Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a lot more than parades, masking and costumes. Just like virtually all festivals in New Orleans, and throughout Louisiana, our celebrations revolve around what’s essential and unique to us: our food.

Carnival food traditions always include king cake. But when coming home from a parade, shoulders full of beads, tired and hungry, and ready to refuel for the next parade, gumbo, jambalaya, dirty rice, fried chicken (now the ubiquitous Popeyes), and especially red beans and rice, are our go-to edibles.

Hey, musicians like to go to parades too! OffBeat contributing food writer Marielle Songy asked a number of local musicians to share their favorite recipes that can be cooked up in the days leading up to Mardi Gras between performances, parties, and parades.

 

FRIED CORN | Submitted by Joshua Gouzy

Joshua Gouzy is an upright bassist who graduated from Loyola with a degree in music business and a minor in jazz studies. He’s a member of 14 different jazz bands, and he and his wife, Megan, founded Magnolia Entertainment, a New Orleans music entertainment agency.

Joshua and Megan’s Mardi Gras tradition includes preparing her mother’s fried corn, made with fresh (not canned) kernels. Joshua calls it an indulgent side dish.

Ingredients

• 12 ears fresh corn

• 8 slices bacon, uncooked

• 1/2 cup butter

• 2 to 4 tablespoons sugar

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Cut off tips of corn kernels into a large bowl. Scrape milk and remaining pulp from the cob with a paring knife. Set aside.

Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon, reserving about 1/4 cup drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon and set aside. Add corn, butter and remaining ingredients to drippings in skillet.

Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Spoon corn mixture into a serving dish, and sprinkle with crumbled bacon.

CHILI | Submitted by Paul Sanchez

Paul Sanchez, a talented musician and artist, may be best-known as the founding member of Cowboy Mouth. Having left the band, he’s established himself as a songwriter and performer in his own right. He has also cowrote a musical play based on Nine Lives, and starred on the HBO series Treme. Sanchez has been awarded songwriter of the year several times by OffBeat.

On Mardi Gras, Paul enjoys his mother’s homemade chili with his brother Johnny and his sister Nonnie. They also enjoy homemade potato salad, and Paul’s fried chicken of choice is McHardy’s. Paul’s family chili recipe is below.

Ingredients:

• 4-5 lbs. Lean ground meat (I try to get 93% lean, it cost a little more but less fat)

• 4-5 large onions (chopped)

• 1 stalk of celery (chopped)

• 3-4 bell peppers (chopped)

• 1 whole garlic (chopped)

• 2-3  three-oz. jars Mexene chili powder seasoning (depending upon how spicy you prefer the chili)

• 1 six-oz .can tomato paste

• 6-8 cups of water (bring water to boil before adding; usually put enough water to cover everything)

Brown ground meat in a large pot and drain excess fat, if any. Chop all seasoning ingredients and sauté with browned meat until vegetables are soft. Add tomato paste and water. Let cook for about five minutes. Add chili powder (add to your taste; you may not want to add all of the jars). Add salt and pepper to taste (You may substitute Tony Chachere’s instead of salt). Let cook for about four hours or until it reaches the consistency you desire.

WHITE BEANS WITH SHRIMP | Submitted by Craig Klein

Craig Klein is a trombone player who is a founding member of the Storyville Stompers and the New Orleans Nightcrawlers. In 2020, The New Orleans Nightcrawlers won a Grammy for Best Regional Roots Album. After touring with Harry Connick Jr. for sixteen years, he founded Bonerama in 2006. Craig’s latest album is titled Talkative Horns.

Craig is all about the big gathering when it comes to Mardi Gras. He always makes a batch of white beans for anyone passing through, and other visitors bring other potluck dishes.

He said, “We live on the parade route, so we always have lots of family and friends coming through. I like to cook a big pot of white beans with shrimp in it for the first weekend of parades. The second weekend everyone brings something.”

Ingredients:

Large white beans, otherwise known as butter beans

Chicken stock

Onions, celery, bell peppers, garlic

Meat: any sausage you like. You can also use tasso, ham, andouille and chicken. Your choice of protein.

Gulf shrimp, shelled

Bay leaves

Salt and pepper and seasoning

White beans do not need to be soaked overnight as red beans do. Rinse the beans off, and let them sit in some water while preparing other ingredients. The beans will absorb water and the edges will shrivel up. Begin cooking the beans in the chicken stock. In a cast-iron skillet, brown the meat then add it to the pot of beans. Sauté my vegetables in excess fat from the meat. Cook the vegetables until the onions are translucent. Add the vegetables to the beans that are cooking. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Turn heat down to a simmer. Add salt, pepper and any additional preferred seasonings along with bay leaves. The beans should cook for a few hours until they are soft. Stir frequently to ensure the beans do not burn. Add a half stick of butter after they’ve been cooking for a couple of hours and adjust the seasoning. When the beans are soft, they are almost done. Let them simmer down until the texture matches your preference. Finally, add the shrimp, and just cook till pink.

RED BEANS | Submitted by Kyle Melancon

Kyle Melancon is the former drummer of punkabilly band Dash Rip Rock. He is the current drummer for the popular ’90s cover band Big in the ’90s. He’s also the drummer for popular kids’ musical group Imagination Movers and the rock band Daphne Moon.

Kyle lives on the Endymion route, so his house is party central whenever the superkrewe rolls on the Saturday prior to Fat Tuesday. 

“There’s always a king cake, sometimes several,” Kyle says. “I have other friends that also bring the king cake donuts from Joe’s in Westwego every year. Those are delicious. Someone is also usually good for some Popeyes. No one’s ever gone hungry at my place.”

