Creole For Y'all!

Tonight we were transported to New Orleans thanks to a visit to Big Daddy's on King St. We just stumbled upon the 'Clam-shack and Oyster Bar' and were instantly sucked into the beautiful menu promising fresh PEI mussels, oysters, shrimp gumbo galore, and of course, jambalaya!

We both ordered the Prix Fixe menus. Our starters were PEI mussels in garlic and chardonnay, and a Louisiana-style gumbo! I've never had gumbo (as I don't think it's all too common in Canada) but very recently I have seen two cooking shows praising its flavours, so I had to try. It was everything I wanted it to be: full of mussles, pulled chicken, shrimp, rice and that thick broth that is actually more of a roux. I ate it all, forgetting it was only my appy! Andrews mussels were so fresh and juicy. Oh and they came to him in the form of a large mountain!

                                                            

Next up was our entrees. Andrew order the chicken etoufee (stewed chicken and rice 'smothered' in a gravy broth). It was really nice - peppery and full of flavour but not spicy or salty. I had a classic rice jambalaya as recommended by our waiter. It was great; however, I'm not sure how authentic it was considering the heat factor. I thought jambalaya's were meant to be very spicy. This dish was flavourful but not spicy. Were my expectations off?

 

Andrew's etoufee

Jambalaya!!!!!

Oh my god we got dessert too. Neither of us could finish our entrees but since our desserts came with ice cream we decided we had to eat that before it melted. I had a molten brownie (now being held captive in the fridge until tomorrow) and Andy got a far to sugary apple cobbler. My dessert was promised a bourbon sauce which it was not served with, but aside from that I can tell I'm going to like this super dark chocolate treat!

All in all, we are now big fans of creole cookin'!