Writing With My Mouth Full

Where to eat in New Orleans, Louisiana: Luke Restaurant

It was getting too late for lunch and we were famished. For our first lunch in New Orleans, we walked from the convention center, where the Dr. was the entire morning with other anesthesiologists, to St. Charles Avenue to drink decent Bloody Marys at Lüke Restaurant. And decent they were with the right amount of horseradish garnished with a string bean and a lovely okra. The drink was crisp and rich without you knowing that there’s too much alcohol in it for a mid-afternoon break.

We started with the corn and crab bisque because even though it was sunny in New Orleans, the wind was hitting us beneath the thin jackets we brought from New York. The soup tasted so much like crab and I could see from its brownish color that they’ve included some of the innards that you usually see when you take a crab apart. The fried oysters were light even though they were deep-fried in batter. A romaine salad with bacon and fresh slices of avocados brought the dish together. The Dr. opted for a heavier lunch of venison with two beautifully poached eggs. There’s nothing better than a runny yolk on top of a hot rich stew flavored with wild mushrooms on a brisk day.

We laughed at the crowd in Lüke because it’s our normal demographic when we travel. For some reason or another, we always end up eating with old moneyed white folks. We’d like to think we’re as well-heeled as they are, but most of the time, we just call ourselves old ninnies. But we can always pretend to be whomever we want to be when we’re on vacation, right?

Lüke is at 333 St. Charles Avenue next to the Hilton St. Charles Hotel in the Central Business District of New Orleans. We walked in for a late lunch, but they prefer that you call ahead at 504/378.2840.

Related post/s:
Lüke Restaurant photos on Flickr

Ganesh Hindu Temple Canteen

The Hindu Temple Society of North America
45-57 Bowne Street, Flushing, Queens
718/460.8493
$8 to $10 per dish
♥ ♥ ♥

I’ll second Anthony Bourdain for this review: vegetarian food doesn’t have to suck. When Scott was visiting from Dubai, I thought of the Ganesh Hindu Temple canteen as our lunch spot because of his new dietary needs. He’s not vegetarian per se because he likes his sushi and won’t turn down a juicy hamburger if it was offered to him–in other words, he’s my kind of vegetarian.

From the Main Street stop off the 7 train, we walked and walked in the rain until we reached Bowne Street. Worshippers were taking off their shoes before entering the basement, so we did the same thing until we realized that people who were only there for the food kept their shoes on. We joined the long queue and waited for our turn to order several dishes that we ended up sharing for lunch. We staked out other groups who were finishing up to get a table and seats.

The rava dosa, a crepe-like Indian pancake from South India, was delicious and light. The hyderabadi green chili curry seasoned with sweet tamarind and yogurt was my favorite because of its tanginess and acidity. The red chili masala is a little spicier but nothing freshly baked nan could not control. The paneer butter masala is my usual order at Indian restaurants so I was glad to try it here. We all loved the condiments that came in different shades of browns, reds and oranges spiked with the whiteness of thin yogurt on the side. The combination of cardamom, ginger, garlic and lemon was a nice sensation in our mouths and gave us strength to walk the long way back to the train.

Pernil La Segunda Parte, Pork Shoulder Roast

The family skipped the tasteless turkey this year and opted for what we know best: pork. I wanted to try another friend’s mother’s pernil recipe so I texted Cassy this time around. It’s a completely different recipe from what Lily gave me last year because it does not use Worcestershire sauce or water when cooking.

This recipe brought me back to my old neighborhood of Washington Heights just to buy naranja agrias, or sour oranges. Funny how I grew up seeing them in the stores but have always thought they were just unripe oranges. In a way they are, because their skins are thicker and they definitely taste sour. Cassy’s mom swore to me that they are the secret ingredient to her pernil and that I shouldn’t skip them, but I can’t really say they made much of a difference. I feel like I could have put more lemon and just added the rind in the marinade if I wanted some pithy taste to it.

