Power’s friend Suzanne Rheinstein, the interior designer and owner of Taigan’s own Hollyhock, says the key to Power’s brilliance is that “she knows how to live. Sunday lunches at her own garden, one of my favorites, are delightful.” Power agrees that she does “bring my knowledge of how people like to live in clusters” into her designs. “Look at the chairs after a party,” she says. “They’re always pulled into a tight circle. Or everyone always crowds around the kitchen table. Those are the perfect floor plans!”

The same, she says, applied to public spaces. “Look at the Beverly Canon Gardens. You can’t be intimate when you are more than five feet away, you have to be able to touch, which is why I love to crowd nine or ten people around a table for seven or eight. Giggling always starts when you play sardines!” The Beverly Canon Gardens include a sunken court with movable tables and chairs so “people can move their seats according to the weather,” and four Tipu trees create dappled light over some of the tables.

The Beverly Canon Project also has a lawn for play or special events, trickling water from a fountain “to calm the nerves and slightly mask the sounds of the city,” and lovely fragrance from the blossoms of potted lemon trees. All three elements are in keeping with her theory that public spaces should be designed for a range of experiences. “One simple way to do that,” she says, “is to provide light and dark places—some secluded and mysterious, others for parading around and showing off, and always a place to gather.”

In her book, Power says that travel served as her university education. Her own garden at “Casa Nancina” was inspired by trips to the Alhambra in southern Spain and to Brazil. To get the right color for her cottage’s exterior, she experimented by mixing some saffron she’d brought home from Morocco with water. “I’d seen this color used so exquisitely in Seville, Spain and Ouro Petro, Brazil,” she says. “It looked beautiful against the sky, and also worked equally well with terra cotta pots and the grays and verdant foliage I wanted to plant in my garden.”

Power insists she doesn’t have a favorite plant or flower, though there’s lots of agave at Casa Nancina. “The agave has become my symbol,” she says. “It provides great living sculpture, and of course tequila comes from it as well!” No matter what plants she uses or who she’s designing for, the one constant, she says, is beauty. “Beauty is still very important to me, though lately it is very unfashionable in design. We all need beautiful, natural places in our lives, and become very uncivilized when we don’t have them.”

The Power of Gardens, available at Hollyhock, is aptly named. There is not a single image in the book that won’t inspire. Power says her job designing and nurturing living gardens still brings her “never-ending joy and wonder.” That passion is evident on every page.

Pictured above, left: Native oaks lightly shade California Lilac along a winding path at Moraga Vineyard.
Top right: A free range chicken on “tapis vert” framed by low stone steps and a wisteria covered arbor at Moraga Vineyard.
Bottom right: A garden “room” featuring Kentia palms and a very long pool at a house in Malibu.

Shop Hollyhock on TAIGAN.

Shop Amanda Pinson on TAIGAN.

THAT’S TRUCKDRIVIN’ (compilation)
by Red Sovine
track: “Girl on the Billboard”

“Who is the girl wearing nothing but a smile and towel in the picture on the billboard in the field near the big old highway?” A Del Reeves classic sung by Red Sovine.
Pete, Matt, & Sid

CLUB SKA ‘67 (compilation)
by Roland Alphonso
track: “Phoenix City”

We love this song because we know all the words and it’s easy to sing to.
Pete, Matt and Sid

GREAT SONGS AND PERFORMANCES THAT INSPIRED THE MOTOWN 25TH ANNIVERSARY T.V. SPECIAL
by Marvin Gaye
track: “Mercy Mercy Me”

We love that Marvin Gaye was the producer especially at a time when most artists were not allowed to produce themselves and we love the dubbed out snare.
Matt and Sid

ANTHOLOGY
by Sly and the Family Stone
track: “Que Sera, Sera”

A cover made famous by Doris Day from an Alfred Hitchcock movie performed by Sly Stone – the world is flat. We love the slow swing and languid vibe sung by Rose Stone… it goes on and on.
Pete, Matt, & Sid

