The Heat Is On

Look, I understand that we live in a man-made concrete jungle in the middle of a swamp, but the heat lately has just been ridiculous. I appreciate this morning's gift of a taste of fall, but unfortunately I realize that the previews start at least a month or two before the premiere.

I was at the farmers market on Saturday morning for a total of 15 seconds before my shirt looked like it had been sprayed down with a gardening hose. You take one step outside of your air conditioned comfort zone, and it's like your entire body is instantaneously covered in one of those hot towels that the server hands you when you sit down at a sushi restaurant. Living downtown and having the luxury of walking to work has been transformed to a game of cat and mouse between finding the shadiest route and timing your departure so as to avoid having to wait for the crosswalk signal.

The Folk Singer has resigned to driving to work. We live three blocks from her office.

This August has almost sucked all of the enjoyment out of eating. I was craving a po-boy over the weekend, but knocking out a hot sausage po-boy from Parkway I had to take an ice bath for 3 hours just to get my core body temperature back down to 98.6. Firing up the grill outside is like paying russian roulette unless you have grilling tongs which stretch from your kitchen window out to the old Weber. Turning the oven on just seems completely counter intuitive considering that your primary goal is to keep your house as cool as possible. It's too bad that braised dishes are out of the question because you could cook osso buco simply by throwing a few veal shanks, tomato, and wine in a dutch oven and leaving it on the front porch while you are at work.

But all hope is not lost for culinary delight in the land of the 110 heat index. Here is a list of my favorite foods that help stave off the summer:

• Cold Soups - Gazpacho is the most well known (and rumor has it that Coquette's version is one of the best in town). At last week's Tuesday market at Tulane Square, I had an amazingly refreshing and flavorful vichychoisse served up by La Divina under the Green Plate Special tent. On the menu this week is a chilled cucumber soup with housemade creme fraiche and dill that sounds equally delightful.
• Pate, Cheese, & Olives - And wine of course, and maybe a loaf of bread. St. James Cheese Company is an obvious choice, but don't forget about the affettati misti at Domenica or the long list of offerings at the Delachaise.  Or stop by Butcher and build your own.
• Sushi - I won't open that can of worms again by telling you where to go, but let's just say that I have ejoyed a few strong meals at Horinoya over the past few weeks.
• Cold Crabmeat & Shrimp - Nothing wrong with a generous portion of shrimp remoulade or crabmeat maison over mixed greens with maybe a few slices of avocado or hearts of palm. I'm partial to the chilled roasted beets topped with crabmeat in a horseradish emulsion at La Petite Grocery.

Or you copy my dinner from last night by skipping dinner and knocking out a pint of mascarpone and lemon zest ice cream from the Creole Creamery.

What are your favorite foods that help beat the heat?

Beef Stew (Bo Kho)

When the weather turns a bit chilly like it is today, my stomach and soul immediately begin to crave a hot, comforting bowl of beef stew. Last year, Cochon Butcher stole my heart on multiple occasions with its version of tender, bite size morsels of beef and potato in a rich, smooth stock with just a hint of red wine in the background.

Unfortunately, I have not once seen Butcher offer its beef stew as a special during this winter season. WTF?!?!

Vietnamese restaurants serve their own version of beef stew, and it's called bo kho. While bo kho includes both beef and carrots just like your momma uses, the beef stock and tomato base is augmented with Vietnamese spices like clove, anise, and ginger. The starch component of bo kho comes in the form of either noodles in the bottom of the bowl or a couple of toasted loaves of banh mi to be dunked into the stew. The finest exemplar of bo kho that I have tasted comes from Tan Dinh, which uses multiple curries to create an intoxicating and delicious gravy. I used to be high on Pho Tau Bay's version, but I was served a tepid and watered down bowl on my last visit.

Unfortunately, the stew meat in Tan Dinh's bo kho is frustratingly tough and served in large chunks which cannot be pulled or bitten off into more manageable pieces. If the gravy was not so delicious, I wouldn't bother. Your best solution is to not be shy and take advantage of the fork and knife graciously brought out by your server.

I have requested a substitution of duck for beef in the past, but the waitress shot me down. One augmentation I have been allowed though is to add beef tendon to the stew, which may have been the greatest idea since Al Gore invented the internet.