Great Southern Foods

Louisiana Blue Crabs

2010-05-25T13:34:00.002-05:00

Lake Pontchartrain Blue Crabs

Greg with ice chest of crabs

Picking out the Big Males

Greg showing off our crabs

Blue Crab 9" Tip to Tip

Last week I had to make a trip to South Louisiana to check on product we were buying and to find out the latest on British Petroleum's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

I can always count on Greg Nick when I call and say I need help and today was a day that I would be spending 20 or so hours on the road alone, traveling the Louisiana coast. He immediately volunteered to help and when passing through Lafayette I picked him up. We always make the best out of our trips together and traveling with him is never going to be monotonous or boring and today was no exception.

We were going to see our oyster fisherman, shrimp buyers and crabbers today and knew that somewhere along the way we would find some of Louisiana's finest seafood for Greg to take back home to Peggy, Greg's wife.

On this trip we picked up a number of wonderful Louisiana delicacies and Anthony Liuzza's, Liuzza Farms, produced some of them. Our first stop was to pick up Liuzza's Creole tomato's and the famous Louisiana strawberries at a favorite produce stand along the way. Liuzza Farms are considered one of the premiere local farmers in Louisiana and located in Tickfaw, LA. Greg's favorite tomato's are the Liuzza Creole and I agree with him.

Next we went to visit a crabber friend of mine to talk to some of his friends about frogging for me this summer when the season opens. Louisiana has some of the tastiest and tenderest frogs I have eaten. I want to introduce these frog legs to some of our chefs in Texas and in turn have their customers find out what they have been missing.

While we were there, crabbers were coming in from Lake Pontchartrain with some of the prettiest crabs I had seen this month. Seeing these beauties, we could not pass picking up a couple of dozen. A crab feast was in the making and with these giants you did not need more than three crabs per person. Most of the crabs were 9 inches across from tip to tip, which I consider giant.

Greg and I both love boiled crabs and the way he cooks them is my favorite way. He is of the old school New Orleans style, boiling then soaking. He seasons the water to the taste he likes then adds the crabs, back side up. After they are cooked he allows them to soak in the liquid that they were boiled in while adding a bag of ice to the boiling pot. This change in temperature allows the crab to suck in the seasoned water, seasoning the blue crab's succulent sweet meat throughout. He is one of the best crab cooks I know and could not wait to have him throw these beauties in his boiling pot.

We had a great trip that day, seeing crabbers, oyster-men, shrimpers and farmers but the highlight of this day was not the wonderful bounty that we were able to find throughout South Louisiana, it was the quality time I got to spend with Greg, one of my oldest and most trusted friends.

Mansura Cochon de Lait

2010-05-11T15:36:00.328-05:00

"Pit Boss" Gerald Wayne Lemoine

Cochon de Lait

Cords of Pecan and Oak wood for the all night cook

Whole Hogs hanging in the Barbecue Barn

Gerald Wayne with his pig sticker sampling the homemade links

Hogs and Shoulders hanging in the Barbecue Barn

Last week while in Grand Isle, Louisiana I noticed on my calendar that the Mansura Cochon de Lait was coming up on Mother's Day weekend. I had missed it last year and made a note to make sure I made time to make the drive to Avoyelles Parish in East Central Louisiana.

Everyone from Avoyelles Parish knows how to have a Cochon de Lait (Suckling-Pig) and people in that neck of the woods have one of the largest and best pig roast in the state.

Avoyelles Parish is where the Red, Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers meet which produce some of the most beautiful and one of the largest area of swamp land in Louisiana.

I wanted to arrive in Mansura at around 4:00 p.m. to watch the "Pit Crew" light the fires and hang the whole hogs in the cochon de lait roasting barn, built just for roasting pigs. I arrived at around 6:00 p.m. to meet legendary cook and "Pit Boss" Gerald Wayne Lamoine.

The first thing that I noticed was Gerald Wayne all in black, wearing a large black western hat and sporting a 45 caliber automatic on his hip. I immediately thought surely he must be the Sheriff or a Deputy and later found out that he was neither.

Gerald Wayne told me that " I grew up working livestock in the swamps of Avoyelles and when I was seven years old my Uncle gave me a hat, a sidearm, put him on a horse and told me to round up these animals."

"I never take this gun off, I spent eleven years in the Army as a Ranger and when I came home saw no reason to go anywhere without it."

Yes, I would call Gerald Wayne a man's man!

After hearing that story I immediately made plans to meet Gerald Wayne in Bourdelonville, his home town, and spend a Saturday with him at his farm. He told me they make butter, cheese and milk about 60 gallons of milk a day from his animals. I also want to talk to him about doing a cochon de lait for me but not quite as big as the one he was doing today.

Gerald Wayne is legendary in these parts for his cooking and baking, cochon de lait and cinnamon rolls are his specialty, and in fact the next day was going to do a benefit pancake breakfast, serving crawfish etouffee on top of them instead of syrup. Gerald Wayne is the go-to man when wanting to throw a big party and today he was in his glory.

Getting back to why I was in Mansura, "The Cochon de Lait". I found out that they were cooking about 4,000 pounds of pork and and were going to serve a pork dinner for Mother's Day lunch between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. the next day. The proceeds were to benefit the Mansura volunteer fire department.