I used my new KitchenAid lightweight roaster for the first time when I cooked this. I couldn’t believe how light this roaster was, not to mention how pretty the red color is. As far as the pork shoulder was concerned, it cooked evenly especially when I put the lid back on. I felt like the dome-shaped cover distributed the heat as opposed to tenting aluminum foil over the pan like I usually do. I put the rack in place inside so that the pork shoulder was not directly touching the bottom of the roaster–I didn’t want any part of the meat to stick. After cooking, all the rendered fat was at the bottom and some bits burned off, but after a few minutes of soaking in hot soapy water, cleaning it was a snap. Be less spastic than me though, because I put a dent on mine while I was storing it back in the box and already chipped off some of the coating.

Ingredients:
1 pork shoulder, no more than 5 pounds
1 head of garlic, peeled, crushed
juice from 6 sour oranges, or naranja agria
lemon juice from 3 lemons
adobo powder
oregano

1. Marinate the pork shoulder at least 3 days before cooking. Score the pork with a sharp knife and insert garlic cloves in every nook. Using your hands, liberally rub the pork with the dry spices. Put in a large container and add in the juices. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate. Once a day, make sure you turn the meat so that the other side gets soaked in the marinade.
2. Remove pork from marinade and let rest to room temperature in a colander. When ready to cook, heat oven to 400º. Roast pork for 1 hour on a rack in a roasting pan, skin side up, uncovered. Lower the temperature down to 350º and continue to roast for 1.5 hours, covered. Carefully turn the pork shoulder to cook the other side for another 1.5 hours, skin side down, covered. Check the internal temperature of the meat closest to the bone. It should register at least 170º. Switch the oven to broil. Turn the pork shoulder again, skin side up, and cook for another 30 minutes to crisp the skin up.
3. Remove pork from the oven and let rest for 30 minutes before cutting it up.

Harlem Wing & Waffle

2394 Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard on 140th Street
212/281.1477
$10 for one, without drinks, with tip
♥

It was counter-productive to bike eight miles in Central Park and only end up eating the calories I lost, but I was famished and Harlem Wing & Waffle called my name.

I have no idea who thought of fried chicken and waffles together, but he or she was a genius. It’s not the best friend chicken in the neighborhood, but when you’re feeling snackish, it’s the perfect combination.

Seared Scallops with Fava Beans

I’ve shelled fava beans before and I can’t say it’s my favorite thing to do in the kitchen, but I love them so much in salads that whenever the summer season starts, I always buy a few handfuls of them from Fairway or from any farmer stand outside of the city. If shelling raw, you have to do it twice: one from the pod and two from the casing. If you have access to a grill, it’s easier to grill them first and the beans come out of their casings much easier. I realize it’s not the season for fava beans anymore, but hey, bookmark this recipe for next!

To sear the scallops, I used my new 10-inch skillet from Bonjour. I never owned a skillet without Teflon on the surface and I’ve survived this long in the kitchen, but now I know why it’s so much better for delicate food items like scallops and hardy meats like a beef steak: the skillet gets so much hotter faster and you get that satisfaction that your food is getting thoroughly cooked without overdoing it. The bonus part is that, since there is no rubberized handle or nonstick surface, you can finish cooking in the oven without having to turn the seafood or the meat.

Ingredients:
a few pieces of fresh scallops, dried with a paper towel
a handful of fava beans, shelled
1 bunch of young purple carrots, chopped
oil, salt, pepper

1. Using a large skillet, heat some oil until almost smoking. Sear scallops for no less than 5 minutes. They will not stick to the pan if your scallops are dry and if your skillet was hot enough. Gently turn them over with a spatula to cook the other side for another 3 minutes. Remove to a plate.
2. Keep the remaining oil in the skillet and add a little bit more and reheat. Toss fava beans and purple carrots. Sauté in high heat for several minutes until the fava beans are semi-soft. If you bought them from the farmers’ market, a little rawness won’t kill you.
3. Assemble to a plate and serve with seared scallops.

Recommended tool/s:
Time to upgrade your skillets to Bonjour