Welcome to a brand new episode of The Beef! Joining us today is Michael Ford with Campfield’s Creole Kitchen. Tune in to hear the story of how Michael drove all the way to The Beef’s HQ to serve his incredible Boudin Balls to Andrew before we dive into Michael’s career history leading up to starting his own business. These balls were the beginning of his business, before he introduced crawfish to the menu. Hear the story of how he got started, and what motivated him to take the leap and leave his full time job to pursue his passion, before achieving some unexpected success. Find out what’s on the menu, get some recipe tips from a master in his trade, hear the story of how his passion-driven business grew from a hobby to a full time job, and find out how you can get involved!

Key Points From This Episode:

• The story of how Michael drove all the way to the Beef’s HQ with Boudin Balls for Andrew.
• Michael’s career history leading up to working in Campfield’s Creole Kitchen. 
• How John ended up as a full-time paid fireman.
• A word about our sponsor: Community Bank of Texas.
• How he made Boudin Balls as a hobby, before getting started with crawfish. 
• How he found happiness quitting his full time job and starting his own food business.
• Why both John and Michael find their respective passions so rewarding. 
• What it feels like to receive positive feedback from folks. 
• Why being raised in Louisiana was his formal training.
• Why he likes to check out other Creole restaurants to compare his food to theirs.
• How good crawfish has been seasoned before it is removed from the pot.
• The story of how he met his wife who is from Texas before moving there himself.
• Where his business name comes from: his brother who passed away from cancer.
• Drivers in Louisiana, Texas, and Florida.
• What’s on the menu at Campfield’s Creole Kitchen. 
• How to get in contact with Campfield’s Creole Kitchen on social media and via email.
• How to reach Campfield’s Creole Kitchen on +504 407 1760.
• Average price points for his products and what his preparation process looks like.
• Why he is considering introducing a spicy chicken sandwich to his menu. 
• A tip: season your chicken the night before you cook it, and don’t put okra in gumbo.
• How to support their business without spending any money. 

Tweetables:

“I would wake up to go to work, I wasn’t happy. While I’m at work, ten, eleven hours a day, I’m thinking about food, what can I do to make that better.” — Michael Ford [0:11:39]

“My formal training was as a kid, knowing how it’s supposed to taste. My grandmother’s cooking, all the women in my family. If I don’t get it to taste like this, it ain’t good.” — Michael Ford [0:19:56]

“I’m cooking authentic, cajun, Creole food. Louisiana style cooking where you’ll find your crawfish etouffee, jambalaya, fried fish, pastas, red beans and rice, fried fish, whatever you want! Boudin balls, that’s a big hit.” — Michael Ford [0:35:26]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Campfield’s Creole Kitchen Email

Campfield’s Creole Kitchen on Instagram

Campfield’s Creole Kitchen on Facebook

John Kelley on Instagram

John Kelley on TikTok

Beefy Marketing

Beefy Marketing on Instagram

Beefy Marketing on YouTube

Beefy Marketing on Facebook