The Pork Boys Do Mardi Gras, 2026

I'm afraid I don't have much to show from this year's feast; M.P. cooked all evening, so it was past midnight when we sat down to eat, and we were so hungry we couldn't take time to photograph the food.  So this is really just for our future reference - a couple of pics of the beautiful table setting M.P. spread out in purple, green, and gold with Mardi Gras beads and masks:

Click to enlarge.

Dinner was delicious:  We began with M.P.'s famous garlic soup - made from about 20 or 30 cloves of garlic, but it's not overpowering as you might think; very tasty and satisfying indeed, and a bit sweet.  The entree was boned Cornish game hens stuffed with minced chicken livers and fried a crispy golden brown; also golden gravy (regular gravy with a pinch of turmeric added for color); and browned rice.  

For dessert M.P, made a cinnamon King's Cake, very sweet and buttery, not dry and tasteless as most bakery cakes are nowadays.  This has become our yummy new tradition.

That's all, folks!  But I must make note of last night's whimsical "Dinner of the Spheres" that M.P. dreamed up - scrumptious Swedish meatballs in gravy, steamed Brussels sprouts with Thousand Island dressing on the side, and little round new potatoes sauteed in lemon-garlic butter.  A delightful meal.  While we ate it at the kitchen bar, we watched The Making of Fantasia, a fusion of art, music, and animation that somehow was a perfect accompaniment to our fanciful dinner.

-----

The Pork Boys Do Mardi Gras, 2023

True to his Cajun roots, M. P. naturally went all out with our Mardi Gras feast on Tuesday evening.

Le Menu

Galliano (aperitif)

Champagne

Devilled Eggs

Grits and Gumbo (chicken & sausage)

Roast Turkey Breast with Cream Gravy

Cornbread and Rice Dressing

Maque Choux (corn casserole)

Mashed Baked Potatoes

Homemade Biscuits

Kings' Cake

Coffee

M. P, found some purple silk damask and just hemmed up the edges to make this beautiful tablecloth for Mardi Gras.

Everybody knows - don't they? - that purple, green, and gold are the Mardi Gras colors.  The candles are deep purple.

M.P. has been practicing a fleur-de-lys napkin fold for some years now,
and isn't it fabulous?  You may not appreciate how fabulous it is until you try it.

Gumbo is normally served over rice, which Louisiana produces plenty of; but un vrai Acadien knows that it's mighty damn good over potato salad, too.  M. P. and I have furthermore discovered that gumbo and grits are a lip-smacking sensation.

The turkey breast was melt-in-your-mouth tender and juicy.  There's a whole 'nother half not shown here.  Most will be frozen for later use in sandwiches, soups, casseroles, etc.

Cornbread-and-rice dressing, left; maque choux, right.

Mashed baked potatoes, a new invention of M. P.'s.

Luscious cream gravy made from the turkey drippings.

The soup course was chicken-and-sausage gumbo, one of my favorite things.

The Pork Boys love devilled eggs.  But with the high prices these days,
we can't afford to make a full dozen.

From the noon position:  baked mashed potatoes, maque choux, devilled egg, turkey and gravy, dressing, biscuit and butter..

M. P.'s third attempt at making a Kings' Cake (a coffee cake) succeeded nicely, and he had big fun decorating it.

Here's my piece - and guess what?  I got the fève!
(It's partly sticking out at bottom.)

M.P. ordered this little glass angel some time back just for our Mardi Gras cake.  In olden times, it might have been a bean or a pecan.  The one who gets it in his cake is the king of the party.  An amusing custom.

-----

The Pork Boys Do Mardi Gras, 2020

--- Porkchops Jambalaya ---

Since M.P. made such a grand Valentine's feast last Sunday, this week he contented himself with a smaller but nonetheless scrumptious menu of real, honest-to-God Cajun delights.

Our theme colors were green, gold, and purple, of course.  In the background at top center is the peacock plant we call "Mary Grace," having bought her on this occasion several years ago.

