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: This time on "A Chef's Journey," we're at Dooky Chase to remember my grandmother, Chef Leah Chase, who became known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine.

We'll share memories of Leah with family who worked alongside the award-winning chef, as Leah transformed the small family restaurant into a dining destination that put Creole food on the map.

My grandmother continues to inspire us, so join me as we honor her legacy.

♪ (theme music playing) ♪ DOOK: We are in the kitchen with Chef Cleo Robinson, and, and as we honor you know, my grandmother, Chef Leah Chase's legacy, tradition just brings me back to this Monday.

Red beans and rice, fried chicken, and cornbread.

CLEO: Oh, Mondays was always our busy day, and of course, we started with the red beans and rice.

The red beans went on, and they had to sit for a while to cook.

So, it wasn't a quick dish, and it took us practically all day to get them done.

DOOK: So many things that, that Grandmother did, she had, you know, many awards and really appreciated it.

She would always come back and really say, "I got to work.

I got to work."

CLEO: "I got to work."

That was her main thing.

The community, she was tied to it.

She was anchored to it.

She loved what she was doing, but she was never phased by the awards.

She went, and she got the awards.

She was gracious to it.

She came home, she said, "Look, y'all, we got the award."

And then she said, "Okay, you need hot sausage over there.

You need some shrimp over there."

It was always getting back to the community and doing what she had to do.

DOOK: As we would say, "Oh, she's getting another award.

That means we're going to have to work 10 times harder," because she wanted to feed the whole community, just to show her appreciation for being recognized.

That's how humble she was.

She never stopped.

She kept pushing it, and that's when I learned the term, "You do what you got to do."

CLEO: And you think about what you said.

You just wake up in the morning, you pray, work hard, and you do for others.

And it comes back around full circle, and that's what we live by.

DOOK: And that's what's keeping us going, tradition, celebrating, and I have to dive into these red beans you got for us.

Mm.

This is it.

You know what I love?

She always taught me how to make red beans, and you have to taste that pepper.

CLEO: You have to taste it.

DOOK: And that's when I knew I had enough, I tasted those beans, that smoked ham shank that's in there, that's coming through.

That sausage.

Oh, man.

We got to do what we got to do, Cle.

CLEO: Got to do it.

DOOK: Let's keep it moving.

So, I'm sitting here in the dining room at Dooky Chase with my cousin, Tracie Haydel Griffin, and she handles all of the operations.

Specifically, when you're talking the front of the house, this is Tracie's realm.

What did you learn from Grandmother in that atmosphere?

TRACIE: Always the customer first.

Appreciation for the, for the families, the friends, and guests that come from all across the world, to come and take a moment, for us to have the opportunity to be of service.

DOOK: It was your mother who helped fast-forward the track of the growth of these dining rooms here.

Now, you coming in and making sure we're getting it right, making sure the customer is first, and you better believe we're hearing it in the kitchen if we're not doing our job as well.

TRACIE: When you want to make sure everybody has the experience that has been set for 84 years, you got to deliver.

We want to make sure that everything that our great-grandparents envisioned for an experience for a guest, with respect, with dignity, with good quality food, with kindness of service, we want to make sure that that is delivered every day.

DOOK: One of the things I always loved about Grandmother, her focus was on that guest, that customer.

Not only getting great food that she knows she was putting out to the floor, but making sure the experience that they got, the silver was shined right, the glasses, the napkins were folded a certain way.

We greeted them a certain way.

TRACIE: And I was always amazed, because someone could've dined here 10 years ago, and Grandmother remembered what they had, what they liked, what they didn't like.

And to remember that they liked crackling, or they liked their fried oysters a certain way.

Or however it was, Grandmother was skillful at remembering every diner and what they liked.

DOOK: As I walk in the restaurant, through the kitchen, in the back door, certainly I always stop and take a moment and feel Grandmother Grande and everybody's presence.

TRACIE: It's a daily conversation, whether it's through, through a prayer to help us get through the day.

You know, reflection on, "Okay, we got through it, but now tell me what you really thought about today" is coming.

But it is a daily journey with them.

DOOK: Having that spirit, having that inspiration, you know, I certainly got to get back in this kitchen and share with you all some dishes that really honors my grandmother, relives that legacy, and, and continues that legacy as we do here with the fourth generation.

So, thank you so much, Tracie.

TRACIE: Well, thank you, Dooky.

Glad to be a part of it.

DOOK: Keep pushing me, as you always do, and keep making our guests feel at home, as I know you always do.

So, thank you.

TRACIE: I have permission to be bossy.

(laughter).

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

Today, we're talking about my grandmother, Chef Leah Chase, known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine.

