New Olreans 6

This will be the last New Orleans post (some are breathing a sigh of relief). Of course we did all the things New Orleans is known for..... eating a beignet (fancy word for a donut) at Cafe Du Monde, strolling down Bourbon Street, Jackson Square and etc. but think this last post will be about food and drink......

Went to the Carousel bar...... Ingenious! It actually turns very slowly and is really beautiful. Located in the Hotel Monteleone.

Overall, I found the service in New Orleans to be very generic, maybe because so many people go in and out of the area and they are always serving a new face.

Even though it is the south the food is more Creole based. I personally don't care for it but did try a few things popular for the area.

A new local popular drink, Sazerac, was made with whiskey...not my favorite but did give it a try.....already tired a Hurricane on my first trip here.

As I mentioned before, there was a little Mexican food restaurant across from our resort and their food was real good to our surprise. We went to an Italian restaurant one night and had a love/hate experience. The bar area and bar tender was warm, relaxed and friendly but the restaurant area (separate room) was cramped and rushed...they all but threw the food at us and they were in the process of setting us their entertainment (a piano player) which was to have started 30 minutes earlier. Was shocked to see at the bottom of the menu that we would be charged $3.00 each for this. I told our waitress not to charge us for a service we did not get. Have never heard of charging someone for their un-advertised entertainment like that.

My very best dinner was at Mila They had wonderful bread and my Pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon on top of Celery-Root Puree was to die for. I had never eaten celery root before but I loved it! Hubby's favorite dinner was at Cochon....Oven roasted gulf fish (red fish) "fisherman style". We also had Shrimp and deviled egg gumbo here.....not bad to my surprise. Another pleasant surprise was my tomato soup and grilled ham and cheese sandwich at the World War II restaurant....big deal huh? but not only was it very good but was served real clever on a wood plank with a soup can panted white on the outside for the soup bowl........I happen to love things like that.


Most of you know my love of cookbooks so of course I had to bring home a few little ones....

"The little Gumbo Book"..The preface says "Ahhhh.... gumbo. The word itself conjures up warmth and contentment sitting before a steamy bowl of this healthy,rich, Creole dish". There was a large section on the importance of Roux and how to make it. My second book was "Soul on Rice" and it not only has recipes but also history of how the African slaves influenced American cooking as they tried to make a home away from home. I share one of the little entries with you...Hoe Cake
"Hoecake was meal mixed with water in a thick batter. Got it's name from some of 'em slappin' it on a hoe and' holdin' it in de fire place tell its cooked. Mother ain' done that. She used to cook hoecakes in a big iron pan, two or three at time. Simple fare, it was, but they was always plenty of it."

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"Moisten salted corn meal with scalding water or milk. Allow it to stand for an hour. Put two or three teaspoons of this on hot greased griddle. Smooth it out to make cakes one-half inch thick and let it cook. When one side is done turn over and brown the other. Serve very hot for breakfast. This dish goes well with sausage. "

My last little book was "From the Land of Tabasco Sauce".

I was surprised to learn that the creation of Tabasco sauce came from here. I would have loved to have taken a tour of Avery Island that has existed since 1818 and founded the pepper sauce industry in 1868. The pictures of the swamp, gardens and fields are beautiful and the recipes interesting. Most include just a dash of Tabasco and may indeed lend a special touch to some old stand by's like "Picnic Potato Salad".
Now, if I just cooked:)