The Cajun Foodie

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Posts Tagged Cajun food

Mara’s Homemade: NOLA in NYC

Feb 23

Posted by ellclare in Everywhere else | 14 Comments

When you’re from South Louisiana and you live in NYC sometimes you go through withdrawals. Serious withdrawals. For serious Cajun food. Having eaten a number of places in the city that claim to have “Cajun” or “Louisiana” food, Mara’s Homemade was the only place that actually followed through.

The ambiance, the southern hospitality, the menu, and the FLAVOR – Mara’s has it all! Let’s start with the most important: what’s on tap? Abita SOS, Abita Strawberry Harvest, Amber Bock, and AndyGator to name a few! Other beverages include the almighty Hurricane, Mint Julep, Sazarac; I don’t think I need to go any further!

Onto the goods – this is the real deal! Mara’s flies her product in from the Louisiana Gulf: Oyster’s, Crawfish, Alligator, Crabs and Shrimp. Her website boasts, “If you have been to NOLA and had the BBQ Shrimp then you will love Mara’s.” Need a dessert after your gumbo? You know you can’t eat a good Cajun meal without topping it off with an order of beignets!

Mara’s is also serving from a special Mardi Gras menu, and even Jazz Fest favorites as Crawfish Mara, Crawfish Pot Pie, Crawfish Stuffed Bread and Crawfish Cheese Toast!

Mara’s Homemade
 342 East 6th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 598-1110
http://www.marashomemade.com/

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Satchmo SummerFest: July 30th-August 2nd

Jul 15

Posted by Gino in New Orleans restaurant, The Cajun Foodie | No Comments

Final Poster Art 184x300 Satchmo SummerFest: July 30th August 2ndCome enjoy great music and awesome food for the 9th Annual Satchmo SummerFest paying tribute to New Orleans’ own Louis Armstrong.  Hey, no need for any excuses for not coming out to enjoy all of the festivities.  The Satchmo SummerFest is a free festival for all experience.  If good music, food and tons of fun is how you like to spend your weekends off, head to the French Quarter/Downtown area for a fantastic experience.

Food Vendors:

Bach Dang Cafe
Crepes a la Cart
Crescent City Brewhouse
La Divina Gelateria
Palmer’s Cuisine
Pearl’s Catering
Ralph & Kacoo’s
Saltwater Grill
The Praline Connection
Vaucresson Sausage Co.

Besides for the music and food, there is also a wide variety of special events, seminars and a host of other activities for the whole family.

After enjoying all that the Satchmo SummerFest has to offer, let us know your thoughts, especially on the food.  You can email us at thecajunfoodie@gmail.com

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Palace Cafe

Jul 3

Posted by Gino in New Orleans restaurant | 4 Comments

palace cafe2 225x300 Palace CafePalace Cafe is located downtown on Canal Street in the historic Werlein’s Music Building.  The restaurant is the creation of Dickie Brennan’s culinary empire with Executive Chef Darin Nesbit dishing out contemporary New Orleans Creole cuisine.

This was probably the first restaurant that I went to when I moved to the city.  A few of my friends worked here at the time and really talked up the place.  Unsure if my friends were just biased or if the food was actually that good, I made my way to Palace Cafe to find out for myself.  Since then I have been back many times.

The turtle soup served at Palace Cafe is one of my favorites in the city.  It has just the right amount of lemon and sherry to go along with an ample amount of turtle meat.  Turtle meat may seem somewhat intimidating if you are not from the South, but I’d encourage anyone to try it. It’s probably the most delicate and delicious meat there is.  The sherry in turtle soup is what makes or breaks the dish.  Too much sherry and the dish will be overpowering, masking the flavors of the other ingredients.  Palace Cafe’s version hits the mark with the perfect amount to complement the dish.

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BIG AL’S – Where It’s At for Seafood in Houma

Jun 30

Posted by ellclare in "Down the Bayou" restaurant | 2 Comments

photo1 225x300 BIG AL’S – Where It’s At for Seafood in HoumaLocated on the East side of Houma, Big Al’s Seafood is my favorite place to go for boiled seafood around town.

Many people know that I’m indecisive about lots of things in life, but when it comes to food and when I’m hungry, there is absolutely no hope for a decision to be made.  I want a little of everything.  Everything looks and smells so good.  So many choices… it’s just hopeless.

Well – at Big Al’s, we had the most fabulous waitress who saved me from anguish and let me have a little bit of everything!  You can basically customize your own boiled seafood platter! How cool is this? We ordered 2 lbs of boiled shrimp, 1 lb of boiled crawfish, 2 crabs, and the sides of course (potatoes, corn, and sausage).

We were able to order a crab at a time and a pound of crawfish at a time after that when we still just hadn’t had enough.  It was perfect!  Everything was boiled to perfection: easy to peel, juicy, and spicy enough to feel the kick in your mouth, but not too spicy.

I’ve been a loyal fan of Big Al’s for years now, and every visit leaves me 110% satisfied.  They’re never off.  The menu offers a wonderful selection of fried and boiled seafood along with savory sides to compliment the seafood, and they have just about any style pasta and poboy you can imagine.  There’s also a kid-friendly menu.

