Daniel

Pork belly dish looks great..

Ahh if you left out the I, there is your problem.. Or perhaps the biggest problem is you listened how to make Ropa Vieja from a guy named Chiarello..

Chuck steak or arm roast is the meat I have seen suggested in the recipes I have used.. I guess the best way to see where you went wrong is to describe your process.. But mainly you brown the meat, cover with liquid and simmer for a couple of hours.. You shred and then cook a little more.. I have also seen it suggested that you put in a slow cooker for 8 hours or so.. Were you boiling your meat for a long period of time?

Where are you guys traveling from? Any types of food lacking where you are?

As I walk in, I am met by Ashley, the owner, and third generation of the Hansen Family Business.. I see on the wall they have a Zagat's Sign hanging with a rating of 29.. "Wow, 29, I say, thats unbelievable" "Yup, just us and The French Laundry," she smiles.. Snow-balls or Sno-bliz is something I have never had before.. Sure I had my Snoopy Snowcone machine when I was little.. And I have tried the scraped ice from the Carts in Spanish Harlem, or the rainbow colored pre-packaged snowcone from the Good Humor Trucks but, this is something special.. Step 1: Get you some ice Step 2: Get you a homemade metal ice scraping machine built from your GrandFather 80 or so years ago.. And shoot some ice into the cup. Step 3: Make a variety of small batch, expertly made toppings to put on top of the shaved ice.. This here is Coconut Cream poured in on the ice when the cup is half full and once again when the cup is fully filled with ice.. Topped with fresh strawberry syrup.. The most refreshing wonderful thing I have ever seen done with ice.. This is truly a wonderful thing.. I am almost happy I went here on my last day because it would have caused us to spend most our trip taking a taxi's to and from here.. One more shot: Eat and repeat.. Miss A had Cream of Almond or Almond MIlk topped with Condensed Milk.. This was truly spectacular.. She was in heaven.. After finishing our first one a line grew from nowhere.. We decided to finish the rest of our Sno-blitz in line and re-ordered.. I got a chocolate with marshmallow topping, Miss A got a chocolate with the condensed milk again.. Truly phenomenal.. Often times I am disappointed by people hyping something up.. Or by an amazing rating like 29 from Zagats.. This is truly woth it.. They are like Zen Masters.. The sno-blitz is comprised of ice and flavorings.. The ice is perfect, the flavorings are perfect.. Hence, this place is perfect.. I have a few shots here and there I will throw in here, if I find them..But thats my trip in a nutshell.. Truly a wonderful weekend with a wonderful girl.. This rated in the top trips of my life.. New Orleans is a magical city.. The people and the culture go far beyond the silliness of Bourbon St.. Thanks again for everyone's help..

Haha thanks Brooks.. I wonder when our next trip will be.. I am thinking some time this winter.. I am looking to go back ASAP.. Need to regroup and get my liver together.. I just read over a lot of this thread.. Sorry for all the mispelling and whatever.. I wrote it with no proofreading and mainly early in the morning with a headache..

Ok, so here we are on the last day... Woke up to a rain storm around 8 am... It was great.. Rain pouring down, lightening right outside our window, nothing to do but lay in bed and fall back asleep.... We woke around 11 am put our bags with the bell desk.. Next stop thanks to your suggestions: Time to start getting ready to be an upstanding citizen.. Ice cold it was a beautiful thing.. I didnt know they had soda out here.. Since it was father's day, Miss A's dad requested she eat an Oyster Po' Boy for him.. And what a beautiful one it was.. Beautiful little nuggets of perfectly fried oysters bursting with the juicy sea.. My sandwich was not as elegant.. I went with the 24 Hour cooked roast beef po'boy with pepper jack cheese, fried shrimp, gravy, fully dressed.. I have never had a better roast beef.. It was so flavorful with crispy little bits along the edges.. The fried shrimp broke up the texture and flavor of the sandwich.. Fantastico! I would not eat this on a motorcycle. Cheese fries with gravy, Jerzy Style.. The gravy was awesome, fries were really good Diner style.. A thing of beauty.. I confess you caught us, there might have been a few bloody mary's too.. After talking to Megan C our bartender server for awhile and contemplating staying, she directed us 10 minutes up the road to Pandora's Sno Ball spot.. Unfortunately it was closed for Father's Day.. We caught a taxi and headed over to Hansen's.. Will look for Hansen's photos and finish this thing already, I seem to be dragging this thing out..

