One of the highlights of every trip to New Orleans
has always been the visit to Galatoire's for a
blowout meal. I've been there a bunch of times with
various friends, of whom you know Lilli, Benita,
Carol Bryant, and Ian and Jacquie, and at one time
I was actually known here and had a particular
waiter, Imre, who took care of me. It's been a
bunch of years since I've been, and I returned
witn my friend Bonnie to a spiffed-up but still
genteelly shabby place with all new staff whom
I didn't know from Adam and vice versa. I asked
after Imre and was told that he retired about a
year ago.

My usual table (drafty, by the bricked-up fireplace)
was reserved, plus Bourbon Street was particularly
noisy, so we asked to be seated in the next room.
The service by our waitress was willing and friendly
but shall we say not so elegant as before.

As we were having a mixed meal, we had half bottles
of red and white. Sirene de Giscours 09 is the
second wine of the extremely famous and overpriced
Giscours. This is quite good but not overpriced
except in restaurants. It was rich and beautiful,
not quite so eminent perhaps as its parent, but
complex and with good body, and I certainly would
not have been able to afford the real thing from a
vintage this eminent (arguably the second best year
of the young millennium in Bordeaux). Classic -
cigar box, blackcurrant, tannins softening and just
ready to drink. The Petite Sirene de Giscours blanc 15
was not so successful but perfectly okay, a wine of no
particular interest except for a strange little hint
of nutmeg, which indicated a touch of Muscadelle in
with the Sauvignon Blanc (I find this grape okay in
Bordeaux but not in most other parts of the world).

I most often used to get the stuffed eggplant here.
It was a hollowed-out eggplant shell broiled and then
filled with a mixture of the flesh sauteed in butter
and crabmeat in a cream sauce. Having a hankering for
the olden days, I ordered a main course portion split
between us for an appetizer. What came was what looked
like two full portions but instead of a nice light
stuffing, there was this brown muck with an ounce of
lump crabmeat on top. It was essentially crabcake
filling, well seasoned with thyme but still mostly
bread, with Parmesan and some crab, billed as native
but adulterated with something with long strands, I am
afraid possibly surimi. It was a major disappointment.
Bonnie didn't eat all of hers and gave it to me, so I
got to find out that hers had more crab, fewer crab
shell bits, and less cheese - i.e., quite a bit better.

For her main, she got the house bouillabaisse, which is
a quite suave tomato broth with crab, shrimp, oysters
(a very peculiar but locally appropriate), fish of the
day (salmon!), and of all things grits. A very strange
dish, partly good. The oysters added texture to the
broth and a mild flavor. The grits added annoyance.

I got the pan-seared duck breast, duck "confit,"
dirty rice - good, bad, and indifferent in that order.
The breast (Maple Leaf Farm) was delicious, but as I had
ordered it rare, the skin was flabby - the way to fix
this, as any CIA undergraduate knows, is with a
blowtorch. The confit was just stewed - no richness, no
saltiness, no nothing. Dirty rice, made with ground
liver and gizzards, was sort of eh, tasteless, flat,
stale, and unprofitable, as they say.

For afters we split the creme caramel, which was almost
as resilient as a jelly candy. The taste was not bad;
the texture was not good.

The mighty hath fallen, and how.
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On 12-20-18 08:07, Michael Loo <=-
spoke to All about 700 Galatoire's <=-

One of the highlights of every trip to New Orleans

December is the month that we most often go to NO. There is a lot going
on, e.g. concerts in the Basilica.

has always been the visit to Galatoire's for a

But we do not tend to visit the "named, upscale" restaurants --
preferring to seek out the mid priced, hole-in-the-wall places.

The single exception was when we went there on a Road Scholar tour.
They took us to several of the upscale places. Commander's Palace for
lunch was quite nice.


MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: DARK HORSE LENTIL SOUP
Categories: Soups
Yield: 4 Servings

1 Red chile
1 ts Cumin seeds
2 lg Onions, chopped
2 Garlic cloves
1 c Lentils (you can use one or
-more types)
2 lg Tomatoes, chopped
2 Green peppers, chopped
1 Bay leaf
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

From George Harrison. Original recipe from "Mary Frampton and Friends
Rock and Roll Recipes." Doubleday, 1980.

Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan. When oil is good and hot,
add the red chile and cumin seeds. When the seeds stop sputtering,
brown the onions and garlic in seasoned oil.

In a separate deep pan, wash the lentils in plenty of water. When
clean, liberally cover with water. When the onions are browned, add
them to the pan of lentils. Now add the tomatoes, peppers, bay leaf,
salt and pepper. Potatoes and carrots and small boiling onions may be
added for a more substantial meal.

Bring to a boil, cover and turn down to very low heat. The soup is
ready to serve in an hour and tastes even better the next day.
Submitted By MICHAEL ORCHEKOWSKI On 08-10-95

MMMMM


... Shipwrecked on Hesperus in Columbia, Maryland. 02:58:31, 21 Dec 2018
___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30

--- Maximus/NT 3.01
* Origin: Owl's Anchor (1:261/1466)

On 01-08-19 12:36, Michael Loo <=-
spoke to Dale Shipp about 790 Fried Chicken an <=-

other places. The food scene was a cut above our normal, but probably a
cut below yours (except for lunch at Commander's Palace). Most

There are a zillion second-tier places I've not
had the opportunity to sample in New Orleans but
would like to - the Gumbo Shop, Evangeline's, Coop's,
and of course Superior Seafood. If I ever find myself
in that city with echo people, I'd be tempted by
Dooky Chase's as well.

Dooky Chase's did look tempting. We tend to go to places that are a
moderate to short walk from where we are staying. For DC, we'd probably
take a cab.

I have to nix The Gumbo Shop for you, and for us anytime in the future.
It used to be one of our must visit stops. But the last time we were
there on our own, it had really gone downhill. I had a combo platter of
red beans, jambolaya, and crawfish etoufee. I'd had that same combo
there multiple times on previous trips. This time the crawfish etoufee
tasted like a poor rendition of shrimp creole using tomato sause with
almost no seasoning. The jambolaya was more like our fried rice (but
not even as good as that) than the spicy dish from previous occasions.
As to the red beans and rice -- I've had better as a side dish at a
Tex-Mex restaurant.

This recipe does not specify which sort of mushrooms to use. We have graduated from using the typical white button mushrooms to using the
baby portabella mushrooms. Essentially the same price and they have
more flavor. Maybe someday we will go up another notch:-}}

To what? Firm button mushrooms, brown or white,
are ideal for this recipe.

They are small brown versions of portobella mushrooms.


MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: FRENCH PATE
Categories: Pates, Appetizer, Masterchefs, Norleans
Yield: 4 servings

2 lb Veal, shoulder, cubed
1 lb Pork, shoulder, cubed
1 lb Chicken, livers
2 ea Duck, breasts, cut in
-- strips, chicken breasts
-- may be substituted
2 c Wine, white
6 ea Bay leaves
1 ts Rosemary
1 ts Thyme
1/4 lb Fatback, thinly sliced
3/4 lb Fatback, cubed
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
1 tb Allspice
2 ts Thyme
1/3 c Flour
2 lg Eggs
2 oz Brandy

Put the meat in a bowl and add wine, bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon
of thyme. Let the mixture marinate in the refrigerator for 2 days.

: Line a terrine with the pork fat.

: Grind up the meats (except the duck) and toss in a bowl with
salt, pepper, allspice, and 2 teaspoons thyme, flour, eggs, and
brandy.

: Pack half of the mixture into the lined terrine.

: Add the duck breasts and fat strips, then cover with the
remaining forcemeat.

: Cover the contents of the terrine with foil and a good lid (to
weight it down and keep the filling from puffing up and running over
the side) and bake in a larger pan filled with water to half the
depth of the terrine.

: Bake at 280 F for 2 to 3 hours or until the juices are clear.

: Remove lid and cool.

: Source: Great Chefs of New Orleans, Tele-record Productions
: : Box 71112, New Orleans, Louisiana - 1983
: : Chef Gerard Crozier, Crozier's Restaurant, New Orleans
Downloaded from the WWW site of Dave & Georgette Burnside
www.synapse.net/~gemini/mealmast.htm

MMMMM


... Shipwrecked on Hesperus in Columbia, Maryland. 00:07:10, 09 Jan 2018
___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30

--- Maximus/NT 3.01
* Origin: Owl's Anchor (1:261/1466)