Club OTB

It’s now early December and the freezing weather has finally hit New Jersey, and that’s made the prospect of outdoor exercise now within the domain of the hardcore weather lovers or what I like to call “Crazy People”. Personally, I prefer to do my exercise in moderate temperature environments, and I like having the convenience of being able to do it all in my home without having to join health clubs.

For the last nine months or so, my basement — which includes the two offices that Rachel and I use for work — has been completely unusable. During the heavy rains of the April 2007 “Once in a hundred years” Nor’easter storm, the basement was flooded with six inches of water. Certainly, as damage goes, its nothing when compared with entire houses that were destroyed by Katrina, or the other houses in nearby towns that got several feet of raw sewage overflow, but it did suck big time. Our insurance didn’t cover it and we found ourselves having to take out a decent size loan and have a very expensive waterproofing system installed, and then having the basement refinished again. Its only been in the last week or so that we’ve had our washers and dryer back online, and that we’ve been able to move things back into our offices.

I had originally planned to put a nice home theater system down in the basement after it had been fixed, but plans change — I decided to turn it into a gym instead. A very close friend of mine wanted to offload several thousand dollars worth of health-club quality equipment that he had bought two years before sit and collect dust — a Parabody GS6 system with optional leg press and extra accessories, plus a dumbbell rack with a full set of weights. I was very happy to take it off his hands, for less than half the price he paid for it.

Here is the basement space, with plastic vapor barrier material that we bought from Home Depot being put into place, which sits between the concrete floor and interlocking padded flooring material which we bought on sale at Amazon. The padded floor will be a base for the gym set — and provides impact cushioning when walking and doing exercises on the floor.

Here’s the equipment all set up, with the padded interlocking flooring material in place, although we haven’t cut the material that will flush with the wall yet. I’m planning on mounting a LCD flat panel TV set on the back wall, so we can watch it when we are using the treadmill (which up to now has been collecting dust for about 12 years).

New Orleans Dining: Commander’s Palace

Click Here for Hi-Res Slide Show with More Photos!

Commander’s Palace
1403 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA
(504) 899-8221

Web Site: http://www.commanderspalace.com

New Orleans is a restaurant and tourism city that is by all accounts undergoing a slow and painful recovery since the tragic events of August and September 2005. Still, there have been some amazing examples of businesses on the rebound, culturally significant restaurants such as Willie Mae’s, Dooky Chase, Mandina’s, Angelo Brocato’s and Camelia Grill, that were damaged so severely from the levee flooding that many thought they would never return, but eventually did.

But perhaps the most significant of all has been the return of Commander’s Palace, the legendary flagship restaurant of the Brennan family, the most prominent restaurant family in the entire city. Commander’s is an extremely important institution in the restaurant culture of New Orleans, and has launched the careers of both Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse, the two most visible practitioners of Cajun and Creole cuisine in the United States.

When Katrina hit, Commander’s was severely damaged by hurricane winds and flooding. After renovations taking over a year, the restaurant re-opened on October 1st, 2006.

Highlights from Commander’s Palace, as it appeared in our previous visit in November of 2003. It was and shall remain one of the most enjoyable dining experiences we have ever had in New Orleans.

Commander’s Palace as it appears today, post-renovation. The outside appears just as it was prior to Katrina, but the inside has undergone an incredible transformation.

Commander’s is still a favorite among the city’s elite and high society. This is a classic late 1970’s Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow sedan belonging to a well-known Jazz trumpet player.

This rule is actually very strictly enforced. I had the misfortune of being dressed in long shorts when I walked in for our dinner reservation. I was told very nicely to go back to my hotel and put some pants on, which I did graciously.

The historical plaque next to the front door.

Commander’s Palace rises from the flood waters, and is even more grand and over-the-top than ever before. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

New Orleans Dining: Angelo Brocato

Click Here for Hi-Res Slide Show!

Angelo Brocato Ice Cream
214 N. Carrolton Ave.
New Orleans, LA
504-486-0078

Web Site: http://www.angelobrocatoicecream.com

Angelo Brocato looks like it would be completely at home in Boston’s North End, Manhattan’s Little Italy or on Arthur Avenue in the Belmont section of the Bronx. But it’s not — it’s on one of the busiest streets in New Orleans’ Mid-city district. The famous ice cream parlor opened in 1905 in The French Quarter, where Croissant D’Or Patisserie resides now. It moved to its current location in the 1970’s.

