The Perfect Cajun Diet Food

Posted: April 14, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Diet- comedy | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Last night Russ and I were the lucky guests at a New Orleans dinner put on by Big Easy Native Bennet and his wife Jane with help from Jimbo, Emmy, Jay, Kim and Fraser.  Russ and I have a particular fondness for all things New Orleanian.

 

The first time I visited was with my Dad when I was fourteen and he let me drink two hurricanes at Pat O’Brien’s and I promptly threw up all night.  The second time I went to a trade show with Russ, but I was dating someone else at the time and paid no attention to him.  He said that he sat next to me at every company dinner and I laughed at his jokes, yet I foolishly did not recognize him as the man I should have been interested in.  Thank goodness he kept after me.

 

In my fifty plus years I have visited the Crescent city at least a half dozen times and I have to admit that one reason we keep going back is the food.  From the Oyster Po boys to the gumbo there is hardly a meal there that I would not want to repeat multiple times except that I am almost certain that I gained a pound a day on every visit.

 

Last night our hosts imported all the makings for a perfect Cajun meal with the alligator and crawfish being flown in from the bayou.  After passing on the appetizers, especially the ones fried in Bennet’s new industrial-driveway-three-basket-no-waiting- fryer I was sufficiently hungry by the time dinner came around.

 

I was thrilled to sit down to the figure friendly shrimp cocktail with a healthy dose of horseradish laden cocktail sauce.  A yummy gumbo followed and I did my best to leave a little rice.  The grilled alligator Tabasco Cesar salad was next.  I left the croutons in anticipation of the main event- the Crawfish boil.

 

I was seated next to gulf cost native John who was a crawfish pickin’ and eatin’ machine.  After giant platters of the red mudbugs were placed between us, John instructed everyone how to retrieve the tiny meat from the tail, which was no bigger than my pinky from the last knuckle to the end of my finger.  It took us armatures ten times longer to pick the meat than it did to eat it.  This morning I looked up that calorie count for Crawfish – 70 calories for three ounces.  I have to say that after a good twenty minutes of picking I do not think I ate three ounces worth.  Delicious as it was I clearly burned more calories getting the food than I ate therefore making it the perfect food.

 

I wish that I had known last night how few calories there were in my main course because I only allowed myself one tiny bite of the homemade-driveway-deep-fried beignets which was orgasmic, but probably best I kept that sentiment to myself.

 

Thanks to Dave and Sara for sharing the experience with us.  And hats off to the chefs and servers – It was a really fun evening and guiltless to boot.

Dancing at Breakfast

Posted: February 2, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Diet- comedy | Tags: , , , | 5 Comments
Dad and Janet dancing

Dad and Janet dancing

 

My Dad called me this morning and said, “Do you remember where we were exactly one year ago.”  I had to think about it for a second and I said, “New Orleans.”  He corrected me, “We were at Café des Amis dancing.”

 

He was right.  We were in Breaux Bridge Louisiana at Zydeco breakfast dancing at ten in the morning.  I think it was about my Dad’s favorite thing that happened all year so it was not surprising that he called me to reminisce about it.

 

My sisters and I had given him a trip for his Christmas present that year.  All our lives he had taken us on great vacations all over the world and it was about time we took him somewhere.  On Christmas day when we told him we were going to take him anywhere he wanted to go it was not two seconds before he said, “Let’s go to New Orleans.”

 

I am thankful that we went last year because that trip was all about eating and spending time together.  Before we went I asked my Dad what he wanted to do and he had not given me any guidance.  But once we were there the truth came out.  What he really wanted to do was go to Cajun country and listen to great music and dance.  Since we were staying in the Big Easy about an hour and a half from true Cajun country I had to scramble to figure out how to make this happen.  Within four clicks of my I-phone I discovered Zydeco breakfast at the famous Café des Amis happening the very next morning.

 

My sister Janet, my Dad and I got up early to drive to Breaux Bridge leaving Margaret in New Orleans to shop.  We arrived at 9:00 and waited in line with the regulars who came out every Saturday to dance.  We could hear the band perfectly as we waited about an hour to get into the joint.  It was my Dad’s idea of heaven, people drinking beer and Bloody Marys in the morning itching to dance.

 

Dancing at breakfast is something that should catch on other places.  Some of us are too old to go out late and listen to bands and too tired to dance long into the night.  Starting your day with dancing is really the healthiest thing to do.  Although paired with eating eggs with crawfish etoufee on a grilled biscuit and a few beignets you negate most of the health benefits.

 

Based on the lines of people wanting to listen to music and dance before lunch I think that Durham could use a Zydeco breakfast and they served fruit and egg white omelets all the people who go to exercise classes might switch over and come dance instead.