The hogs were split open from the stomach and laid flat between two pieces of heavy wire tied together and hung to roast rib side first. Exposed to a roaring fire comprised of piles of oak and pecan wood, these hogs were turned after about two and a half hours. After turning the skin side facing the fire they were moved a foot or so back so not to cook the skin side too fast. The hogs began to drip after about 3 hours and the "Pit Boss" slowed the fire and slowly let them cook for twelve more hours turning every couple of hours throughout the rest of the night.

Originally, long before the Civil War, cooking was done outside with an open fire so that the pigs could be tended and watched while working in the fields.

Gerald Wayne explained to me that the cochon de lait was done out of necessity in the early days. A sow (female) can start having babies after about eight months old and can produce 8 to 12 and many times as much as 20 piglets in four months and can have babies twice a year. He said that a sow could only feed so many piglets a day and the suckling pigs that could not get enough milk had to be killed and cooked so that the mother would have enough milk to feed the remaining piglets. That is how the cochon de lait was born, making the hog responsible for many great parties in Louisiana. He told me that before refrigeration having cochon de laits were a common occurrence, you could always find someone having a pig roast. Today the cochon de lait is reserved for special occasions or outdoor parties.

I would recommend a trip next year to Mansura and the Cochon de Lait Festival . Make a weekend out of it and tour the beautiful and scenic roads through this beautiful parish. I put it on my calendar for next year, but will be going very soon to spend a day with Gerald Wayne Lamoine to see the real Avoyelles and hopefully find someone having a cochon de lait in their yard.

Breton Island Salts

2010-04-30T11:42:00.007-05:00

6' Gulf Oyster from Breton Island, LA

Large "Breton Island Salt"

Brandy of Reef Restaurant with "Breton Island Salt"

1/2 Dozen Breton Island Oysters

Bryan Caswell - Reef Restaurant

One of the advantages of my job is finding and having the opportunity to try many wonderful and interesting food products whether it be crabs, crawfish, shrimp, oysters or whatever fin-fish is in season. Today happen to be oysters, which in fact is one of my favorite foods. I never turn down a chance to eat oysters.

Last week fourth generation oyster farmer John Tesvich, with Port Sulphur Fisheries Co., called me and said "a couple of weeks ago I put out 600 oysters in 12 cages off of Breton Island to begin testing salt-water relaying as a treatment for cleansing and enhancing Gulf oysters. We harvested the oysters yesterday, after a 15 day soak, and I was impressed how the oysters looked and tasted."

John sent me 3 boxes of his Breton Island Salts to test. I was having a lunch meeting the day they came in with Chef Bryan Caswell, author and food critic Robb Walsh and Dr. Jeff Savell from the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University and figured who better to help taste these Breton Island Salts than these guys.

These were beautiful thick shelled mature oysters that were plump and both salty and sweet at the same time.
The taste got better as I chewed and after eating left a wonderful taste at the back of my tongue. These oysters if given the chance could rival any that I have eaten and would be a prize for any oyster bar anywhere to serve on the half-shell. We checked the salinity with a refractometor that showed the salt level of 45 parts per thousand. I think that oysters with a salinity of between 35 ppt and 45 ppt taste best.

Here were some of the comments from some of our tasting panel:

Dr. Jeff Sabell "Wow, they can't get better than this!"

Robb Walsh "Your Breton Island Salts are phenomenal! Love the jumbo size, sweetness and the high salt!"

Bryan Caswell "I would like to echo Robb's remarks, your Breton Island Salts are one of the sweetest, briniest I've ever experienced. Jim gave us a box to test out on our oyster-loving clientele and the response has been phenomenal. It makes me beam with pride to serve a Gulf oyster of that caliber. My only question is how can I get more?"

I have been a proponent for many years of the oyster men pulling out their best tasting oysters from their best reefs and trying to market them with specific names as the East and West Coast oyster dealers have been doing. Every oyster man has his favorite reef and oysters and the time has come for them to separate them on the boat before they are mixed with the sacks going to the shucking shops.

People now more than ever are wanting to eat local products and know where their foods come from. With the renaissance of the oyster bar it just makes sense for our fishermen to harvest their best tasting half shell oysters, name the reef they come from and market them at a price they deserve. After all we have some of the best tasting oysters in the world and everyone in the United States should have the chance to eat a Breton Island Salt, Diamond Reef, Galveston Point or Apalachicola oyster.

I personally feel that the offshore suspension relay system if approved by the FDA would be great for the Gulf Coast oyster and may give them the chance to be enjoyed again in all the oyster bars across America as they once were.

A study was done by Miles L. Motes and Angelo Depaola some years ago titled "Offshore Suspension Relaying To Reduce Levels of Vibrio vulnificus in Oysters" (Crassostrea virginica) ( This was the process that John Tesvich used to treat these oysters.)

Their findings were the following "Relaying of oysters into high-salinity offshore waters during the warm months reduces V. vulnificus to levels typically observed during January and February, two months in which food-born V. vulnificus illness has never been reported. Thus, offshore relaying is a relatively simple process that the shellfish industry may employ to reduce V. vulnificus levels in raw Gulf Coast oysters.

Give Gulf oysters a chance!

