Tag Archives: crawfish

Happy Cinco De Mayo

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Whether you’re enjoying Jazz Fest, this beautiful weather or the fact that it is a Thursday, you’re food and beverages will likely take on a Latin tilt today. To help you be prepared, here is a collection of some quick and easy recipes.

SALSAS
Tired of tomato based salsa or want to take advantage of the amazing fruit that is starting to hit stores? Check out our Watermelon Salsa, our Pineapple Salsa, our mango salsa or all three.

ENTREES
Want to work in some great flavor? Check out some chipotle glazed pork, which we paired with our mango salsa (above). Or if you have a few leftover crawfish or maybe you’d like to give a little Louisiana twist to your Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Check out our
Crawfish Quesadillas, which also includes a little bit about the history of this holiday.

DRINK
Now if you want something to wash all this down with and don’t feel like sucking down sugary, syrupy margarita mix, check out the simple Simply Margarita!

How ever you spend this day, enjoy it!

French Quarter Fest First Timers

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The official 2011 French Quarter Festival Poster. Photo from nola.com.

You all probably know by now that $1.25 and I just love spring in New Orleans.  Not only is the weather beautiful (for the most part anyway), but it’s festival season!  And one of our absolute favorites, French Quarter Fest, is just days away.  

In my impatient wait for the weekend to hurry up and get here, I decided to check out the list of festival food vendors set to tantalize our taste buds this year.  I was really just checking to make sure I could get my old standby favorites from last year, but I noticed there are quite a few newcomers to the list this year too.  So, in addition to all of the faithful favorites, $1.25 and I are going to have to find some room to sample these newbies as well.

In Jackson Square look for Broussard’s Restaurant and Courtyard, where they’ll be serving Crawfish in Puff Pastry with Mustard Dill and Slow Roasted Pork in Onion Stew Po’ Boy (YUM!).  Right after that we’ll beeline our way over to Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse for their Prime Beef Debris Po’ Boy and a BBQ Shrimp Po’ Boy.

From there, you’ll want to head to the Old U.S. Mint food booths, where Boswell’s Jamaican Grill will add Jerk Chicken, Rice and Peas, Callaloo, and Beef or Veggie Patties to the mix.  I’m particularly excited to check out the new Tempura Battered Softshell Crab Po’ Boy at the new Oceana Grill booth.  Oceana will also be serving chargrilled oysters, but $1.25 and I don’t do the oyster thing.

Finally, at Woldenberg Riverfront Park, you won’t want to miss Big Mooney’s Restaurant’s Stuffed Crab, Stuffed Crab Po’ Boy and Seafood Pasta.  Mona’s will be there too with their Gyro Sandwich, Gyro Platter and some other Mediterranean goodies.

Phew.  And you thought French Quarter Fest couldn’t get any better!  Looks like we’re in for a great weekend. We’ll have more for you as we get closer to quittin’ time on Friday. Check back here later in the week and, in the mean time, check out fqfi.org for more information.

Green Goddess: A Hidden Gem

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New Orleans is a truly magical city. I’m not talking about the way of life or culture (that’s a whole other post book), but the city itself. Nothing makes this clearer than turning down a random alley and finding a fantastic restaurant tucked away in an often overlooked alleyway. The Green Goddess (307 Exchange Place, 504.301.3347) is one such place, easily missed if you aren’t seeking it out.
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What’s Cooking: Cinco de Crawfish

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Cinco de Mayo is one of the greatest holidays ever taken over by marketers and business owners and twisted to their own delight.* I mean a holiday that centers around Tex-Mex, margaritas, Mexican beer and happy hours, how could it not be great? To make it better, New Orleans is always in a very festive mood around Cinco de Mayo given its close proximity to Jazz Fest and the awesome spring weather. However, infusing this holiday with a bit of New Orleans flavor could be a little trying, at least, until now. Need something to bring along to a party or serve up at your fiesta? Easy work after the jump.
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Jazz Fest Run Down

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Hopefully by now your sunburns have started to heal up and your liver has dried out. With the endless shows around town this past weekend its been quite the whirlwind: Hit the Fest. Drink and eat all day. Shower. Hit a show. Drink and eat all night. Rinse and repeat.
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Jazz Fest Primer I

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We’ve got a lot on our plates right now so the next few days might be a little thin. We’re hoping to get out a Jazz Fest Primer for the food at the Fairgrounds before this weekend, of course that would just be going off of memory which would undoubtedly be clouded with several severely overpriced Miller Lite.

