New Orleans Food and Friends
I had such a great time in New Orleans! I drove down on Monday with my friend Rosemary. It's an easy trip, nothing tricky. We arrived about 5:30 and checked into our hotel, Maison Dupuy. The hotel is very nice, gorgeous courtyard with fountain, pool, tables for visiting. Rosemary and I were joining about 13 other personal chefs from around the country and Canada.
Our dinner reservation was at 7 at Herbsaint. I'd never been and was looking forward to it after looking at the menu online. There were 12 of us for dinner. I decided on no appetizer although that was a tough decision to make. I wanted to leave options open at dessert time!
I had the tuna on roasted eggplant with couscous and charmoula sauce for dinner. It was wonderful. And for dessert I went with the warm banana tart in brown sugar butter crust. Very good decision!
Tuesday morning started with a class on dessert garnishing. We learned the basics of fondant roses, marzipan and gum paste. I'll need more practice on all of this but we had a lot of fun!
After the grueling class we headed to Dooky Chase restaurant owned by Leah Chase. There were about 15 of us and we had the side room which is beautiful. We had the buffet meal. Chef Leah Chase is very gracious and spent some time talking with us, getting pictures and signing books. If you haven't read Leah Chase: Listen I Say Like This by Carol Allen, check it out.
We broke into smaller groups, some napped, some shopped. I was with Rosemary, Diane from Texas and Michelle from Toronto. We did some shopping and I stopped at one of my favorite stores Louisiana Loom Works. Check out the website at www.customragrugs.com.
We headed back to the hotel to rest up for dinner. Dinner was a combination dinner and cooking class. We went to The New Orleans Cooking Experience for a cooking class given by Poppy Tooker. The facility is beautiful.
There were 14 of us and we gathered around the counter to learn to make several authentic New Orleans dishes.
The appetizer was Calas with Remoulade Sauce. The batter includes cooked rice and in this case tasso ham. They are dropped into hot oil and served with the sauce. I have to make them soon for home eating.
In addition we learned about gumbo, crabs, chicken with picante sauce, creole sour cream, satsumas and dirty rice. When everything was ready we headed to the dining room to enjoy the meal. This was a great experience.
Wednesday morning started with a class about press releases with the whole group. Good information from everyone. we had lunch with a guest speaker, Chef Frank Brigtsen. He talked about what's happening in New Orleans from Katrina and from the oil problem.
After lunch we headed off to do different things, some of us went to the New Orleans Cooking School to get more education. We had corn crab chowder, gumbo and pralines. Lots of new recipes!
Wednesday night was dinner at Brigtsens by trolley car. I have no pictures on my camera I think because I started with a sidecar cocktail. It was very tasty and I relaxed for dinner. Kind of forgot I had a camera. I had butternut squash shrimp bisque, veal with osso bucco sauce, tastes of 3 desserts, 2 appetizers and another sidecar. We were responsible and took cabs back to the hotel.
Chef Frank Brigtsen chatted with us after dinner and we got a nice group shot with him. At least I have one picture that was taken by his niece Sophie. He has the dark hair and glasses.
Yesterday was the last day. We headed out in separate groups but somehow ended up together at Cafe du Monde for beignets. We said out goodbyes and hugged and headed home.
Rosemary and I had a nice, uneventful drive back. What does a personal chef have for dinner after several days eating in New Orleans? An egg sandwich with provolone cheese and hot tea. Perfect!
Now back to work.
Our dinner reservation was at 7 at Herbsaint. I'd never been and was looking forward to it after looking at the menu online. There were 12 of us for dinner. I decided on no appetizer although that was a tough decision to make. I wanted to leave options open at dessert time!
I had the tuna on roasted eggplant with couscous and charmoula sauce for dinner. It was wonderful. And for dessert I went with the warm banana tart in brown sugar butter crust. Very good decision!
Tuesday morning started with a class on dessert garnishing. We learned the basics of fondant roses, marzipan and gum paste. I'll need more practice on all of this but we had a lot of fun!
After the grueling class we headed to Dooky Chase restaurant owned by Leah Chase. There were about 15 of us and we had the side room which is beautiful. We had the buffet meal. Chef Leah Chase is very gracious and spent some time talking with us, getting pictures and signing books. If you haven't read Leah Chase: Listen I Say Like This by Carol Allen, check it out.
We broke into smaller groups, some napped, some shopped. I was with Rosemary, Diane from Texas and Michelle from Toronto. We did some shopping and I stopped at one of my favorite stores Louisiana Loom Works. Check out the website at www.customragrugs.com.
We headed back to the hotel to rest up for dinner. Dinner was a combination dinner and cooking class. We went to The New Orleans Cooking Experience for a cooking class given by Poppy Tooker. The facility is beautiful.
There were 14 of us and we gathered around the counter to learn to make several authentic New Orleans dishes.
The appetizer was Calas with Remoulade Sauce. The batter includes cooked rice and in this case tasso ham. They are dropped into hot oil and served with the sauce. I have to make them soon for home eating.
In addition we learned about gumbo, crabs, chicken with picante sauce, creole sour cream, satsumas and dirty rice. When everything was ready we headed to the dining room to enjoy the meal. This was a great experience.
Wednesday morning started with a class about press releases with the whole group. Good information from everyone. we had lunch with a guest speaker, Chef Frank Brigtsen. He talked about what's happening in New Orleans from Katrina and from the oil problem.
After lunch we headed off to do different things, some of us went to the New Orleans Cooking School to get more education. We had corn crab chowder, gumbo and pralines. Lots of new recipes!
Wednesday night was dinner at Brigtsens by trolley car. I have no pictures on my camera I think because I started with a sidecar cocktail. It was very tasty and I relaxed for dinner. Kind of forgot I had a camera. I had butternut squash shrimp bisque, veal with osso bucco sauce, tastes of 3 desserts, 2 appetizers and another sidecar. We were responsible and took cabs back to the hotel.
Chef Frank Brigtsen chatted with us after dinner and we got a nice group shot with him. At least I have one picture that was taken by his niece Sophie. He has the dark hair and glasses.
Yesterday was the last day. We headed out in separate groups but somehow ended up together at Cafe du Monde for beignets. We said out goodbyes and hugged and headed home.
Rosemary and I had a nice, uneventful drive back. What does a personal chef have for dinner after several days eating in New Orleans? An egg sandwich with provolone cheese and hot tea. Perfect!
Now back to work.
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