Karanchos Tacos Al Pastor

2010-04-22T15:32:00.008-05:00

Parking lot at Karanchos

Karanchos Kitchen

Trompo Tacos Al Pastor

Tacos al pastor

Grilling Whole Chickens

Saturday and Sundays outside pit

Grilled Chicken Dinner

Having been in the restaurant and wholesale seafood business for over 40 years has given me the opportunity to experience so many fine and interesting places. I have so many wonderful food and restaurant memories but I am always looking for the next place that excites me. Tonight Karanchos was one of those places.

Diane and I decided to have supper at Karanchos on Sheldon road last night and the minute we drove up we both looked at each other and knew that we had come to the right place.

The place has two trailers for kitchens and the dining room is located on top of a concrete parking lot with tables, umbrellas and an open metal covered area with ceiling fans. There are planters all around with agave plants and queen palms planted out front giving the place a very comfortable feeling. The employees were wearing bright orange uniform shirts and were accommodating, helpful and friendly. They even let me go into the kitchen to take pictures of the trumpo al pastor. I asked to take photos of them grilling and seasoning the chickens and was invited into the trailer to capture images of their wonderful grilled chicken.

We ordered tacos al pastor, a whole grilled chicken, charro beans, grilled onions, jalapenos, sliced avocados and tomatoes, sat back and enjoyed the festive atmosphere.

All the food arrived at once, tacos were freshly carved off of the trompo (spinning top), crispy ends, chickens were hot off the pit, crispy and juicy . We filled our corn tortillas with all the trimmings and added a fresh squeeze of lime juice and hot sauce. As we both bit into our first taco al pastor we glanced at each other with our eyes sparkling, mouths full, bobbing our heads up and down thinking yes, yes, we have hit taco gold.

The grilled chicken was just as good, smokey from the charcoal succulent and crispy. This chicken I thought to myself is better than I could ever do at home and I think of myself as a pretty decent home grill man.

I started this blog so that I could journal my favorite food finds and memorable meals with family and friends and this was indeed one of the remarkable ones. Eating at a taco stand you always run the risk of being unimpressed, last night left me very impressed and longing to return.

I want to thank Jay Roscoe @gunsandtacos (twitter account) for his guidance and you would do yourself a favor by going to his blog at www.gunsandtacos.com

Cookin' With Velma Duhon

2010-03-12T13:05:00.020-06:00

Cookin' Crab Stew with Velma in Grand Isle, LA

Velma cooking her famous crab stew

Charlene and Velma

Diane and Velma making potato salad

Velma enjoying her crab stew!

Velma's 90th Birthday Party
December 20, 2009

I first met Velma when my brother Jeff married Charlene, Velma was Charleen's mother.

There are people you meet in life that you have an instant connection to, Velma Duhon was one of those people. Velma was 30 years my senior but that was never a barrier to our friendship. I liked her the minute I met her and from that day it was always a treat for Diane and I when Velma was around.

She was one of my oyster eating buddies and I could not think of her without thinking of oysters. Velma loved them so much that she would often get up in the middle of the night, go to the refrigerator, pull out a few oysters, mix up a little sauce and enjoy a midnight snack. She would regularly eat raw oysters for breakfast and if she would have had a regular supply, I have no doubt, would have eaten them daily.

Did I say that Velma loved oysters?

Velma was also a great cook and in her later years I had several opportunities to cook with her. She would always let you know what she was hungry for and the conversation would go something like this.

"A crab stew would sure be good today. Do you think you can find some crabs? How are the oysters running, are they salty? I bet you can find some crabs, I really feel like cooking a stew. We should eat a few dozen oysters while that stew is cooking".

Velma also loved sweets, but was diabetic. She loved Diane's Italian cream cake and on one occasion I was explaining to her that Diane could use splenda instead of sugar like she does for me. She quickly instructed me to mind my own business and told me to let Diane make her cake the way Diane likes to make it. I knew it right after I said it, that was none of my business and who was I trying to suggest anything but the real thing!

Velma Duhon had her 90th birthday on December 20 last year and on Friday, February 26th this year was admitted into the hospital with double pneumonia.

Velma died in her sleep on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at the young age of 90.

Velma, I think Diane and I will go out this afternoon and will each eat a dozen oysters for you. The next time we are in Grand Isle, Jeff, Charlene, Diane and I will cook a big crab stew, eat a nice slice of cake and think of you.

We loved you so much Velma and will miss you dearly.

Louisiana Bow Fin Caviar AKA (Choupique Caviar)

2010-01-06T10:21:00.020-06:00

Louisiana's Cajun Caviar

John Burke with Cajun Caviar Company

Bow Fin (Choupique)

Choupique or Bow Fin Caviar

Louisiana Caviar with Grand Isle Oyster

Diane trying John's Louisiana Bow Fin Caviar

The week between Christmas and New Years Diane and I went to visit John Burke, owner and founder of Louisiana Caviar Co. We went to John's home on St. Charles Avenue, in New Orleans, to meet him and try his famous Choupique caviar. While we were there tasting this Louisiana delicacy, John introduced us to his newest product, Ghost Pepper Caviar.
This caviar is processed the same way as his traditional product with the addition of a small amount of Bhut Jolokia peppers (Ghost Pepper) . Diane and I thought that the caviar with the addition of this Northeastern Indian pepper was a wonderful new addition to his line. We both agreed that we preferred the spicy pop this new caviar gave to our taste buds. We left John's house with a 5 ounce jar to help us ring in the new year and twenty seven more for our Louisiana Foods customers.

