Food

BUSTER HOLMES' WORLD FAMOUS RED BEANS & RICE

1 pound red beans
1 pound smoked ham hock
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic
1/2 stick margarine

Pick through the beans to remove any rocks. Wash beans and cover with water. Add onion, bell pepper, ham hock and garlic. Cook on slow fire until done, about 2 hours. Add salt, pepper, margarine and cook 5 minutes. Serve on rice with Louisiana hot sauce, French bread and butter.

New Orleans, LA – Did you know that today is composer Peter Tchaikovsky's birthday? He would have been 171 years old. If here were still here, I have a hunch that he'd be requesting his favorite Russian fish pie for dinner. Have you ever had Kulebiaka? Brought to Russia by French chefs after the War of 1812, this creamy pie features hard-boiled eggs, fish, mushrooms, and brioche or puff pastry. With wild catfish running, eggs laying, and mushrooms popping, why not celebrate Tchaikovsky's birthday with a Gulf Coast version of Kulebiaka?

How To Clean & Fry Soft Shell Crabs

With crab in one hand and kitchen shears in the other begin by removing the face about 1/2 inch, including the eye sockets and the mouth. Next turn the crab over and remove the apron.

Finally, remove the feathery gills from both sides of the crab by lifting up the pointed ends of the soft shell, pulling them away from the body and snipping them off. Make sure you cut through the fluid-filled sac right behind the face to prevent the popping that happens as they cook.

New Orleans, LA – Sweden may boast about its red lingonberries; and Michigan has its red cranberries. But, here in the Gulf Coast, soggy bottom forests produce a most unusual red berry called the Mayhaw. Its name corresponds with the time of year its trees bear fruit: May. Closely related to the Hawthorn, this prickly member of the rose family produces a red berry coveted by jelly makers and sauciers from Houston to Mobile. Pirogue is often the vehicle of choice for mayhaw expeditions to these compact shrubby trees that often reside in swamp terrain.

By Ian McNulty

St. Tammany Parish, La. –

Of all the great reasons to hop on a bicycle, one that becomes immediately apparent while pedaling along the Tammany Trace on the Northshore is a real sense of entitlement to calories.

Courtbouillon

Fish Fillet
1 lb. can of tomatoes
1 Onion, chopped
1 Bellpepper, chopped
3 Celery stalks, chopped
1/2 cup bacon grease or oil
1/2 cup flour
2 Garlic cloves
2 1/2 cups fish stock or water
2 Tsp. Thyme
2 Bay Leaves
1 Tsp. Pepper Sauce
Salt to taste