Shortly after the shop celebrated its 100th birthday, fate intervened. On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the city and the rest, of course, is history. Sadly, Angelo Brocato was one of the worst hit businesses when the levees broke — over four feet of water poured into the shop and destroyed absolutely everything. Many thought that the place would never be rebuilt, but optimism was high in the Brocato family and announcements were made that the legendary gelato/pastry store and cafe would again re-open.

The trademark neon sign on North Carrolton Avenue.

The Angelo Brocato store, as it was, in June of 2005, just two months prior to its destruction. During that particular visit we went to Brocato’s two times. During the evenings the store was packed, even late at night, and it’s not unusual to have to wait on line even past 10PM.

A selection of gelato treats from the pre-Katrina store.

Did New Orleans get its Gelato back? Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

New Orleans Dining: Willie Mae’s Scotch House

Click Here for Hi-Res Slide Show!

Willie Mae’s Scotch House
2401 Saint Ann St, New Orleans, LA
(504) 822-9503

Many restaurants in New Orleans can legitimately call themselves cultural landmarks. And yet, when Hurricane Katrina came, the levees broke and the city flooded, there was a very short list of foodie destinations in the affected areas where I thought it would be a monumental tragedy if they never returned to business again. Magnificent restaurants like Commander’s Palace. Neighborhood hangouts like Angelo Brocato’s. And little holes in the wall like Willie Mae’s Scotch House, which is arguably the fried chicken Mecca of the United States and has huge historical value to the civil rights movement, much like the original Paschal’s in Atlanta.

It was a huge, Herculean task to bring Willie Mae’s Scotch House back from the dead. The water line from the flooding was several feet high, and the entire restaurant had to be gutted to the studs. A huge volunteer reconstruction project started in January of 2006 funded by over $200,000 in donations solicited by the Southern Foodways Alliance eventually resulted in the re-opening of the restaurant in May of 2007 (A short SFA film directed by filmmaker Joe York, “Saving Willie Mae’s Scotch House” chronicled the project.)

Upon re-opening of the restaurant, Ms Seaton, age 90, relinquished her place as head cook to her great granddaughter, Kerry Blackmon. However, despite organizational changes, the Fried Chicken is as great as ever.

Willie Mae’s Scotch House on Saint Ann Street in New Orleans, August 29 2007, two years to the day that Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city.

It was fitting that we got to eat at Willie Mae’s on August 29. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

New Orleans Dining: Cochon

Click Here for Hi-Res Slideshow!

Cochon
930 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA
(504) 588-2123

Web Site: http://www.cochonrestaurant.com/

One of the restaurants in New Orleans I most wanted to dine at was COCHON, a new, Post-Katrina casual fine dining restaurant that was opened by Donald Link, of Herbsaint fame and 2007 James Beard Award Winner for Best Chef, South (click for previous OTB podcast) who I interviewed during my previous New Orleans trip back in April of 2006. At the time, the finishing touches of COCHON had just been done, and the restaurant was preparing to open only days after I returned home. Now, over a year later, COCHON has become one of New Orleans’ top restaurants, and was nominated as “Best New Restaurant” in the 2007 James Beard Awards.

Best described as “Modern Cajun” COCHON incorporates many elements of traditional Cajun cuisine combined with twists from Europe and Asia. Although the food and the restaurant would easily find itself in New York’s hip SoHo and Greenwich Village or among the top fine dining establishments in Midtown Manhattan, it is most definitely a New Orleans restaurant and one of the city’s finest examples at that.

Exterior, Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans

Entrance View

Dining Room

Table Closeup

Is COCHON Hillbilly or Haute? I think it’s a bit of both. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

New Orleans Dining: Grand Isle

Click for Hi-Res Slideshow!

Grand Isle
575 Convention Center Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 520-8530

Web Site: http://www.grandislerestaurant.com

Despite the huge amount of destruction and displacement caused by Hurricane Katrina, restaurant life is still quite alive in New Orleans. In addition to a number of notable re-openings and renovations of popular and long standing restaurants, there have been a number of notable new restaurant openings as well. One of those is Grand Isle, in the Central Business District located right across from the Riverwalk shopping center and the Hilton hotel, and situated close to the Morial Convention Center.

We had been told about Grand Isle by local food writer Todd Price, who is always looking for good deals when eating out. During the hours between 4PM and 7PM, Grand Isle does a happy hour where you can get a big ‘ol plate of boiled seafood for $3.99. As it was shrimp season, they were offering 1lb plates of boiled Gulf Shrimp with corn and potatoes. That’s all it took to get us in the door.

Grand Isle restaurant on Convention Center Boulevard.

