-Funding for "The Dooky Chase Kitchen: Leah's Legacy" was provided by the... -At Dooky Chase's, James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Leah Chase reached the pinnacle of her profession through her natural talent and dedication to her craft.

The self-trained chef encouraged those who followed to pursue formal culinary instruction.

Today's dishes reflect the training of grandson Dook Chase at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and great-granddaughter Zoe Chase, who is a graduate of the New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute -- NOCHI.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ First up, lamb chops with mint and rosemary glaze -- one of the dishes that Dook brought back from Paris.

-We're talking culinary school, guys.

And as you know, I grew up in this Dooky Chase kitchen.

This was my original culinary school.

But my grandmother wanted me to go and get a formal training, so her and my parents shipped me off to Paris, France, where I attended Le Cordon Bleu.

So today's recipe is one of those things that I learned in Paris, France.

We were dealing with a lot of lamb.

And I want to show you a little bit of this rack of lamb, how we'll do it.

Very simple recipe.

So I have this rack of lamb now.

You'll find in your grocery stores that many of them already come frenched.

If they're not frenched, what you want to do is just come along that bone, cut that fat off, and scrape it off.

The other thing I want to show you is, there's a little layer of silver skin.

What we want to do is just kind of come right underneath with that knife and pick off that silver skin.

All right.

I'm not gonna touch the fat on this side 'cause that's just gonna create some good juices in rendering.

I just touched a little fat right over the silver skin, so you can see exactly what I'm talking about here.

This piece right here, this is what I want you to remove.

So you just put that knife in and slide right underneath.

Right?

And it's okay if you don't get it all, but you just want to get a little bit so it's not as chewy.

So we have this one clean.

This is one I've done already.

I just got a little salt.

I have a little pepper.

And, you know, as we talk about culinary school, it's always interesting.

You know, my grandmother, she grew up, and people would say, "Chef Leah Chase, Queen of Creole Cuisine," and she always would come and say, "Well, I'm not a chef," 'cause in her mind, she thought you needed that certificate, that formal training.

Right?

That's always what she thought.

And that was why she nudged me to go and get that certificate and formal training.

Even though I'd spent, you know, at that time, maybe 5 to 7 years with her in this kitchen, she wanted me to go to get that certification.

But as we all know, Chef Leah Chase was in this kitchen for about 70 years.

There is no school that can teach you what she knows.

She was a student of this industry.

She read books.

She studied recipes.

She created recipes.

I mean, I was very fortunate and blessed to call this my culinary school.

So my pot is hot and it's ready to give a good sear to this lamb.

I am gonna just lightly oil this lamb here.

Just the top.

And in this pot, I'm gonna add a little oil here.

Not too much.

I'll add in a little butter.

[ Sizzling ] Swirl that around.

♪♪ And I'm moving it 'cause I don't want that butter to brown too, too fast before I add in this great lamb.

And we'll add the lamb.

I'll go the top side down first on this side.

I'll put this guy on this side.

And as we cook it, we're gonna move this around, right?

And you'll start to see -- What I want to do is, we're gonna finish it in the oven, but I want it to cook evenly, right?

So if I'm searing in the top, I'm gonna move it.

I'm gonna want to sear in this bottom, as well.

Then I'll flip it over and sear in this back side.

You can see this is what I'm looking for -- that good sear, that crust.

I'm gonna flip these over.

Right now I have my oven.

It's preheated at 400 degrees.

You need that high temperature 'cause this is not gonna go in that oven long.

And this is about right where I want it.

You see that color here.

So now I'm gonna fold it down on that bone.

And that's the color I'm looking for here.

I'm gonna move that to the outer side and try to get that bone side in.

Here we at the last two minutes.

I have my oven at 400 degrees.

We're gonna put this guy in the oven.

Before I do that -- This is optional, right?

If you want to add a little hit to it just to create that flavor of rosemary, just one little stick that I'm gonna leave right on top.

We'll come back to that rosemary.

There we go.

Right in.

So that's gonna go in the oven for 10 minutes if you like rare, 12 minutes if you like the medium.

And then you're going to about 15 minutes if medium to well, well done.

I let my lamb go for about 12 minutes.

I want that medium cooking temperature.

Here, I'll start with a little bit of butter.

And that's enough.

And I have some mint jelly, and I'm just gonna fold in.

And that rosemary sprig that we put in the oven with that lamb, I'm gonna throw that guy in there, too, just to flavor this glaze.

You know, you talk about something.

That was something on Dooky's menu back in the day, was that -- that roasted leg of lamb with mint jelly.