The Bhut Jolokia pepper gives this caviar a very unique taste and after the first bite you can't help but want another and another of this fabulous Louisiana caviar .

We ate the caviar on blinis, toast points and oysters and came to the conclusion that there was no better way to enjoy caviar than to pile it up and eat it off of the back of our hands.

So I say dispense with the formalities, caviar never tasted better than eaten alone without anything to dilute it's wonderful taste.

Caviar off the back of our hand

Capt. Wilbert Collins eating his first caviar aboard the the oyster boat "Capt. Wilbert"

Don Usie's Crab Etouffee and Corn Maque Choux

2009-08-26T13:01:00.014-05:00

Diane and Mavis eating boiled blue crabs

Don Usie's Crab Etouffee

Don making Corn Maque Choux

Cutting the corn twice

Don scraping milk from corn cob

Every time that Don Usie invites us to supper Diane and I wish we could drop everything and head over to Don's house. Don lives in Lafayette and is among my favorite people to cook and sit down and eat with.

Don is originally from Breaux Bridge, LA and learned to cook from his parents who taught him traditional French Acadian cooking at it's best. Don does not do anything easy and never would think of taking a short cut, from peeling his own crabs for crab meat to cleaning the crab's shells with a tooth brush before adding them to his sauce.

A few week ago Don and his wife Mavis were in Grand Isle, LA spending the week with my brother Jeff and his wife Charlene. Before Don arrives in Grand Isle he has already visited his favorite farmers, fishermen and butchers gathering all his favorite ingredients needed for the next few days.

Knowing Don was headed to the Island I notified my favorite crabbers to hand pick the best crabs from their catch that day. I had them pick 6 dozen of the largest and heaviest freshwater male crabs from the catch. The day I called they caught about 5,000 pounds of crabs. I knew that I could impress Don with the best crabs culled from that catch. When Don arrived my brother Jeff, Don and I headed up the bayou to pick up our crabs and yes I think Don was impressed with what our fisherman Jeffrey had chosen for us. Don kept saying I can't believe these crabs, man look at these crabs!

The trip up the bayou yielded a couple of other good things from soft shell crabs to jumbo 9 - 12 count white shrimp but that is a story for another time.

Don starts cooking not long after he wakes up in Grand Isle. A big breakfast first then he starts the evening meal. Today it was going to be his famous crab etouffee and corn maque choux. He started with four chopped onions and a couple of diced green bell peppers, two large home grown tomatoes and a can of rotel (tomatoes with green chilies) and about a cup of vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed pot. He simmers and stirs this all day making a red paste after simmering for eight hours. The sauce is ready to add the raw crabs which he has cleaned with his crab tooth brush after he had chilled them with ice so that they became dormant. He pulled the top shell off of the crab, trimmed the swimmer legs with scissors and broke off the claws. Don boiled the claws and picked the meat so that he could add the meat to the etouffee right before it is ready to serve.

It's time to add the whole cleaned raw crabs to the sauce, he stirs in the crabs very good, covers the pot and cooks on medium fire for about an hour stirring again three more times . He checks for salt and pepper and adds a little more pepper and chops a fresh cayenne pepper over the sauce then adds the claw meat and covers for about 20 more minutes. He had a large pot of Maque Choux that he had cooked on the side. Don called out it's time to start the rice as he heated garlic butter to spread between a loaf of crusty French bread.

As soon as the rice was ready the smell of the garlic bread spread throughout the camp I knew it was almost time to eat. It had been 10 hours from the time Don started preparing supper that morning until the time we ate. As we sat down to this glorious meal Don and Jeff were trying to decide what they were going to cook tomorrow for lunch.

Caesar's Salad with Carla Cardini

2009-08-25T12:08:00.017-05:00

Original Caesar's Salad

Carla Cardini demonstrating her grandfather's Caesar Salad

Whole Romain lettuce hearts and leaves with coddled eggs

Diane making Caesar's Salad for two!

Ready to Serve

Caesar Salad (SEE-zer) - The salad consists of greens (classically romaine lettuce) with a garlic vinaigrette dressing. In the 1930s, Caesar Salad was voted by the master chefs of the International Society of Epicures in Paris as the "greatest recipe to originate from the Americas in fifty years." Linda Stradley From What's Cooking America

Monday night we were invited to the old Judge Roy Hofheinz home, the builder of the Astrodome and Astroworld, and the current location of Catering by Culinaire by the Houston Chow Hounds to attend a demonstration by Carla Cardini. Carla is the granddaughter or Alex Cardini, the creator of the Caesar Salad in Tijuana, Mexico in 1927.

There are many accounts of how and who invented the salad, but it is believed that Alex first added anchovies and first served it to a group of aviators visiting Tijuana from Rockwell field in San Diego. Alex, an ace pilot himself in the Italian Air Force during World War I, made the salad intending whole lettuce leaves to be eaten with your hands.

Carla started off with whole romaine lettuce leaves and hearts, enough for two people, and drizzled a little vegetable oil enabling the salt and pepper to stick to the leaves. She then broke two coddled eggs over the leaves and squeezed two key limes or one whole regular lime over each egg yolk and about four or five shakes of a bottle of Worcestershire sauce over the leaves.

