Text 34466, 134 rader
Skriven 2015-12-22 08:13:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DALE SHIPP
Ärende: re New Orleans 705
==========================
Thanks for a fun meal. Great to see you, and I think
you and Lilli found each other mutually interesting
and amusing.

> One of the better meals was on our last night there when we met up with
> Michael and Lili at the Acme Oyster house.  We had tried to go there on
> a previous visit, but the lines were long so we went elsewhere.  This
> time the line was fairly short -- probably due to the lateness of our
> meeting time with M&L.

I allowed a couple extra hours for mishap, and we needed
all that time. Originally, if our flights had been on time,
we'd have time to take the bus (1 transfer, 1 hour, $5.65
for the both of us). As it was, we had to take a cab 
(1/2 hr, $36 + tip), sling our stuff in the room, and head
on to Iberville St., where we were right on time.

  I had my fried oysters which I really like.
> Michael had raw, which is his favorite.  We did exchange a couple of
> each -- but the ladies refused any offer of seafood.  After we finished
> the main course, I decided to try the often touted char-broiled oysters,
> even though Michael warned me against them.  He was right.  There was no
> oyster flavor, only the flavor of broiled grated parmesan cheese.

There was a substantial garlic hit as well, but the cheese
really overtook the dish. One can get shellfish "barbecued"
as well, which actually means stewed in garlic butter with
worcestershire and lemon (also possibly a touch of Tabasco).
I find that more edible but almost as bad a waste of good
shrimp or oysters.

I'll add that neither the ladies' po'boys looked as imposing
and appetizing as last time - I almost suspect ladies'
portions. When I've seen the 10-napkin roast beef before, it
has been worthy of the name, a larger portion of protein and
a truly overwhelming amount of juice. This time, good but
not decadently good, and Lilli used 10 of the 12 napkins they
gave her just because she's generally dainty.

> Of course, we had multiple gumbos.  Best was at Mr. B's -- also the most
> expensive.

Not trusting the shellfish-freeness of gumbo and such, we
focused on fried chicken, where if we'd had time the
cheapest would likely have been best - Popeye's or maybe
the Key's gas station or Brothers' convenience store.

We rated Sammy's, Dooky Chase's at the airport, and
Coop's all pretty high but not as good as Popeye's on a
good day. Willie's a notch lower. We didn't try for it
at any fancy place (Galatoire's was the only really top
restaurant we got to, and I don't think it's available
there).

As far as beans and rice goes, every version we had
was respectable, with Dooky's and Coop's a photo
finish, Dooky's being almost exactly like Popeye's
but with more meat, Coop's having a lot of cumin and
being more a cross between RBR and a far-too-good
bean chili.

  Gail announced that none of them were as good as the smoked
> chicken and pepperoni gumbo that I make at home. 

Probably true. A good amateur cook can cook pretty much
as well as a good professional and is not constrained by
as many budget and other extraneous issues.

 She does not like the
> seafood gumbos, but I thought that the seafood gumbos I had were
> uniformly better than the chicken and sausage gumbos she had at multiple
> places.

Seafood gumbo generally is more interesting. Those shrimp
shells add a lot of flavor.

  Actually, I think that the gumbo served locally by the Jason's
> chain is as good as any of the ones that we had this time in New
> Orleans.

Though I don't tend to like chains, Popeye's notwithstanding,
maybe your recommendation will finally not fall on deaf ears.
 
> We really enjoyed our stay.  The weather was warmer than we had expected
> (it hit 80 on our first day), and there was only one day of any
> significant rain.

It got up to 77 our last day, yesterday.

Turns out Drago's, whose second location is in our hotel,
claims to have invented the dish (though what's to invent
with garlic butter and a sprinkle of cheese I don't know).
The orders we saw looked more promising than Acme's - 
bigger oysters and just a sprinkle of cheese instead of
being totally inundated with it.

Drago’s Style Charbroiled Oysters
categories: shellfish, starter, main
servings: 1 to 2

h - The Sauce
4 oz sweet butter, softened
1 ds Kosher salt
1 ts fresh ground pepper
1 Tb minced garlic
4 Tb pecorino Romano [others use a mix with Parmesan]
1 pn Cayenne
1 pn white pepper
1/2 ts lemon juice
1 ts minced Italian parsley
h - For the Oysters
12 lg freshly shucked oysters on the half shell
pecorino Romano to finish
minced Italian parsley for garnish
fresh bread and lemon wedges to serve

Whisk all sauce ingredients together. 

Heat a charcoal or gas grill very hot. Place the oysters 
on the hottest spot on the grill and let them cook in their 
own juices for a couple minutes, just until they start to 
bubble and the edges curl.

Top each with a generous portion of the sauce, enough to 
fill up the shell. When the sauce starts to bubble sprinkle 
each oyster with 1 Tb  Romano. Let the oysters go until the 
sauce on the edges of the shells gets nice and brown. 
Garnish with minced parsley.

Serve while still sizzling with Lemon wedges and fresh bread. 

http://www.nolacuisine.com
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Check Out Doc's QWK Mail  Via Web BBS > DocsPlace.org  (1:123/140)