New Orleans Louisiana, eats and such
we took off down I49, driving south. somehow I mentioned to kat that Natchitoches was famous for their meat pies. didn't take long before we were off the highway, and driving into the historic area of Natchitoches. kat was working her yelp to find us a place to eat.
we had a nice lunch at the landing. we also had the fried green tomatoes and some fried oysters.
we arrived in new orleans a bit late, but made the best of our time and set out for our previously scheduled happy hour.
we made it for happy hour but the spaces indoors were all taken, and there was already a three hour wait for a table for dinner. we braved the cold and the wind and sat out front.
small plates are only $5 for happy hour, the crab claws with remoulade were really good. the buffalo oysters seen below were interesting (wouldn't order them again). delicous fried oyster with blue cheese and buffalo style wing sauce on toast.
then the wind picked up, and we got cold. we'd failed to make any dinner reservations, we set off on foot through the french quarter with no destination. but, we didn't have to walk far.
SoBou (W hotel French Quarter) we spied the dining room from the cold and windy street, it was so beautiful in there. a seamless blend of modernism with an antique feel. with no reservations I went in and groveled. they gave us a great space at the back of the bar, we had a whole area to ourselves and it was perfect.
the scallop carpaccio was really, really, good.
those are tuna cones, fun.
butternut squash begniets (top plate) and fried boudin balls.
Cafe Du Monde: no trip to New Oleans would be complete without begniets from this place. will probably skip it next time. been there done that, too much sugar.
Drago's is famous for their charbroiled oysters. we sat at the oyster bar and watched. they had three big grills all working at the same time. they'd load them up and battle the flames, serve and repeat.
we met up with our good friend CMoore for some pre dinner cocktails at the Carousel bar at the hotel Monteleone. yes, the whole bar rotates. gotta keep track of the exit and bathrooms as they keep moving from your seat at the bar.
Bayona: I'd read about Susan Spicer's famous Bayona and their garlic soup. I made reservations for kat and I to try some. (didn't take big camera). I also didn't take a pic of the garlic soup,, it looks a lot like fresh made peanut butter. we liked it quite a bit.
(sweet breads above and duck below)
New Year's Eve 2012:
I knew that the Bayona garlic soup recipe had been published years ago. I made a big pot of it for NYr's eve. I rarely follow a recipe but I tried real hard to do so. I did use cibatta instead of french bread and I also added a splash of VSOP cognac.
we dined by candle light (#2 son didn't want his picture taken so he tripped the shutter for me)
I used the sous vide to make beef tenderloin. I had made a sauce from mushroom, garlic, onion and dijon mustard for them to bath with in their bags. one of the best fillet's we ever ate! and now that it's 2013... I don't eat meat again for a while. so I had a good steak to close out 2012.
I had the steaks in the sous vide for 7 hours at 133F. my dad gave me a cool laser type surface temp reader. so now I have redundant temp meters to ensure my meat is cooked to an exact temp.