Sandwich Isle restaurant at 2850 Florida Blvd- Baton Rouge

Sandwich Isle was on Fla @ North Eugene many moons ago. No help on the recipe though.

Didn't find the recipe but I found this article...

Published on 10/7/99 in the Baton Rouge Advocate

Off the Menu
Shrimp Remoulade No. 1 at The Hawk's Nest

The Hawk's Nest's best-known dish, Shrimp Remoulade, accounts for 50
percent of the restaurant's total food sales, owner Ray Smith says.
And the Seafood Gumbo created by his mother comes in second.

Smith and his wife, Trudy, have been operating the New Orleans-style
bistro since 1969 -- for the first 15 years in a building at 648
Lobdell Ave., and since 1984 at 3015 West Fork Ave., a street that
curves off the 2700 block of South Sherwood Forest Boulevard, (The
Daiquiri Cafe is at the corner of West Fork and Sherwood.)

In addition to the Shrimp Remoulade and Seafood Gumbo, Smith lists
the restaurant's next most popular items as fried catfish, fried
oysters, hamburger steak and the New Orleans-style po-boys. Other
specialties are the potato chips made-in-house daily, and Smith's own
version of Key Lime Pie made from lime juice shipped in from Key
West, Fla.

Smith describes his cheerful eatery as "a New Orleans-style
restaurant-bar, with 80 percent of the business in food." He says,
"This is down-home cooking."

Smith says the remoulade sauce is "Cajun style -- a light, white
sauce, with a lot of horseradish, but not quite as much as the New
Orleans restaurants." His remoulade, he says, has "good seasoning,
good taste, but not too hot."

Smith uses 150/130-count shrimp which is purchased raw and peeled.
Usually 30 pounds of shrimp are boiled in 15-pound batches every day.
He says the recipe for the remoulade sauce was developed from the one
served for years at the old Sandwich Isle restaurant at 2850 Florida
St.

The Hawk's Nest Shrimp Remoulade is available in three sizes, $4.75
for the small, $5.95 for the medium (which most customers order) and
$7.25 for the large.

Smith has a theory about the color of various remoulade sauces. He
says in Lafayate and the Acadiana area, the sauce is white. The
remoulade color continues through several shades of pink as it moves
toward the Crescent City, becoming a vivid hue of pink at the New
Orleans restaurants.

The Seafood Gumbo, developed and prepared by his mother, Ivy Smith,
at the restaurant until a few years ago, contains shrimp, crabmeat
and oysters cut into pieces.

"My wife runs the kitchen now. When the cold weather comes, they'll
sell five gallons a day," he says.

In addition to Ray and Trudy Smith, The Hawk's Nest staff is made up
of four cooks, three waitresses and a bartender.

The restaurant offers daily lunches such as Red Beans and Rice,
Shrimp Etouffee, Fried Flounder and Stuffed Shrimp. In keeping with
the New Orleans tradition, French Quarter-style muffuletta sandwiches
are available. The whole sandwich is $8.75, and half is $4.95.

The restaurateur says the Seafood Stuffed Potato, a relative newcomer
to the menu, is gaining in popularity. It sells for $7.95.

Smith started in the restaurant business while he was still an
electrician, he says, and his mother provided advice on the cooking.
There were nine tables at the Lobdell location in a small strip
office plaza in 1969. There are now 22 tables with a seating capacity
of 105, including the bar.

Smith says the current location is in a 3,000-square-foot building
especially designed and constructed to his specifications in 1984.
The combined bar-dining room is paneled in cypress and pine.

Smith says his main function in the daily operation of the business
now is cleaning the tableware. "I wash 90 percent of the dishes," he
said. "It makes me feel good when I see that people have cleaned
their plates."

But he adds, "After 30 years in the business, I kinda take it to
heart when I get a complaint."

Natives of Baton Rouge, Trudy and Ray Smith are the parents of two
children, Kyle, an architectural engineering student at Southern
Mississippi University at Hattiesburg, Miss., and Jaime, who is
learning about the restaurant business in Southern Mississippi's food
science curriculum.

Smith has provided The Hawk's Nest Seafood Gumbo recipe developed by
his mother -- Ray Smith and Ivy Smith, The Hawk's Nest.

Fall Harvest is the theme of the Thursday night prix fixe wine
dinners at The Place, 5255 Florida Blvd., this month starting Oct.
14, according to Keith Mallini, managing partner and chef. "The
five-course prix fixe menu will change weekly and will feature wines
of the Pacific Northwest," he said.

The wine dinner was not scheduled tonight because of Mallini's
absence, but the regular menu will be available. He said he will be
visiting family in Hawaii "gathering ideas and ingredients for
November's 'Hawaiian month.' "

The Place is open for lunch daily, and dinner Thursday, Friday and
Saturday. Brunch is served Sunday.


Seafood gumbo

1 gallon water
1 cup green onions, chopped
3/4 cup celery,chopped
1/3 cup bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
2 cups roux
1/2 tsp. liquid crab boil
2 tsps. salt
3 tbls. garlic powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup Kitchen Bouquet
Dash cayenne pepper
1 lb. crabmeat
1 lb. gutted, cleaned crab bodies (available at market)
1/4 gallon oysters
1/3 lb. crab fingers
1 lb. shrimp, peeled

1.In 5-gallon gumbo pot, add water, green onions, celery, bell pepper
and all seasonings.

2.Cover pot and bring to a boil.

3.Stir in cold roux slowly.
4.Lower to medium heat and continue cooking.

5.Stir until all roux is dissolved.

6.Cook on low heat or a slow rolling boil for 1 hour uncovered.

7.Add remaining ingredients, except for crab fingers.

8.Cook for 10 minutes.

9.Add crab fingers and cook for 5 minutes.

Found this..I have not tried it or tasted it, but from the video, the color looked on target:
Pat's Blue Marlin Shrimp Remoulade Sauce
Creole tomatoes and avocado. And of course, its highest and best use is on cold boiled seafood.
Makes about 1 gallon
1-1/2 stalks celery
1-1/2 large white onions
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded
3/4 cup horseradish
1/4 cup Louisiana brand hot sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
1-1/2 (24-ounce) bottles ketchup
1/2 gallon Blue Plate mayonnaise
In a food processor, finely chop celery, onion and bell pepper. Combine in a bowl with remaining ingredients. Add mayonnaise last, adding enough to make a pale pink sauce.
Refrigerate and let marinate for one week before use.



Blue Marlin Shrimp Remoulade
Makes 1 serving
1/2 head Iceberg lettuce
1 tomato, quartered
About 2 dozen shrimp, boiled, peeled
Remoulade sauce (above)
Detach a large cupped leaf from the outer lettuce head and place in a shallow bowl. Break more lettuce into bite-size pieces to fill the leaf. Heap shrimp on top and surround with tomato. Add remoulade and serve.

I find Mandina's to be similar to Bighead Smith's recipe at Hawk's Nest. It is a pink/whitish sauce with a good celery taste.

Where as some like Arnaud's is very copper/reddish and stronger with a bite.

Anyone ever work at Mandina's? Have recipe?

Add some egg, lemon juice and zest and that will be pretty close to Paul P's La Kitchen recipe, which is what I normally use.