Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebrations

-Funding for "Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebrations" was provided in part by the L.E. Phillips Family Foundation, Inc. and by New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation. New Orleans -- where stories are created. -Oh, today in my food booth, that smoker is smoking because it's all about barbecue fest. Starting off, ham croquettes with pear pepper dipping sauce. Ooh, and how about pulled pork slaw sandwiches? Finishing up, Asian beef skewers. Queue on up for the best 'cue in town. Hi. Welcome to my courtyard kitchen. I am so happy that you are here with me, to celebrate my hometown of New Orleans. Today it's all about barbecue, and I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Most people don't know it, but we love barbecue. In fact, we even have festivals devoted to barbecue sauces and sides. So let's get started with ham croquettes, and I'm going to serve them with a peach pepper sauce. So, oh, this is going to be so good. Now here's what we want to get started with. I'm going to put a little bit of butter. So we have a little butter. Of course, we have some onions. We're also going to toss in a little bit of green onion in here. Oh, doesn't that look pretty? Oh, baby, look at this. A little garlic, have to have it. Now, I'm going to let this simmer so that that flavor comes out of the onions and the garlic. So while this is simmering, let's go ahead and make our sauce. Now we're going to start with a little orange juice, a little touch of lemon juice. Now -- and I wanted to keep this nice and simple because, yeah, we could take fresh peaches and cut them up and let them cook down. But let me show you something that I like to do, and I taught this to my sons -- peach preserve. Use a good preserve and just put that right in. Now if you wanted to go ahead and do it with fresh peaches, if you have a lot of fresh peaches at home, use your fresh peaches, a little sugar, maybe use a little water, as opposed to the orange juice, since you're going to have the sugar there. But you see, here, this will just simmer on a low fire. Now to turn this into a pepper jelly, today I'm going to use a jalapeo pepper, and I'm not going to cut it up or get fancy with it. Just make a slit, and that's it. We're going to leave the seeds in. See, this, in the heat, will open up. The flavor will come out of it. What's going to happen, the pepper flavor will come out. It will give us heat, but it won't be hot, and then we can always fish out the pepper. So this is just going to simmer on low. And, oh, can you smell our onions and garlic? We can go ahead and turn this off. Now that this is ready, let's go ahead and put our croquettes together. So a little beaten egg because this is going to hold as a binder, to get our croquettes together. I also have egg with a little bit of water in it. This is going to help when we dip the croquettes in the bread crumbs. So now that we've got this mixed together, let me show you what we're going to do with this. So here, in our bowl, let's get our onion, our garlic, and the green onion in. We don't want to lose any of these goodness. I've taken a little ham, and I've chopped it up. So let's get in some chopped ham. So to this, we're going to add a little more garlic powder. So we have fresh garlic, a little garlic powder in this, and this is all about flavors. Of course, we'll get in a tablespoon of our Creole seasoning, and even though you might think ham is salty, because of this, we're going to get in a teaspoon of salt, just because of the fact that we're making a croquette. So we're going to have breading here. So let's get this stirred into this, I have cheddar cheese. Use your favorite cheese. I happen to like this recipe with cheddar, but there's nothing saying you can't use a provolone. You can use whatever cheese you like. We're going to get in some bread crumbs. Oh, yes. And you see, this is going to start to blend. We just work this together really good, and our binder for this going to be our eggs. That's why I wanted those eggs because that's going to bind it really, really nice together. So let's get our egg in. So here, our mixture is going to bind because of that egg that we put in, and it just takes a little bit. That moisture from the egg is going to cause all of this to stick together and hold together. We're going to make this into little balls and get those fried. You know, I have to tell you something. There are several barbecue festivals in our region, including two local ones, Hogs For The Cause and The Crescent City Blues and Barbecue Fest. I got the blues, baby Because it's taking so long For me to get these croquettes done Oh, look at this. See, you don't want to make them too big. I'll put them right in our egg. So let's get another one made, and you see, this is a little sticky. But that's okay. That's what we want. I don't like making them too big. I like them just enough to have bite size. You know? All right. You just have to work it a little bit, just give it a little squeeze. You know, I'm so used to when I make meatballs, I don't squeeze meatballs very tight. If you squeeze