Massachussets (technically Butler was from New Hampshire, but to most down here everything above Louisville is New York ) The Turkey and the reference to the recipe are on an April 8 post here in my blog. I explain it in general terms and link to the book that the recipe is in (an eGullet link of course!)

Balmagowry hit the nail on the head (as she so often does-I am sure that she is a fine carpenter ). DO NOT let that rare bird come anywhere a giant pot full of bubbling oil. Although I am a supporter of the occasional turkey frying fest, I would never waste a fine wild bird in this manner. Not that I am tooting my own horn (but, of course, I am) I have a pretty good description of a method designed to keep the turkey moist and having used it on a wild bird a couple of times, I know that the results can be pretty spectacular.

I'm in! Looks like you're up to the task and happy Mother's Day and all of that. Now, let's get down to brass tacks. What about the turkey? Killing one of those things is one hell of an accomplishment. Your friend is a lucky guy. Got any plans for it? Wild turkey is a wonderful, wonderful thing but it is an altogether different bird than store bought. Much. much leaner and usually with a natural nutty flavor (as mast tends to make up a major part of their diet, down here it' pecans and acorns, I don't have a clue what their northern relatives eat all winter). I have had great success in a water smoker, as it keeps the bird fairly moist. And as far as Sling Blade goes, my Dad was raised where it was filmed (so was Billy Bob Thornton) and while I agree that there were some flaws, the feeling that he got with the exterior shots of that town, especially the drive in (I believe I'll have me some of them french fried pataters) was spot on. It is a very good film. Have fun with the blog. It takes a little more time than you might be anticipating.

I had Fried Softshell Crabs yesterday for lunch at Middendorf's in the Lakeside Hamlet of Manchac. Trust me. Nirvana has a home in very near the fry station at this old roadhouse and family dining room. The catfish was perfect, thin and crispy. THe softshells were, well, perfect. Straight outta the lake and into the grease. If you are ever driving into New Orleans from the north along -55 make sure that you time your lunch in or out of town at Middendorf's. It is a superb way to begin or end a trip down here. There are often lines (especially on weekends and inspite of the relatively large number of seats) but they move quickly and the service is uber efficient. Get some softshells, some eggs, some corn flour, some yellow corn meal, and some friends. You won't waste your time on any twinkies or pickles (although fried pickles might make a tasty side, I had okra and tomatoes yesterday) after biting into a juicy softshell crab.