Any rate, on to this post. When people think food around Jazz Fest time, they often only think of the little wooden booths situated on the infield of the Fairgrounds slinging a variety of foods. But that only tells part of the story. Many of our familiar places around town pull in a special Jazz Fest menu, which highlight seasonal foods that otherwise wouldn’t make an appearance. Others still give their own takes on Jazz Fest favorites, such as the crawfish bread.

On of my favorite such specials of course arises right out of one of Mid-City’s (shocker, I know) better known restaurants. Mandina’s, while not one of my favorite restaurants in the city (or Mid-City), has been a must stop for me in years past during Jazz Fest. Why? Crawfish pies. The fried little half moons are stuffed with all the normal fixings you’d find in crawfish pie, but what sets it apart from the rest of the crawfish pies in the city is the lack of grease. Unlike the crawfish pie we had at French Quarter Fest, the Mandina’s crawfish pie is not bursting with grease ready to scald you with every bite. For full disclosure, I must say I haven’t been by Mandina’s yet this Jazz Fest season to ensure that the quality is what it has been in years past, but I have no reason to believe otherwise. While Mandina’s isn’t my favorite restaurant, it has always been consistent. Every visit brings exactly what you expect, which some of our best restaurants can’t say.

Moral of the story: Just because you’ve gotten the best of what the Fairgrounds has to offer, doesn’t mean you’ve even scratched the surface of what Jazz Fest has to offer. The food of Jazz Fest isn’t confined to the Fairgrounds, but celebrated throughout the city. Make sure you take full advantage.

He Said: Ralph’s On The Park

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Ralph’s On The Park (900 City Park Avenue, 504-488-1000) sits just across from City Park. With a main dining room, bar seating and multiple function rooms upstairs, there are plenty of different ways to experience this fine restaurant by Ralph Brennan. For me, I find the main dining room to be a more formal experience, but still relaxed (business casual). The bar, on the other hand, is simply relaxed (jeans will fit in just fine). In the bar area, you can opt to eat at the bar or at one of the tables set up near the window. Taking a table gives you the best of both main dining options, the informality of the bar and the fine service of the main dining room. After a rough week with work, we weren’t quite up for spiffing up on our Saturday, so the bar it was.

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She Said: Ralph’s On The Park

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$1.25 and I head to Ralph’s when we need a treat but don’t want the effort of a big night out.  The good thing about Ralph’s is that it’s a very versatile place.  While we had on jeans this last visit and sat in the bar area, we’ve also been in the main dining room on New Year’s Eve in festive cocktail attire.  That’s my kind of place.  I absolutely love the ambiance at Ralph’s.  The main dining room is light and airy with beautiful views of the oaks in City Park.  The bar area is cozy, with exposed brick, lower lighting, and the same great view of the park.  Upstairs there are private rooms with french doors leading to wrap around balconies perfect for cocktail hour or a morning brunch.

The only problem I have with Ralph’s is I don’t ever love everything I order.  Usually I have something outstanding, something so-so, and something I wouldn’t order again.   This last visit was no exception.  I checked out the menu online earlier in the afternoon and was really excited to try the Crawfish Fritto Misto from the lenten specials section.  When I re-read the description that night at Ralphs,  “corn fried crawfish tails, pickled cherry peppers, Italian provolone, frisée, butter lettuce, remoulade sauce”, I didn’t even consider anything else on the menu.  Our waiter sealed the deal when he recommended it as well. Continue reading →

What’s Cooking–Crawfish Boil

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While crawfish are pretty much universally enjoyed, the process of cooking crawfish is a deeply personal ritual. It’s why the question of “Do you need any help with that” is pretty much always answered “No, I got it.” Unless of course some grunt labor is needed. Everyone has certain things they expect to find when the steaming pot of crawfish is turned up on their table: Potatoes, corn and, of course, the crawfish.
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