Friday, June 24, 2016.
A New–Really New–Entree At Antoine’s.
When MA is out of town, she encourages me to pleasure myself with my many personal traditions–many of them restaurants whose appeal she can’t quite figure out. For example, my single-guy habit of dining at Antoine’s every Friday. She put the kibosh on that right around the time Jude was born. How could I justify dining in the same restaurant every week, she wanted to know–and an expensive one, at that?
Now that our home life is much attenuated by the disappearance of our children, I have been given permission to resume the tradition somewhat. Five or six times a year. This works for me, because it means thinking about the next time I go for about two months before it happens. This amplifies the experience. If it’s really good, I appreciate it even more. (If not, the disappointment swells. But that doesn’t happen much.)
I will remember this evening’s dinner for a long time, because a new entree has appeared on Antoine’s menu. And it really is new–not merely a variation on one of the restaurant’s standards.
The dish’s name is misspelled on the menu as “cote de veau Rossellini.” Cote de veau=veal rib chop. The real surname is Rossini, for Gioachino Rossini, one of the most celebrated composers in the history of opera. Rossini was not only a gourmet but a culinary master. He created the dish, the most famous version of which is made with beef tournedos.
Veal chop Rossini @ Antoine’s.
I don’t think this has ever been on Antoine’s regular menu. Back in the mid-1970s, before the web and before I had a copy of Larousse Gastrononique, I ran into a mention of tournedos Rossini in an article. I called Joe Guerra, my waiter at Antoine’s then. He checked with the chef who, while knowing what the dish was, said that Antoine’s didn’t serve it. And if Antoine’s didn’t, then nobody did.
Oysters Rockefeller, Bienville, and Thermidor @ Antoine’s.
After checking to make sure that the new dish is not made with veal porterhouse (a cut beautiful to look at but not especially great to eat), I place the order. While waiting, I have soufflee potatoes, oysters 2-2-2 (Rockefeller, Bienville and Thermidor), and a cup of crawfish bisque (no stuffed heads, thank goodness; the season is almost over).
The veal chop comes out with the big rib bone still attached, as well as with a few little bits of fat and cartilage (all this adds flavor). Once past that, I see that it’s medium rare, and the knife encounters little resistance. The chop is topped by slices of pate de foie gras, then the dark brown, deli-glace-like red wine sauce.
It is excellent. What’s more, it fills a gap in Antoine’s entree selection. I hope it catches on. A glass of Spanish red slakes my thirst.
I have meringue glacee–sort of a miniature baked Alaska–for dessert. I also have a glass of Riesling from somewhere in Germany. Nice combination with the dessert.
At this point, some people would like to go out for a nightcap in some interesting bar nearby. Others would go to the French Market for café au lait and beignets. Most would go home. What I wish I were famous enough to do would be to walk into a music club where is played the American Songbook, and sing a few numbers with the approval of the other musicians.
I can dream, can’t I?
Antoine’s. French Quarter: 713 St Louis. 504-581-4422.
Rockefeller Salad Dressing
This idea grew out of something I ate a long time ago in the extinct T. Pittari’s, where it was the house salad dressing. It was a greenish vinaigrette with a good bit of garlic and parsley. What brought it to mind is the spinach vinaigrette created by the local Cousins salad-dressing makers. I thought I might have something if I used the other vegetables found in the original oysters Rockefeller at Antoine’s. It worked. This is a particularly good dressing for salads topped with some grilled or fried protein. Oysters, for example.
This recipe makes a fairly large amount, but it stores easily and well (and probably improves) in the refrigerator.
1 10 oz. bag baby spinach, well washed, picked of stems
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
1/2 cup chopped fresh fennel
4 green onions, tender green parts only, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh garlic
1/4 cup tomato puree (fresh or canned)
1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
5 anchovies
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
Rockefeller green dressing for salads.
1. Wash and chop all the vegetables, and put them into a food processor with the tomato puree, tarragon, anchovies, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Add two tablespoons of water, and process the mixture into as fine a paste as you can.
2. Add the vinegar to the mixture, give it a short pulse in the processor, and pour the resulting slurry into a bowl.
3. Slowly whisk the olive oil into the mixture, pouring it in a thin stream until completely blended.
Adjust seasonings to taste. Store in tightly-capped bottles in the refrigerator. The dressing will congeal at cold temperatures, but will become liquid if left out for about ten minutes.
Makes about three cups.
Fish Pontchartrain (Oscar) @ Brisbi’s
In the inevitable comparison between Brisbi’s and its West End neighbor the Blue Crab, we find them equally good, but different in their menus. While the Blue Crab sticks mostly with the basic fried, boiled, and grilled seafood, Brisbi’s menu ranges more broadly in sauced-and-garnished dishes. This dish is a perfect example, involving the fish of the day topped with crabmeat and hollandaise, with grilled asparagus alongside. Some will notice that this is the formula for the range of dishes with the surname “Oscar.” Although the classic Oscar dish is made with veal at its center, the idea of using fish works very well. The identity of the fish varies a good bit, but it’s always something interesting. Sheepshead, for example. In the early going at Brisbi’s, this had some flaws, but they seem to have it down now. It’s the most expensive item on the menu, but at around $20 it’s a good buy.
