by Lisa Monti, Willard Deal, Cathy Lawson and Tina Richardson - This month - If you feel the need to pretend that eating seafood on Fridays during Lent is a hardship, please do. Otherwise, let’s just be grateful for an abundance of fish and other local seafood to keep us faithful and fed. Every Friday during Lent starting Feb. 20, volunteers at local Catholic churches - bless their hearts - prepare a delicious lunch or dinner, with the option to dine in or carry out. What could be more convenient? Check our Community Calendar for more details! On opening Friday, St. Rose de Lima Catholic Church volunteers worked in a well organized pattern of taking lunch orders, frying fish, filling styrofoam plates and matching customers with their meals. There was a tiny wait when friends and I placed our orders but it was well worth it when we got our piping hot catfish, sides and dessert. The four pieces of catfish were crunchy and so well seasoned I skipped the ketchup and dipped into the tarter sauce only lightly. The potato salad was creamy and the green beans were tasty, too. (The cake came home with me for a mid-afternoon snack.) All that, including a canned drink or bottled water, for an $8 donation. The St. Rose fish fry is held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Holy Spirit Center at 301 South Necaise Ave. Delivery is available with 10 or more orders. Call 228-467-9700. From Tina Richardson, who volunteers with the OLG team. She suspects by the number of dinners sold this past Friday at the four churches mentioned here, that about 10% of Bay-Waveland residents partook of Lenten fish this week! At Our Lady of the Gulf, intrepid cookers sit outside in the cold frying up batches of catfish and hushpuppies. Frank Ladner and a large crew of volunteers are frying and baking and serving catfish, green beans, hushpuppies, cabbage slaw, a beverage and cake to raise funds in support of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. The OLG conference of St. Vincent de Paul is composed of three parishes: Our Lady of the Gulf, St. Clare and St. Rose de Lima. The Society helps residents of Hancock County who are in need, so fundraisers like the fish fry at Our Lady of the Gulf are an appropriate activity for the Lent. Enjoy yours from 4:30 - 7:30pm for $10! Will Deal is a return customer at St. Ann’s in Clermont Harbor. Here’s his report: Lenten fish fry dinners at St. Ann Catholic Church, situated on Lower Bay Road in Clermont Harbor, began just about six months after Hurricane Katrina destroyed Parish buildings, along with most church member’s homes. The first year, dinners were fixed outside on propane grills and cookers, but then that’s the way most people fixed meals in those days. Today dinner is prepared in a modern kitchen and is for dine in or take out from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays between Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday. Plate dinners cost $8, with desserts and drinks available at an additional cost. Proceeds from this event go of offset Parish insurance costs, something we all wish we could for our own homes! Diane Staszak coordinates this this event and dispenses desserts. Dinner always includes fried fish, coleslaw, hush puppies and bread, with homemade potato salad or mac and cheese while it lasts. Fries are available when those are gone. Dessert selection depends on the specialties of the many folks who bring these items. Depending on the weather, somewhere around 70 to 120 meals are dispensed each Friday evening. Many parishioners help with dinner, with the men taking over the kitchen while the several ladies greet friends and sell tickets at the door. On the night of my visit, these women of the church represented a combined 24 years of experience at this task. It was Cathy Lawson's first visit to St. Clare: St. Clare is on a Lenten journey as a parish group moving together the next 40 days toward Easter. And each Friday the whole parish works together to host a Lenten Fish Fry at the church from 5 to 7. Fried fish and Shrimp plates, $10, Oysters and combo, $12. Includes two sides, beverages and desserts available. The church did these fish fry events annually before Hurricane Katrina but have just now resumed them in the past four years since they have been in their new building. The funds raised from the dinners goes into a general fund to support St. Clare and its activities. by Lisa Monti This month - The Cleaver crew enjoys lunch at the new Ricky's location in the Depot District. On opening day January 7, Rickey’s Off the Tracks’ kitchen and wait staff didn’t miss a beat serving a full house of customers who started arriving even before the official 11 a.m. opening.
