ROUSES.COM
17
E
arly every Thanksgiving morning, my dad would haul the crawfish boil
pot out of storage. The whole neighborhood would come by with their
turkeys for my dad to fry, one after the other. Each one took about 40
minutes, so my very social dad would get a good visit with everyone — and his
share of cold long necks. The day after, everyone would come back with their
carcasses, which Dad would toss in the pot for gumbo. Then — you guessed
it — the neighbors would all come back to eat, all weekend long!
My absolute favorite holiday dish is my grandmother’s oyster dressing. Even
though I was always at her elbow in the kitchen, washing and chopping the
vegetables, I have yet to replicate
it perfectly. I don’t know what
the woman did! It’s as if she
had some secret oyster-flavor
powder. She’d shuck the oysters,
then pour the liquor over stale
French bread. My job was to run
this through her manual meat
grinder — I still have it. Some
of the oysters got chopped, some
went in whole and I’d eat heaps
of it, instead of turkey!
Because Thanksgiving is our
biggest day of the year at the
restaurant, I’ve devised an approach to turkey that is pretty unique and the diners
have welcomed it with open appetites. It’s a boneless, rolled, trussed, herb-
seasoned,
sous-vided
, deep-fried turkey roulade, about the size and shape of a
football — and really very tasty.
I shop at Rouses — the neighborhood hangout at certain hours of the day where
you run into everyone you know — especially over the holidays. Not only does
Rouses offer locally grown produce, but they tell you who grew it.
Our Satsuma Glaze is great to have around during the holidays. Slather it on your
turkey, right before it is fully cooked to give it that prized shine: delicious!
Holiday Ham Tip
A Chip Off the Butcher Block
by
Chef Chip Flanagan, Ralph's on the Park
Satsuma Turkey Glaze
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
4 cups Louisiana satsuma juice
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
6 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Steen's Cane Syrup
1 small (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 cup chicken stock
¼ tablespoon satsuma zest
½ teaspoon cornstarch–water mixture to thicken
HOW TO PREP
Bring 4 cups of satsuma juice over medium heat to
simmer, and reduce slowly to 2 cups, stirring occasionally.
Add the vinegar, corn syrup, Worcestershire, cane syrup,
tomato paste and chicken stock to the reduced satsuma
juice. Slowly continue to simmer and reduce the sauce by
one quarter. Whisk in the cornstarch-water mixture, and
simmer on low for 10 additional minutes. When ready to
use, add the satsuma zest.
Chef Chip Flanagan and Ralph Brennan // photo by
Matthew Noel
“
I always make Turkey Po-boys
the day after Thanksgiving. Sliced
turkey, gravy, a little mayo, and lots
of cranberry sauce, all piled high
on French bread that’s been toasted
ever so slightly. The turkey always
tastes better the next day.”
—Ralph Brennan
RECIPE,
try me!
GLAZING
Wait to glaze your ham until one
hour before you are finished cooking
so it doesn't burn. You want to also
add the glaze in the last hour of
cooking a turkey.
Get Rouses fire glazed hams
at select locations.
