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E D I T E D B Y AMY ELISA KEITH

All
Hail
the
Queen!
FAMED NEW ORLEANS CHEF LEAH CHASE KNOWS THAT DELICIOUS FOOD NEVER GETS OLD.
THIS EASTER, SERVE UP HER SOULFUL CREOLE RECIPES WITH A HEAP OF HISTORY AND A DASH
OF LOVE. B y A M Y E L I S A K E I T H

or the Queen of Creole

Cuisine, there are two ingredients that she simply
cannot cook without and
most certainly will not
skimp on. Dont come in
my kitchen if you dont like butter. I love
butter, says Leah Chase, head chef at New
Orleans staple Dooky Chases Restaurant.
And I dont care what you cook, darling,
you have to cook it with all the love you
can. Instantly, it becomes clear why President Barack Obama and then-President
George W. Bush have pulled up chairs at
her restaurant to lick their fingers after a
serving of fried chicken and partake of her
sage advice. The love and the soulful flavors
have kept guests packing the dining room

since she sauted her way into the kitchen

in 1946 after marrying musician Edgar
Dooky Chase II. And shes still whipping
up her classics in that kitchen.
The same dishes make me excited [now
that did then]. I just got through with 20
or 30 gallons of gumbo, says Chase, 90,
who in spite of a limp is still hand chopping seafood, grinding her own herbs and
doing the kind of work that has forced
strong men decades younger into retirement. I want it to go out there right, so
I take the same extra pain, love and care
that I did 60, 70 years ago.
Back then, elegant restaurants were a
privilege enjoyed by only a White clientele.
Chase worked to change that, teaching formal service and refined Creole cooking to

P h o t o g ra p h s b y K AT H Y A N D E R S O N P H O T O G R A P H Y

staff both in front and back of the house,

eventually adorning the walls of the restaurant with pieces from her own collection of
paintings by African-American artists. I
want it to be perfect, says Chase of her restaurants ambience. I like my white tablecloths and my linen napkins.
The restaurant became a hub for the
communityan essential stop for musicians, civil rights leaders and actorsbut
with laws declaring that the races were
separate but equal, Dooky Chase was only able to serve a segment of the population
until the arrival of integration. After the
restaurant was awash in flood water, then
looted amid 2005s Hurricane Katrina, relocation offers poured in. The Chases stood
their ground, setting up shop in a FEMA
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LIVE

Food

trailer and fueling the recovery with their

hearty gumbo. They knew that moving
would signal wavering confidence in their
beloved city, and their steadfastness was
rewarded.
These days, skin color and hurricanes
are the least of Chef Chases worries. With
Easter fast approaching, the restaurant
faces one of its busiest times of the year,
when she prepares to cook up to 100 gallons of gumbo zherbes, commonly known
as green gumbo. On Holy Thursday,
three days before Easter, the historically
predominant Catholic population of New
Orleans is allowed a big meat meal before
the high holiday. Guests flock to enjoy a
bowl of Chef Chases gumbo made up of
nine different greens, sausage, chicken
and more. We always say when we serve
you gumbo zherbes that you will have a
new friend for every green I have in the
pot, says Chase as she chuckles about
the superstition that her repeat custom-

1|

GUMBO
ZHERBES

SERVES 8

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch mustard greens

1 bunch collard greens
1 bunch turnips
1 bunch watercress
1 bunch beet tops
1 bunch carrot tops
1/2 head lettuce
1/2 head cabbage
1 bunch spinach
2 medium onions,
chopped
4 cloves garlic, mashed
and chopped
Water
1 pound smoked sausage
1 pound smoked ham
1 pound brisket stew meat
1 pound boneless brisket
1 pound hot chaurice
sausage
5 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon fil powder
Steamed rice

ers are sure to mention every year. Thats

a lot of love in a pot.
There is that love again. And not only
does the affection make for great gumbo,
but it also helps her keep up with her 22
great-grandchildren.
She and Dooky II had four children of
their own, then came 16 grandchildren,
followed by this new generation who have
made family dinnerswhich are held at
the restaurant because of sheer size a
loud, good time. It is just fun, especially
with those little ones, Chase says, recalling one 4-year-old great-granddaughter
showing her how to walk faster. They are
more than you can handle.
For Leah Chase, no matter how long it
takes her to walk from table to table greeting guests or how many years she spends
bent over a stove, feeding people mouthwatering food is a blessing. Her blessing.
That encourages me to do better and to
make a better world for my people.

and rinsing away all grit.

In a large pot, place all
greens, onions and garlic.
Cover with water and boil
for 30 minutes.
2. While vegetables are boiling, cut all meats into bitesize pieces and set aside.
Keep chaurice separate.
3. Strain vegetables after
boiling and reserve liquid.
In a 12-quart stockpot,
place all meats except
chaurice and 2 cups
reserved liquid, reserving the remaining liquid.
Steam over a high fire for
15 minutes.
4. While steaming other
meats, place chaurice in
a skillet over a high fire.
Steam until all grease
is cooked out, about 10

minutes. Drain charice,

keeping grease in the skillet, and set aside.
5. Puree all vegetables, either
in a food processor or by
hand in a meat grinder.
6. Heat the skillet of chaurice grease over a high
fire and stir in flour. Cook
roux for 5 minutes or until
flour is cooked. Pour roux
over meat mixture and
stir well.
7. Add vegetables and 2
quarts of reserved liquid. Simmer over a low
fire for 20 minutes. Add
chaurice, thyme, salt and
cayenne; stir well. Simmer for 40 minutes. Add
fil powder; stir well and
remove from fire. Serve
over steamed rice.

