First Look: Feast

There have been a rash of new restaurant openings in the Big Sleaze the last few months. This week we will take a "First Look" at some of them kind of like how the Saints are taking a fourth look at John Carney. 

Feast hails from Europe by way of Houston. The cuisine of Feast focuses on rustic European fare, or as chef/owner James Silk told me, "This is peasant food." The Houston location has received praise from real food writers like Allison Cook, Frank Bruni, and Bon Appetit. Over the spring the owners decided to open a branch in New Orleans in order to take advantage of our citizens' collective desire to eat well and explore different cuisines. Feast eschews meat from factory farms (their pork and beef comes from Mr. Justin Pitts), work with local farms, etc...

OK, enough with all that. You are here for the food. The menu reads like an historical account of what people ate in Europe before industrialization made food a commodity. But this is not some anachronistic theme or concept restaurant. The food is built to please, fortify, and comfort. Which, at its most basic level, is the precise function of eating.

We headed there Friday evening with the Bubs. One benefit of checking out Feast right now is there is no liquor license and thus no corkage. Score. To start, we had the Coquille St. Jacques, pork rillettes, snails and gruel, and bone marrow with parsley salad. Coquille St. Jacques is a dish no one does anymore, which is a shame. The plate arrives with a few scallops in the shell topped by a brandy, mushroom, cheese and cream sauce. The resulting taste is savory, sweet, unctuous, and delicious.

Rillettes are pretty standard, perhaps a bit looser than normal. On top of charred bread with a sprinkling of sea salt, they are the perfect appetite pique. The snails and gruel serves snails in a tomato stew on top of gruel, which is the confluence of oatmeal and grits. Snails and gruel is interesting for a number of reasons. First, it is a rare day when snails aren't served bathed in garlic, butter, and herbs. Second, the gruel has a sweet note and rib sticking qualities which really showcases how at one time a few snails and a bowl of gruel would have filled a person up. The bone marrow and parsley salad was just the opposite of Garrett Hartley: reliable, on point, and worth it.

Now, for mains. Lindsay got a bouillabaisse which was slightly hard to eat. The large shrimp were difficult to peel without making a mess. And yes, the point of bouillabaisse is to make a mess. The Bubs went with two lamb dishes: braised lamb's tongue and the braised lamb shank. Both were good, but the lamb shank was better. Furthermore, the lamb shank will be even better once the cold weather arrives. I had the pork belly, which was delicious. A long plank of crispy skin topped tender belly sat next to a potato cake and a pile of red cabbage and apples. Just a classic mix of flavors, textures, and cooking skills.

Desserts almost stole the show. The honey and rosemary ice cream had a great balance of sweetness with the piney flavor of the rosemary. The chocolate molten cake was as good as it sounds. But the real star was the sticky toffee pudding, a spongy, dark, nutty, fruity specialty of the British. Just a great way to end a meal.

It is early in Feast's tenure in New Orleans, but I think Lindsay summed it up best when the next morning she said, "I loved it. No one else in New Orleans is serving food like this. Can we go back tonight?"

Steak and Collards

The Crescent City Farmer's Market sports an incredible bounty. From fresh seafood and citrus to vegetables and dairy, the market has the food you want to cook. Recently we picked up some rib eye steaks, collard greens, feta and garlic chevre, and a loaf of olive and sweet pepper focaccia.

The bread was consumed rapidly as good, fresh bread does not stand a chance in our house. The steak and collards were the focus of a recent dinner. The collards were rinsed and dried, then added to a dutch oven loaded with diced bacon, olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, a bay leaf and some duck stock. The simmered on low heat, partially covered or partially uncovered depending on your view of life for around 6 hours while I took a nap. Here are the collards pre-saute.

The rib eyes were pretty big so Lindsay suggested only cooking one. That was a great idea. I made a dry rub of salt, pepper, and brown sugar and let the meat soak this up for about an afternoon. Then grilled the steak on a hot grill for 4 minutes each side (rotating the steak 90 degrees after two minutes to get those pro looking marks). Let the steak rest then slice across the grain.
Those collards put off an enticing aroma. Their flavor is nearly indescribable-hearty, wet, smoky, spicy, and slightly bitter. Perfect with a dash of hot sauce or vinegar.
We drank this with a 2006 Nieto Special Reserve Bonarda which was a great match to both the greens and the beef. Then we watched Carolina get smoked by the Cardinals and that made us both very happy.

The collards cost $1. The steaks were a little bit more expensive at $24, but it is grass fed local beef. And we still have one other steak. We don't count wine as an expense in the 2009 Economical Challenge.

A New Technique

Its no secret, I like braised things. Especially when cooking at home. Braising affords a person with limited cooking skills a huge margin of error and the ability to turn a secondary cut of meat into something monumental. Brown meat (preferably something bone-in) and remove, add trinity or mire poix, seasonings, and a about a bottle of red wine, return meat, lower heat, cover and walk away for 1-5 hours. There thats your basic braise recipe.