And one of the greatest memories I have is her love of soup.

Today's soup, we're doing an oyster and artichoke soup.

What I have here, it's a pot of just water that's simmering.

And what this is going to do is it's going to allow us to create this oyster stock, right?

So I have some beautiful oysters here that we're not putting the oysters in.

We're just going to strain and get that liquid gold, as we call it.

That's the oyster water.

And you're going to add that right into that water you have.

And if you lose oyster in there, that's okay.

You can scoop it, put it to the side.

I didn't add any salt to it because that oyster water already has a salt content to it.

So I want to bring this up to a nice little boil.

As that's going, we're going to start on the other side.

We'll get ready just by adding a little bit of butter.

The butter's right where we want it to be, so now we'll start to add in some of our onions.

And that's what you want to hear.

As soon as you hit that pot, that beautiful sizzle.

To with that, we'll start to add in some of this beautiful celery here.

You know, I can always remember, even when my grandmother was cooking soup daily, she would have friends that would call her, and they would call and say, "You know, so-and-so's not feeling too well today."

And my grandmother would make them a soup, not only to let them know that she was thinking about them, but she wanted them back.

She wanted them back to 100%.

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

Of course, our dried thyme is coming in.

And a little bit of cayenne pepper we'll use, just for a little heat to start to peek through.

So over here, I can see that oyster water is starting to work.

What you want to do is take a skimmer, and you want to come right on inside, and you want to take all of that out of there.

We want to get this out before we add it to this pot.

We have them out.

Turn this one off.

We're coming right back to this side.

This is the perfect time where we start to toast in our flour, right?

Of course, this is going to create the body, the body of this soup right here.

So you want to make sure you have enough, depending on the amount of liquid that's going into the soup.

And we're not looking for a peanut butter roux.

A little past the blonde roux.

So to this, we're going to add in our artichokes, and these are canned artichokes that you can find at the store.

(sizzling).

So now you start to see that roux is just starting to coat these beautiful artichokes, right?

So here we'll add our chicken stock.

We're going to add in a little garlic, and then we're going to add in one bay leaf.

And let this come to a simmer.

We're starting to simmer on the side.

And now we'll add the star of the show, these beautiful oysters, and we're going right on in.

And oh, man.

Now we're at the point where it's coming to a beautiful simmer.

I didn't add any more salt just yet.

I want to give it a taste first to see how much of that oyster stock had a little bit of salt.

So always you can add more.

Oh, man.

You get hit with those beautiful artichokes speaking to you.

You get hit with that bay leaf shining through, that thyme, a little of that garlic, that celery that's coming through.

I think it needs just a pinch of heat to balance that, and then I'll add just a little more salt.

And this is what you're looking for.

It'll start to curl, and you're looking for those layers to start to curl up.

Turn this down and let it simmer.

You can see this oyster right here is right where we want it to be.

So now the last thing we have, I'm going to taste it one last time.

That's it.

The last thing we have to do is add in these beautiful green onion, and you can start to see just the color that it's going to bring to it, along with the flavor, right?

And you stir that in.

So we're ready to serve.

And when you ladle it, of course, you want to get a little bit of everything.

Oh, look at that.

Coming right over here.

Just a little of our green onions, just for color.

Of course, when you know you're in New Orleans, you're not only eating that soup with a spoon, but you certainly got to sop that up here.

And to this, we're going to add just a sprig of our beautiful parsley we have here.

And when you're talking about taking care of the community and remembering Leah Chase, her love of people, you're bringing back those food memories, those soup memories, daily.

This is one that I know she would enjoy.

To continue our salute to Leah, one thing that my grandmother loved to cook was veal.

Today, we're stuffing this beautiful veal with a crawfish stuffing.

So let's go ahead on and get started.

We're going to start our pan with a little butter.

And this is where you want to start to add the onion.

(sizzling).

We'll start adding a little bit of this red bell pepper.

And of course, we'll start to add in just a tad bit of salt.

Have a little bit of dried thyme here, and a little bit of cayenne pepper for some good heat that's going to come through.

Before we add that crawfish, I'm going to hit it just with a little garlic.

And then now is the time where we want to start adding... look at these beautiful crawfish tails.

I mean... crawfish, like shrimp, when they cook, they start to turn in.

So that's right where we want this to be.

I'm going to pull this off the heat, and of course, I'm going to taste it just to see where we are.

The cayenne pepper is there, the sweetness of the peppers.

That crawfish is speaking to me.

This is right where I want it to be.

So we'll take this, and we'll put it right in our bowl here.

This is going to go into the refrigerator, and you want to let this sit in there for 10 minutes, so when you start to incorporate the egg and everything else, those cool ingredients will work well together.