Everything about Big Al’s makes you feel right at home: the booths and picnic tables, the Cajun ’decor’, the genuine Southern hospitality from the staff, and the always ice cold Abita beer.  (They DO serve Abita Strawberry, which is also a plus!)

Big Al’s original location can be found at 1226 Grand Caillou Road in Houma.  Their second location is on the Westside of Houma at 1377 West Tunnel Blvd.  For those folks in and around New Orleans, check out Big Al’s location on Annunciation Street in Uptown New Orleans.

biglink BIG AL’S – Where It’s At for Seafood in Houma

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Jacques-Imo’s

Jun 1

Posted by Gino in New Orleans restaurant | 1 Comment

1659469444 968b3dde7d 300x225 Jacques ImosJacques-Imo’s is the creation of chef Jacques Leonardi, who arrived in New Orleans by way of upstate New York for the Coast Guard Academy. Leonardi’s first job in a kitchen was due to an icon of cajun food, Paul Prudhomme and the rest is culinary history.

Jacques-Imo’s opened its doors in 1996 in Uptown New Orleans on Oak Street. Since then, they have been dishing out solid if not great food.

The menu is sort of hard to describe, as it does not focus on any particular cuisine. I would have to say that it is Leonardi’s spin on New Orleans food done how he wants it no matter what. That is because he is at the helm of the funky restaurant every night, roaming from the front of the house to the back. Even if you have never seen him before, it will take no time at all to figure out exactly who he is.

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1921 Seafood in Houma

May 4

Posted by Tommy in "Down the Bayou" restaurant | 13 Comments

1921 150x150 1921 Seafood in HoumaOn a recent excursion to the grandest of all islands (Grand Isle to those of you not familiar with this nickname for the seven miles of fun and sun), the Wife and I were feeling a bit hungry.  My initial plans were to make it down to Harry’s or D&D in Larose but the Wife was having none of it and we were eating sooner rather than later in our trip, so it was clear that a pitstop was going to be made in Houma.

I put 1921 Seafood on the trusty iPhone GPS and minutes later we were outside of what they would proudly call a shack on Barrow Street.  This place is the real deal, with the bathrooms being labeled simply as “Inboards” and “Outboards” and a hand-washing station with commercial soap tacked up on a wall.

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In search of the mythical ponce deep in the heart of Acadiana

Mar 17

Posted by Tommy in Acadiana restaurant, Ingredients, tips, and restaurant news | 16 Comments

img 0123 150x150 In search of the mythical ponce deep in the heart of AcadianaHowever you choose to spell it, ponce (also spelled pounce/paunce and called chaudin)  is one of those items that you don’t hear much about unless you have a few too many beers with someone from Ville Platte or Eunice.  The Cajun version of haggis, ponce is essentially ground pork and usually a binder, stuffed back into the stomach of the animal that you got your meat from.  That’s right, sausage stuffed pig stomach.  For the faint of heart, this is your warning… if you don’t like to see loosely grounds bits of meat and fat recongealed in a natural intestinal casing, stop here.  For the rest of you, read on!

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The shrimp are flat in Shreveport…or at least at Herby-K’s!

Mar 16

Posted by Tommy in Everywhere else | 14 Comments

img 0103 150x150 The shrimp are flat in Shreveport...or at least at Herby Ks!Shreveport has been much maligned as the red headed stepchild of the Louisiana culinary scene.  People make it seem like someone routinely steps into the kitchens of Shreveport restaurants half naked and painted cardinal red, yells “Pig-SOOOOEEEEE” and steals the salt, leaving the chef little option but to serve tasteless food.  Seriously, native Shreveportians will be the first to tell you the food gets blander as you go further north up I-49, but there are bastions of hope that remain strong and Herby-K’s has been showing other places how to cook seafood for a long time.

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Billy Rays: Part Two

Mar 14

Posted by Tommy in Acadiana restaurant | 10 Comments

Billy Rays: Part Two

Alright, if you remember my last post about Billy Ray’s in Opelousas, you might remember that I said the story behind the place was a bit confusing.  Well, it gets even more confusing.  Billy’s in Krotz Springs, Louisiana looks like your average everyday gas station. However, they are linked to Billy Ray’s in that they supposedly serve the same Billy’s recipe boudin, as well as the same boudin balls.  I say supposedly because even the ladies that work here can’t agree on what recipe is used where anymore.

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A true Cajun secret: using dried shrimp in seafood gumbos

Mar 13

Posted by Tommy in Cajun recipes | 6 Comments

I come from “down the bayou,” where there are as many recipes for seafood gumbo as there are cooks. Everyone has their own version and everyone’s grandma makes it better than yours does. Okra, crabs, oysters, file and other ingredients occasionally find their way into the gumbo pot, but if there was a constant to seafood gumbo, it would be the presence of shrimp.

From the larger butterflied versions to the smallish “gumbo shrimp,” they are the mainstay of this dish. It was not until I moved to Acadiana though, that I first heard of using dried shrimp to give that salty briny flavor that was once only found most time consuming stocks.

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