For some reason I have lately become obsessed with little neighborhood markets. It started when Terranova’s Market became an advertiser on the radio show (airs live weekdays 2-4 on WGSO 990 AM.) Then we discovered the one closest to our home, Artigue’s, because Trey, who works out of their kitchen, started posting gorgeous pictures on their Instagram account. Then Steve, one of our regulars callers, told us about the roast beef poor boy at Saia’s, a meat market in Mandeville. We tried it and agree.
We’ve made several trips to Artigue’s and tried their hogshead cheese, which is chunky in a very appealing way, and spicy in an almost unappealing way. We’ve had the smoked beef ribs, which are delicious, and the housemade smoked boudin is chunky enough to remind me of the spectacular boudin balls at the Southern Hotel on their Happy Hour menu in the bar. Since I tried those I made a mental note to try to make some of them myself.
Last Friday I did. I emptied the skins of the boudin I had and rolled balls the size of golf balls. Then I dredged them in egg wash and rolled them in crushed pork rinds, my new favorite kitchen commodity. They went into the oven and came out exactly as I expected. I liked them very much because the boudin itself was chunky and spicy.
The pork rind crust was disappointing. I was pleasantly surprised when I used the pork rind crust on chicken, but with this it was overkill. I would use the breadcrumbs like in all the other boudin balls I’ve had. The breadcrumbs are definitely better. I also noticed that the ones that were precooked were better than the ones that weren’t precooked. The cooked boudin made balls that held together better. The uncooked boudin was too soft to really hold up. So if I did this again I would definitely cook the boundin first.
By evening we went from the ridiculous to the sublime. Pelican Club has the best COOLinary menu out there, as we have said for many years. We went as a foursome for dinner Friday evening. As usual, it was a great evening and a delicious meal. Normally we sit in the bar, because it’s a favorite room there. But I was glad we were set up in the first of two dining rooms. Pelican Club is a meandering four rooms, the first two are bar and the second two dining rooms. The entrance to the restaurant is on Exchange Alley, and the bar has some seating. You walk down a little ramp to enter another portion of the bar that is completely different in look and vibe. Clubby booths in black leather make for a very masculine and elegant bar experience. I have never sat in this room, but want to.
We sat in the third room, which I had not previously noticed is as elegant as it is. It is quite lovely. The fourth room is closest to Bienville Street, with big windows offering a view.
There were four of us, and we were determined to get four different things. It is also possible to order things a la carte, so I got a shrimp bisque that sounded very appealing. It came to the table looking thick and creamy with plenty of shrimp. It was everything I wanted, a perfectly-spiced and thick cream soup with that beautiful cooked shrimp color. The housemade focaccia that is very good was even better dipped in the soup.
The first round of course, appetizers, were resoundingly enjoyed, except for the wedge salad. It looked like a beautiful and large salad, but it was viewed as pretty okay.
The better salad was the heirloom tomato salad with burrata. These grape tomatoes were ripe and delicious, and drizzled with a tart vinaigrette. The burrata was creamy and the focaccia was a great accompaniment to this too. Tom got his usual grilled oysters with applewood smoked bacon, garlic, parmesan, and herbs. I got the jumbo lump crabmeat and shrimp ravigote in a half avocado with lettuce. When can this ever be anything but great? The shrimp were large and plentiful, the crabmeat not so much, but there is no way to complain about this. It was very pleasing to anyone who loves ravigote dressing on seafood.
The entree course was equally varied. I planned to get the whole fish, especially when I learned it was a fried flounder. Our guest Dominic Massa got Cioppino, and no ne else wanted that. Mary Leigh planned on getting the pork chop by default, because she didn’t really want an entree. She was ready to stop at the appetizer. When Tom ordered the whole fried fish, I got the pork chop, so Mary Leigh wound up getting the paneed gulf fish topped with jumbo lump crabmeat with jalapeno hollandaise. It was served with roasted baby potatoes and haricots verts.
Tom was very enthusiastic about the fish and its taste, but after starting in on it he remembered about the plethora of tiny bones and the trouble eating a whole fish. He declared it too much trouble, because the bones were absolutely everywhere, and some very tiny. It was a great flavor though, slightly Asian citrus chili sauce with peppers and served with jasmine rice. Dominic’s Cioppino was served in its own pot, and there was a lot of it. Served over linguini, there was a tomato basil sauce with littleneck clams, shrimp, mussels, calamari, and culf fish. It was much enjoyed. My pork chop was cooked in a way that made me rethink pork chops altogether. I usually want it overcooked, but this was tender, juicy, and napped with a spicy mustard sauce, complementing the honey glaze on the meat. This was the best pork chop I have had in a long time. It was served with snow peas, which to me is the most boring side, and sweet potato mash. ML got the least interesting thing on the menu it seemed. The paneed gulf fish was just that - a paneed gulf fish, and the jalapeno hollandaise crushed the delicate flavor of the crab meat. Crabmeat, to me, is so special, and so expensive, that anything strong in flavor next to it doesn’t work. The delicate flavor is hidden behind other strong flavors.
The Marys don’t usually get dessert unless it’s an irresistible rendition of chocolate. There was none on the dessert menu, and each of us got something different. ML got bread pudding for Tom to try and take home, Tom ate his lavender creme brulee there. Dominic got pecan pie, and I got coconut pie. Tom’s creme brulee was everything he wants out of a creme brulee, and Dominic liked his pecan pie. I took a bite of the pecan pie and felt it was not tight enough for my taste, a situation nearly every pecan pie I try has. Maybe I just don’t like pecan pie. I was also underwhelmed by the coconut pie, which seemed more of a tart. As a tart I liked it fine, but my image of a coconut pie is a tall thing that is moussey. All of these desserts were delicious, and I am being too particular, especially as a non-dessert eater.
We left with our position that this is the best COOLinary in town reaffirmed. There are other COOLinarys with delicious food, but we like the many choices here, which is counter to the standard limit of three or even two choices.
