Good Noodles Take Time

All the more so when they’re prepared in a dining car galley gently swaying along at seventy miles an hour, as was the inspiration for today’s entry.  Dinner was selected not long after crossing the Virginia state line, within view of sunlight glistening across the Potomac.  Although the meal was prepared promptly and efficiently, it…

Speeding to New Orleans

When rail travel’s most vibrant days still were yet to be, passengers aboard Illinois Central’s overnight service from Chicago to New Orleans savored fine dining before a contented drowsiness bid them to their cabins.  The evening got underway with a menu offering a variety of beguiling choices, including today’s entry, Shrimp Creole.  Indeed, the dish…

Smother Me

2018 opens with Crawfish Etouffee, a Creole classic that helped establish New Orleans as one of the world’s foremost dining cities.  Anywhere French influence is as pronounced as it is in Louisiana seems destined to produce great food. Add in the Crescent City’s vibrant kaleidoscope of other influences, from American, to Spanish, and even a…

Eight Days to Mardi Gras!

If we can’t make it to New Orleans in time for the festivities this year, the bon temps will come to us, and on a plate too.  Shrimp Creole is a perfect taste of the city: spicy, savory, even a bit rambunctious.  How can you not have a good time when tomatoes, cayenne and garlic…