Louisiana Eats: Innovation And Tradition On The Red River

On this week's Louisiana Eats!, we're celebrating our one-year anniversary on the airwaves of Red River Radio by highlighting the burgeoning food scene of northern Louisiana. We tour Mahaffey Farms with innovative farmer Evan McCommon and even get to meet his heritage breed pigs and chickens.

Then, we learn about the growing urban farming movement from LSU Ag agent Grace Peterson and visit Gullo's Fresh Produce and Bake Shop to learn about the Sicilians immigrants of northern Louisiana from Theresa Gullo Hamilton and her cousin Patricia Gullo Grafton.

The tasting room at Great Raft Brewing.

Our roving reporter Chris Jay investigates the origin of Shreveport's beloved Stuffed Shrimp, a dish that has been transformative for the African-American community there. Chef Jeff Henderson taped an episode of his new TV show Flip My Food in Shreveport and fell in love with Eddie's Stuffed Shrimp while he was there. Jeff relates the advice he shared with Mavice Thigpen, the current proprietor of Eddie's, and I share my version of the recipe.

Finally, we take a tour of Great Raft Brewing Co., a Shreveport brewery that sold its first beer in October 2013, making it the first brewery to sell beer in the Shreveport-Bossier City area since Prohibition.

Travel the North Country without ever leaving home on this week's Louisiana Eats!

Stuffed Shrimp
Serves 6

Stuffing:

  • 3 tablespoons butter

  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced

  • 1 celery rib, finely chopped

  • 3 tablespoons onion, finely chopped

  • 1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped

  • ½ loaf French bread

  • 1 lb. fresh claw crabmeat

  • 4 cups plain, dry bread crumbs

  • 2 eggs

  • salt and pepper to taste

  • 3 pounds (about 36 fresh shrimp)

  • salt and pepper

  • 2 cups flour

  • 1 egg

  • 1 cup milk

  • oil for frying

Melt butter in a skillet, then add the onion, green onions, celery rib and parsley. Sauté all together for 10 minutes, until soft. Add crabmeat and sauté for another 5 minutes. Moisten French bread with water and chop it finely. Mix in eggs thoroughly. Add crabmeat to egg and bread mixture and mix well. Add 2-3 tablespoons of the dry bread crumbs, until stuffing is no longer tacky.

Peel and clean shrimp, leaving tails on. Butterfly each shrimp then stuff with approximately 1 tablespoon of filling. Roll each stuffed shrimp in flour, egg wash and then breadcrumbs.

Heat oil to 375 degrees and fry shrimp for about 5 minutes, until browned. Drain on paper towel and serve.

Food, Drink, Dining, CocktailsPoppy TookerMahaffey Farms, Evan McCommon, LSU AgCenter, Gullo's Fresh Produce and Bake Shop, Theresa Gullo Hamilton, Patricia Gullo Grafton, Great Raft Brewery, Chris Jay, Jeff Henderson, Flip My Food, Mavice ThigpenComment