A lot of the food that is indigenous to New Orleans are dishes that make something cheap taste good and Grillades (pronounced Gree yahds) is no exception. A grillade is a thin sliced bite-sized piece of meat usually beef or veal. Since veal is so expensive, I've been using beef rounds.
It is a "kitchen sink" meal meaning a lot of ingredients ( onions, celery, bell pepper, green onions, garlic, wine etc) which creates a thick savory stew that is not complicated to make but takes a long time on the stove. New Orleanians usually serve it for brunch because it freezes well and you can make a big batch ahead of time, heat it up and serve it over grits.
My father used to love to make grillades and although I make them all the time, mine don't seem to be as good as his. Probably because he was cooking them in New Orleans and I'm in South Carolina.
You can google grillades and find a bunch of different recipes, most look the same. The one I use comes from the Plantation Cookbook which is a must have for anybody who likes traditional creole cooking. The book is still in print and can be bought from Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans. http://www.gardendistrictbookshop.com/
Now for a secret to fixing grillades: If you use the beef, after you cut it into pieces, brine it for a couple of hours. It will make the meat more tender.
What do you pour with grillades? Well, you could go red or white because although it is a stew, it is fairly light not like a heavy beef stew. That being said I would stick with a red but nothing to young and heavy. Go with a burgundy or a left bank bordeaux. If you have a Rhone with some age on it say '98 or '99 that should work.
Bon Appetit
No comments:
Post a Comment