RL Reeves Jr

Writer documenting life in New Orleans 9th Ward. I'm eating 500 po boys at 500 different restaurants, gas stations, corner stores and cafes in New Orleans

Author: rlreevesjr2@gmail.com Page 5 of 13

RL Reeves Jr Recipe: Cajun Green Onion Rice Pilaf

By

On September 13, 2025

In Recipes

Even after almost 20 years in professional kitchens I’m still picking up tricks and techniques from some of my friends who are skilled home cooks.

Such is the case as I sit to dine at my buddy Ron’s house in verdant Pflugerville Texas.

He’s a retired insurance adjuster and an enthusiastic home cook who can bang out a top notch smoked pork shoulder and bottles his own righteously fiery Tex Mex table salsa with loads of jalapenos.

We’re having a fish fry and he’s anxious to show me his rice pilaf recipe and technique.

Read More

2025 American Cured Meat Championships In Kansas City Missouri

By

On September 6, 2025

In Uncategorized

American Association of Meat Processors, American Cured Meat Championships

Over a long weekend in late July, the premiere cured meat shootout in the US took place in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, at the 50 year old Kansas City Convention Center.

A total of 76 meat companies submitted 873 products across 30 different classes at the American Cured Meat Championships [est. 1949]

I’ve been in the cured and smoked meat game since the late ’80s. I am a charcutier but in no way on these gentlemen’s level. Give me another 20 years of practice.

This shootout is the Superbowl if you’re in the meat scene or meat adjacent.

Strick’s Specialty Meats in nearby Hattiesburg took home two Grand Championships. Otherwise the old south that we love was blanked out.

Here are the winners:

Read More

RL Reeves Jr Recipe: Funky Hot Vietnamese Collard Greens With Fried Green Onions

By

On September 1, 2025

In Recipes

RL Reeves Jr Recipe: Funky Hot Vietnamese Collard Greens With Fried Green Onions

Growing up on a farm in the Cumberland Highlands means you have easy access to fresh vegetables year-round. What vegetables our family didn’t eat at the moment of ripeness were canned or vacuum-sealed via a magical apparatus known as the Seal-a-Meal.

Read More

Field Report: 2025 Valley of Silent Men Social and Pleasure Second Line

By

On August 31, 2025

In Field Reports, Second Line Culture in New Orleans

The 2025 Valley of Silent Men Social and Pleasure Second Line parade marked the beginning of the fresh second line season. Hearts were a bit heavy as this is the first season we will experience without the singular Pableaux Johnson who was felled by a heart attack in January of this year.

Here were our favorite photos from the Valley shoot.

2025 Valley of Silent Men Social and Pleasure Second Line

2025 Valley of Silent Men Social and Pleasure Second Line

2025 Valley of Silent Men Social and Pleasure Second Line

2025 Valley of Silent Men Social and Pleasure Second Line

2025 Valley of Silent Men Social and Pleasure Second Line

A Recipe For Alabama White Barbecue Sauce From Clark Rountree

By

On August 20, 2025

In Recipes

The foodways of Alabama barbecue are second only to Texas for their primacy in the world of USA smoked meats. When I was a teenager growing up in Birmingham I raced across the state on my Honda Interceptor motorbike trying as hard as possible to eat from every smokehouse in the Yellowhammer state.

Read More

RL Reeves Jr Recipe: Oven Roasted Carnitas

By

On August 11, 2025

In Recipes

RL Reeves Jr Recipe: Oven Roasted Carnitas

I knew that I had a established myself as a deadly serious Mexican cook when I rolled into the Rio Grande Valley roughly 30 years ago and blew the minds of a couple dozen natives with my carnitas recipe.

It was a family reunion, puro la raza, and I was the only gringo there. The tias and abuelitas were gathered in the kitchen making all the tortillas, rice and beans from scratch but I had been entrusted with the carnitas.

Here’s how I became, as they put it, an honorary Mexican

Read More

Field Report: 2025 Satchmo Summerfest Second Line

By

On August 6, 2025

In Field Reports, Second Line Culture in New Orleans

2025 Satchmo Summerfest Second Line

If you were in New Orleans in the late 70s you were living in a Baby Doll desert. By my count we had less than five ladies masking and the tradition was in danger of becoming extinct. In the ensuing 45-plus years we’ve seen dozens if not hundreds of women embrace the custom, form their own Doll Houses, and take to the streets to shimmy, shake, and show out.

Read More

Three Chefs From Orléans Have Claimed The Crown In The World Egg-Mayonnaise Championships

By

On August 2, 2025

In The Art and Science of Mayonnaise

L’Association du sauvegard de l’oeuf mayonnaise

As an American Gulf Coast mayonnaise historian I have to stay au courant in the world condiment trade.

Read More

RL Reeves Jr Recipe: Carroll Shelby Texas Chili With Ground Turkey

By

On August 1, 2025

In Recipes, The Art and Science of Chili

RL Reeves Jr Recipe: Carroll Shelby Texas Chili With Ground Turkey

The underground economy in New Orleans is still thriving. I did a friend a nice favor recently and in exchange he gifted me a three pound packet of Jennie O ground turkey.

Read More

A Recipe For Couche Couche

By

On July 28, 2025

In Recipes

A Recipe For Couche Couche

I grew up eating couche couche but it had a different name in rural Kentucky.

Up in Appalachia it’s called cornmeal mush but the backbone of the dish is identical.

You fry up a pan of cornmeal batter in bacon drippings, and as it’s setting up you take a wooden spoon and stir it around a bit til it’s all crispy bits mixed with soft white bread.

Read More

Page 5 of 13

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén