duckweedpond wrote: “Do you remember this place?!! My husband and I used to go there when we were first married (won’t say how long ago that was), and we loved it. Hope the food is wonderful. I’m going.”And then she linked me to this story about a place I don’t remember but now wish I did: White Pillars in Biloxi.
White Pillars, as you can read at the first link and see at the second, is an big old white mansion that, in 1919, cost the then-breathtaking sum of $14,000 to build. It was Biloxi’s favorite celebration spot for years, starring a signature dish called Eggplant Josephine (eggplant, crab, cheese, marinara, and Hollandaise). I’d love to include the recipe, but (a) I don’t have it, and (b) I hear the Sun Herald pulled that one time and got itself sued. (No word on how the lawsuit came out — anybody remember?)Anyhow, the building and contents came through Katrina tolerably intact, and now the owner is sprucing it up preparatory to reopening what this time he’ll go ahead and call “White Pillars Great House, Home of Eggplant Josephine.”
By way of apology for not having Eggplant Josephine for you, I’ll pass along another ducky find – as she says, “the clearest instructions I’ve ever seen for cooking bbq ribs” (well yeah: an engineer wrote them!).And as lagniappe, how ’bout this leetle tip from our pal A1A? “Take some vinegar from some pepperoncini (Greek peppers) and add to your barbecue sauce. How much is up to your palate, but it is great. I use that instead of white or cider vinegar when making sauce for competition.” Kids, I’m here to shout: Opa, he’s right! Now ain’t we lucky to have friends this determined to make sure we eat good?
UPDATE: Okay, here’s the actual clipping, courtesy of our friend Marsha:
this was a great restaurant in its time. I believe the Maladnich’s owned this restaurant years ago. The daughter Debbie married a friend of mine Brooks from school at Ole Miss. Some of the best service I have ever had along with great food. The waiters had stars on their uniforms which ranked them on their abilities also.
recipes can’t be copyrighted, although folks can sue anyone for anything. Maybe they were arguing you couldn’t say it was the exact recipe.
No kidding, recipes can’t be copyrighted, NMC? I did not know that. Why not?
I think that I have that newspaper clipping.
They’re considered essentially public domain collections of data– like phone listings– and not about “expression.” Basically, if you tweak around the language, you’re safe legally– though not ethically (one ought to give credit!)
So, dare we ask Marsha (Welcome to folo!) to share, being effusive in crediting the whole chain of custody?
Betcha the judges who ruled recipes “non-expression” weren’t foodies.
The recipe, btw, is out there. I saw a note on a discussion board on the internet that it was going to be in a Katrina-related cookbook the Times Picayune was publishing.
I had dinner there with a group of college friends, one in the party worked in Washington for Big Jim Eastland. When the waiter brought the check the owner or manager walked to the table and picked up the check. He said tell Big Jim thanks.
I think that I have that newspaper clipping. When my daughter gets home from work, I will have her look. I am not stable enough to climb on a ladder. I am more than willing to share. Although I had already moved to Austin, Katrina broke my heart. We need to save what we can. Marsha
Katrina broke alot of hearts, Marsha, but what then amounts to a foot- stomping on the broken pieces is that the folks in charge don’t appear to want to build it back, save for a corner here or a corner there.
http://tinyurl.com/6rokrq
Eggplant Josephine (White Pillars Restaurant-Biloxi)
1 large eggplant
2 tbsp. flour
Olive oil, to saute
1 pkg. (8 oz.) mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 jar (26 oz.) Italian meat sauce
Crab meat topping:
1 lb. crab meat
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup Sauterne wine
Hollandaise sauce:
2 egg yolks
2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. dry mustard
Salt, white pepper to taste
Peel eggplant and slice about 3/4 – to 1-inch thick. Flour and saute in olive oil until slightly brown. Set aside.
To make crab meat topping: Melt 1/4 cup butter and add wine. Add crab meat and simmer about six minutes. Set aside.
To make Hollandaise sauce: Beat 2 egg yolks until frothy. Blend in mayonnaise and add Worcestershire. Add salt, white pepper and dry mustard.
When ready to bake, lay one layer of eggplant slices in shallow pan. Cover with a layer of crab meat, a layer of meat sauce and a layer of shredded cheese.
Bake at 450 degrees until cheese is melted, bubbly and begins to brown. Serve with heated Hollandaise on each slice.
and then what do you do with the “hollandaise” (yes, those are scare quotes)?
(I checked the recipe– here what’s you do with the, um, hollandaise, and the rest of the recipe: Bake at 450 degrees until cheese is melted, bubbly and begins to brown. Serve with heated Hollandaise on each slice.)