SOME KINDA NUT / MISSING LINKS VOL. 3
by Link Wray
track: “Genocide”

Wicked guitar on this way minimal track by Link Wray and his men.
Matt

MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD
by Talking Heads
track: “Found A Job”

A song to dance to and a song to really listen to – helpful & hopeful. This densely layered track is very cool with contrasting tones and jagged polyrhythms. The outro never gets old.
Pete

I CAN”T STAND MYSELF WHEN YOU TOUCH ME
by James Brown
track: “There Was a Time”

What’s there to say? Super bad, super funky, super super… Check out the YouTube clip from ‘82
Pete & Sid

AFRO-BOSSA
by Duke Ellington
track: “Bonga”

Lighthearted, carefree, with an upbeat gentle warm nexus of general happy feelings.
Pete

12 X 5
by Rolling Stones
track: “Congratulations”

I love this song… Brooding lyrics that are offset by the charm and swagger of early 60’s Stones.
Matt

track: “It’s All Over Now”

Bobby Womack cover with a country vibe… soul + country…the best parts of the south
Sid

REAL ESTATE
by Real Estate
track: “Beach Comber”

Tone City, USA… These Jersey beach boys deliver the best sounding modern record that I have heard in long while. A perfect breezy pop song for sunny days and road trips.
Matt

ARMED FORCES
by Elvis Costello
track: “Oliver’s Army”

Kind of a heavy message with a happy tune. If you like to sing along, this is your song. The piano is especially good.
Sid

KIND OF BLUE
by Miles Davis
the whole album

Probably a little cliché, but no joke, we could keep flipping this album all day & never tire of it. Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly – whoa!
Pete, Matt and Sid

I wore it to a fundraising breakfast where then-presidential candidate Bill Bradley was speaking, and a photo of me interviewing Bradley I didn’t even know had been taken wound up on the pages of New York Magazine. I wore it to the trial of former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards and the next day, there I was leaving the courtroom, above the fold on the front page of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

It was the suit. “I try to protect people,” McQueen once said of his clothes, explaining that even a simple two-piece suit was for him a kind of armor. I knew exactly what he meant.

Alas, McQueen, who took his own life just before the start of New York’s fashion week last Thursday, was unable to protect himself in the end, and the loss to the industry, and to the legions of us who adored his clothes, is incalculable.

“When I first heard the news, I felt a deep knot to my core, just like the day John Lennon died,” Shelly Musselman, owner of Dallas’s Forty Five Ten, told me. “Having McQueen gone is not just a loss to the fashion world, but a loss to everyone who appreciates true art. Yes, he became a spectacular showman—a genius—but the art of his designs and the choices of his fabrics were mind blowing.”

Musselman and her partner Brian Bolke have carried the McQueen line since Forty Five Ten opened a decade ago. She, like the rest of us, understands the secret of McQueen’s ability to provide such excellent, transformative armor: He was a tailor first and foremost. In an age when fewer and fewer designers actually know how to properly cut clothes, McQueen had trained on Savile Row at Anderson & Sheppard and Gieves & Hawkes where he made suits for Prince Charles (in whose jacket lining he later claimed to have sewn a disparaging epithet!) and Mikhail Gorbachev. Upon the news of his death, Steven Cox of Duckie Brown called him “the best tailor in the world.”

Of course, he could also create spectacles. His shows might have been chronically late, but they never, ever disappointed. A show featuring a model dressed as Little Red Riding hood and leading a a mini-pack of grey wolves on leashes was held in the vaults of Paris’s Conciergerie, where Marie Antoinette awaited her execution. His Fall 2006 show ended with Kate Moss in a pyramid hologram writhing in miles of silk organza ruffles—a sight a friend of mine calls “seriously the prettiest thing I have ever seen.”

The collection Musselman saw in New York last week was also among his best. “I was thrilled it was so magnificent,” she said. “It was very bittersweet. But it did nothing to help the knot in my core. I have a feeling that knot will be there for a long time. As well it should be.”

