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Most of the following background information and the recipes
are excerpted
from "The New Orleans Restaurant Cookbook" by Deirdre Stanforth,
pub-
lished in 1967 by Doubleday & Co., Inc. This delightfully entertaining and
informative cookbook is unfortunately out of print. Perhaps luck will be
with you and you can locate it...
 
If not, just
contact
us if you're looking for a particular New Orleans
restaurant recipe. Who knows, we
just may have it!
Among my many blessings I count the privilege of having
spent a large
part of my childhood in New Orleans. Because my mother was a woman
of discriminating taste, I was introduced to some of the finer things in life
at a very early
age. Fine cuisine was certainly included, which means that
my love affair with New Orleans
delicacies has endured over half a century!
One of my favorite and most memorable
meals was at that venerable New
Orleans institution, Galatoire's...
209 Bourbon St., French Quarter.
(504) 525-2021
Deirdre Stanforth writes, "Galatoire's holds
perhaps the highest accolade of
all
- it is the
overwhelming favorite of the citizens of
New Orleans. Completely
unpretentious in its decor, modest, and publicity shy, it exists
only to prepare
and serve fine food."
Some visitors to New Orleans may be shocked to find that Galatoire's is
located
on Bourbon Street. What they perhaps do not realize is that in 1905, Bourbon
Street was a fashionable residential area, a far cry from the notoriously garish
playground it has now become. Once you step inside Galatoire's, rest assured
that the
atmosphere you find will be anything but garish!
The landmark restaurant has recently undergone an
extensive renovation,
which has made its original charm new again. Other relatively recent
changes (some of which continue to shock the New Orleans establishment)
are the acceptance
of major credit cards, the lifting of the requirement that
gentlemen wear a jacket during
the lunch hour Tuesday through Saturday,
and the quasi-blasphemous relaxing of what was
always considered an
unswerving "no reservations"
policy. Sacre bleu!
In case reservations seem normal and desirable
to you, please consider the background and history accompanying this strict policy
for decades...
Deirdre Stanforth writes,
"One night during a busy season when there
was a line of people waiting outside
all the way to the corner, a man burst into
Galatoire's and went back to the desk looking for the owner. He found Mr. Justin [one of
Jean Galatoire's nephews who took over the operation of the restaurant in 1916] and
explained indignantly that he was the governor of a state and not accustomed to waiting in
line for a table for dinner. 'Do you believe in fairness?' Mr. Justin asked him. Of course
the governor had to answer in the affirmative. So Mr. Justin explained that it would not
be fair for him to give a table to the governor while all the other citizens waited in
line.
"Actor Charles Laughton was also upset one
night when he was confronted with
a line of some seventy-odd people before him at the
doors to Galatoire's. In his inimitable Captain Bligh manner, Mr. Laughton made known his
displeasure at this state of affairs. Undaunted and unintimidated, Mr. Justin stood his
ground and explained to Laughton that if he didn't want to wait, the best time to come
for
dinner was five o'clock in the afternoon. Laughton came next day at five,
and several
times thereafter."
Please don't be discouraged by these anecdotes!
Reservations are now accepted
for seating on the second floor only, and the existence of
long lines has dimin-ished considerably. If you do have to wait, chances are excellent that
you will
find your dining experience well worth waiting for.
Chuck Taggart writes: "One of the great Creole
establishments, Galatoire's
is noisy and wonderful, where you'll be pampered by your
waiter and where
the recipes haven't changed in years (there's no chef here, only line
cooks
who prepare their dishes from decades-old recipes). An essential New
Orleanian
dining experience." We quite agree!
Creole Contretemps - Only in New Orleans.....
But enough talk...on to the recipes!
Trout Meunière Amandine
3 (2 1/2-pound) trout
Milk
Flour
Salt and pepper
2 sticks [1 cup, or 1/2 pound] butter
Juice of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
6 ounces shelled almonds
Skin and fillet trout, dip in cold milk, sprinkle with flour, and
season
with
salt and pepper. Melt butter in a skillet and fry fillets of trout
slowly
until
brown on both sides. Remove fish to a warm platter.
