BrooksNYC

Traditional Creole bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts. Might there be a way to transcribe a conventional recipe so as to insure more consistent results? The wildcard in any bread pudding is the bread. Bread with too dense a crumb will produce a doorstop pudding. Nor is it enough for a recipe to specify, for example, "French" bread. Ten different bakeries will produce ten different loaves of "French." Conventional recipes for bread pudding will usually call for "X cups of stale bread, cut into half-inch cubes." Is measuring bread the best way to insure that ten cooks using ten different breads will get similar results? What about weighing the bread instead of measuring it? I'm not a professional baker, so I'm not really sure what's critical here. Volume of bread in the pan? Absorbency? I'd be grateful if one of you pros would chime in on this. My New Orleans grandmother had a great cook who cooked entirely by feel. She'd made her bread pudding so many times that "French bread as long as two hands, minus a couple of inches," was as precise as she needed to be. Even after I'd translated "hands" into "cups," my attempts to replicate her pudding resulted in one airy triumph and one brick. In the case of the brick, I'd used the right measurements, but the wrong bread. Thanks for your help!

Well, bless him. He's raking it in as an architect, and that's good. STILL.....I hope he doesn't abandon his hunt for a new pubisher. In a just universe, that book would be in its third printing by now. (Besides which, it's a nice gift, and I'm sick of buying it from used-book sellers at quadrupel the price!)

Mayhaw Man, Feb 13 2005, 05:44 PM SAID: Yeah, you rite! An' kin you believe we got da same name? Das sump'm, huh? I'm a New Orleans boy. Well....hardly "boy." I came to NYC to attend college, and am still here, centuries later. I get back to N.O. once or twice a year, mostly to see family, but also to reaffirm my regional identity. I've loved perusing the Louisiana board. You're a terrific moderator (or boss-man, referee, Thread Commissar, or whatever they call it around here). Let's hook up for some grub next time I'm home, whatcha say? Thank you kindly for the welcome! Brooks

Crackers or sliced rounds of chewy French (or sourdough) bread spread with lightly-salted roasted almond butter (don't get the raw stuff) and topped with Olive Salad from New Orleans' Central Grocery. Use the freshest almond butter you can find. Buy it at a store with good product turnover, check the expiration date, and refrigerate the jar after opening. This odd snack will not work with peanut butter.

I'm bringing a friend to New Orleans in April -- her first time to the city. We're having our first dinner at Upperline. Can't wait! Can anyone here recall if the restaurant does Cafe Brulot? This may prove to be overkill on top of a "WOW" meal, but it is our first evening in New Orleans, and I'd like my Yankee friend to have that "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" feeling. Few things scream "not-Kansas" like a flaming orange peel dangled over coffee. I know Cafe Brulot is served in the old-guard joints, and if necessary I can hold off till Galatoire's (or Commander's, Arnaud's....wherever). Thanks!

I couldn't agree more. There are many superb cocktail books on the market, but Paul Harrington's Cocktail: The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century holds a special place in my heart for being such a stylish and beautifully written volume. I'll never understand why it went out of print. What is Paul Harrington up to these days?

Here's a link to an Amazon review of the Zojirushi rice cooker I bought years ago, and which I still use three or four times a week. Zojirushi rice cooker Zojirushi cookers have a great reputation, and there's a model to suit every budget. Amazon carries many other brands as well. My rice cooker makes brilliant rice, and this particular model is a good size for one or two people. And it's adorable. Remember how automobiles looked in cartoon shorts from the 1940s -- always smiling and friendly? This rice cooker has that same "smiling car" quality. Maybe I've been single too long, but I do appreciate a friendly appliance.