Saints Bye Week Makes for a Big Weekend

There is no such thing as an "off weekend" in the fall in New Orleans. The Saints bye week has left the door open for a number events to fill in the calendar, so strap on your boots for a busy weekend of eating and drinking.

On Saturday, the Broad Street Brewhaha will take place on the roof of the old Schwegmann's at 300 N Broad Street. The event will feature pick me ups from Coffee Roasters of New Orleans and beers by Abita, NOLA Brewing, Lazy Magnolia, Heiner Brau, and Bayou Teche. (Look out next year for Tin Roof to be added to the list.) Admission is free, and a $10 sample card guarantees you 10 3-ounce pours of the beers of your choice.

Sidenote: We wish we were going to the Carnivale de Vin Gala on Saturday night, but Santa did not deliver us the $1000 tickets as early Christmas presents. But if anyone wants to buy us Auction Item #16 entitled "A Few Bites of the Big Apple", we would quickly get over missing the gala. Moving on.

The premiere event of the weekend is the 4th Annual Po-Boy Festival, which will takse place along a seven block stretch of Oak Street beginning at Carrollton. The festival starts at 11:00am, and I advise you to arrive early as the crowds can get quite thick later in the afternoon. The map of po-boy purveyors can be found here, and from experience I can tell you that the booths farther from Carrollton are more likely to have shorter lines. (By the way, we are terribly disappointed that Dong Phuong is not on the list this year.) Finally, as you may recall, we served as "celebrity judges" for last year's Po-Boy Contest, but apparently our star has faded because we will not be on the panel this year. It was a good run.

Also on Sunday, La Boca will be hosting Asado Night at Rio Mar. The all you can eat meat feast features beef, lamb, pork, chicken, morcilla, and chorizo plus other La Boca favorites like provoleta and empandas. The cost is $50 per person and seating is limited, so call 525-8205 ASAP to make a reservation.

Last but not least, MVB will once again be open for business on Sunday night at Slim Goodies beginning at 5:00pm. With this week's recent shout out in the press, the MVB team is gearing up for what will hopefully be another successful burger weekend. One final note, the above linked article mistakenly listed this week's special as last week's. Just to clarify, this week's special is the "South of the Burger" - burger, blackbean and chipotle puree, guacamole, tomatillo crema, queso fresco, and grilled red onion. On The Pope's scale of deliciousness, we think it qualifies as "Lovin' in Your Mouth."

We're #2, We're #2

Well the votes have been tallied in the Best of New Orleans 2009, and Blackened Out is now officially the Second Best Local Blog. Not food blog, but just straight up, local, hardcore thuggin' blog. The winner was Gambit's own bestofneworleans.com. We figure since we placed second to the blog that ran the contest, that is a win. Or at the very least remind everyone of that popular youth song, "First is the worst, second is the best, third is the turd."

Pick up a copy at your local bar, coffee house, po-boy shop, or Langenstein's. I have a feeling that the print edition will fetch a pretty penny on eBay sometime down the line since food blogger collectibles are now considered one of the safest long term investments.

Thanks to everyone who voted for us. We appreciate it.

This past Sunday, the weather was phenomenal. Sun, cool temps, wind, and not a drop of rain. To celebrate the weather and our victory, we grilled some chicken, scarfed down potato salad, and finished it all off with some Lazy Magnolia Indian Summer Spiced Ale.

You know how to make barbecue chicken so I will not bore with how I did it. But I do want to call your attention to a great tip I have used recently when cooking chicken. A "dry brine" accomplishes many of the same tasks as a traditional brine but a little quicker. Before you grill your chicken (or roast it, saute it, whatever), coat it in kosher salt. A lot of salt-a fistful will do. Let it sit for as long as you have, thirty minutes is great for chicken breasts, a little longer for a whole bird. Then rinse, dry, and season. Enjoy.


Potato Salad

2 pounds potatoes-fingerlings, small Yukons, or red potatoes work best, cook in heavily salted water until a knife easily pierces. Do not peel prior to cooking.

While potatoes are cooking make a dressing. Since serving this potato salad with chicken, I like to use tarragon vinegar. The anise undertones of the vinegar provide a nice balance to the tangy, juicy chicken. So, a 3 second glug of vinegar, a heaping spoonful of mustard, salt and pepper. Whisk, and while whisking stream in about a nine second pour of oil. Taste, adjust seasonings. Add to dressing some small diced celery, maybe some green onions or shallots, perhaps parsley if you have it.

While potatoes still warm, cube or slice and add to dressing. Stir, allow flavors to sit for a while, then serve. Summertime and the living's easy...

Libation for Celebration

All of those who waited till today to make New Year's Eve plans raise your hands. Now all of those who may have already made plans but still need to buy booze for tonight raise. Is that everyone? OK, good. We're here to help.