And you got this new-school guy who wants to do a rack of lamb and lamb chops, huh?

I'm sure she's looking down and saying, "Where's my leg of lamb?"

Cream it up just a little bit with that cold butter.

Get it to that consistency I want.

My lamb has rested.

You do want to rest and allow those juices to settle in here.

And, of course, the juices that render off, that is nothing but flavor.

You have to add that back in.

Pinch of salt.

I didn't add salt to this 'cause I think the seasoning... That's spot-on.

And when you sear that, right, that salt, that pepper, some of that's gonna stick to the bottom.

That's what helps also season that mint glaze.

So I don't have to add any more to this.

We're gonna cut in here.

So I'm going straight in.

Right?

And you're coming right down and right through.

And you can start to see that beautiful color on this.

And this, my friends... ...looks beautiful.

And you just... Oh, my.

Take this guy here.

♪♪ So welcome to culinary school all the way in Paris, France, to right here at home at Leah's kitchen in New Orleans.

-Chef Dook grew up in the Dooky Chase Kitchen, receiving on-the-job training as he worked beside his grandmother.

The intensive culinary program in Paris gave him the culinary chops and confidence to take his cooking to another level.

-Growing up in this restaurant under my grandmother, there's no better culinary school that will teach you everything that you needed to do.

She wanted us to get out there and get what she called the degrees.

Right?

She wanted us to have that certification.

She wanted us to go and check that box.

And that was really important to her.

And it was really important to me, as well.

And Zoe.

And I think she knew what that would do for us.

Not that it would teach us more than what she was able to teach us, but it gave us that extra confidence.

Paris, France, at Le Cordon Bleu -- That was just amazing.

We would show up at 7:00 in the morning, leave at 6:00 p.m.

It was an intense program.

We would have Saturday and Sunday off.

Then you would go and work at a restaurant.

During that time, you were just nonstop evolving in the food, learning food, picking up different recipes, and really just diving in.

-Our next dish, stuffed redfish wrapped in lettuce leaves, represents another chapter in the culinary journey of our chefs.

-And we'll get started right here.

I have a pot that's simmering with water.

And what I want to show you is just how to blanch that lettuce leaf.

I have iceberg lettuce that I'm just peeling off the leaf, and all you're gonna do is just let that soak.

And for about two minutes.

What you want to do is soften up this part right here.

Right?

The green is already pliable, but you want to soften this stalky part up so it doesn't break when you go to fold and wrap that fish.

So this is really just two minutes, right?

Simmering.

I'm not boiling my water.

I don't want to beat that leaf up.

We have already a few done here and we'll let Zoe show you how we stuff and wrap this beautiful redfish.

-So we'll layer it, and we'll go in the middle with our black olives that we have chopped up.

Chopped grape tomatoes.

And you could also use, if you don't like olives or grape tomatoes -- Maybe some squash would be good.

-Sun-dried tomatoes is great.

You know, we certainly use a little bit of chopped shrimp here, but if you got any scallops or anything else that you want to use, you certainly can use as you do your stuffing.

-So I've added some minced ginger and also some chopped shrimp, and we're gonna season that with some salt and pepper.

And now we're gonna get our fish and we're gonna season it with some salt and some pepper.

And we're gonna layer it right on top.

-If you're able to find striped bass or anything, fish that's kind of flaky, and that works well when you go to poach.

Certainly this is just a dish that you'll -- you'll cut into that wrap of lettuce and you're just gonna find a beautiful surprise with that stuffing and that beautiful fish of your choosing.

-So after I put the fish down, I did another layer of olives and tomatoes.

And, of course, we want to season, so now it's time to wrap.

So you're gonna fold over your tops and you're gonna fold in.

And then you're just gonna fold down.

And, voilà, you have a lettuce wrap.

And we already here have two of them done.

So we're gonna put it right here, and we'll work on another one.

-And, you know, I went to culinary school and certainly Zoe went to culinary school.

And tell us a little bit about your experience.

-I was thinking, you know, "I want to try something new.

I think I want to start culinary school.

I could go there and then come back here and work Friday nights and Saturday nights."

And that's what I did.

We learned Thai cuisine, Asian cuisine, you know, everything.

It was a funny joke.

Once we did our Creole teaching, they was like, "Oh, Zoe's gonna be so amazing at this."

But actually, I couldn't be there that day 'cause it was Holy Thursday.

So, of course, we had to send them some gumbo z'herbes.

And they taught shrimp Creole and everything.

But, you know, I didn't miss nothing 'cause I knew how to do that already.

-You can see here that Zoe's wrapping up our last one that we'll do.