Now that this is cool, we're going to grab our veal and start to work it here.

So I have a little bit of plastic wrap here, and what we're going to do is we're going to lay these beautiful cutlets just right out.

We do want to pound them out just to make sure it's even and spread out.

I'll come right on side here.

So you're probably wondering why I had this measuring cup.

This is my pounder, right?

So I'm not too heavy-handed with the big mallet.

And we just work the, work the rest.

And you can see it just starts to spread out.

And this is all we want it to.

We want to create that beautiful, even layer.

We're going to hit it with a little salt, not too much, and a little pepper.

Then we're going to let that rest, and we're going to come over here and finish our crawfish stuffing.

We need something to bind this stuffing together, and that's this one egg is going to help with that.

So I add in one egg.

To that, I'll add in some shredded Parmesan cheese.

And again, this is going to bring a little flavor.

It's going to bring a little salt content.

We have just a little bit of breadcrumbs.

Start with just a little, mix it in, and then come with more, right?

You want to make sure you're not putting in too much breadcrumbs; you want that crawfish to be the star of the show.

And to that, I'll finish that off with a little green onion.

So this looks beautiful.

Now we got to bring it back to the magic.

So what you want to do is just add a little bit right down the middle.

Stuff it out.

Get a beautiful crawfish in there, a little cheese.

You don't want to overstuff it.

And then here, you're just going to start to roll.

And this back finger can be the ones to keep that stuffing in, right?

As you roll, you're pushing in.

As you roll, you're pushing in.

As you roll, you're keeping that in.

Here we have strings that's already cut.

You can come right underneath here.

Do a little tie, not too heavy, just light, and then just as if you were tying your shoe.

So we'll add one more string at the bottom.

Again, not too tight.

You don't want to squeeze that stuffing out.

Just a little shoestring tie, and that's perfect.

And we have that right here.

So the last thing that you want to do is you're going to do a little bit of olive oil on this, just a little olive oil.

And then we start to put in a little breadcrumbs.

You're looking for that crunch.

I'll roll them over.

And then we'll set here.

We're going to add in just a little bit of olive oil, and of course, I have this on a medium heat.

We're getting ready to add some butter, and that's going to help with the browning of it that we want to do, right?

You're looking to just get some good texture, some good color on this veal.

And then we'll just start to add in our veal.

(sizzling).

And of course, you don't want to crowd the pot, right?

You're going to turn them over and work them, but you want to give each one its own place to do its magic.

And all we're going to do is we're going to put four in right here, and you're going to let them go on each side for a minute.

All you're looking for is that beautiful color.

So you don't want to cook them all the way through because we have to put them in the oven and let the inside cook.

So here's right where we want it to be, and we'll start to flip.

And see that beautiful color on that one?

That's all I'm looking for because we'll finish it right in that oven.

So this is what you're looking for, just that beautiful color.

We're going to make sure this side now gets a little bit of that coloration.

I have an oven that's preheated at 375, and we'll go right on in.

(sizzling).

Five minutes is up.

We'll go and grab our veal right out this oven.

Oh, and it certainly hits you when you open this oven door.

You can start to see the cheese is starting to ooze out a little bit.

Going to grab a block because, as you know, when you pull meat out the oven, you have to give it time to rest, right?

Set that veal just right on this block.

Now, we're not going to leave this greatness just in this pot.

So I have it on a medium heat.

We're just going to move it around just a little, and then I'll come and deglaze.

Just enough.

As you can see, I moved this around.

I'm picking up the bottom of that pan, right?

To this, I just want to add just a little color, a little chopped parsley here, and we're going to let that sit there.

So we'll add just one little piece of cubed butter.

That's going to be a beautiful flavor just coming out.

We'll set this on the side, and now our meat is cool, so we'll start to cut this veal.

Just take that tie right off.

Cut it on the angle, and you'll start to see those beautiful layers that you have.

Look at that veal, that crawfish.

Everything's cooked perfectly.

And really, you just want to start to showcase what you have here, right?

So you show one up there.

You see the little green that's coming out.

We didn't forget about our sauce, right?

This sauce, all you want to do is come right in front, right?

You don't want to hide the meat, but just come right around.

Right around.

Right around.

And man, you talk about a dish that pays homage to my grandmother's love of veal, and love of stuffing.

Learning that technique, it just hits home.

So I know you all are going to enjoy this dish.

You know, my grandmother was a lifelong learner, and this dish speaks to that, pepper steak.

So we have our beautiful top round beef here that we cut into strips.

We have our onions, bell peppers, a little garlic, soy sauce.

The first thing you want to do is you want to start to marinate this meat.

