Jump to content

davebr

participating member
  • Posts

    257
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by davebr

  1. davebr

    Calamari

    I sell a TON in my little restaurant. I dont dry it at all. I go simply into seasoned flour, then 360 degrees. Dont over fill the fry basket. 30-40 seconds into it you'll hear the oil popping start to subside a few decibles. Pull it out, onto a paper towel then serve with your sauce of choice. We use a sweet Thai chili sauce.
  2. Sorry, I'll be in Los Angeles eating at Grace and drinking about 10 Chateau Neufs from the 1990 vintage. BUT, I do already own the book!
  3. Agreed, Im 34 and I believe that I have lived most of my life filling free.
  4. davebr

    Sausage Making

    Did you ever start your salumi biz in LA?
  5. davebr

    Sausage Making

    I am at the point that my coppe need to hang(I used the Rhulman book recipe,,,kinda). I dont have a curing chamber. How bad is it for me to put it in the walk-in? Is a curing chamber something Im gonna have to drop a few dimes on?
  6. Be very greatfull!!!!! There is no Thai restaurant in Shreveport.
  7. During my last trip to Los Angeles the Taco truck clearly beat out my $300 per person sushi meal. Viva los Taco Lady!
  8. After Poche's we drove to Broussard to go to Billeauds. as we were getting off of the exit there was a place called Tiny Pruddohmes Meat Store. How can you not stop at a place with a name like that? I purchased a crawfish stuffed boneless chicken, some chicken jalapeno sausage, boudin poppers and cracklins. The chicken I served yesterday and it had alot more flavor than Poche's chicken, Although it fell apart after roasting and taking the netting off. It wound up looking like jambalaya. The cracklins were the best tasting on the whole trip. Plenty of spice and a nice forgiving crunch. They were very addictive. My buddy walked accross the street to the Daquri store and got a frozen beverage. He warned against anyone staying and drinking in that bar, it looked a little too scary---snob. At Billeauds I bought some pralines from the little girl in front of the store. A genorous square almost an inch thick. We then liberated some boudin, cracklins, 6 sausage stuffed jalapenos(only $.67!), and a beef tongue. The cracklins are the only thing that I have tasted thus far. They are good, just not as good as Tiny's. Back in the car, next stop Chops. I must admitt, I love Chops. Unbelieveable Ribeye sausage, Chicken/shrimp/jalapeno sausage, stuffed briskets and birds. On each trip, I go to as many places that I have never been to before. This omage to charcuterie has become a mandatory stop each trip. With no room left in our 2 ice chests we drove into Lafayette to go to Pouparts Bakery. I bought a shrimp and spinach pie a dozen cookies and some olive basil bread. I ate the bread yesterday with some olive oil and roasted garlic. Crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. The perfect snack to munch on while cooking Thanksgiving dinner. For dinner we went back to Broussard to eat at Nash's. My favorite turtle soup, BBQ'd soft shell crab, baked oysters, shrimp remoulade and about 6 Ketel One screwdrivers. Dont tell my wife but those women with that accent, ohhh boy. From there we drove back to Shreveport. I am glad we did come back the same day, but I'll never do it again. My friend and I are convinced that we could have had an 90 minute break in a hotel room and had room for another dinner. Next time!
  9. Tuesday I took a trip down to Lafayette to stock up for Thanksgiving. The first stop was at the French Market gas station in Nachitoches. The boudin was weak but the meat pies had the perfect amount of spice. Usually here in North Louisiana the meat pies need hot sauce but these were perfect. Then we drove to the Old Thyme Grocery in Lafayette. The girl at the counter, whom I am convinced was flirting with me, recommended the Old Thyme Special. It was a poyboy that had roast beef, ham, turkey, cheese, ect.. I would have never looked at a menu and ordered that, but damn was that good. My sidekicks had a shrimp poy boy and fries. All was great. From there we headed to Reese's grocery in Breaux Bridge. Ate some boudin that I graded A-. The casing was perfectly delicate, just a touch too much heat. I also bought some green onion sausage. The next stop was supposed to be Touchet's. But it was closed. Since we were just around the corner from Poche's off we went. We ordered a snack of crawfish etouffe and rice dressing. The rice dressing is so awesome. It's not the usual commercial crap, where all you get is rice with some spicy ground meat. It has the livers and gizzards the way it is supposed to be--truely great! For my cooler I bought Andouille, crawfish boudin and a cornbread stuffed chicken. The later I served yesterday and it was very good. The dressing was a little gummy but the boneless bird had great flavor and held together well against the carving. More on the day later..............
  10. I was thinking about driving down wednesday to buy some goods.
  11. davebr