The croutons were French bread rounds, toasted, rubbed with anchovy paste on both sides then each side dipped in vegetable oil that had minced garlic marinating in it.

At that time the croutons were added to the salad along with Parmigiana Reggiano and a little more of the oil and garlic. The leaves were gently rolled with salad tongs until thoroughly coated making sure croutons were not broken. Taste for seasoning and more cheese can be added if dressing is too wet.

Everyone stood around their respective salad bowls and ate their salads with their fingers which of course made it even taste better.

This is as close to the recipe as I can remember Carla making. Out of the 10 or 12 salads made last night, every one had a slightly different taste. Some liked more cheese, salt, pepper,Worcestershire or garlic, but all in all every salad was very good.

This is a very simple and delicious dressing to make. A Caesar Salad should never be made ahead of time.

We like to have informal meals with our friends and this salad would be perfect to serve at these dinners. Give each couple their own salad bowl and ingredients. Let everyone make their own salad and see for yourself that each one will be slightly different. Salad can be eaten directly out of the bowl or leaves arranged in a circle around a plate.

Texas Peaches from Bayou City Farmer's Market

2009-06-08T12:00:00.005-05:00

Strawberry Patch's Texas Peaches

A couple of months ago while at the Bayou City Farmer's Market I noticed a line of people waiting for peaches from the Strawberry Patch . The line was long and seemed to last for several hours. All the times that I have gone to the farmer's market, I had never seen a line like this. The line lasted until all of the peaches were gone and probably would have lasted until the

market closed if they had not run out.

We purchased a flat of peaches knowing that they must be extraordinary and indeed they were. They were the best peaches that I have had this year, juicy and very sweet. When I bit into my first peach the juice ran down my cheeks and I could hardly stop eating them.

Diane and I both enjoyed this flat of peaches eating all of them over the next week and not getting a chance to freeze any, which was our original intention.

Next year when you see peaches from the Strawberry Patch don't pass them up.

Soft Shell Crab Sandwich

2009-04-21T08:33:00.003-05:00

Crisp Fried Soft Shell Sandwich

Soft Shell Crab w/over ripe tomato.

One of my favorites -- Soft Shell Crab Sandwich

April is the beginning of soft shell crab season on the Gulf Coast and boy did I start off with a bang. Last week I stopped by one of my soft shell suppliers and picked up a dozen large crabs classified as whalers. I love making fried soft shell crab sandwiches with my first crabs of the season. I picked up a couple of ripe hot house tomatoes and a loaf of soft sliced bread and headed to my office to fix lunch. Soft shell crab sandwiches are a seasonal treat and everyone should eat at least one. I like a crispy fried crab with a little mayonnaise, ketchup, hot sauce topped with an over ripe tomato and served on white or wheat sliced bread. Try one with a fresh soft shell crab and you will be a fan for life.

Strawberry Shortcake

2009-04-20T07:00:00.003-05:00

Strawberry Shortcake

Birthday Cake

Every year for my birthday, Diane asks what kind of cake I want and every year I say the same thing, strawberry shortcake. Fresh strawberries are always in season in April and adding whipped cream and shortcake together makes my favorite cake.

Diane's shortcake, a giant slightly sweet biscuit holds up well to the juicy strawberries and whipped cream that she generously adds to it. A very simple cake but one that I will take over any other.

We celebrated three birthdays with this cake, Jamie my stepdaughter's, Jay my brother-in-law's and mine, that's what the three candles were for.

Little Eagle's Boiled Crawfish

2009-04-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

Little Eagle's Boiling Room

Washing Crawfish

Boiling Pots

Dining Room

Boiled Crawfish

Platter of Crawfish

Kurt LeBoeuf's Little Eagle in Golden Meadow, LA is a favorite stop during crawfish season. I have been stopping at the Little Eagle for more than 40 years and until about 1o years ago I could fill up with gas, get a drink and eat boiled crawfish. Kurt and his wife Jackie decided to stop selling gas and open only for live and boiled crawfish. During the off season Kurt is a fishing guide and manages a fishing camp with his wife Jackie in the marsh south of Golden Meadow. Both Kurt and Jackie are great cooks and have terrific crawfish. Whenever I'm working in the area I always look forward to visiting, having a few platters of crawfish and catching up with the locals.

The Little Eagle is a converted service station with two long communal tables and hundreds of old fishing and maritime relics collected by Kurt's father and mother over the last 60 years. This is the type of place that I grew up eating boiled seafood and find vanishing all over South Louisiana.

Every crawfish season when headed down the bayou, I go through Golden Meadow , I keep my fingers crossed and hope that Kurt and Jackie have opened this little jewel one more year. I know that some day because of rising property cost, increased regulations and "progress", the Little Eagle will be a replaced with a shopping center or maybe a nail salon and sushi bar.

Crawfish Bisque

2009-04-16T11:23:00.000-05:00

Diane and Carolyn in kitchen

Audrey "Toots" peeling crawfish and saving the fat.

Jamie and Will stuffing heads

Carolyn and Diane stuffing heads

Stuffing heads

Tray of stuffed crawfish heads

Butter Roux

Crawfish Bisque w/ stuffed heads

Making and eating crawfish bisque, when I was growing up, has always been a special event for our family. Because of the work involved in preparing and stuffing the heads, eating crawfish bisque was reserved for restaurants. When I was growing up there were plenty of restaurants that served great crawfish bisque. Today due to the inability to buy crawfish fat and heads some restaurants have taken this traditional dish off of the menu or have eliminated the stuffed heads.