M.P. sewed the center cloth himself last year for just such dinners.

These festive masks are also M.P.'s handiwork.

The little disco ball in the center is as close as we get to nightclubbing these days.  And we're just fine with that.

Shrimp and grits!  Unknown in my childhood, they have in recent times become a renowned Southern delicacy.  Before cooking (briefly) in a spicy tomato sauce, M.P. brined these tiny shrimp to tenderize them so I could enjoy them.  I'm happy to report it worked.  Deviled eggs are another of our most favorite appetizers.

The fixin's, all lined up and ready to go.

Porkchops Jambalaya is M.P.'s own twist on a Cajun standard, devised some years ago and a family favorite ever since.  Here you see the pork (actually pork ribs) as they came from the oven, slow-cooked in a spicy red sauce.

The pork pieces are served over M.P.'s fabulous jambalaya, which is nothing like anything you've ever had in a restaurant.  Containing rice, the trinity, bacon, sausage, sliced hard-boiled eggs, and other bits and pieces, all bound together with a bit more spicy red sauce--let's just say it's magically delicious!

Nothing else was needed on our plates except M.P.'s made-from-scratch hot biscuits and butter.  Talk about good!  Hoo-whee!

Instead of a Kings' Cake this year, M.P. put on his thinking cap and came up with this colorful concoction of puff pastry, cherry pie filling, and cream cheese that he calls Crown Pastry.  Yummm!

Awfully tasty with some fresh-brewed Rum Cake Coffee left over from Xmas.

And that's all, folks. Laissez les bon temps rouler!  At least until tomorrow, when Lent begins.

The Pork Boys Do Mardi Gras, 2019

We had a small but grand Mardi Gras dinner on Sunday, which M.P. did nearly all the cooking of, as well as making the festive table decorations.

Le Menu

Breaded Chicken Pops
Fried Oysters
Tartar sauce and cocktail sauce

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Southern-style Potato Salad

Duck a l'Orange Sanguine
Savory Rice Stuffing
Brown Duck Gravy

Diced and glazed Butternut Squash

Schoolhouse Rolls and butter

King Cake

White Zinfandel ~~ Beer ~~ Cola ~~ Coffee

Assorted chocolates
Cigarettes

Now this may not look like much to the uninitiated; but the gourmets among you will recognize at once a feast fit for a couple of kings.

The appetizers began with what we call chicken pops, a scrumptious and amusing treat that M.P. learned how to make from this Jacques Pepin video (it's right at the beginning); these he breaded and baked in the oven for tenderness, but they could be deep fried.   They look sort of like this:

Along with that, we had my favorite seafood, a dozen fabulous fried oysters, which M.P. had slipped out of the house the day before to get from the local Cajun restaurant, where they do them to perfection.  He said it was quite difficult to hold off eating them for 24 hours, and it surely must have been because there is nothing better in all the world than a perfectly fried oyster.  Those who love oysters need no further description; those who don't, well, I'm just sorry as I can be for you, fellas.

As far as I was concerned, we could have stopped right there - but, saving a few oysters for a midnight snack, we proceeded directly on to the gumbo, served Cajun-style with a big spoonful of potato salad dropped in.  You talk about good, boys!  Oh me, oh my - it was larruppin' good!  I tell you what.  Especially with a few choice bits of duck thrown in for lagniappe.  Heavenly!  I told M.P. he has ruined me for rice now.

And then on to the piece de resistance - M.P. labored two days running on his succulent roast duck, and it was a grand dish indeed, glazed with a sauce made from the juice of blood oranges and their zest, stuffed with seasoned rice, and accompanied by a delicious gravy made from the duck drippings and the blood-orange sauce.  He roasted the duck low and slow to make it perfectly tender and moist, and when I put the first forkful on my tongue - oh my, words fail me to describe the delectable flavor of it all.

