-Funding for "The Dooky Chase Kitchen: Leah's Legacy" was provided by the... -At Dooky Chase's, everything old is new again.

In an evolving menu, the younger Chase generations have reintroduced Creole specialties and cocktails from an earlier day while adding innovations to the restaurant's second act.

On this episode, the past meets the present with two dishes from chefs Dook and Zoe Chase, paired with a new twist on a traditional cocktail.

by Eve Marie Haydel.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Chef Zoe's stuffed eggplant with shrimp and crabmeat is a dish with a spirit of her great-grandmother in every bite.

-Alright, today, we're going to make a classic stuffed eggplant.

So, we have a half eggplant here.

And I've already sliced it with my knife.

So we're just going to slice it and we're going to make some cuts so we could create a shell for our stuffed eggplant.

And be careful.

You don't want to cut yourself.

And just gently take those cuts out.

♪♪ And you'll be left with a shell that we're going to stuff our eggplant.

So, what I'm going to do here is drizzle a little olive oil.

Season it with a little pepper and a little salt.

And this is going to go in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes so it could get soft.

We already have one right here.

And it's the perfect consistency.

It's tender.

Now let's get started on our stuffing.

We're going to heat our pan up to a medium heat.

We'll add some butter.

And we'll add some chopped onions.

And some chopped garlic.

Alright, so, we're going to let our onions and garlic get soft before we add our chopped eggplant.

Alright, now that our onions and garlic is soft, we'll add our eggplant.

And the reason we have our eggplant sitting in the water -- so it doesn't get brown.

Alright.

♪♪ We'll add a little bit of seafood stock, but not too much, because our eggplant already creates its own water.

You know, I'm fifth generation in the kitchen and I'm so grateful to come here and, you know, make classic dishes that my grandmother fixed, but also add a little different seasonings and different things.

And, you know, that's what Grandmother was about.

She wanted to create new dishes and, you know, have fun and be creative.

And I think that's what we love to do in the kitchen.

We love to have fun with it.

You know, when we go try different restaurants, if we taste this seasoning, it'll be like, "Mmm!

This might be good with a fish or a steak, any different type of sauce."

So, you know, that's the main goal in this kitchen is to always be creative, always have fun, try something new.

So, what we're going to do now is add our seasoning.

So, we have a little cayenne.

♪♪ We have salt.

Some dried thyme.

And a little bit of black pepper.

And we want our eggplant to get soft and cook down for maybe about 10 minutes.

And I'll add a little bit more seafood stock.

♪♪ ♪♪ And you want it on, like, a medium simmer.

Let's go ahead and give it a taste to make sure our seasonings are right.

Mmm!

Perfect.

You get that kick from the cayenne.

♪♪ ♪♪ We do a similar dish.

We do a Dooky toast.

And we have the eggplant stuffing.

We also have an oyster dressing and a tomato-olive dressing that we do with shrimp, and it's so delicious.

And we pair it with some garlic toast.

You know, you could put this on anything, and it will be delicious.

So, once our eggplant is getting soft, we'll add our shrimp.

And here, I have some chopped shrimp and some whole shrimp.

I like to add both.

So you could still have some chopped shrimp, but you can still see those beautiful whole shrimps.

And I like to add whole shrimp so you can see those beautiful shrimps once we plate it.

And, of course, our shrimp aren't gonna take long to cook.

♪♪ ♪♪ So, I'll add a little water because it reduced a little bit, but I still want to keep it a little liquidy, where the eggplant is still getting soft.

♪♪ You know, keeping it creative, I did a risotto-wrapped zucchini vegan dish, and it was really a crowd-pleaser.

And it was delicious.

And, you know, I'm not vegan, but I love to try new things.

It's so fun to, you know, dibble and dabble in different things.

And, you know, we're more protein-based, but there's so many things that you can make vegan.

There's so many alternatives now.

So, it was really fun to create that dish.

Alright, now that our eggplant is soft... we'll add some of our lump crabmeat.

♪♪ And we'll incorporate our crabmeat.

♪♪ Alright.

And we'll add some bread crumbs to thicken our stuffing.

♪♪ Alright.

Our stuffing looks perfect.

So, now we'll get our eggplant that we already did.

And we'll start to stuff.

And all we're doing is just putting a little bit.

Want to make sure we get one of our shrimps.

And we're going to add a little bit more crabmeat.

♪♪ A little more breadcrumbs.

And top it off with a cube of butter.

Now we're going to put it in our 350-degree oven and we're going to cook it for only about 5 minutes.

It doesn't take long at all.

I'll clean up, and then we'll be ready to plate.

You see those beautiful brown, crispy bread-crumb pieces?

That's what we're looking for.

So, on the stove here, I have a little bit of Creole sauce, and I'm just going to layer it on the bottom of the plate just to give it some beautiful color, and it's going to taste great.

You also could do a white-wine beurre blanc.

Any sauce would be great with this.

And we're going to put this on top.

Mmm!

Hit it with a little parsley.

A classic stuffed-eggplant dish.

I'm excited to continue this great legacy and always be creative, like Grandmother Chase wanted me to be.