Sorry, soda.
IT WAS FUN
WHILE IT LASTED.

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All with 50% more calcium
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Silk PureAlmond Dark Chocolate
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Silk Chocolate Soymilk
Silk Very Vanilla Soymilk

PREPARATION:

1. Clean all vegetables,

picking out bad leaves

*Silk PureAlmond has 45% DV calcium; typical

1% dairy milk has 30% DV. Data from USDA
National Nutrient Database, Release 25.
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2|

Food

CRAWFISH
BISQUE

SERVES 4

cook
ave to
You h h all the
it wit an.
ou c
love y

INGREDIENTS:

10 pounds boiled crawfish

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onions
2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped green peppers
1 cup chopped green onion
2 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 cup bread crumbs
Crawfish fat from heads
2 cups plain flour
2 cups whole tomatoes
1 quart water
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 whole dried red pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup dry sherry
2 bay leaves
PREPARATION:

1. Peel and devein crawfish tails.

Save heads of crawfish. Chop
crawfish meat and set aside.
Heat cup oil in heavy pot.
Add 1 cup onion, 1 cup celery,
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers, 1/2 cup green onion and
1 teaspoon of garlic. Stir well
and cook for 5 minutes. Add
crawfish meat, 1 teaspoon salt,
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2
teaspoon paprika and 1 tablespoon parsley. Mix well. Make
sure onions are soft. Add
bread crumbs to mixture. Mix
well. Mixture should be tight
enough to stuff into heads. Set
aside.
2. Tap heads of crawfish in a
bowl to remove fat. Save fat.

68

3| RED BEANS

FRIED CHICKEN
4| SOUTHERN
SERVES 4

SERVES 6

INGREDIENTS:

Pull legs and eyes from shells.

Clean shells well. Stuff mixture
tightly into 20 of the heads;
discard remaining heads. Roll
each stuffed head in flour,
coating well.
3. Heat 1 cup oil in Magnalite
Dutch oven. Place stuffed
heads in hot oil and cook to
a light brown on all sides. Set
fried heads aside.
4. Sift flour that was used to roll
heads. Add 1 cup sifted flour
to hot oil. Brown flour and
add remaining onions; cook
until onions are soft. Add remaining celery, bell peppers,
green onions and garlic and
stir well. Add whole tomatoes
and chop them into mixture.
Slowly add water and stir well.
Add remaining salt, paprika
and parsley, then add the
thyme, dried red pepper, and
cayenne pepper. Stir well. Mix
the reserved fat in gravy and
let simmer on medium heat
for 20 minutes. Add sherry,
bay leaves and stuffed heads;
continue to simmer for 20
minutes. Serve over rice.

V I S I T E B O N Y. C O M / A P R I L 2 0 1 3

1 pound red kidney beans

2 quarts water
1 large onion (chopped)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 pound smoked ham (cubed)
1 pound smoked sausage (inch slices)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon whole thyme
leaves
2 level tablespoons salt
Steamed rice
PREPARATION:

1. Pick through beans, removing all bad beans or any other

particles; wash well. Place
beans in 5-quart pot. Add 2
quarts of water. Add onions;
bring to a boil. Lower heat and
let beans boil slowly for 1 hour.
When beans are soft, stir
well, mashing some against
side of pot.
2. Heat oil in frying pan; add ham
and sausage. Saut in oil for
5 minutes. Add the sausage,
ham and oil to beans. Deglaze
pan with cup of water, then
pour into beans. Add all other
ingredients. Let simmer for 30
minutes. Beans should be nice
and creamy. Serve over rice.

INGREDIENTS:

1 3-pound whole chicken

1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 cup Pet Evaporated
milk
1/2 cup water
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon granulated
garlic
1 quart oil for frying
PREPARATION:

1. Cut chicken into 8 pieces.

Season well with salt and
pepper; set aside. Mix
eggs, milk and water, then
pour mixture over chicken.
Let sit for 5 minutes.
2. In a heavy paper bag, mix
flour, paprika, thyme and
garlic. Place chicken in bag
with flour mixture. Shake
until chicken is well coated.
3. Heat oil, which should
reach 350 degrees, in
a Magnalite fryer, then
place chicken in hot oil.
Fry, turning as chicken
browns. Heavy parts such
as breast, thighs and legs
will take 15 to 20 minutes;
wings about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain chicken on
paper towel.

F R O M A N D S T I L L I C O O K B Y L E A H C H A S E A N D T H E D O O K Y C H A S E C O O K B O O K B Y L E A H C H A S E , L E A H C H A S E , U S E D B Y P E R M I S S I O N O F T H E P U B L I S H E R , P E L I C A N P U B L I S H I N G C O M PA N Y, I N C .

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