saturnbar

The NY times published a piece by Julie Powell entitled "The Julia I Cook With." Its on their pay per view program now though, unless you subscribe. It was a nice piece.

"'Hello, dear,' Mitchell says to the Leidenheimer's bread man, who has five bags of bread in each hand, splayed out under his firm grasp." I always thought Galatoires and the rest of the old liners in the Quarter got gigits from Gendusa's on Rampart. Have I always been mistaken, or is Leidenheimers a new thing? ch

Just back from lunch. True to their word, prices were low. Chicken Roulade Tchoupitoulas was $5.75. The blackened drum was $7.25. I had the aformentioned chicken which was a deboned leg stuffed with a breast and served with tasso, ham and, fried potatoes wth Bernaise Sauce. The Shrimp and Brie Champagne Cream Soup was the highpoint of the meal. I had a salad also, tipped 40% and got out of there only minus twenty bucs. The place was packed by 11:45. Funny thing was, I saw some tourists look at the menu and then take a pass. Talk about cheap. I am not sure that they are doing the special for dinner as well, in case anyone was considering it. One of my co-employees had the oyster loaf with onion rings as an appetizer, and the pork loin with oyster dressing as his entree. Now that was bold. ch

In celebration of their twenty fifth anniversary, Kpauls is serving lunch and dinner this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 1979 prices, whatever those were. Since I work across the street, I can't pass this up. I haven't eaten there in over twenty years, I hope the food is still as good. Charlie

I saw a recipe once in the Picayune which I immediatley thought sounded great for creoles, its really in the same vein as the tomato basil pie idea. Sorry I have no idea what it was called, but it was someone's idea for a great jazz fest brunch. Anyway, I lost the clipping sometime ago but the idea was to layer tomatos and egg soaked pieces of french bread into a crokery of some sort (casssoulet type thing) with parmesan, gruyere or fontina or what have you and anything else you might have handy, I would think some crispy bacon and onon confit in there would be outstanding, and bake it for a while, probably forty minutes. I would think a couple those around for any brunch would go over pretty well. But my favorite thing to do with creoles is homemade french bread pizza in the toaster oven. Slice the loaf into thin diagonal slices, put down a thin layer of cheese, swiss or what have you, pile on the creoles, onion confit, and more cheese, mixing some parmesan in is also a good idea. Bake until the cheese carmelizes or the bread starts to burn whichever comes first, usually the later, and then enjoy. I must have that for lunch every weekend at least once, during the season. Oh and drizzle some olive oil around at every stage. Cracked pepper on the tomates also. Viola. Charlie

Give me a Point Special Lager or a Leinenkugel anyday, of course you have to be in Wisconsin to get either one. I remeber pulling them out of the soda machine for loose change at Beloit College back in the day. That was living. Charlie

I see that I am confusing the two Deanies, there is one in the wharehouse district that is only open for lunch. They are not run by the same people. charlie

If you haven't left yet, Mother's is right on the way, mostly sandwiches but good. Bon Ton is good, mid to high price, they do all the old line dishes like crawfish et toufe, great bread pudding, alot of heavty stuff like crabmeat newberg (sic). Mulates would be more of the same as yesterday. Deanies is actually up about two blocks out of your way, blue plate type fair, but good. There is a Pakistani place at 201 N. Peter, very inexpensive and they serve burgers, nuggets and fries as well. Its called Salt n Pepper. Also right in the vicinty is Tommies Cuisine, creole italian medium priced. And there is a new place I haven't been to called the Tchoup Shop I believe, if you pass take a look. charlie ps, I will log in tonight if you have any more questions for tommorrow. ch

Here are a few suggestions: Pascal Manales, on Napolean, just two blocks up from St. Charles so you can take the streetcar, not far past the Garden District which is great area for a walk. Great raw oyster bar and the bbq shrimp poorboy is to die for. Uglesich's if you will be here in May, I am pretty sure they close in June. Great for lunch, very rustic dilapidated looking place, but its an institution, great great seafood dishes. All the local chefs eat here for inspiration,a nd to pay homage to old man Uglesich. Bravo, on St. Charles, a few blocks up from Lee Circle, alright its chain, but it is very very very kid friendly. They have butcher paper tableclothes and provide crayons, great chicken fingers, good pizza, and they hand the kids raw piza dough to play with, and will bake it for you. We eat there all the time. My kids love it. The rosted portobello mushroom app. is good and so is the ravioli. Voodoo bbq also on St. Charles, very near Bravo, great pulled pork and brisket sandwiches. Low key, inexpensive. Commanders Palace; that's right, the best value in all New Orleans is Commaders luch special. Three or four course for under $20 and I am sure they can make up something for the kids like fried shrimp. Stuffy palce at night but plenty laid back during the day. Ask if the chef's table is open for lunch and eat in the kitchen. Just about everywhere in the quarter is pretty kid friendly because they have to be. The Napolean house, Masperos, or Acme would be fine. If you are near City Park or the Museum, the streetcar goes out there now, Cafe Degas is a good bet. Simple french food, open air on a porch. Very casual. Just a few blocks from the entrance to the museum on Esplanade. I think Mayhaw Mans suggestion for Mandinas is a fine one. Its on Canal Street, which is now also on the newly opened Canal Street Stretcar line. Nothing haute here, but they know how to fry at Mandinas and it shows. Of course there is always Camelia Grill which for some reason is very popular with the tourists. Its really just a diner, but very historic, I guess. The chocolate freezes are good though, and they amke a good hamburger. In the same area (Riverbend, St. Charles and Carrollton)is Dante Kitchen, on Dante Street, nicley prepared lunch ffod, with an open air area. Sugar Magnolias on Magazine St. has simple well cooked fair. They have a nice balcony. Its in an old buiding and has charachter. Near the Aquarium is Mothers on Poydras, great breakfast spot and good sandwiches. Home of the Ferdi. Lastly, Dick and Jenny's on Ttchoupitoulas just down form Tipitinas, a very popular restaurant with the locals. The food is not very kid friendly, but they are very laid back there. Very Casual dress code. Give them a call and see what they can for you. Enjot your trip. Charlie Ps, the swamp tour is fun, I went when some friends visited.

