Where to Eat in New Orleans

Wow, it has been a minute since the last post. I am really sorry! I have been super duper busy as of late- which really is a wonderful problem to have. We got back from New Orleans just in time to celebrate my birthday on the 15th, then Andrew’s birthday on the 18th- and it took up many days to truly properly celebrate those special days- and then one of my bestest friends, Laura, came out to visit with 2 of her fabulous friends, so having fun with them is all I have done for the past 5 days. Now I am back to real life. I think I was also a little overwhelmed with what I wanted to do for this post- which will be a restaurant review. To be accurate, this will be a run down of everywhere we ate on the trip to New Orleans and what we thought about it. So actually… many, many restaurant reviews.

Surrey's
1418 Magazine St
This is a neighborhood restaurant in uptown. There are actually 2 locations on Magazine Street, and there is usually a wait at both. We went for brunch, which is what they are known for. As usual, there was a line and a wait, but it was totally worth it! I had shrimp and grits and Andrew had the bananas foster French toast. Both were very, very good.

Commander's Palace
1403 Washington Ave
This is the one place that people say you “have to” eat at. It is a New Orleans tradition. Emril Lagasse got his start here. It is super fancy and delicious. So fancy that they prefer men wear a dinner jacket. They don’t require it anymore, but I think it is always fun to dress up. This place really is an experience. The waitstaff is amazing and their attention to detail is superb. For an appetizer I had the Shrimp & Tasso Henican - shrimp, hot sauce, pickled okra and five pepper jelly- sounds odd- was amazing. Andrew had the trio of soups- Gumbo, Turtle Soup and the Soup of the Day. Andrew says that these were the best soups he has ever had in his life, and I have to agree. They were each so different and had true depth of flavor. For dinner he had the Crawfish Maque Choux - a sauté of crawfish with grilled corn, mixed peppers, okra, smoky pork boudin and a rich crawfish bisque, and I had the Tabasco & Garlic Seared Shrimp – shrimp marinated with lemon & blackening spice, cast iron seared with Hennessey cognac and roasted mushrooms, cracked corn-jalapeño grits and spicy Creole tomato paint. His was really good, but not rock your socks good, and mine did actually rock my socks- yummy. However, I would recommend the Filet Mignon- it is, to date, the best steak I have ever had, and that was a good 10 years ago. For dessert we both had Creole Bread Pudding Soufflé with warm whiskey cream- you must have this. It will make you happy, I promise. And I don’t even like bread pudding!


New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood Co.
4141 St Charles Ave.
This was a place we found on our walk up St. Charles early in the morning- our friend Christine had mentioned that their beignets were fabulous, so we picked some up and took them home to our friends (who were just getting up from the crazy night before). Best beignets we had- lighter and fluffier than Cafe du Monde. But shhh, don't tell them!


Port of Call
838 Esplanade Ave
Best hamburgers I have ever had, and possibly my favorite place to eat in NOLA. Huge char-grilled burgers, covered in shredded cheese and served with a loaded baked potato. It is a hole in the wall and you will have to wait, but they have huge drinks in their signature cups that make the wait the wait so much more fun, if you drink. The Monsoon is what most people drink while they wait. Enjoy, but be careful- they are big and quite powerful. And feel free to send me your cup when you are done. My collection is a little low.


Brennan’s
417 Royal St
Amazing breakfast/brunch!!!! This is the home of bananas foster! Truly one of the best breakfasts I have ever had! Andrew and I split their baked apple. There is no way to describe how amazing this very simple dish was. The apple was cored and baked until soft, served whole, in a bowl with a cinnamon-sugary sauce and cream. Did I mention that it was amazing? And I don’t even like apples! Andrew had Shrimp Sardou, which was spicy fried shrimp on top of sliced artichoke bottoms nestled in a bed of creamed spinach and covered with Hollandaise sauce- and there were almost 30 full sized shrimp in there. It was a great combination. I had the Eggs Bayou LaFourche- poached eggs on top of Andouille Cajun sausage and Holland rusks (a crisp English muffin type of bread), all topped with Hollandaise sauce. Also a delicious combination! And to top it all off, we (of course) got the bananas foster- Bananas sautéed in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and banana liqueur, then flamed in rum (done table side-very fun), all served over vanilla ice cream. As their dessert section on the menu said- “Diets be damned!” Also, this is an expensive breakfast- one of the most expensive meals of the trip- but it is very, very worth it!


Court of Two Sisters
613 Royal St
This is a New Orleans classics, and I hate to say it but I was very disappointed. It was not at all delicious like I remembered. We went for the jazz brunch and it was a buffet, which is a very difficult thing to do well. They did not do it well. There was quite a variety of New Orleans classics, but they were bland, mass-produced versions. The best part was the jazz ensemble, and they took very frequent breaks. Maybe going for dinner is still delicious, but skip the brunch.


Liuzza's
3636 Bienville St
An old college friend, Bridget took me to lunch here as an early birthday lunch. We pulled up to a place in Mid-city, and I have to admit that I was a little doubtful. It doesn’t look spectacular, and even a little run-down. But, as I have discovered, hole-in-the-wall places can be the best. And this one was! I had an amazing shrimp po-boy, delicious gumbo and we split some flaky onion rings. This was really great, truly authentic New Orleans food. I love to go where the locals eat.


