California's Great America Taste of Orleans Recipes

Questions or concerns about the accessibility of our website or need any assistance accessing any of the information you would expect to find on our site, please contact us at .
Cart
Park: Closed
Waterpark: Closed
View Hours
Park: Closed
Waterpark: Closed
View Hours

3 Taste of Orleans Recipes to Try at Home

Danny Messinger Photo Danny Messinger |
July 28, 2017

Last weekend, we held a special Taste of Orleans media event for bloggers and local media. And since Taste of Orleans is all about tasty Orleans foods, part of the festivities was an exclusive cooking demo with our executive chef. Erick, our extremely talented master of all things culinary at the park, showed our guests how to make two dishes from the festival: praline bread pudding and blackened catfish sliders.

The media at the event asked if they could get the recipes for each of the dishes served at Taste of Orleans, so here’s a step-by-step guide to help our adventurous at-home chefs recreate some of Great America’s bold Orleans tastes.

Don’t forget—Taste of Orleans is only around for one more weekend, so come out to Great America this weekend for California thrills with Cajun flavors!

See you in the park…


Hush Puppy Shrimp Skewer with Cajun Aioli

Ingredients

  • 1 pound 21-25 shrimp
  • 1 cup Cajun seasoning (divided in half)
  • 1 box corndog batter mix
  • Bamboo skewers
  • Oil for frying
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • ¼ cup Cajun seasoning
  • 1 lime

Instructions

  1. Season peeled and deveined shrimp (tail off) with half of the Cajun seasoning
  2. Skewer pieces of shrimp on each skewer
  3. Place in freezer for about 4 hours
  4. In medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise and Cajun spice
  5. Add the juice of one lime
  6. Whisk together, set aside and let rest for at least one hour
  7. Make corndog batter following the instructions on the box
  8. Add the other half of the Cajun seasoning to the corndog batter
  9. Take skewers out of freezer and dip in the batter
  10. Drop coated skewers into hot oil and fry until golden brown (approximately 4-5 minutes depending on your fryer)
  11. Serve skewers with Cajun aioli

Bread Pudding

Ingredients

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 12 large croissants, diced

Instructions

  1. Heat cream in medium pan over medium heat
  2. While cream is heating, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until smooth
  3. Slowly pour ½ cup of hot cream into egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly
  4. Gradually add egg yolk mixture back to remaining cream, whisking constantly
  5. Remove from heat and pour over diced croissants in a greased dish
  6. Cover with foil and bake for approximately 45 minutes at 300°
  7. Remove foil and return to oven for an additional 5 minutes
  8. Once cooked, allow pudding to set and cool for a minimum for 4 hours

Louisiana Beignets

Ingredients

  • ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 1 ½ cups warm water  
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup evaporated milk
  • 7 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup shortening
  • 1 quart oil for frying
  • Confectioners' sugar

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water
  2. Add sugar, salt, eggs and evaporated milk and blend well
  3. Mix in 4 cups of flour and beat until smooth
  4. Add shortening and then remaining flour
  5. Cover and chill for up to 24 hours
  6. Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness
  7. Cut into 2 ½ inch squares
  8. Fry in 360° oil (if beignets do not pop up, oil is not hot enough)
  9. Remove from oil and place on paper towels to drain
  10. Shake confectioners’ sugar on hot beignets and serve warm