Iron Chef… Shrimp!
Everyone knows that New Orleans is one of the best places to eat. We had been talking about Cajun food for a while, so we thought the best way to pay tribute to one of our favorite food cities was to cook up some of Louisiana’s pride and joy, their shrimp. We purchased our shrimp from Kay and Ray Brandhurst, owners and shrimpers of Four Winds Seafood in Louisiana.
One after another, we served 8 courses, using the shrimp in each course. The first 4 dishes were offered by Chef Saul Scwartz, a Philly chef who was in for the weekend to check out the food in Chicago. His first course featured a poached shrimp in a gazpacho consomme. Without giving away his technique, he converted a puree of tomatoes and cucumber into a clear and flavorful consomme containing the essence of these 2 ingredients. His Andouille Risotto was very well received, served with a corn sauce using Michigan corn, and of course, a Louisiana shrimp bbq’d in a bourbon molasses sauce. Saul’s ravioli was filled with braised pork cheek we got from the meat packing district, and local Illinois apples, then topped with a Louisiana shrimp that was poached in vanilla butter. Saul taught us how to make a really good pasta using durum wheat and whole eggs, a recipe we used for our fettucini.
For the Clandestino crew, preparation started a few days before dinner, picking up all the produce from the Green City market, making some Andouille sausage, and putting the finishing touches on the dinner party. We were anxious to present our 4 dishes. Performance for the night was by a band called Richard Flemming. They played their first set after the first round of courses, and it really got us working harder in the kitchen. Yes, we like to rock out while cooking. They gave us a copy of their new CD. Our current favorite is track 4.
Our first dish was a shrimp and grits dish presented in a Nigiri style with a red remoulade and a white remoulade. Each sauce was made with a base of caramelized onion, celery, and green pepper (the trinity), which was deglazed with stock and then reduced. For the white remoulade, we used sauteed local baby fennel and celery root. To make the red remoulade, we used tomatoes and paprika. For our 3rd course, the cajun pasta, we wanted to go with something very traditional. Sous chef Nikki Stanger started a sauce with a tomato and trinity base, then proceeded to add “layers” periodically: chicken stock, shrimp stock, local okra, Andouille, crawfish, catfish, and finally shrimp.
The crowd favorite was definitely the dessert, earning the highest scores in the judging. Pastry Chef Stacey Whitney delivered the 8th and final dish for the Clandestino team, shrimp-coconut macaroons with a praline ice cream and cayenne blueberry sauce.
Dinner guests scored each dish in 3 categories: Taste, Presentation, and Cajun Factor. It was a very close count with no clear favorite, but at the end of the night, Team Clandestino got 52% of the vote and the win.
The competitive aspect of the dinner party really made things interesting for all the cooks in the kitchen. It was an opportunity to present some our favorite techniques and try out some new tricks, while using some very nice ingredients. We had a good time sharing recipes and working on perfecting our dishes.
The main goal of this dinner party was to initiate some conversations about New Orleans. There’s still a lot to talk about, and plenty of work that needs to be done to rebuild New Orleans. We chose to focus on helping out one of the hardest hit communities, individuals living with HIV in and around New Orleans. The NO/AIDS Task Force conducts HIV Testing, HIV prevention, and provides direct assistance for HIV positive individuals. We are sending a percentage of our dinner proceeds down to New Orleans, but they still need more help. If you’d like to donate directly to the NO/AIDS Task Force, you can do this directly through their website:
http://www.noaidstaskforce.org/
Special thanks to artist Layne Jackson for sharing her artwork with everyone at the dinner party. She brought a newly finished piece… 
Some of Layne’s paintings begin by studying an old black and white photograph, then interpreting the colors and perhaps highlighting the mood or an expression of one of the subjects in the photograph. It was very exciting to see some of the old photographs and observe the translation in Layne’s painting.
We are new fans of Richard Flemming and hope they come back and play next time they’re in town
Big thanks to all the volunteers, our student prep cooks who spent most of their Saturday afternoon deveining shrimp, and to Chef Saul Schwartz for bringing his skills to kitchen stadium in Humboldt Park.
Our next dinner will be on Friday, August 29th at an art gallery in Bridgeport. Check the Dinner Calendar for details and updates.
Photos by Eric Barker…
If you’d like to see some more of Eric’s photography, check out his website: http://www.photographee.com/
Check out Eric’s slideshow from the event…
Mary Congelosi
could you please tell me if you are selling turduckens and if you are where are you located
Posted 10-24-2008 ,