Rickey Peters, who had previous restaurants in Waveland and Bay St. Louis, started the new year with a new menu in a new location at the corner of Hancock and Blaize, across from the duck pond in the Depot District. First-day service was smooth and the food got high marks though Rickey’s is still a work in progress, said co-owner Kevin Jordan. “We’re getting the kinks worked out,” he said post-opening. “All the little things are coming together.” One addition right off the bat: the addition of veggie plates to fill in the vegetarian gap on the menu. The opening day lunch crowd included eleven of us from the Cleaver. Selections varied among the salads sandwiches and other offerings. Gumbo was heavily favored on my end of the table. I enjoyed my generous portion too, and next time I’ll try a sandwich on the delicious-looking bread. Here’s Cathy Lawson’s take: I love a good gumbo! And I can say the inaugural gumbo Carol McKellar and I had today was wonderful. I know I should have ordered something different to allow a broad review, but when I saw the words "Gumbo Ya Ya" I was weak. And I also followed Carol's lead and ordered potato salad with the gumbo. All I can say is my bowl was empty. Rich roux. Lots of meat and seafood in it. Laissez les bons temps rouler! I'll get the shrimp étouffée tomorrow! Ellis Anderson gave high marks to the roasted turkey and boudin sandwich, which featured a thick spread of boudin. I've never seen it on any menu before, so had to try it. Then I couldn't figure out why I hadn't seen it on any menu before - the combination was a match made in a heavenly kitchen. The étouffée is built around a seafood stock that marries savory layers of flavor - I'd put it up against some of the best restaurants in New Orleans. Jordan said the new meatloaf hamburger, made with fresh ground chuck and dressed, has become a new favorite. It tops the list among the Cubano (roast pork, ham, Swiss), Portofino (ham, Genoa salami, provolone, olive salad), Cochon de Lait (tender roast pork) and other sandwich choices. Along the gumbo lines are crawfish étouffée and alligator jambalaya. There’s more to come from Rickey’s. “We’re hoping to do some deliveries in the Bay-Waveland area and to start our patio addition soon. Once we get that done we’ll add some traditional Rickey’s entrees.” Hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. until closing on Saturday. Call ahead at 228-344-3201. Orange Soup Recipe by Ellis Anderson While our trees on the coast may not be ablaze in color, our farmer’s markets in fall certainly are. It’s the orange time of year, when sweet potatoes, pumpkins, winter squashes and carrots beckon our taste buds. The health benefits of “the oranges” can leave you feeling righteous as well as full. Carotenoids is the substance that gives these vegetables their yellow/orange coloring. Studies show that carotenoids are great for your eyes (see, your mama was right!) and are super anti-oxidants, which means you’re getting protection from all sorts of different diseases. Since studies also suggest that it’s not a good idea to take carotenoid supplements – it's best to ingest them through food sources. Nippy weather has reignited local soup cravings, which is handy since "the oranges" are tailor made for the tureen. Recently, my friend LiLi Murphy served me a fantastic - and very different tasting – pumpkin soup recently. It’s a Rachel Ray recipe she’s used often and she reports that the dish is always a great hit with guests. It’s served with an interesting cranberry/raw onion relish that sounds bizarre, but works with the richness of the soup. You can find the recipe here. A simpler recipe that’s been developed in the Anderson-Jaubert kitchen is one we simply call “Orange Soup,” although there’s not a bit of citrus in it. Roasted vegetables get pureed and simmered with chicken, mushrooms and other veggies. Cayenne and roasted chile peppers give the soup a light bite. It tastes rich without any cream, so it’s easy on the waistline too! Orange Vegetable Soup 1 large Butternut squash 4 md/lrg sweet potatoes 1 lb. organic carrots, peeled 1 lb. boneless chicken thighs* 1 T. concentrated chicken bouillon** ¼ cup butter 1 large onion, diced 1 head of garlic, peeled and diced 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced 1 T real maple syrup 1 can roasted green chilies cayenne, salt, black pepper to taste roasted pumpkin seeds as garnish *we use a brand available locally, "Havestland" - according to the packaging, no antibiotics, steroids or hormones and raised cage-free. **"Better than Bouillon" is the brand we use, it comes in a jar that must be refrigerated after opening. Bake squash and potatoes (oil skins of sweet potatoes, squash can be baked whole with piercing). 350 degrees for about 1.5 hours. Carrots go in last 30 minutes. Time may vary based on your oven, but all vegetables should be tender. After cooling, puree in batches in food processor. Meanwhile, poach four large organic chicken thighs in chicken bullion (“Better Than Bullion is a great brand and very economical). Remove when cooked. In large frying pan, sauté onion in 2 T butter and then mushrooms in 2 T butter with garlic. Add to soup water. Dice chicken and add. Stir in pureed vegetables. Add salt, pepper (fresh ground if possible) and cayenne to taste. Careful with the cayenne! It's easy to add too much, but it really makes this soup sing! The pumpkin seeds as a garnish add a good crunch, in addition to working in more orange vegetable matter. 8 or more meal-sized servings
by Pat Saik |
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