That is one weird recipe. Canned meat sauce? Calling it “hollandaise” when you’re basically making a mayo with extra eggs?
BTW. She’s got several other really good looking recipes on her site.
Thanks NMC for catching the missing portion of the recipe. I wondered about the “jar of Italian meat sauce” myself. LOL. But a “chef” friend of mine showed me some of his “secret” recipes also, and they too used off the shelf items. He said, “it’s base ingredients.” Go figure.
Welp, ceegee and another reader kindly sent in the same recipe, but the canned meat sauce and the mayo-Hollandaise make me wonder whether Marsha’s version won’t be different. Le’s hide ‘n’ watch for that.
Hollandaise with no lemon? Waaah.
Here’s Majorie Kinnan Rawlings’ version, from Cross Creek Cookery:
Hollandaise Sauce
Measurements per individual serving:
1/4 cup butter
yolk of one egg
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/8 teaspoon salt
Increase according to number to be served.
Divide butter in three pieces. Put one piece in the top of a double boiler over boiling water with the egg yolks and lemon juice. Do not allow the boiling water quite to reach the bottom of the top of the double boiler. Stir rapidly and constantly. As butter melts, add third-portion. When mixture begins to thicken, add the third piece and the salt. As soon as thickened, SNATCH from the fire. The tricks in successful Hollandaise are constant stirring; cooking not one second too long; and being ready to serve it the moment it is taken from the fire.
(Marge served this as a dip for baby okra pods boiled EXACTLY “seven minutes from the time the water resumes its boiling. Not a moment longer.”)
The Cross Creek recipe will work. You’ll get better results if you start by whipping the egg yolk(s) under heat with a smidgen of liquid (water, or, classically, reduced vinegar) until it makes what amounts to a sabayon (that is, you get the proteins in the yolks to start unwinding and taking on air. This will make for a thicker hollandaise. You can always think one with liquid but you can’t make a thin one thicker). You can get away adding the butter whole in small pieces at that point, but it will make a better or easier emulsion if you add a thin stream of melted butter instead of whole pieces.
I learned to make the sauce adding whole pieces of butter and later switched after being convinced to try the other method.
I love this and love even better bearnaise (same sauce made with a reduction of tarragon and shallots and chervil) with lamb chops but have steered clear of both since the heart surgery. Sigh.
Depending on the recipe a pinch of cayenne can be nice at the end. I agree about the lemon juice.
Awful sorry you’re having to miss these sauces, NMC, but I warrant we’d miss you more than you miss them.
jarred meat sauce. ugh.
I’m hoping they’ll update their recipe file.
Now that we have Marsha’s actual clipping (see update above), she’d like to know, “Do y’all have Mary Mahoney’s bread pudding? Bobby used to give the recipe out freely and I have a copy.”
Can I get a “YAYmen!”? Whenever you’re ready, please, Marsha.
Eat a light dinner; this is too good and rich.
MMMMM—– Recipe via Meal-Master ™ v8.04
Title: White Chocolate Bread Pudding-The Palace Cafe
Categories: Puddings, Desserts
Yield: 8 servings
PUDDING
3 c Whipping cream
10 oz White chocolate
1 c Milk
1/2 c Sugar
2 Eggs
8 Egg yolks
1 Loaf French bread,
Sliced into 1/4 inch
Pieces and dried in
The oven
2 tb Chocolate shavings
For garnish
SAUCE
8 oz White chocolate
3 oz Heavy cream
The Palace Cafe, located on New Orleans’ Canal Street in the old
Werlein’s Building, is the newest restaurant from the Brennan family,
who also operate some of the City’s finest restaurants: Commander’s
Palace, Mr. B’s Bistro and Bacco. This dessert has become extremely
popular, and has practically become The Palace Cafe’s signature
dessert.
You will absolutely slay your guests if you make this. I’ve had dinner
guests describe this dessert as “orgasmic”, and “the best dessert
I’ve ever had”.
Heat the cream in a double boiler and add the white chocolate; when
the chocolate is melted, remove from heat.
In a double boiler, heat the milk, sugar, eggs and egg yolks until
warm. Blend the egg mixture into the cream and chocolate mixture.
Place the bread slices in a baking pan. Pour 1/2 of the mixture over
the bread and let settle for a while, making sure the bread soaks up
all the mixture. Top with the rest of the mixture. Cover with
aluminum foil and bake at 275 degrees for 1 hour. Remove the foil and
bake for an additional 15 minutes until the top is golden brown.
For the sauce: Gently melt the white chocolate in a double boiler.
Remove from heat and mix in heavy cream. Spoon over bread pudding.
Serves 8. Walt MM
MMMMM
Oh lordy, Marsha.