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MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
MARCH | APRIL 2014
We didn’t want to bring them andmake y’all feel bad about what
you were cooking. —Cindy Acosta
Who needs ribs when you have tacos? While everyone stood around
in awe of my culinary skills, I put together three different sauces and
three different tacos. The first one was a Cajun Taco topped with
a vinegar-mustard-Steen’s syrup sauce, coleslaw and a fresh corn
macque choux. Usually when I do a macque choux I add crawfish
tails, but for the taco topping, I left them out. The second taco was
a Mexican version, with a Chipotle-Jalapeno-Adobe crème fraiche
sauce, pickled red cabbage, cucumber, green onions and cilantro.
My final taco I called
“Pekin,” which is a play on the famous duck
dish and a type of duck raised in Louisiana. I made my own hoisin
sauce, and used finely sliced radishes and carrots. I even went local
with my tortillas: Hola! Nola! Flour Tortillas, which are made in
Gonzales, Louisiana, and available in our New Orleans-area stores.
It looked like Donny — or his sous chef, Beau – used every
vegetable in the Rouses Produce Department. —Billy
I heard a rumor that Donny called Chef Tory McPhail from
Commander’s Palace for advice, but he said it wasn’t true. —Tim
Here comes the Judge
Donny’s tacos were excellent — all
three varieties! Being at Donny’s house
showed me what was really going on: his
neighbor, Beau, was scrambling around
that kitchen a lot. I don’t mind any of that
since the end result was so good. And very
original. —Ali
When we finished at my house, we headed over to Craig Berger’s
house to judge Tommy’s entry. When we arrive, one thing is
immediately obvious: Tommy and his friends have already cooked
the entire Rouses Specialty Meat Case (jalapeno poppers, stuffed
chicken thighs, sliders, etc.). Also important to note? The whole
backyard smells like fried chicken and catfish. I guess Tommy’s
theory was that if you cook a bunch of things one of them has to
be good.
I didn’t have to cook a bunch of things like Tommy and Donny. I
knew my ribs were good. —Tim
TOMMY ROUSE’S STEAK & TUNA “BERGERS”
I keep my Big Green Egg down at the camp in Grand Isle, so I
called in some assistance for this contest. I’ve known the Bergers
since third grade. Craig and I were in the same class. Don was
younger than us. Eric is the youngest Berger Boy, but looks older
than the other two. We don’t know what happened with him.
I have to admit, I didn’t cook for the competition; I just supervised.
Leave it to Tommy to bring in a ringer. Or two. —Donald
Cut me some slack. I cook on my egg at the camp all of the time,
usually steak or fish. In general, here’s what you need to know about
searing meat or fish on a Big Green Egg or Kamodo Joe — you
need high heat. The heat on a Big Green Egg is controlled by the
vent; if the vent is closed, the temperature is cooler, if its open, the
temperature is higher.
Craig and Don cooked a few things before getting down to the
competition entries. When our judge, Ali, arrived, Craig opened
the vent to raise the temperature putting on the steak, which was
seasoned with Rouses olive oil and McCormick’s Montreal Steak
seasoning (both sides). Tim has his 3-2-1 technique for ribs; Craig
uses a 5-5-5 technique for steak. Craig cooked the filet for five
minutes on one side, five minutes on the other, and flipped it over
for another five minutes on the first side.
Craig made the tuna steak, too, which he seasoned with jalapeno
olive oil and a little Tony Chachere’s. It was cooked 2-2-2, two
minutes per side, with a flip back to the first one. Don made the
Donny Rouse preparing his Pork Tacos Three Ways.