The truth is that pears are in season for much of the year, but since they are among the only fruits that are ripe and beautiful—and utterly delicious—in the dead of winter, we’ve come to think of them as winter treats. And they are.

They are also extraordinarily easy to work with. Toss slices with watercress and butter lettuce, toasted walnuts and Roquefort for a marvelous salad. Roast them with fresh thyme alongside pork (with fennel) or duck (with parsnips) for a soulful winter supper—and amazing pan juices. Poach them in red wine and sugar and accompany with heavy cream or crème anglaise flavored with a bit of chopped fresh rosemary for an elegant dessert.

Pears are also naturals with cheese and wine. Pair a sweet Comice with Stilton and port and an aromatic Bartlett with Gewurtraminer and Brie or Pinot Grigio and Asiago. The list of combinations are endless. Earthy, honey-sweet Boscs are marvelous with aged white Cheddar. Or gild the lily by making the superb Pear Tarte Tatin from The Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook and serve it with the cheddar instead.

At Danny Meyer’s consistently wonderful Manhattan restaurants (Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke, The Modern, and Eleven Madison Park, just to name a handful) there is great emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Butternut Squash Custard with Pear and Pine Nuts is currently among the appetizer offerings at Gramercy Tavern, for example, and the bar menus are no different. Gramercy’s bar features a “Jalisco Pear,” made with Herradura Silver tequila, pear liqueur, and lemon, while Blue Smoke offers “The Hayride,” composed of small-batch bourbon, pear liqueur, and Blue Smoke spiced apple cider. Our favorite, though, is the “Winter Solstice,” an elegant but bracing cocktail, from Meyer’s book Mix Shake Stir, that is just the thing to get you through to spring.

Winter Solstice
Yield: 1 drink

Ice
1 1/4 oz. brandy
1 3/4 oz. Rosemary-infused pear nectar
2/3 oz Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
1 small sprig fresh rosemary

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the brandy, pear nectar, and Grand Marnier and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled martini glass, garnish with the rosemary sprig, and serve.

ROSEMARY-INFUSED PEAR NECTAR
Yield: 1 1/2 cups, or enough for 6 drinks

1 1/2 cups good-quality pear nectar such as Kern’s
5 sprigs fresh rosemary

In a jar, combine the pear nectar and rosemary. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or up to 2 days. Remove and discard the rosemary before using. The infused nectar will keep, covered in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.

Pear Tarte Tatin
From The Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook
Serves 10 to 12

For the Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoons salt
5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Mix 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt into 1 cup of flour. Cut 5 1/2 tablespoons butter into small pieces and cut them in the flour until the pieces of dough are the size of small peas. Add 3 tablespoons of ice water and gather up the dough. If it does not hold together, sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of ice water. When the dough just holds together, flatten it into a round about 5 inches in diameter, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

For the Filling:
5 to 6 pounds Comice or Bosc pears, a little underripe (there should be 14 cups of pear slices)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 to 2 tablespoons half-and-half

Peel and core 5 to 6 pounds Comice or Bosc pears and cut each pear into twelfths. Measure 14 cups sliced pears into a large bowl and toss them with 1/4 cup sugar.
Pour 1/4 cup melted butter into a 12-inch-cast-iron skillet or tarte tatin pan and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar. Place the pear slices in concentric circles, a layer at a time. Pour 1/4 cup butter over the pears.
Roll out the crust to about a 13 1/2-inch-diameter circle. Trim the uneven edges to leave about an inch of overhand around the pears. urn the extra dough under and cut several slits or small holes in the crust so the steam can escape. Bake the tarte in a preheated 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. Brush the crust with about 1 tablespoon of half-and-half. Bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown.
Remove the tarte from the oven and remove excess juice with a bulb baster. There should be about 1/2 inch of juice left in the bottom of the pan. Put the pan on top of the stove over the highest heat. Cook the tarte, revolving it frequently, until the bottom caramelizes, about 10 to 15 minutes.
The edge of the tarte will caramelize before the bottom does, so the tarte will smell almost burned. Keep loosening the sides of the tarte with a spatula while it is caramelizing so that they do not stick.
Cool the tarte for 15 minutes before unmolding. After the tarte has cooled, loosen it again with a spatula. Invert a large flat serving plate oever the tarte pan, set the plate on a table, and lift the pan off the tarte.

