New Orleans Guests Get a Taste of Minnesota

This was my problem: when foodies who live in one of America's greatest restaurant cities come to visit me in Roseville, what should I feed them?

Bob and Bettye Anding arrived in Minnesota two weeks ago, seeking relief from the heat and humidity of their hometown, New Orleans. Lucky for them they got here when we finally were enjoying a spate of low-humidity 70 degree days; I had checked New Orleans weather about a week before they were due, and it was cooler there than here!

Bob and Bettye have been frequent travelers on my food writer trips around the world (Bettye will be with me in China in October). She and I first met at a food writers conference decades ago when she was with the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and I toiled for the Pioneer Press.

Later, Bettye became lifestyles editor for the Times-Picayune, and no one knows more about Mardi Gras history, lore and gossip than Bettye; she gave me fascinating inside scoops when I visited the Andings for that pre-Lenten hoopla in early March.

The thing is, when I go to New Orleans, they take me to all their favorite food haunts (and not always Commander's Palace, Emeril's or Galatoire's).

Put these on your list for the next time you head to Big Easy and don't want to spend Big Bucks: Drago's for divine broiled oysters, Mandina's on Canal Street for the richest of po-boy sandwiches, Zea for more upscale Cajun/Creole, Crepe Nanou for mussels, Nine Roses for Vietnamese, and Broccato on Carrollton for supreme hand-churned ice cream.

My task as hostess was to give Bettye and Bob some Minnesota food experiences -- and the first thing Bob asked when I picked them up at the airport was where we could go for a smorgasbord. That stumped me.

"Come back at Christmas time and I'll find you a nice Swedish family celebration," was all I could answer.

Since they come from the lower end of the Mississippi, our first stop was the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis where they could go out on the endless bridge and view St. Anthony Falls.

"It's so narrow here," Bob commented. "It's a mile wide in New Orleans."

Before the week was over, I'd shown them the Mississippi from the Ford and Robert Street bridges, and driving up north, where it enters Big Sandy Lake, flows through Jacobson (my mother's hometown), past Paul Bunyan and blue ox Babe in Bemidji, and finally, at the source trickling out of Lake Itasca.

What an eye-opener for them, to see where the river originates, and to learn that a drop from Lake Itasca takes three months to reach their home town.

On that first day, I toured them around the lakes in Minneapolis, and then took them to one of my favorite summer eating places, Tin Fish overlooking the sailboat harbor on Lake Calhoun.

Though the menu served in the old boathouse (where dining is al fresco) has many other choices, I always order the Lake Calhoun Lunch, a massive sandwich on top-notch bread from the Franklin Street Bakery, a big bun but not ample enough to contain several pieces of crisply-fried tilapia, which escape around the edges. Alongside is a pile of crosscut fries dusted with almost cajun-hot seasoning plus a cup of vinegar-based coleslaw the disappears too quickly. One of these feasts is in the $8 range -- and there's more than enough to share.

Perhaps Bob, the cook in that family, feared that he might starve in these north woods, so he brought in his suitcase two pounds of primo gulf shrimp, which he barbecued for our first dinner. I'm not talking about shrimp on the barbie, Aussie style, but a spicy shrimp toss served atop yellow grits, which he also toted.

Bob came prepared with pre-mixed shrimp spices, but if you look at the bottom of this column, you'll find a recipe for barbecued shrimp as I first tasted them at the Andings' house 20 years ago. I declared them better than the ones I tasted at Emeril's the next night!

Granite City a choice for mussels

I know the Bob and Bettye adore mussels, so I took them to the best place in Roseville -- or any other suburb -- Granite City Food & Brewery at Rosedale, where mussels are cooked with vodka and tomatoes and served with toasty french bread. The Andings pronouced them perfect.

On our drive north, we stopped at Culver's in Cambridge -- a Midwest chain that has never made it to New Orleans. My guests loved the Butterburgers and frozen custard so much that, when we were in Duluth, they wanted a redux. I asked Bob why he didn't get ketchup for his fries?

"They don't have Tabasco sauce to add to it, so why bother?" said the guy who buys hot sauce by the case.

Classy bagels are another item the Andings don't get in their home town, so I ran to the Roseville Bruegger's at 7 a.m. to get my favorite cinnamon and raisin variety for breakfast. Big hit!

And they love ribs, so we went to Famous Dave's on Snelling Avenue when it happed to be Dave Day. Anyone with the first name of Dave, David or Davey got a free entree; if it was a middle name, food was half price. Fortunately, Bob qualified with his second name, so we got a great deal on a slab of St. Louis Style ribs, which they declared were truly tasty -- a big compliment from Southern folks.

It was my turn to cook while we were at my northern lake house, so I laid it on thick: thin pancakes made with wild blueberries I'd handpicked, strawberry shortcake (ditto on the picking), and for one dinner, super-size cuts of salmon caught by my cousin's son just days before in Alaska, coated with lemon-pepper panko bread crumbs, served with fresh Minnesota corn on the cob and a wild rice pilaf.

 "Best salmon I ever ate," said Bob, who is quite famous for smoking salmon in his New Orleans kitchen.

One last chance to prove that Minnesota is a fine place to dine came during a quick lunch at the Napa Valley Grille at the Mall of America, our final destination before I took them to the airport. The zucchini-pasta soup there is worth the trek -- even from New Orleans!

Here is that recipe I promised, reprinted from my cookbook, "Always on Sunday Revisited." It's a taste of New Orleans, when you're not otherwise occupied eating Minnesota cuisine.

New Orleans Barbecued Shrimp

3 sticks butter

3 pounds jumbo shrimp, heads on if possible

Lots of Worcestershire sauce

5 huge garlic cloves, crushed

8 shots liquid smoke

12 to 15 shots Tabasco sauce

Juice of 2 small lemons

Salt

Lots of freshly ground pepper

Tony Chacherie Cajun seasoning to taste (available locally; try Byerly's)

In a baking pan, melt butter (not margarine). Add remaining ingredients. Mix to blend. Bake in a 400 degree oven, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until shrimp have pulled away from shells. Serve the shrimp, to be peeled at the table, with french bread for mopping sauce and lots of napkins. Makes eight servings.