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."

Go Get Wicked Smart

A press release from Mrs. McCall...

The Young Leadership Council and the Literary Alliance of Greater New Orleans are hosting a special panel discussion on Wednesday, November 5th in conjunction with the YLC's One Book One New Orleans project. This year's novel is City of Refuge by Tom Piazza.

The book tells the story of two very different New Orleans families and their struggles during and after Katrina. The panel discussion will highlight one strong theme throughout the novel – New Orleans' identity through its unique food and beverage. Panel members include Ralph Brennan, Jim Monaghan, Jr. of Molly's at the Market, and Sara Roahen.

The discussion is from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. You do not have to be a member of the YLC or Literary Alliance to attend. Actually, you don't have to have read the novel to enjoy the panel (but it wouldn't hurt). But, space is limited…

For more information visit our website at http://www.onebookoneneworleans.com/.

Look, you are just getting stupider every day that you waste reading this blog. So if you have time tonight, go to SOFAB, listen to real writers, get some knowledge, and then start your own blog.

And another good link from Ben Jamon. I know Peter is very stoked to see the French Laundry on that list.

Father's Day Alert

Recently Ralph Brennan released his eponymous cookbook covering the seafood of New Orleans. This book has a certain amount of heft to it; however one thing you will appreciate is the detail to which Mr. Brennan and his co-writers devote to each recipe. Ever wanted to know how to clean soft-shell crabs? A photographic step-by-step account awaits. I highly recommend this book (and Mr. Brennan will gladly sign and personalize a copy for you) for either you or say your dad.

On Saturday for lunch Lady and I tried out Mr. Brennan's recipe for Barbecue Shrimp. We scored some U-15s from the Crescent City Farmer's Market. The recipe turned out wonderful. However, in an attempt to make the recipe more user friendly, Mr. Brennan instructs the careful culinarian to add a few drops of water followed by bits of butter to the pan. This is of course essentially a technique known as beurre monte. However, for the sake of shrimp (and their fragile cooking time) I would suggest preparing the beurre monte beforehand and then ladling into the pan. This can easily by done by adding a tablespoon of water to a sauce pan and then slowly whisking in bits of cold butter. The resulting, still emulsified, melted butter is a great all around cooking tool (especially for ladling over meats before popping in the oven).

Using beurre monte, rather than making beurre monte in the pan, will allow you to better control the doneness of the shrimp. No real effect on the flavor, but perfectly cooked shrimp are easier to peel. And perfection is the only goal here at Blackened Out.

Other than that one minor problem, the shrimp exploded with flavor and of course, there was some serious sopping up to do. We drank a bottle of the Medlock Ames Chardonnay from the State Dinner. Then a nap. Nice little way to spend a Saturday.