Kyle’s parade party isn’t complete until his friend Sonny Carrilles brings over his pot of red beans.

“It’s essentially doctored Blue Runner [red beans],” Sonny said.

Ingredients:

• 4 small cans of Blue Runner red beans

• 1 large onion

• 1 bunch green onions

• 1 bell pepper

• Minced garlic (heaping tablespoon)

• 8 whole garlic cloves

• 2 packs pickled pork (cubed)

Sauté the vegetables. Once vegetables are soft, add two packs of cubed pickled pork and continue cooking until the outside of the pork is cooked. Cover with water and simmer for 30 minutes. Combine with the beans, stir well, and cook for another 30 minutes. You can add one heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise while beans are cooking for extra flavor and creaminess. Serve over jasmine rice with raw green onion as a topping.

VEGAN RED BEANS | Submitted by Lilli Lewis

Lilli Lewis is a New Orleans music powerhouse who has released three albums of her signature sound. She was trained as an opera singer and classical pianist and has been a composer, producer and performing artist for more than two decades, Lewis’ latest album, Americana, was coproduced by Lewis and indie producer Mark Bingham. She has been known as the folk-rock diva since performing in the band the Shiz, which she founded with her wife Liz Hogan in 2009.

When it comes to Mardi Gras and food, Lilli is all about the classics and making sure that everyone can enjoy what she makes. She likes to make vegan red beans so that she can feed all of the members of her tribe. Her recipe was inspired by Lakeba Angelle, also known as Vegan Chef NOLA, who served the traditional fare during Lilli’s 2016 residency at Banks Street Bar.

Lilli was also kind enough to include a recipe for her mom’s potato salad, which is always a crowd favorite and can be added as a side dish to the plate of red beans. It too can be made vegan by replacing mayo with mustard and leaving out the eggs.

Lilli’s step-by-step instructions:

I like to soak the beans overnight but no less than three hours if overnight isn’t practical.

I rinse the beans after straining them because I read somewhere that helps with the gas factor. I have no idea if that’s true.

I find that in order to get the final body I like on my beans, it starts with how I cook the trinity of onions, celery and bell pepper.

I start by using a basic trinity (fresh and finely chopped) sauteed in a generous scoop of coconut oil. (Just because they’re vegan doesn’t mean they’re healthy!) The coconut oil really does seem to be key.

Once the vegetables begin to soften, I add:

• Turmeric (also seems to be key)

• A dash of Tony’s Chachere’s seasoning (depending on who I’m serving. For my low sodium folks, I use a blend of No Salt and regular Tony’s)

• A healthy dash of oregano (although I substitute Italian seasoning if I don’t have plain oregano)

• Chili powder

• About a tablespoon of minced garlic (two cloves if it’s fresh)

• A healthy dash of sumac (smoked paprika also works)

• Some coarsely-ground pepper

I stir this around until it smells satisfying to me. I do let the trinity caramelize just a little before I add the beans.

I then add the beans, one or two one-pound bags (usually Camellia) depending on how many people said they were showing up, followed by basically as much water as the pot will hold without threatening to boil over. I also add one to two bay leaves at this point, depending on my mood.

None of my pots are big enough for a big batch of tender beans, so I keep adding water as it boils out until the beans are mashable.

If I’m feeling impatient, when the beans feel soft, I’ll take about a cup and either mash them with a fork or put some in my little food processor to make a bean paste as a thickening agent.

At this point, the beans are usually about an hour from being ready to serve, but I can start working on the final flavor palette here.

In goes (to taste as needed) onion powder, pepper, sumac, Tony’s, chili powder, sometimes even a little cumin, again, depending on my mood!

All of this is obviously to the chef’s preference on any given day.

When the beans are ready to serve, I plate them with a scoop of brown rice in the center for most people, but my favorite way to eat them is with a scoop of my mom’s potato salad, which is not vegan, but could be made so with an appropriate mayo substitution!

Judy’s Potato Salad:

Peel and cube (about a 1″ by 1″) three large (or six small) russet potatoes.

Boil potato cubes and two eggs for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

While potatoes are boiling, finely dice:

• 2-3 celery stalks

• 1/3 of a medium-sized sweet onion

• 5-6 oz. of green olives

When potatoes are tender, drain and place in mixing bowl.

Peel and dice the two hard boiled eggs and add to potato bowl.

Add diced onion, celery, and olives along with 4-5 ounces of sweet relish, a healthy squirt of mustard and mayo to suit your preference of creaminess (in our house it’s only Hellman’s for Mama’s blessed potato salad).

Add a quick dash of onion powder (just a little bit!), and salt and pepper to your liking (a lot of salt is not usually required but I do like to add a lot of pepper).

Stir the salad with a rubber spatula or large spoon while the potatoes are still warm, carefully enough not to break up the potatoes to the point of having mayo mashed potatoes.

Let it chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving.

POPEYES TAKEOUT | Submitted by Andre Bohren

Andre Bohren is the drummer for Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, and son of famed guitarist and songwriter Spencer Bohren. For Mardi Gras, he keeps it classic with red beans and king cake. He also appreciates the finer local favorites like Popeyes fried chicken, a Mardi Gras staple for many.

“I definitely get through Mardi Gras on a steady diet of king cake, Popeyes, and light beer,” he said. “I live near the Endymion route, so I usually cook a big pot of red beans for folks who are left standing post-parade, and my wife Amanda bakes a couple of king cakes for folks who stop by. For the red beans, but they’ll usually include the trinity (onion/celery/bell pepper), bay leaf, and sausage or ham hock or bacon, whatever meat I have in the fridge.”