Main Dining Room

Dining Room View

Bar Dining Area

Oyster Bar

Rachel was still a bit under the weather and was in a soupy mood. We got some of their Turtle Soup, which is similar to a Gumbo but has turtle meat in it. It was turtlelicious.

Big ‘ol 1lb plate of Louisiana gulf shrimp, heads on, boiled in Zatarains, with corn on the cob and new potatoes. You can’t beat this deal for $3.99. At these prices, I was inclined to order a few more plates, but I wanted to check out the new Drago’s across the street and we had another dinner appointment that evening.

Shrimp closeup.

Atlanta Dining: Mary Mac’s Tea Room

Mary Mac’s Tea Room
224 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA
(404) 876-1800

Web site: http://www.marymacs.com/ 

One of my objectives this week was to have a sit down, traditional Southern meal in a classic setting. While I have had some good Soul Food examples in Florida and New York City recently, they were both modern restaurants, and the last time I had a truly exceptional Southern/Soul Food experience that could be considered to be truly classic would be at Willie Mae’s Scotch House in New Orleans, back in May of 2005. Willie Mae’s was destroyed by flooding three months later as a result of the levvee breaches following Hurricane Katrina, and it is in the late stage of being rebuilt — so I probably won’t be able to have another meal in there for at least several months. When I heard of Mary Mac’s Tea Room, a similar, but more upscale (and much larger) Southern/Soul Food restaurant in the Poncey-Highland section of Atlanta, which has been around since the 1940’s, I jumped at the chance to eat there.

Fried Chicken, Cornbread, Okra and Tomatoes. Click on the “read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

All About Andouille

Related OTB Podcast: Wayne Jacob’s AndouilleCAST

Those of you who are following the New Orleans Saints super bowl aspirations may be considering cooking up a pot of jambo or gumbo this weekend. Andouille, a type of smoked sausage (pronounced ON-Dooey) is a critical ingredient in Cajun cooking, and is an essential part of many Jambalaya and Gumbo recipes.

The content of this post previously appeared on another web site back in 2005, a few months prior to hurricane Katrina hitting the New Orleans area, but I thought it might be timely and of interest to all of you. Go Saints!

La Place, Louisiana is pretty much considered to be one of the key centers of Cajun specialty meat production in the state. For an interesting article on andouille and La Place, read this piece by Pableaux Johnson.

Wayne Jacob’s Smokehouse
769 W 5th St # A, La Place, LA 70068.
Main Phone: (985) 652-9990
Fax: (985) 652-0999.

We arrived to a somewhat ramshackle-looking building that included a small restaurant, and a small counter and fridge where you can buy Andouille, Smoked Sausage, Tasso, and Beef Jerky. Brooks made the place sound like it was a big operation like Poche’s, but it wasn’t.

As it turns out, after discussing all things Andouille with David, the smoke master and butcher at Wayne Jacob’s, that we came to the “wrong” Jacob’s, and he was glad that we did. Wayne Jacob’s Smokehouse is the genuine heir to the original Jacob’s Andouille recipe, and they’ve been producing it for many years. The OTHER Jacob’s Andouille, also located in La Place, which is much more well known and is a much larger operation, uses preservatives and heavy nitrates in order to make their product shippable and thus has a USDA certification. Wayne Jacob’s Smokehouse,on the other hand, only can sell locally, because its goods are highly perishable, even though they are salted and smoked. David encouraged me to compare his product to Jacob’s Andouille, and he invited me to watch him make the product to show me how superior it was. I took him up on it.

Here is finished andouille, after smoking in one of the 4 smokehouses for 10-12 hours.

This is a cross section of a smoked andouille sausage.

Want to see how its made? Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

SHAME on Alan Richman

Photo: A montage of some of New Orleans’ best culinary delights (Jason Perlow)

The food blogging and professional food writing community is afire (1) (2) (3) (4) in response to Alan Richman’s most recently published cruel, callous, ignorant, poorly researched and factually vacant piece of trash that presents his myopic and predjudicial view of New Orleans restaurants and food culture. Shame on Alan Richman for writing it, and shame on GQ for allowing such a terrible and badly written piece to go to print.

The total sum of Richman’s factual inaccuracies, ignorance and complete lack of research in his article are too numerous to mention.

If anyone wants easy proof to refute every single stupid point in his article, have a look at the New Orleans section of this web site, which has in-depth reviews and photos of the food at many of the city’s top eateries, plus podcasts with several of the city’s most prominent chefs:

Off The Broiler: New Orleans (click for index)

Certainly as a self-admitted and culturally biased and egotistical New Yorker who also believes his town is the center of the universe, I could also have said the same stupid things that Richman is saying. But the difference is I’ve spent a lot of time in New Orleans and Richman clearly has not.

