[Jared]: I thought I would take a break from eating and preparing food (yes, at the same time), to blog about food....mmmm.... food! This evening, I've been working on Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon. It has actually been more work than I expected. But we saw the movie Julie & Julia recently and obtained some lovely beef from our first shipment of J&J Grassfed Beef, so I figured I would take a stab at it. Unfortunately I should have started a bit earlier in the day. Ok, enough on that. On to New Awlins...
As Beth already noted, it was a fun trip. Congratulations and all that to the happy couple (half of which reads this blog!). And since I didn't get a chance to say so to the hosts, I feel inclined to announce that that was easily the coolest wedding band I've ever heard. Aside from the wedding and family time, I was most excited to explore the culinary delights offered by New Orleans.
Day 1: Had a nice jambalaya for lunch at a street cafe in the French Quarter. Nice and spicy. After lunch, it was beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde. Those were undoubtedly some tasty doughnuts. I surprised myself at my ability to abstain from eating two dozen.
Friday evening was the meal of the weekend. Several months ago when we confirmed our plans to attend the wedding, we immediately made reservations at John Besh's Restaurant August (prompted primarily by Rod Dreher's blog post about the restraurant a few months back). Besh is a super star in New Orleans (and everywhere else too), and the meal did not disappoint. Beth had a delightful and fluffy potato gnocchi with blue crab to start (I don't even like crab and I loved her dish), while I opted for the slightly more sinful trio of foie gras. The garlic and heirloom tomato version was nice but not earth-shattering. The mushroom sauce bite was rich and earthy and wonderful. But the third setting with caramelized peaches was so good that I'd fly to New Orleans for one bite. Something about warm fruit and seared foie gras just makes me melt.
Typically at restaurants, I wait for Beth to order and then adjust my own order in response. I tend to avoid duplication so we can try as many dishes as possible. But when Beth ordered the spiced, glazed duckling, I didn't hesitate to order the same. Indeed, Beth's mother made it three of four people ordering the same entree. And I can assure you that we were each glad to not have to share! The duckling was perfectly tender and the glaze had me ready to lick the plate. I especially enjoyed the subtle fennel flavor in the sauce.
Finally, desert. Goat cheese cheesecake, with local honey ice cream. Simply decadent. Ok, wow. So, I've already written a lot. My lap is overheating from the computer and I need to check on the bourguignon.
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