Musings on food, cooking, and dining by a New Orleans Foodie

I still remember getting on the school bus many years ago with a backpack full of books and my G.I. Joe lunch box. I'm sure there were other lunchboxes that I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure my first one had pictures of all of my favorites like Duke, Scarlett, Leatherneck and Snake Eyes. Eventually my red plastic GI. Joe lunchbox wore out and I upgraded to a new Transformer's lunch box with a cool thermos, then eventually I grew up into a brown paper bag adorned with my name written in magic marker (thanks mom). While the contents of the lunchbox varied over the years, two items I distinctly remember are the PB&J and the ham sandwich, two things I couldn't gag down today if my life depended on it.

Fast forward to today. My lunchbox is now a small soft-sided 24 pack ice-chest that I pack with goodies that will last me all day. Lately I have been on the salad kick and usually cook up enough chicken breasts at the beginning of the week to top a salad every weekday. On Monday it might be a Greek Salad, then a Chicken Caesar for Tuesday and an Italian Salad for Wednesday. My favorite right now has got to be the Cobb salad, and that is what I'll be having for lunch today (yep, I took that picture this morning).

Out of curiosity, I did a quick Google search to find out how my Cobb salad compared to the REAL deal. I found out a lot of good info and learned about the origin and the ingredients of the original Cobb salad, created at the Brown Derby Restaurant in Hollywood by Robert Cobb. A guy named J.J. Schnebel has a website called "Who Cooked That Up?" that outlines the history and the ingredients. All of this info is also confirmed by Arthur Schwartz, the Food Maven. Since this is a New Orleans food website, I'll mention that Tom Fitzmorris has a recipe on the FoodFest website for a Cobb Salad New Orleans Style. Ok, before you get all up in arms about the "New Orleans Style" moniker, let me explain. We take our food very seriously and we are somewhat closed minded, so if a recipe wasn't invented here, we'll just take it and modify it into a version with some regional ingredients and re-name it "New Orleans Style." 'Nuff said.

So even if my co-workers laugh at my gigantic lunch-box, they tend to be envious when I whip out a beautiful well made salad. My Cobb salad isn't the most authentic, but here's what's included:

Romaine Lettuce
Tomato
Cheddar Cheese
Blue Cheese Crumbles
Chopped Bacon (or bacon bits)
Boiled Egg
Chopped Chicken Breast (usually grilled)
Honey Dijon Salad Dressing

Tomorrow, set that alarm a half an hour earlier, pull out some stuff from the fridge and make yerself some lunch!

I have a feeling I'm not the only one, but sometimes I feel like I'm the king of the chicken breast. In reality, I'll bet many of you are like me: you've cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts about a hundred different ways. It was one of the first things I started cooking and was always looking for a new way to do it: Cajun seasoning, marinate in Italian salad dressing, baked with marinara sauce, you name it. Unfortunately due to my past consumption of chicken breasts, I find it very boring, but is there a way to do it without being boring?

One thing I rarely do is cook chicken with the bones. Not that it is complex, but it is just something that I don't do often. Watching a few minutes of the Emeril Live show the other night gave me some ideas, one of which was cooking chicken breasts (bone-in). I also knew that they were on sale at Sav-A-Center. So yesterday at work (it was a bit after 5pm) I printed out several recipes that looked good. Then I left work, recipes still sitting on the printer. After a quick trip to Sav-A-Center, I came home and did a little thinking and a little consulting (with Chef Tom) and came up with an idea: roasted chicken breasts with a white wine, caper and dill sauce.

So how did it come out? Pretty damn good. The flavor was fantastic, the outside of the chicken was crispy, the sauce was exquisite and the chicken was juicy. One thing I should have done was season the potatoes before throwing them in the pan, but otherwise I wouldn't change a thing. So why am I not thrilled with this recipe? I think my tastes lean more to the spicy side of things. Maybe it is because I was raised in south Louisiana, where everything has cayenne pepper, or maybe it is my love for Chile pepper laden Tex-Mex, but I just can't get all excited over these chicken breasts.

Whether I'm thrilled or not, this recipe works. It would be great for a date or super easy to prepare when dining for one. Try it out; it's worth the effort for such a great flavor!

