I remember . . .
Richard M. Lipton
Sous Chef
Lake Charles, Louisiana

    So, there I am watching "Dateline" and seeing all this damage to a place I used to call home. Yes, it is true, I spent a year living and working in New Orleans at La Louisiana (before it became a cabaret) and Mr. B's Bistro (owned by the Brennan family, the most well known restaurateur family in New Orleans). I had the opportunity to meet Cindy and Ralph Brennan while I was working there and worked for Chef Gerard Marais, who has since been on several Great Chefs of the Southwest). He taught me about dedication, commitment, and how to deal with pressure.

In a restaurant serving 600 people from 5-10 pm on a slow night to 1200 people on a busy night, you either deal with the stress or it deals with you. Back in the early 1990's, the buzz word was prix fixe menus, with people buying complete meals as soon as they sat down. Your order came with salad, appetizer, entree, and dessert, with very little thought involved. It was the perfect tourist spot and with 15 cooks in the kitchen every night, always a packed house. The kitchen was open to the public with 9 cooks in front. There were two back sauté cooks and 5-6 prep cooks fixing the next night's prep with the Executive Chef and the Sous Chefs overlooking everything.

To see this area as it is now, fills me with a sense of great sadness knowing that it will be months before this once great city is able to be re-inhabited and even longer until it becomes even half of its former greatness. I cannot imagine the loss of the people there and can only comment that the history and stature of this city will never be truly lost if even one person remembers how it used to be and how it can and will be once again.

I kept my culinary notes from my time spent there and am sharing some of those with you now. Please join each other in helping New Orleans and the other Gulf Coast communities rebuild their homes and history once again. I hope that this small remembrance helps those remember that the good times outweighed the damage done recently and that their cities and communities will soon be restored.

Bon appetit and Bon Chance mes amis

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Smoked Tomato Sauce

Smoked Tomato Sauce is a great way to pizzazz up a fall or winter meal when the outdoor barbecuing isn’t quite as frequent. Smoked Tomato Sauce is good with chicken, pork or beef.

11 pounds vine rip tomatoes, cored, cross-cut on bottom, seasoned with 1/4 tsp Creole seasoning each, smoked at 325° F (160° C) for 1 hour. Allow to cool, peel, seed, and chop coarsely, reserving the liquid. In a saucepan, over medium heat, reduce the reserved tomato juice, 1/2 of the pulp, 1-1/2 cups (3 dl) vermouth, 12 large shallots, finely chopped to a glace. Add remaining pulp, 1 Cup (2 dl) heavy cream, 1/4 Cup (½ dl) rice wine vinegar to a glace. Whisk in 3 pounds cold butter, cut in 1 oz (30 g) pieces. Taste for salt and white pepper. Remove from the heat and keep warm until ready to serve.

Mix all ingredients, except for crab, together. Add crab and toss gently to coat without breaking up the crab lumps. Bind with panko (dry) breadcrumbs as needed. Portion in   2-1/2 oz balls. Before serving, flatten a little and bake or sauté in butter until golden brown on each side, about 2 minutes per side. Serve with cocktail sauce, hot sauce, or remoulade sauce (cocktail sauce mixed with a bit of mayonnaise).

Cut the veal in medium-sized cubes. In a heavy, large saucepan heat the olive oil, add the sliced carrots and onions and sauté gently for 2-3 minutes. Add the meat, the peppercorns, bay leaf and veal stock. Cover and simmer the meat gently for about one hour or until meat is quite tender. (If you are using turkey or chicken, reduce the cooking time to about 30-40 minutes. Skim regularly.

Divide the cauliflower into large florets and steam or cook in lightly salted water. Remove the cauliflower and add to the veal. Reserve the cauliflower stock for the sauce.

Strain the stock from the mea, strain and reserve for the sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the flour and stir until smooth, slowly add the stock from the meat and cauliflower, little at a time, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and add the cream. Add the meat and cauliflower to the sauce, stir through gently and serve with small potatoes or rice.

Preheat oven 425° C (220° C)

Trim, wash and cut the zucchini into thin slices. Trim, wash and cut the aubergine into small cubes. Trim the spring onion and slice thinly (or chop the onion). Mince the garlic. In a wok or large skillet, heat the butter and olive oil and sauté the zucchini, aubergine, onions and garlic until lightly browned and almost cooked. Butter a casserole dish or a flan and put all the vegetables in the dish. With an electric mixer or hand whisk, beat the milk and flour, add the eggs one at a time and continue to beat until batter is smooth. Top with grated cheese and bake in the oven at 425° C (220° C) for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Do not open the oven before the vegetables are cooked and the top is browned or it will collapse.