NARRATOR: Major funding for "Dook Chase: A Chef's Journey" was provided by the Melvin S. Cohen Foundation Incorporated.

Additional support by Zatarain's, bringing the flavors of New Orleans home for over 125 years.

Zatarain's born and raised in New Orleans.

From the spice of jambalaya to the flavors of a classic crab boil, it's a taste of New Orleans made at home.

And by Camellia Beans, rooted in New Orleans since 1923.

A family business with a devotion to beans spanning four generations.

Camellia Beans, a taste of home.

DOOK: Today on "A Chef's Journey," I have the pleasure of joining my mom in my home kitchen to share family memories.

Alva Jean Chase has always been the glue for our family.

Despite her busy schedule, she made time to take care of everyone's needs, including preparing favorite dishes for the men in her life, my father, Edgar "Dooky" Chase III, my two brothers, and me.

Together, we'll remember Big Dooky, who loved a great story.

So let's get started on this kitchen tale.

♪ (theme music playing) DOOK: So great to have you in the kitchen today, Ma.

ALVA: Thank you, glad to be here.

DOOK: And talking about memories, when I see this bag, this brings me back.

Just coming in the kitchen, seeing that oven light on, and I know something good was happening.

What was the ease of this bag?

How'd, how'd you do it all?

ALVA: I was not really a cook, but the bag was like a miracle to me.

I fixed pork chops in bag.

I fixed chicken in bag, meatloafs in the bag.

Everything was prepared in the bag.

And so it was just easy for me.

DOOK: So you got to walk me through this, because that was just... ALVA: Let's see.

DOOK: ...fantastic, how you were able to be so efficient with a bunch of knuckleheads running around the house.

ALVA: Well, we can start with this pork chop... DOOK: Okay.

ALVA: ...I think, okay.

We'll start with the seasoning.

We'll put a little salt and pepper on both sides of it.

DOOK: All right, so I got it on the top, and then I'm going to flip them over.

ALVA: Flip them over, yes.

And put a little bit on the other side.

DOOK: And I know you had so much going on.

You had a full-time job.

ALVA: Yes.

DOOK: You would come home, pick us up from school.

We played sports at Digby Playground way back in the day.

ALVA: Yes, yes, yes.

DOOK: So I can go right in here?

ALVA: In here, yes.

DOOK: All right.

ALVA: You can place them and layer them.

DOOK: What's next for this?

ALVA: Okay, after that, sprinkle a little flour.

DOOK: Okay.

ALVA: Okay.

DOOK: So this is going to tighten up that juice as those pork chops bake.

This gives you that gravy.

Where we going next?

ALVA: And then I always put a pinch of water... DOOK: Pinch of water.

ALVA: ...to moisten.

DOOK: All right.

ALVA: Yes.

DOOK: So, almost like a slurry.

ALVA: Yes.

DOOK: Now see that, you're learning the chef lingo.

ALVA: I... DOOK: You was a chef before the chef.

You got a slurry going on here, and then we have onions and butter.

What goes next?

ALVA: Yes, the onions.

DOOK: All right.

ALVA: Mm-hmm.

DOOK: And then for me, you know, something I always use that we can't pass up, so I was going to bring it to the party one way or the other, but I'm glad you told me, butter.

ALVA: Yes.

DOOK: So we're going right on top here with butter.

ALVA: Yes.

DOOK: And then the last thing we have to do is what?

ALVA: The zip tie.

DOOK: The zip tie was the magic?

ALVA: Yes, and once you do the zip tie, then you have to poke at least a few holes in the bag to give it... DOOK: Oh.

ALVA: ...the moisture.

DOOK: I got you, so we zip tie, there's air in this bag.

ALVA: Yes.

DOOK: You're gonna poke some holes in this bag to let that air out.

ALVA: Yes.

DOOK: The water's keeping the moisture in.

ALVA: Yes.

DOOK: Hold on, now I might start cooking with the bag.

If they allow me to cook in this house, huh?

ALVA: Yes.

DOOK: So I'm good here.

And then I just come around and just little holes we poke in there.

ALVA: Little bitty holes, yes.

DOOK: All right, got you.

ALVA: That's the way you do it.

DOOK: One there, one there.

ALVA: Mm-hmm.

DOOK: And our oven is preheated to what?

