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brews, such as the Oven Beef Burgundy (beef bourguignon) in Mahalia Jack- son Cooks Soul , or the Ragout of Oxtail Supreme, seasoned with cloves and allspice, in the 1954 cookbook, Jesse’s Book of Creole & Deep South Recipes , I braise tough meats for hours, then soak up the exquisite pan juices with spiral- cut russet potatoes, carrots or parsnips poached in chicken stock until tender — instead of egg noodles. (Jesse Willis Lewis was one of the elite caterers and cooks to the wealthy, who refined his skills on a Mobile-New Orleans tugboat, then specialized in regional dishes in the resort town of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.) I also weave together aspects of contem- porary chefs’ dishes for lamb curry to make my own version — toasting allspice, cloves, ginger and curry and layering in sweetness with green apples and sweet potato ribbons — from Alexander Smalls and J.J. Johnson’s Between Harlem and Heaven: Afro-Asian-American Cooking for Big Nights, Weeknights, and Every Day to Marcus Samuelsson’s The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa . My chicken pot pie is inspired by a dish at

authors and then update their comfort food recipes by adding vegetable noodles, depending upon which veggies are in season — from beef stews to braised chicken and simmered seafood dishes. A collection of recipes from these works will be in my upcoming cookbook, Jubilee , to be published by Clarkson Potter later this winter. Like the Saladacco and earlier spiral slic- ers, modern cone-shaped, hand-held spiralizers work wonders with tender vege- tables like squash, cucumbers, cabbage and peppers. Cut about two inches wide, vegetable chunks are twisted by hand across sharp grater blades, creating long, thin strands. The units can be difficult to manage with hard vegetables; here, a stable, table-top or an electric spiralizing machine is most efficient. Whichever one you choose, the recipe combinations are endless. Remember the oxtails, short ribs and pot roasts that bubbled for hours in velvety gravy before being served by Grand- mother with mashed potatoes, noodles or rice? Or the Creole dishes roti de boeuf, beef with lardons or beef a la mode? To elevate the status of these and other beef

Melrose Plantation, an antebellum historic house and museum located in Natchi- toches Parish. I traced the history of the dish to a time before chickens were plenti- ful, when African Americans hunted small game birds, such as doves or pigeons, then stewed and served them in multiple ways — on toast, or with a simple biscuit or pastry crust topping. In the 1950s, Clem- entine Hunter, a master of both fine and culinary arts, included creamed chicken on toast, which she named Salmi à la Yucca, in the small selection of extraordinary reci- pes she penned with Francois Mignon in the Melrose Plantation Cookbook . Hunter layered Creole flavors in a roux-based gravy — smoky ham, aromatic vegetables of the trinity (onion, green pepper and celery), consommé, cloves and a blade of mace. She simmered it for an hour to develop a deep richness, then stirred in cooked chicken and served it with fried bread on the side. I follow the time-honored preparation for pot pie — and for another one of my favor- ite cold-winter dishes, chicken and dump- lings — but I spoon the silky chicken gravy from both dishes over stewed, spiralized mirliton. The inspiration comes from the soul-era recipe collection, Black Ameri- can Cookbook , by Willa Mitchell, who recalled catching a wild hen, dressing and boiling it, then making a type of handmade noodle to help a little bit of chicken go a long way. I also love to honor the iconic 20th-century chef Lena Richard by serving the Shrimp Fricassee à la Creole from her 1939 cookbook, Lena Richard’s New Orleans Cookbook . Richard allowed the shrimp to linger in the sauce for a long braise so the flavors could mingle before serving with hot cooked rice. I saute zucchini or yellow squash noodles in the trinity, then poach briefly in a shrimp or seafood stock with a hint of thyme to give the dish that classic Creole je ne sais quoi . I also use spiral- cut vegetables to give fancy stuffed shell recipes new life on menus for any day of the week; a favorite is the Stuffed Mirli- ton in Lolis Eric Elie’s cookbook, Treme: Stories and Recipes from the Heart of New Orleans . And, finally, for those times when my taste buds call out for a straight-up vegetarian dish, I spiralize beets to make a delicious pickled dish I discovered in Cookin’ with Queen Ida: Bon Temps Creole Recipes (and Stories) From the Queen of Zydeco Music . Where will your imagination lead you?

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