Warlady
03-16-2006, 05:31 PM
I couldn't figger out where to post this so whoever knows please move it...
The NewOrleans.Com
WEEKLY FOODFEST LETTER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Tom Fitzmorris
Thursday, March 16, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONTENTS
News: Santa Fe Will Reopen After All
Recently Reopened Restaurants (560 Now Open)
Ten Best Restaurants For Prom Night
Review: Jamila's
Recipe: Soup of Seven Onions and Seven Peppers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RESTAURANT NEWS
SANTA FE WILL REOPEN, AFTER ALL
Things looked dark for the many fans of Santa Fe restaurant in
the Marigny Triangle. "For Sale" signs were up on the boarded-up
building, and while most other restaurants in the neighborhood
were reopening, it continued to sit there, empty and apparently
abandoned.
But it isn't, after all.
Yesterday I learned that Chef Mark Hollger is, in fact, returning to
New Orleans, and will be reopening Santa Fe sometime in April.
The German-born chef (his origins are always mentioned in any
discussion of this Mexican restaurant) and his wife have been in
Houston since the storm.
The restaurant was for sale before the hurricane, and may still
be. But once again we learn never to count a restaurant out
unless you see the building torn down or occupied by something
else. I've seen some astounding turnarounds since the storm, as
people's plans work themselves out, and this is one of them.
Expect to see more of them.
Maybe the Croziers will change their minds yet about
Chateaubriand?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RECIPE ARCHIVE
Hundreds of them can be searched at:
http://foodfest.neworleans.com (http://foodfest.neworleans.com/)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTABLE REOPENINGS
PELICAN CLUB. It's the same story we've heard so many times
before as to why it's taken so long for Richard Hughes and Chin
Ling to reopen their superb Exchange Alley restaurant. The
refrigeration was on the second floor. Everything got disgusting,
melted, and leaked into the floors, walls, and even the wooden
joists. The process of removing it all spread it around further.
(This is also the problem at Brennan's.) Richard says that three
thousand square feet of flooring had to be replaced, along with
ceilings and wallboard. Plus parts of the roof, and. . . well,
enough of that. "We spent the time redoing the bar. I think you'll
like what we did there," he says. "We changed a lot of colors, put
in new cabinets, lots of new paintings, and improved the look."
The bar has, indeed, been much enhanced. It now has the feeling
of the front room at Antoine's or Galatoire's: small but
comfortable, with windows onto Exchange Alley, ceiling fans,
dark woodwork, and a great feeling of New Orleans.
Before the storm, Richard says, he had a staff of about fifty. He
opened with fifteen. "But they'll come back. We're getting geared
up for French Quarter Festival and the Jazz Fest. We'll be ready."
For now, it's just dinner from a slightly attenuated menu and a
much smaller wine list (they lost the whole wine collection, which
was in the attic).
I dined there Tuesday night and found everything back up to its
old standards. I'll have a full report on this after I make another
pass. Tuesdays through Sundays. 615 Bienville, 523-1504.
STELLA! REOPENS. Chef Scott Boswell is one of those guys who
came back to town early after the storm, rolled up his sleeves,
and started cooking. His problem was that his restaurant, Stella!,
was too badly damaged to reopen right away. So he opened a
casual place on the other side of the block that he'd been working
on, and began grilling sandwiches and fish out in the courtyard
until better options came along. Out of that effort came Stanley,
which has been something of a phenom, especially for breakfast.
It's even given us a brand-new dish: the eggs Benedict poor boy.
At last, Stella! is open again. The restaurant was relaunched with
a Salmanazar of Taittinger Champagne, the cork of which was
comically difficult to remove, but which tasted good and toasty
and even a little aged. That kicked off the first of three wine
dinners featuring Hiroyuki Sakai, who is the French Iron Chef and
an old friend of Boswell's. (These dinners are sold out, but you're
not missing anything; Boswells regular food is much better.)
The restaurant looks great, especially the large rear room, where
some ferny metal sculptures on the wall add a touch of
sophistication and richness that wasn't there before. Most of the
equipment is new, and the bar looks that way, too.
Complete List Of Reopened Restaurants:
http://www.nomenu.com/Subscriber/RestaurantsOpen.html (http://www.nomenu.com/Subscriber/RestaurantsOpen.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FOODFEST NOW DELIVERS!
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? We do!