ALVA: 350 degrees, and we're gonna let it stay in the oven for about 45 minutes.

DOOK: Well, let's get this... ALVA: Let's do it.

DOOK: ...in the oven.

ALVA: Okay, right here.

DOOK: Well, now that's in, let's move to the table and let's just keep talking.

So while the pork chops are in the oven, I definitely just want to share some memories and really thank you and Dad for, for giving me the opportunity to chase my dreams, to be in this industry.

I can remember sending you an email.

Now, let me set this up, I bought two homes, a truck, and I sent my mom an email from my job saying, "I'm thinking of switching careers and going full-time in hospitality, but want to go to Paris, France, for culinary school."

Hit send.

I thought the response was gonna be a phone call and say, "What are you doing?

Where are you?"

And, "You must be going crazy."

But you remember what you told me?

ALVA: "Go for it."

DOOK: Yeah, three words.

ALVA: Dad and I loved each other.

We complemented each other, but we loved our three sons.

We were so proud of them, and still proud of them.

If they wanted to do it, we said, "Let's get with it."

DOOK: And then growing up, seeing you and Dad, the love y'all had, the work ethic, you know, both, what'd you, 41 years or something?

ALVA: Yeah, at the government, I worked 41 years.

DOOK: Yeah, 41 years of work, Dad had probably another... ALVA: Another, yes... DOOK: ...40-plus years.

You talk about somebody who's a CPA, a lawyer, a dean of business, brought back facilities... ALVA: Yes.

DOOK: ...after the storm.

He would just dive in.

I remember what I was able to share at Dad's funeral.

I wrote it called "Operate With Love."

And that's who he was, he was a person that loved life.

He loved people.

He loved every aspect of it, because when you operate with love, you can only do that at 100%, right?

There's no half love.

You were the glue... ALVA: Yes.

DOOK: And he was the person just making sure everything was in place for the glue to operate.

I'm certainly inspired by the memories of the foundation that you and Dad gave me, Trevor, and Travis, and everything in between.

So love you, Mom, and thank you so much.

ALVA: Love you too.

Proud of ya.

DOOK: Now I gotta get back in the kitchen... ALVA: Kitchen... DOOK: ...and make some magic.

Welcome to my kitchen, where inspiration and creation come together in a celebration of culture.

You know, sharing those stories with my mom at home just brings me back to a time when we would go visit her mother.

We called her Grandmother Rita.

Christmas Eve, we came together, and she would have this fabulous roasted chicken.

And for me, working in a restaurant, you'd think of a eight-piece chicken.

Not with Grandmother Rita.

That chicken had 12 pieces.

We have our 12 pieces, so now we'll start to season this beautiful chicken.

Just a little bit of salt.

That will go right on the top of all of them.

Here I have a little granulated garlic, and the last I have is just a little cayenne pepper.

If you prefer black pepper, that's just as fine.

We're going to flip these pieces over.

We have to make sure that we have seasoning on both sides, because that's going to help with the coloring when we start to brown this chicken.

We have our salt, little garlic... and a little cayenne.

I have this pot here, it's on a medium heat.

You don't want it on a high heat.

You want to maintain that flavor at the bottom, but you don't want to burn it.

And that's what we have here.

We're going with a little vegetable oil, so we're going right in here with this chicken.

And we're going to work this slow.

And you know, as I grew up and started to think about working slow, we had time back then.

You know, my grandmother had time in the kitchen.

You know, growing up with my mother, who worked, she had a little time, but she had technique.

So I think that's important, right?

If you don't have a lot of time, you can use techniques that save you time, but give you that same delicious flavor.

And we'll start to flip this one, and look at that beautiful color.

This is what we're looking for right here.

When you see that beautiful golden brown, you can start to smell it.

And this is the color that we're looking for.

The star of the show is just that pan gravy, right?

You can see we're not adding flour, we're just adding a hint of water.

But you really want all those juices from that chicken to flow down as this roasts in the oven, those vegetables just start to release all their juices.

That's what's going to create this beautiful gravy here.

I have beautiful brown on both sides.

This is the perfect time where we'll take this out the pot and start to add our vegetables.

(sizzling).

So when you look at the bottom of this pot, this is what I'm talking about, flavor, right?

That speck, that seasoning that's sitting at the bottom, this is where we start to add in our onions, and we start to pick all that beautifulness up.

