Southern Comfort (4 page)

To make the sauce, in a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the tomato puree with the tarragon sprig until there is no more liquid, and the puree is reduced to about 1 tablespoon. Discard the tarragon sprig. Set the tomato puree aside.

Place the butter in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high until the butter is completely melted, about 2½ minutes. Remove the butter from the microwave and let sit for a few minutes; skim off any foam that has formed on the top and discard. Pour the clear yellow butter into another dish, avoiding any of the milk solids in the bottom. This is clarified butter to use for the sauce.

In a small saucepan, combine the egg yolks and lemon juice and cook over low heat, whisking the mixture briskly until it starts to thicken. You may need to pull the pan on and off the heat to control the temperature so you don’t scramble
the egg yolks. Once the eggs are thickened, use a ladle to slowly drizzle half the clarified butter into the eggs while continuing to whisk.

Thin the sauce out a bit with the 1 tablespoon water to prevent the sauce from getting too tight and breaking. Continue adding the remaining butter and whisking. You should end up with a thick and silky emulsified sauce.

To finish the sauce, add the vinegar, hot sauce, salt, and reserved tomato puree and mix well with a whisk. Keep the sauce warm beside the stove or on a shelf above the stove (but not on direct heat) while you make the omelets.

To make the omelets, line a plate with paper towels and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs vigorously until they are a thin liquid.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter to the pan and let it brown. Add the spinach, cooking just until wilted, then add the crawfish tails and cook until the mixture is warm. Season the mixture well with salt and pepper. Gently mix together the spinach and crawfish and remove to the prepared plate; reserve, keeping them warm until omelets are cooked.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add one-quarter of the whisked eggs to the pan and season with salt and pepper. With a rubber spatula, stir the eggs a bit until they start to set, then swirl the pan until the eggs coat the bottom in an even layer. Let the omelet cook a little to set up; once there is just a hint of wetness on the top, add one-quarter of the spinach and crawfish mixture to the center of the omelet. Using a rubber spatula, fold one side of the omelet over the filling. Then working over a plate, fold the omelet over once more, sliding onto a plate.

Repeat this process to make three more omelets, adding a tablespoon of butter for each.

Top each omelet with sauce and serve.

To soak the bread, place the slices in a baking dish large enough to hold them in a single layer. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla seeds until the mixture is creamy and light yellow. Slowly whisk in 2 cups of the heavy cream, then whisk in the orange zest, orange juice, and 2 tablespoons of the brandy. Pour the mixture over the bread slices, making sure to cover the slices completely. Soak the bread thoroughly, turning once, for a total of 10 minutes.

While the bread is soaking, with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the remaining 2 cups of heavy cream with the remaining 1 tablespoon of brandy and 1 tablespoon of the confectioners’ sugar until it reaches stiff peaks. Reserve the whipped cream in the refrigerator (it will keep covered for up to 1 hour) until the French toast is ready to serve.

To cook the French toast, line a large platter with paper towels and have ready.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-low heat and add half of the butter to the pan. Once the butter begins to foam, add half of the soaked bread to the pan and let them slowly brown. With a spatula, lift an edge of one slice to see if a nice brown crust has formed. If it has, flip the slices and cook until golden brown and crispy. Remove them from the pan to the prepared platter. Add the remaining butter and bread to the pan and repeat the process. If your pan isn’t large enough to fit four slices at a time, you may have to do this in more than two batches.

To serve, place the toasts on a large platter and dust with the remaining 1 tablespoon of confectioners’ sugar. Serve with the brandied whipped cream on the side.

Prick the sweet potato with a fork five times and microwave on high for 15 minutes. Holding the potato with a kitchen towel, halve it, scoop out the soft flesh, and transfer the pulp to a bowl. Mash with a fork or potato masher.

Preheat a griddle over medium-high heat.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and whisk until well incorporated. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, milk, buttermilk, and mashed sweet potato and whisk them until well incorporated.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the wet ingredients into the center of the well. Using a whisk and working from the inside to the out, whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, making a smooth pancake batter.

Melt the butter on the hot griddle. Using a ¼-cup measuring cup, pour ¼ cup of the batter onto the griddle for each pancake and smooth each into a circle with the back of a spoon. Once the pancakes begin to bubble, flip them over and cook for another minute. Tranfer the cooked pancakes to a plate and keep warm in a low oven. Repeat until all of the batter is used.

Serve immediately, smothered with syrup.

To make the crêpe batter, in a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until fully incorporated. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and the cinnamon. Next, slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, moving from the inside to outside for a smooth batter. Strain the batter through a fine sieve into a bowl and then whisk in the melted butter and rum. Chill the batter, covered, in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, and up to 24 hours.

To prepare the bananas, peel them, trim off the stem ends, and halve the fruit lengthwise. Slice each banana half crosswise into three pieces (you’ll have eighteen pieces total); set aside.

Preheat the broiler.

While the broiler is heating, in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream on medium-high speed until it reaches soft peaks. Add 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar and whip until it is thoroughly incorporated. Set aside.

Place an 8-inch nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Once the pan is warm, add one piece of the cold butter and three banana slices. Sauté the bananas until they are lightly golden on one side, then ladle ½ cup of crêpe batter into the pan. Using a rubber spatula, lightly push in the edges of the batter and swirl the pan as though you were making an omelet. Once the crêpe has formed in the pan, flip it over, spread 2 tablespoons of the remaining brown sugar evenly on top of the crêpe, and place the crêpe underneath the broiler. Once all the sugar has been caramelized and is a dark shiny amber color, carefully remove the crêpe from the pan and turn out onto a plate. Repeat the process for the rest of the crêpe batter and bananas.