FoodFest, the largest New Orleans food website and forums in
the world, now delivers the great foods of New Orleans straight
to your door!
Order your favorite Creole and Cajun delicacies, and we'll ship it
to anywhere in the U.S. Miss the smell of chicory coffee or the
flavor of gumbo file/ Want a great jambalaya mix? Buy those and
many other authentic New Orleans eats from NewOrleans.Com.
We deliver the taste of New Orleans right to your door!
http://www.neworleans.com/cgi-bin/oracle/hs.cgi?ID=1114720562 (http://www.neworleans.com/cgi-bin/oracle/hs.cgi?ID=1114720562)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY EDITION OF THIS NEWSLETTER
Every day, I write much more about the New Orleans food scene,
and publish it in The New Orleans Menu Daily. In fact, it's
updated several times every day, with more reviews, recipes,
restaurant news, and other features. Take a look at:
http://www.nomenu.com/WhySubscribe.html (http://www.nomenu.com/WhySubscribe.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
Ten Best Prom Night Restaurants
The prom season is beginning now, and lots of young people are
looking for places with food and atmosphere to match their
formal clothes, but with tolerance for their low budgets and
youthful tastes. The following seem to have the best mix of those
things, according to the feedback I get. A great deal of primary
research on this has been done by my sixteen-year-old son, who
has orchestrated over a dozen such dinners for himself and his
friends and their dates.
1. Galatoire's. 209 Bourbon, French Quarter. 525-2021. The New
Orleans classic, and particularly good for the scions of the
establishment--or those who want to act like it. Make a
reservation for upstairs. If your dad is a regular, his waiter will
take very good care of you.
2. Dakota. 629 N. US 190, Covington, 892-3712. Beautiful
restaurant, a young staff, and very accommodating to young
couples with an interest in fine dining.
3. Muriel's. 801 Chartres, 568-1885. Very cool place, right in the
middle of the Quarter, and with food that's at the same time
serious and amusing. Very affordable for all that.
4. Andrea's. 3100 19th Street, Metairie. 834-8583. First-class
Italian, seafood, and everything else. They have a special three-
or four-course menu specifically for prom-goers. It's priced in the
mid-$30s, inclusive of tax, tip, and soft beverages, and for
groups big enough they have private rooms.
5. Cafe East. 4628 Rye (just off Clearview), 888-0078. This is a
particular favorite for my prom-age son, who has held several
very successful pre-dance dinners there. Chinese food, with a
very unusual menu. Under-$10 entrees are available. Very cool
dining room.
6. Nola. 534 St. Louis, 522-6652. Very hip, with an Emeril aura,
and interesting food.
7. Drago's. 3232 N. Arnoult Rd., 888-9254. Now that the
restaurant has more private space available, this is a great place
for pre-dance dinners. They'll put together a very good dinner at
a moderate price.
8. Palace Cafe. 605 Canal, 523-1661. Hip, a little noisy, a cool
scene, a great staircase for taking pictures, and a great menu
with a lot of variety.
9. Ruth's Chris Steak House. 3633 Veterans Blvd., 888-3600. For
the fellow who's saved up his money for this special night.
10. Ralph's On The Park. Convenient of all parts of town (I
remember what it was like to have to pick up dates), a view of
City Park, perhaps even a balcony table, and enough variety and
sophistication to make it a special night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE FOOD SHOW WITH TOM FITZMORRIS
Weekdays 4-7 p.m., WSMB 1350 AM
Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m., WWL, The Big 870 AM
Call 593-2166 or toll-free 866-644-9762 to go on the air!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RESTAURANT REPORT
Jamila's
Post-Storm Ratings: B, 2$
Uptown: 7806 Maple
866-4366
Dinner Tues.-Sun.
AE MC V
The front room looks as if a Middle Eastern restaurant moved into
a former barbecue house. Rough wood paneling, covered with
posters from Tunisia. The ceiling begs you to believe you are
looking into a blue sky with a few puffy clouds. No two light
fixtures match, although they look like they're from the same
part of the world.
Tunisia had three major influences in its modern history. For
centuries it was part of the Ottoman Empire, which lends its food
a Middle Eastern quality. It was later under French control, and
picked up some of those flavors and techniques. Finally, it picked
up Moroccan dishes and ingredients.
Moncef and Jamila Sbaa grew up with all this. After working in a
number of New Orleans restaurants, he opened this place, 14
years ago. From that day to this, the couple and their children
have been most of the staff, with Moncef in the dining room and
Jamila in the kitchen.