    Pairing Wine with Food

    Once at Peristyle in New Orleans, the GM Brian, was pairing a wine with each course of food that the Chef was sending out of the kitchen. Then just before the entree, he opened a bottle of wine and announced that he had no idea what we were about to eat next. "It's fun to pair a wine with a course, but sometimes it's just as fun to open a good bottle of wine, serve some good food and let it all work itself out".
  12. Ive had some fabulous scrambled eggs with truffle oil and sauterns.
  13. When I travel to Dallas there is an appartment I stay in that is 2 blocks from Tony's. We drink ALOT of wine when we travel. The first time I went to Tony's, they had a section of wines that were only "restaurant allocated" wines(Silver Oak, Shafer, Dominus,ect...). Needless to say, the prices were absurd! The guy behind the counter told me, these wines were only to be sold to restaurants--according to the state liquor law. Since they have a small cafe, they could sell the wine for retail but to keep from getting in trouble with the liquor board, they had to sell them at "restaurant" prices. I laughed in his face and I have never returned. 5 or 6 bottles into the day we get desperate for more wine, but we still travel across town to Pogos instead of going to Tony's.
  14. davebr

    Fat-Free Roux

    I first learned about the fatless browned flour roux when I lived in the carribean. The old ladies did this for some of their soups and sauces. The origins of Creole cuisine did after all come from the carribean. I do too prefer butter for the fat in the roux. It just seems to brown with the flour making for a deeper, richer flavor.
  15. davebr

