Farewell to Meat - Lorin Gaudin

Lorin Gaudin: Media Personality, Celebutante and International Raconteur
The Cut: Entrana con fina la Piel, from La Boca

In the New Orleans culinary underground, Lorin Gaudin knows where the bodies are hidden. She has been active in the New Orleans food scene for years and as a result has a finely tuned ear for New Orleans food gossip. She will probably kill us for saying this, but she has photos of Robert Peyton wearing little more than his trademark sweater vest, Docker's No Wrinkle Slacks, and a scowl.

This is not to say that she is a ginnywoman, but rather that she is well tuned into the stories and motivations of chefs and restaurants. You can check out Lorin on WDSU TV on Thursday afternoons and on WBOK 1230 am on Fridays from 2-3 where she dishes out platefuls of restaurant and food news.

So when we needed a final candidate for the Farewell to Meat series, we naturally turned to her. Lorin graciously agreed, and here is her take on what would be the perfect Mardi Gras dinner.

1) Where are you eating? La Boca

2) What cut of meat? Skirt steak with the skin on.

3) How cooked? The way it comes - juicy and cooked-through.

4) What else are you eating with it? Golf salad and those incredible garlicky fries with the green chimichurri.

5) What are you drinking with it? Whatever fabulous Argentinian wine Adolfo Garcia suggests.

6) What are you giving up for Lent? Bread. I figure Lent dovetails nicely with Passover when Jews give up eating anything leavened. Oh, did I mention I'm Jewish?

Farewell to Meat - Chip Flanagan

Chip Flanagan
Executive Chef, Ralph's on the Park
The Meat: Wagyu Rib Eye with cauliflower puree and grilled scallions

Chef Chip Flanagan has cooked in kitchens in New Orleans for years (plus a stint on St. Croix) and brings a unique "the cuisines of the world are my inspiration" point of view to Ralph's on the Park. His dishes present recognizable New Orleans foods in new light. For example, the Cajun Scotch Egg wraps boudin around a poached egg. Or the Oyster's Rockefeller Reprise in which a deliciously rich spinach custard is topped with plump, fried oysters that are then crowned by bacon studded bread crumbs.

When Flanagan first took over the reins at Ralph's, these ideas seemed out of place with management and ownership. Flanagan recalls sitting in a meeting and finally saying, "Listen, whenever there is change, we are going to lose people, but my food can bring more people in than we lose." That candidness and the ability to take risks has helped put Ralph's back on our map.

And the perfect example of this is the Japanese Wagyu on the menu. Wagyu beef comes from cows in Japan who spend their whole life living much like the Pope: they are fed alcohol, massaged, and kept happy. This results in a meat with more marble than Versace's Miami villa.

The Wagyu is $12 an ounce, but a 3 ounce order is sufficient for the most tender, soft, and pleasing meat in town. To cook, Chef Flanagan cuts a rectangular portion from the rib eye, seasons it with salt and pepper, and cooks it with no oil in a blue steel pan over high heat. The meat only cooks for around forty-five seconds per side resulting in rare to medium rare doneness. But trust us, you don't want to go further than this.

After cooking the meat rests before being sliced for final plating.

An up close view.

See those beautiful streaks of soft, white fat running through the meat? It tastes like Hartley's field goal felt.

To round out his meattidunal Mardi Gras supper, Flanagan would go with the lamb spare ribs with Worcestershire and satsuma glaze, and the City Park Salad. For dessert, he suggests either the Creme Brulee or trio of chocolates. And what to drink with all of this?

"Brandy. Just cuz."

For Lent, Flanagan isn't giving up anything so much as he will vow to exercise more. But don't expect him to stop tasting the Wagyu. "Giving up eating this meat would be too great a burden."

Farewell to Meat - Rare Cuts

Henry Albert and John Lalla
Partners, Rare Cuts

The Meat: A Mixed Grill - Rib Eyes, Lamb Chops, Spinalis, and Filet

Thirty years or so ago, the wine world was revolutionized by the growth of consumer friendly wine stores. Free wine tastings, knowledgeable but unfussy staff, and educational classes gave novice wine drinkers an incredible outlet for a growing fascination. Rare Cuts mission is to emulate the success of places like Martin's Wine Cellar but by selling meat, not wine.