The kitchen has become more ambitious over the years. The
plate of steamed mussels, for example. It comes in an
incomparably delicious broth of the mussels' own juices, butter,
onions, garlic, and herbs. If you don't get mussels, think about
the fish soup called "chorba." This is a mildly spicy soup with a
variety of shellfish, thickened with chickpeas. Very good in cold
weather.
The appetizer called brik is reminiscent of Greek cheese pies,
folded up inside phyllo pastry, but the sauce and the filling seem
very French to me. They make brik here with shrimp, crawfish,
tuna, and a few other things, and the sauce is on the buttery
side.
Do not miss merguez. A sausage of lamb and beef or veal, it has
a dense texture and a significant spice level. They grill it and
work it into a number of dishes here, including an appetizer of
the sausage on its own. It's so well made that it comes as a
surprise that Jamila makes it on premises, from scratch.
The signature entree in Northern Africa is couscous. The standard
version is a pasta made into tiny grains about the size of grits,
steamed over a boiling pot of stock with savory herbs. It's
combined with lamb, chicken, fish, and/or vegetables; I've never
had a bad one here. It's almost absurdly healthy to eat, even
though after eating it you may be as full as you have been in a
long while.
Jamila's produces a great mixed grill platter, containing a lamb
chop, a chicken breast, a link of merguez, a beef kebab, and a
few other items. Very filling and good at about $20, which is as
expensive as this menu gets. Also on the grill is a whole fish,
different species every day, served what tastes to me a lot like
the romesco sauce of Spain.
As Middle Eastern food has become better known to Orleanians,
Jamila's has added a few items along the lines of kebabs, roasted
leg of lamb with herbs, and hummus. There's also a very French
steak au poivre.
All of this is accompanied by a better wine list than we usually
encounter in extreme ethnic restaurants. Moncef, as busy as he
is, always keeps the service flowing--although there are times
when Jamila starts carrying the food from the line to the table
herself.
Desserts include baklava, makhroud (a sort of rough-skinned Fig
Newton, with dates instead of figs), and tiramisu. They can serve
a decorated plate of all three desserts for a couple of people.
That's the best ending of all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TALK FOOD WITH TOM FITZMORRIS
If you have a question about any food, wine, restaurant, or
cooking matter, post it on our interactive web messageboard:
http://phorums.neworleans.com/foodfest/viewforum.php?f=11 (http://phorums.neworleans.com/foodfest/viewforum.php?f=11)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RECIPE
Soup of Seven Onions
and Seven Peppers
This is a classic French onion soup, with a spicy twist. Try really
hard to find the oxtails to make it. They're not essential, but they
give the soup an ideal mouthfeel and flavor. And make sure you
remember which seven onions and seven peppers you used,
because someone will want to know.
3 lbs. oxtails or beef soup bones
1 tsp. marjoram
3 bay leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 each large yellow, red, and white onion
1 bunch green onions
1 leek, cut open and well cleaned
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 Tbs. chopped chives
Enough of any seven peppers to make 1 1/2 cups when sliced,
mixing hot and mild varieties. (Examples: red and green bell,
serrano, jalapeno, cayenne, wax, poblano, cascabels)
1/2 cup tawny Port or sherry
Salt
2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese
1. In a large soup pot over high heat, brown the oxtails or beef
bones until rather dark. Add a gallon of water, the marjoram and
the bay leaves. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and cook for
two hours (or longer if possible). Strain the stock and set aside.
(You can do this a day or two ahead, and refrigerate the stock,
which will congeal.)
2. Slice open the peppers and remove all seeds and membranes.
Slice the onions and peppers as thin as possible.
3. In a large heavy pot over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil
until it shimmers, then add all the onions except the chives and
the garlic. Cook, stirring every two minutes or so, until the
onions have browned rather darkly. This will take as much as a
half-hour, but is essential to getting the sweetness of the onions.
Then add the garlic and the peppers.
4. Add the port or sherry, and cook until most of the liquid is
gone. Add the beef stock. Cook for about 30 minutes. Add salt to
taste and serve garnished with snipped chives and shredded
cheese.
Serves eight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SUBSCRIBE TO THE PREMIUM EDITION!
