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RALPH BRENNAN'S NEW ORLEANS SEAFOOD COOKBOOK by Ralph Brennan with Gene Bourg photography by Kerri McCaffety Vissi d'Arte Books March 2008 $45.00/hardcover Full-color photographs ISBN-13: 978-0-9709336-8-3 Sample recipe

Contact: Trina Kaye
The Lisa Ekus Group, LLC
617-504-6869
TrinaKaye@tkopr.com

Any visitor to New Orleans has surely tasted and loved a seafood gumbo, a shrimp remoulade, or any number of the innovative seafood dishes turned out nightly by the city's talented cadre of creative restaurant chefs. Now, home cooks and chefs everywhere can bring these vibrant flavors home, thanks to third-generation restaurateur, Ralph Brennan, and his culinary team, who have created the definitive guide to New Orleans seafood with their new cookbook, RALPH BRENNAN'S NEW ORLEANS SEAFOOD COOKBOOK. Four years in the making (including a nine-month hiatus in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina), this beautiful, full-color cookbook was created by the perfect storm of Louisiana talent including Ralph Brennan, his five talented chefs (representing Red Fish Grill, BACCO, Ralph's on the Park, and Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen), veteran writer and editor Gene Bourg, and acclaimed photographer Kerri McCaffety.

"In New Orleans, cuisine is a great leveler — home cooks can be just as passionate about our food culture as the high-profile chefs in a fine-dining establishment," says Brennan. "We created this book to demystify seafood and provide everyone the opportunity to create unique New Orleans seafood recipes at home."

To achieve this goal, each detailed recipe was painstakingly prepared and triple-tested in home kitchens to ensure dishes come out authentic and delicious, every time. Within the book's 432 pages, home cooks will find iconic recipes such as:

• Trout Amandine
• Oysters Rockefeller
• Barbecue Shrimp
• Grilled Redfish and Fried Green Tomatoes with Ravigote Sauce and Hot Butter Sauce

Other recipes in RALPH BRENNAN'S NEW ORLEANS SEAFOOD COOKBOOK prepare Gulf seafood the way Ralph Brennan's restaurants serve it- with a contemporary twist. These recipes include:

• Crawfish Ravioli
• Barbecue Oysters with Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce
• Crabmeat Lasagna with Crab-&-Chanterelle Butter Sauce
• Crawfish Springrolls

And what cookbook would be complete without desserts? New Orleans is also known for its unique confections, including these favorites showcased by Ralph Brennan:

• Creole Cream Cheese Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce & Roasted Pecans
• Chocolate Bread Pudding with Two Chocolate Sauces & Almond Bark
• Lemon Icebox Pie
• Fluffy Sweet-Potato Pie
• Creole Red Velvet Roulade with Café-Brûlot Crème Anglaise

RALPH BRENNAN'S NEW ORLEANS SEAFOOD COOKBOOK is set apart from other seafood-focused cookbooks by a section called "A Seafood Cook's Manual." This comprehensive guide to Gulf seafood covers everything from finfish, crabs, crawfish, shrimp, oysters, frog legs, and even alligator. Brennan and his staff also provide extensive tips and advice, and illustrated step-by-step instructions on handling, storing, and preparing raw seafood. A complete list of premier local and national vendors of seafood, spices, condiments, and cocktails is included to provide home chefs with the key ingredients needed to create the authentic flavors and tastes of New Orleans.

For regions and seasons in which typical New Orleans fare is unavailable, the book provides recommendations on substituting regional specialties native to the home cook's territory. This novel approach allows home cooks to combine the flavors of New Orleans with the freshest, local ingredients- a time-honored principle of Ralph Brennan's kitchens.

"New Orleans has a unique culture of food, music, and history, plus a joie de vivre not found anywhere else in the U.S.," Brennan explains. "Our cuisine generates a passion and a bond shared by just about everyone whether it's in the eating or the cooking. I put this cookbook together in order to bring this passion to kitchens everywhere."

RALPH BRENNAN'S NEW ORLEANS SEAFOOD COOKBOOK is the definitive, classic guide to preparing seafood for anyone who loves to cook, where ever they live.

Visit www.ralphbrennancookbook.com and www.ralphbrennancookbook.blogspot.com for more information on the cookbook.

