appetites

An image from a meal I had recently at Méson 923,, about which I will write more in the near future. Short version: it was very, very good.

Hamachi Crudo

Shrimp

I hereby alert you to the new Haute Plates Blog regarding a Cochon Butcher, which is now available for your viewing pleasure.
In addition to the photograph which accompanies the blog, you may enjoy the following, also from my most recent meal at Butcher:

Charcuterie Plate at Cochon Butcher, New Orleans

Braised Short Rib with House-made Pasta at La Côte Brasserie, New Orleans
From a recent lunch at La Côte Brasserie, in the Renaissance Arts Hotel, at 700 Tchoupitoulas Street, New Orleans.

My son’s cub scout troop held a father-son cake bake-off today to raise money for charity. The rule specified one of four categories: tallest cake, sports-related, insect, or scouting-related. I am not a baker, and although I initially thought about doing a King Cake, I ended up just making a two-layer chocolate cake with black icing and a yellow (gold) fleur de lis as a “sports” related cake.
We did not win anything, but the cake (along with a signed copy of Donald Link’s Real Cajun, a $50 gift certificate to Cochon Butcher, and a few other items from Butcher, brought $70, which I think is a respectable sum.

Elliot with the Spread
Cooking with my son was fun, though I don’t think I’m going to turn into a baker any time soon. Oh, and that football attached to a pound cake just behind our entry? It went for around $450, I believe. The ball was signed by all of the Saints. We’re just a little preoccupied with the Saints down here at the moment…

Yesterday I had lunch at Kanno, as is my habit. Another regular customer came in with a bunch of blood oranges from Plaquemines Parish, and I ended up leaving with a dozen or so. Before the Saints’ victory over the Arizona Cardinals, I de-boned some chicken leg-thighs, then marinated them in a mixture of blood orange juice, minced garlic, fresh thyme and rosemary, light soy, salt/pepper, and some agave nectar. Blood orange juice is not so acidic that the marinade did any appreciable “cooking” of the chicken, even after 3 hours or so.
I juiced a few more blood oranges, along with a navel orange and reduced it with some honey, a little salt, and some black pepper for a glaze, while I preheated my broiler. When the glaze was thickened up quite a bit, I added a half stick of butter off the heat, and let it incorporate.
I started the chicken, skin side down after oiling the broiler pan, about 4 to 5 inches from the heat. I let it go for around 5 or 6 minutes, then flipped the pieces and applied the glaze to the skin side. Another five minutes and I flipped the chicken again, this time adding glaze to the other side. I repeated that process every 4 to 5 minutes until the chicken was done (another time on each side, basically.)
Here’s how it looked:

Blood Orange Marinated and Glazed Chicken
It turned out well, though it could have used some chile in the glaze, I think.

I went to the Crescent City Farmers Market this morning for the first time in a couple of months. I was a bit surprised to see so many vendors selling meat. The Ryal’s people, for example, had both lamb and goat, and there was another vendor selling chicken. Justin was there, of course, with his excellent beef and pork. I snagged a 5 pound goat shoulder roast, and will figure out what to do with it tomorrow.
The following picture is not from this morning’s market, as you could probably guess by the subject’s attire. Still, I thought I’d lost this picture in a software failure some time back, and I’m putting it up now for nostalgic purposes. It is Paul, feel his gaze:

Paul.

Pumpkin Calas and Greens with Ricotta Salata and Bacon at Cochon, New Orleans

Elliot is an artist.

Self-portrait, Elliot Peyton
The “ot” is the end of his signature. The picture was cropped when it was framed at school. What you’re seeing is a photograph of the picture. It looks even better first-hand. He’s a talented little dude.

Locally raised, grass-fed beef on house-made rye, that is. I wrote about this sandwich, and a few other things in my last haute plates column:

Corned beef sandwich with sauerkraut on rye at the American Sector, New Orleans