meatballs very tight, they can get tough. Here, you have to put a little extra pressure on these so everything stays together and, you see, when you try to do that and roll it, it crumbles. So just a little pressure. I don't know if you all saw that, what I was saying, when you try to roll it, how it crumbles. So just use pressure to get these together. So now we have them in our egg wash, and just get them wet in the egg wash. Oh, look at that little piece came off. See, that's what's going to happen to you. It'll come off a little bit, but that's okay. Just get it wet, and I have more bread crumbs here. So we're just going to drop these right into the bread crumbs now that they're wet. Now I have our fryer heating up. We're going to fry these babies. And you know what's nice? They only take a few minutes to cook. They don't take very long to cook. So one more press, and we're just going to drop them right into the fryer. Aw, that sound is so good. These only going to fry for about 3 minutes. So while those are frying, let's make a few more. Come to me. I see you. I see you there. Oh, look how beautiful, and, of course, I love to, when I fry something, take just a little pinch of salt and just season it right away, just season it right away. Oh, look at these, the second ones we put in are there. They're a nice golden brown. Imagine that cheese. What I love about using a fryer, my oil temperature stays the same, 375 degrees. So you know what? I want to show you a special way how we can plate these up. So let's pick this up, and I'll show you how I plate them. And, oh, baby, that sauce? Oh, it's going to be good, yes. Now what I like to do, I like to take the little toothpicks and put them right on and just put them right on the tray because, this way, now you can take it and actually dip it into the sauce. So these look so wonderful, and I tell you what, they taste absolutely fantastic. You know, I love it when nobody is home, and there's a good Saints game coming on. Yes, indeed, baby, I'll make me some ham croquettes and get ready for four quarters of ham, baby. So here we have our ham croquettes with that wonderful peach dipping sauce. Aw, baby, it's good. Coming up next, pulled pork slaw sandwiches, all about the barbecue. In New Orleans, barbecue is reaching new heights, and I'm going to show you why. You know, gang, it's all about flavor. So I want to do this pulled pork with a lot of flavor. So I have a little vegetable oil in my pan, and I'm going to get in some onions. See, I'm going to do this pork in my electric pressure cooker, and I want some flavor in there because, oh, in building this sandwich, I want this to be one of those type of sandwiches when you bite it, your knees buckle, your eyes roll in the back of your head. That's what I'm looking for, and it's all about building flavors. And we don't want to saut this too long, so that's why I'm going to put the garlic in right away, a little bit of minced garlic. Now, as far as seasonings go, we're going to do a couple things with the seasonings. Cumin -- if you've never had cumin, cumin adds a wonderful flavor. You know, next time you have a piece of a chicken, just maybe saut off a piece of chicken with a little cumin on it. Also, a little chili powder, just another flavor. So just a touch of apple cider vinegar. That's also going to help get those little goodies up off the bottom of the pan. We're going to add a little bit tomato paste, just about a tablespoon of tomato paste, and, you know, these next couple of ingredients are things that sometimes we forget about. We have that depth of flavor there, but we forget where they come from. Also, we're going to pop in a little bit of Worcestershire sauce. Another flavor enhancer, another depth of flavor, is Worcestershire sauce. Now, I have a little ham stock. Okay? You can use any kind of stock you want. If you like, you can do this with a little beer. I don't know about using wine, but a little beer, a little vegetable stock, chicken stock, beef stock. I have a little ham stock, and let's just put that right on in. Oh, now I'm going to turn the fire down and let this simmer while we season our pork. Now this is a boneless shoulder. Okay? If it's bone-in, that's fine. It's boneless, that's fine. But we're going to take our Creole seasoning and just season it really, really good. We're also going to use some salt. Even though it's pork, it needs some salt on it. Let's just turn this over and get the other side. Oh, come on. There we go. I tell you what, that's good. Everything is seasoned. Now let's get ready to get this in our pressure cooker. So these flavors have blended so well, and we just wanted this not to cook too long, just enough for the flavors to get released. So let's pour this in. I'm sorry. I should have poured that with my other hand, so you all could've seen that. But you get the point about it going in there. Now -- Let me get that out of the way -- our star of the show, our pork. Oh, and look, it's seasoned really well. You know, you can roll it around to make sure all of that seasoning gets there. Let's just take it and set it right in. Oh, yeah, baby. That is so good. So, we'll get this closed. Now