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the Barbecue issue

Greg Reggio’s Artichoke & Oyster Soup Serves 10 to 12

“The inspiration for this version of oyster and artichoke soup comes from my first professional cooking job at LeRuth’s and my mother’s oyster stew that highlighted fresh flavors and buttery finish,” said Reggio. We think Leruth would be proud of this takeoff on his creation. WHAT YOU WILL NEED 1½ sticks unsalted butter, divided All-purpose flour, as needed 1 quart shucked raw oysters, with juices 1 cup diced (¼-inch) yellow onion ½ cup diced (¼-inch) celery 2 teaspoons minced garlic 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley 1 tablespoon Paul Prudhomme’s Blackened Redfish Magic, or another low-salt Cajun spice blend 1 teaspoon fresh thyme 2 cups heavy cream Shrimp stock, as needed, up to 1 cup Kosher or sea salt, to taste ½ cup sliced (¼-inch) green onion 2 cups artichoke hearts HOW TO PREP roux until the color becomes a light tan and the aroma is somewhat nutty. Do not brown the roux. Remove the roux from the pot and set aside. Place the oysters and their juices in a saucepan. Cook just until the oysters are plump and their edges fan out. Be careful to not overcook them. Remove the poached oysters from the liquid and spread them out on a sheet pan to cool. Reserve the liquid. Once the oysters are cool enough to handle, cut them into ½- to ¾-inch pieces. In another pan, blanch the artichoke hearts in boiling water until tender. Allow them to cool and cut them into ½-inch pieces. Melt the remaining butter in the skillet. Add the onion, celery, garlic and parsley. Cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent and the celery is tender. Do not brown the vegetables. Add the heavy cream, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in enough of the roux to bring the thickness to that of cake batter. Add in all of the reserved oyster liquid and enough shrimp stock to thin the soup to a medium thick consistency, using up to 1 cup of shrimp stock to your preference. Cook for 5 minutes at a simmer. Adjust salt if necessary. Just before serving, add the oysters, artichoke hearts and green onions. Begin to prepare this recipe by making a blond roux. Melt 1 stick of butter in a heavy, 6- to 8-quart pot over medium heat. Whisk in enough flour to bring the texture of the mixture to that of wet sand. Cook the

Leruth’s legacy by Kit Wohl + photo courtesy G.E. Arnold, NOLA/The Times-Picayune archive

B lunt and persnickety, Chef Warren Leruth was not only creative but also a fearlessly innovative chef. He started out as a food chemist, so he was trained to be particular about his procedures and recipes. In food circles, he was the Renaissance man who did things his way. Rather than expand with his restaurant’s popularity, he removed tables. Generous with his time and talent, he developed dishes for other restaurateurs, and many of those recipes remain as standards of their kind. New Orleans as a city for fine dining beyond Creole cuisine came to national attention in 1965, when Leruth renovated a Victorian shotgun cottage across the Mississippi River in Old Gretna. He stirred our culinary world forever. Who had ever heard of fried parsley as a garnish? When the late and legendary chef introduced oyster and artichoke soup to the world at his eponymous restaurant, the dish became an instant classic. Families across the country quickly conjured up their personal versions of the “secret” recipe. As most secrets evolve, it wasn’t one for very long. Now it is available in many variations of goodness in cookbooks and on the Internet. Sadly, Leruth never produced a cookbook, leaving only two small booklets and a handful of recipes reproduced in a few publications. Chef Greg Reggio began his cooking career as an apprentice at LeRuth’s.He recalls with fondness his days on the restaurant’s kitchen line and credits his time there alongside Leruth for providing the inspiration and training he needed to succeed. Greg is now one of theTaste Buds, a trio of chefs who have developed innovative recipes at such groundbreaking restaurants as Semolina, Zea Rotisserie & Grill and Mizado. Chefs Gary Darling and Hans Limburg are his partners. Working with Gary Darling, who was then executive chef in Al Copeland’s test kitchen, Leruth was also responsible for Popeyes biscuits and the restaurant chain’s famous red beans and rice and dirty rice recipes. When you use a non- separating salad dressing or eat at Outback Steakhouse or Burger King, you could be enjoying something that Leruth created. With his food chemistry background, Leruth was excruciatingly specific about each ingredient. He had strong opinions about tasting procedure and insisted that a flavor fully reveals itself on the third bite. He was the master of what he called “The Comeback Taste.”

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MY ROUSES EVERYDAY MARCH | APRIL 2017