This month in the September issue of OffBeat Magazine, our annual “Food Issue,” we profiled one of New Orleans most influential master chefs. Though too often unsung perhaps, Gerard Maras has been the artisan behind more than a few of your finest meals at some of New Orleans’ most famous restaurants. We also interviewed six more of the Crescent City’s top chefs of the moment in this piece. Get to know more about why Maras is so magnificent, and regarded by foodies and chefs as one of the Crescent City’s greatest assets in the OffBeat food feature story by Rene Louapre here.

But in the meantime, Chefs Maras, Aaron Burgau, Alex Harrell, Slade Rushing and Allison Vines-Rushing were also generous to share with us, and now with you, a few gems from their kitchens for our online bonus of our Food Issue. And even though it’s officially New Orleans Restaurant Week this week, in this case, do try this at home:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARAS THE MAGNIFICENT, AARON BURGAU, ALEX HARRELL, SLADE RUSHING and ALLISON VINES-RUSHING SHARE SPECIAL RECIPES

Just a few gems from the masters’ kitchens…

 

 

Aaron Burgau’s Hog’s Head Cheese Recipe

• Pig foot stock
• 5 fresh pig feet
• 1 large onion, diced large
• 1 carrot, diced large
• 2 ribs celery, diced large
• 12 black peppercorns
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 gallon water
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 clove garlic

Place all ingredients in a large stockpot and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 6 hours, cool, and strain. Discard solids.

• 2 pig heads
• 1 quart diced onion
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 jalapeño peppers, cut in half
• 1 cup salt
• Pig foot stock
• 1 gallon water
• 12 bay leaves
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Ingredients to add to hog’s head meat:

• 2 jalapeño peppers, finely diced
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• Salt and black pepper, as needed
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• Parsley

Place all ingredients in a large stockpot and simmer for 10 hours. Remove heads. Strain and reserve stock; place stock in another pot and reduce to 1 quart. Pick meat off skulls, reserving some skin, and discarding all the really fatty pieces. Chop all the good meat up and place in a mixing bowl. Add jalapeño pepper, green onion, salt and pepper, vinegar and parsley. Mix well. Line 3 loaf pans with plastic wrap and divide the meat equally between the 3 pans. Pour reduced stock over the meat. Place pans in the refrigerator overnight to set. Pull pans out and invert to release the hog’s head cheese. Remove plastic. Slice and serve.

 

 

Alex Harrell’s Chicken Liver Paté

“This is the recipe for chicken liver paté that I use at Sylvain. The recipe is an adaptation from a duck liver paté recipe that Gerard used at his restaurant Gerard’s Downtown. As a young line cook, I was a little intimidated the first couple of times that I had to make the recipe because it requires precise cooking of the livers and a certain attention to detail. If you undercook the livers it won’t emulsify when you add the butter, and if you overcook the livers the texture will be grainy. Gerard was pretty patient with me when he taught me how to make the paté. That was always the case with Chef. If you were willing to learn and ready to work, he would take the time to teach you.”

• 5 pounds chicken livers
• 2 cups milk
• 3 ounces clarified butter
• ½ cup red onion, diced
• ½ teaspoon ground mace
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon pink salt
• 2 ounces brandy
• 2 ounces Madeira
• 2 pounds butter, diced

Soak livers in milk for 4 hours in the refrigerator, then drain well of all liquid. In a heavy pan, add clarified butter over high heat. Add onion and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Add livers and sear well on one side. Add all spices, and cook for 3 minutes or until livers are medium rare on the inside. Deglaze the pan with the brandy and Madeira, and remove from heat. In small batches, blend liver mixture with cold, diced butter, then strain through a fine sieve. Adjust seasoning to taste.

 

 

Gerard Maras’ Mussel Soup
“A version of the Paul Bocuse recipe.”

