Mardi Gras recipes, savor the flavor of Fat Tuesday

Seeped in French and Catholic history, Mardis Gras is New Orleans annual, Carnival-esque celebration that begins around Epiphany and ends the day before Ash Wednesday — aka Fat Tuesday (today!) — when the fasting season of Lent begins. Before this happens, be sure to gorge on these three decadent recipes tonight.





King Cake Shake
Courtesy of: GO Burger
1448 Second Ave.
212-988-9822
www.e2hospitality.com

Ingredients:
2 (8oz) scoops vanilla
Bar spoon of brown sugar filling
2 oz cream cheese topping
1/2 cup crushed cinnamon toast crunch
Optional: Shot of Bourbon    

Directions: 
Mix all the ingredients together in a blender. Garnish with whip cream, Mardi Gras sprinkles (yellow, Green, Purple), and a drizzle of cream cheese topping. Don't forget to place the plastic baby inside the shake!

Crawfish Ettouffee
Courtesy of: Executive Chef Wade Burch of Neely’s Barbecue Parlor
1125 First Ave.
212-832-1551
www.neelysbbqparlor.com

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green bell peppers
1 pound peeled crawfish tails
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cayenne
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
3 tablespoons chopped green onions 

Directions:
In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers and sauté until the vegetables are softened, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add the crawfish, garlic, and bay leaves and reduce the heat to medium. Cook the crawfish for 8-10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Dissolve the flour in the water. Add the crawfish mixture. Season with salt, cayenne pepper and Worcestershire. Stir until the mixture thickens, about four minutes. Serve over steamed rice. Sprinkle the parsley and green onions over the top.

Voodoo Rootbeer
Courtesy of: Back Forty Restaurant
190 Ave. B, # 1 
212-388-1990

Ingredients:
1 ½ ounces Spiced Dark Rhum* 
¾ ounces Simple Syrup (equal parts sugar and water
Stout beer   
 Combine rhum, syrup, and ice in mixing tin. Shake and strain into small wine or rocks glass, then top with 2-4 ounces of stout. Sit back and enjoy the rich (dairy-free) creaminess that is fortified stout.   

*Spiced Dark Rhum: 
3 vanilla beans split lengthwise 
5-8 cloves 
1 750 ml bottle of dark rhum (e.g. Barbancourt 5 Star)    
Place vanilla and cloves in rhum bottle and let sit at room temperature, shaking periodically, for two days. Makes 16 portions.    

This beer cocktail is a warming restorative that’s meant to be consumed in slow, short sips akin to a martini. Bonus additional drink option: for a simple winter highball add root beer to 2 ounces of the spiced Rhum, then top with ice.