Chicken Breasts with White Wine, Caper and Dill Sauce

Ingredients

4 Split Chicken Breasts (bone-in)

8-10 Cloves Garlic

12-14 Small Red Potatoes

6 oz. Chicken broth

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Fresh Dill (a few sprigs)

Capers

White wine (your choice)

Kosher Salt

Ground black pepper

Prep (15 minutes)

Mince 6 cloves of garlic.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Slice small potatoes in half and in a large bowl, coat lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Make a paste/rub that will be applied to the raw chicken. In a small saucer or bowl, add 6 cloves of finely minced garlic, fresh ground pepper and kosher salt. Drizzle in some extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon and use a fork to mix.
Put 1/4 of the mixture under the skin of each of the chicken breasts. Season the top with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper in a large baking dish.

Cook (40 minutes)

Coat a skillet with olive oil and when heated, place each chicken breast (you should be able to fit two at a time) skin side down to sear the skin- side until crispy. This shouldn't take more than 30 seconds to 1 minute for each chicken breast. After seared, return the breast to the baking dish.
When all of the chicken is finished in the skillet, deglaze the pan using white wine and chicken broth. Add in some dill, butter, capers and any leftover garlic cloves and simmer for a few minutes. Pour the finished sauce over the chicken breasts in the baking dish.
Add sliced potatoes to the baking dish where space will allow.
Place baking dish in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F. Bake for about 30 minutes or until chicken reaches and internal temperature of 155-160 degrees. Chicken can periodically be basted in sauce while cooking.

This past Sunday I played tourist in my own town. The weather was too nice to sit inside and since I had Monday off from work, I figured it would be a good time to walk around the French Quarter. A friend of mine picked me up and we drove downtown, parked and spent the whole day in the Quarter. While it was a fun filled day, I doubt if it would make an interesting story for this venue. On part of the day was noteworthy; a bloody mary at Molly's at the Market.

I received an e-mail from a reader last week that enjoyed my margarita recipes and was curious as to where to get the best margarita in New Orleans and the best Bloody Mary. If you look below, I have a redux of the margaritas in New Orleans; truly a sad state of affairs. Fortunately, New Orleans is a great place to get a Bloody Mary. And the best part is that you can get one in a giant plastic cup to go! So here is my list of great Bloody Marys in town (my homemade Bloody Mary excluded) :

Molly's at the Market (1107 Decatur St.) - Last Sunday was the first time I had had one of those before midnight (it's a great late-night spot). The bartender asked me if I wanted any particular vodka, but I chose to go with the Aristocrat brand well vodka. Their recipe is fantastic; however it is anchored with a bottled mix, called New Orleans' Finest. A notable addition is a little shot of Guinness beer and the bloody includes olives and spicy beans. The price is a reasonable $4.50 - probably my top choice.

Pat O'Briens (718 St. Peter St.) has always had a great Bloody Mary. Tasty and simple, served in a tall glass and garnished with a slice of cucumber. There is nothing like consuming a couple of these while sitting in the sun on the patio. Simply divine! They use a bottled mix, made by them; I usually have a bottle of their mix in my fridge.

The Columns Hotel (3811 St. Charles Ave.)- Every cocktail is made from scratch and starts with V8 juice. They add all of the good ingredients (celery salt, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, etc.) and end up with a great finished product. Unfortunately they don't open 'till about 10 am on Sunday mornings, that is unless the bartender oversleeps! If you meet Lindy, the bar manager (the cute red-head), tell her I sent you.

Cafe Rani (2917 Magazine St.) is a great brunch spot and they make a great bloody mary. I believe they use Zing Zang bottled mix but doctor it up just a bit. I prefer their "Cajun Mary" (I think that's the name), complete with extra horseradish and a spicy boiled shrimp. They're a little pricey, but it's a big drink and worth every penny. In addition to the great drink, they have a fantastic courtyard that'll allow you to enjoy the weather with your brunch; you can even bring your dog!

Last, but not least is the Avenue Pub (1732 St. Charles Ave.). They are open 24 hours a day, so it's easy to get a Bloody Mary and cheese fries at 3 a.m. But I love going there early on Sunday morning to check out who is still there from the night before. Interesting place and a little sketchy from the outside, but the bartenders are cool and the bar is unique. The bloody's are made with real tomato juice and mixed with Aristocrat vodka and include a couple of spicy beans and just the right seasonings. They are served in big cups, so it's a great place to get a quick drink if you are on the go.

Uh oh, did I forget one? Nope, Sugar Magnolia closed several months ago. While their Bloody Mary was wildly popular, you can't get one there for brunch anymore. However, you do have two options: (1) go to Jacques-Imo's Cafe (8324 Oak St.) and get a bloody mary, they got their recipe from Steve at Sugar Magnolia, or (2) make your own with the recipe on my site. I was the bartender there, I made hundreds of them.

