Creole Seafood Mixed Grill from New Orleans Famed Commanders Palace

Photo by pink_fish13 @ flickr



From Denny: The restaurant owners, the Brennans, are practically a New Orleans institution themselves! They are well loved by the public as much as by those who have worked for them.



The Brennans trained Emeril Lagasse when he was just starting out. Emeril didn't know much, nothing about Cajun cuisine, and his previous employer was so jealous he landed somewhere good that he gave him an ugly "recommendation."



What did he say? He sneered that Emeril was good with the customers and chatted them up too much. Uh... folks, in New Orleans, and Louisiana in particular, that's exactly what a restaurant owner wants: a friendly chef! :)



Like the Brennans said, "Oh, I'm so glad to hear he has good people skills. The rest is easy; we can teach him how to cook Cajun and Creole. Thank you very much!" The rest is history. When Emeril went off to start his own restaurants the Brennans could not have been prouder of him than if he was their own son.



In Louisiana, we frequently do seafood at holiday seasons, like seafood gumbo on Thanksgiving along with the turkey and Christmas Eve along with a turkey or ham!



Creole Seafood Mixed Grill



From: Chef Tory McPhail at Commanders Palace, New Orleans, Louisiana



*** Great American Seafood Cookoff Winning Recipe, featured in Country Roads Magazine (without photos)



Ingredients:



1 lb. Sheepshead fillets, boneless and skinless

1 lb. 10–15 count head on shrimp, peeled and deveined with heads and tails left intact

½ lb. jumbo lump crabmeat, picked free of shells

4 oz. champagne or white wine

1 tbsp hickory sea salt

Black pepper, to taste

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp bacon fat, warmed

1 shallot, minced

1 jalapeño, seeds discarded and minced

1 oz celery, minced

2 cups corn—use a variety if available

1 cup milk

1 cup tomato concasse, small dice

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, picked and chopped

Salt and white pepper to taste

1 oz basil oil

½ cup mixed herbs, or herb sprouts for garnish (optional)



Directions:



Prepare a grill to medium heat and place a medium sauté pan on the stove over medium flame. Season the seafood on all sides and reserve. Next place vegetable oil and bacon fat in the sauté pan and swirl. Add shallots, jalapeño and celery and sauté for 1 minute. Add the corn and continue to sauté for 30 seconds. Add the milk and bring to a simmer. Next place ¼ of the corn into a blender and purée for 20 seconds. Add the puréed corn back to the pan and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes or until corn is cooked through, and at sauce consistency. Finish with fresh tomatoes, thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and reserve.



To cook the seafood, place the crabmeat and champagne in a small saucepot and place on the hottest part of the grill. Heat the crabmeat for 3-5 minutes before placing the sheepshead and shrimp on the grill around the pot. Cook the fish and shrimp for approximately 3 minutes per side, until cooked. Make sure the crabmeat comes to a simmer also and swirl to make sure it’s hot all the way through.



To finish, spoon the corn into the middle of 4 hot entrée plates. Place the sheepshead down next and add 2-3 shrimp to the top of that. Spoon the warm crabmeat over the shrimp and into the corn sauce. Drizzle remaining corn sauce around the plate and garnish with basil oil and fresh herbs.



*** Thanks for visiting and have a great Thanksgiving! :)

Videos and Recipes: New Orleans Chef Cooks for The Today Show

From Denny: New Orleans Chef John Besh, who is from New Orleans as well, cooks up a classic Chicken and Dumplings dish Louisiana style! His use of ricotta cheese in the dumplings must harken to the Italian and Sicilian immigrants that came to New Orleans more than a century ago, making quite an impression on the local cuisine. He's also employing classic French fresh herbs like chervil, thyme and sage. My mouth is watering already! :)

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Chanterelles, chicken and dumplings

From: "My New Orleans: The Cookbook" by Chef John Besh

Serves: 4

Often, when I roast a few chickens, I'll save those delectable chicken oysters (the little nuggets of the chicken back that look like oysters), or I'll use the meat from roasted chicken legs for this dish. For cooked chicken, don't brine the chicken first, reduce the amount of stock to one cup, and follow the process from step two.

INGREDIENTS

The chicken

• 1/4 cup sugar
• Salt
• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 shallots, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 cups basic chicken stock
• 1 cup fresh chanterelle mushrooms, halved lengthwise
• Leaves from 1 sprig fresh thyme
• Leaves from 1 sprig fresh sage, chopped
• 1/2 cup shelled sweet peas or shucked, peeled fresh fava beans
• 1 tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Freshly ground black pepper

Dumplings

• Salt
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1/3 cup flour
• Leaves from 4 sprigs fresh chervil

DIRECTIONS

1. For the uncooked chicken, dissolve the sugar and 1/4 cup salt together in 1 quart cold water in a medium bowl. Add the pieces of chicken thighs and let them marinate in the brine, refrigerated, for 1 hour. Drain the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the brine.

2. Heat the olive oil in a wide heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Add the chicken and sauté until it is no longer pink. Add the shallots, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes, reduce the heat to moderate, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock and simmer until the liquid has reduced by nearly half, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the chanterelles, thyme, sage, peas, and tomatoes to the pot. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add the butter and season with salt and pepper. Cover and reduce the heat to low to keep the chicken and vegetables warm while making the dumplings.

4. For the dumplings, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil, then reduce the heat to moderate to maintain a very gentle boil.

5. Combine the ricotta with the egg yolks, nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium mixing bowl. Gradually stir in just enough flour to form a soft dough. Test the dumpling dough before adding more flour by dropping a small spoonful of the dough into the boiling water. Once the dumpling floats to the surface, let it poach for 45 seconds. If the dumpling breaks apart while cooking, you'll need to add a bit more flour to the dough and test again. Just don't overwork the dough, or it'll become tough.

6. Drop the remaining dough by teaspoonfuls into the boiling water and poach the dumplings for 45 seconds. As soon as they are done, use a slotted spoon to transfer the dumplings to the pot of chicken and vegetables.

7. Serve the chicken and dumplings in bowls and scatter the chervil on top.