Louisiana Cookin' November - December 2016

AS THE HOLIDAYS arrive, I try to take a moment for myself to reflect on the year that’s passed, the meals shared with family and friends, and the time spent with loved ones. It can be difficult, though. With amazing events like Celebration in the Oaks in New Orleans, the Festival of the Bonfires in Lutcher, and the twinkling masterpiece that is the Holiday Trail of Lights in north Louisiana, I often feel pulled every which way. This year, I will be making a concerted effort to cook more family meals at home, and the recipes included in this November/ December issue will make that a joy. There are a few recipes, like the English Milk Punch (page 63), Chef Frank Brigtsen’s Rabbit and Andouille Gumbo (page 42), and the Caramel Pecan Doberge…

IT’S HOLIDAY SEASON! Woo-hoo! It may sound cliché, but this is my favorite time of the year, and mostly because of all the great food everywhere. Think: rum balls, eggnog, bûche de Noël. Nobody celebrates the holidays like we do in Louisiana, where it is just one more delightful excuse to cook—and eat! I am reminded of my first Christmas in Louisiana, about 30 years ago. Shortly after I arrived in New Orleans in mid-December, some new friends took me to the annual Christmas Eve Bonfires. We were somewhere in St. James Parish when some locals invited us to a barn-like structure near the levee to enjoy jambalaya and gumbo—and some sort of cocktail concoction they served us in Mason jars. It was quite a night for a guy who had…

In New Orleans, nobody does holiday cooking quite like the Commander’s Palace family of restaurants. We caught up with Chef Juan Carlos Gonzalez of the chic SoBou restaurant in the French Quarter to find out what he has planned: How would you describe the concept at SoBou? The concept is inspired by Louisiana street food. We started with a bunch of small plates and then it took a little twist. So now you can come in and share some family-style plates, and we now have full entrées, as well. We also have a full cocktail program and an indoor beer garden that features tables with built-in beer taps. And that’s not all that makes it distinctive in the French Quarter… Oh no, I mean the décor is stunning. It’s the first thing you see.…

GROWING UP IN a deer hunting family, I most certainly ate my fair share of venison. My father always used to have deer sausage ready for the grill at our camps. On special occasions, or when he just felt like a nice meal, hed break out a tenderloin or backstrap and cut them into steaks, often frying the medallions. If all the meat on a deer tasted like the tenderloin and backstrap—the most tender cuts—then it wouldn’t be diffi cult to figure out what to do with the whole animal. The default butchering technique for venison is to take those “money” cuts out and then grind the rest, blending it with some fatty pork or beef to make burgers, sausage, or spaghetti sauce. While I’m a fan of a good smoked venison…

BOYCE, A SMALL TOWN of about 1,000 residents on the outskirts of Alexandria, hasn’t always been known as a top culinary destination, but hungry customers have been flocking there for the past five years for a memorable meal at Janohn’s. Set in a former cotton gin, the restaurant embraces Chef Aaron Atchison’s ideals of open-arms hospitality and cooking with fresh, simple ingredients. At Janohn’s, Aaron combines elements of French and Japanese culinary techniques to create a menu of Louisiana-style dishes elevated with simple touches. Pecan-crusted grouper served over crab risotto with cane syrup beurre blanc, and Maple Leaf Farms duck breast with braised sweet potatoes and cane syrup demi-glace are just two of the restaurant’s mouthwatering offerings. “There’s a lot of different things going on [with my cooking], but it’s not wild…

DUCK AARON STUFFED AVOCADO GROUPER FLEUR DE LIS CRAWFISH FONDUE OSCAR-STYLE FILET The menu is updated every so often, but the Stuffed Avocado with jumbo lump crabmeat and raspberry chipotle glaze, pecan-crusted Snapper Supper with bacon, scallion compote, puff pastry and red pepper jelly gastrique, and Baked Brie with blackened Gulf shrimp and demiglace have become customer favorites. Seasonal additions, like the shrimp and sweet potato dish Janohn’s offers in the fall, are also popular. In addition to Gulf Coast seafood, Aaron seeks out seasonal and accessible products from local suppliers, such as heirloom tomatoes from Ed Lester Farms in Coushatta, pecans from Little Eva Plantation in Cloutierville, and specialty meats from Guillory’s Grocery & Meat Market in Pine Prairie. The restaurant’s Boyce location, only 16 miles from Aaron’s hometown of Pineville, was a natural choice. “That community…