T’is the season for the Holiday Shindig (for those whose vocabulary doesn’t regularly include the use of ‘shindig’, it means a large, lively party, esp. one celebrating something.)
Interestingly I’ve been waiting now for several weeks to help out with what will be one of the most interesting – and damned tasty – holiday party meals we’ve been part of in some time – a ‘Po’boy Party’ featuring shrimp and oyster poor boys done up NOLA style ( and of course NOLA is ground zero for the best seafood poor boys on the planet).
I’ve been tasked with sourcing and preparing an ultimately authentic (NOLA-authentic) Remoulade, the Classic New Orleans Remoulade below, and another one close to the classic but with a spicy, southwestern sorta angle..
Here are the two we’re going to use after testing several (over a dozen actually); there are dozens and dozens of good versions out there, these two just seem to fit our palates best.
The classic version below is a riff on Chef Linton Hopkins’ (Holeman and Finch Public House, Atlanta) recipe, and the Chipotle Remoulade is an updated of a version we’d had sitting in the files for a while.
There’s still time to get your own Po’Boy Party set for the next couple of weeks. And if you’re serving shrimp as part of your Christmas Eve or day dinner (a Southern tradition of course), you’ll need a batch of the classic version below.
Classic New Orleans Remoulade
1/2 cup mayonnaise (homemade best)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup Creole Mustard (Zatarain’s)
1/4 cup green onion, white and green parts, minced
2-3 tbsp. Louisiana hot sauce
1 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. fresh garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. file powder
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cayenneChipotle Remoulade
3/4 cup mayonnaise (homemade best)
3/4 cup plain yogurt
3 tbsp. fresh cilantro chopped
2 and 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2-4 chipotle chiles in adobo, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Not much needed in terms of instruction here – combine the ingredients for each in mixing bowls and whisk until well combined. Both should keep for a week in the fridge, though I guarantee you’ll run out the night you serve the shrimp or set up those Po’boys.
Enjoy.