Working for a bank has it's perks. While there are very few of them (no, I don't get free money, just a free checking account), the federal holidays probably take the cake. I mean, do I really need to have a day off from work to celebrate President's day? Oh well, since I have those days off, I might as well take advantage of them; yesterday was no exception. Martin Luther King day gave me an opportunity to go to lunch at a restaurant that serves nothing but lunch: Uglesich's.

Yesterday's visit was only the second time I've dined there and most likely the last. The meal wasn't bad, in fact it was excellent. I brought along a friend of mine and between the two of us we decided to split five different appetizers. For some reason we just couldn't get excited about any of the entrees. There are two reasons I will likely never return. First, Anthony and Gail Uglesich will eventually have to retire and there doesn't seem to be a suitor in line to take the helm of the family run restaurant. Second, I feel like the restaurant has taken on the role of the stereotypical "tourist trap."

Ok, so maybe I'll be the most unpopular food writer in New Orleans for standing up and saying: "I think Uglesich's is a tourist trap!" Fortunately my friend felt the same way, and allowed me to bounce around some ideas and my opinion. One person who seemed to disagree was Tom Fitzmorris. While I respect his opinion, I expressed my concern on his radio show earlier this evening and I don't feel like I got my point across to him. Personally I think it's just been a long time since he's been there, but I digress. So why do I feel like it is a tourist trap?

There are very few locals that I know have eaten at Uglesich's. The wait at the door is going to be at least an hour or more and I can count on one hand the number of people I know that can use up half of the daylight on a given weekday to eat lunch (or wait in line). In fact, when we went yesterday, I believe that we were the only two locals in the place. Next, the prices are nothing special. For such a dive that's been paid for for many years, I wonder where all of that cash is going. Our bill (before tip) for five appetizers and two beers was a couple dollars short of $50. For lunch. I preferred the appetizer route, as neither of us could get too excited over any of the entrees. Pan fried trout topped with a couple of boiled shrimp and accompanied by some new potatoes for $14.75?

Enough about the money. I have to respect a place that can continually pack in the tourists who feel that Uglesich's will somehow give them the pinnacle of New Orleans cuisine. Sorry guys, but you've been duped; just like the other tourists in line. I think the place is good, but the fact that it is no longer accessable to a locals gives them the label of "tourist trap." So how was our meal? Excellent: we had the shrimp and grits, Ecstacy (shrimp in an olive oil with a blue cheese dipping sauce), fried oysters with blue cheese, shrimp uggleicious (I think it's spelled like that - basically shrimp that are swimming in a sweet and spicy Asian influenced sauce) and last, fried green tomatoes. Everything was excellent and we both left with full stomachs. Sure, they may have a great fried oyster platter, but with the abundance of great food around, I'm not standin line for an hour and a half for fried oysters.

So what's the skinny, you ask? If I could do it all over again, would I have gone to Uglesich's? You betcha! Did I enjoy the meal? Absolutely; it was a great time. Given the opportunity, would I do it again soon? Nope. For the money, I think next time we'll hit Commander's Palace, have a great meal and a few martinis before we hit an uptown watering hole to waste away the rest of the afternoon.

Ok, so my bleu cheese butter is no secret, and neither is the recipe. However, it is one of the most requested recipes around. Yesterday afternoon a friend called and asked if he could stay at my house to avoid the fog and delayed commute across the lake. Although I wasn't feeling well, I couldn't turnd down the request, especially since he was going to stop and pick up something for dinner. I was in the mood for steak and he didn't seem to put up an argument. The best part was that I had a half a stick of bleu cheese butter leftover in the fridge from a batch I made last week.

I know that I've been procrastinating for some time and have promised this recipe to many, so here it is:

Bleu Cheese Butter

Ingredients

Unsalted butter (slice into small pieces)
Chopped Green Onion
Bleu Cheese (wedge or crumbles - I prefer the latter)

Method

In a small saucer or bowl, use the microwave to heat and soften some butter. When the butter is soft, use a fork to mix in some chopped green onion and bleu cheese crumbles; continue to mix until the bleu cheese and butter have emulsified. Lay out a piece of wax paper and pour (or use the fork) the mixture into a log shape; long and thin. Wrap up your new bleu cheese butter in the wax paper and put it in the refrigerator until it has hardened.