John Lalla is a 3rd generation butcher (his grandfather began NATCO in 1925). Henry Albert is a self-described "steak nut" who takes a yearly trip with college roommates to visit steakhouses around the country. Together these two have collaborated to produce Rare Cuts. For years NATCO has sold to restaurants, hotels, and other institutions, but Rare Cuts is a return to the butcher shop that Lalla's grandfather started in the French Quarter.

Henry and John buy beef only from what they consider the best ranchers in the country (i.e., Harris Ranch and Brandt Beef), select cuts only to their specifications from Black Angus steers, age the beef in house, and hand-cut it to exact portions. As Lalla explains: "People spend $50,000 on a kitchen and they never use it. Or they do, and they wonder why the recipe for Emeril's Porterhouse they got off the internet didn't taste like the one they ate at Delmonico's. And I tell them, 'It is because you aren't starting with the same ingredients.'"

The meat at Rare Cuts is aged specifically by cut. What is aging? Well there are two types. The first is wet aging, in which the meat is wrapped in cellophane, vacuum sealed, and allowed to rest in its own juices. The second method and more common is dry aging, whereby a whole cut of meat, say a slab of rib eye, ages uncovered in a temperature and humidity controlled room for a period of days (for a rib eye it is 20 days). With dry aging, the outside of the meat gets a dark bark (shown below) which is trimmed off to reveal a tender, rose-colored interior. During the aging process the meat's own enzymes begin to break down and tenderize the beef while moisture evaporates. The result is a denser, firmer piece of beef.

The difference in taste is discernible. Dry aged beef has an oaky, spicy flavor, but the tenderness is the same as wet aging. After aging the beef is then cut into portions. "We sell our meat by the cut, not by the pound. We do this because we know that a 6 oz filet is 6 oz, not 7 or 5. That way when you cook it at home, you will learn that 3 minutes on each side is sufficient for medium rare," says Albert.

Another hallmark of the quality of meat at Rare Cuts is the amount of fat running through it. "My dad called fat 'the other white meat.' And it is true, that is where the flavor comes from," says Lalla.

Rare Cuts is located at 1600 West Causeway Approach in Mandeville, and they are opening in River Ridge in approximately two weeks, with more locations planned in the coming year. If you like meat and love cooking at home, you need to visit Rare Cuts the next time you get a hankering for a steak. It is not only their knowledge and enthusiasm for prime meat that makes Rare Cuts a better option, but also their respect for the ranchers, animals, and butchers who produce the meat. "If someone tells me they are going to marinate these steaks in Italian dressing, Tabasco, and Dale's, I cringe and suggest they use a different cut then the wet aged, prime filet. All a good piece of meat needs is salt, pepper, and heat," Albert instructs.

Frenched lamb chops. The fat on this lamb was incredibly soft and sweet. If pork, duck, and lamb fat were in a dance off, pork would be Ronnie from Jersey Shore, duck would be a break dancer, and lamb a ballerina.

Three different cuts from the dry aged rib eye. The two on the left are excellent examples of a rib eye with "star fat"- the white anchor of fat in the middle of the cut. The one on the right is a rib eye cut from the end with less fat.

Before cooking the meat is sprinkled generously with salt and pepper and then left to sit for a few minutes.

Then the meat is placed on a smoking hot grill. While Rare Cuts has a kitchen inside, they can't help but love to fire up their outdoor grill. The smell of grilled meat wafts throughout the parking lot and remainder of the strip mall, making them everyone's favorite neighbor.

An up close shot of the grilled spinalis. What's a spinalis? Why it's a cut that goes to 11. The spinalis, often called the "end cap," is the cap on the rib eye (the crescent shape of meat encircling the Star Fat). It has tenderness and a sturdy shape, but more importantly loads of flavor.