Drumfish Pontchartrain (“Oscar”)@Brisbi’s.
Brisbi’s. West End & Bucktown: 7400 Lakeshore Dr. 504-304-4125.
This is among the 500 best dishes in New Orleans area restaurants. Click here for a list of the other 499.
June 27, 2015
Days Until. . .
Eat Club Dinner @ Cafe Giovanni 4
Fourth Of July 7
Annals Of Silverware
Around this day in 1630, John Winthrop, the first colonial governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, began using at his dinner table what may have been the only fork in the colonies. He encouraged its use. As omnipresent as the fork is now, it was only then coming into widespread use in Europe.
Food Through History
Today is the birthday (1835, London) of Fred Harvey, who more than any other one man brought civilization to the Wild West. He emigrated to America and worked in restaurants in New York, New Orleans and elsewhere. Railroads were just beginning to carry passengers long distances, and Harvey saw an opportunity. Building hotels and restaurants along the tracks, he aligned his new operation with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. The railroad was completing its line from Chicago to Los Angeles in the 1880s, and Harvey kept right up with it. He hired young women from all over America to move West as waitresses. The wholesome Harvey Girls found many single men looking for wives. They married and settled, bringing real community to Western towns. Fred Harvey’s motto was “Maintenance of Standards, Regardless of Cost.” His restaurants were the best in the West. It lasted until the end of widespread train travel. Only a little of the Harvey empire remains, most notably the grand El Tovar Hotel in the Grand Canyon
Annals Of Food Writing
The author of the first Creole cookbook was born on this date in 1850. Lafcadio Hearn wrote La Cuisine Creole in 1885. Its subtitle was “A Collection of Culinary Recipes, From Leading Chefs and Noted Creole Housewives, Who Have Made New Orleans Famous for its Cuisine.” The recipes would seem odd to us now, but their style is very recognizable as New Orleans food. The book establishes that Creole cooking was all-encompassing and indeed famous way back then, long before the same could be said of other regional American cuisines.
Today’s Flavor
Today is National Indian Pudding Day. Indian pudding is made with cornmeal, eggs, and molasses. It’s also National Orange Blossom Day. An ingredient important in both Southern bars and Middle Eastern bakeries comes from those flowers. Orange flower water is a fascinating and under-utilized ingredient. The Ramos gin fizz cannot be made with out it. I forgot to mention it throughout the month, but June is National Papaya Month. I have not had a papaya lately, but I will. I think it’s one of the most delicious fruits in the world, when you catch it at optimum ripeness–but that’s not easy.
Gourmet Gazetteer
Potato Patch, Arizona is about two-thirds the way from Phoenix to Flagstaff, in the middle of Prescott National Forest. It’s a camping area, near the top of Mingus Mountain, with the widely-scattered trees characteristic of that part of the country. The Hassavampa River flows from a spring of the same name and forms a small lake nearby. It’s excellent hiking and camping country. Those who don’t enough food to grill over the campfire can find a few restaurants in Jerome, four miles northeast. They include the Red Rooster, the Flatiron, the Mile High, and Asylum. Hmm. I wonder which one has the loudest music.
Edible Dictionary
puff pastry, n.–A pastry which, when baked, shows many thin layers, with air gaps between them. It’s made by rolling out a thin dough made of little more than flour and water. Butter (or lard or shortening) is spread over the dough, which is folded and rolled out to about the same thickness it had before it was folded. This is repeated many times, with rests for the dough between each rolling. After ten fold, the dough has over a thousand layers. The fat between the layers causes the get expansion in the oven. Puff pastry is probably a descendant of phyllo, which is made slightly differently. Croissants are made in much the same way, but with yeast added to the flour and water.
Deft Dining Rule #241
Ask whether tomato paste is in the marinara sauce at every Italian restaurant. (Correct answer: no.)
Eating Across America
On this day in 1985, US Route 66–the road made famous by two songs and a television series, along with many guidebooks–was scratched off the list of certified highways and ceased to exist. It ran from Chicago to Los Angeles, and carried so much traffic that its route had long since been paralleled by Interstate highways. One of the many books I lost in the flood was a dining guide to Route 66, written in the 1930s. Even now, a few of the diners and cafes along the old route remain open.
Food Namesakes
Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, who produced the James Bond films, died in 1996 on this date. The vegetable that bears his name was developed by an ancestor. Broccoli is a hybridized cauliflower, crossed with raab. . . Actor Jack Lemmon died on this date in 2001. . . Blues immortal Robert Johnson recorded a song called Come On In My Kitchen on this date in 1937, along with nine other songs that would become classics of the genre.
Words To Eat By
“Don’t cut the ham too thin.”–Fred Harvey, born today in 1835. These were his last words to his son when he died in 1901. It’s bad advice. For a sandwich, anyway, you can’t cut the ham thin enough.
Words To Drink By
This bottle’s the sun of our table,
His beams are rosy wine;
We planets that are not able
Without his help to shine.
–Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
A Joke To Be Taken Seriously.
Although the health codes for restaurants in Louisiana are pretty stuff, in some ways the rule is, “What the customers don’t think about won’t hurt them.”
Click here for the cartoon.