But I want you to notice that that shrimp is not cooked, right?

And the reason why it's not cooked is, we're gonna poach that whole lettuce wrap in this sauce, and you don't want to overcook your shrimp.

That's why nothing in here -- Everything is going in as a raw state 'cause it's gonna cook right along with that fish and those juices that it renders, all that flavor is just gonna pick up, right, packed in that beautiful lettuce wrap.

-All righty.

We have a little olive oil here that we'll start with.

And I have a little shallots.

And I'm just gonna move those guys around.

Let them sauté a little bit.

Now I'm gonna add in our garlic.

And I'm not looking to brown it too much.

So as I don't want to overcook that garlic, I'm gonna add those tomatoes in to slow that process down.

Right?

That's gonna slow that heat down.

Pick up a little bit that I want here.

And I don't want to soften my tomatoes too much just yet 'cause they've got to go through that cooking process and I still want them to be visible.

I'm gonna deglaze with a little white wine.

I have a little bit of seafood stock.

♪♪ We're gonna season this with a little salt.

A little cayenne pepper.

And a little black pepper.

And you can see I'm not right where I want to be just yet.

I've got to bring that liquid up just a little bit.

So I'll add some water to this.

Not much.

I just want to come about halfway and it's starting to smell great.

We're gonna add just a teaspoon of tomato paste to this.

This is my thickening agent, right?

I didn't have any flour in here, but this tomato paste is gonna give me the body of that sauce that I'm looking for.

This is right where we want it to be.

Before we add that fish, certainly we got to taste our poaching liquid.

You got your spoon.

Let's dive in.

Make sure we have everything we need.

Oh, my.

I want to bring this up to a simmer so when I add this wrapped redfish, it's gonna start to cook immediately.

You want to keep the wrapped side down, right?

The pretty side up.

That's gonna help keep everything closed in.

Nothing should open up while we're cooking this.

And again, don't crowd the pan, right?

Give it enough room to pick up all those great flavors that you have here.

And you talk about a beautiful dish.

The last thing we have to do is cover this and you're gonna let it simmer for 15 minutes.

So right where it's at on the low heat.

And we'll let that talk to each other and we'll get ready for a beautiful redfish wrap with lettuce leaf.

It's been simmering for 15 minutes.

We'll take this off and you can see that beautiful wrap just maintained its shape.

Beautiful wraps are ready to come on out.

So we'll get this plate here.

And again, you want to be gentle.

Get a fish spatula or a spatula that's pretty flexible.

We're gonna leave that here.

You want to reduce it for about four minutes, right?

You're gonna bring it.

And when you reduce, you intensify those flavors.

Right?

Not only are we gonna create body, but you're gonna intensify those flavors that's in this sauce.

We'll slowly start to work in our cream.

And you see butter over here.

I always have a cold cube of butter just in case we need to cream up this sauce a little more.

Then I'm gonna add in probably two scoops of butter.

And let's get our tasting spoons to see it's right where we want it to be.

Oh, man.

So here I've added my little two cubes of butter just to cream this up.

And all you do is just come right on top of this... and add just a beautiful... You talk about a dish where you learn in culinary school and then you create and make it your own.

That's what it's all about, right?

I want you all to get inspired and use what's local in your backyard.

-Chef Zoe Chase, the fifth generation to take her place in the kitchen, honed her skills at NOCHI and through externships at Commander's Palace and Compère Lapin.

Much like her great-grandmother Leah Chase, her keen interest in food trends is starting to put a new spin on the historic restaurant.

-It was my son's, Dook, idea to lift up a female in the image of my mother as the next matriarch chef of a family-owned restaurant that will continue into next generations, that is young enough that that next generation would be at least for another 80 years.

So Zoe fit that bill.

The restaurant is in great hands because the next generation feels the same way we feel about maintaining the legacy of a family-owned black restaurant in Faubourg Tremé.

-We finish with chocolate mousse with citrus, a classic dessert that's as easy to make as it is delicious.

-Of course, our journey in culinary school is gonna take you into the patisserie realm, the bakery realm.

And where I found joy was chocolate mousse and bread pudding and peach cobblers.

That was where I landed.

We'll get started by having -- I have dark chocolate here.

This is about 55% of cocoa.

50%, 55%.

If you go up to 70%, that would be perfect 'cause it really enriches that flavor that you're gonna get from this chocolate.

All I have here is a double boiler, right?

I have my water.

I don't want it to boil.

I just want it to be right at a simmer.

And as it melts, you'll start to move it around, right?

You'll move the bottom pieces to the top, and you can see it already started to melt.