The subscriber edition of the New Orleans Menu Daily contains
many more articles and features, a full index of past recipes and
reviews, and is updated much more frequently. The price is
whatever you feel it's worth to you, with a money-back
guarantee. Look here:
http://www.nomenu.com/WhySubscribe.html (http://www.nomenu.com/WhySubscribe.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright © 2006 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved.
The NewOrleans.Com
WEEKLY FOODFEST LETTER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Tom Fitzmorris
Thursday, March 16, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONTENTS
News: Santa Fe Will Reopen After All
Recently Reopened Restaurants (560 Now Open)
Ten Best Restaurants For Prom Night
Review: Jamila's
Recipe: Soup of Seven Onions and Seven Peppers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RESTAURANT NEWS
SANTA FE WILL REOPEN, AFTER ALL
Things looked dark for the many fans of Santa Fe restaurant in
the Marigny Triangle. "For Sale" signs were up on the boarded-up
building, and while most other restaurants in the neighborhood
were reopening, it continued to sit there, empty and apparently
abandoned.
But it isn't, after all.
Yesterday I learned that Chef Mark Hollger is, in fact, returning to
New Orleans, and will be reopening Santa Fe sometime in April.
The German-born chef (his origins are always mentioned in any
discussion of this Mexican restaurant) and his wife have been in
Houston since the storm.
The restaurant was for sale before the hurricane, and may still
be. But once again we learn never to count a restaurant out
unless you see the building torn down or occupied by something
else. I've seen some astounding turnarounds since the storm, as
people's plans work themselves out, and this is one of them.
Expect to see more of them.
Maybe the Croziers will change their minds yet about
Chateaubriand?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RECIPE ARCHIVE
Hundreds of them can be searched at:
http://foodfest.neworleans.com (http://foodfest.neworleans.com/)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTABLE REOPENINGS
PELICAN CLUB. It's the same story we've heard so many times
before as to why it's taken so long for Richard Hughes and Chin
Ling to reopen their superb Exchange Alley restaurant. The
refrigeration was on the second floor. Everything got disgusting,
melted, and leaked into the floors, walls, and even the wooden
joists. The process of removing it all spread it around further.
(This is also the problem at Brennan's.) Richard says that three
thousand square feet of flooring had to be replaced, along with
ceilings and wallboard. Plus parts of the roof, and. . . well,
enough of that. "We spent the time redoing the bar. I think you'll
like what we did there," he says. "We changed a lot of colors, put
in new cabinets, lots of new paintings, and improved the look."
The bar has, indeed, been much enhanced. It now has the feeling
of the front room at Antoine's or Galatoire's: small but
comfortable, with windows onto Exchange Alley, ceiling fans,
dark woodwork, and a great feeling of New Orleans.
Before the storm, Richard says, he had a staff of about fifty. He
opened with fifteen. "But they'll come back. We're getting geared
up for French Quarter Festival and the Jazz Fest. We'll be ready."
For now, it's just dinner from a slightly attenuated menu and a
much smaller wine list (they lost the whole wine collection, which
was in the attic).
I dined there Tuesday night and found everything back up to its
old standards. I'll have a full report on this after I make another
pass. Tuesdays through Sundays. 615 Bienville, 523-1504.
STELLA! REOPENS. Chef Scott Boswell is one of those guys who
came back to town early after the storm, rolled up his sleeves,
and started cooking. His problem was that his restaurant, Stella!,
was too badly damaged to reopen right away. So he opened a
casual place on the other side of the block that he'd been working
on, and began grilling sandwiches and fish out in the courtyard
until better options came along. Out of that effort came Stanley,
which has been something of a phenom, especially for breakfast.
It's even given us a brand-new dish: the eggs Benedict poor boy.
At last, Stella! is open again. The restaurant was relaunched with
a Salmanazar of Taittinger Champagne, the cork of which was
comically difficult to remove, but which tasted good and toasty
and even a little aged. That kicked off the first of three wine
dinners featuring Hiroyuki Sakai, who is the French Iron Chef and
an old friend of Boswell's. (These dinners are sold out, but you're
not missing anything; Boswells regular food is much better.)
The restaurant looks great, especially the large rear room, where
some ferny metal sculptures on the wall add a touch of
sophistication and richness that wasn't there before. Most of the
equipment is new, and the bar looks that way, too.
Complete List Of Reopened Restaurants:
http://www.nomenu.com/Subscriber/RestaurantsOpen.html (http://www.nomenu.com/Subscriber/RestaurantsOpen.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FOODFEST NOW DELIVERS!
