July_Aug_2015_FINAL_62215_bleedless REV

HURRICANE • RECOVERY

M.R.E Mississippi is Ready to Eat by Julian Brunt

Crawfish Pie Serves 6 WHAT YOU WILL NEED ½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter 1 cup chopped onion ½ cup chopped bell pepper ¼ cup chopped celery 1½ teaspoons salt ¼ teaspoon cayenne ½ cup chopped canned tomatoes 1 pound crawfish tails 2 tablespoons cornstarch ½ cup water 2

A fter Hurricane Katrina swept ashore 10 years ago, no city in South Mississippi was left unscathed. More than 80,000 homes and businesses were reduced to slabs. Every major bridge was demolished, and much of Highway 90, the main East- West thoroughfare, was un-drivable. It was an unimaginable scene. At first, recovery was painstakingly slow. Thousands of trucks labored for months just to remove the debris. Many businesses decided not to reopen. Long stretches of Highway 90 were nothing but empty lots. But then, something happened. An entrepreneur saw an opportunity, scraped together funding, and opened a gas station. This inspired shops and businesses of all sorts to open around it. Some very brave souls rebuilt where their business had once stood, and we got our first Rouses Markets in Mississippi. The recovery has been remarkable, but nowhere is it more prevalent than in the restaurant industry. In those first weeks after Katrina, there was no place to eat on

the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival, is one of the South’s best fine dining restaurants. Washington Avenue Diner just opened, and Maison de Lu, Bayview Gourmet and Government Street Grocery are all nearby. In Bay St Louis on North Beach Boulevard, there’s a new Trapani’s, 200 North Beach, The Blind Tiger and Buoy’s Bar. Around the corner is Serious Bread. Down the street, the Sycamore House, the Mocking Bird Café and The Butter Cup Café all thrive. One of The Bay’s now most famous places is on Highway 90 — Cannella, an eclectic mix of German and Italian food that draws people from all over Louisiana and Mississippi.

tablespoons chopped green onions

1 1

tablespoon chopped parsley (9-inch) pie crust, unbaked

HOW TO PREP Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, bell peppers and celery, and cook, stirring until the vegetables are soft and golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the salt, cayenne and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add the crawfish tails and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and add to the pan. Stir for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until the mixture thickens. Add the green onions and parsley and stir to mix. Remove from the heat and cool for about 30 minutes. Pour the crawfish mixture into the pie crust. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the edges of the pie crust are golden. Cool for 15 minutes or so before cutting into wedges to serve.

“All along the coast, there’s evidence of growth. Food has been the foundation. We have new chefs, new restaurants, three Rouses in Mississippi and five new ones in Alabama.” —Les Barnett, Ocean Springs​

the coast. If you were lucky, a Salvation Army food truck might come by. But eventually, restaurants of every sort began to open to huge crowds of recovery workers and weary residents. Remarkably, in this region more than 50 restaurants have opened every year since the storm.There is a bevy of new beachside,raised restaurants — most recently, the Oyster Reef Club in Long Beach. In the mood for Indian? Try Gulfport’s Orchid. Want a pizza you’ll never forget? Try Biloxi’s Sicilian II. Ocean Springs is the epicenter of this incredible building boom, with more than 30 restaurants within walking distance of the city’s heart. Vestige, which just returned from its second trip to

Tripani’s, Bay St. Louis

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ROUSES.COM