The New Orleans-based Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group is owned and operated by Ralph Brennan and includes French Quarter restaurants BACCO and Red Fish Grill, Ralph's on the Park in mid-City New Orleans, and Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen at the Disneyland(r) Resort in Southern California. Each of these award-winning restaurants celebrates the cuisine and hospitality of classic and contemporary New Orleans and is staffed by a team of hardworking professionals dedicated 'to making people happy'. For more information, visit www.neworleans-food.com

Ralph Brennan is a third-generation restaurateur. Known affectionately by his culinary staff as "The Taster-in-Chief", Ralph entered the family business in the early 1980's after a successful stint as a CPA with Price Waterhouse & Company. A long-time food service industry advocate, Ralph served as the 1995-1996 Chairman and President of the National Restaurant Association (NRA). An NRA Director since 1984, Brennan also served as the 2000-2001 Chairman of the NRA Educational Foundation. In 1997, the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) honored Ralph Brennan with its highest honor-the prestigious Gold Plate Operator of the Year Award. Ralph is a Past President of the Louisiana Restaurant Association and the New Orleans Restaurant Association. He was the chairman of the board of New Orleans' Ernest N. Morial Convention Center from 1998-2007. Ralph remains active on the board of New Orleans' Children's Hospital and served as chairman in 2003-2004. He and his wife Susan are the proud parents of Kathryn, Patrick, and Kristen, and live in New Orleans.

Gene Bourg was the restaurant reviewer and columnist for The Times-Picayune for nine years. He has written articles for Gourmet, Food & Wine, Saveur, Travel + Leisure, as well as other food and travel publications. He is a recipient of the National Magazine Award, given by the American Society of Magazine Editors and Columbia School of Journalism.

As Executive Chef of the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group, Haley Bittermann works with the RBRG culinary and purchasing teams to ensure quality, creativity, the use of local products, and innovation. In 1993, Haley was made Executive Chef at BACCO, the first woman to wear the top toque in a Brennan Family (of Commander's Palace fame) kitchen. Under her leadership, the restaurant earned several local awards including the title of "Best Italian Restaurant" by Where New Orleans (three years in a row), New Orleans Magazine and Gambit Weekly. Chef Haley served as culinary director for RALPH BRENNAN'S NEW ORLEANS SEAFOOD COOKBOOK, has been featured in John Schoup's "Great Chefs of The New Guard" television series and was featured in Schoup's cookbook. Chef Haley also contributed her Chicken Cacciatore recipe to the New York Times #1 Best-selling book SugarBusters! (Random House, 1998) and has done numerous live cooking demonstrations throughout the southeast and on the Food Network. She is a graduate of the Culinary Arts Academy of Cincinnati, an affiliate of The Culinary Institute of America.

The title of this recipe comes from the cooking method, which calls for grilling only on one side, with the scales and skin side down. The benefits are increased succulence and flavor. Baking or broiling does not achieve the same results, since the heat source must come from the bottom. Hickory chips will impart sweetness, although mesquite and other woods suitable for grilling can be substituted. Soaking the hickory will increase the smoky flavor.

Advance Step: Prepare the recipe for mâitre d'hôtel butter

Special Equipment

• An outdoor grill
• Hickory (or your favorite) wood chips
• A broad, large, and sturdy spatula
• A heat-proof platter, if grilling the fillets in batches

For the fish
Salad oil (not olive oil) for brushing onto the grill rack and fish fillets
6 redfish fillets with skin and scales still attached on one side, each 6 to 8 ounces, neatly trimmed, including removing the "belly" if still attached
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
A few tablespoons of dry white wine, if grilling in batches
1 recipe mâitre d'hôtel butter (below)

Clean the grill rack with a wire brush and preheat it until it is hot. Then add wet or dry hickory or other wood chips. Brush the rack with a thick wad of paper towels saturated in salad oil, holding the paper towels with long-handled tongs so you don't burn yourself.

Place the fillets skin down on a work surface. Make sure the skinless sides are free of any loose scales. Brush the skinless sides with salad oil, and season each fillet evenly on the skinless side with 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning.

Once the grill is ready, place the fillets directly on it, skin side down, and cook until they are done, about five to eight minutes. The cooking time will vary according to the heat of the grill and the thickness of the fillets. (Watch closely so the fish does not overcook.) Do not turn over the fillets. Use a broad, large and sturdy spatula to lift each fillet from the grill at least once while cooking so it doesn't stick excessively. To test for doneness, insert the tip of a knife into the thickest part of a fillet to separate the flesh a little to assess if it's cooked all the way through.

