Photo courtesy of LA. Cookin’ Magazine
Like any other celebration, New Orleans ups the ante when it comes to the uniqueness and deliciousness of holiday dishes. From soul food to seafood, the city’s chefs and home cooks eagerly anticipate the chance to show off their latest and greatest recipes to family, friends, and customers alike.
If you’ll be in New Orleans this holiday season, but you or your hosts don’t have the time or energy to cook a huge dinner for family and friends, local restaurants have you covered. You can enjoy traditional holiday fare like turkey with roast chestnut and mushroom bread budding and oyster dressing from Commander’s Palace, just up the road from Southern Comfort B&B.
You could go traditional with a local twist, like turducken gumbo, fried turkey, and Abita root-beer glazed ham at Red Fish Grill. Or you can enjoy whatever meat, seafood, or sides you might be craving, such as steak, oyster stuffing, and gingered sweet potatoes at Besh Steak or grilled veal loin with sweetbread sauce or grilled grouper at Criollo in the Hotel Monteleone.
Even if you won’t be dining in one of the homes or restaurants of the Crescent City this Thanksgiving, you can bring the savory spirit of local fare to your own holiday table. Serve up some shrimp stuffed mirlitons or try out a new oyster dressing. Oyster artichoke soup is a favorite, as well as some good southern cornbread on the side, topped off with a warm slice of bourbon pecan pie. This holiday is southern cooking at its finest, with all the seafood and trimmings you could eat.
And what’s Thanksgiving without a heap of leftovers? Try repurposing that turkey in a big pot of turkey bone gumbo or Thanksgiving turkey and Andouille sausage gumbo and see how long it lasts in your refrigerator!
Whether you’ll be dining in the city or your home this year, you can always expereince the culture and soul of traditional New Orleans cooking. Check out nola.com for an array of recipes you can try at home.