When using on a steak, cut off a piece of the bleu cheese butter and place on top of the steak in the last minute it is still on the hot pan or grill.

It seems like there are critics for everything- movies, music, books and even cookbooks. I have to admit, I've never really thought of critiquing a cookbook until recently. Sometime in December I received my January 2005 issue of Playboy magazine and while in the process of reading the articles, I came across a review for the Uglesich's Cookbook. I was impressed to see a review of a Louisiana cookbook and was more impressed at the three bunny heads (out of four) that it received. I was hooked; and the cookbook went on my list of after-Christmas purchases (you know, so you can buy all the stuff that you didn't get for Christmas).

To my surprise on Christmas day, I unwrapped a copy of the Uglesich's cookbook. On further thought, I think it was just stuffed in a gift bag, so there was no unwrapping necessary, but that's beside the point. I was a little shocked, but happy that I wouldn't have to put out any effort to find the fantastic recipes from such a legendary restaurant. Unfortunately, this is where I become the amateur cookbook critic. Am I qualified? Maybe. I did just write my own Margarita cookbook that I gave out as gifts, so why not?

To my dismay, I found the Uglesich's cookbook an inadequate attempt to make a quick buck while exploiting the good name of the famous restaurant. There were quite a few great recipes in the book, but most notably missing was the recipe for remoulade sauce that tops the fried green tomatoes. The fried green tomato recipe is there, but the instructions just say to "top with remoulade sauce." Hmmm, rumor has it that the Uglesich's will be bottling their remoulade sauce. If you need a good recipe, check out my remoulade sauce recipe; I guarantee I won't be bottling it.... wait, maybe I'm onto something here...

The flow of the text in the book really bothered me. The book was written by John Uglesich, son of the owners, but he continues to speak of himself in the third person. One page it's him, the next page it's John. I'm so confused! I'm also wondering if he has any young children that he paid to do the photography. Now I'm not a professional photographer, but I've done my share of photography, and the pictures in the book make me nauseated. Most of them are blurry and out of focus. I wonder if the photographer was trying to illustrate that the plates are moving by showing them out of focus. Yea, that must be what he was thinking, "this food is so good, it shakes!" Hmmm, I may never know the truth. In addition, only pictures of select dishes are included. My last beef with the cookbook is the inclusion of so much white space. When it comes to aesthetics, white space is good, but I've never seen a cookbook with so many blank pages. What the @#$% were they thinking?

Ok kids, for those with ADD, here's my executive summary of the Uglesich's cookbook: poor writing, even worse editing, out of focus pictures, missing recipes and a bunch of blank pages (maybe it was just my copy). Here is the bright side; there are a couple of good recipes and reading this book gives me hope and encouragement that I too can be a cookbook writer! Keep an eye out for mine, it'll be on the shelves in time for next year's holiday season.

How long will your cookware last; a lifetime? Your lifetime? Maybe, but I doubt it. If you're a grandparent right now, how many possesions do you have that have lasted a lifetime? With the recent holiday season, I bet many of you recieved nice cookware as a gift; most of my gifts were money, which I am using to fiill in the gaps of my cookware. On the Talk Food message board there is a whole thread devoted to what cookware you got this season as a gift. Some of the issues raised included the quality of the cookware and whether or not they had a "lifetime" warranty. Does all of this really make a difference?

I went to Loubat today in search of the last piece of cookware that I am using to replace my old hand-me-down pots and pans - a 2 quart stainless steel saucepan. I could've gone for the high class All-Clad or even a Calphalon Tri-Ply (I couldn't find it in any store), but I chose to go with what the professional kitchens use. I figure if it is good enough for day-to-day use in a restaurant, it's probably good enough for me. I probably saved a little money, but my main goal was to find a quality saucepan that would fit my needs. I picked up a 2 1/4 quart stainless steel saucepan with a heavy bottom along with a lid. The sticker that was attached to the saucepan claimed a "limited lifetime warranty," that instantly gave me that warm fuzzy feeling of the thought of me using this same saucepan after my 80th birthday. Do I really need a lifetime warranty? Do I want to use this pan for my whole life? Is this $30 saucepan really going to last forever?

I understand that quality cookware is a good idea; I firmly believe that a quality pot or pan will be a better tool than a flimsy low quality counterpart. Think about this before spending a fortune on your next piece of cookware; do you really need a lifetime warranty? Is it worth the money? And last, are you taking your cookware too seriously?