# cape chef's mardi gras party



## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

What I mean by neutral are your collards, maybe the slaw, shroomgirl's oysters, maybe fried okra or something. Not that the spicy foods aren't great, it's just something to accompany them. 

OMG, for beignets, you could do a beignet bar with various sauces, or you could individually flavor a bunch of beignets. Mind you, I've never been to NO, so my idea of what is traditional is probably quite different from what actually is. That is why I asked how close you want to be to the real thing.

Beignet flavors could be: pecan, banana, bourbon...y'know typical dessert flavors of NO, but would you want to stray from that and do things like blueberry, with lavendar honey syrup, for example?


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

I hate AOL they keep turning off my machine "from lack of use" while I'm typing.

Creole cream cheese ice cream with strawberry sauce and praline cookie cone

Callas...sweet rice balls..topped with powdered sugar are REALLLLLL OLLLLLDDDDD New Orleans.

Stuffed seafood bites....

Eggplant (fried) with crab and a creole hollandaise

Or roll you eggplant slices around a spicy seafood mix.

HMMMMMM red beans and rice salad

Grit cake crisped and topped with shrimp stew
or Crawfish Pie


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Natichodes meat pies...spicy yummy great hdo

Abita beers...watch out for that Turbo Dog he bites.
NO Rum drinks
Sazeracs
Mimosas
glup....bleck....hurricanes


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

How 'bout some other beignet ideas:


Peach melba (pretty self explanatory)

Sour cherry with brown sugar whipped cream

Chocolate nib beignets with chicory coffee ganache

Sweet cornmeal beignets w/ orange reduction.

Hmm...This could go on and on. I want to try some of these myself!!


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## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

If French cuisine (which much of the cuisine of Louisiana derives from) can handle the existence of noveau French cuisine, why can't there be noveau Cajun? The old, traditional dishes will still be there even if there are new "fancy" ones.

[This message has been edited by Greg (edited 01-25-2001).]


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

margaret, please forgive me for messing with ttradition, but please note, that I mentioned it may not be tradtional, I was trying to be creative with a traditional idea, and also note that I asked how authentic he wanted his food, because if that's the case, then it's quite easy to come up with dessert ideas, isn't it? Of course a simple beignet is fine and delicious, but there's nothing wrong with tweeking tradition, the same way we do with all cuisines.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

yeow!!! Actually Creole is a gumbo of fooods not just French. Tried and true are phenmonial, but there are some that are doing great stuff that doesn't seem too far off the path...Bayonas, Artesia, Hersaint...they still use indigenous foods and make wonderful New Orleans foods....ie roasted garlic soup, shrimp stew on grit cake.... I really do not see the classics dying down there. Bon temp Roule just is too strong. NOW my personal pet peeve is the weirdness going on with blackening...what is that messssss people are calling blackened, seems a far cry from what Paul Prudhomme started.
**Margaret where would you place Commander Palace's bread pudding souffle? or the twists Mr. B and Paul Pruddhomme made????

[This message has been edited by shroomgirl (edited 01-25-2001).]


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

***Louisiana gossip~ Margaret did you read about Edwin Edwards being sent to prison by Palazzola for 10 years?????Finally caught.
What an amazing man.
**For those not familiar with Louisiana politics Edwin is a 73 year old man that has the libido of an 17 year old and a silver tongue, he was gov for 4 (yes four) terms.
Huge crook indicted 20 times in as many years but never sent to prison. He was a living soap opera. Cajun boy that could slip from english to cajun french with no break. Where's the entertainment going to come from now?


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

The CBD farmer's Market on Julia Sat AM...guess it still goes during Mardi Gras
OH man you said Sun....too bad they have seafood guys that catch it themselves...headon shrimp, live crabs, fresh fish and des allemdes catfish (too fine)
Kenner go under the hwy on Williams and it's at the light on the left just 1/4mile or so from the expressway ....seafood wrapped to go, they have a great selection and it's always been fresh. they have a restaurant connected that has pretty good po boys.
Boiled seafood in season too.
I'm green!!!! Check out Fancy food show in Chicago Mar 23may try to get up there....if you've not been it's wonderful!!!
restaurants look under KyleW thread in restaurant raves it has my NO selections.
The quarter is going to be packed....


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Don't remember the name of the seafood shop but not hard to find....it's at the corner of Williams before turning into the mall.

John Folse's Lafitte Landing burned down, probably the ghosts did it....he has a new place, just thought I'd mention that so you don't drive to Donaldsonville and not find it.

Wow, Dominics huh....I remember that place from my St. Mary's Dominican days...before they sold to Loyola....


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Me too!!! Live crayfish(ahem!!!) were $3 #here in St. Louis....they don't understand crayfish are bait and crawfish is dinner.
I too bought um boiled for under $1 per #
it was nothing to eat 7# each with potatoes and garlic.

Stansils rice is phenominal!!! popcorn or esoteric whatever they call it It's fine...I had them ship 80# up...I'll get you their phone # if you'd like...it's on my fridge.

Service had much to be desired at one of the high end NO restaurants I went to last winter....exceptionally BAD. Trend???? It's sad because that's so much of the experience...and noone could do it like NO except maybe Justines in Mfs.

I stocked up on ham bones and scraps from Mother's still got 20# of dried camillas, just ran out of chicory coffee...bummer.
It's about time for a boil

[ March 10, 2001: Message edited by: shroomgirl ]


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## mojofearless (Sep 3, 2006)

I realize that this is a very old post, but I was so appalled that I actually joined this forum just to rebut this post. Momoreg and all who read her post, NO DOING THAT TO BEIGNETS! Yes, it's obvious that you've never been to New Orleans. I'm from New Orleans, and let me tell you that there is something so inherently wrong about doing some wild-flavored beignet bar, that I can't stress to you enough how deeply troubled the thought of it leaves me. Beignets are sacred in that city, and they are rustic. This is a very old tradition where I'm from, and people should not be confused about what it really is by upstarts who think to improve on something already so established. You want to flavor beignets? It's called a freakin donut. And don't try to pin it on us, especially when you've never had the experience. See what I'm saying? You want to make donuts? Flavor them however you want. You want to serve beignets? Get it right. The other person was correct: callas would also be authentic. Kudos for even knowing what that is. Impressive. Bread pudding would also work, and you could screw around with the flavors there much more convincingly. Everyone does their own bread pudding thing, but beignets are beignets, and never should one be contaminated with peaches or plums or the earnest intentions of folks who have never eaten them. Whew. Now that that's off my chest...


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

wooooeeeee....this is an old one. First off Welcome Mojofearless. Obviously you've been playing in the archives. I lived in DeRidder, Baton Rouge and New Orleans more years than anywhere else.....Southern Louisiana has a strong place in my heart including beignets and cafe au lait. 
thanks for the callas compliment....I really dig in to an areas food history/current culture.

So, not to fan the flames but John Folse, HUGE La. ambassador of food for years....even cooking nutrias as a campaign to get hunters to start ridding the wetlands of the critters. Has a prune beignet recipe along with a standard verison what I now use as my standard beignet recipe (if you've not used it try it....). Seafood beignets have been around an awfully long time.

Are you still in NO if so let us know what's going on in the food scene?


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