Wow, nice bunch of meals Kim.. I dont think I have ever just served a big old plate of sausages like that before.. I felt it my duty to serve them on a bed of greens to my friends, just to break it up.. I brought them all home from my trip to New Orleans.. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1576114 Everything looks really pretty. I especially like that tiered dessert dish.. Can you tell me about the peanuts?

Hey you two.. Really nice dishes.. I have Latin Ladles and will have to check out that recipe..

We continued walking down the street torwards Clover Grill.. We sat at the counter and were really upset to hear that they no longer make Onion Rings.. We werent going to get anything much, just an order of rings.. But after hearing they didnt have any, our decision was made.. We walked into Herman's Jewelry Store where I bought Miss A's ring and Mr Herman was in there.. He is a real character.. He reminds me of Kevin Spacey in that movie.. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil... We sat on these beautiful antique chairs and he told stories about New Orleans, gave restaurant suggestions (cafe de gaulle for dinner and Brocato's Italian Pastry Shop) and spoke about the Faulkner Society and various families around town.. We then walked to this place called Bottom Of The Barrell.. Its a great spot even for you locals to go and look for things.. Every Tuesday they get a shipment of Antiques.. This is when many of the local Antique Shops come in and buy for their own stores.. Because there prices are so cheap they are able to mark it up even after buying retail.. Got an awesome chandeler that was pretty and less expensive then things we had almost purchased in the past.. Next stop: Cochon (Part Deux) First dish Eggplant with shrimp dressing: Dish was excellent.. Whats not to love about this.. It was Miss A's Bday and she loves herself some eggplant.. She was really happy.. Fried Boudin with pickled pepper.. These things were ridiculously good.. I could eat this all day.. Perfectly cooked... Rice and pork and spices.. Oh baby.. Pickled pork tongue salad..The menu says that the pork tongue is to be served with grilled beets.. However, they had picked up these wonderful heirloom tomatoes that day.. First good tomato since last summer.. Really nice combo.. Pork cheeks with cornbread bean cake & mustard cream.. These cheeks were also fried.. With wonderful silky meat inside.. The best pork cheek dish I have ever had.. Bean cake was such a great side.. This was hot sausage with grits, peppper, and creole cream.. This was really nice. The sausages are made in house as most of the things are.. I went home with close to 6 pounds of this. They were nice enough to sell me.. When we had come here the first night, we had seen in the couple hours we ate, maybe 20 or thirty orders of this dish come flying out.. A perfectly cooked filet of redfish.. I was surprised to see the left the scales on the fish purposely..It was heavily salted so this was another indication not to eat the skin.. But the flesh was wonderful.. One of the better fish I have had in a long time.. Louisianna Cochon with turnips, cracklin, and cabbage.. I am starving just looking at this.. This was wonderfully cooked pork.. It was fall apart and wonderfully rich and flavorful.. They then shape and fried the ball.. As you hit into it, it falls apart.. Outstanding! After dinner, Miss A's bday dinner, one of the chefs, Bill came out from behind with a few shots of moonshine.. He was super nice and super cool.. He offered to show us around a little bit and to stay and drink awhile with the staff.. He took us in the back and showed us the meat on top of allowing us to buy some to take with us.. Some aging.. We left with a whole one of these guys.. These is cajun smoked pork loin..Tasso I could go on showing you various shots of meat but, you get the pictured.. Though I was very impressed the first night we went, the things we ate the second night were over the top good.. If you go, get the Pork Cheeks, get the Cochon, get that fish.. Everything else is really, really good but, those things were spectacular.. Some of the better pork dishes I have ever had.. Really special.. This restaurant really captures the local energy.. I am really so greatful to Bill and the rest of the staff there.. This will be our first stop when we return.. Miss NO, last night I cooked up some of the sausages Bill gave me..

Often times I am told that a Lucky Dog cures most liver ailments.. Can't help but think of Confederacy of Dunces.. Whats that saying, a man can not live on Oysters alone.. Love these guys.. Walking down the street we were walking in and out of various Clubs.. We followed this one amazing woman.She went from club to club going on stage, playing a set and leaving.. I was disappointed that there was only one Zydeco Band on Bourbon that day.. Love the little kids dancing with the bottle caps on their shoes.. There was only one crew of three kids out that day.. Normally there are a lot more and they look a lot tougher.. Though the tall one's shirt says "Jesus loves you but, the rest of us think you are an asshole" These kids were sweet.. This baby had beautiful striking eyes..