    Sausage Making

    Thanks, But I need fresh blood... that has not been coagulated... the blocks in Chinatown are cooked already... ← I have seen it fresh in Vietnamese markets. Give it a shot.
  16. I had an awesome meal at Cypress. Shiitake and truffle soup with cornbread, Shrimp and grits. Upscale southern but not stuffy.
  17. Greetings to all who love and understand the Vine! This month the e-news is coming out really late. We just have been so occupied with harvest and crush, that it has been difficult to sit for five minutes to send our salutations. Grape harvest from west Texas has been delayed this year due to rain, and we are slated to receive the last three shipments this week, both Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese! We are all pretty pooped out, and are looking forward to some rest. Other items of interest are too numerous to relay here, but notably we are taking on some more distribution duties to get the wine out to more stores and ultimately to the people. My old business partner Jim Jacoby and family are leaving California to leave here in beautiful east Texas, and Jim will be responsible for our distribution and outside wine sales activities. We are all very excited waiting for his arrival sometime in October! I also wanted to tell all of you about the September 24th event that we are hosting here at the winery. The 3rd annual Taste of East Texas Wine and Food Festival will be held that day from noon to 11 pm on the winery lawn, and will feature Texas Food, Texas Wine, and almost non-stop live Texas music! Admission this year is a modest $6 per person, and kids under 13 are free. You can call 903-855-1769 to purchase tickets with a Visa or Mastercard and we will mail you your tickets, or you can buy them at the gate the day of the event if you prefer. Tickets will also be available at various local merchants as we have garnered their help and will be donating $1 of each sold ticket to the Pittsburg Main Street Program in hopes of helping our downtown businesses continue to prosper and improve our community. A bit more info will be posted on our website www.LosPinosRanchVineyards.com/The_Events.html This will be a family friendly event, so bring a lawn chair and the kids if you’d like. All the vendors will be offering small samples of their cuisine and wines at a nominal $1, $2, $4 type pricing structure to keep things simple, and the fare will be a very wide range of delicious goodness! J We hope you will all come out and celebrate East Texas with us, and share some nice Texas wine and cuisine! In the meantime; Live Well, Love Much, laugh Often, and drink wine in moderation,,,, frequently! Jeff Sneed Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards
  18. To the best of my "small town, news travels fast" knowledge, instead of a restaurant Chef Frank is considering teaching cooking.
  19. This is so very upsetting. It's where I grew up. We would stop at Cafe du monde on the way to high school(Holy Cross in between the 9th ward and St Bernard) for breakfast. Commanders is where I would treat my grand parents to lunch--they used to go there on dates. The waiters always made them feel so important. Jamie would even come out to say hello. Bayona is where I brought my parents, grand parents and my wife's parents and grand parent one night to celebrate the upcoming mother's day. My maw-maw loved the rabbit. My mom dumped her Pouilly fuisse into my Cali chardonnay while I wasnt looking so she could get a different glass of wine. AARRRGGHH that was gross. Brigstens is where I took my parents for dinner a couple of days before Christmas. Smoked salmon with potato salad, Duck, sweetbreads---I mention this because the word is that Chef Frank has settled here in Shreveport. I could go on and on.............. I haved lived away from New Orleans for the past 14 years(staying there for 6 months in 1992 and 1 year in 1994). I would only get to see my entire family at Christmas and maybe one other visit each year. These restaurants were central in me getting to spend time with my family. The food, service and atmospheres are stuck in my memories as much as my maw-maw's love for dessert. Where am I now suppossed to bring them? Most of them will probably not be moving back. Each Christmas Eve I bring all 20 women in my family to brunch. They all live on the Westbank and they hardly if ever go to the Eastbank. I wanted the young ones to see how enchanting these grand bastions of New Olreans cuisine could be. That history, that grandure that pomp and that circumstance cant be felt anywhere else in the country. What the hell am I supposed to show my god child and her 2 sisters in Baton Rouge or my other nieces in Houston? No offense to Baton Rouge or Houston but it doesnt represent me or where I grew up. These places mean something very deep to me and I cant just start over. I have a reservation at Galatoire's for 20 on Christmas eve at 12:00. Now it looks like it will be my wife and I alone in Shreveport. Instead of "Thanks for the good time, I love you Uncle Dave" it will be "Thanks for mailing me some socks Uncle Dave". These restaurants spark memories of my nieces. These restaurants spark memories of me, Uncle Dave, to them. The hurricane hasnt just devistated a city. Ive been through 3 in Florida. I have never seen so many families ripped apart because of it. The people always come right back the next week and start to rebuild the city. The massive amount of time that will elapse before most people can move back will prove to be too great and a lot of people wont go back. They have to work. They have to eat. Then will the city have an influx of non-locals to take the local's places? That will change the soul of everything. We will all start to hate these new people right along with the city we loved so much. Because the city we loved so much may be rebuilt but it is still gone...................
  20. We drove to Marshall, TX then straight up from there to get to Los Pinos. She never really said why she did it. Im guessing, She didnt like the way the plain cab tasted and woke up and decided to do that. They did after all make a spicy seasoning for steaks that used all the sediment dried up from the barrels. As well as a cabernet hot sauce. Those darn farmers wont throw away anything! Also, It was the 2003 Syrah that I purchused with the Port at Kippersol. I drank a bottle last night as the Saints gave demo after demo on how not to tackle. It was very, very good---the wine not the Saints.
  21. Earlier this year, My wife and I took a day trip to Los Pinos Vineyards. It is a little south of pittsburg, Texas. They had a cool Spanish style tasting room. cured meats, olives, cheeses olive oils and breads to snack on. To taste all the wines was like $5!! We wound up buying the White Mesa blend, some Cabernet and I purchased a few bottles of some sweet white wine for my driver's wife as a gift for him to bring back to her. The winemaker's son was on hand to pour our wines and answer any questions we had about the wine. We then traveled to Kippersol vineyards which is a little south of Tyler Texas. WHAT AN EXTRAVAGANT PROPERTY! The wine maker is a young mid 20s girl/ daughter of a farmer/dad basicly paid for the whole development since it seems he owns about all of South Africa. He has handed over to her his vast farming resources to pursue her dream of being a wine maker. She seems to be doing pretty well. They have been planting plenty of different variatals trying to find which is best for that soil. The wines were good and inexpensive. I purchased some Cabernet and Port. The only thing I didnt like was the Cabernet that had some ginger juice in it and her confessing her love for Yellowtail. But, Wow what a development. The vineyard is also a gated community with a restaurant that must have cost a couple of million to build. We did eat at the restaurant for dinner and it was good--almost very good. They did have some more obscure South African wines on the restaurant's wine list. All in all I was very impressed with the quality of the vineyards and their tasting rooms. I did see and purchase the Texas Wine Road Trip book that yall are talking about. This weekend Im going to San Antonio and Im bringing the book just in case a few spare hours pop up to visit a nearby winery.
  22. davebr

    Urasawa

    Great point, I'll call tommorow and be there this week, If they still have room for me.
  23. davebr

    Urasawa

    I just made a reservation for a September visit, myself and 9 good friends. Im also visiting LA in a couple of weeks. Should I let it be a surprise for all of us at the same time or should I go by myself in a couple of weeks also?
  24. Just buy some of the McCains sausage there and cook it yourself. Dont forget the bacon with the rind on! In Minden, Mom's cafe in the Stuckeys Truck stop has awesome hand battered chicken fried steak. Ive said it before--In Dixie Inn, just a little west of Minden, the Crawfish Hole #2 has the best crawfish(when in season) in Louisiana! Being born and raised in south Louisiana I do have the right to say it. You can go for other things now like crawfish pies, fried seafood and a crawfish etouffee smothered stuffed potato. I have recently been trying to find Sarah's in Ruston after seeing it on an old John Folse show. Let me know if you find it.
×
×
  • Create New...