Pictured above, left: A detail from “Three Pears and An Apple” by Edward Steichen, a Gift of the Photographer to The Museum of Modern Art, and currently on view at The Baltimore Museum of Art in a show called “Cezanne and American Modernism, “ on view through May 23, 2010, and in the book by the same name published by Yale University Press.
Right: The “Winter Solstice” in William Yeoward’s Lulu Martini glass in Amber, available at Corzine & Co. on TAIGAN.

We all know air travel can wreak havoc on skin. David Kirsh’s Vitamin/Mineral Super Juice packets are great for hydration on long flights and so convenient to carry. I keep several in my bag and add one to a bottle of water on the plane instead of drinking soda or alcohol.

For external hydration, I recommend Journee Bio-Restorative Day Cream, which provides UVA and UVB protection, and Lumiere Bio-Restorative Eye Cream by Neocutis, to reduce puffiness. Both are as essential as your boarding pass.

I also like to bring along items that not only fight dry air, but those pesky cold or flu causing germs as well. The Jao Mini Flight Rescue Pak is skinny enough to slide into a jacket pocket or purse and comes in its own flight-approved zip-seal bag so there’s no hassle getting through security. The Pak includes a week’s supply of a facial moisturizer, a shea-butter-based lip balm, and a 2-ounce bottle of hand sanitizer and refresher so that you don’t pick up more than your luggage at the end of your flight!

If you are planning a trip to sunny climes, a beach-bag must is the Detangle Nourishment Spray from Neil George. It contains an all-important UV protectant and is infused with jojoba and calendula to condition. I also love the Neil George Indian Gooseberry Treatment Oil for super shiny, silky hair. It’s terrific in a cold, dry climate, but also combats the devastating effects of sun, salt, and chlorine after a day at the pool or beach.

Safe travels!
Stephanie

Stephanie Maxwell is owner of Nashville’s Maxwell Aesthetics and writes frequently about topics related to beauty and skin.

Shop G.Gilbert at TAIGAN.com

Elbaz offered up a virtual grab-bag of mid-century trends in his pieces, channeling David Webb and Seaman Schepps, while also throwing in mixed-metal jeweled links and bits from granny’s jewel box. Albaz’s chains were particularly strong—he showed them looped around wrists and ankles, attached to handbags, beneath transparent blouses and layered atop already bejeweled-and-sequined clothes.

But Elbaz is hardly the only one using a range of different materials and the odd flash of color in his pieces for this season. Young designer Amanda Urrego made her first necklace about a year and a half ago—a mix of chains and a large vintage key she found at an L.A. flea market. When musician and H. Audrey owner Holly Williams spotted it, she immediately asked Urego to do more. The result is the seductive new Many Will See, exclusively available at H. Audrey.

Urrego combines chains and pearls with brooches and finds from vintage and antique stores, as well as from literal granny jewel boxes—when friends’ grandmothers die, they know to call her up. “Not everything I use is super old, but I want an aged look and it’s hard to fake that.” Before moving to Nashville, Urrego worked for a couture clothier in Beverly Hills for three years, and it was there she was influenced to make things by hand. “I love being able to add in depth and layering,” she says. “I have a simple cross on a delicate chain made by a designer I love, but I also like the idea of a little chaos going on. And you can wear that with something very clean and simple.” Indeed, like so many this spring, her pieces can hold their own under structured jackets or anchor a simple diaphanous shift or tank. And, like those of Elbaz, they can add even more depth to already well-adorned dresses and tops. Either way, it’s high time to join the chain gang.

