Friday, January 19, 2018. Stand by for evidence that I am not always in full control of my eating. Today, I eat a hamburger from Rally's. Reason: a guy called me a couple of days ago and said that he feels that Rally's is the most underrated hamburger restaurant in town. He was in ecstasy over the French fries, the straightforward burgers with mustard, pickles, and nothing else. That is more or less the combination I adopted when I first began to eat hamburgers, when I was a young teenager. He finished with the opinion that the buns were the freshest in the world.
Well. I ordered a burger that didn't appear to have a name on the menu board, as do most of the available combinations. The mustard & pickles combo was tolerable, with a soft texture and a warm temperature. The bun was just the usual soft, almost gooey kind you find in every fast-food place. The fries were genuinely crunch: the result of a light coating that adds the crunch and a not-bad-at-all flavor. I've long thought that if this development had come from a chef with a hip restaurant instead of the chain-fast-food world it would be lauded as brilliant.
Over all, I don't understand my caller's enthusiasm. I'm glad nobody saw me. Rally's restaurants are, as far as I know, all drive-through, which to my mind is intolerable. And there I was, About five blocks from Bud's Broiler, where the Covington branch of that long-running has improved a lot in the last year or two.
Okay. I arrive at the radio station and see that Mike Weldon--one of the traffic reporters--has brough the usual supply of apple-cinnamon rolls. I almost run to make sure I get one of these. On occasion, I've eaten a whole one. One is about enough for four people. Shame on me!
Then I discover some healthy-looking, full-of-greens-and fresh vegetables--in the producer Helen's office. If I had staved off my hunger with a couple of those, I would feel better about having dinner. As it is, when I leave the station, I fell as If I'd I've fed for the long haul.
At least I'm still not over my monthly hamburger quotient: 1.2 per month. I think that measure is safe for the remainder of the month. (To calculate your own burger quotient figure this:
100 ÷ (your age over 15 + number of pounds overweight)
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Saturday, January 20, 2018. Goodbye Due North. Unknown New Chef. Mark Benfatti Returns. I didn't think I could talk Mary Ann into having breakfast with me this morning. But she antes up the idea, and suggests the venue: Another Broken Egg. The original Broken Egg was (and still is) a couple of blocks off the Mandeville beach, and is busy all the time.
I was never crazy about the place in its early years, when it seemed contrived. But the original owner sold it, and the concept began to expand around the country. As that happened, oddly enough, the Egg became better.
The newest location is in what used to be Carmelo Ristorante. It always looked good, but a renovation made it roomier--the perfect feeling for this light-colored, comfortable dining room.
We each ordered dishes that amplified the Egg's style. Mary Ann ask for and got an eggs scramble (like an omelette, but with the eggs rendered into morsels). Inside and in some cases outside, it's topped or tossed with spinach, bacon, cheese, and a few other touches. My entree is a folded omelette called "Hello, Lucy." I recall that in the early days of the Egg there was a Southwestern-inspired egg dish called "Hello, Ricky." There must be a story behind that, but I don't know what it is. Whatever, it combines chorizo, tomatillo, salsa, and a few other items. It tasted okay but it striked me as a little heavy.
When I arrived to meet MA, I find her talking with Mark Benfatti. He was the creator of N'Tini's, the Chalmette-created bistro that took over the restaurant space that once was Criollo, Rockefeller's, and a few other concepts. Some months ago, N'Tini's closed, then reopened under the new name "Due North." This is the re-creation of the Legacy Kitchen which, after opening several restaurants around town with similar menus, has begun spinning them off. Part of the deal made it possible for Benfatti to take the N'Tini's back. Which he has done.
Something else he did was tell that a chef we will know will be part of the new N'Tini's. I can add no more just yet.
Another Broken Egg. Mandeville: 1901 Highway 190. 985-951-2246.
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Shrimp Calabrese
In the Italian province of Calabria (at the tip of the boot's toes), they make this dish with the true scampi or langoustini from the Mediterranean. In America, we substitute shrimp for the scampi. Cook this in a large black iron skillet; the heat-holding properties of the black iron will impart a "baked" effect to the dish. Cooking the shrimp with the heads on will enrich the sauce.
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- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper, sliced
- 10 oyster mushrooms or 5 crimini mushrooms
- 1/2 cup chopped green onion
- 1 tsp. chopped garlic
- 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
- 16 shrimp, 16-20 count, head and tail on, middle peeled
- 1/4 tsp. dry sage
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 Tbs. lemon juice
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
1. Heat the olive oil in a large black iron skillet. Saute peppers, mushrooms, green onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper over high heat.
2. After vegetables have wilted, lower heat to medium.
3. Place shrimp on top of vegetables. Cover pan and cook for about three minutes. Turn the shrimp and continue cooking until shrimp are pink.
4. Add sage, salt, and peas. Mix wine and lemon juice and pour uniformly over pan contents. Cover and let it come to a boil. Cook about another minute, then serve.
