In Case You Missed the Deep-Fried Alligator

It's called alligator etouffeé but that was last week's special. This week it's pronounceable: spicy crawfish and dirty rice.

It's all about celebrating Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday at Crestwood's King Edward's, a New Orleans-themed restaurant. Crawfish with dirty rice is the final Tuesday special in a month of specials á la Mardi Gras.

The crawfish dish is a combination of two New Orleans favorites, according to . 

Crawfish is a small lobster and known also as crayfish and crawdads, depending where you live or other local tradition. At King Edward's the crawfish is deep-fried (like nearly everything else here) and spicy.

Dirty rice is also called Cajun rice, with bits of chicken, liver or sausage mixed in with onion, celery and peppers. It's called "dirty" because of the darker color from meat and it's juices.

The combo is $5.50--such a deal. The alligator etouffeé over a bed of rice was $7. Customers said the alligator had a texture like chicken but tasted like seafood. No skin involved. That's called a handbag, or pair of shoes.

On Sunday, customers find for sale Beignets--Creole-style square doughnuts. (Think New Orleans's Cafe du Monde fare.) The beignets are deep fried and served with powdered sugar, according to King Edward's menu.

This Sunday will be the final in the series of Beignet Sundays (pronounced ben-yay) for the season. Also, desserts here are fresh, rich and cheap. An enormous--and I mean huge--homemade brownie is $1, for starters.

Looking for ideas to serve at your own Mardi Gras party? Borrow from the list of King Edward's holiday specials that ran the month of February and included jambalaya, Po-Boys choice of seafood, chicken sausage gumbo, crawfish pie and you missed it--alligator etouffeé.

The place is crowded for carry-out at dinner time with many customers calling ahead to order. Fried catfish is on the menu, too. There are tables with hot sauces for dining-in after you order at the counter.