Pictured above, clockwise from far left: A look from the Lanvin Spring 2010 runway; detail from Many Will See Spanish Armada necklace at H. Audrey; an Elizabeth Locke Antique Roman Coin pendant on a hammered gold chain at Amanda Pinson; another look from Lanvin’s runway, inspired by David Webb; Many Will See Pearls and Chains necklace at H. Audrey. For more inspired chains, check out Forty Five Ten on TAIGAN.com

Anyone who knows me well would have been amazed by this scene. Ordinarily I’d have been the disinterested snob comparing the relative merits of the chardonnay and chevre. In junior high, I went to every football game—everybody did—it’s just that my best friend and I hung out beneath the bleachers, not in them, waiting on the long-haired boys to show up, the ones not allowed on the team.

But now, like everyone else in my adopted hometown I am a woman possessed of Saints fever. There’s no way not to be rooting for this team, who were so bad for so long that fans wore paper bags over their heads. It used to be the long-suffering Saints supporters who were heroic; now it’s the hard-working, inspired, and completely inspirational players in black and gold. In Miami, they will be carrying the entire city on their backs, and win or lose, the joy in New Orleans will still be palpable. It has been less than five years since Katrina devastated the city and the Superdome itself was a grim symbol of death and disaster. Now the Dome has been superbly refurbished and the Saints themselves are a symbol of a rebuilt, energized, united New Orleans. No wonder the trumpeter Kermit Ruffins got a gold fleur de lis tattooed on his chest. As my friend the chef John Besh says, “New Orleans has no place for people who are lukewarm. You are either with us or against us. More than any place else, this city is made up of people who want to be here.”

It is also a city where it is increasingly easy to dress—there are only two colors in New Orleans right now, black and gold. My friend and neighbor Olivia Manning, wife of Archie and mother of Peyton and Eli, will of course be rooting for her son, Colts quarterback Peyton, during the Super Bowl. But Olivia is a class act and last week she gave a raucous Saints party for all her female friends. Every one of us, from the very chic Rita Benson LeBlanc, vice president and part owner of the Saints, to Mimi Bowen, owner of Taigan’s own Mimi, came decked in some combination of Saints colors. Rita was a vision in low-key black and butterscotch cashmere and Mimi was toting one her Ted Rossi jeweled gold snakeskin clutches. There were gold leather mini-skirts, gladiator style gold cuffs, gold lame and gold sequins. If I’d been thinking ahead, I would have ordered a pair of Charlotte Olympia leopard print lace-up booties and a Melissa Joy amber cuff from Forty-Five Ten. I have not yet gone as far as my buddy Kermit, but I have been sporting quite a few heavy gold chains from Mimi in my own décolletage.

And as soon as the game is over, Saints fever will give way to Mardi Gras Madness and new colors will be added to the local palette: gold, green, and purple. I am now sick I didn’t order the purple Alexander McQueen dress I saw last season; however, I do have no less than three pairs of purple satin Manolos. Conveniently, my engagement ring is an emerald.

Still, I need to augment my new New Orleans-centric wardrobe in time for next year’s back-to-back seasons of football and carnival so I’m planning ahead. During fashion week I’ll be watching the runways for black and gold, purple (or perhaps a slightly more sedate aubergine) and green. I am a full-fledged fan now, not to mention a fully invested citizen of my increasingly fair city, and these are my true colors.

In My New Orleans: The Cookbook, Iron Chef finalist and James Beard award winner John Besh writes: “Mardi Gras is not just a party. It’s that crucial glue that keeps our city bonded.” He is right, of course, and there’s a whole chapter in his lovely new book that proves his case. But make no mistake, Mardi Gras is also a party. An extremely lively and really, really long one, and the bon temps definitely roll.

Carnival season in New Orleans officially begins on Twelfth Night (January 6th) and runs through Fat Tuesday. The last two weeks are especially concentrated with balls and parades, but it’s the last final days when full-throttle Mardi Gras Madness kicks in. The largest and most elaborate parades roll, monarchs at some of the grandest and oldest balls are crowned, and there is not an available table in the city for that last Friday lunch before Lent.

