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Having dinner at the Chophouse in New Orleans was one of the best experiences we've had, and hands down the best meal we've ever had anywhere. We started with a lump crabmeat cocktail made jumbo lump crabmeat only, served with a remoulade sauce which was an amazing. The complimentary European style handmade bread is artisanal baked daily, and had a perfectly crusty exterior with a soft, tender interior that tasted fantastic with the pure sweet creamed butter. The entree was served with steak cut fries, and triple cut onion rings served with an imported blue cheese dressing. G ordered an 8 ounce filet which was a barrel cut filet, dry aged no less than 28 days in the stockyards of Chicago, it was a Prime grade barrel cut filet, with no gristle, no chains, and no v-cut heads. Cooked to perfection with a nice warm pink center. I ordered the 10 ounce New York Strip, trimmed of all fat, dry aged no less than 28 days for extra flavor and cut to the exact weight as shown on the menu. The service was impeccable, and was reminiscent of an earlier time when service actually meant service. We highly recommend the Chophouse if you're ever in New Orleans! As G has already stated, the Court of Two Sisters is rich with history, and one of the most beautiful restaurants I've ever had the privilege of dining. My four course meal started with Turtle Soup. I'd never had turtle soup before, and was a little hesitant to order, but I'm glad I did! It was amazing! It already has is looking for a recipe to make at home. The second course was a Caesar salad, prepared table side. From now on, I'll look at "Caesar" salads from a package, or fast food restaurants as nothing more than cheap imitations. It was THAT good! The main course I selected was a Southen classic, Shrimp and Grits. The shrimp were prepared to pure perfection, and the grits were the creamiest, most delicious grits I have ever had. Finally, Bread Pudding, for which I have no words to describe. Instead, I choose to state that having Bread Pudding at the Court of the Two Sisters was an experience in and of itself. Of course, the Bayou Bash that G mentioned earlier was such a refreshing and delicious drink. G and I highly recommend this place, and we are so glad we decided to try it. The Court of Two Sisters September 12, 2015 To finish our day we had dinner at the Court of Two Sisters under the eves of the over 100 year old wisteria vines. We stopped here during our cocktail tour and was so impressed with the environment we decided to make it our first dinner stop. The formal dining in the patio is beautiful not to mention the food...ah the food...the pictures just don't do it justice...the four course meal began with gumbo, then a table side Ceaser salad, the entree of delicately fried catfish with what can be best explained as a lump crab tartar sauce and to end the meal, pecan pie with vanilla bean ice cream. Not to mention all while sipping on the drink, Bayou Bash, delish! yes I'm a true southern girl that loves true southern "cuisine" at its finest and The Court truly gave us that...we were definitely satisfied and brought some to snack later!
From the time we stepped off the plane, this trip has been amazing! From discovering an amazing treat in the airport (our next venture?) to strolling with the band Quiet Riot, this vacation rocks! Once we got downtown, we discovered this little hole in the wall oyster bar, and it's amazing! Oysters on the half shell, crab cakes, red beans and rice. We can't wait to explore the rest of the city and share it here as we go. Recently, we have undertaken collecting old discarded pallets, and turning them into something functional and useful. In this project, we took several pallets along with an old Coleman cooler, and made an amazing outdoor cooler cabinet. We found the project instructions here:
http://indulgy.com/post/jnBjAHcL1/diy-pallet-cooler-holy-cow-this-is-cool We gathered some old pallets and started making projects. Our first project is complete, we built a bar, and hanging rack for our back patio! Lots of new projects are already in the works! Nothing like making something useful and functional from something otherwise useless. We all should be more conscientious about utilizing things that can be repurposed, reused, and recycled. We decided to make a fantastic meal for the unofficial end of Summer, Labor Day Weekend. Pulled pork smoked on the grill, homemade barbecue (or is it Barbeque, Bar-B-Que.....) sauce, Macaroni and Cheese, Asian Ramen Slaw, Grilled Corn on the Cob, and Balsamic Glazed Peaches with Bleu Cheese Crumbles. It was an all day endeavor, because smoking the pork takes some patience, and a constant watchful eye to make sure the temps stay in the perfect range, and the smoke isn't too heavy. Anyway, here's the recipes we developed for this weekend's feast! PULLED PORK ON THE GRILLWe used a pork shoulder boston butt roast that weighed around 6 pounds or so. As a good rule of thumb, it'll take an hour to an hour and a half per pound to smoke it. Here's the recipe: For the rub:
Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Rub the entire roast with yellow mustard (don't worry, it won't taste like mustard when it's done, but the mustard gives it a great browned exterior and nice crust). Generously spread the dry rub coating the entire roast. Be sure to rub it into the cracks and crevices. Ideally, this should marinade for 3-8 hours, but I only let mine marinade about an hour due to time constraints. Using the charcoal side of our grill, I placed about 12-14 pieces of charcoal in the fire pan on one side of the grill, and lit it. When the charcoal has a nice covering of gray ash, it's ready to use. During this stage, it's important to watch the temperature of your grill. Ideally, you want the temp inside the grill to stay around 220-240 degrees F. If it's too hot, remove a piece of charcoal at a time until the temp gets in range. Once your temp is adjusted, place hickory wood chunks on the coals. Be sure to soak the wood at least an hour (we soaked overnight). Soaking the wood prevents the wood from catching fire, which would give the meat an off flavor. Ideally, the wood should just smolder and smoke. We used hickory wood chips which kept burning when we placed them on the coals, so we used an aluminum pie plate, placed the chips in it, and placed it on the coals. Worked perfect (see pic). Place the roast on the side of the grill away from the coals. Every half hour or so, place 2-3 pieces of charcoal on the coals, and replenish wood chips if needed. For our roast, which was just over 6 pounds, we kept it on the grill for around 7 1/2 hours until a meat thermometer reached 165 degrees F in the thickest part of the roast. Remove from the grill, place on a platter, and tent with aluminum foil for 20 minutes to rest. Once rested, tear or shred into pieces, and get ready to some amazing tasting pulled pork! For the Barbecue Sauce: 1/2 Cup Brandy or Bourbon Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20-25 minutes until thickened. Be sure use a splatter screen, or lid. Stir often. Asian Ramen Slaw Cabbage, regular and purple Cilantro Carrots Green Onions 1 Packet Chicken Ramen Noodles (set seasoning packet to the side) ¼ Cup Oil (we used 1 part sesame to 3 parts vegetable oil) 3 Tbsp Vinegar (we used 2 Tbsp white vinegar, 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar plus a splash) Chop and combine the first five ingredients,, mix the dressing in a separate bowl, and pour over. Chill at least 2 hours. Enjoy Mac 'N G's Boil one box elbow macaroni noodles in salted water till al dente. Drain. Reserve about 1/3 cup of the starch water in the pot. For the whole box of noodles I used I block of sharp cheddar, shredded, approximately 1/2 cup of Velveeta type cheese, 4oz cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese. Add milk as need to adjust creaminess as preferred. Can be baked by placing in a casserole and sprinkle additional cheese and panko bread crumbs over top till golden and cheese is bubbly Grilled Peaches
3-4 Fresh ripe peaches 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar 3 Tbsp white sugar 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper Blue cheese crumbles Combine vinegar, sugar, and pepper in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and reduce heat letting simmer for about 20 minutes until it starts to thicken. Cut peaches in half, remove pit, and place on the grill brushing often with the balsamic reduction. Grill approximately 4 minutes per side. Remove from grill, crumble blue cheese in the center of each peach. This is an amazingly rich "dessert"! Baltimore Bay Spice-Raw Spice Bar
CRAB CAKES!!!!!!!!!!! This was our second use with the Baltimore Bay Spice and once again it was as amazing as the first. Delicious lump crab, dijon mustard, mayo, lemon, 20 crushed crackers, fresh parsley, egg, a tablespoon of the spice...broil on each side....and there you go....delicious! Definitely better than Old Bay Seasoning any day.... |
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