One of the things that is important to me that I don’t blog about enough is supporting local business. It’s a big part of my belief in community and faith. That doesn’t mean that I think you should buy from a terrible store if it’s local, but that we owe it to one another to try and support good businesses and entrepreneurs (man that’s a hard word to type) in our area. If supporting local business means eating cajun food, that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

When Amy brought home a card from Tennessee Bayou, I knew we’d have to give it a try. This is a local couple that have decided they’d like to start a restaurant. I’ve seen more restaurants come and go in the 12 years we’ve been back here than I can count, but the Byfords have a good business plan. Customers first, then a restaurant. You can’t yet go to them, they come to you.

They do this by cooking one lunch plate per day and bringing it to your home or office. I asked them to bring a menu to my office and before I had a chance to look at it, the office staff ordered Wednesday’s menu, which was Tenderloin/Sausage (a large piece of pork tenderloin with a piece of sausage in the middle) smothered squash & potatoes, a roll, chocolate pie and a drink. Go ahead, price that if you cooked it yourself. How about if you went out to eat? Did you guess $5 for either of those?

I imagine Tennessee Bayou will have to go up on their prices some as they increase, but their food, so far has been excellent. The day after Epiphany, the menu included King Cake, and King Ranch Casserole, so I had to order for the family. King Casserole is a basic chicken, tortilla,  cheese casserole that had all the great fat you need for a winter day, and the portions were insanely large. We ordered for six and had enough left over to feed another six. It came with green beans and a roll and a King cake that I think I will ask for again on Fat Tuesday.

Kevin Byford  and his wife do all the cooking and delivery. Kevin is from Louisiana and many of the recipes come from his mother. He and The rest is fairly common southern food. Yesterday the menu was Hamburger Steak, Mashed Potatoes, a roll and white cake. Other items this month include shoulder roast, meat loaf, and white beans. It’s the cajun inspired items that I’m most looking forward to trying:  Shrimp and Chicken Stew, Shrimp Etoufee and Cajun Jambalaya will make me consider ordering more often than I probably should.

I’m not going to post the numbers to call them here, but if you’re in the Henderson, TN area and want to know more, drop me a message through Facebook or email and I’ll get you more info. Wednesday is Shrimp & Chicken Stew, so I will be looking forward to supporting Tennessee Bayou next week.