It matters, your rest that is. Everyone needs a break from
the day to day, even the day to day is pretty good. The benefits of rest cannot
be enumerated, they are just what you need. Go ahead admitted it, "I need
a break" see don't you feel better just saying it? Now, do it.
Recently Dianna took our break, I would like to say annual
break, but not so, the last one was four years ago. After those four very
trying, hard, difficult years we needed it. For us, our break is to enjoy a
cruise. So we contacted our travel agent
(Diana-Lynn at Expedia Cruise Ship Centers) who booked us upon the Norwegian
Dawn for a repositioning cruise to New Orleans From Boston.
NCL's first Dawn Class ship, Norwegian Dawn, features 12
different restaurants, nine bars and lounges, a spa, casino, Broadway-style
theater, three pools, a fitness center and much more!
There is a wide range of accommodations available on board
Norwegian Dawn, from interiors, ocean views and balconies to mini-suites,
suites and a pair of humongous Garden Villas that's over 5,000-square-feet in
size! All guests staying in one of Norwegian Dawn's full suites benefit from
butler and concierge service.
One of the highlights of a Norwegian Dawn cruise is NCL's
Freestyle Cruising concept, giving all guests on board this ship the
flexibility and freedom that they desire. While on a Norwegian Dawn cruise
you'll be able to eat where you want, when you want, and with whomever you
want. You'll also be able to dress however you want and, at the end of your
cruise, you'll be able to get off of the ship whenever you want.
There are a number of specialty restaurants on board
Norwegian Dawn, offering the ship's guests an enhanced dining experience. Most
of these venues have a per person cover charge, ($15-$30) but are well worth
it. Among the specialty restaurants are Le Bistro (a French restaurant), Bamboo
(a Chinese restaurant with a sushi bar and a Teppanyaki restaurant) La Cucina
(a Itilain restaurant) Moderno Churrascaria (a Brazilian steakhouse) and
Cagney's Steakhouse.
Leaving from Boston (we flew in just in time to catch the
ship, and should have stayed a while to see this great city but we will return)
the ship would sail for fours before reaching its first port of San Jaun,
Puerto Rico. There would be five additional ports before coming to the final
port of New Orleans, this other port's included Willemstad Curaçao (Netherland
Antilles), Oranjestad Aruba, Ocho Ricos
Jamacia, George Town Grand Cayman, Cozumel Mexico. Each of these have their own
Caribbean experience that is very different from the other or can be exactly
the same should you desire that. All have the over hyped over priced jewelry
stores that the ship also hypes, go to only those that recommend so they get a
kick back from the store. But if you're
not shopping for some over priced trinket there is plenty to do on each island
or if you prefer to do nothing at all these may be some of the best places in
the world to accomplish that as well.
You will experience some wonderful sunrises and sunsets from
the ship's deck before you venture on to experience what the remainder of the
day has in store. However, this is a food blog so we really should get down to
the food and the enjoyment or lack thereof of it. I do however want to begin
with the end of the journey and will deal with the beginning and onward within
the next writing.
Mr. B's Bistro, New Orleans' Finest Creole Restaurant
Wow, is a very simple word, yet it is the perfect word to
describe Mr. B's. They make the claim of being New Orleans finest Creole
restaurant, wow, what a boast. Yet they truly live up to the boast. From a
super friendly greeting at the door, reservation or not, to the impeccable
service to a cuisine that leaves you wanting more and more and saying at each
course, yes you guessed it, WOW.
After a fourteen day cruise, something beyond the food of
the ship was greatly desired. Not that
it was bad, it was in fact pretty good given the fact that they had to daily
feed a small town. But come on, this is New Orleans, and this is the one US
city that has given the world not one, but two inspiring cuisines, Creole and
Cajun foods, and yes, they inseparable and yet individual. Those who say they
are just spicy food know little of the foods and the rich history behind them.
So stepping off the ship I had a plan and an appetite to enjoy the city. Mr.
B's was to be the first stop of many in the Brennan family restaurants.