Makes four appetizers or two entrees.
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January 22, 2017
Days Until. . .
Mardi Gras--24
Valentine's Day--25
Great Restaurateurs In History
Archie Casbarian was born in Egypt today in 1936. After a career that spanned much of the world and the top of the hotel business in New Orleans, in 1978 he bought Arnaud's and restored it into the brilliant restaurant it is today. Archie died in 2010, but his restaurant was so strong that after four years it's as fine as it ever was in its long history.
Food Inventions
Today in 1959, Coors began selling its beer in aluminum cans. At the time, and for about twenty years more, Coors was only available in a few western states. That self-imposed rarity gave it a panache of excellence that it didn't deserve. When, after hearing about it for years, you finally had your first can of Coors, the sleek, light aluminum can enhanced the experience. Or it could have been that Coors was the first beer to achieve what many consumers seem to want: beer that tastes like nearly nothing.
Today's Flavor
Gourmet Gazetteer
Eaton is a ghost town on the vast fields of corn and wheat in south central Nebraska. All that's left of the smell settlement of a hundred years ago is the headquarters and storage tanks for endless stretched of flat, open land. The nearby town of Heartwell--walking distance from Eaton--is where the action is. Not enough, however, to include a restaurant. For that you have to drive ten miles west to Minden, where you find Harold Warp Pioneer Village, a combination museum, motel, and eatery. Twice a day, people on the California Zephyr--Amtrak's train from Chicago to San Francisco--are eating in the dining car as the train passes within view of Eaton. This is the seventh in a series of Gourmet Gazetteer places whose names begin with "Eat."
Annals Of Food Media
Odd coincidence: two famous television cooks were born on this date. It's the birthday (1934, London) of Graham Kerr, who in the 1960s had a television cooking show called The Galloping Gourmet. (The name came from a book he did with Australian winemaker Len Evans, in which the pair ate their way around the world in about a month.) Kerr made cooking cool, and inspired many men to take it up as a hobby. The Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith, was born today in 1939. The bearded, bowtie-wearing, slender chef wrote many cookbooks and was a fixture on television talk shows, in addition to hosting his own long-running cooking program. He appeared live on my radio show twice. His career ended abruptly after he was charged with sexual assault by several of his past and present assistants. He died in 2004.
Drinking In The Sky
Today in 1970, the first regularly-scheduled flight of the Boeing 747 took off from New York City on a six-and-a-half-hour flight to London, on PanAm World Airlines. The original design of the 747 had a lounge on the second level. A friend who traveled to France often in those days said that he spent most of the flight time standing at the 747's bar. Anything would be better than coach, I guess.
Edible Dictionary
bok choy, Chinese, n.--A leafy variety of cabbage grown in China for at least five hundred years. It is well liked there not only for its pleasant mild flavor, but also for perceived (and real) health benefits. The several varieties include some that form distinct heads, and others in which the leaves spread out widely. In both, the inner parts of each leaf are white. The name "bok choy" is a Cantonese expression meaning "white vegetable." Bok choy is almost identical to napa cabbage. It's a common ingredient in many Chinese dishes, particularly those with a Cantonese origin.
The Old Kitchen Sage Sez:
If you need to grate a cheese that's so soft that it sticks to the grater (mozzarella and Fontina come to mind), rub the inside and the outside of the grating surface with butter before you start.
Deft Dining Rule #509:
The only au gratin dish worth ordering in a steakhouse is potatoes au gratin. And even that is really just an excuse to eat more cheese.
The Saints
It is the feast day of several saints named Vincent. The one that interests us is St. Vincent of Saragossa, Spain. He is a patron saint of grape growers, and those who make everything from wine to vinegar from those grapes. So it's the feast day of both Vincent Riccobonos (the one who owns the Peppermill, and the one who owns Mattina Bella), Vincent Catalanotto of the two Vincent's Italian restaurants, Vincent Manguno, the chef at Porter and Luke, and I'm sure many more.
Food Namesakes
Sir Francis Bacon, the English philosopher and writer who has been claimed to be the "real" Shakespeare, was born today in 1561. . . The creamy-voiced soul singer Sam Cooke started cooking today in 1931. . . Chris Lemmon, actor son of Jack Lemmon, was squeezed out today in 1954. . . Illinois Congressman Melissa Bean emerged from the pod today in 1962. . . The Apple Macintosh computer, which made the mouse and the graphical user interface popular, was introduced in commercials during the Super Bowl today in 1984.
Words To Eat By
"A squid, as you know of course, has ten testicles."--Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet, born today in 1934. Since he was on live television, everybody heard and remembered this slip of the tongue.
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Unexpected Restaurant Customers Get Priority Over Tables.
Surely a potential guest who arrives by swinging in through the sky, or who reads the specials from outside the building, should get special consideration. . . right? Maybe even get his cape cleaned while there.Click here for the cartoon.