For the past several years, my wife Rachel and I have been visiting the City of New Orleans, because we love the food and have such a strong emotional attachment to the city. We visited the city in 2003, we had a trip in 2005 (just 2 months prior to Katrina devastating the city) and most recently a trip in April of 2006, all of which is detailed here.

I think that while it is extremely important that we remember those lost to Katrina and the devastating effect it has has on the city of New Orleans, that we also rejoice in that New Orleans is rebuilding, and that New Orleans is still a great place to visit in terms of gastrotourism and that the food is still fantastic, and that you really should all be going down and spending your vacations and money there to help bring the city back.

Jason Perlow

Founder, eGullet.com

Blogger of Off The Broiler (http://www.offthebroiler.com)

It’s Satsuma Time Again!

Updated 11/3: Welcome Chow.com visitors!

Photo: A supremed Louisiana Satsuma. (Jason Perlow)

It’s the beginning of November, so you know what that means! No, not time to start stocking up with on-sale leftover bags of HFCS-laden industrial confections for last week’s costumed brats. It’s time for Satsumas! Yes, the juicy and wonderful loose-skinned Mandarins that come from Southern Louisiana.

If you’ve never had Louisiana citrus before, it is sensational and a true eye opener, and totally worth the premium of having it shipped to you. Louisiana only produces a fraction of the produce that Florida and California does, but in my opinion the Satsumas that are grown in Louisiana are far superior to mandarins grown in those states and the clementines brought in from Spain. The Southern Louisiana climate is ideal for these fruits, which have a highly aromatic peel that is literally almost falling off in the first place and are absolutely brimming with sweet and tangy juice.

Here’s a bit of interesting info from Charles over at LaLagniappe.com:

“Orange trees will only survive Louisiana winters in the areas near the Gulf of Mexico. Even in those areas, we usually have a severe freeze every 10 years or so that cause major damage to the orchards. But we’re a persistent bunch and always replant and try again <grin>. Most orchards were southeast of New Orleans, along the Mississippi River as it heads into the Gulf. That was the area hardest hit by Katrina. Most of those orchards were wiped out and all sustained major damage from salt water and winds. The oranges we sell come from an orchard also along the Mississippi River, but northwest of New Orleans, just across the river from the New Orleans airport. This area was spared the worst of the storm and the trees were somewhat protected from the eastern winds by the Mississippi River levee.”

And don’t forget to order Red Navel oranges from Louisiana either:

“The best kept secret of south LA citrus is the red Navel oranges. Navels can not withstand as much cold as the Satsumas or Louisiana Sweets, so we lose some every time there is a decent freeze. However, those that survive and the best Navel oranges I have ever eaten. They are somewhat rare and seldom seen for sale since almost all are consumed by the growers or their friends and relatives. They look like a ruby red grapefruit when cut open, but believe me they are *all* Navel! Maybe I am just prejudiced, and maybe it is because you never really get a tree ripened Navel elsewhere, but I really believe they are the best tasting oranges in the world. And I’ve eaten oranges from Israel to California to Brazil.”

Here’s a video I took in November of 2005, where I had a 40lb box of Satsumas sent to me from Simon Citrus Farm.

Simon is going to be selling Satsumas again this year but the trees got pretty beat up by Katrina and are still recovering, so I am going to give them a break this time. This year I ordered two boxes from Charles at LaLagniappe.com, who seems to have trees utterly filled with fruit according to photos he’s supplied me with:

A Satsuma orchard northwest of New Orleans (Charles Copes)

Satsuma fruit closeup (Charles Copes)

Satsumas are picked at this color in the first part of the harvest. The fruit is juicy ripe inside even though the color is a mottled orange-green. Two weeks later, they are bright orange. (Charles Copes)

Don’t be afraid of ordering 40lbs worth. It’s totally easy to eat four or five in one sitting because they are so easy to peel and they are small fruits. The zest is phenomenal for using in cakes and pastry, Chinese stir fries (the most killer Orange Beef you’ve ever had) or for making liquor infusions — just grate up a ton of the zest with a Microplane and then dump it in a bottle of premium vodka for two weeks, then strain out. Best Martini you’ve ever had, I garontee.

And you can make this killer Satsuma Cake too:

Flourless satsuma cake, made with Nigella Lawson’s recipe (Jason Perlow)

This uses whole satsumas, cooked for 2 hours in a pot of water, then
blitzed in the food processor with eggs, almonds and sugar and butter and baked in a springform pan.