Packed in between are private affairs ranging from King Cake parties (whoever gets the slice containing the tiny plastic baby has to give the next one), parade watching parties, epic weekend brunches, spontaneous crawfish boils and post-ball breakfasts—just to name a few.

If you’re a local, you have no choice but to join in. And if you’re a displaced local, you feel compelled to spread the traditions. I have given Mardi Gras parties in Bath, England (featuring crawfish—or, as they say over there, crayfish—from Sweden, grits and grillades, bourbon soaked bread pudding) and the Upper East Side of Manhattan (shrimp remoulade; chicken ettouffee; and pralines for dessert) and watched as the bemused guests donned beads and ate every bite. In both venues I made Pimm’s Cups and Ramos Gin Fizzes and Sazeracs (recently voted the official cocktail of New Orleans by a Lousiana legislature who should have better things to do). So they also drank—a lot.

Taigan’s own Suzanne Rheinstein, Hollyhock proprietor and decorator extraordinaire, hasn’t lived in New Orleans for more than thirty years, but she celebrates in Los Angeles every carnival season with raw oysters on the half shell and gumbo or jambalaya. She fills her house with purple irises (the Mardi Gras colors are purple, green, and gold) and always serves Brandy Milk Punch, the New Orleans breakfast of champions and the tastiest hangover cure known to man.

For more formal affairs, she has jumbo lump crabmeat shipped in from “home,” serves it on Boston lettuce and tops it with a divine green goddess dressing, and follows with grillades or catfish courtbouillon (locally pronounced coobiyon). But it is not just Mardi Gras that inspires Suzanne’s Creole menus. “Our restaurants here are superb, so I don’t want to compete with that kind of food,” she tells me. “I always come back to the food I grew up with.” On Valentine’s Day, for example, she is throwing a brunch in honor of three houseguests, and plans a menu of an old-fashioned sausage, egg, and cheese casserole, “billionaire’s bacon” (broiled with brown sugar and black pepper and so delicious), and homemade buttermilk biscuits with hot pepper jelly. Accompanied, of course, by milk punch.

I myself will be imbibing a few milk punches on Mardi Gras morn before I venture out to catch the hand-painted-and-glittered coconuts thrown by the Krewe of Zulu, whose raucous parade kicks off the day. They are the most coveted parade “throws,” and almost as beautiful as the masks and crowns from Goldbug Studio whose amazingly talented owner and designer Ashley Carter grew up, not surprisingly, in New Orleans. Her masks are breathtakingly ethereal creations, and the perfect thing for an elegant Mardi Gras dinner or private masked ball.

I’m so inspired I may have to have a dinner (mask de riguer) myself. I am dreaming of a table set with gorgeous crystal glasses in Mardi Gras colors from Corzine and company, along with more crystal bowls jammed with the purple irises Suzanne recommends. I’ll start off with the aforementioned jumbo lump crab with green goddess dressing and follow with John Besh’s divine veal grillades and creamy jalapeno grits. For dessert, I’ll have Sucre’s festive purple, green, and gold King Cake, the best version of that traditional sweet I’ve found.

To make your own Mardi Gras inspired dinner, I offer recipes below, including the Brandy Milk Punch recipe in Besh’s cookbook from Timmy Riely, a Mardi Gras maven and long time lieutenant in the Krewe of Rex. – Julia Reed

GREEN GODDESS DRESSING

1 bunch green onions, roughly chopped with some green
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/3 cup parsley, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons tarragon leaves, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons chives, roughly chopped
1 cup mayonnaise, homemade or Hellman’s
3 tablespoons lemon juice, or more to taste
3 tablespoons anchovy paste
½ cup sour cream
salt and freshly ground pepper

Mix all ingredients except sour cream and salt and pepper in food processor until green onions and herbs are finely chopped and the mixture is well-blended. Place mixture in mixing bowl and fold in sour cream. Add salt and pepper and check for seasoning.