-Living up to the legacy of previous generations, chefs Dook and Zoe Chase do a deep dive into Creole dishes while putting their own take on New Orleans cuisine.

-You talk about the next generation coming in, right?

The second act.

And what we have learned is, the classics are the classics and they're the classics for a reason.

That's what people grew up, whether their grandmother cooked it or they taste it here at the restaurant.

And they want that to taste just the same as when they were a child.

And that's hard to do and that's something we've been able to do quite well here at Dooky Chase.

That same gumbo you taste when you were 10 and now you're tasting it again at 60 and it's spot on bringing that memory back?

That's love when we hear this is that same gumbo, because it's not the same chef in the kitchen.

Those have changed.

But also just bringing in that evolution of what's your creative mind's take on that?

And it may not be different dishes, right?

You look at us now, and we're bringing back a Dook dish, right?

And it's served slightly different.

We may serve it over a carrot soufflé.

And back then, it could have been sweet potatoes or something else.

But that's the different take that you have on it.

It's still maintaining what we know, but now it's putting that different chef's spin on it.

-So, the customer base is changing a little bit and everybody's dietary practices.

We laugh a lot all the time.

My grandmother would say, "People need to worry more about what's coming out of their mouth than what's going in."

And we go, "Oh, my goodness.

You can't say that."

But, you know, she enjoyed cooking the way she cooked, the way she was taught, the way she grew up with, and her scope of what she knew.

Certainly, Grandmother would -- was certainly very keen and good about adapting recipes to meet, you know, a diabetic diet or low-cholesterol diet or whatnot or a vegetarian diet.

And she was able to -- You know, she was the first to say, "Okay, I'm still going to give my guests that come that practice a gluten-free diet -- I'm going to still give them some fried chicken."

So she made sure we were -- we adapted those recipes and cooking techniques to meet those needs.

-It would be great for her to be able to walk in that door right now and see all of her grandchildren around.

She would be -- and my father, I think, too -- you know, would be proud that they started this legacy for us, that they developed, created, made come into being this business that could benefit their family so well.

-Next, a pan-seared whole trout that resulted from a challenge to create a menu special.

-Talking about continuing the legacy, and you have the fifth generation and the fourth generation here.

I always love that each generation not only brings something new, but we learn from each other, we teach each other, and we push each other to be more creative.

And that's exactly what this dish is today.

You know, I challenged Zoe with making a special, and she brought to me the whole pan-seared trout.

And that's what we're going to showcase today, this whole pan-seared trout with a wonderful chimichurri sauce.

So, I'll get started with seasoning this trout.

And you can see I have two seasonings right here, just salt and pepper.

And the reason for that is, trout is just such a delicate and beautiful fish.

You don't want to overpower it with too much seasoning, nor do I want to overpower this beautiful sauce that we're going to enhance it with.

So, I'll get inside the cavity with a little salt, little pepper, flip him over.

So -- And I have my skillet on a low-to-medium heat, getting hot.

Now I'll add in a little bit of our oil here.

And, of course, I always like to mix oil and butter.

And what this does is, it slows down the butter from browning too fast for me while I'm pan-searing this beautiful fish.

♪♪ That's where we want it.

And then we'll just gently add our fish.

You know, when you add that butter in with the oil, not only does it slow down that browning of that butter, it just adds so much flavor.

We always talk about, here, flavoring that oil.

We're going to let that go for about 3 or 4 minutes on each side.

I'll stuff those cavities with some lemon right before we put it in the oven, just so that citrus could kind of ooze through it.

Such a beautiful fish -- speckled trout.

You know, we have so many people that came up in this kitchen under my grandmother, you know, and it's really just showcasing how you can look and learn and take a classic and put your own spin on something.

And it doesn't have to change drastically.

It can be little sauce here, a little different ingredient there.

It's just you're putting your own creative touch on it.

You can see, as always with fish, it's the same thing you look for.

You look for that coloration to rise up on its side.

Then we'll flip it and we'll look for that coloration to rise up on its other side and flip it.

And you always have to let bone-in fish go a little bit longer, right?

So, that meat close to the bone is going to take a little bit longer to cook versus a fillet.

♪♪ Looking beautiful.

♪♪ Gonna turn that fire down just a tad.

Like, I like to turn these fish right over on this side.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Here's where we are.

We want to stuff this trout right inside with this lemon before we put it in the oven.

And that's going to help add that great citrus flavor when you think of fish and seafood, right?

♪♪ Got to go into our oven at 350 degrees and it's going to cook for 10 minutes.

♪♪ -Alright.

Now we can get started on our chimichurri sauce.

So, here I have some parsley and some cilantro.

And we'll just give this a rough chop.

And you do want to also keep your stems on the cilantro, because that's where all the flavor comes from.

So, to our blender.

And if you don't have a blender at home, just really finely chop your parsley and cilantro, and you don't even have to put it in a blender.

♪♪ Okay.

Now we'll add some chopped garlic.

We have some chopped red onion.

A little bit of Dijon mustard.

Some dried oregano.