Located in the heart of the French Quarter at the
intersection of Royal Street and Iberville and only two blocks from Owen
Brennan's original restaurant, Brennans, (just reopening after renovations) the
place to go for a Creole breakfast for more than 60 years. The Mr. B's managing owner is one of the
famous restaurant family members Cindy Brennan.
Ms. Brennan along with her Executive Chef Michelle
McRaney have created a Creole menu which
pleases every taste, using the finest local seasonal ingredients. From Gumbo Ya
Ya to Creole Catfish you will experience the excitement of the finest in Creole
cuisine. After experiencing other
Brennan family restaurants, this one is the star, because they carry the
proudly the family name, the myth that
makes a Brennans restaurant is still found in the care and concern placed
within the dish served to the customer.
Mr B's lives up to the legend, not so with other Brennan named
restaurants which we tried while in New Orleans.
Our meals began with a classic Seafood Gumbo, slow cooked
dark roux noir, a medley of flavors perfectly blended in a seafood broth
seasoned
Next we ordered a signature dish of the restaurant, the
Barbequed Shrimp. You can order this dish in nearly every Creole restaurant in
the French Quarter, but you will not get a better dish than the one served at
Mr. B's.
Barbequed shrimp is a bit of a mystery, said to be a
creation of Pascal's Manale Restaurant on Napoleon Avenue in New Orleans sometime back in the mid 1950's. Barbequed
shrimp really has nothing to do with barbequing as most know it, no sweet
ketchup spiced sauces, not grilled or hard wood smoked. The story goes that a regular customer to
Pascals had just returned from a trip to Chicago, where he enjoy an entree of
shrimp, a lot of pepper and loads of butter simmered into a rich sauce. Chef
Jake Radosta promised a dish exactly like the Chicago one, when served to the
customer he declared it was not like the one he ate in the north, it was by far
better. Once placed on the menu people came from near and far to have it and
soon, like many New Orleans creations, every other restaurant was attempting to
duplicate the delightful dish. I have no idea if Mr. B's has the original
recipe, but unquestionably they have
perfected it. If you purchase their cookbook you can create the exact dish at
home as well. But why cook when they will it for you. You will enjoy a large
plump gulf head on prawns, slowly simmered in a sauce of butter, pepper,
Worcestershire sauce, lemon and Creole seasonings. Again served with the warm,
crispy French bread. Wow.
Enjoy your meal with a fine wine which the restaurant has a
great selection of and of course do dessert. You leave fed up with this
restaurant saying "wow, I just dined at New Orleans finest Creole restaurant".
Chef K's BBQ'd Shrimp Louisanna Style
16 jumbo shrimp (12 per pound, about 1 1/2 pounds), with
heads and not peeled
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Chef Ks hot sauce
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons Chef Ks Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cubed
French bread as accompaniment
In a large cast iron skillet, combine shrimp,
Worcestershire, hot sauce, lemon juice, black peppers, Creole seasoning, and
garlic and cook over moderately high heat until shrimp turn pink, about 1
minute on each side. Reduce heat to moderate and stir in butter, a few cubes at
a time, stirring constantly and adding more only when butter is melted. Remove
skillet from heat. Place shrimp in a bowl and pour sauce over top. Serve with
French bread for dipping.
Shrimp & Crab Gumbo
3 tablespoons lard, shortening or rendered bacon fat
3 tablespoon flour
1 each onion, yellow, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 each green bell pepper, chopped
2 cups tomatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups seafood broth
1 tbsp Chef K's Creole seasoning
1 sprig thyme
Salt and pepper
10 oz. Okra, sliced into small pieces
1 pound shrimp 21-25 count, peeled, de-veined
1/2 pound crab meat
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 pinches cayenne pepper
1 dash Tabasco
Preparation:
In a heavy skillet, add the butter and melt, add the flour
and over low heat, cook into a very dark roux (black, roux noir),add and sauté the onion, celery and green pepper in
the roux for a couple of minutes. Then add the tomatoes, broth, Chef K
seasoning, herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 20 minutes.Add the Okra and
Shrimp and cook for about 5 more minutes, until shrimp are done. Adjust heat
with cayenne and hot sauce. Serve over cooked white rice.