During Holy Week, the peek of the crawfish season, I decided that I would get the family together and cook crawfish. My grandson Will, on his way to visit with us in Grand Isle for the week and knowing that we were cooking crawfish, asked his mother a question that really made me feel bad. He asked Jamie, "Mom what is crawfish bisque?" When Jamie told me that I was ashamed I had not cooked this traditional crawfish favorite for him.

I knew this week would be the perfect time to make crawfish bisque. Diane's mother, Audrey and sister, Carolyn were going to be here. With the children and grandchildren also here it would be a perfect time to make an old fashioned crawfish bisque and everyone could help.

We started early Friday morning, first boiling and peeling the crawfish. We cleaned heads and saved the fat buried deep in the head. Without that fat our bisque would not have tasted like we all remembered it. We spent all day, making roux, chopping vegetables, cooking the bisque, preparing stuffing and cleaning and stuffing the crawfish heads. We were six people working on this family meal. This was a real labor of love, after all we were cooking for the family and we would be serving at least 14 of them that night.

After supper was served and everyone said that this was the best crawfish bisque they had ever eaten (our last bisque is always the best) we realized why Will had never eaten bisque. To make great crawfish bisque takes much labor and time but all of us vowed to at least cook one large bisque a year and to make it a family event.

Crawfish Peeling Plant

2009-04-16T09:54:00.000-05:00

Hand Peeled Crawfish

Crawfish Peeler

Pile of Crawfish on Peeling Table

Peeled Crawfish Meat

Premium Hand Picked Crawfish Meat

Last week while working in Louisiana I had a chance to visit an old friend's crawfish peeling plant which is now being run by his daughter Rose and nephew Greg.

Lionel Hayes was the first person to start peeling crawfish commercially. He told me that while selling live crawfish for Joe Amy in Henderson, Louisiana he had 7 sacks of crawfish left over one afternoon. He dropped a few sacks off at each of his sister's homes to peel so that he wouldn't loose the crawfish. After they cooked and peeled the crawfish he asked one of his large customers, which was Don's Seafood & Steakhouse restaurant in Lafayette if they were interested in buying the crawfish tails. Don, Ashby and Willie Landry said that they would and thus an industry was born. During the early 50's restaurants that served crawfish etouffee, bisque and stew had to peel them which required extra labor during crawfish season.

Joe Amy owned a grocery store in Henderson and decided to open a peeling plant and have Lionel run it for him. Demand for peeled crawfish began to grow as more restaurants and supermarkets needed the meat

Lionel later opened his own plant and during the early 70's I began buying from him for my own first restaurant. We opened more restaurants and a wholesale company and eventually bought most of his production. He had the best peeled crawfish in those days and his reputation for top quality remains today.

Lionel died last year, but his daughter and nephew have kept his high standards and still produce one of the best peeled crawfish in Louisiana.

I knew Lionel for over 40 years and had the opportunity to spend many hours with him during crawfish season. When I hear the word crawfish I can't help thinking of Lionel Hayes, he was a pioneer and great friend I truly miss.

Boston's Neptune Oyster Bar

2009-03-26T11:21:00.000-05:00

Neptune Oyster Bar

Oysters on half shell

Mussel's

Crab Louie

Neptune Oyster Bar, a tiny match box sized restaurant in Boston's Italian North End, owned by Jeff Nace, is my favorite oyster bar in Boston.
The last time I was in Boston I had eaten here and knew that this trip, Neptune would be my first stop. We ended up eating there twice during my stay and would have gone back a third time if we would have had the time.

The 16 stools at the oyster bar and 26 banquette seats are always occupied and waiting for a seat at one of them is very common. No reservations! We like to give our name and cell number to the hostess, then walk the neighborhood for the next hour. The walk is most interesting and dining at Neptune is well worth the wait. About 45 minutes later my cell rang, our table was ready and we head back.

When seated we ordered several dozen oysters, fried whole belly clams and lobster rolls with butter. The selection of oysters were great the whole belly clams were light and tender and the lobster roll is second only to Red's Eat in Wiscasset, ME.

The next visit we ordered oysters on the half shell, whole belly clams, Crab Louie and lobster spaghettini. The owner Jeff told me to come back for the lobster spaghettini on Monday and boy am I glad I did. This was worth the trip in itself.

Neptune is an all around jewel, a great bistro, oyster bar and neighborhood hang out. I can't wait to have an excuse to go back to Boston just to eat here. I already miss the whole belly clams.

I think I will try to get a few restaurants to handle them here so that I won't have to take those 4 hour flights but until then Boston here I come.

Grand Central Oyster Bar

2009-03-23T13:18:00.000-05:00

One Dozen Please

Grand Central Oyster Bar prior to opening

Executive Chef Sandy Ingber

Carlos Arenas

Oyster Pan Roast

Kettles in kitchen

Having lunch with Sandy Ingber at Grand Central Oyster Bar, one of the greatest oyster bars in the world, was one hell of a treat and one that I will not forget.

We arrived early before opening and got to walk through the place before the crowds came. We picked the best seats at the oyster bar and got Carlos Arenas working on a list of things that we wanted to eat that day.

