[title type="h5"]Last Chance For Resolutions.[/title]
I don't keep the Lenten fast religiously--I don't fully understand the rules. But I do think that lightening up one's eating for a period of time is a good idea. I am off beef for awhile, but mainly because of all the steaks I've consumed lately. (Two big ones in the past week alone.)
I would probably be better off if I abstained from sugar and starches. But one of the ways I've been able to drop forty pounds in the past year is by having only one serious meal a day. I fight off the hungries by grabbing something to kill my appetite. The ideal is a single graham cracker. It works. But lately we've had a lot of cookies and cake and candy around the house and at the radio station. To say nothing of the three boxes of Aunt Sally's pralines I mostly (but not entirely) gave away. The only really good snack is nuts, a handful of which sometimes fills me up enough that I don't even want dinner.
I'm going to abstain from sweet stuff during Lent and see how it goes. I'll start as soon as I finish this box of Thank You Berry Munch Girl Scout cookies.
Mary Ann takes Lent much more seriously. She even went to get ashes. She said she would not be eating anything today, but that she'd accompany me to dinner if I liked. I don't like eating alone even if she's there, but it does have one upside: I can go anywhere I want and order anything. I was in the mood for pizza. Ever since RocketFire closed its Covington location (its new one in Metairie next to Dorignac's is going strong), pizza has not come my way much.
We reverted to our old favorite: Pizza Man. This was one of the top places for our family to eat when the kids were little. Pizza Man's son (who is all but running the place these days, although Paul Schrem still shows up most of the time) is still cutting up for the little kids, who love to watch faces being drawn with sauce on the pizzas, and flour blowing up in all directions.
I come for the pizza. Specifically The Board, made with fresh spinach, spicy capicola, garlic, onions, feta and mozzarella. No red sauce--just herbal olive oil. It may be better than I remember. (Paul says his son is more skillful than he is.) Mary Ann was impressed that I could eat two slices and be done with it. (The rest of the pie goes into the freezer, to pinch-hit for real meals in the coming weeks.)
As for her, she didn't even split the Italian salad with me.
[title type="h5"]Pizza Man Of Covington. Covington: 1248 Collins Blvd (US 190). 985-892-9874. [/title]
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[title type="h5"]Thursday, March 6, 2014.
Bistro Orleans.
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I got a call this morning from the guy who sold me a futon for my new office, where everything is in a state of flux. After having two computers die and bringing in a third from home, today the lead IT guy at the radio station said he didn't like having a Dell on his network, and brought me a new (relatively) HP. That means that, for the fourth time since I was given this office, I must transfer all my data and programs to a new unit. Each iteration of this exercise kills a few days. No wonder my productivity is down.
Back to the futon guy. He explained that my napping pad had come in, but that a lady with an urgent need for one just like mine was at the store. Could she have mine, and he'd have another one made for me? Sure. I can take my siesta on the floor for another month.
To dinner at Bistro Orleans. About six months ago I went in there with a light hunger and ate a bowl of oyster-artichoke soup. It was so good that I reworked my top-dozen list for that item (it needed updating anyway). He did a guest shot on the show to talk about his other menu items, among which is wild-caught catfish. Very little of that makes its way onto restaurant menus. The only other places are Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar (formerly Bozo's) and K-Gee's. Middendorf's has wild-caught fish sometimes.
I started with a three-way appetizer platter. My main interest was in the fried eggplant sticks. I don't know why, but for the past year or so I can't seem to pass these things up. This was a good batch, crisp and thick, with an outstanding red sauce containing more than the average amount of pepper.
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Appetizer assortment.
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But just as good were the little crab boulettes, made exactly along the lines I always recommend using in crawfish bisque instead of those infernal stuffed crawfish heads. These were as crisp and greaseless as the eggplant. The third item was less good: mushrooms stuffed with spinach and feta cheese. Two of those three ingredients are notorious for throwing off water as they cook, and that gave a less-than-appetizing mouthfeel.
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Grilled oysters, only on Thursday.
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On Thursdays, the Bistro Orleans and the Where Ya'At Bar (same owners, but separate) fire up a grill on the parking lot and sizzle some oysters on the half shell. These were spicy and excellent. Still snapping as they came to the table.
[caption id="attachment_41578" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Wild-caught catfish platter at Bistro Orleans.[/caption]
The catfish was more than I hoped for. Six thickish fillets from small fish (the best kind), with the purity of flavor that makes wild-caught fish so much better than the catfish coming from managed ponds. This was, however, a couple of steps short of perfection. The coating seemed to be corn flour, which isn't as good as a mixture of corn flour and corn meal. A little more seasoning would have helped, as would a higher frying temperature.
Most of Bistro Orleans's menu is Italian, with a good bit of fried seafood and a few sandwiches and salads. Neighborhood prices. The place was so busy that the only table I could get was one for six. Which they let me have, thank goodness. A group of some twenty people were having a birthday party and a happy time, even as the door to the outside kept opening to admit blasts of the icy air outside. Winter is hanging tough.
[title type="h5"]Bistro Orleans. Metairie 3: Houma Blvd To Kenner Line: 3431 Houma Blvd. 504-304-1469.[/title]
[title type="h6"] Yesterday || Tomorrow[/title]
Written by Tom Fitzmorris March 12, 2014 12:01 in