Notes on gumbo thickening agents,
There are three primary ways to thicken a great gumbo, all
have very faithful followings and will produce an excellent gumbo.
Okra, actually the word gumbo is an African word for okra, many
African stews are thickened with this small vegetable. Mucilage is found in
okra pods. Made of sugar residues called exopolysacharrides and proteins called
glycoproteins, mucilage's viscosity increases when heat is applied. This is
good for thickening dishes. Also known as Lady Finger, okra is cultivated in
warm temperate regions and valued for its fibrous pods. Okra can be fried, served raw, marinated in
salads or cooked on its own, and goes well with tomatoes, onions, corn,
peppers, and eggplant.
Filé powder, also called gumbo filé, is an herb made from
the dried and ground leaves of the sassafras tree. Filé can provide thickening when okra is not
in season. Added to the soup just prior to serving. First used by the Choctaw
Indians from Louisiana bayou region. Today the powder is used to both thicken
and flavor gumbo. Most would remember
Hank Williams song Jambalaya on the Bayou, my favorite version of CCR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrUmGakCRdE
Roux (roo) this is the basis of most great soups and sauces
that require thickening. Simply white enriched flour cooked in fat to differing
stages. The fat can vary from butter, to
oils, to shortening or bacon fat, each will have a different stage that will
cause it to burn when heat is applied, butter have the lowest point, oil next,
then shortening, lard and finally animal fats.
The making of the roux requires one to heat the fat over
medium heat, then sprinkle in the flour, cooking it in various stages (colors)
depending upon the final desired result.
Once the roux has achieved the desired stage then and, only
then can other ingredients be added, if adding liquid be sure that the liquid
is at a much cooler temperature than the hot roux to prevent clumping of the
flour. Use a whisk (whip) to add the
liquid slowly to the hot roux. This will vary if you are adding other
ingredients before the liquid as in the Trinty mix for gumbo.
White roux: cook the
flour and fat for 4 minutes until the flour has lost its raw texture and taste but
no coloring has changed. Use for chowders, cream sauces, Southern white gravy.
Blond roux: Blond, or golden roux, has cooked, approximately
20 minutes to a light, golden-brown shade with an aroma resembling popcorn or
toasted bread. This is the most commonly-used roux, desired for the richness
and a slight nuttiness it provides along with its excellent thickening power.
Blond roux is a good, general-purpose roux to keep on hand for thickening
stock-based sauces, soups, stews, chili and wine based sauces.
Brown Roux
Brown Roux or Walnut
roux has cooked, about 35 minutes until it reaches to a walnut brown color. Its
aroma is more pronounced and sharper than the nutty smell of blond roux. Cooked
to this stage, flour begins to loose its thickening power, requiring more roux
to thicken a given amount of liquid.
Dark Brown Roux
Roux Noir is yet even darker than the preceding brown roux,
dark brown roux has cooked, approximately 45 minutes until it is the color of
melted chocolate. Its aroma is mellower than the strong, roasted flavor of
brown roux, and will actually smell a little like chocolate. This stage has the
least thickening power of all four; its main purpose is as a flavoring agent
with thickening secondary.
Of course, there is the Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter as a must visit for beignets
and chicory infused coffee.
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N'awlins Pralines
1 1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 cups pecan halves
3/4 cup light cream
2 Tbsp salted butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 300 F. Place pecan halves on a baking sheet
in a single layer and toast for 10 minutes, turning once. Let cool.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and
set aside. Mix together white and brown sugar and baking soda in a 3-quart
saucepan. Stir in light cream and place over medium to medium-high heat. Cook,
whisking occasionally, until mixture reaches 240°F (soft ball stage) on a candy
thermometer (about 25 minutes). Slight foaming and occasional bubbling in the
mixture (it looks like it’s gasping) are normal at this stage.
Once the temperature reaches 235 F, add the butter and stir
until the butter is fully melted and the mixture is well combined (about 1
minute).
Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla and
pecans until well coated. Using a wooden spoon, beat the mixture vigorously for
about 5 minutes. Quickly drop by spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Let
cool completely. Work quickly so the mixture does not set on you.
Store in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days.