To the butter remaining in the
pan, add lemon juice and parsley.
Slice
almonds, roast until brown, sprinkle over fish,
pour over
brown butter,
and serve. Serves 6.
Trout
Marguery
1 (2 1/2-pound) trout
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup water
2 sticks [1 cup, or 1/2 pound] butter
3 egg yolks
Juice of 1 lemon, strained
Salt, pepper, and cayenne
12 shrimp
2 truffles
1/2 can mushrooms [sorry, that's
what it says! use your
judgment...]
Skin and fillet trout and place the folded fillets in a pan with
olive oil
and water. Bake in a hot oven [400 degrees F.] about 15 minutes.
To make Hollandaise Sauce: Put beaten egg yolks and lemon juice in
a double boiler over hot water and gradually add melted butter, stirring constantly until
thickened. Add seasoning, shrimp, truffles, and mush-
rooms, cut into small pieces, to sauce
and pour over fish and serve.
Serves 2.
Chicken
Turenne
3 (2-pound) spring chickens
Salt and pepper
2 sticks [1 cup, or 1/2 pound] butter
12 ounces broth
1/2 pint Sherry
12 artichoke hearts, boiled and sliced
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
Disjoint chickens, season with salt and pepper, and fry in butter
until
brown. Cover with broth and Sherry and add artichokes and
mushrooms.
Simmer about 45
minutes. Serves 6.
Remoulade Sauce
1 bunch shallots (green onions)
1 stalk celery
2 cloves garlic
1 sprig parsley
5 tablespoons Creole (hot) mustard
2 tablespoons paprika
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup vinegar
2/3 cup olive oil
Grind or mince very fine the onions, celery, garlic and parsley.
Add
mustard, paprika, salt and pepper. Add vinegar and mix thoroughly,
then gradually add
olive oil. Refrigerate.
Marinate boiled, peeled shrimp in this sauce and serve on shredded
lettuce with a garnish of tomato wedges. Makes 1 quart.
Crêpes Maison
From The Restaurants of New Orleans,
Roy F. Guste, Jr.
Crêpes:
3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter. melted
Filling:
12 tablespoons (6 ounces) currant jelly
3 tablespoons sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup Triple Sec
To make the crêpes, sift the flour, sugar and
salt together in a bowl.
In a small mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the milk and then the
dry
ingredients. and beat the batter in a mixer on medium speed or blend
in a blender
until the batter is smooth. Allow the batter to sit for 1
hour before cooking.
Heat a 6-inch crêpe pan over medium-high heat. Lift the pan from
the
heat, and, using a pastry brush, brush the bottom of the pan lightly with
a little
melted butter. Premeasure 2 tablespoons of batter, and pour the
batter into the middle of
the pan. Quickly tilt the pan so that the batter
spreads evenly over the bottom. Return
the pan to the heat, and brown
the crêpe lightly. Turn the crêpe with a spatula, and
brown the other
side. Repeat the above process until all batter is used, brushing the pan
with melted butter as needed. Place the crêpes (there will be 12 - 16 of
them) on layers of
waxed paper until they are ready to fill.
Spread 1 tablespoon of jelly on each crêpe. Fold the crêpes into
thirds.
Place them side by side in an oblong baking pan. Sprinkle the crêpes
with
powdered sugar, and top them with sliced almonds. Place the
crêpes under
the broiler for
3 to 5 minutes or until the almonds are
lightly toasted. Remove crêpes from the heat,
and sprinkle Triple
Sec over them. Allow 2 crêpes
per serving. Serves 6 - 8.
More New Orleans Restaurant Recipes:
Antoine's
Arnaud's
Brennan's
Caribbean Room
Commander's Palace
Corinne Dunbar's
Emeril's
Mr. B's Bistro
More Lagniappe
Recipes!
Do you know what it means
to miss New Orleans?
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