• 2 1/2 pounds mussels (reserve 18)
• 1 stick butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 bulb fennel, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
• 2 teaspoons dry thyme
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 cups fresh ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1/3 cup rice (raw)
• 3 quarts light chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron
• 1/2 cup blond roux
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Olive oil
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter

In a large stainless soup pot, melt butter. Add yellow onion, fennel and garlic; sweat, do not brown. Add fennel seed, thyme and bay. Stir and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add flour, stirring well, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add white wine, tomatoes and rice. Stir. Add 1/2 quart of stock. Add mussels. Add remainder of stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add saffron. Simmer over moderate heat for 40 minutes. Strain broth through a fine sieve into a stainless soup pot. Discard mussels and vegetables. Bring broth to a boil, then reduce heat. In a stainless bowl, add roux. Ladle small amounts of stock into bowl with roux. Whisk together well, then add back to soup. Simmer soup for 20 minutes, skimming as needed. Add salt and pepper to taste. Strain again. When ready to serve, steam remainder of mussels in 1/3 cup water with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper until mussels just open. Spoon each mussel from its shell and set aside.

Bring soup back to a boil and add cream and butter. Place 3 mussels in each soup terrine, ladle soup into terrine, garnish with a few strands of saffron.

 

 

Gerard Maras’ Duck Liver Paté
“A mousse-like spread, to be served with bread and butter.”

• 5 pounds duck livers, cleaned of fat and sinew
• 2 cups milk
• 3 ounces clarified butter
• 3/4 cup diced Granny Smith apple
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons dry thyme
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 ounces brandy
• 2 ounces Madeira
• 2 pounds butter (European, such as Plugra)

Soak cleaned livers in milk for 4 hours in refrigerator. Drain livers (allow to drain for 10 minutes). In a heavy saucepan (non-reactive), add clarified butter and turn heat to high. Add apple and onion, stirring with wooden spoon. Cook for 2 minutes until soft. Add livers and all the seasonings; sauté over high heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add brandy and Madeira and cook for 1 minute to burn off alcohol; remove from heat. Livers should be cooked medium rare. In small batches in a food processor, mix liver and butter; then strain through a fine sieve. Continue until all liver and butter is blended and strained. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour liver mixture into small ramekins to 1/2″ from the top, and when all ramekins are filled, place in refrigerator until partially set. Pour a small amount of clarified butter over each ramekin and swirl to coat the entire top, the pour off any excess. Wipe rims of ramekins and return to refrigerator to fully set. Garnish each ramekin with a tiny sprig of fresh thyme before clarified butter sets, if desired. Serve with toasted French bread or warm brioche.

 

 

Slade Rushing and Allison Vines-Rushing’s Grillades and Creamy Grits

“Gerard’s Downtown, a New Orleans restaurant that closed shortly after 9/11, was the most influential restaurant in our lives. Not only did we meet and fall in love while working there, the chef-owner Gerard Maras, who was really ahead of his time, was the kind of chef we both wanted to become. His simple, refined touch elevated Creole cuisine and his farm-to-table approach gave birth to the new guard of chefs in New Orleans.”

Grillades

• 1 pork tenderloin (about 1 ½ pounds)
• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 8 slices bacon, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon Creole spice*
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 ripe tomato, chopped, cored, juices reserved

Cut tenderloin into 12 cutlets, place each between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a mallet until very thin, about 1/8 inch. In a small dish, mix 1 cup of the flour with ½ teaspoon of the salt and ½ teaspoon of the pepper. Lightly dust each cutlet on both sides, set aside on a plate. Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and sauté cutlets in batches of 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute on each side. Repeat with remaining oil and cutlets. In same skillet, cook bacon. Transfer bacon to a paper-lined plate, keeping bacon fat in skillet. Reduce heat, whisk in remaining flour. Simmer and stir continuously until roux becomes light brown, about 10 minutes. Add bell peppers, onion and garlic and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Carefully whisk in remaining salt and pepper, Creole spice, cumin, paprika and bay leaves. Next, whisk in stock and tomato. Bring sauce to a simmer, and cook on low for 10 minutes, skimming off excess fat. Strain sauce through a sieve and then return to skillet; warm pork cutlets in sauce.

*Creole Spice (Mix together: 1 tablespoon fine sea salt, 2 teaspoons ground white pepper, 1 ¾ teaspoons cayenne, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1 ¾ teaspoons garlic powder, 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, ½ teaspoon ground cumin)

 

Creamy Grits

• 8 cups milk
• 2 cups quick grits
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Scald milk (skin forms on top). Whisk in grits and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, whisking again now and then. Whisk in butter, cream, salt and pepper. Cover and remove from heat.

ENJOY!