all we have to do is set it to roast. But while this is doing that, let's go ahead and put this slaw together that's going to go on this sandwich that's going to just make it so good. So for our slaw, a couple of things. We have a little red cabbage. We have a little green cabbage. Let's get that in. Let's get in some shredded carrots. Get those carrots in there. Now we're going to make a little dressing for this slaw. What I have, I have a little mayonnaise, and I'm just going to put it right in the bowl that our carrots were in. This is going to be nice and simple, a little Creole mustard. You know, if you like a Dijon, if you like a yellow, that's fine. But I love the Creole because it's a ground mustard. A little bit of sugar. Yes, coleslaw should have that little sweetness to it. A little apple cider vinegar, and let's just mix this all together. It's going to be fine. So apples, took a little apple. Take whatever one you like. Just julienne it, makes it like match sticks, yeah, we'll get all of that out. Yeah, I'm going to put a little Creole seasoning. I'm going to put a little bit of salt. And now just mix this together. Look at the colors that we have. That's all we want. We just want to toss this together. I've also done slaw with what we call down here a mirliton. That works really good, as well. So let's take our little dressing here. I just spread this all over. We get that popped in, and now all we have to do is take our spoons and get this coated. Now if you want more dressing, put more dressing on. But what I want to do with this now, I want to go ahead and get this chilled because, me, I like when I have a sandwich, I like some things cold and some things hot because when you bite, you get that perfect bite, a hot, a cold, and they just blend together to get warm. I am so looking forward to opening this to see our roast. The smells, oh, my goodness. I tell you what, that cumin, I smell that cumin right away. So let's get our pork out. Oh, I tell you what gang, it is falling apart. I'm going to have to take this out in sections. It is not -- Oh, look at that. Oh, I saw another little piece, want to get it all. There it is. There's that little piece. Look at this. Now I'm just going to take a couple of forks, and we're just going to kind of take the meat and just shred it apart. You know, I tell you the truth, you actually don't even have to shred this, if you don't want to. You know, you could actually maybe put slices on here like this. But you know what? You always hear about pork being shredded, and that's all it is. That is so tender, it just comes right apart. But, you know, we have that flavor from that little bit of vinegar, that ham stock. This is just, oh, so good. So here, like I said, we can shred it. But I'm going to show you how I'm going to serve this on a sandwich. Now I have a little brioche bun that I am going to take a little bit of our slaw and put it on the bottom. Now I'm going to take our pork and just grab it and put it right on the top. Now, if you're a fan of sauce, we could take the sauce, the juices that are in that pressure cooker, we could take that sauce, mix it in with the meat when you get it shredded or put a little bit of that sauce right on the top bun. But let's just put that baby right like that, and there we have our pulled pork sandwich with slaw. Coming up, we're going to do beef skewers Asian-style. TJ, what's your favorite thing about barbecue? -The smoke. Everybody loves the smoke, the flavor, all the people. -And what kind of wood do you use to smoke? -We use cherry and oak. -So it's kind of a sweet and savory? -Yes, absolutely. -I love Asian flavors. So I'm going to do an Asian-inspired, or an Asian-flavored, beef skewer. So I'm starting off a little soy sauce because this is going to be the marinade for our meat. Into this, I'm also going to put about a 1/2 cup of sugar. Now think about this sweet, savory. Today, I'm going to use top sirloin. Now you can use whatever cut of beef you want. You know, you could actually do this with chicken, if you like. So now that I just wanted to get this sugar dissolved a little bit, ginger, fresh grated ginger, about a good tablespoon of ginger, and, of course, in here, we have to some garlic. Oh. Now before I got started, while you guys were doing whatever you were doing, I took just a non-stick skillet, put in some sesame seeds, and just got them toasted. We don't have to toast them. I just think toasting opens them up a nice little flavor. So we'll get our sesame seeds in, and now we're going to do some oil. So I'm going to do a combination. I'm going to do some vegetable oil, about a good 1/4 cup of vegetable oil. Perfect, and we're going to do a little sesame oil. Sesame oil is such a wonderful flavor. This is going to be the marinade for our meat. So let's just get this stirred together. If you've noticed, I've cut the meat in nice cubes, and now all we have to do is pour this right over our meat. If you want, you can put this in a container and keep it in the fridge. The other thing is, you can put it in a little -- in a plastic bag and keep that in your fridge. I like to marinate anywhere from 3 hours to overnight. So if you