Sunday Dinner - Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
I realized around 11 that Red Beans and Rice takes a lot longer to cook than I usually alot for Sunday Dinner preparation, and that I had no idea where in Silicon Valley one gets Louisiana Red Beans. So I ran out and hit 3 supermarkets before finding one that carried the right stuff, and ran back to the house to start the beans simmering
By 7ish (the official start time) I had Jambalaya with 3 kinds of sausage, chicken and shrimp, red beans and rice, cornbread, baked new potatoes with baby carrots, baked garlic and brie, and steamed spiced shrimp. We had 13 for dinner (or 12.5 if you don't count Opal, our regular 5 year old, as a full serving) including
burny_md who is out interviewing with some podunk search engine company up in Mountain View.
The red beans were shockingly bland (I know how much of what I put in that pot, it astounds me none of the flavors came through) but with a bit of Louisiana spice mix or three-chili sauce they did OK. The Jambalaya was good and spicy, the cornbread very popular, and the rest of dinner well received.
J and I had a really good time in New Orleans last week. We stayed at the Maison DuPuy in the French Quarter, and spent much of our visit strolling around that most unique neighborhood. Our visit coincided with the New Orleans Literary Festival, so we went to a talk by Daniel Menaker, a New Yorker editor, on what sorts of things catch a magazine editor's eye in story submissions; and another by John Mariani, food editor for Esquire Magazine, on the state of fine cuisine in the world today. We got to hang out with
menckles and her fiancee a couple of evenings and see some locals' places, and I took J to some of my favorite haunts, like Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop and the Cafe du Monde. It was a short visit, only 4 days, but I love that city, and it's good to get back there once in a while to soak up the music and the food. And to smuggle back some Blackened Voodoo Lager and some beignet mix.
By 7ish (the official start time) I had Jambalaya with 3 kinds of sausage, chicken and shrimp, red beans and rice, cornbread, baked new potatoes with baby carrots, baked garlic and brie, and steamed spiced shrimp. We had 13 for dinner (or 12.5 if you don't count Opal, our regular 5 year old, as a full serving) including
burny_md who is out interviewing with some podunk search engine company up in Mountain View.
The red beans were shockingly bland (I know how much of what I put in that pot, it astounds me none of the flavors came through) but with a bit of Louisiana spice mix or three-chili sauce they did OK. The Jambalaya was good and spicy, the cornbread very popular, and the rest of dinner well received.
J and I had a really good time in New Orleans last week. We stayed at the Maison DuPuy in the French Quarter, and spent much of our visit strolling around that most unique neighborhood. Our visit coincided with the New Orleans Literary Festival, so we went to a talk by Daniel Menaker, a New Yorker editor, on what sorts of things catch a magazine editor's eye in story submissions; and another by John Mariani, food editor for Esquire Magazine, on the state of fine cuisine in the world today. We got to hang out with
menckles and her fiancee a couple of evenings and see some locals' places, and I took J to some of my favorite haunts, like Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop and the Cafe du Monde. It was a short visit, only 4 days, but I love that city, and it's good to get back there once in a while to soak up the music and the food. And to smuggle back some Blackened Voodoo Lager and some beignet mix.