Pantano

I was given this bottle of cooking wine too try out.  Unfortunately I do not cook as much as I use to.  However I found a use for it.  Cooking mussels in it.

Frozen mussels are just as good as fresh and do not go off

In the pot with the Pantano

Steamed open.  They were delicious especially with the onion enhanced wine.  I have had mussels many ways but I think this is my favorite.  Follow the link for the story and recipes that the inventor has gathered.

Pantano

D Jon 5255 Florida Boulevard Baton Rouge, LA 70806-4128 (225) 935-0014

Groupon stop.  Did not work out so well.  Below is their Seafood Gumbo Our gumbo is well seasoned and hold all the flavors of Louisiana. Served with a little rice and rounded out with crackers on the side.  Unfortunately their interpretation includes copious amounts of sausage along with seafood,  I have had this before and it is not bad if used judiciously.  Not here and plus the sausage tasted as if it was ready to go off.  Not my favorite

Shrimp Jennifer They take shrimp and saute them in butter with garlic, green onions, and parsley served on a bed of lemon butter sauce. Served with garlic french bread and parsley potatoes.  Looks delicious and it would have been if the butter sauce would not have had a ton of salt.  The shrimp were fine seasoning wise and perfectly cooked.  But the pleasure of of sopping up the unctuous sauce was not.  Finally I mashed the potatoes in it.  It cut the salt enough that I could enjoyed it

Fresh Fruit Cobbler Made daily. Ask you server for today's selection.  The cobbler was peach and it was peach of one.  Fantastic flavor.  Made the meal.  Peaches sweet and loaded with sweet spices.  The crust was more of a brown sugar crumble with sweet spices.  I really liked it.  I doubt I will return here but again there is that cobbler.

D Jon

Novrozskys 2706 Ruth St Sulphur, LA 70665 (337) 527-0041

NOVO CHIPS Thin-sliced potatoes fried just right.   They were right about that.  Fresh chips hot from the fryer.  They were great

AKAUSHI BEEF BURGER All-natural, highest rated beef in America. Lower in cholesterol than chicken, fish or buffalo. Outstanding flavor.  Again a home run.  Everything a patty should be.  Moist and beefy flavored.  If this is healthy let me have it.  Even plain it was excellent

PEANUT BUTTER BACON BURGER With cheddar cheese. New Orleans favorite!  Strike out.  In my opinion this was just plain nasty.  As for being a new orleans favorite I had never heard of this until after I ate it here.  Soon after I read two articles that referenced it.  Maybe they are better than this one.  I will have to try if I ever get back to NO.  As for here there are a lot more delicious variations at this venue.  Try them not this one.

Novrozskys

Aucoin 7591 Highway 14 E Hayes, LA 70646 (337) 622-3582

Sorry about the out of focus. A cup of seafood gumbo.  I like that they bring the rice out separate.  It was dark the way I like it.  However it did have a slight burnt taste as if they had gone too far.  It was not enough to complain about though

I got the seafood platter and  they brought it out on a platter.  It included stuffed crab, stuffed pistolette, hush puppies, an angel on horseback (fried bacon wrapped shrimp), a devil on horseback (fried bacon wrapped oyster), fried shrimp, fried oysters, fried catfish and fried frog leg.  I got onion rings instead of fries.  For the most part everything was was excellent.  Well fried with proper coatings.  I did have a problem with the pistolette and the stuffed crab.  This new fad of frying the pistolette then stuffing it I do not care for and fried stuffed crabs have to have a stuffing of more breading than crab to fry.  I prefer the old fashioned broiled crab.  Again what I wish and what I get are two different things.  Those two item compared to the whole platter were minor.

Aucoin

A-Mazen 339 West Prien Lake Road Lake Charles, LA 70601-8452 (337) 478-1222

Bread plate

I got a half dozen.  They were reasonably priced and quite good.  Nice and briny

Stuffed flounder, with cream sauce, green beans and mashers.  I do particularly like this new fashion way of stuffing.  Putting the stuffing either in between fillets or under the fish.  The old fashion way imparts some of the stuffing usually crab into the fish.  That said this was excellent.  Flounder cooked moist and flake.  The skin edible.  The stuffing had a good crab to filler ratio.  The beans a little al dente for me and the mashers nice.  This is a wonderful place for seafood that I do not go to enough.  Service can be difficult.

Katz 616 Westheimer Road Houston, TX 77006 (713) 521-3838

This is no hole in the wall. It is a new construction made to look old. It is a 24 hrs Jewish style deli.  I went at breakfast time so I got breakfast mostly.  Below is scrambled eggs with lox and onions with a potato cake and challa toast.  Not in the picture was tubs of sour cream and applesauce for the potato cake.  Since I adore smoked fish I ate this with relish.  The onion added a nice counterpoint for the salty smoked salmon.  The potato cake was lovely also

Below is Matzo Brei.  Matzo bread cooked like french toast.  The unleavened bead did not make such a great french toast.  Again I like to try new things or things that I have heard about.  Not always a success.

Sorry for the out of focus but this was cold beet soup with a dollop of sour cream and potatoes.  Actually quite delicious.  Have to like beets however.  The range of the menu was such I would return to try other stuff

Katz

Gatlin 1221 W. 19th St. Houston, TX. 281-804-4555

Another hole in the wall place.  Here there are maybe three tables inside but it does have a porch that has fans and heaters.  Most seem to take it away.  It had warmed up enough to sit at the picnic benches on the covered porch.  I got a three meat plate with two sides.  The choice was slim and got slimmer as it went.  They kept running out of meats.  They have had several write ups so I think they got overwhelmed.  I ordered fatty brisket, ribs, and house link.  Unfortunately the brisket had been cooked so long all the fat was cooked out.  It was mostly tender but not meltingly so.  One rib was wonderfully tender and just a little chew.  The other was tough and too chewy.  The links were a typical BBQ style product.  Meat ground up with a big bang of spice.  While I had problems with the textures the flavor and smoke was there.  Can anyone tell me why Texas BBQ come with dill pickles and raw onions?

My two sides were baked beans using their sweet tangy BBQ sauce and cole slaw.  Both were good.  The beans with a nice kick and the slaw fresh with minimum mayonnaise.  I would have to think hard about coming back here.  It is way out of the way and my experience was not the greatest.  However in the future it may be worth a try when the popularity dies down

Gatlin