And as we add those onions, they're releasing their juice.

It's going to clean the bottom of this pot.

And as you can see, it has picked up pretty much everything at the bottom of that pot.

That's when you know you're deglazing.

That's when you know your onions are working, and you can also start to smell it.

So right when we hit there, now we start to add in our celery.

And not as much as the onions.

The onions are the main basis of this, right?

When you're dealing with the trinity, you're going to have your onions, you're going to have your celery, you're going to have your bell peppers.

That's all about layering flavor.

Always add those onions first, because that's your biggest deglaze.

That picks up, that starts to caramelize, that starts to get all that great seasoning that's going on in your pot.

This is the cooking that you have to have patience, right?

For me, fast-paced in the kitchen, you want to cook, cook, cook, and bring it out, no.

You have to develop this flavor.

You have to make sure, as it goes, you're moving it around.

The reason why we hadn't added the water yet, because this also is picking up that color, right?

As we brown, as we caramelize those onions, that rich color that you're going to see is going to come from this process right here.

So at this stage here, we're going to add a little seasoning to here.

We have a little salt, have a little dried thyme, and add just a little bit of cayenne, just for some heat.

And we start to move that, and as you add that seasoning, it already starts to speak to you.

You can smell that thyme coming through, that little bit of cayenne that sneaks up.

So this is the stage we're looking for.

And then we're just going to deglaze.

(sizzling).

And just enough liquid to cover those vegetables.

Chicken's going right back in.

I have a oven that's preheating at 350 degrees.

We're going to put this one in, and while we were cooking, I had one working before, so I can show you exactly how it's going to come out.

Again, this goes in for 45 minutes uncovered.

That's why you're going to get that golden brown look on this chicken, and I want you to see how beautiful this looks when it comes out.

When you see that, that caramelization of that onion, that chicken, that brown color that just comes through.

Grandmother, I hope you're up there making sure I got it right.

But look at that.

Look at that richness of this gravy.

Oh.

You get that just taste of that sweet onion, caramelized.

That chicken, that gravy.

This is how much you want in the pot, because that's reduced.

That's full of flavor.

That is just greatness.

And then we'll start to show you these 12 pieces of a eight-piece bird, back in the day, how they made this work, and you just see how tender this chicken is.

Beautiful color.

And then one thing that I'm going to do to this beautiful gravy, just to create that shine, I have to add just a little bit of butter, not much, just a little, and I spin that around.

But look at that.

Look how beautiful that looks.

That's what you're looking for.

This is just heaven right here.

We're going to take this, and I'm coming right on top of this chicken, and you're going to see just how... Oh, man, the richness of that gravy.

That's what you're looking for when you're talking about a beautiful gravy, thickened by just reducing and picking up all that flavor of that chicken.

Packed full of flavor, chicken falling off the bone.

It just brings me back to spending time with my mother and her mother, Grandmother Rita, on Christmas Eve, family coming over, and digging into that pot.

This is what I love the most.

This dish is all about Dad.

We call it the Big Dooky.

Very simple, it's a bone-in rib eye.

Some would call it a cowboy steak.

We call it the Big Dooky.

We're going to add a little bit of salt to it.

Of course, I have this cast iron on a medium heat, getting hot for me right now.

We're going to add a little bit of pepper, a little granulated garlic here, and we'll flip it over.

Same here, a little bit of salt, a little bit of pepper, and a little garlic.

We're going to add just a little oil, and then I'll top that with a little butter to coat it.

This is going to allow me to cook on that high heat without browning that butter all the way through.

This gives that butter a little cushion.

We'll add just a little butter, and we're just going to mix it around with this beautiful oil that we have here.

And you can see, we want it just to get a little hot.

When that butter starts to turn just a hint of brown, that's when we're going to add this steak.

That's when we know it's at that right temperature to give a great sear.

You know, my father always loved the protein of the dish, right?

Whether it was a big piece of steak, whether it was a pork chop, whether it was fried chicken.

You know, my father was an educator.

He worked at Dillard University as the dean.

He was also a Marine, so he had that strength.

He got that strength from the Marine, but he got that strength from his parents, too.

If you know my grandmother and my grandfather, they were some heavy hitters.

We grew up learning about confidence and courage, and integrity.

But as you let this rib eye cook, same as any protein you're searing, you're going to see it start to elevate.

