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"New Orleans food is as delicious as
the less
criminal forms of sin."
~ Mark Twain, 1884
La Belle Cuisine
Recipe Source:
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!
Sweet
Stuff!
Sour Cream Pecan
Coffee Cake
"I’ve
always loved figuring out how different flavors work together to enhance, overpower, or
even cancel each other out. Sweetened sour cream and pecans
are a good example of two
distinct flavors that together just soar on your
palate. The pecan is great alone but is
intensified by the contrary tastes of
the sugar and the cream. Together, they make this
cake a perfect dish –
made the day before, too – when you have people coming over for
brunch."
Makes 10 to 12 servings.
1/2 pound (2 sticks) plus 1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for preparing pan
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 medium eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan with
the 1
tablespoon of butter and dust the pan thoroughly with flour.
Cream the 1/2 pound of butter, 2 cups of the sugar, and the vanilla
extract until smooth in the large bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed.
Scrape the
bowl, add the eggs, mix for about 30 seconds, and scrape the
bowl again. Sift together the
flour, baking powder, and salt, and add to the mixer over low speed until the ingredients
are well incorporated. Scrape
the bowl and mix for a few seconds more. Don’t overmix.
Fold in the sour cream by hand, again being careful not to overmix. Combine the remaining
sugar,
the pecans, and the cinnamon in a separate bowl.
Spoon two-thirds of the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Smooth
the batter, and carefully place the pecan mixture on top of it, pressing some
into the
batter with your fingers but leaving most of it on top.
Top with the remaining batter, smooth it out, and bake on the
middle rack
of the preheated oven until done, about 60 to 70 minutes, or when a toothpick
inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool for 1 hour,
then remove cake from pan.
Serve with fresh fruit and your choice of Crème Fraîche, Creole
Cream Cheese, or whipped cream.
Chef Jamie’s Tips: The sour cream is folded in
by hand to prevent the cream
from breaking down, resulting in a lighter cake. The small
amount of flour
also contributes to the lightness.
Citrus Pound
Cake
"Citrus
Pound Cake is a more subtle dessert pleasure than
Chocolate Molten Soufflé or bourbon
pecan pie. It’s like the difference between a rowdy after-
noon
at the Jazz and Heritage
Festival and a quiet afternoon reading on a
secluded
beach house porch with a salty breeze
rippling the pages of your
novel. Either
one is a glorious way to spend an afternoon and
any of those
desserts would be
a glorious way to end a meal."
Makes 8 to 10 servings
1/2 pound (2 sticks) plus 1 tablespoon
butter, softened
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
5 medium eggs
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lime zest
pinch of Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup lemon and lime juices,
combined in any proportion
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf
pan with the 1 tablespoon of butter. Dust the sides and bottom of the
greased pan using 2 tablespoons of the flour.
In an electric mixer, cream the remaining butter with
1 1/2 cups of the sugar at medium speed for about 30 seconds. Scrape the
bowl and add the eggs, lemon
zest. And lime zest, and mix on high speed for about 1 minute, or until the mixture is the
consistency of whipped butter
Whisk together the remaining flour, salt, and baking powder, and,
with the mixer on low speed, add to the butter mixture and mix for about 15 seconds.
Scrape the bowl, turn the mixer to medium speed, and mix for 30 seconds, or until all the
ingredients are well incorporated.
Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan, shaking
gently to distribute evenly. Bake for 70 to 80 minutes, or until the cake is
firm and a tooth-
pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Mix the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar with the lemon and lime juices,
dissolving as much as possible. After the cake is removed from the oven, poke a few holes
in the top and pour the syrup over the cake. Allow all
the syrup to
soak in.
Let the cake cool completely, and serve. It goes especially well
with
sorbet,
ice cream, or fresh fruit and Creole Cream Cheese, Crème
Fraîche, or
whipped cream.
Note: When the fruit is in season, limes and lemons
can be much larger and juicier, so be prepared to vary how many pieces of fruit you’ll
need. The zest
is
the colored outer part of the fruit. You can remove it with a special zester
or a common potato peeler. But do not use the white pith, which is bitter.