Cafe Du Monde
800 Decatur Street
Of course we went to this New Orleans classic. But you know that, because you read my last post, right?

Mother's
401 Poydras St
Great traditional place downtown to get a po-boy! The Ferdi special is what they are known for, and for good reason- a po-boy with roast beef “debris”. Just get it- it is good. If you go during the day there will be a wait, but it is worth it. The crawfish etoufee was also delicious!


Salu
3226 Magazine St
This is a place that I got to with 2 of my favorite New Orleans girls- Christine and Erin during the St Patrick’s Day parade. Imagine a Mardi Gras parade, only crazier, drunker, and green. So we decided to escape to a restaurant where we could still enjoy the craziness- just through a window. The food here was so, so, so good! It is tapas, which is one of my favorite types of food. We had Empanadas 2 ways- Chorizo-Manchego and Wild Mushroom-Goat Cheese, BBQ Pulled Pork on Corn Fritter Cakes and Cilantro-Red Onion Salad, Crispy Fried Manchego Cheese Sticks with Quince Membrillo and Crispy Fried Cheesecake Egg Rolls with Guava Coulis, just to name a few. Yes, cheese cake egg rolls. It is true. And fabulous.

Muriel's
801 Chartres Street
This is a lovely little place just off of Jackson Square. It is a smidge pricey, but I was lucky enough to have those fabulous friends, Erin and Christine, taking me out to brunch for my birthday! We were trying to go to Stanley’s, which is directly across the street, but they had a long wait and I had to get to the airport on time. The interior was deliciously old-school New Orleans. They had a jazz trio walking around, and they were very good. I had the soup of the day- a corn and shrimp chowder, and the crawfish and andouille omlette. Both were very good. The biscuit that came with the omlette was phenomenal- it was just a little sweet. There were many other things that I want to go back to try!

Beignets from New Orleans!

Well, here I am in New Orleans! Andrew and I are here visiting friends and we enjoyed Mardi Gras- his first ever! I am back in the city for the first time in 6 year- I spent my first 2 years of college at Tulane University in New Orleans and it is an amazing city that I have really missed! The food here is fantastic. My mom was a good cook and I always enjoyed her food, but New Orleans was where I learned that food could be an experience. You know what I mean?



One of the quintessential New Orleans experiences is beignets from Cafe Du Monde. You wait in line to get these fabulous little pillows of delicious fried dough, covered in powdered sugar, and they have this amazing chickory coffee! I had many a beignet late at night after spending the evening in the French Quarter, dancing with friends.



Here is a recipe for beignets from Paula Deen Celebrates!, that cookbook that I cooked through last year. This recipe was from the Mardi Gras Party, and they were delicious! Enjoy! (Please note that the recipe makes 60 beignets- can you imagine eating 60 doughnuts? Feel free to halve of ever quater it!)

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs, well beaten
1 cup evaporated milk
7 cups bread flour
1/4 cup vegtabel shortening
1 quart canola oil, for frying
Confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Directions
Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.
In another bowl, beat the eggs, salt and evaporated milk together. Mix egg mixture to the yeast mixture. In a separate bowl, measure out the bread flour. Add 3 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add the shortening and continue to stir while adding the remaining flour. Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray. Put dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.
Add the confectioners' sugar to a paper or plastic bag and set aside.
Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into 1-inch squares. Deep-fry, flipping constantly, until they become a golden color. After beignets are fried, drain them for a few seconds on paper towels, and then toss them into the bag of confectioners' sugar. Hold bag closed and shake to coat evenly.



This is what they looked like when I made them at home. Yummy!

I absolutely love, love, love mint and chocolate together. It is the cool creamy mixed with the rich decadence that just really does it for me! I love thin mints, peppermint patties, junior mints… Mmmmm! So, I decided to try to mint chocolate cupcakes- and they are fabulous! I actually ended up making them 2 ways- both with a great chocolate cupcake- one with a creamy mint filling, dipped in a chocolate ganache and drizzled with the mint filling. For the other one, I thickened up the creamy filling and had a the chocolate cupcake with a thick minty frosting. Both… Yummy…. Ok, gotta go make more! Enjoy! And if you make them, let me know which one you like more, ok?




Chocolate Cupcakes
½ cup cocoa
1 cup boiling water
1 1/3 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Combine cocoa and water- whisk together and cool.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt.
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Stir in cooled cocoa mixture.
Bake at 375, 15-20 minutes.

Mint Filling
½ cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
4 Tbsp green crème de menthe

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until well blended. Stir in crème de menthe until blended. Pipe into cooled cupcakes

Chocolate Ganache
6 oz. (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 Tbsp. (3/4 stick) butter

Melt the chocolate chips and butter in the top of a double boiler. Stir until smooth. Dip cupcakes into chocolate to cover. Drizzle with remaining filling

*To make mint filling into a frosting, add another 2 cups confectioners sugar, or until you reach your desired consistency.