I just want to make sure all this melts perfectly and evenly around.

And while this is working, Zoe's gonna showcase how we separate these eggs.

And, you know, the marriage between the egg yolk and the egg white, right?

That egg yolk is gonna give that body and pull everything together.

That egg white is gonna aerate it, right?

When you think of that mousse, that soft texture that you're looking for, that's coming from that egg white that you're folding in.

Baking has always been my challenge.

But Zoe came from her culinary school... -Yes.

-The class where y'all made bread and you had croissants and baguettes.

-I remember the first day we made blueberry muffins, and I was so excited, and we made them, and we put them in the oven, and it was time to take them out.

And everybody's muffins were so pretty, so beautiful.

I take mine out.

They're, like, brown and so dark.

And I'm like, "What did I do?

What did I do?"

You really have to have patience and you have to measure everything out because if you don't, it won't go right.

-So you can see here we have our egg yolks.

I'm gonna whisk these in and I'm gonna add a little sugar to it.

So you can see we have two ramekins of sugar.

One is for my egg yolks, one is gonna be for my egg whites.

So my egg yolks is gonna be used to sweeten up this chocolate over here.

So I'll add in a little bit of our sugar here.

-And I'll start to beat these egg whites.

-That's right where I want it.

-You see that stiff peak?

Perfect.

Now we can add our sugar.

You just want to roll it a little bit and add a little bit of sugar.

Let that get incorporated.

All righty.

We're gonna take them out and we're gonna get ready to fold it into our chocolate.

-So now that our egg whites are beautiful and have stiff peaks, you can look.

Our chocolate is just melted evenly around.

And what I have here is a little bit of my orange rind that I did and I chopped up.

I just want to add a little in there.

So as you dive into this chocolate mousse, you're gonna get that little bite of that orange zest that's coming through and that's just gonna enhance that flavor.

That's gonna give you that beautiful citrus surprise.

That's melted perfectly.

I'll take that off the heat.

And this is the point where you add the egg yolks with the sugar to your melted chocolate.

And you just start to work that in.

And you'll see that chocolate is gonna pick up that egg yolk and it's gonna soften it up.

You see how it's getting a little more wetness and then it's gonna start to tighten up as you stir.

Don't worry about scrambling your eggs.

As we melted that chocolate, it was on a simmer.

So this is not that temperature that's gonna cook the egg, right?

It's just warm enough to melt that chocolate so as you don't have to worry about your egg yolk cooking and hurry up and stirring.

It's not gonna cook it.

That's not gonna cause you a problem.

Now is our time to fold in our beautiful egg whites, and we're not gonna add it all in at once, right?

Just one at a time.

And we're gonna start to work it in.

I'll get in another bunch here.

Fold it in.

Now that we almost have all our egg whites folded, and you can get any dish that you love.

Here, we like to plate it in these little coupes.

I'll take one of my coupes here.

And we'll just start to fill that guy in.

Then do this one.

-And you could even -- If you have a piping bag at home, you could be fancy and pipe it in.

-And I'll add just a little bit more of our zest on top so that you get a little more flavor.

What you want to do is cover these up with plastic wrap, put these in your refrigerator for an hour, and then pull them out right when your guests are ready to dive in a great dessert.

We have some that's been in a refrigerator and ready for us to serve.

And what we love to do here is add a little fresh fruit to it.

Right?

And who doesn't love fresh fruit?

We have beautiful raspberries and blueberries and blackberries.

Not only do they showcase the beautiful colors that they have, but they give that mousse just an extra bit of flavor.

To end our culinary journey, this is a beautiful citrus chocolate mousse.

Easy to do.

Perfect for you at home.

-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.

-So all the African-American musicians who would be performing would come here -- Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, James Brown.

Dizzy Gillespie was my daddy's good friend 'cause my daddy is a trumpet player and Dizzy a great trumpet player.

-It was always a surprise.

And you never knew who you would see.

Lena Horne sitting there.

So many of the people.

James Baldwin sitting here.

Or even when I was here -- When the presidents came, it was like, "Whoa.

We here and the presidents are here."

-The Jackson 5 used to like her sweet potato pie and stuff.

And we have that upstairs dining room that you've heard them talk about.

So they were up there one time.

And, I mean, I'm not even a teenager.

I don't know how old I was.

But I went quietly up the steps and I'm thinking, "Of course my mother's gonna say, 'Do you want to meet the Jackson 5?'"

You know, my mother said nothing.

And, you know, I stuck my head in, and -- and I remember clearly Michael turned around and just looked my way and nobody said anything, so I just snuck back down the steps.

♪♪ -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...