You're going to smell it, but you're going to see those sides work out.

We love the medium rare.

That's where we're going to cook this steak to.

Now we're at the stage that we need to flip this over, and you can see that beautiful color that we have, that seasoning, that pepper, all that great stuff coming, right?

We have it here.

We just want to get to a medium rare, as we talked about, knowing the sign of when you have a rare, and then you come a little tighter, and it's a medium rare, and if you make a whole fist, that's the well done.

So we're looking for a good medium rare.

You see this bone-in on this rib eye.

If you have a chance to cook meat with bone-in, that is the most flavorful meat you're going to have.

So we have a beautiful sear on both sides.

We're going to put this in a 400-degree oven for seven minutes.

I'm looking for that medium rare that he loved.

And as that cooks, it just gives me time to think about how we got to where we are as a family, but how important it was for that foundational element, how important it was for each and every generation that came before us, that mentored us, that showed us the way, that taught us the true meaning of life.

And certainly, Dad, you were one of those for me, one of those for my brothers Trevor and Travis.

Mom, Dad, we love you.

We're always thinking about you, and that's why we're making Big Dooky today.

So now we're going to get it out the oven.

It's seven minutes.

You're starting to smell that steak come to you.

Oh, man, that looks beautiful.

I'm going to put it right here.

And as you know, anytime you're cooking a great piece of meat, especially beef, you want that to rest.

You want those juices to get back flowing again.

So we're going to take this right out of here and just let it rest right there.

And the last thing that we're going to do we're not going to lose that great flavor that we developed right here in this pot.

We're just going to add just a little bit of butter.

We're going to kick in some garlic.

Anything that was stuck on the bottom, I want to deglaze it up.

And you can see that coloration that's happening on that garlic.

And that's what we're looking for.

This is a perfect sauce right here.

Now we're ready to plate.

This has rested.

We're going to put that Big Dooky right on here.

And then we come in just right on top with that beautiful sauce.

♪ Finish that with a little fresh thyme.

This is for you, Dad.

I'm sure you're looking down, smiling down, and you can taste it, and hopefully you can smell it, the Big Dooky.

We love you and miss you.

So now we're talking Alva Jean's pecan tarts.

My mother made these during holiday season, getting into Thanksgiving, certainly for Christmas.

People would request it.

Very easy to do, and I love them.

And before you know it, you had a whole pecan pie, you didn't realize you ate that many.

But it's simple, we'll start while making the dough here.

You can see I have three ingredients.

This is how easy it is.

You have butter.

Make sure your butter's softened, 'cause you have to work that butter with this cream cheese.

So it's one stick of butter, three ounces of cream cheese.

This'll make about 24 of these pecan tarts.

And you want to start to work this, and I'll get this wood spoon to help work that in, so I can keep my hands clean before we add the flour and really start to dive into here.

And now we'll start to add the flour, and just add a little coat here, and then we'll just dive in.

And as you're working it, right, you're mixing in that butter, you're mixing in that cream cheese, you're mixing in that flour.

Add the rest of that flour.

So just want to make sure every little piece has a little bit of butter and cream magic, and then I'm diving in.

And this is right where we need it to be.

And let's go ahead on and start to form this.

And you can feel as you're doing this, you're still incorporating that butter, you're still incorporating that cream cheese together.

This is right where we want it.

So this is what you're looking for, this beautiful ball here.

So now this has to rest in a refrigerator for an hour.

So while the dough is cooling, we're going to work the filling.

But we have one egg.

We have three-fourths cup of brown sugar.

And you want to whisk that egg, and then as we whisk it, we're going to start to work in that sugar.

And then just beat that in.

To that, we're going to add a tablespoon of vanilla.

To that, I have some softened butter, and we'll work that in.

And then what you want to add is just a pinch of salt.

You're looking for almost a pasty-type texture, and we're getting there.

Having a little butter in there as just clumps, that's okay.

That's when it's baking, it's just going to ooze out and flavor up some more of those tarts.

Now, you don't want to add all these pecans in, right?

You got to save some for the next step in the process.

But we're going to add just a little bit.

That was a cup of pecans, so you're adding about three-fourths in this mixture.

You're going to save the rest.

But this is that consistency that you're looking for right here.

So now this is finished.

Let's go check on our dough, and let's make these tarts happen.

