Riverbend Supper Club 5.24.2011

The Dinning Room Ceiling

Foraging For Berries

The day started off like any other day, with a dog walk, but the dog walk today ended with a bounty of fresh local produce from the Hollygrove Market.  Breaux and I decided to make the walk down to the market, a mere 2 miles, to retrieve my bicycle.  Upon reaching the Hollygrove, Breaux got a bowl of water, and I got to work with some of the vegetables in setting up for the Tuesday Market.  Once the volunteering was complete, and veggies in hand, we walked back to the house to plan for the evening's supper club.

It was a bright idea at the time for an adventure, foraging.  So we set out, map in hand, to find some of the resources of the neighborhood.  It seems my math is a bit off and most of the citrus trees had stopped bearing fruit a month or so ago.  So onto the levee for mullberries and blackberries.  But the river had swallowed up much of the green space between the levee, where the fruits are usually ready and willing to be cooked.

Mike's Seafood Market

So we foraged further, and this time it was a sure shot, the seafood market.  Ended up with fresh catfish, and some beautiful white shrimp.  So the meal was set, we have potatoes, tomatoes, squash, onion, garlic, herbs, and seafood.

Heirloom Tomato Chips, Basil Flowers

Port and Mint Roasted Potatoes

Local Shiitake Brown Rice

Shrimp, Squash, Kale Stirfry

Sherry Cured Steamed Catfish

Tomato, Basil Flowers, Salt

Potatoes, Port, Mint, Salt

The food was cooked, people ate, drank and conversated.  Keep your ear to the grindstone for the next Riverbend Supper Club.

Cheers

Eat Local, or Else.

Starting June 1st the New Orleans Locavores are challenging New Orleanians to eat food from within a 200 mile radius.  It is a message which has taken over much of the rest of America, and now finally we start to seeds of healthy food being planted in New Orleans.  Eating from within two hundred miles is not that big of a challenge, as it is a commitment.  Before refrigeration, people ate what Mother Earth provided, and the confining mentality of "gotta have it now" did not exist.  So challenge yourself, to eat healthier for your community.  The only requirement is the ability to ask questions.  Next time you are in a restaurant, ask where the server where the butter comes from, or where the onions are grown.  Just think about it like wine, where local variations in temperature and geography affect the taste of the juice.  And next time you are in a "local" supermarket ask why 75% of the food is not from here.

Checkout the Website for Details

www.nolalocavore.org 

North African Tasting Menu

Introducing or being introduced as a "chef" usually leads to a fair amount of questions, with the number one being "What is your favorite thing to cook?"  And while this seems like a simple question, and it is, it litcherally renders me speechless half the time.  Trying to convey in a few sentences, what the feeling is like to make another person happy through food and wine ends up being a mumbled rant on whatever I just read.   My go to recipe, depends on the company and context of which I am currently with or employed by.  Any region, any cuisine, any time (with advance notice).

An example.  I am currently creating a seven course North African tasting menu to be held on Thursday June 9th on the shore of Bayou St.  John   Drumbeats, spit roasted lamb, wines, and amazing conversation seems to be my answer dujour (of the day) for the next few weeks.  Here is the menu, and we have six spaces available, chat me up for a space.

North Africa On The New Orleans Bayou

Amuse Bouche

First

Manti

(Turkey)

Spiced Dumpling, Lamb, Bulgur, Herbs, Yogurt

Second

Hlelem

(Tunisia)

Summer Vegetable, Red Bean Soup

Third

Msoura

(Morocco)

Beta Carrots, Cucumber, Herbs

Fourth

“Ghaliyeh Maygoo” Tagine 

(New Orleans/N. Africa)

Local Seafood, Local Vegetables, Cous Cous

Fifth

Mechoui Lamb, Cous Cous

(N. Africa)

Spit Roasted Leg of Lamb, Raisins, Pine Nuts Herbs

Dessert
TBD

Martinique Bistro, my new culinary home.

Martinique is located in between State and Nashville on Magazine Street in New Orleans.  Stepping inside the intimate setting, the only indicator of your urban surroundings are the cars which can be heard passing by on the other-side of the ivy clad brick wall.  The dinning room features amber lighting and inviting colors, to increase the personal experience of each guest. The food, well the food is clean, pure, and original.  Focusing and elevating the flavors of a French Caribbean island, the plates look as good as they taste.  It will be an opportunity to meet the expectations of which both the staff and beautiful surroundings have put forth, with the end result being, a superb dining experience for the guest.

Liuzza Palooza 2011

www.liuzzapalooza.org/