A simple fun meal tonight.. (i.e kitchen was just cleaned today)Had some friends over tonight.. Made a bunch of broccoli rabe.. Made garlic oil, toasted garlic chips, made asparagus too.. Just came back from New Orleans last nigh,t I cooked up different sausages I got there.. Mostly from this restaurant Cochon.. Two types of Andouille, a really nice toulouse sausage, and another canjun sausage.. Served them on top with some really nice bread.. I have been pickling breakfast radish from the green market for a few weeks.. I was going to add them but, forgot.. Coffee, grappa, and berries with a simple cream.. I picked this up on the way to get batteries for this board game we were playing..

Hows my translation "Piece of salmon served with risotto made in shrimp stock with a creamy wild mushroom fiddlehead fern mixture" Dessert sounds pretty damn interesting.. Can you give the temperature for the rice mixture.. I hope you will take pictures!

So on to Dick Brennan's Bourbon House Seafood Restaurant.. I have been here in the past and its a really fun spot.. Its nice to dip into a semi-refine spot off of Bourbon St and have a bunch of oysters.. Though its in classy surroundings and its pretty Chic, the price of oysters is still cheaper then what you can get from your local seafood shop in Manhattan.. And no one gave us a problem with me wearing a short sleeve button down, shorts, and flip flops.. We start out with a couple of drinks.. Miss A has been drinking Sazaracs since we arrived.. She is a lot tougher then I am.. I get an Abita 4 grain.. A really nice beer/wine.. Its like 11 percent.. I highly recommend trying this beer.. We then move onto Oysters Brennan.. It says just Oysters and Caviar but, there was some other spice on it.. I dont recall what it was.. Close up: Next up was the hot sampler plate.. You have oyster rock, you have bienville, and fonseca.. All were really good.. Miss A liked these oysters to Galatoires version of Rock.. I liked the herb taste and the finer chop better at Galatoires.. But at this point, its personal preference.. Fonseca is an invention of brennan's.. A plate out of many plates of raw oysters.. We were here for a couple of hours.. This is a different order.. We just ordered the oysters rock and bienville but, the accidently brought out Rockerfeller and Fonseca.. Which is very Spanish.. A mixture of peppers and shrimp.. We gave one of the oysters fonseca to our waiter who has yet to try them.. He was very brave.. As we were leaving Brennan's a couple walks in and sits at the bar next to us.. They were very LA.. Meaning the woman was wearing a Leopard Jacket in 90 degree heat.. They walk in and sit at the bar.. He asks for 2 50 dollars bills out of a hundred and calls over the man shucking oysters.. He hands him 50 bucks and tells him to go in the back and get a fresh bushel.. How they heck are we going to leave when guy is making them get fresh bushels. I am sure they are just as fresh as the ones he is doing but, we had to try them.. Which then gets us eating more oysters and we might get another 2 dozen oysters ordering 6 at a time.. Notice there are 8 oysters on this plate.. I think oyster dude was so happy he just started handing out oysters to people.. This was called a shuckers half dozen.. We finish up around 4 and its time to start listening to some music on Bourbon St..Another top notch meal with some spectacular oysters..

We were planning on it but, in the end we did not end up going.. There are too many places to go and see for 3 or 4 days. Hell,I could have spent the entire trip eating at Hansens and Parkway every day.. This only means we will have to be going back soon..

I am willing to say that it was this particular Krystal as I havent been to many or maybe even only this one.. Also, I am a die hard White Castle guy, so I might be a tad partial.. And also perhaps the time the Krystal burgers spend in the bag on the way to you, the cheese has time to melt and the mustard to heat up.. But as you can see in the photos it was a hard piece of cold cheese that didnt help the situation..

