Growing up in a landlocked state like Illinois, Michael Nelson possessed an unusual desire for seafood. Perhaps it was the summers spent at his aunt’s house in Maine where he helped his neighbor pull lobster traps out of Bar Harbor or perhaps he simply enjoyed challenging his palate with a […]
$150 & Under
“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” ~Oscar Wilde Frugality is king these days. What with our crumbling economy and high unemployment rate, most people are looking at how to save a dollar, rather than how to spend one. We scramble for sales, subscribe to […]
Be sure pinch the tails along the way
Pinching the tail, you pull out the spicy morsel from it’s shell and eye the tumbled feast on the table before you…what next? A hunk of andouille? A buttery, red potato smeared with creamy garlic? Eat more crawfish while you think about it. As the sun dips towards the horizon […]
Glorious gluttony ensues…
I am the luckiest girl in the world. Never in my wildest imaginings would I believe that I could not only score tickets to the 2012 New Orleans Wine & Food Experience, I got to be a judge. Oh yes…this simple glutton from the suburbs, this flyspeck on the global culinary […]
Onion Rings: The Better Batter
“But a bit of better butter,Better than the bitter butterWill but make my bitter batter better.” Those of us who have twisted our tongues in this particular construction know well the boon of Betty Botter and her bitter batter, but we also know the bakers of New Orleans know better […]
The Blessed Biscuit
There’s just something wonderful, even almost divine, about waking up on a Sunday morning to the smell of freshly baked biscuits. I’ll swear on a stack of bibles that my Aunt Edie made the best homemade buttermilk biscuits on the planet. When she came to visit us from South Carolina, […]
Dionysian indulgences from The Green Goddess
“There’s not a recipe in the world that we couldn’t find a way to stick a little liquor in it.” -Chef J. Rickey in Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite New Orleans and liquor are practically synonymous. From the invention of the first cocktail by apothecary Antoine Amédée Peychaud to the […]
Reuben Round-up
St. Patrick’s is just around the corner and with the arrival of this merry, Irish holiday, comes the craving for corned beef…more specifically, the almighty Reuben. You’d think finding this classic, meaty sandwich in New Orleans would be a cinch, but it took some serious digging to find the mouth-melters. […]
Enlightenment at the Green Goddess
A couple of weeks ago, my friend Casey had accompanied John and I on one of my cheats and unfortunately, it turned out badly. I felt terrible, especially after constantly bragging about the all the fantastic eateries I had already experienced. Determined to make it up to her, I chose […]
Just a few blocks to bliss at Boucherie
Not to start any inter-city rivalry, but I think I live in one of the best neighborhoods in New Orleans, especially when it comes to food. It’s only four blocks to Spoon Bread at Dante’s Kitchen, three to a pork tenderloin & Gouda cheese Canoe at Barcelona Tapas Cafe or the best burgers […]
S is for Stanley, that’s good enough for me
Could you imagine knowing the luxury of dining in a restaurant where you are served seven courses of culinary art, each dish an original masterpiece? Have you ever dared to dream of epicurean nirvana, where a chef’s heavenly creations enable sensory bliss? Do you have the financial wherewithal to make […]