Red wine is a natural choice for marbled steaks, but on this Saturday morning we drank Bloody Marys and talked about the Saints. During our chat, John told me he had his butchers send over some specially cut Rib Eyes to Drew Brees's house in the shape of a Fleur de Lis, "My butchers weren't happy with me. They'd been cutting meat for 23 years, and this was a pain in the ass. But don't tell anyone about that, or everyone will be asking for them."

Ooops.

Farewell to Meat - NOLA Brewing Co.

Welcome to Part II of our series on saying "sayonara" to meat. In this week's entry, we take a trip inside our local microbrewery with the easiest name to remember. And yes, meat will be involved.


The coolest job you've ever had has nothing on working at NOLA Brewing Co. The vibe inside the warehouse-turned-brewery is relaxed and humorous, and more often than not employees find themselves sitting around a large wooden table and telling stories after working long hours brewing some damn fine beers. But the best part of working at NOLA? All, the free samples you can drink, otherwise known as "taste testing."

And if that is not enough, you can bring your dog to work.

There are actually two canines that regularly roam the NOLA warehouse on Tchoupitoulas, but one is much more photogenic than the other. Say hello to Hops, a three-legged bulldog... whose owner is a brewer. Are you thinking what we are? Double entendre!

While our musings may create the impression that NOLA is all fun and games, the Blonde or Brown in your glass doesn't just magically appear. The brewing and fermentation process behind the NOLA beers is a complicated formula of time, temperature, water, hops, and malts. And cleaning... lots and lots of cleaning. Thankfully for you and me, the team behind NOLA is comprised of passionate beer makers with wide ranging levels of experience, each contributing in his or her own way to the end product we all enjoy.

As a token of our gratitude (and as an excuse to tour the brewery), your faithful bloggers offered to throw the NOLA team an afternoon cookout this past Sunday. Upon advice of owner Kirk Coco, we brought along a standard Weber kettle grill, only to be trumped by this custom built keg grill owned by brewmaster Peter Caddoo. We're pretty sure that Kirk intentionally set us up for embarrassment, but we're OK with it.

The grill was fashioned from a keg of Dixie and proudly bears its hometown origin.

On the menu were both skirt and hanger steaks, courtesy of Cochon Butcher. All these cuts needed were an aggressive seasoning of kosher salt, but Rene whipped up a parsley chimichurri for an added touch of flavor. Skirt steak, one of the most overlooked cuts of beef, benefits from a quick walk across super hot coals, creating a nice crust while the inside stays moist and juicy. Hanger steaks are difficult to find outside restaurant menus but taste almost as good coming off your backyard grill as they do at La Boca.

While waiting for the coals to catch fire, an intrepid Bostonian transplant jogged by. Curiosity caught the best of her, and she wandered inside the gate for a closer look. After she informed the NOLA Brew crew that she was training for this thing called a marathon, they cajoled her into having a few beers as part of her rehydration regimen. Chalk up one more loyal customer.

(Pictured from left to right: Beer Wench, Mike "Indy " Grap, Brewmaster Peter Caddo, Vice President Dylan Lintern, Brewer Melanie Knepp, and President Kirk Coco)

Pay no attention to the man with the large chef's knife, but he thinks you should drink his NOLA Brown with your next steak. The Hopitoulas IPA ain't a bad choice either. While NOLA's beers are usually enjoyed straight from the tap at your favorite restaurant, you can now pick up NOLA draft packs at your local grocer. These cardboard boxes hold a case of beer and will stay fresh long after you pour your first pint.

People sometimes say that the best tasting steaks are the ones they cook at home. I have never really subscribed to that theory. But I will say that a steak cooked on a keg grill in a brewery on a Sunday afternoon after a Saints playoff win is a damn good steak. Especially when you have all the beer in the world to wash it down with.

Farewell to Meat - Stella!

Carnival has arrived and with it another Blackened Out Feature. As Carnival traditionally was a time to bid adieu to meat, every week we will profile one of our own and ask them a simple question, "What would be your last bite of meat before Lent?". Peter and Rene will team up to interview, photograph, and write each story. We hope you enjoy it. And now, for the first installment of Farewell to Meat.