M.P. has been struggling for several years now to learn how to take pictures with the new-fangled teleophone that his kids insisted he have, and he has nearly succeeded.  Here is his snap of the finished duck, steaming hot from the oven:

Every part of the duck was melt-in-your-mouth tender, including the scrumptious skin.  And with it we had the orange-flavored rice stuffing, upon which we ladled the brown and fragrant duck gravy.  It was one of those supreme culinary moments, divinely delicious and palate-pleasing, that I wish I could share with everyone.  But until someone invents a tele-food-o-phone, you'll just have to take my word for it, fellas. Superb!

I must not omit to tell you about the schoolhouse rolls that M.P. has taught himself to make over the last few years - they are just exactly like those big, square, butter-brushed, soft-and-tasty yeast rolls you remember from the school cafeteria in years gone by - a treat with any meal.  And so good for sopping up gravy!  Like these:

M.P. certainly knocked himself out on the menu, but hardly less on the table decor, complete with a newly-sewn table scarf in Mardi Gras colors, and purple candles to boot!

Notice the beautiful fleur-de-lys napkin fold that is M.P.'s trademark.

For dessert, we of course had King Cake, which M.P. made by hand from his homemade croissant dough, rolled up with a cinnamon-sugar filling and topped with purple, green, and gold icing, which looked something like this:

Neither of us got the Baby Jesus, but we were too full and groaning with delight to worry about it.

Our feast was not as big this year as in years past, but it was no less satisfying.  And to think those lucky souls down in Loozyana eat like this all the time!  It's almost enough to make a fella want to convert, I tell you what.  All us Epistopals ever get is a stack of soggy pancakes in the back of the parish hall on Shrove Tuesday.  But the Cath'licks - now they know how to party!  In fact, M.P. tells me the whole season from Epiphany to Lent is just one party after another - surely a blessed way to keep the winter blues at bay.

We will have luscious leftovers for days, I mean days.  Wish I could hand you all a plate.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

The Pork Boys Do Mardi Gras 2015

Or, How them evil homosekshuls are destroying Western civilization, one meal at a time.

Your Head Trucker has just returned from a visit with his best friend M.P. and a week of good food, good company, and good cheer, with some guidance from our beloved Julia Child, as shown.

La table de fête, all set for Mardi Gras with lace and beads and glitter - naturellement!

Notice the perfect fleur-de-lys napkin folds that M.P. cleverly devised.

Masks and beads make the fireplace festive too.

Above and below, crepes filled with julienned ham and asiago cheese, covered with Hollandaise sauce; at the side, wilted baby spinach leaves with bacon and chopped sauteed onions.

Above and below, fresh hot beignets, just as yummy and irresistible as those from the French Market in the Vieux Carré.

Evening photos of the table, with masks M.P. made.

Candlelight always adds a lovely, festive glow to the evening.

Crunchy fried eggplant, a Southern delicacy - cooked up by your Head Trucker, as it takes no particular culinary skill.

Aubergines en Persillade, Gratinées - chopped eggplant baked with parsley, garlic, béchamel sauce, and breadcrumbs - yummmm.

Baked onions stuffed with rice and Parmesan cheese - so sweet and tender.

The main course:  Boeuf en Daube à la Provençale - top round larded with pork fat, braised in a thick sauce of red wine, beef stock, dark roux, scallions, tomatoes, and herbes de Provençe.  Melt-in-your-mouth good.  I tell you what.

Fresh out of the oven, M.P.'s perfect croissants, made entirely from scratch - flaky, crunchy, and buttery, far better than anything you can buy in stores.

Above and below:  a King Cake, made from featherbed biscuit dough, was of course the pièce de résistance, drizzled with melted butter - oh my!

So with plenty of good food, good wine, Marlboros, and music, we had a fine time - couldn't have been better if we were in Jackson Square or on the Champs-Élysées. And when the day's work is done, is that not the point of living - to savor and enjoy it?