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? We do!
FoodFest, the largest New Orleans food website and forums in
the world, now delivers the great foods of New Orleans straight
to your door!
Order your favorite Creole and Cajun delicacies, and we'll ship it
to anywhere in the U.S. Miss the smell of chicory coffee or the
flavor of gumbo file/ Want a great jambalaya mix? Buy those and
many other authentic New Orleans eats from NewOrleans.Com.
We deliver the taste of New Orleans right to your door!
http://www.neworleans.com/cgi-bin/oracle/hs.cgi?ID=1114720562 (http://www.neworleans.com/cgi-bin/oracle/hs.cgi?ID=1114720562)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY EDITION OF THIS NEWSLETTER
Every day, I write much more about the New Orleans food scene,
and publish it in The New Orleans Menu Daily. In fact, it's
updated several times every day, with more reviews, recipes,
restaurant news, and other features. Take a look at:
http://www.nomenu.com/WhySubscribe.html (http://www.nomenu.com/WhySubscribe.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
Ten Best Prom Night Restaurants
The prom season is beginning now, and lots of young people are
looking for places with food and atmosphere to match their
formal clothes, but with tolerance for their low budgets and
youthful tastes. The following seem to have the best mix of those
things, according to the feedback I get. A great deal of primary
research on this has been done by my sixteen-year-old son, who
has orchestrated over a dozen such dinners for himself and his
friends and their dates.
1. Galatoire's. 209 Bourbon, French Quarter. 525-2021. The New
Orleans classic, and particularly good for the scions of the
establishment--or those who want to act like it. Make a
reservation for upstairs. If your dad is a regular, his waiter will
take very good care of you.
2. Dakota. 629 N. US 190, Covington, 892-3712. Beautiful
restaurant, a young staff, and very accommodating to young
couples with an interest in fine dining.
3. Muriel's. 801 Chartres, 568-1885. Very cool place, right in the
middle of the Quarter, and with food that's at the same time
serious and amusing. Very affordable for all that.
4. Andrea's. 3100 19th Street, Metairie. 834-8583. First-class
Italian, seafood, and everything else. They have a special three-
or four-course menu specifically for prom-goers. It's priced in the
mid-$30s, inclusive of tax, tip, and soft beverages, and for
groups big enough they have private rooms.
5. Cafe East. 4628 Rye (just off Clearview), 888-0078. This is a
particular favorite for my prom-age son, who has held several
very successful pre-dance dinners there. Chinese food, with a
very unusual menu. Under-$10 entrees are available. Very cool
dining room.
6. Nola. 534 St. Louis, 522-6652. Very hip, with an Emeril aura,
and interesting food.
7. Drago's. 3232 N. Arnoult Rd., 888-9254. Now that the
restaurant has more private space available, this is a great place
for pre-dance dinners. They'll put together a very good dinner at
a moderate price.
8. Palace Cafe. 605 Canal, 523-1661. Hip, a little noisy, a cool
scene, a great staircase for taking pictures, and a great menu
with a lot of variety.
9. Ruth's Chris Steak House. 3633 Veterans Blvd., 888-3600. For
the fellow who's saved up his money for this special night.
10. Ralph's On The Park. Convenient of all parts of town (I
remember what it was like to have to pick up dates), a view of
City Park, perhaps even a balcony table, and enough variety and
sophistication to make it a special night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE FOOD SHOW WITH TOM FITZMORRIS
Weekdays 4-7 p.m., WSMB 1350 AM
Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m., WWL, The Big 870 AM
Call 593-2166 or toll-free 866-644-9762 to go on the air!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RESTAURANT REPORT
Jamila's
Post-Storm Ratings: B, 2$
Uptown: 7806 Maple
866-4366
Dinner Tues.-Sun.
AE MC V
The front room looks as if a Middle Eastern restaurant moved into
a former barbecue house. Rough wood paneling, covered with
posters from Tunisia. The ceiling begs you to believe you are
looking into a blue sky with a few puffy clouds. No two light
fixtures match, although they look like they're from the same
part of the world.
Tunisia had three major influences in its modern history. For
centuries it was part of the Ottoman Empire, which lends its food
a Middle Eastern quality. It was later under French control, and
picked up some of those flavors and techniques. Finally, it picked
up Moroccan dishes and ingredients.
