uptownlibrarian

Halal Cart-style chicken

Evidently Manhattan is crawling with halal carts that serve a chicken and rice dish similar to the recipe found here. I've never had it direct from the source, but the recipe sounded great and since I had all the ingredients on hand (apart from the chicken), it got made on Sunday. This recipe is a definite keeper. It's very flavorful and rich-tasting, even though the ingredient list is relatively restrained. I did serve it with an arugula and cherry tomato salad rather than iceburg, which was delicious dressed with a little of the white sauce. Oh, and I added a bunch of minced garlic to the white sauce, because why not.  

Serious Eats' Halal Cart-style Chicken and Rice recipe and photo: 

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/12/serious-eats-halal-cart-style-chicken-and-rice-white-sauce-recipe.html

On Food Banks and Charitable Giving

Those of us interested in food may choose to support charities like food banks and soup kitchens. Here in New Orleans, Second Harvest is a worthy recipient of our donations - but consider making a monetary gift rather than participating in a can drive. Food banks like Second Harvest have access to wholesale and bulk sources of healthy, delicious food cheaper than people can buy in the grocery store. Your donation dollars go much further if you pledge cash and let the food bank do the purchasing. Plus, you can donate online with a few clicks, no hauling of soup and tuna all over town necessary. 

Check out a Q&A at the Center for High Impact Pilanthropy for more information.

Daiquiri Days

Some folks say it's only a proper daiquiri if it's made by the ghost of Ernest Hemingway at El Floridita bar in Havana. These are people who use the term "mixologist" and pay $12 for a 3 oz. cocktail served in a champagne coupe. Now that MSY has flights to Cuba they can go enjoy that version there, while the rest of us enjoy the real thing here at home. Everyone knows the three criteria for a true daiquiri: frozen, of a color rarely found in nature, and named after local wildlife or a fuel rating (Crawgator and 180 Octane).

Because they can't be consumed too quickly (BRAIN FREEZE), daiquiris are ideally suited to relaxed, leisurely activities like working on your costume, waiting for the parade, quilting bees, and family reunions in Audubon Park. They are also excellent for roadtrips (passengers only) to LSU football games, Alabama beaches, or Mississippi outlet malls. 

Luckily, local daiquiri connoisseur and genius Jeremy Thompson has organized a festival to celebrate the drink. This weekend the inaugural Daiquiri Days will kick off with a daiquiri bar crawl. Thompson is also releasing a map of neighborhood daiquiri shops, or as I like to think of it a to-do list. The weather is so beautiful, let's all get out there and Occupy Patios with daiquiris in hand.

Daiquiri Days

Some folks say it's only a proper daiquiri if it's made by the ghost of Ernest Hemingway at El Floridita bar in Havana. These are people who use the term "mixologist" and pay $12 for a 3 oz. cocktail served in a champagne coupe. Now that MSY has flights to Cuba they can go enjoy that version there, while the rest of us enjoy the real thing here at home. Everyone knows the three criteria for a true daiquiri: frozen, of a color rarely found in nature, and named after local wildlife or a fuel rating (Crawgator and 180 Octane).

Because they can't be consumed too quickly (BRAIN FREEZE), daiquiris are ideally suited to relaxed, leisurely activities like working on your costume, waiting for the parade, quilting bees, and family reunions in Audubon Park. They are also excellent for roadtrips (passengers only) to LSU football games, Alabama beaches, or Mississippi outlet malls. 

Luckily, local daiquiri connoisseur and genius Jeremy Thompson has organized a festival to celebrate the drink. This weekend the inaugural Daiquiri Days will kick off with a daiquiri bar crawl. Thompson is also releasing a map of neighborhood shops, or as I like to think of it a to-do list. The weather is so beautiful, let's all get out there and Occupy Bar Stools.

