Eating in NOLA:

Come join us while we roast pigs on a spit and smoke oysters. Plenty of drinks intended for adults and other food as well.

Hogs for the Cause began as an idea to recreate the pig roasts so often encountered around the South. Depending on the amount of money raised and number of attendees, we can determine how many Pigs we plan to roast.

At the very least, we will have one hog on a spit and one in the smoker. Yes, this will be an all day event! It may not take long for the piggie to get to the market, but cooking to perfection takes time!

Not a fan of Pork? Don't show! Just kidding. We will have a variety of other foods smoking as well as many enjoyable beverages. Pork and Beans is good but Pork and beer is better!

The Holiday's are great.  They mean I can watch History Channel specials on Ancient Aliens (for the second time) and write blog posts without worrying that I'm neglecting something more important.  In recent years they have become a little greater with the addition of these two guys into the family.



There are lots of perks to having nephews.  One nice thing about them is they are a great tool for enacting revenge on my sister for years of sisterly torment.  For example every time I see them, I try to convince them that their shoes make their feet hot and they should take them off whenever they feel the need.  Ha!  Take that Sis.  As much as I enjoy using them as miniature saboteurs, the best thing about them is they open up opportunities for multiple Christmas meals.

This year, my sister and her family traveled down from Charlotte, while I traveled up from New Orleans, to converge at my parents house in Atlanta for a few days.  We did the Christmas thing early in Atlanta, then I followed them back home to prolong the holiday festivities... namely the holiday eating.


 The Atlanta meal included what is now becoming my mother's famous herb roasted turkey breast.



It was served with all the classic sides - mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, biscuits, stuffing and green beans a few different ways.   I enjoyed the meal with my mother and father, grandmother, sister, brother-in-law, and my nephews.  I actually don't think I helped with the meal at all.  But I ate it pretty good and I drank the wine so I feel like I did my part.



The holiday meal in Charlotte was a slightly different experience.  With a 5 year old and a 3 year old around extra help in the kitchen always seems appreciated.  So I spent the a few hours prepping some of the dishes.  Above are some of the dished in their early stages.  You're looking at the "before" of some pepper crusted pork tenderloin with a molasses glaze and pears and apples, and herb and garlic roasted potatoes.




I forgot to get a picture of dessert but it was a Bananas Foster bread pudding.  These things where in it.



And the dinner table looked like this.  I was lucky enough to share it with my sister and her family and my brother-in-law's sister and her family... which included two more toddlers for a grand total of 4 kids 5 and under.  Not quite the quietest Christmas ever.


Look and here is a picture of me and my sister, just to prove we have no problem getting along now.  I hope everyone had a great holiday.  There might be one or two more non-New Orleans posts in the future but then back to the grind of Eating In NOLA.  It's a tough life.

I'm thinking after the Christmas gluttony, a series on the healthy side on New Orleans eating might be in order.  If you have any ideas please comment here or shoot me an email.

A few weeks ago someone from Market Umbrella (the group that runs the Crescent City Farmers Market) came and spoke as part of a panel at Tulane. It was an interesting panel that discussed the importance of the availability of fresh organic foods to all socio-economic groups. It was interesting and informative and just inspiring enough to make me feel guilty for having skipped it the last... 20 weeks or so.

So when Kerry wanted to go this morning I tagged along even though its pouring rain and about 50 degrees outside. I'm actually still soaking wet while I write this post. I picked up a few things for dinner tonight but the best thing I picked up was this roasted pork and cucumber sandwich that was the Green Plate Special from Cochon.


Man was it good. So good I didn't mind standing in the rain to eat it. I had never really has the pork/cucumber combination before and I was a pretty big fan. Plus you got to appreciate the guys being out there in this weather. Though I'm not proud of it lots of time its the Green Light Special that gets me out to the market before the fresh produce and meats. So its good to see Cochon making the commitment in miserable weather.

Who doesn't like fancy smancy deli's?

I know a post about Cochon Butcher isn't exactly breaking new ground. This place is written up more than Sucre.



But I hadn't been there yet (gasp!) and was looking for an excuse. Today nothing sounded better than sitting down with superior pork sandwich and watching some NASCAR.

After twitter requesting a twitter suggestion, the one NOLA Food Blog that actually follows us on twitter gave me the excuse I was looking for (I'm sure Blackenedout or Appetites would have responded with the same suggestion if they followed eatinginnola on twitter...).


So I went (has anyone tried the kurabuta bacon from there?) and got the BBQ Pork sandwich. It was awesome and it came with some potato salad which was awesome too and I'm not normally a potato salad guy.


The big this is this filled me up... more than filled me up really and all for less than Stein's... and you know how we feel about Steins on this blog.

St. James Cheese Shop is next on the list of sandwich places I need to try. I'm hoping its as good because I really need a good sandwich place that is Uptown.


OH OH, and I got a Mexican Coke. I love Mexican Coke.

So this is a post that has been in the works for a few months now -- since before the blog existed, actually. Or I guess what I really mean is I had a pork roast in the freezer for a few months. I bought it back in December, but didn't have a Crock Pot at the time to slow cook it in. I got a little one over Christmas just for this occasion. And Kerry got a Cuisinart food processor for Christmas so we were excited about fresh salsa and guacamole as well.

MBA classes will get in the way of the best of plans, though, and it took us a few months to get to it. Worth the wait.


We slow cooked the pork all day. We threw in some chicken broth, some Montreal Chicken Seasoning, and she doesn't know it, but I put a little cumin in later. Then, while she was at one of our typical marathon MBA team meetings, I shredded it up and went to the store for some fresh salsa and guacamole ingredients.


The pico de gallo we made was really good. Just some fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, white onion, a little jalapeno and salt.


And then we used the same recipe for the guacamole, plus a fresh avocado (Robert's charged me the $1 Hass avocado price even though I got the $2 Frontera avocado). There is still some of this sitting in the fridge for consumption today. The Pico and Guacamole really made the meal.


So we wrapped it all up with a little cheese and lettuce on some skillet-warmed tortillas (ask Kerry how to roll up a burrito, she knows how to now).  Delicious.