So, it was a tough go at it the other day.. Each culture has there own name and there own way of dealing with hangovers.. And though there are many different "cures" it seems that there is no one universal solution.. Perhaps because there is no real cure.. You really just need to do what makes you feel better.. For me, I try to eat the most disgusting possible thing I can get my hands on.. Something fried, something greasy, something so bad that it takes your mind off the old problems.. And since I am on vacation, a bloody mary at Pat Obrien's is quick to follow.. Going for the gold baby: I swear I normally dont look this bloated or green.. I dont know if this is my first time at Krystal or not.. The place is basically a poor mans version of a white castle.. Anytime you appreciate the quality of White Castle, you know you are in trouble... It was 10 am or so and I give them credit for serving burgers this early.. The patty was grey and room temp, the cheese was cold, the mustard was cold, and the bread was soggy.. Mmmm still interested? I am sure the first Krystal was probably really good.. Little burgers being grilled on a flat top by someone who used fresh ground beef or at least red meat.. But after many locations and many years, this is just crap.. You think they could fit my whole last paragraph on to a box? And I am not even being a snot. This stuff is expensive. At $8.50 I could have eaten a half a po boy over at Parkway.. So after Miss A watched in stunned amazement, we were on to Pat Obriens.. Home of the Hurricane Drink.. I have never been here before but was really surprised at how wonderful the Bloody Mary's are.. Most of the bloody mary places on Bourbon are too spicy for them to be helpful.. Love the fact that the place at 11 am looks like a dungeon and they keep the AC at a cool subzero temp.. Next stop Central Grocery.. Central Grocery is the tourist place that has made the mufalatta a symbol of New Orleans worldwide.. Though, I get the impression its not so popular with the locals, every person with a fanny pack in a five mile radius is bound to eat one of these babies.. Capiocola, salami, mortadella, emmental cheese and provolone cheese is how I heard it described.. The provolone wasnt really sharp however, the swiss and provo together almost made it taste like sharp provolone.. Its a good sandwich.. I found the olive salad to over power the meats.. I might think sharp provolone would be better and make it more of a Philly Style sandwich.. (Thanks to Hollyeats.com for taking me here http://hollyeats.com/Sarcones.htmIn fact, growing up on the east coast, I have had thousands of sandwiches that are very similiar.. I could see it being something special to someone from the South that doesnt have places like this.. Its good but, when I come to New Orleans, I aint eating bagels, and I dont need Italian Hero's.. Zapp's makes the best potato chips in the world.. At this point I am almost out of the hole.. We walked through a Cajun Tomato Festival for a little bit.. Not really the most exciting Festival New Orleans has.. Next stop: Brennans Oyster House.. Will continue when I get my photos in order:

What was highly negative.. I just shared an experience.. I didnt like the way the food looked.. I didnt say I didnt like the way it tasted.. Nothing to wow about.. I have eaten enough burgers to make a basic assessment.. You should be happy, more grey burgers for you..

Wow.. Sounds as good as it looks.. Beautiful..

Hey thanks Doc... Didnt write up the last couple of days and I am normally bad at doing it once the moment is over.. Today we went to Parkway Bakery and Hansens.. There is also an interesting story that involves us using a traffic cone to carry 20 pounds of meat out of Cochon last night.. Its a pretty funny actually so hopefully I get to it.. What a wonderful trip, we have lots of memories, a few Antiques, a trumpet for my buddy,a few new pieces of jewelry for Miss A, and 20 pounds of mixed Tasso, Andouille, and various other meats for me ... Its 1 am and though we were very close to extending the trip, we are happy to be home... New Orleans is officially my second favorite city.

I walked into the Five Guys in Manhattan.. I have heard so much talk about the place.. On yelp, half the people love it, the other half hate it... Eater, midtown lunch, all have discussed Five Guys to great length... Me being a burger fan, I was looking forward to at least forming my own opinion.. I walked into the place which was half full around dinner time... On my way up to the counter, I saw everyone's thin little grey patties... Fries didnt look particularly hot either.. Hot meaning good.. By the time I got to the counter , I was so turned off by the place, I couldnt bring myself to order anything.. I told myself the place stinks and I walked out... I wish them luck, the same way I want anyone to do well.. But to me, it looks nothing different then a worse version of BK or McDonalds.. I think its like this, one day there were no Five Guys. Then there were Five Guys everywhere.. One day there will be some Five Guys somewhere..

Well apparantly its nine the morning and fried chicken just dont grow on trees.. So, I have some time to finish the night.. Anyone know what time Willy Mae's opens? Port of Call So we show up here around 2 am and the place in packed.. There is a 45 minute wait for a table but, er uh, no one is sitting at the bar and you can order burgers at the bar... Ahh us clever New Yorkers. I get back from the restroom and Miss A ordered me this monstrousity.. No more fruity drinks.. I actually gave it to a person who looked like he definitely did not need it... Big A burger with a big A loaded potato.. Electric Bacon Bits.. Haha.. Should not be approached before midnight.. Kind of blurry on the details.. I remember not liking my burger and loving my potato.. There is cheese and onions and other things hiding through out the potato.. The bacon bits were too much for me.. Really liked the different sauces they have available.. I remember the BBQ sauce being amazing.. But yah, I certainly wouldnt testify to it.. Mushroom burger for the Birthday Gal..