Before the rush started Sandy took us on a tour of the facility going through the kitchen down below the restaurant through all of the prep rooms, bakery and numerous coolers for each different protein. Walking through the bowels of this 96 year old restaurant brought to mind how things must have been done 100 years ago. Everything was made on premise and to run a restaurant of this magnitude took a huge kitchen. Keeping up with the current $16,000,000.00 a year sales takes every inch of this enormous place.

Grand Central Oyster Bar is stunning with its famous tiled, vaulted ceilings, making it one of New York's most spectacular restaurants even today.

We arrived back at our stools when we finished our tour and got ready to sample what Carlos had put together for us, oyster pan roast, fried whole belly clams, Nantucket Bay scallops and more oysters than we could shake a stick at. Thanks Carlos for taking such good care of us and special thanks to Sandy for giving us the royal treatment while in New York last week, we will never forget this trip.

New York's Fulton Fish Market

2009-03-22T19:52:00.000-05:00

Executive Chef Sandy Ingber ~ Grand Central Oyster Bar~

Fulton Market

Swordfish

The Fulton Fish Market's hours of operation are from 1:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. Monday thru Friday. Last week I had arranged to meet Sandy Ingber, the Executive chef of the Grand Central Oyster Bar at 4:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. We left in a cab from Manhattan at about 3:15 in a cab for the 30 minuter ride to Hunt's Point in the Bronx. We arrived early and made our way to the arranged meeting spot with Sandy. The place is one of the largest coolers that I have ever walked into all 400,000 sf of it. We were to meet at Blue Ribbon Fish Company. They are the company that consolidate and put his orders together that he purchases throughout the market. After meeting Sandy and getting the run down of the market we began to walk and check out each stall. Sandy knew everyone around the market and as we walked and made purchases his friends would come up and let him know what was their freshest fish today and what he should expect to see coming the rest of the week. The market was bustling at that hour with forlifts running around like cars on the streets of Manhattan and people picking the fish seafood that was going to be served in the city's restaurants that day.

The market first opened in 1807 on land donated to New York City, and at first was a general market for both fish and other goods. In 1822 the fish merchants occupied a new Fulton Fish Market building, located on South Street between Fulton and Beekman Streets.

For more then 180 years the Fulton Fish Market has been America's oldest fish market. The New Fulton Fish Market at Hunt's Point in the Bronx, is second in size worldwide only to Tokyo’s Tsukiji wholesale seafood market. The New Fulton Fish Market handles millions of pounds of seafood daily and annual sales exceed one billion dollars.

We left the market about 7:30 was picked up by by a friend and headed to his lobster warehouse about 1o minutes away.

I had been up since 2:30 am, probably should not have gone to sleep, but knew that if I had not I would be sorry that afternoon. It was time for lunch and Mary Fish Camp in the West Village was where my next meeting was with another supplier, I could hardly wait for the whole belly clams and lobster rolls.

Peter Luger

2009-03-20T11:31:00.000-05:00

Peter Luger's Bacon Appetizer

Porterhouse For Two

Porterhouse, German Fried Potatoes and Creamed Spinach

Prime Short Loin

About every three or four times we visit New York I am lucky enough to get reservations at Peter Luger's Steak House in Brooklyn. This was one of those lucky trips that I was able to get reservations for five people. Having been named by Zagat "Best Steakhouse in New York" 24 years in a row just makes it more difficult to get a chance to eat here.

We arrived about 6:45 pm and had time to order a drink at the bar before we were promptly seated. Peter Luger has been serving prime steaks since 1887 and only family members are part of the meat selection process. I did not need a menu on this recent visit, knowing exactly what I was going to order. Beefsteak tomatoes with onions, thick sliced bacon, creamed spinach, German fried potatoes and a Porterhouse medium rare for five people, was on our agenda tonight. There is no better way to start you trip to New York than to dine at Peter Luger's on the first night you arrive in the city.

We had a great waiter that night and when I told him that I wanted him to take care of us, he gave me a nod and that is what he did.

After this terrific meal we ordered New York Cheese Cake, Apple Strudel and black coffee then headed back to NYC so that we could get to bed early. We were rising the next morning at 2:30 am so that we could get to the Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx before 4:00 am.

Boiled Crawfish

2009-02-27T13:14:00.000-06:00

Boiling Crawfish

Back Yard Boiled Crawfish

Boiled crawfish have always been a treat to me and my family. I eat them more today than I did as a child because they are readly available and served today at many restaurants.

Growing up we ate boiled crawfish only two or three times a year and never at restaurants. There were none around serving them back then and even if they had them, eating out was not an option for us.

Usually during the months of April and May we had crawfish boils in the backyard. My Dad would drive down to Henderson, LA and pick up several hundred pounds, take them back home and start getting everything together for a big family boil in the evening. Usually all of my aunts, uncles and cousins came over to eat crawfish. The fun for us was not only the eating part but purging,rinsing and playing with the crawfish and having our family crawfish race before the boil.

Crawfish season brings back great memories of family and friends. There is nothing better than to sit down at a picnic table with your family and friends and a big pile of steaming hot boiled crawfish.

We had our first crawfish this year this weekend and all of the wonderful memories came to mind as I sat down to enjoy these crawfish.