Roasted Cauliflower at Domenica

I've only been to Domenica a couple times, but so far my favorite dish there is the roasted cauliflower antipasti. It's tender, rich yet light, and completely addictive. I got the rundown from the waiter on its preparation: a whole cauliflower is cooked sous-vide until tender, then seasoned with olive oil and red pepper flakes and roasted in the pizza oven until some of the florets are slightly charred. The head is served whole, with more olive oil and pepper drizzled over it, and with a dish of whipped goat feta and sea salt on the side. Delicious!

Tracey's for Saints Game

Last Sunday I watched the Saints stampede the Texans at Tracey's. This was my first Saints game there since the move/name change, and it's definitely on the list of acceptable venues. I'm a little picky about where I'll watch - it's got to be the perfect combination of not too busy but not dead, cheap beer prices, available seats, and decent TVs, ideally with easy access to fried pickles. Tracey's fits the bill admirably. The fried pickles were good but the serving was quite a bit smaller than I've had there in the past, as if they ran out and didn't want to open a new jar or something. Still, realistically it was plenty of fried pickles, they were probably doing me a favor. Tracey's gets five out of five shamrocks for Saints gameday. 

Also, guess who has really, really good fried pickles? Boo Koo BBQ at Finn McCool's. Easily among the top 5 in town, maybe even the very best.

Pizzacare

When I heard (via Bouille) that the Crescent Sausage & Pie guys had opened their new pizza joint, I knew we had to try it right away. That very night we placed an order for take out and enjoyed a large pie, half "Crescent Sausage" and half "Charcuterie." And also an order of pepperoni sticks, because doi. Unfortunately the pie suffered from the transit time, and ahd to be re-heated, but it had a nice crispy crust and appropriate amount of toppings. I like the arugula and salumi toppings on my half, but I didn't care as much for the house-made sausage toppings on the other half. I thought they were too big and chunky, but that's a personal preference. The pepperoni sticks were great, especially since we got five in our order (the menu indicates two per order for $5, which would have been skimpy considering the pencil-like size of the ones we got). Excellent, A+, Would do business again. Also, for anyone missing Huevos breakfast, they're serving the Huevos menu out of Crescent Sausage & Pie on Sundays from 9:00.

Italy

As everyone who reads this almost certainly knows, we spent the first two weeks of September in Italy, visiting Venice, Florence, Sorrento, and Rome. My pictures came out awful and I don't like to take pictures of food anyway, but we had a great time and ate lots of delicious things. Seafood and prosecco were highlights in Venice, Tuscan antipasto and chianti in Florence, limoncello in Sorrento, and just everything was wonderful in Rome. Copius amounts of house wine, coffee and gelato were consumed all over. We ate a ton of cheese and I learned that you can actually get tired of burrata. We even brought home a small wheel of Pecorino Romano and a piece of Parmigiano-Reggiano (legally!). We also brought back limoncello and wine, all the good stuff. I threw my coin in the fountain, so I'm looking forward to returning soon.

The Spice & Tea Exchange of New Orleans

About a week ago, a franchise of the Spice & Tea Exchange opened on St. Louis Street in the French Quarter. I heard a patron at work mention it, so I went by on my lunch break to have a look. The design style of the shop is very Faux Dry Goods, with lots of wooden crates, burlap bags, upturned barrels, and glass jars. They carry a wide variety of herbs and spices, teas, peppers, salts and blends in store, along with accessories like nutmeg graters and pepper mills. Almost everything costs $4.89/oz. I saw one item, truffle salt, that was more expensive at $6.89/oz. This pricing scheme makes them pretty comparable to Penzy's on average, though some of the basic spices are overpriced. I can't speak to the quality yet, but the salesman was engaging and not pushy and everything was available to smell and even taste in many instances. A year ago we didn't have anything like this, but now between Spice & Tea Exchange and the Crescendo products available at Rouse's, we are well served for gourmet seasonings.

Edit on re-checking some prices: Many of the plain (non-blended) herbs and spices are cheaper than $4.89. Garlic powder and many other common spices are $.99/oz, and the prices range from there upwards to about $6. All the blends and all teas are $4.89/oz.

Joyeux Quatorze Juillet