Park and Orchard originally opened on the corner of Park Avenue and Orchard Street in East Rutherford. I didn’t know about the place until it moved to 240 Hackensack Street. Sadly they closed in 2015. I became a regular fixture at the bar as they had an award winning wine list and always had several reds and whites by the glass. I tasted nearly everything on the menu. In my opinion, the best item on the menu was the “Le Ruth’s Crawfish Pasta”.
I promised my wife that I was going to recreate this and today I’m happy to announce that I have something very close. To be clear, a lot of thought went into this long before I ever attempted it.
This was kind of breaking the fourth wall, but not really. The dish was called “Le Ruth’s Crawfish Pasta”, why? Well, there was a place in New Orleans named Le Ruth’s that closed in 1991, but there is a legacy called Le Ruth’s Gourmet foods, and you can read the history here.
So this Crawfish Pasta dish at Park & Orchard was Park & Orchard’s rendition of the “Le Ruth’s” crawfish pasta. I could not find a reference to the actual “Le Ruth’s” dish, though there are images of old menus out on the web.
Maybe, just maybe, Buddy and Kenny got the recipe from a friend or spy at Le Ruth’s….…. maybe.
Now, I am friends with Kenny on social media, but I have never asked for the recipe even though the restaurant is closed. I think that would be rude. And Hannibal Lecter does not like rude people. Killing aside, the world would be a better place if more people adopted his values.
There are a ton of Crawfish Pasta recipes on YouTube, and that is where I started my research. Remember, my mission is always to figure out how to make something that I can no longer get, at home.
As you watch my video, 2 things are obvious.
1) This was my first actual attempt at it.
2) I had doubts until the end when I was extremely surprised how well it came out.
My two biggest influences on how to re-construct this are from
Charlie Andrews - https://www.youtube.com/@CharlieTheCookAndrews
Kia Damon on her episode of Munchies - https://www.youtube.com/Munchies
Of course I did things a bit differently because the goal was in my memory, but both Charlie and Kia gave me a great starting point.
If you google “Park and Orchard Crawfish Pasta” you will find entries from sites like open menu dot com and old reviews from the Bergen Record and New York Times. The menu’s all show the same description, “tomatoes, cream, cheese, spices”. Now that I’m looking at the menu, I’ve decided to try recreate “Ants on a tree” and “Marks southwest fire chicken”
Food reviews from the Bergen Record should always be ignored at all costs. The Bergen Record has a long history of incompetent food critics.
And now for the recipe
1 pint Shrimp Stock or crawfish stock
1 cup Cream
Trinity
¾ white onion ( the rest of the onion you used for the stock)
1 stalk celery
½ small bell pepper ( the rest of the pepper you used for the stock)
1 large clove garlic minced
3 TBS Butter for the Trinity
3 TBS Butter and 3 TBS flour for Roux
1 tsp Creole seasoning
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
2 plum Tomatos
1 cup grated Parmigiana
Pasta – use fresh Fettuccini
Garnish chopped chives
I was able to get cooked whole crawfish – I bought 4 packages. I doubt we could ever get live crawfish in New Jersey, but hey Amazon is a powerful thing.
Crawfish stock or Shrimp Stock if you can’t get crawfish shells
Crawfish shells, as many as would fit in my wok - You can use shrimp shells, no one will know.
¼ onion
1 stalk celery
Top and bottom of a small green bell pepper
1 small clove garlic
Bay leaf
Thyme
Marjoram
Tarragon
Simmer the stock for 30 to 40 minutes, strain and set aside.
Use a small amount of trinity - this is starting out like etouffee but it takes a turn into something else.
Sauté in 3 TBS butter a few minutes until it is translucent.
Add one clove of minced garlic
Sauté a bit more, until the garlic is fragrant
Remove the vegetables from the pan and place in a bowl
Add flour and butter to the same pan and make roux
When roux is medium dark, add the trinity back in
Add Cajun and creole seasoning – stir
Add stock and stir – simmer a bit to thicken
Add the diced tomatoes – simmer a bit
Add the cream – simmer a bit
Add 1 cup of parmigiano reggiano ½ cup at a time – stir simmer a bit
Add the crawfish tails – stir simmer a bit
You’re done - Let the sauce sit for about 20 minutes
Toss with the fettucine, plate it and garnish with fresh chopped chives
Kiss yourself for making deliciousness
Meet me at my day job – https://www.complianceabc.com/
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