Scott Boswell
Chef/Owner- Restaurant Stella!, Stanley, and Scott Boswell Enterprises

The Meat: Kabayaki-Glazed Prime Beef Tenderloin with Seared Japanese Yam, Steamed Baby Vegetables, Wilted Baby Bok Choy, and Sweet Soy-Sake Butter

"Fire one beef."

"Pick up one steak."

Only moments before the kitchen inside Stella! had been quietly humming along, preparing the day's prep work for a Sunday night service. One cook peeled potatoes, another sauteed mushrooms, a third checked on tiny Earl Grey macaroons, all focused on their task. Then Chef Scott Boswell placed an order and like a flick of a switch, the kitchen transformed into an operating room.

On his left, a sous chef placed a sauce pan filled with kabayaki beurre blanc to which Boswell dropped a rare, 7 oz. prime beef tenderloin filet. On his right a sake poached, seared Japanese yam. In front of him, were a set of chopsticks and a tray of roasted winter vegetables. With the precision of a surgeon, Boswell poured the beurre blanc into the bottom of a cauliflower shaped plate, stacked the vegetables, plated the meat, placed the yam, and topped it with a sprig of tempura battered tanno.

"Meat and potatoes," Chef Boswell remarked with a sly grin.

The process began hours before in the kitchen. First a whole prime beef tenderloin is butchered and portioned into 7 oz. increments - 7 being Chef Boswell's favorite number.

Then the beef is seasoned with salt and pepper and left to rest for 10-12 minutes. Then over to the sautee station where the beef is seared in clarified butter set on a thermonuclear range. After a few turns, whole butter is spooned into the pan and used to baste the meat in order to give it color. The milk solids also import a rich, well-rounded flavor to the beef.

After the beef is browned (but nowhere near cooked), the filet is dropped into an ice chest filled with liquid nitrogen to stop the cooking process. After a minute or so of bubbles raging like a jacuzzi on full blast, the filet is put in a plastic pouch and placed in a pressurized chamber for vacuum sealing.

From this point, the individually wrapped filets can be stored in the deep freeze for an extended period of time. Then once an order is placed, the wrapped filet is dropped in one of four immersion circulators set to varying degrees depending on desired level of doneness. This process, known as sous vide, slowly raises the internal temperature of the beef to that of the water.

This technique is not just a parlor trick. As Boswell explains, "The filet comprises 40-50% of our entree sales. The grill cook gets slammed and is always running around with steaks in the oven, on the range, poking, prodding, testing for doneness. If a steak gets sent back overcooked, that can really affect not only the flow of the kitchen, but also the bottom line. This allows to serve a perfectly cooked steak every time."

But there is one more wrinkle to this dish. Once the sous vide process is complete, the steak is thrown into a deep fryer for just a few seconds to give it that "mongolian beef crust." The filet is then coated in the kabayaki beurre blanc. Kabayaki sauce, a traditional Japanese accoutrement to eel, begins its life as a large vat of carrots, onions, soy, sake and sugar. The mixture reduces until a syrup like consistency. The kabayaki then gets added to a class French beurre blanc. After its warm butter bath, the steak is sliced in half, sprinkled with a touch of coarse salt, and plated.

The resulting dish makes us doubt the motives of vegans even more. The sprinkle of salt on the final plating, sweetness and acid from the kabayaki beurre blanc, and slight bitterness from the vegetables all unite to tantalize each taste bud. The yam's texture and taste is similar in some ways to a polenta cake. It is easy to see why, even among returning customers, this dish is a favorite. That goes for Chef Boswell's wife Tanya as well, who always requests extra sauce with her delivery order.

If Chef Boswell were eating this dish he would start with the truffled gnocchi with Iberico ham and end the meal with a trio of creme brulees. His sommelier, John Mitchell, suggests pairing this filet with either an '05 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon or a Domaine Gallet Cote Rotie. But served with a fruit forward Chianti in the kitchen was not a bad choice either.

As for Mardi Gras, Chef Boswell will be hard at work at Stanley which, for the first time this year, will be open on Fat Tuesday. His Lenten resolution, as always, is to abstain from alcohol. It's going to be tough eating this steak without a nice glass of wine, but Lent is always about sacrifice, now isn't it?