If you are a beer drinker, then I have to second Rene's suggestion of knocking back a few Lazy Magnolias. Last week I was the fortunate recipient of a six pack gift of Southern Pecan from a relative, and it went very well with the whole suckling pig that we cooked on Christmas day. (More on that next week). Just swing on by the local grocery on the Northshore. [What? The Northshore is still technically in the New Orleans area. Just ask Fr. Tom. He lives in Abita.]

But if, on the other hand, you fancy a bit of bubbly, then head over to Cork & Bottle and grab a bottle of the Spanish sparkling wine Poema Cava. Sure, it's not true champagne, but neither is the Korbel or Mumm's which you usually drink. And at $10.99 per bottle, it's a steal.

Finally, for you oenophiles out there, why not pick up a bottle of Wine Spectator's 2008 Wine of the Year.* This bottle of Clos Apalta is courtesy of The Pope, whose affinity for this Chilean red stems not only from taste but also from the fact that the winery is owned by the Marnier-Lapostolle family (founders and owners of Grand Marnier liqeur). Plus uncorking a bottle like this is a perfect excuse to use that new decanter you got for Christmas. Please allow the Battle House Honey to demonstrate:

Happy New Year.

* We apologize for the amateur pictures of the wine. Unfortunately, we are not as photographically savy as Robert Peyton.

Hurray For Beer Fans

If you like good beer and you live on the Northshore, good news. Lazy Magnolia products will soon be available for purchase in your neckin of the woods. Champagne Beverage Company of Madisonville will be the exclusive distributor of the products in Slidell, Mandeville, and Covington.

The hand-crafted, climate specific beers of Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company offer a chance for the beer drinker to really explore different styles of beer. Lazy Magnolia has won two International Awards at the 2006 World Beer Cup. Plans are in the works for a Blackened Out Field Trip to the 2009 World Beer Cup. We are hoping to get into a fight with some of the hooligans from Smithwick's.

Plus what could be better than a drive across the longest bridge in the world to pick up a trunk full of beer. Pretend to be a modern day rum runner or bootlegger, wear a zoot suit, and give yourself a cool nickname like Short Pete or Lickin Larry. Then swing by and drop off your loot at an abandoned warehouse all the while escaping the Fuzz.

See beer is fun.

Dispatches from Afar

So far so good, knock on wood. That has generally been the feeling of all affected by the staff of the Gods. It seems that New Orleans has not suffered to greatly. Lets hope that stays the same.

Lindsay and I are safe in Jackson and are hoping to return to New Orleans tomorrow. How? Well, we are officially "press" now. There are stories to cover.

The food in jackson has been good. We went to the Bulldog and drank way to many pitchers of Lazy Magnolia brew. Damn fine stuff. Today, Dr. Egon took us to Broad Street Bakery for some sandwiches. Then a long nap.

Peter is hunkered down in Baton Rouge. He is currently surviving on Corn Nuts, stale Natural Light, and the thought of bernaise.

The Pope is holed up in a wine cellar in New Orleans. And I wish that wasn't so amazingly true.

In related news, Peter and I proudly announce that this month's issue of Offbeat magazine features a review by your faithful bloggers. We hope you enjoy it and can't wait to continue writing for such a dank mag. Sorry, that was college coming out. Check it out here. And with that Blackened Out is now totally, halfway legit, in a way. Kinda.

Best to all, hope everyone is safe.

See you at Galatoire's. Friday at noon.

Lazy Magnolia, Blossoms Bloomin

This weekend Le Bucket and I had the pleasure of learning all about the Lazy Magnolia brewery at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. Lazy Magnolia brewery began, as all true passions in life, as a hobby for husband and wife Mark and Leslie Henderson. Both of them are engineers and one year for Christmas Leslie gave Mark a brew kit. Four years later they were brewing beer as a business.

The operation is based out of Kiln, Mississippi. That is the same home town as Brett Favre. Brett Favre does not drink beer anymore. Lazy Magnolia's most famous brew is the delightful Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale. The Henderson's kindly brought along some bottles for everyone to try. The pecan flavor asserts itself in a subtle manner about 2/3rds of the way through the brick. One of the more interesting uses of this beer, that they recommended, layers the Pecan Ale and Guinness for Pralines and Cream dessert beer. That sounds good enough to be a main course.

The beer selection from Lazy Magnolia is heavily linked to food and brewed with the South's climate in mind. The Sweet Potato Cream Stout uses the starchiness of sweet potatoes to mimic the taste of Oatmeal Stouts. "I want drinking beer to be equivalent to a good meal. A barbecue, grilled chicken, pizza, sushi...each of these meals has a specific flavor profile and experience. That is what we shoot for in crafting our beers," Mr. Henderson added.

Lazy Magnolia's varietals currently are not sold in Louisiana. However, they hope to expand into the market very soon. It will not be soon enough. For you readers in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, congrats on scoring such a fine product.

And please, go to check out SOFAB. It really is a great museum and the staff does a wonderful job or putting on presentations like this weekly.