John Besh’s Jalapeno Cheese Grits
Serves 6-8

1 cup stone-ground white corn grits
1 jalapeno pepper
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons mascarpone or cream cheese
1/4 cup grated Edam cheese
Salt

1. Heat 4 cups of water in a large heavy-bottomed pot over high heat until it comes to a boil. Slowly pour in the grits while whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, for about 20 minutes.
2. While the grits are cooking, pan-roast the jalapeno pepper in a small skillet over high heat until the skin is brown and blistered. Cut the pepper in half lengthwise and remove the skin and the seeds from the pepper and discard. Mince the flesh and add it to the pot of grits.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and fold in the butter, mascarpone, and Edam cheese. Season with salt.

John Besh’s Slow-Cooked Veal Grillades
Serves 6-8

4 pounds boneless veal shoulder, sliced into thin cutlets
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons Basic Creole Spices (see below)
1/4 cup rendered bacon fat
1 large onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups canned whole plum tomatoes, drained and diced
2 cups Basic Veal Stock (see below)
Leaves from 1 sprig fresh thyme
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
Tabasco
2 green onions, chopped

1. Season the veal cutlets with salt and pepper. Whisk the flour together with the Creole Spices in a medium bowl. Dredge the cutlets in a seasoned flour and shake off excess. Reserve a tablespoon of seasoned flour.
2. Melt the bacon fat in a large skillet over high heat. Fry the cutlets, several at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Take care not to overcrowd the skillet. Remove cutlets from the skillet and continue to cook in batches until all the veal has been browned. Set the veal aside while you continue making the sauce.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-high, add the onions to the same skillet, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until they are a deep mahogany color, about 20 minutes. Add the celery, bell pepper, and garlic, reduce the heat to moderate, and continue cooking, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the 1 tablespoon of reserved seasoned flour into the skillet and stir to mix it into the vegetables.
4. Increase heat to high, stir in the tomatoes and Veal Stock, and cook until it comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderate and stir the thyme, pepper flakes, bay leaf, and Worcestershire into the vegetables. Add the veal cutlets, cover, and simmer until the veal is fork tender, about 45 minutes.
5. Season with salt, pepper, and Tabasco, then add the green onions. Serve over creamy Jalapeno Cheese Grits.

Basic Creole Spices
Makes 1/2 cup

2 tablespoons celery salt
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1. Mix together the celery salt, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, and allspice in a bowl. Transfer the spices to a clean container with a tight-fitting lid, cover, and store.

Basic Veal Stock
Makes 7 cups

1 pound veal bones
1/4 cup canola oil
2 onions, coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 leek, white park, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bottle red wine
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the veal bones into a roasting pan and rub them with 2 tablespoons oil. Roast the bones until well browned, about 45 minutes.
2. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until they are almost mahogany in color, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the celery, carrots, leeks, garlic, and tomato paste and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add the browned veal bones to the pot, along with the wine, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns and 3 quarts water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer, skimming any foam that rises to the surface, until the stock has reduced by half, about 2 hours.
5. Strain through a fine sieve into a container with a cover. Allow the stock to cool, then cover and refrigerate, or freeze the stock in small batches to use later.

Timmy’s Brandy Milk Punch
Serves 4

1 cup brandy
3 cups milk
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 gratings fresh nutmeg
Handful of ice cubes
Crushed ice in 4 glasses

1. Put the brandy, milk, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and ice cubes into a blender and blend for 20 seconds.
2. Strain into glasses of crushed ice and serve.

Above, far left: Mardi Gras and Milk Punch aficionado Timmy Reily, properly masked as a lieutenant in the Krewe of Rex. Clockwise from top center: Grand Lieu Amethyst Hock by Saint-Louis, Toccata Amber Hock by La Maison, Toccata Chartreuse Champagne Flute by La Maison, all at Corzine & Co.; The Golden Lady mask by Goldbug Studio at The Mercantile; Jumbo Lump Crabmeat with Green Goddess dressing; Grillades with Jalapeno Cheese Grits from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, 200 of My Favorite Recipes & Stories from My Hometown by John Besh

For King Cakes and Mardi Gras chocolates, shop Sucre on TAIGAN.com