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"New Orleans food is as
delicious as
the less criminal forms of sin."
~ Mark Twain, 1884
La Belle Cuisine
Commander's Kitchen:
Take Home the True Taste
of New Orleans with More
than 150 Recipes from
Commander's Palace Restaurant
by Ty Adelaide Martin and Jamie Shannon
2000, Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
 
In our opinion, this new cookbook is a definite "must have". Not only
is
it chock
full of the excellent recipes we've come to expect from the world-
renowned Brennan clan of New Orleans, but it also offers a marvelous
collection of
"Lagniappe" tidbits of information and anecdotes.
From the Introduction...
"New Orleans cooking is like jazz. The world is
fascinated by the possibilities
that can result when good jazz musicians sit together and
'make music'. So it is
with our cooking. When people who care deeply about food use the
ingredients
and techniques of the entire history of New Orleans cooking, the possibilities
are endless."
Amen!
Beef
and Pork
Veal Chops
Tchoupitoulas
"This
is one of about five signature dishes that have been on the Commander’s menu for 15
years or more. New Orleanians enjoy teaching out-of-towners
how
to say Tchoupitoulas
(CHAH-pa-TOO-las). We owe this dish’s popularity,
at least in part, to local food guru
and friend Tom Fitzmorris. Tchoupitoulas,
by the way,
is the name of a major street along
the Mississippi River and of a Louisiana
Indian tribe."
Makes 6 servings
3 quarts Veal Stock (see below)
1/3 cup vinegar
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon green peppercorns
(fresh packed in brine), rinsed
1 roasted red bell pepper, cut in small dice
(store-bought, or see
recipe)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
6 veal chops, each about 12 to 14 ounces
and 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick
Creole Meat Seasoning (see below)
or your favorite meat seasoning to
taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Bring the veal stock barely to a boil in a large pot over high heat.
Skim
away any impurities that might float to the top. Reduce the heat and
barely simmer to
reduce sauce. Skim occasionally and cook to a sauce-
able consistency, about 1
3/4 hours to
2 1/4 hours. You’ll be left with
1 to 2
cups. Strain through a fine sieve and set aside.
Combine the vinegar and honey in a small saucepan, stir, bring to a boil
over high heat, then simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until it is reduced by
about half. Add
the reduced stock, bring to a boil, and skim if necessary. Reduce the heat and simmer
until the sauce coats the back of a spoon,
about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the green
peppercorns and diced red pepper, season with salt and black pepper, and stir in the
butter. Set aside and
keep warm.
Bring the veal chops to room temperature. Place a large cast-iron
skillet
over high heat. Season the chops generously with meat seasoning. Place
half the
oil in the pan, bring to the smoking point, about 2 to 3 minutes,
and place three chops in
the pan. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, until the chops
are golden brown. If the chops cook too
fast, reduce heat. Turn the
chops and cook 4 to 5 more minutes, which will bring them to
medium
rare. (Cook chops of this thickness for 3 1/2 to 4 minutes per side for
rare, 4 to 5
minutes for medium rare, 6 to 7 minutes for medium, 8 to
9 minutes for medium well, and 10
minutes for well done.) Keep warm.
Add the remaining oil to the pan and cook the remaining
chops. Serve
with a bit of sauce over each chop.
Chef Jamie’s Tips: When you make a reduction sauce,
such as the one in
this recipe, never let the stock boil. Reduce slowly and always skim
away
any
impurities that float to the top. Depending on the stock, your reducing
time
and
yield will vary. Don’t over-reduce. A sauce that’s too thick will
become
bitter.
Season at the end, not the beginning. Peppercorns will make the sauce
spicy.
As the sauce reduces, salt is more prevalent. Rinse the brine off
the green
peppercorns before adding them to the sauce. This sauce can
keep for about
10
days in the
refrigerator.
Professional cooks learn to associate feel and doneness. If you press a
finger
into medium-rare meat, it will spring back a bit. The longer the
meat has
cooked,
the firmer will be its feel.
Chops are especially good cooked on a grill or under a broiler.
Veal Stock
"Good cooks make good stocks.
There are no shortcuts and there is no
good substitute. As with all stocks, you can make
this one in large
quantities
and freeze the extra for a few months until you need it.
We
use our veal stock
in many veal dishes…"
5 pounds veal bones, in 3-inch pieces
2 medium onions, peeled and diced
4 stalks celery, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
2 large tomatoes, diced
2 heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled
6 quarts cold water
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried oregano
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
Preheat the oven to 425degrees F. Rinse the bones in cold water, place
them
in a large roasting pan, and roast them until they’re golden brown,
approximately 40
minutes, stirring occasionally. Using tongs, remove the
bones from the pan and transfer
them to an 8-quart or larger stockpot.
Leave any rendered fat in the roasting pan, and add the onions, celery,
carrots, tomatoes, and garlic. Return the pan to the oven, and roast,
stirring
occasionally, until the vegetables are caramelized, approximately
55 minutes.
Meanwhile, cover the bones in the stockpot with the water and bring to
a
boil. Skim any excess foam from the top, reduce the heat to a simmer,
and cook for 3
hours, being careful not to let the mixture boil. Continue
to periodically skim fat and
foam.
Add the roasted vegetables to the stockpot. Discard any fat from the
roasting pan and deglaze with about 1 cup of cold water by bringing
it
to a boil while
scraping all the browned bits from the bottom of
the pan.
Add this to the stockpot along
with the rosemary, thyme,
oregano, bay leaves, and peppercorns, and simmer for 3 more
hours.