Moncef and Jamila Sbaa grew up with all this. After working in a
number of New Orleans restaurants, he opened this place, 14
years ago. From that day to this, the couple and their children
have been most of the staff, with Moncef in the dining room and
Jamila in the kitchen.
The kitchen has become more ambitious over the years. The
plate of steamed mussels, for example. It comes in an
incomparably delicious broth of the mussels' own juices, butter,
onions, garlic, and herbs. If you don't get mussels, think about
the fish soup called "chorba." This is a mildly spicy soup with a
variety of shellfish, thickened with chickpeas. Very good in cold
weather.
The appetizer called brik is reminiscent of Greek cheese pies,
folded up inside phyllo pastry, but the sauce and the filling seem
very French to me. They make brik here with shrimp, crawfish,
tuna, and a few other things, and the sauce is on the buttery
side.
Do not miss merguez. A sausage of lamb and beef or veal, it has
a dense texture and a significant spice level. They grill it and
work it into a number of dishes here, including an appetizer of
the sausage on its own. It's so well made that it comes as a
surprise that Jamila makes it on premises, from scratch.
The signature entree in Northern Africa is couscous. The standard
version is a pasta made into tiny grains about the size of grits,
steamed over a boiling pot of stock with savory herbs. It's
combined with lamb, chicken, fish, and/or vegetables; I've never
had a bad one here. It's almost absurdly healthy to eat, even
though after eating it you may be as full as you have been in a
long while.
Jamila's produces a great mixed grill platter, containing a lamb
chop, a chicken breast, a link of merguez, a beef kebab, and a
few other items. Very filling and good at about $20, which is as
expensive as this menu gets. Also on the grill is a whole fish,
different species every day, served what tastes to me a lot like
the romesco sauce of Spain.
As Middle Eastern food has become better known to Orleanians,
Jamila's has added a few items along the lines of kebabs, roasted
leg of lamb with herbs, and hummus. There's also a very French
steak au poivre.
All of this is accompanied by a better wine list than we usually
encounter in extreme ethnic restaurants. Moncef, as busy as he
is, always keeps the service flowing--although there are times
when Jamila starts carrying the food from the line to the table
herself.
Desserts include baklava, makhroud (a sort of rough-skinned Fig
Newton, with dates instead of figs), and tiramisu. They can serve
a decorated plate of all three desserts for a couple of people.
That's the best ending of all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TALK FOOD WITH TOM FITZMORRIS
If you have a question about any food, wine, restaurant, or
cooking matter, post it on our interactive web messageboard:
http://phorums.neworleans.com/foodfest/viewforum.php?f=11 (http://phorums.neworleans.com/foodfest/viewforum.php?f=11)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RECIPE
Soup of Seven Onions
and Seven Peppers
This is a classic French onion soup, with a spicy twist. Try really
hard to find the oxtails to make it. They're not essential, but they
give the soup an ideal mouthfeel and flavor. And make sure you
remember which seven onions and seven peppers you used,
because someone will want to know.
3 lbs. oxtails or beef soup bones
1 tsp. marjoram
3 bay leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 each large yellow, red, and white onion
1 bunch green onions
1 leek, cut open and well cleaned
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 Tbs. chopped chives
Enough of any seven peppers to make 1 1/2 cups when sliced,
mixing hot and mild varieties. (Examples: red and green bell,
serrano, jalapeno, cayenne, wax, poblano, cascabels)
1/2 cup tawny Port or sherry
Salt
2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese
1. In a large soup pot over high heat, brown the oxtails or beef
bones until rather dark. Add a gallon of water, the marjoram and
the bay leaves. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and cook for
two hours (or longer if possible). Strain the stock and set aside.
(You can do this a day or two ahead, and refrigerate the stock,
which will congeal.)
2. Slice open the peppers and remove all seeds and membranes.
Slice the onions and peppers as thin as possible.
3. In a large heavy pot over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil
until it shimmers, then add all the onions except the chives and
the garlic. Cook, stirring every two minutes or so, until the
onions have browned rather darkly. This will take as much as a
half-hour, but is essential to getting the sweetness of the onions.
Then add the garlic and the peppers.
4. Add the port or sherry, and cook until most of the liquid is
gone. Add the beef stock. Cook for about 30 minutes. Add salt to
taste and serve garnished with snipped chives and shredded
cheese.
Serves eight.
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Copyright © 2006 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved.