October 12th is both National Pulled Pork Day and National Gumbo Day! Here are two seasonally-appropriate recipes of mine, for all who celebrate. My Pumpkin Spice Pulled Pork Tailgaters and my 13-Ingredient Halloween Gumbo are just the ticket for this dietary double-header! 🐷 🥥 🏈 🧅 🫑 🎃 Pumpkin Spice Pulled Pork Tailgaters Here are some dee-luscious pumpkin spice BBQ sandwiches for your next tailgate! The addition of coconut extract adds a secret something you can't quit

In times gone by, my dear mother-in-law, like so many other New Orleans ladies of her era, would lovingly chef up a gala plate of Daube Glacé for holiday and cocktail parties. A beloved appetizer dish with French roots requiring time and dedication, it never failed to awe and delight. The recipe/s below are from The New Orleans Cookbook, 1957. 🥃 🍸 🥩 🥕 🌿 🥃 🍸 🥩 🥕 🌿 For references to (page 5), see all guidance reproduced below the provided text of the recipe. For the (

On August 4, 2026, I had the pleasure of joining my friends Ben Aaron and Marysol Castro on New York Living to share a recipe that my producer Felicia Miller-Stehr asked me to come up with in less than 24 hours! The great 15 dollar recipe challenge. I (quickly) developed my family-friendly Downtown Chicken & Rice Jubilee! 🐓 🫑 🧅 🍞 🍃 🍋 Downtown Chicken & Rice Jubilee Makes 4 servings This New Orleans chicken and rice casserole with a "jubilee" topping of buttery toasted b

Maître d'Hôtel sauce is an early 20th century recipe I rediscovered in a cookbook I have in my kitchen here in New Orleans. From The Creole Kitchen Cookbook , Virginia M. Cooper, 1946 printing. The book includes outdated cultural references one would not see today. The recipes nevertheless are appealing and sturdy. Here is how this one might look. The attractive cover. I like that the book was printed in San Antonio, where I went to junior high, high school, and college. Nayl

A New Orleans white tablecloth restaurant staple, originating at Antoine's restaurant in 1889. This recipe is from a cookbooklet put out by the New Orleans Public Service Middle South Utilities System in 1971. Positively aphrodisiacal! (Is that a word? hehe) 🦪 🦪 🦪 The well-used cover. Somebody's pen must not have been working! 🦪 🦪 🦪 The recipe! 🦪 🦪 🦪 OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER Serves 6: ½ package frozen chopped spinach 6 green onions 2 stalks green celery 1/3 bunch parsley

Black-eyed peas are the leading good luck charm for a healthy and happy Southern New Year. Unlike Hoppin' John, this version, which got its start in Dallas as "Texas Caviar," is served cold, and is about as delicious as a salad can be. Pair with cornbread, which represents gold, and you've got a combo perfect for good luck in the New Year. In the South, pork, cabbage, or collards can also be part of the lucky menu. 🍯 🌽 🍞 🍯 🌽 🍞 🍯 🌽 🍞 "In With the New" Black-Eyed Pea S

I have six in my fridge but one tops them all! ✅ 🍯 ✅ 🍯 ✅ 🍯 ✅ 🍯 ✅ 🍯 ✅ 🍯 Of course I have a bottle of the great American classic. I have several recipes that call for nothing less than (next to Grey Poupon) perhaps the most recognized mustard there is. I love all things Schaller & Weber. I regularly shop there on my way to or from meetings on the upper east side of Manhattan. This horseradish mustard is mustard first, horseradish second, and includes sugar and spices just

Q: What makes it a Halloween gumbo?!? A: The 13-ingredients of course! A very dark Halloween-hued roux, the addition of mushrooms (sacriligeous!) and ground cloves make it unique and a special holiday taste sensation. 🧅 🫑 🎃 🧅 🫑 🎃 🧅 🫑 🎃 This recipe is a website exclusive. You might see it in an upcoming cookbook. Meanwhile, there are dozens of other tempting Creole dishes and a whole Halloween chapter full of autumn-appropriate recipes to choose from in my first best

Drink your juice, Shelby—it's movie night! (The line is actually "Drink the juice, honey." but who am I to judge.) If you've just been in a very bad mood for forty years, this wildly popular 1989 dramedy is just the thing to get you laughing (and, spoiler alert: crying) again. Here are two Shelby-inspired adult beverages to kick things off, then a Low Country Boil worthy of Truvy and Annelle, and of course a Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa cake for dessert. There's even a bonus red velvet

A "bare bones" gumbo from 1935, noteworthy because it doesn't start with a roux, AND it includes tomato. From: Southern Cookbook , 1935....

Dip dip hooray! When in doubt, dip it out! Did I mention, I'm feeling dip-erific?! 🧀 🧅 🥒 🫑 🌶️ 🧀 Recipes for my Summer Dip Party! Brian’s Classics: Onion Dip, Roquefort Dip, and Pimento Cheese WGN 9 Lunchbreak June 4, 2025 12:35 pm Tune in to all the action right here! 🧀 🧅 🥒 🫑 🌶️ 🧀 From "The Infinite Feast: How to Host the Ones You Love—Recipes from the Big Easy . . . and Beyond" by Brian Theis, 2020 Click here for more on my best-selling cookbook! ________________

First time ever on the internet! From "The Infinite Feast: How to Host the Ones You Love—Recipes from the Big Easy . . . and Beyond" by Brian Theis, 2020 Click here for more on my best-selling cookbook ! In my research on Thanksgiving and other event menus from the two past centuries I've encountered frequent starter relish courses of stuffed celery, olives, pickles, almonds. I had the idea of a sort of chic plateau (tray) with a luscious blue cheese dip as a "new" tradition

I love night lights! I have THREE in my kitchen in New Orleans—they're great when you're making a quick trip at night for a drink of water, or checking the weather out the back of the house. The carefree city. One of my seasonals. 🎄 🧸 🌟 Another spooky holiday light. 👻 🎃 S'mores, anyone? Vintage lights can be found on Etsy and eBay. Make sure the wiring is reliable! Advertising night lights are a lot of fun. Just plug it right in. I have a mid-century modern theme at the

The appetizing appetizer chapter, from Betty Crocker's "Frankly Fancy" Foods Recipe Booklet, 1959. One of the most epic, tempting,...

Here are the latest exciting recipes from my treasure box, " The 2 in 1 International Recipe Card Collection for Mixed Drinks and Hors...

Here are the latest exciting recipes from my treasure box, " The 2 in 1 International Recipe Card Collection for Mixed Drinks and Hors...

This one is a KHOU Great Day Houston (and now website) exclusive. You might see it in an upcoming cookbook. In the meantime, my...

Here are this week's classic recipes from " The 2 in 1 International Recipe Card Collection for Mixed Drinks and Hors D'Oeuvre ." (Random...

On the occasion of the 2024 Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival. I lived for years in the apartment on Saint Peter...

New Orleans treasure Leah Chase, also known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, was my secret girlfriend, or so I like to say. I love her...