Wednesday, August 17, 2016.
French Supper. Pork Not-So Tenderloin.
I have my new wireless phone for two days, and I am still trying to figure out how to use it. The Cool Water Ranch is in a cellular dead zone. The phone will only take or send emergency messages. When it rings, no buttons connect with the caller. It just keeps ringing until the caller hangs up.
I take the tiny instruction manual to dinner at Chateau Du Lac, and try to puzzle out the instructions. It will recognize my fingerprint once that's set up. I've tried a few times but get nowhere. Another security option is to have the user draw a simple diagram on the back of the phone. I actually mange to dope that out. Cool.
[caption id="attachment_47474" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Escargots.[/caption]
I decide to have a classic French bistro sort of dinner. I begin with escargots a la Bourguignonne, with the famous garlic, herbs, and butter. There's lots of leftover sauce for me to scoop up with the bread. Good start.
Meanwhile, the little owner's manual instructs me as to how to read and answer messages. I learn how to read the first sentence. Where the rest of the message resides is not clear.
Second course is a big bowl of crisp, young green leaves, with the perfect scant amount of vinaigrette. I like this so much that elsewhere in today's NOMenu newsletter, I have my lemony version of this recipe. Sometimes the simple things are the most enjoyable, and that's certainly true here.
I realize that nobody but me knows my new phone number. Mary Ann is flying in tomorrow and might need me. I try to call her, but she doesn't answer. The unfamiliar phone number probably registers as junk mail to her, and she will never answer it.
[caption id="attachment_38305" align="alignright" width="238"]
Chef Jacques at Chateau Du Lac.[/caption]
To make my order the ultimate French bistro dinner, I would get steak and frites. But the filet is $36, and I don't want either to spend nor eat that much. I see a pork tenderloin on the menu for $22. I check to make sure this is an actual tenderloin, not a pork loin. The latter is not bad, but it needs lower and slower cooking, preferably with a sauce.
Lately, I have stated here a few times that I have found thick pork chops tenderer, tastier, and generally more interesting than the steaks I've had during the same period. The price--about half that of a beefsteak of the same size--is a bonus. That streak ends tonight. The pork tenders look good and the Calvados-based sauce is interesting, but the pork is a little tough. This is a hallmark, ironically, of the pork tenderloin. It has almost zero fat or cartilege, and so has no means of tenderizing itself. But it's good enough. And, besides, I have all these fresh-cut fries to mellow my mood.
Dessert is three ping-pong balls of house-made vanilla ice cream. I ask whether chef Jacques Seleun is in the building. He takes off Wednesdays, I am told. His wife and co-bozz Paige is also elsewhere. The restaurant isn't busy, but not many are this time of year.
Chateau Du Lac. Metairie 1: Old Metairie: 2037 Metairie Rd. 504-831-3773.
Escargots.[/caption]
I decide to have a classic French bistro sort of dinner. I begin with escargots a la Bourguignonne, with the famous garlic, herbs, and butter. There's lots of leftover sauce for me to scoop up with the bread. Good start.
Meanwhile, the little owner's manual instructs me as to how to read and answer messages. I learn how to read the first sentence. Where the rest of the message resides is not clear.
Second course is a big bowl of crisp, young green leaves, with the perfect scant amount of vinaigrette. I like this so much that elsewhere in today's NOMenu newsletter, I have my lemony version of this recipe. Sometimes the simple things are the most enjoyable, and that's certainly true here.
I realize that nobody but me knows my new phone number. Mary Ann is flying in tomorrow and might need me. I try to call her, but she doesn't answer. The unfamiliar phone number probably registers as junk mail to her, and she will never answer it.
[caption id="attachment_38305" align="alignright" width="238"]
Chef Jacques at Chateau Du Lac.[/caption]
To make my order the ultimate French bistro dinner, I would get steak and frites. But the filet is $36, and I don't want either to spend nor eat that much. I see a pork tenderloin on the menu for $22. I check to make sure this is an actual tenderloin, not a pork loin. The latter is not bad, but it needs lower and slower cooking, preferably with a sauce.
Lately, I have stated here a few times that I have found thick pork chops tenderer, tastier, and generally more interesting than the steaks I've had during the same period. The price--about half that of a beefsteak of the same size--is a bonus. That streak ends tonight. The pork tenders look good and the Calvados-based sauce is interesting, but the pork is a little tough. This is a hallmark, ironically, of the pork tenderloin. It has almost zero fat or cartilege, and so has no means of tenderizing itself. But it's good enough. And, besides, I have all these fresh-cut fries to mellow my mood.
Dessert is three ping-pong balls of house-made vanilla ice cream. I ask whether chef Jacques Seleun is in the building. He takes off Wednesdays, I am told. His wife and co-bozz Paige is also elsewhere. The restaurant isn't busy, but not many are this time of year.