I am telling ya.. I learned my lesson and I dont think I will be drinking that stuff anymore.. Its like the color of that rod that gets stuck to Homer Simpson during the opening clip... So happy you are coming.. Can't wait to read about your trip..

Dessert: Next up he brought out a cup custard.. The only dud of the meal.. He brought this out for free.. He actually gave us a ton of stuff for free.. Coffee Brulot a mix of spices and liquor flambe table side in a beautiful silver bowl with an antique serving piece.. Coffee: Lunch was like 130 bucks for the whole thing.. What a wonderful experience.. A beautiful day, with a beautiful girl, in a beautiful restaurant, in a beautiful city.. One of the best dining experiences of my life, one of my favorite places to be... You ask me where I want my last meal, it would be hard to convince me not to go to Galatoires.. We spent the rest of the day walking around shops, the night dancing on French Men Street.. Will finish the day later.. Sorry if there are proofreading mistakes.. I will go back to check later.. I am sitting here with a headache and I must get some fried chicken.. Happy birthday Miss A!

So we leave the hotel yesterday morning and spend some time looking at the antique shops down Royal Street.. The things they have in these shops are amazing.. Thats one thing that has always facinated me about New Orleans.. Down a particular street there will be a shop with a 250,000 Chandeleir right next to a place selling 2 dollar beads, or hurricanes or something.. The balance of classy and shady is amazing... So we line up at 1030 ready for our Friday brunch/breakfast/lunch at Galatoires... Arriving at 1030, there were only 10 people ahead of us.. As we stood in line, we spoke with several of the people, getting recommendations of where to go, and what to do... In fact through out the course of our 4 hour lunch, several of the people had come by our table to say hello and see how we were doing... Fridays at Galatoires, an amazing thing.. A loud boisterous carnival of sorts.. Woman wearing blinking headbands, waiters clinking glasses instructing the whole room to sing happy birthday to people...Old friends,new friends, family, and strangers, all having the time of their lives.. Its one the coolest things I have been apart of... The waiters here are professional waiters.. These are not aspiring actors, artists, or dreamers.. In fact they are not aspiring anything, they are the real deal.. A waiter is asigned to families and customers for there whole time working there.. Imagine having the same waiter for 40 or 50 years being there for all the special occasions you celebrate.. Are waiter comes over with no menu, just a wine list.. He hands me the wine lists and suggests/was going to do it anyway, that we start with some potatoes to start.. Potatoes that through cutting and frying at different temps come out puffed up.. Served with a side of Bernaise Sauce... Whats not to love.. The Bernaise was the thickest I have ever had.. Like a tarragon mayo I would call it.. We were in no rush mind you.. We are hanging out talking, drinking martinis, bloody mary's, champagne cocktails and I think more things... The room is just jumping.. Women are decked out, men in white pin stripe suits, all hanging out drinking there heads off... I think the first hour we were there no one had anything to eat besides the wonderful bread.. We see a plate of oysters go bye and ask the waiter for a round.. Oysters Rock.. More like a spinach souffle served over oysters.. So delicious.. There was some herb that I think was parsley added to the spinach.. With the briney oysters and just a touch of lemon that added, they were perfect.. Next up, I dont even think we ordered.. Waiter was bringing drinks and food with out us asking.. We just sat back and had an amazing time.. Normally it take me awhile to relax or decompress.. But even the waiter was saying how impressed he was with how us New Yorkers were so patient.. Haha.. Shrimp remoulade... Served cold with lots or horseraddish.. Quick shot of the room.. That waiter by the way in the photo has been working there since 1967.. I spoke with him before the restaurant was open... In the five minutes I spoke with him, I learned about his 11 year old grandson, how he was in the New York Times several times, he was also pictured in the cookbook in my favorite shot of the book.. About where he traveled around Asia and the various chess matches he has with his grandson who he sees every morning from 5 to 8 am before he goes to school.. By the way, I have like 5 or 6 shots of the room and there isnt one shot where everyone in the room isnt smiling and laughing. Its so cool to see.. Godchaux salad.. Wonderful mix of crab, creole mustard, lettuce, egg, and anchovy... The food here is straight forward and expertly prepared.. Soft shell crab with brown butter.. We make this version off the cookbook for ourselves all the time... Just wonderful. Bite: After this point we noticed him putting out steak knives.. We cried mercy and we will have the lamb another day... Dessert: Bread pudding Just beyond good.. Bananna bread pudding with praline liquor..