So we have a little bit of salt, and I'm not going to use too much salt, right?

Because we're dealing with soy sauce, which also has salt.

We have a little bit of pepper.

We have some sugar.

Now, this sugar is going to help with that caramelization process.

I'll get this in to mix it around and make sure we're getting to the bottom as well.

Do a little more sugar.

Do a little more salt.

Just a little.

And do some pepper.

Here, we're going to hit it with just a little bit of soy sauce.

Not all of it.

You're going to save some for that vegetables that we have.

And then we have some corn starch.

That corn starch is going to add some body to the sauce when we get to cooking it, but it's also going to add some beautiful color.

And then just a little paprika.

And you want to mix that in good.

And if you can do this you know 10 minutes before, set that on the side.

Just mix it in really good, make sure it's all seasoned.

We'll add some vegetable oil to it.

So you want this on a medium-high heat, because as soon as you add that meat, you want it to start to sear and start to tenderize.

So we're adding that in, and that's what you're looking for.

I want it to go right in there and just start working.

You know what's fascinating about this dish is my grandmother would love to take cuisine and showcase it, so as you had Dooky Chase Buffet, she would put pepper steak on that buffet.

And when she first did it, we were like, "What are you doing?"

But that's just who she was.

She wanted to learn from the culture and then celebrate it and put it out there and show you her spin on it.

But you can automatically start to smell that working, right?

This is what you're looking for.

You don't want to touch this.

You want it to sear up.

Now, the key about this, when you're cutting that top round, you have to cut that meat across the grain.

Any time you're cooking something, and you're cooking it on high heat with a cut that doesn't have a lot of fat that you had to cut against the grain, that makes a tender cut.

And the thinner you cut it, the more tender it will be.

We'll take these off, and we'll put this on the side, and we'll come back to it.

Now I'll add just a little bit more of this oil, just to help coat those vegetables.

And then we have some beautiful onions here that will go right on in.

(sizzling).

And we'll start these off, just give them a little turn.

And you can see that remainder of that caramelization that's left over in that pot.

Automatically, those onions start to brown.

And now we'll bring in our beautiful red bell pepper.

So the key on your stir-fry is you want to slice your vegetables, right?

Just like you sliced that beef, you're going to slice those vegetables.

I have in some green bell peppers that we'll add.

You're looking for that color, but you're looking to always have it on that high heat, because I want to give this a little time just to sweat down a little bit.

But I still want to have that crunch.

So this is right where we want it.

We'll add just a little soy sauce in here.

A little bit of pepper.

(sizzling).

Ooh, you can smell that soy sauce coming.

A little bit of salt.

A little garlic.

And right before that gets too thick with caramelization, we'll add this beef stock.

And that just deglazes and gets that bed right and ready to add that meat back.

We'll spread this around just a little bit to create a bed for this beautiful beef that we got to add back to it.

And we come right on in.

You see that juice that came through?

Going right back in that pot.

This is really quick.

You're going to let this go for five minutes.

It's reducing.

It's starting to thicken up as that sauce is coming.

You can see that caramelization, a beautiful color on that beautiful pepper steak.

We'll just start to plate this up.

I want to create that bed for that beautiful beef just going right on in.

Oh, man, that smell.

I am in a perfect spot right here, because that smell is just coming right back to my nose.

And then you finish that off with just look at that glaze coming through.

Oh, that beautiful glaze.

You know, this is a dish that just speaks to my grandmother's love of exploring other cuisines, celebrating culture.

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 "A Chef's Journey."

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.

CLEO: Stuff the pork chop, stuff the turkey.

And we're going to stuff you till you get nice and full.

DOOK: I told you, they stuff everything.

I get everything.

I love the toast.

I love that avocado, that little char that's coming through, those seeds.

CHEF: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

DOOK: Uh-oh, that's when you know you're enjoying it... CHEF: Yep, there we go.

DOOK: ...when you got it all over your mouth.

And that's when you know you got a good friend, when they tell you something's there, you know?

Some person would've let me stay my whole time on the show... CHEF: In front of the camera?

No, not me, not us, never, never.

DOOK: Thank you, chef.

Ha.

(exhaling).

I was trying to figure out what I want to say.

So let's figure out what I want to say.

(laughter).

So I'm telling you what the next dish is, and you better listen to it.

ZOE: All right, while our pie is cooking in the oven, we're going to clean up.

DOOK: Perfecto, I don't say anything.

(laughter).

ALVA JEAN: Sounds good.

DOOK: Good?

ALVA JEAN: You're a natural, you're ready to go to Hollywood.

DOOK: Yeah, I don't know about that.

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

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.

♪ ♪