Food Court at Farmer's Market of Astoria OR

Crab rangoon made from real Dungeness crab ... more crabmeat than cream cheese.  You know if I post lunch are dinner, then it's great.  And that is the mobile food court at the Astoria Sunday Market. Yes, regrettably, it's only on a Sunday.

On my first trip to the farmer's market, I had pigged out on cookies before arriving with my friends Eric and Bert.  So I did not have room to try any of these local goodies.  On the next trip about 18 months later, I planned my meals to be here hungry at the Astoria Market.

Yes they have their Summer Market every Sunday from 10-3 starting in mid May and going through the first week in October.  It's in downtown Astoria, OR.  Come hungry for coastal seafood.  What follows is a photo essay of the seafood they serve:

Smoked Salmon Chowder:

Here is a local favorite: Smoked Salmon Chowder.  This one's a bye until next time.  I pigged out on crab and oyster dishes instead.

Oyster Tacos!

Oregon oysters!  Love them.  Here is an oyster taco.  Oh, was that good.  Made with deep fried oysters.  This place had smoked oysters, which by the way is the only way I don't like oysters but many others do, and had oyster shooters.

Crab Cakes:

Excused the wind-blown sign.  This place has grilled crab cakes: greasy but good.  And made from Dungeness crabs.

 I saved this dish for our trip back to the cabin.  Had too much other great seafood at the market.

Crab Chowder:

This may have been the most awesome dish of all.  Chunks of Dungeness crab meat in this great chowder.  The crab chowder is the main reason I returned this year.

Fish & Chips:

This is another bye until my next visit.  My guess is that they are serving fresh cod which is one of my favorite west coast fishes.  Yeah, I know it's supposed to be "fish", but I like "fishes" instead.

Crepes:

The crepes booth was here this year, but here are photos from last year.  My guess is that you can get a seafood crepe as well.  Why is this place only on Sunday?  It takes two days to try all of the great seafood here!

MUSIC --------------------------------------------------

And they do have music!  This was last year's band.  This year's was on break when we were there.

Cochina Grande, Honduras

Thanks to my Cousin BJ, I was able to spend ten days in paradise on the Isle of Cochino Grande off of Mainland Honduras, south of Roata'n.  His cook, Flauta, kept us fed with three meals a day and dessert on most evenings.  Some how I lost weight.  Above is a close up of her brownies.

Here is where I stayed for a much needed laid back vacation.  Without internet, I was able to flesh out most of my western mystery, Slaughter at Sorrel Creek.  The work, under my author name Mick Lang, should be completed and ready for publication on Amazon in August.

Breakfast


Sausage-n-Eggs:

BJ can find a great cook, but he can't buy groceries.  I had to make a second run for sausage, ham, cheese, and wheat bread.  Best sausage available at the Walmart on mainland Honduras was Butterball Turkey Sausage.  It worked for breakfast.




Fried Eggs:

Flauta was cooking for six men so we did not bother her for special orders.  Some days, the eggs were fried and other days scrambled.  All days, the eggs were good.  See how rich-looking the egg yolks are.  And those rich orange yolks are from Walmart eggs.


Tropical Fruit:

 You have to visit the tropics in either South America or Central America to experience great fruit.  You know me by now, I generally post greasy food and not fruits.  But the flavors of mangos, papaya, and pineapple are so great here.  As in the custom of the tropics, Flauta squeezed a juice orange over the fruit.

Generally, I eat the fruit for dessert while my friends pile up on it with their main meal.

BLT with Avocado:

We had BLT with cheese (the cheese I bought) twice.  The first time with these awesome avocados from Honduras.  The second time, later in our trip, we had run out of avocados 😩.



Pasteles:

Some countries call these empanadas.  Great little meat pies stuffed with chicken, diced potatoes, and seasoning veggies.  Next time I come, I want Flauta to make pasteles with guava and cream cheese for dessert.

Desserts

Behold -- The Apple Pie:

BJ bought tons of apples and we weren't eating them.  So Flauta made apple pie for us on the last night.  Since only three of us were left there, we had the leftovers for breakfast the next day.  The apple slices were marinated in limes before the pie was baked.  Talk about change the flavor.


Banana Bread:

In Honduras, bananas are sold fresh, not green.  So after the first day, the bananas had to be used in baking.  So we had banana bread instead.  Life is good.


Brownies:

These brownies look like chunks of chocolate and taste that good as well.  I suffer from acid reflux so reluctantly I ate only a couple of pieces of this masterpiece.  Had to limit my pineapple intake as well.