Lemon Flan
"Dottie
Brennan complained loudly for years that we needed a great lemon
dessert, something light
and lemony. We tried and we tried, but nothing hit
the mark –
until we presented her
with this Lemon Flan topped with a light, cinnamon-flavored phyllo sugar crisp. The
contrasting textures of the crisp
phyllo and the smooth lemon flan have an appeal similar
to that of crème
brûlée. This Lemon
Flan holds its own and then some in our powerhouse
dessert lineup, but more important, Aunt Dottie loves it!"
Makes 8 servings
Preparing the ramekins:
1 tablespoon butter, melted
3 tablespoons sugar
Flan:
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice
(about 13 small lemons)
6 medium eggs
1/3 cup light rum
Lemon Curd Sauce:
4 medium egg yolks
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
(about 7 small lemons)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light rum
Phyllo topping:
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
4 sheets phyllo dough
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Brush 8 ramekins, each with a
capacity
of 10 ounces, with melted butter, then dust each with sugar.
To make the flan, cream the cream cheese and the sugar in
the large
bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed until well blended. Scrape
the bowl
with a spatula, add the lemon juice, mix well, and scrape the
bowl again. Add the eggs and
the rum, continue mixing until the ingre-
dients are well incorporated and free of lumps,
and pour the mixture
into
the prepared ramekins. Place the ramekins in a roasting pan with
1 inch
of hot water
in the pan. Bake for 80 to 90 minutes, until the
custard is
set and
firm to
the touch but doesn’t stick to your finger.
Let cool in
the water bath for
about
1 1/2 hours.
Next, prepare the lemon curd sauce. Place the egg
yolks in a
medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the lemon juice, sugar and
rum to a
boil,
and slowly pour the hot mixture into the bowl while
whisking the
egg yolks. Return
the entire mixture to the saucepan,
and cook over
low heat for 2 to
3 minutes, until the
sauce thickens
slightly and
reaches a temperature of
160 degrees F. Do not let the
sauce boil or
it will curdle. Strain the sauce
and set aside
to cool.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and make the phyllo topping.
Combine
the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Remove the phyllo
dough from
the package, and
unroll it on a work surface. Separate one
sheet of dough and place it on a cutting board.
(Keep the remaining
phyllo covered with a clean, damp towel while you work to prevent
it
from drying out.)Brush
the phyllo sheet with about 1 tablespoon of
the melted butter and sprinkle with a quarter of the cinnamon sugar.
Place a second sheet of phyllo
dough on
top, brush with another
tablespoon of melted butter and sprinkle with a third of the
remain-
ing cinnamon sugar. Repeat with a third and
fourth sheet of phyllo,
brushing each
sheet with the remaining melted
butter and sprinkling
with equal amounts of the remaining cinnamon
sugar.
Using the bot-
tom of a ramekin as a guide, cut eight circles of phyllo dough with a
paring knife. Place the circles on a greased sheet pan and
bake in the
preheated oven for 7 to 8 minutes, or until golden brown.
To serve, run a paring knife around the inner edge of each
ramekin to
loosen the custard. If necessary, tap the side of the ramekin with the
palms of
your hands. Invert each custard onto a dessert plate, drizzle
a portion of the sauce
around the custard, and place a baked phyllo
circle on top of each custard.
Chef Jamie’s Tips:
These custards are very delicate, so be
careful when you
remove them from their ramekins. Be sure they are thoroughly cooled. The
sauce, flan, and crisps can be made in advance, though be sure to keep the
crisps in a
cool, dry place.
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
Beef &
Pork:
Veal Chop Tchoupitoulas
(includes Veal Stock and Creole Meat Seasoning)
Roast Pork Loin with Winter Root Vegetables
Side
Dishes and Vegetables:
Honey-Roasted Mashed Opelousas Sweet Potatoes
Roasted Garlic and Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Cauliflower
Pear Parsnip Purée
More Commander's Recipes
A Tribute to Chef Jamie Shannon
Index - Cookbook Features
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to miss New Orleans?
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