If cooking the fillets in batches, transfer the cooked fillets, skin side down, to a heat-proof platter placed in a warm spot, and drizzle the fillets with white wine to keep them moist while grilling the remaining fish.

Serving Suggestion
Once all the fillets are cooked, serve immediately, skin side down on heated dinner plates. Top the fillets with rounds of mâitre d'hôtel butter, using a total of 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons of butter for each serving.

Notes
Recommended alternate species: pompano, salmon, sea bass

If you'd like the fish to have a smokier flavor, soak the wood chips for at least four hours, or according to package directions, before grilling. Drain the chips just before using, but leave them dripping wet and add them after the fire is hot.

In its classic French version, beurre maître d'hôtel contains simply butter, chopped parsley and lemon juice. But many New Orleans cooks like to add a few personal touches, such as garlic, thyme, shallots and even Herbsaint, the anisette liqueur that originated in the city.

Compound butters can provide a delightful finishing touch to an almost limitless number of dishes, especially grilled fish and poultry, and meats cooked in various ways. They also come in handy for finishing simple sauces and whenever you want to add a little extra flair to vegetables and starches.

Maître d'hôtel butter, like all compound butters, can be shaped into a log and rolled in parchment paper and plastic for storage in the refrigerator or freezer. When needed, it is sliced as you would slice a log of cookie dough.

1/4 pound unsalted butter, left at room temperature until very soft
2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons minced Italian (flat-leaf) parsley leaves
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-1/2 teaspoons minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients together in a medium-size mixing bowl, whisking until well blended.

Serving Suggestion
Use immediately, or roll in waxed or parchment paper into a log that is about 5 inches long and 1-1/4 inches in diameter, then wrap the log snugly in plastic wrap. The butter will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, or frozen for up to two months.

Why this dish goes by the name of barbecue is anybody's guess, since it's not barbecued and it's not cooked or served with barbecue sauce.

The original version is said to have its roots in New Orleans' Italian community a half-century or more ago, to be added to a very long list of the city's Italian-Creole classics. Improvisations on the original recipe are many, but no authentic barbecue shrimp can be called dainty, considering the spices involved.

Since the shrimp themselves are cooked and served with heads and shells intact, they're usually eaten as one would eat whole boiled lobster-with a bib and a willingness to use your bare hands. While the head and tail are always removed before eating, many New Orleanians like to retain the shell covering the shrimp meat, as long as the covering is soft and thin enough to chew properly.

In this recipe, the emulsified sauce's richness is a result of combining butterfat with the shrimp's natural juices, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. The shrimp are cooked just to the point of being done, remaining succulent. And the sauce is a prime candidate for dipping into with crusty bread. Finger lickin' is optional. .

12 raw colossal shrimp,* unpeeled, with heads and tails left on
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper**
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1 to 3 tablespoons water, divided
1 half-lemon, seeded
1/4 pound (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, preferably Plugra or other European-style butter,
       cut into 1/2-inch cubes
warm, crusty French bread for serving

* If colossal shrimp are not available, use the largest you can find.
** To coarse-grind the peppercorns, use a blender or a peppermill. The grind is important to the taste of the finished dish.

Place the unpeeled shrimp, Worcestershire, coarsely ground pepper, Creole seasoning, garlic, and 1 tablespoon water in a heavy 10-inch, stainless steel sauté pan. Squeeze the juice from the lemon half over the shrimp and add the rind and pulp to the pan.

Over high heat, cook the shrimp while gently stirring and occasionally turning the shrimp.

After about two minutes of cooking, the shrimp should start turning pink on both sides, indicating they are nearly half cooked.

If the shrimp are the colossal size, now add 2 tablespoons of water to the pan. Otherwise, don't add water.

Reduce the heat to medium-high and continue cooking as you gradually add the cold pieces of butter to the pan. While turning the shrimp occasionally, swirl the butter pieces until they are incorporated into the pan juices, the sauce turns light brown and creamy as it simmers, and the shrimp are just cooked through. This will take about two minutes total if the shrimp are extra large, and about three minutes total if they are colossal. Do not overcook the shrimp.

Serving Suggestions
Pour the shrimp into a heated pasta bowl with the lemon-half turned cut-side down in the center. Serve the shrimp and sauce immediately, alongside slices of warm, crusty French bread for sopping up the sauce.

Note
This dish is prepared only two servings at a time because increasing the number of shrimp beyond 12 would require increasing the dish's amount of sauce. Reducing the larger amount of sauce would require more cooking time resulting in overcooked shrimp.