This week was an example of a Foodie Friday collaboration between us and our readers. We’ve received several requests over the last few weeks to head out to Good Times Cajun Cuisine in Lewisville and pay owner and chef, Brenda Brown, a visit.
We are so glad we listened to all of you that recommended we check out this restaurant! And we even took a native Louisianan with us to judge the authenticity of the food and she said it was awesome and delicious!
Brenda was one of the most fun and excited owners we’ve met thus far and we had so much fun chatting with her over our lunch. Brenda is a native of Alexandria, Louisiana where she learned to cook Cajun recipes from her grandmother. Her favorite dishes to help prepare were Red Beans & Rice, Jambalaya and Gumbo – which just so happen to be her favorite and most popular dishes she prepares to this day!
After working as a nurse for 20 years, Brenda decided it was time to pursue her other passion – cooking. So, she started her catering business, Ms. Piggy’s in 2001. But she always imagined taking her dream one step further and opening her own Cajun restaurant. And that’s exactly what she did almost one year ago!
Brenda loves to call Good Times Cajun Cuisine a “home-away-from-home” for Louisiana natives and a great introduction to Cajun cuisine from those who are not.
And now I’m SO excited to tell you about our meal. We chatted with Brenda before we got there about what some of her favorite dishes are, so she had them all prepared for us when we got there!
We started off with some authentic appetizers – fried alligator and their special Mardi Gras Balls which are Boudin Balls deep fried and served with a remoulade sauce and creole mustard. If you’ve always been too scared to try alligator or boudin, you should try both of them here!
And then we got to enjoy some of Brenda’s favorite and most popular entrees: Red Beans & Rice, Chicken and Adouille Sausage Jambalaya and Crawfish Etoufee. The Jambalaya and Etoufee both have the perfect amount of Cajun spice and the Red Beans & Rice provided a little relief from the heat. All of them were delicious but our favorite was probably the Crawfish Etoufee. So, again – if you’ve always been too afraid to try crawfish and can handle some heat, give Brenda’s Etoufee a shot! You will not regret it.
And her new dish she let us try was seafood in a cheesy sauce over french bread. It was so good! And provided a great creaminess to offset the heat and spice of the rest of our food. So, look out for that new item on the menu soon!
Before we headed over for lunch, we did a little menu stalking and knew that we were definitely excited to try some of Brenda’s well-known desserts including her Fried Oreos and Bread Pudding. And we were not at all disappointed. I literally felt like a different person after I ate that Oreo. And the Bread Pudding was just as fabulous.
So, the moral of the story is that Brenda is a fabulous cook and has a great passion for the food she grew up learning to make in Louisiana. And she puts her own personal spin on her dishes which makes them even more special and delicious.
If you’re a fan of Cajun food already or if you’ve thought about trying it but have been too scared to before, we HIGHLY recommend you head to Good Times Cajun Food this weekend to give it a go! You’re going to love it – I promise!
Have a great weekend, Foodies! I hope it’s full of lots of great food!
Visit Jay Marks Foodie Friday blog at http://iamjaymarks.wordpress.com/.
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