Fried Catfish, Corn Bread, Red Beans & Rice

2009-02-27T10:16:00.000-06:00

Southern Fried Catfish

Corn Bread

Red Beans & Rice

Lent has a big effect on the seafood industry and all of us at Louisiana Foods Global Seafood look forward to this time of year. With the increase in business comes an increase in work and around here we all look forward to that.

We prepare lunch daily at Louisiana Foods and on Fridays our employees seem to look forward this meal over the rest of the week. Fried catfish, cornbread and red beans & rice are a favorite here and everyone seems to love this combination. We work around the clock to keep our customers supplied in fresh seafood and meals like this satisfy our workers and help make the long hours a little more bearable. Every Friday we cook over a hundred pounds of fish, two large pans of cornbread and about 4 gallons of red beans, and during lent that increases by 50 percent on Fridays.

Our customers are eating more seafood these days and our employees are no different.

Cabbage Rolls

2009-02-24T12:49:00.000-06:00

Seasoned Beef and Pork for meat filling.

Cooking cabbage leaves for making rolls.

Rolling Cabbage Rolls with meat and rice filling.

Stacking the rolls to steam in tomato mixture.

Ready to put lid on to steam with a few meatball boosters.

Cabbage rolls were something that were made only occasionally when I grew up in Louisiana. After Diane and I finished filling this large roaster with 40 cabbage rolls, I knew why Mom did not make them more often. Being one of seven children and one or more of us always having people over to eat answered that question of why only occasionally. They were so good and every one in the family enjoyed them, but Mom would have had to make a hundred of them.

It takes several hours to prepare all of the ingredients, put everything together and roll them up. Then we let them cook slowly for 1 hour and 30 minutes before they were ready to serve. We always served them with hot corn bread and a green salad, and today wasn't going to be any different.

Diane and I decided to make two types of rolls, the traditional roll that we both grew up eating and loved and one that I remembered Mrs. Maud Landry making when I was in high school. She used corn meal instead of rice, and the last time that I tried her style out, I put too much corn meal in the meat which made them too dry. This time I set out using a ratio of 1- cup cornmeal to 3-1/2 pounds of meat. The consistency was what I was looking for but I have never been able to make them taste as good as hers. There was something missing in these rolls, but until I feel like making another large pot full, which might be several months from now, I will enjoy the ones that I put in the freezer.

Louisiana Strawberries

2009-02-20T12:44:00.000-06:00

Diane with a flat of sweet Pontatoula Strawberries

Diane's 4 layer Strawberry Shortcake

I look forward to strawberry season every year and to picking up a few flats of Pontatoula strawberries whenever they are available while traveling in Louisiana.

My grandmother knew how much I loved strawberry shortcake and during the season would have cake in the refrigerator waiting for my uncle and I every Friday. We would cut the cake in half so that each one of us knew which half was ours. I would eat a piece every day until my half was gone and wait for the next Friday to come along. These are very fond memories for me and when strawberry season comes around I always think of my grandmother and her wonderful shortcakes.

Diane made one of her wonderful shortcakes and used half the flat of strawberries and some of the thickest velvety whipped cream to make this one of the best strawberry shortcakes that I have ever eaten. We had picked up a half gallon of heavy cream while in Louisiana, made by Smith Creamery, located in Mt. Hermon, LA. (They also make some of the best tasting butter that I have eaten.) If you ever get a chance to try their products, don't miss it.
With ingredients like this and of course Diane's shortcake, I don't think I could find another better. It was as good of as any I can ever remember eating.

Thanks Diane for bringing some of my fondest childhood memories back. I can't wait to head back to pick up more ingredients. It's Friday, do you want to go?

Heart of Gold Cake

2009-02-14T22:19:00.000-06:00

Ann Gossen Butcher

Last night we celebrated my sister Ann Butcher's birthday in Louisiana. Diane wanted to make a special cake for her and decided on a Heart of Gold, which is a chocolate hazelnut mocha truffle cake covered in gold leaf. Every family has one and she is our heart of gold.

Char-grilled Oysters

2009-01-30T09:13:00.000-06:00

Oysters Rockefeller

Char-grilled Oysters

Oysters can be enjoyed so many ways but baked and char-grilled are some of my favorites. Baked, turns a simple oyster on the half shell into a special treat. Oyster's Rockefeller were created in New Orleans by Jules Alciatore, son of the famous Antoine Alciatore, owner of Antoine's Restaurant. He named them after John D. Rockefeller, who was the richest man in America at that time and have been serving them since 1899.

I first ate char-grilled oysters many years ago at Drago's restaurant in Metairie, LA. The first time I tried a dozen of them I could not get enough. I went back to the restaurant three times before leaving New Orleans. When I go back I have at least 2 dozen of these wonderful cheese, butter and garlic laden jewels while in town.

Eat oysters often, they are one of the greatest prizes we reap from the sea.

Crab Lollipop

2009-01-29T21:26:00.000-06:00

Back Fin Crab Lollipop

Crab Lollipop Shooters

Crab lollipops were developed by leaving the back fins connected to the jumbo lump. There are only two of these per crab but not every crab works for this application. The crabs used for the lollipops have to be at least 6 inches from tip to tip and full of meat at the time they are picked.

About a year ago Chef Bryan Caswell of the Reef Restaurant in Houston asked me if I could develop these for him and since then several other restaurants have put them on their menu including Chef Chris Shepherd's, Catalan in Houston, TX.