know you have friends coming over, you could get this done ahead of time, and that way, this meat will just pick up the flavor, especially with that sesame oil, that ginger. So I'm going to get this in the fridge for later because you know I always have some done. So I have some that I've marinated already. What I like to do is, I like to take my skewers, and I soak them. So I'll take our beef. I'm going to use a cast-iron grill pan for this. So get on a piece of meat, take you a nice little chunk of onion, get the onion on, and you notice I'm using a red onion for this. You could do a red onion. You could do a yellow onion. You could use any onion you like, and the only reason why I'm using the tongs, gang, I could do this with my hands, but I'm using the tongs because I have that sesame oil on the meat, and I don't want it to come off on my fingers. I want it to stay right where it is, right on that meat. Oh, let's get another piece of onion on, and, you know, I have the grill heating up really, really hot. Get this last piece, it's on there. Depending on how you like your steaks is depending on how long you let this cook. Listen to that sear. You can hear that oil hitting that, and I tell you what, the smell jumps up right away. So depending on how you like your steaks cooked is how long you want to leave them on the grill. I like my steaks rare. But I also like to have that crust on the outside. So you can leave them a long time or a short time. We're going to turn this. You just have to work fast. But I tell you what, the flavors that come from this are so good, and you can see that smoke actually coming off the pan. That's that oil, and that's searing the flavors right into the meat. Oh, that looks so good, and it smells so wonderful. So let's get a couple more done right quick. I'm doing it with onions, but I've taken lemon wedges and done it with lemon, if you like. Use whatever you like. Here, let's go ahead and get another. This will be a twofer, two pieces of meat, one piece of onion. So they all will look a little bit different, and now that we have this on, we'll get that one on. Let's go back and turn this first one. Oh, that looks so good. It smells so good. That last one is about to turn, that I put on. I might have to put this down for a second so I can get that one turned, and as you can see, yeah, I'm fighting it. Here, you stay right there. You stay right here, and let's turn this last one to see where we are. And, you know, you just have to make sure that your onions aren't preventing your meat from touching the pan because we want our meat to cook. These are just about ready to come off. I'm going to get this last one because that first one, I think, is ready to come off. Oh, look at this. Look at that nice sear on it. I like crispy. If you've heard the texture black and blue, that's when the outside of the steak is seared, and the inside is rare. That's what I love to have, steaks like that. Let me scooch this one, and for you all that didn't know, yeah, scooch is a word. Let's bring our platter over that we're going to put them on. Let's give this one one more turn. We are almost there. Oh, look at that, that nice sear. That is what we're looking for. This one is ready to turn. There we are. While that baby cooks, I tell you what, here we have our wonderful beef skewers with an Asian flavor. You know, I thank you all for just hanging out with me. Now it's time for you to get the family and friends together and celebrate the spirit of New Orleans in your home. So I'll see you next time for more "New Orleans Celebrations." -The companion cookbook to "Kevin Belton's New Orleans Kitchen" is available for $24.99 plus $6 shipping and handling. You can also order an hour-long DVD of favorite dishes from the series, for $19.95 plus $4 shipping and handling. Both the book and "Favorites" DVD are available for $40.95 plus $7 shipping and handling. To order these items, call 1-866-360-4924, or order online at wyes.org. -You know, this pot, its first time on camera. It was nervous. I don't know if you could tell. It was sitting there shaking. It was like, "I don't know. I don't know. I have so much pressure, and the dish has to come out." It's doing absolutely fantastic, so I'm sure it's not going to be the last time that you see a rookie on set. It will be a part of my hand. This plate and this spoon are a part of my hand. No matter what I do, they stay there. That is the work of a chef. Y'all sitting up front, stop drooling, just stop drooling. Stop drooling right now. Look, you're getting it all over your jacket. You're getting stuff all over your jacket. It's because you're drooling. Just stop it. You already tasted this, just stop. Coming up next, I'm going to put a new twist on a traditional New Orleans breakfast fare. Fry, fry, fry, fry, fry.

Laughter

-For more information about "Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebrations," visit wyes.org. -Funding for "Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebrations" was provided in part by the L.E. Phillips Family Foundation, Inc. and by New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation. New Orleans -- where stories are created.