Photos from Dunbars. Very impressive. That may be a first. Next time your down check their specials lineup and shoot for crawfish bisque. I think they are the last remaining bastion of stuffing the heads. Not to be missed. ch

I am glad to see that Galatoire's is consistently on everyone's must eat list for New Orleans. It is a truly unique institution. But I am wondering what is everyone's favorite dish? I must say that I found the menu quite intimidatiing on my first few visits, many years ago, and whenever I went, my comrades were consistently ordering something off the menu, which gave me little guidance. Now it seems that I don't even get a menu before its time to order. The inordinate number of cocktails that usually proceed any actual eating probably has something to do with my current malaise. Lately, it seems that I just get a filet with bernaise, and perhaps a small salad with some crabmeat maison on top. If I feel like fish I just ask what's fresh and get them to serve it with crabmeat and hollandaise. I'm in a rut and I need to get out. Need your suggestions. Charlie

Fat Tony, I have been driving a 22.5 for twenty years and you won't go wrong there. Its an incredibly verstile piece of equiptment. I have cooked two pork butts at a time, and a whole untrimmed brisket on it with great success. Shish kabobs, salmon, steaks, and chicken. The beauty of a weber is in the air flow. You can adjust to get any temperature you are looking for with the upper and lower air vents. And you can start out with a sear and then transfer over to the cool side and pop the top the top on for a good roast. I find it far superior to any smoker, and I have tried a few. The problem with most smokers is that by default there is way too little air flow to sustain a fire for more than a few hours. Might be able to do some ribs but just try to cook a whole brisket. The problem with most movable grill height rigs is that they are way to close to to the fire from the get go, and won't let you get any higher. Try bbqing some chicken in that configuration and you will be in for some very dark meat. The great thing about the weber is that the meat is far enough away from the coals that when the dripping fat cathches flame the meat is not so close that is just burns up. I am not familiar with the Kamado or the big egg, but they look a little pricey, save your money for some veal loin chops. Hope this helps. ch Ps. The folks at Weber are great and the availability of spare parts is a plus. Like a classic Ford, you could keep a Weber going almost indefinately.

For a ham product we usually use a smoked ham hock. Unfortunately, I doubt that is readily available in the windy city. A friend of mine starts with minced tasso which is quite good as well. Also for sausage I recommend the Hilshire farms smoked sausage. While its overly processed, it is somewhat smokey which adds to the flavor. As a variation on the creamy theme you could also get a small portion of beans going before the bulk goes in. Lately I find that cooking the beans over high heat actually helps keep them from sticking. The rolling boil just keeps everything in the pot moving around. At some point you need to go low though or it will stick. ch

I am pretty sure the Palm did originate in NY, but I believe it became a larger success in DC and it is the siganture fatcat-lobbyist-politico restaurant in Washington. There is an element of bravado over who orders the biggest lobster, frequently with a side of filet mignon. Really, I threw the surf and turf thing out simply because there just isn't a signature dish for the District. The problem with DC is that there are few if any real ethnic neighborhoods that evolved in the city such that a particular cuisine or dish could be associated with a large area of the city. ch

How about surf and turf for Washington. I am thinking of the Palm. ch

There is a place of legendary stature down here (New Orleans) just outside of town that serves a dish they call Chicken al la grande. I am not sure it falls squarley into the category of roasted chicken, anyway, they cut up a whole chicken, not into the normal pieces, leg, thigh, breast, etc., but into much smaller units, with the bone, and then either pan or oven fry it all in a ton of olive oil, garlic and rosemary. There is no batter or breadcrumbs mind you. I would say it is something akin to a confit, although there is much more carmelization. There is hardly a soul in New Orleans that hasn't been to Mosca's, and everyone has chicken al la grande, and of course, oysters mosca. They also make a cacciatore, which is basically al la grande with a rich tomato sauce thrown in for good measure.