So we have our dough out.

I've been just pinching it off, right?

This is where you start to make those balls.

This'll make 24, and you just want to roll them into smaller ones.

And as you roll, you're going to put them right in here.

So we roll, put it right in here, pinch, put it right in there.

My mom would always try to get us to come in here, and as a kid, any time you had batter, any time you had something that mimicked a dessert, you wanted to eat it.

That's why I think, for the most part, she just made sure she had a plate full of those tarts when we came looking.

So we have our 12 here.

I'll put this to the side.

And basically all you want to do is press it down, right?

Now you're forming that thumbprint.

You're creating that cup where you're going to put those pecans, right?

And that's what we're looking for, just pressing it down, creating that cup.

And as that bakes... But this is the indent that you want to make 'cause you're creating that cup.

You just want to make sure you have some pecans in each, right?

The ones we have left over, just put some right at the bottom, at the bottom of each one.

So that was for our first 12.

This'll be left over for our next 12.

And then here we go.

So give it a good stir.

Make sure you can see that beautiful brown sugar, that syrup, that egg mixture, and you're coming right on top.

And look at that.

That's beautiful.

I'm sure my mom enjoyed doing this.

You know, this is an easy tart.

Many of her friends, a lot of family members, wanted her to make it so they can share with their in-laws, you know, for their holidays.

They can share with their family.

And this is something that's so easy and quick to do.

And man, is it delicious.

You know, people always ask, "Is it hard when you grow up in a family that has restaurants, has chefs, is it hard to cook for them and worry about it?"

But I think when you just cook with love, cook with what you know, cook with what you grew up with, you know they're going to enjoy it, because you enjoyed it as a child.

So I have my oven preheated at 325.

This is going to go in for 25 minutes.

So we have it in the oven at 325 for 25 minutes, and I want to show you what these things are going to look like when they come out.

Beautiful.

When you see that caramelization coming through from that brown sugar, you see the tart, that brown coming through, you know you're going to have that texture of that crunch.

So thanks for joining me as we explore the food traditions of New Orleans and the reason why we cook what we cook.

I'll see you on the next chapter of my journey.

Cheers, Mom.

Oh, awesome.

NARRATOR: In his new cookbook, Chef Dook Chase explores the legendary dishes and unique food traditions of New Orleans.

This companion to "A Chef's Journey," with all the recipes from the series and more than 125 color photos, is available for $32.99 plus shipping.

To order, call 1-800-815-3153 or purchase online at wyes.org.

JUSTIN: And you know what the key is to a good barbecue sauce?

Grape jelly.

DOOK: Grape jelly?

JUSTIN: I put grape jelly in my barbecue sauce.

DOOK: Oh, man, you got spins on all kinds of things.

JUSTIN: And it gots to be the cheap grape jelly.

DOOK: Okay.

JUSTIN: Can't be that high-end.

DOOK: Yeah.

JUSTIN: No preserves.

DOOK: I got you.

JUSTIN: We do jelly here, baby.

DOOK: Give it a sweet grape, baby.

JUSTIN: That's it.

DOOK: Let's go for it.

Cheers to the classics of New Orleans.

What am I saying?

CHEF: Maybe you could use your whisk.

DOOK: Yeah.

Oh, and you thought I was the bossiest one in the kitchen, check this out.

CLEO: You listen to the fryer, it'll tell you when something is, is fried.

When you first put it in there, oh, it sounds angry.

It's, it's mad right now, it's really mad.

But then, when it gets to be just about done, it'll calm itself down.

DOOK: Look, you all have inspired me.

I have to get back in the kitchen.

Vito, you walking?

See that?

That's good.

Vito?

KID: Nope.

DOOK: Nope.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: For more information about "Dook Chase: A Chef's Journey," visit wyes.org.

NARRATOR: Major funding for "Dook Chase: A Chef's Journey" was provided by the Melvin S. Cohen Foundation Incorporated.

Additional support by Zatarain's, bringing the flavors of New Orleans home.

Rooted in the city's rich culinary traditions, Zatarain's is born and raised in New Orleans.

From rice mixes to frozen meals, it's an authentic taste of New Orleans.

And by Camellia Beans.

You shouldn't rush a red bean.

Let it cook, then you can gather around with family and share in its distinct culture.

Camellia Beans, a taste of home.

♪