Our Cook Flauta!

Dining Out at a Resort:

We ate dinner out on night at a neighboring resort.  Paella was served.  They custom made a pot for our group of eight.  The paella had shrimp, calamari, chicken, and pork.  The owner of the resort was from Spain and thereby picky about the quality of paella he served.

Leftovers after we attacked the paella pan.

Flauta's Breakfast Spread:

Bacon, eggs, fresh fruit.  Great feast with friends.  Thanks, Cousin BJ, for a great feed on an awesome vacation.  In addition to toast, Flauta made her own flour tortillas. 

Parran's of New Orleans

Look at that crawfish sauce!  Only in the New Orleans area.  Parran's is not just about po-boys.  It specializes in Creole and Italian foods.  Parran, by the way, means godfather.

Parran's is located on Veterans Highway in Metairie.  If you are going through New Orleans on I-10, then take the Clearview exit to Veterans Highway.  If you live in the New Orleans area, you know where to go.


Cheese Ravioli with a Cream Crawfish Sauce:

I met my high-school buddies there so I have a lot of food to post, but this was the only one I tasted, and it was excellent.  The title speaks for itself.   Celery and onions are cooked into the butter before the flour and cream is added.



Shrimp Po-Boy:

Like most places in Metairie, Parran's uses real French bread for their po-boys.  To those of you who aren't from the area, French bread is a water-based bread and has a flaky crust from baking.  Places that grill their bread are trying to fake a milk-based bread into being flaky.  Not the same.



Shrimp Taco & Fish Taco:

This is a dish that started in Texas but migrated to Louisiana.  Parian's knows how to do seafood.



Hamburger Po-Boy:

Only in New Orleans, a hamburger on po-boy bread.  Move your buns, the French bread is here.




Eggplant Parmesan:

Here is a sample of their Italian fare:  grilled eggplant covered with a tomato sauce served on spaghetti with a side of French bread.




Dressed Ham-n-Cheese Po-Boy:

For those of you not from the New Orleans area, this is the only way to have a ham sandwich.  Bye the way, "dressed" means lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and mayo.




Gumbo:

Seafood gumbo with a side of French bread.  There's rice in the bottom of the bowl.  This looks like a shrimp and okra gumbo.  The okra helps thicken the soup.




Mystery Po-Boy

I don't even know what this one is.  And none of my friends who I had lunch with remember.  But it sure looks good.

Oh, did I say, you can get a seafood muffuletta there?

Mom-n-Pop Eat Places in the Greater New Orleans Area

You don't have to be in the French Quarter to get good beignets.  In the Lakeside Mall at the corner of Veterans and Causeway Blvd. is a branch of Cafe Du Monde, the famous coffee and doughnut shop of New Orleans.  Here  you can get great beignets.   For more info, go to www.cafedumonde.com.

From time to time, I return to my roots in New Orleans and generally don't frequent any given restaurant enough to do a full-fledged posting on.   Here are a few lunch places as well as some breakfast places that I already posted.  If you are in the Big Easy for a few days and are not in the French Quarter, these are some of the places that I recommend:

The Parkway Bakery & Tavern:

Parkway is located off Jefferson Davis Parkway on Hogan Avenue.  If you can find Canal Street, you can find Jefferson Davis Parkway.  I've only had one po-boy there and it was one of the greatest ever!

Surf-n-Turf Po-Boy:

Above is a surf-n-turf po-boys from Parkway.  Normally I don't go for everything in the world on a sandwich, but I gave the surf-n-turf a chance.  It was great!  The surf-n-turf is a combination of fried shrimp and hot roast beef (with gravy).  The roast beef was tender enough to bite and the shrimp was popping fresh.  This is one of the best po-boys that I have ever ingested.  Thanks goes to my cousins Peter and Susan for taking me to this place.  For more info, go to www.parkwaypoorboys.com.



Russel's Grill of New Orleans:

Russell's is located near the lakefront.  From I-10 or I-610, take West End Boulevard to Robert E. Lee Drive, and then it gets complicated if you're not a local.  Check your GPS to find out the rest of the way.  Russell's first opened in 1985 and transferred to the current owners four years later.  The place was resurrected after Katrina.  It offers breakfast as early at 7 a.m. and lunch as late as 3 p.m. but it doesn't matter when you come; I have seen red beans and rice served for breakfast and eggs served for lunch.  Thanks goes to my Mom, now in the afterlife, for finding this place for me.  It was a regular stop for both of us on my visits to the Big Easy.  For more info, go to russellsmarinagrill.net.


Crabmeat Benedict:

Here is a New Orleans version of eggs benedict: Eggs 9th, poached eggs over crab cakes topped with a shrimp hollandaise sauce.  Just cut into this scrumptious breakfast and let the egg yolk run over everything.  Side dish includes fruit cup or grits or whatever.  I always get the grits and load it into the leftover hollandaise sauce when I'm done.  Price is a reasonable $12.99.



The Cabin of Burnside:

Just about 30-45 minutes north of New Orleans, this is a place worth the drive.  Go west on I-10 to the first Gonzales exit and turn right on Brittany Road.  Take a nice scenic drive toward the river, and at the crossroads of LA-22, you'll be there.  They have great fried seafood as well as other Louisiana dishes.  Go to http://www.thecabinrestaurant.com for alternate directions and their menu.

Red Beans and Rice:

Generally, if I have been out of the area for awhile, I have to stop by the Cabin for their famous red beans and rice.  Be sure and add some of the Cabin's own hot sauce.




Corner Cafe of Metairie:

The Corner Cafe is hiding on Green Acres Road just a block off of Veterans Hwy in Metairie, Louisiana, a large unincorporated area just west of New Orleans and south of Lake Pontchartrain.  Thanks goes again to my cousin Peter for taking me to this place.

French Toast with Real French Bread:

Look at this stuff!  Wonderful French toast made the way it should be … on French bread and that's what you get when you're in the New Orleans area.  The Cafe's French toast is so gooood that I didn't put syrup on it.  I had to get a second order of sausage to match up bite for bite with the load of toast they gave me.



Dot's Diner:

Dot's is a chain of six Jefferson Parish restaurants, just outside of New Orleans.  Mom-n-pop is their style and remains that way no matter how many locations they have.  Note: parish means county in Louisiana.

At least three of the outlets are located on Jefferson Hwy which runs parallel to the winding Mississippi River.  If you exit I-10 on Causeway Blvd. and head south you will reach Jefferson Hwy.  Go left or right and you'll find a Dot's.  For alternate directions and a menu, go to www.dotsdiner.com.

My favorite location is on Jefferson Highway next to the Mississippi River bridge.  This is the dive-est looking one from the outside, but the food is great.  This location has in my opinion the best grits.  The grits are thick enough to pass the pepper test, but are so creamy that it seems as if they make the 30-minute grits there and not the five minute ones that you find just about everywhere else in the New Orleans area.

Crawfish Jubilee: 

Here it is and for less than $5!  Grilled biscuit topped with swiss cheese and an over-easy egg and on top of that Dot's own Crawfish Julie sauce.  This is their signature dish in my opinion.  Order two!



Menu at Crabby Jacks Po-Boy:

Thanks goes to my friend Eric Bouler for hooking me up with this place.  I have eaten here several times before starting my blog, and every po-boy was great.  Unfortunately, I have only eaten here once since the blog started up.  Above is the chalk-board menu.

Crabby Jacks is located on Jefferson Hwy. just west of the City of New Orleans.  If you can find Causeway Blvd., go south on it until it dead ends into Jefferson Hwy.; then turn left and Crabby's will be on the right after passing Oschner's Hospital Complex.  If you are in New Orleans and can find Carrolton, drive south until you are approaching the street car tracks.  Jefferson Hwy. will be on the right.  Take that west out of New Orleans past the water works.  Crabby's will be on the left.  For more info, go tocrabbyjacksnola.com. 

Cochon De Lait Po-Boy:

This is pork cooked down in some sort of bar-b-q type of sauce and is quite delicious.  Note: if I take you to a po-boy restaurant in the New Orleans area, the place will have real water-base French bread, and this place has it.



French Bread and the Land of Po-Boys:

New Orleans is one of the few places in the states that one can get water-based bread.  South Florida is another.  The Cubans and Puerto Ricans are big on water-based bread.  I have found Pan de Agua in Texas as well in the grocery chain HEB.

If you are in a grocery and the place is selling "French" bread, look at the ingredients.  If it lists milk, then don't buy it.  There is no milk and little or no sugar in real French bread.  Water-based bread has about a two-day shelf life before becoming hard, not stale.  Hard bread can be sliced and toasted in the oven for longer-term storage.  Without milk or sugar, the bread will not turn blue.

I could do several years of postings on the great mom-n-pop po-boy places in the Greater New Orleans Area.  Above I have mentioned only two.  Guess I need to get back to the Big Easy.