Using a ladle, strain the stock through cheesecloth or a fine sieve,
being careful not to stir the stock. Cool and refrigerate. Excess fat
can be
removed from
the top after it has congealed.
Makes 3 quarts.
Creole Meat Seasoning
"I have childhood memories of
cooks reaching into the pocket of their chef’s
coats for a touch of seasoning. Each chef
had his own special seasoning blend
that he would secretly mix and use. Sometime in the
1970s, Commander’s
kitchen started making batches of its own blends and insisting that
our cooks
use them, a practice that has spread throughout New Orleans restaurant
kitchens
and beyond. Here’s our blend for seasoning steak and game."
1 cup table salt
3/4 cup onion powder
3/4 cup garlic powder
3/4 cup freshly ground
black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper,
or to taste
3/4 cup paprika
Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly in a food processor or in a
large mixing bowl. Store in a glass jar or plastic container. It will keep indefinitely.
Makes 4 cups.
Chef Jamie’s Tips: Be careful of what we call cayenne
cloud when mixing.
Cayenne cloud can cause burning if you put your face too close to the
mixing
bowl before everything has settled back down. Also, note that the intensity of
spices varies with age, location, and season, so always taste and adjust recipes.
Roast Pork Loin and Winter Root
Vegetables
"The
trick here is removing the bone to season the pork properly, then tying
the bone back on
to protect the meat from drying out. Remember, food cooks
even
after you remove it from
the heat, so slight undercooking in the oven
leads to
perfect doneness at the table. The
juices from the pork loin also
caramelize the vegetables, making this a winter favorite
that we’ll often
serve on holidays.
Onion Marmalade is a good accompaniment."
Makes 8 servings
1 center-cut pork loin, about 6 1/2 pounds and 12 inches
long,
ribs
intact, backbone or chine bone removed but kept for
later use,
shoulder blade
bone removed
1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary
3 tablespoons Kosher salt or to taste
3 tablespoons freshly ground coarse black
pepper or to taste
2 tablespoons clarified butter
8 large carrots, peeled and halved
4 small turnips, peeled and quartered
4 small onions, peeled and halved top to bottom
24 large cloves garlic, peeled
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the pork loin on a cutting board
and trim away any excess fat, although one side should have a fat cap.
Combine the rosemary, salt and pepper in a small bowl, and rub
generously on all sides of the loin, almost creating a crust. Turn the loin fat side down
with one end toward you. Return the chine bone to where it had been cut
off [if this
sounds like Greek to you, your butcher can help you!], placing it on top of the seasoning.
Cut four long pieces of butcher’s twine, and tie the backbone in place with the twine
tied securely at even intervals (starting 1 inch in from the end).
Place the clarified butter in a large roasting pan over two burners
of your stove over high heat. When the butter starts to brown, sear the loin, fat side
down, for about 5 minutes. When the fat is golden brown, remove the roast from the pan.
Place the carrots, turnips, and onions, cut sides down, in the pan, add the garlic, season
with additional salt and pepper, and cook until
the cut surface of the onion is golden,
about 10 minutes.
Place the meat, rib side down, on top of the vegetables, and place
in the
oven for 20 minutes, or until the roast is completely brown. Reduce the
oven
temperature to 275 degrees F. and roast fro about 40 to 55 minutes,
or until the internal
temperature of the roast is about 160 degrees F.
Transfer the meat to a cutting board and let it
rest while you arrange the vegetables on a serving platter. Keep both in warm places.
Gently remove
as much fat as possible from the pan, pour the remaining meat juices into
a
medium saucepan, let rest for 10 minutes, and remove any additional
fat. Season the juices
with salt and pepper and keep warm over low heat.
After the meat has rested for about 20 minutes, cut and remove the
twine and the chine bone. Cut the loin into 8 even portions (some portions might cut
between two ribs; others might have two ribs) and serve with juices
on
the side.
Chef Jamie’s Tips:
Removing the chine bone makes it
possible to cut the
chops
and makes it a lot easier to season the meat correctly. It’s
best to
pre-order the
meat from your butcher so that the roast won’t be pre-cut
and the
bone discarded. (Also, your butcher might give you the twine you
need to truss your roast.) If you
do this without the chine bone, the total
cooking time will probably be
less.
When checking the internal tempera-
ture of the meat, be sure to place the thermometer in
the thickest end,
completely into the center.
By now, we're sure you're even more of a Commander's Palace fan
than ever before! It follows, then, that you'll want to have a look at
Commander's Palace: a Pictoral Guide to
the Famed Restaurant and Its Cuisine
Part of "The Great Restaurants of the World" series, this this
pictorial
guide to a famous New Orleans restaurant features 75 stunning
color
photos and 15 delicious recipes.
And of course, you're longing for more recipes. No problem, just
click!
Introduction:
Pickled Shrimp
(includes Creole Seafood Seasoning)
Onion-Crusted Fried Chicken Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing
Fish
and Seafood:
Catfish Pecan with Lemon Thyme Pecan Butter
Stewed Creole Tomatoes and Shrimp
Side
Dishes and Vegetables:
Honey-Roasted Mashed Opelousas Sweet Potatoes
Roasted Garlic and Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Cauliflower
Pear Parsnip Purée
Sweet
Stuff!:
Sour Cream Pecan Coffee Cake
Citrus Pound Cake
Lemon Flan
More Commander's Recipes
A Tribute to Chef Jamie Shannon
Index - Cookbook Features
Do you know what it means
to miss New Orleans?
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