Now recently, Justin Pitts enlightened me further about braising. I almost always remove the meat at the end of cooking and strain and reduce the pot juices to make a sauce. But a few weeks ago, Mr. Pitts told me to remove the meat and then add rice to the pot (measurements are for building). In the words of Archimedes, "Eureka!"

What results is a rice not unlike jambalaya rice. With bits and pieces of carrot and a wayward onion, the rice is hearty and savory, juicy and perfectly cooked. The result works very well with the braised meat. And I found if you reserve a cup or so of the broth, you can have your rice and eat your gravy, too.

Braising, try it on your friends!

Ok fine, take a more respected food writer's opinion of braising.

Evacuees Eat no Veggies

Last night, safe and sound in our home, Lindsay remarked over a plate of spaghetti and meatsauce, "I haven't, nor have I seen you, eat a veggie in about a week."

Wow. She was absolutely correct. One day in Jackson we went to a quick service deli and had salads, but that has been about it for the leafy, stuff since before the Palin announcement. Let's be honest evacuation requires one to live on things like pretzels, fast food, and beer. Lots of beer. So how can one remedy this situation?

Well, the grocery stores are working with limited resources but are coming back on line. However, you could and should go to the Crescent City Farmers Market this Saturday. Creole Tomatoes, squash, zucchinis, and okra for the veggies, maybe some peaches or pears for some fruit, Smith for Dairy, and hopefully some of Mr. Justin Pitts meat. Meat should not be discarded in favor of vegetables, just supplemented.

The market is on the corner of Girod and Magazine in the CBD. I like to go around 9 am. This Saturday, the market producers will give out free coffee. And dont worry this market has no traces of the self-important farmers markets that litter the nation (for good or bad). It is fresh produce, nice people, and a chance to keep money in the local economy. And fear not exclusive users of the Debit system, the Market has this amazing magic trick where they turn plastic into wooden nickels.

And why not?

Weekend in Review

Friday afternoon drinks at Bridge Lounge. Great spot only one problem. Everyone orders mojitos there. Which is great; although each one of those drinks requires numerous steps and considerable time. So sometimes getting an order in can take a while. On the flip side the bartenders have the forearms of a 15 year old boy. I am not at liberty to say which food journalist on New Orleans cuisine was also there, but lets just say he is easily the second or third most popular food journalist in New Orleans.

Another wonderful dinner at La Boca. That place is top notch. Pisco Sours, Provoleta, hangar steak for Lady, and flank for me. I got to admit the hangar steak beats the flank. Surprisingly fellow blogger Peter also showed up there for dinner (completely random) with the Palm Room Hostess, and two other law cronies. They too enjoyed their meal. Peter was coming off what many would consider a full weekend by 6 p.m. Friday evening: Lunch at Luke with the Papal Family, Old Absinthe House, 2 Hand Grenades and a lap dance. His evening continued; his dry cleaner thanked him the next day.

Then, the 25th Anniversary Rebirth Concert. Fellow Blue Jay Harry Connick, Jr. was in attendance; however the fight song was not sung. That concert blew me away. The best part about it was the Baby Boyz Brass Band; a group of tweens and teens that could really play. To me there is something so frightening and exciting about when the front line of a brass band, finishes a lyric and takes a step back before blasting notes into their instruments. That sight is the most joyous firing line one can imagine.

Saturday, Lady headed off to Shreveport for some baby shower thing. I stayed behind. The Crescent City Farmer's Market had Brian Landry of Galatoire's dolling out Shrimp Remoulade. What a breakfast. I picked up a brisket from Mr. Justin Pitts of Mississippi. Based on some personal instructions from Mr. Pitts and Steven Stryjewski of Cochon I slow-cooked that thing in a dutch oven for about 8 hours. I added a little crab boil, some creole tomatoes, onions and garlic and about a cup of water. What came out was heavenly and matched really well with the creole cream cheese grits I also made. Ok, so I totally stole that from Cochon. Judge if you must.

Saturday for lunch, before checking out The Dude's holdings, I grabbed a quick bite at Baru. A corn, cheese, pink sauce, and potato strips dish turned out to be the highlight. Sweet grilled corn, salty cheese, and then essentially mini-french fries. Also, a wonderful pair of flaky and just greasy enough to cure a hangover empanadas. The empanadas were served with this highly herbal concoction of parsley, cilantro, lime, and peppers. A tres leches cake that was really good but as I was dining solo became to sweet towards the end. Not Baru's fault; mine for having very few friends. Bring your own booze for now at Baru, but when that changes expect this place to really take off.

Sunday completely lazy. Cooked a rump roast by first triming it of some of its fat. Then, I studded the beast with garlic slivers. I then sliced the fat up into tiny pieces and used it to plug the holes where the garlic was and also to introduce fat into a pretty lean cut. Coated the rump in salt, pepper, Tony's, and garlic salt. Seared it on all sides; added onions, and deglazed with cognac and beef stock. Into the oven, covered, at 250 for about 7 hours. Served it over Romano cheese grits and with some caramelized red pearl onions. It tasted good. But the oven needs to go into hiding while the summer does what it does. Even better for lunch today as a po-boy, with Barqs, and Zapp's Cajun Crawtators.

That is in my book the definition of a New Orleans Weekend.