Fresh oregano would be great, as well.

Some red-pepper flakes.

A little bit of lemon juice.

And a little bit of red-wine vinegar.

We'll give this a quick pulse.

Once we have it pulsing, we'll start to incorporate our olive oil.

Alright, our sauce looks done.

Let's give it a taste.

-Oh, it looks beautiful.

-Mmm!

Add a little bit more salt.

And we're going to pour it in a bowl.

Mix it all up.

And, voilà, we have our chimichurri.

-This sauce looks beautiful.

I'm starting to smell that trout.

We'll get this all cleaned up and be ready to plate this beautiful dish.

Oh, and they look beautiful.

-Mm-hmm.

-And it smells delicious.

I'll get this guy out of here.

Let's see if I can keep him whole.

Right there.

I'll move this over here.

-And we could layer this beautiful sauce right on top.

-Oh, my.

And if you can just smell that trout that's sizzling out the oven, you know it's cooked perfectly.

And you look at this beautiful sauce that we tasted, that's just great.

Look at the beautiful colors.

-We have a little microgreens.

We'll layer those on top.

Get our beautiful lemon.

Alright.

-And this beautiful pan-seared trout.

This is how generations learn from each other.

This is a fresh take on Chef Zoe bringing it in, and this is me learning and experimenting and bringing more beautiful flavor.

-Each generation brings something new to the kitchen.

They learn from each other and push for creativity.

In the bar, Eve Marie Haydel researched old menus to develop a drink list of classic cocktails, family favorites, and her new creations.

-I was working in Atlanta about 15 years ago and I missed hospitality and I was like, "You know what?

I want to go to bartending school."

So I called home to my grandfather.

I said, "I'm going to try this out."

Oh, you know, he kind of chuckled.

You know, he was avid, you know, this was New Orleans.

You want to do classic New Orleans cocktails.

So making sure that I remember the things that I watched him do, or, you know, sometimes, I'm like, "Why are we putting powdered sugar on top of this mint julep?"

But I just -- I have this visual standing at the end of the bar watching my grandfather do that so meticulously.

So, it's just been like this open, warm hug from all this industry, food and beverage industry, in the city.

But I thought the way I could start -- And I was trying to figure out healthier ways to not put those bottled sugars or the bottled mixers in cocktails and to put our love, the same -- you know, to spend time and make something in-house that will show that we're putting the same care and taking that -- like they do in the kitchen when they're cooking.

So, I want to keep saying his name and the people that have contributed to, you know, this restaurant or this is their life's work, and it's important, you know, for us to keep them present in anything that we do.

But it makes me think about him every time.

-This spicy jalapeño-hibiscus margarita is all about the spicy fourth and fifth Chase generations.

-Alright.

So, we're going to make a spicy hibiscus-jalapeño margarita, because this next generation, we love spicy.

So, to start off, we're going to add some Tajín to our rim.

We're going to garnish our glass first.

Chef Zoe -- anything with Tajín on the rim is right up her alley, so here we go.

It's just a spicy season-all, kind of.

So, we'll add the spice to the glass and we'll add our ice and just let that sit over there while we make our spicy hibiscus margarita.

So, this is our hibiscus tea that we brewed in-house, our fresh lime juice, a little simple syrup, and, of course, some triple-sec Cointreau.

And then we soak our jalapeños in the tequila for at least 24 hours to get a more robust jalapeño, a spicier flavor.

We'll do an ounce of lime juice.

An ounce of simple.

Our hibiscus tea -- an ounce and a half.

And we're going to shake it.

[ Rattling ] I can smell the jalapeño coming off of the tequila when I poured it in the glass.

But alright.

And now we're just going to pour that over our ice.

It's a beautiful, beautiful color.

And then we'll add our lime wheel.

And there we have our spicy jalapeño-hibiscus margarita.

Here's to the next generation and all the spiciness we bring.

-Chef Leah Chase spent a lifetime uplifting the community and building bridges through food.

For more meals that bring people together, join the Chase family next time on "The Dooky Chase Kitchen: Leah's Legacy."

-Leah Chase's iconic book, "The Dooky Chase Cookbook," has been updated and includes all-new recipes from the series you're watching.

The cookbook is available for $27.95, plus shipping and handling.

To order, please call 1-866-388-0834 or order online at wyes.org.

-She wanted to make sure everyone's experience at the restaurant was personalized and she remembered every detail.

She remembered everyone's favorite drink, everyone's favorite dish, and what their guest enjoyed or not.

-When Nat King Cole came or when -- I was certainly here when the Jackson 5 would come.

But whoever would come, she would know -- My mother, Chef Leah Chase, would know what their favorite meal would be.

Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, whomever.

And she would make sure that she had that ready for them.

This is what she did, but she would do that for our everyday customers.

-Her natural -- Everything about her in this business was hard work, but the things that were wonderful about it were just natural to her, from the hospitality to people to the food she cooked.

And I'm glad of that.

-For more information about "The Dooky Chase Kitchen: Leah's Legacy," visit... Funding for "The Dooky Chase Kitchen: Leah's Legacy" was provided by the...