NEW ORLEANS — On a recent trip to New Orleans, my husband and I went searching for a side of the city that tourists don’t ordinarily see. We talked to hotel doormen and cab drivers, asking for the names of great restaurants where locals eat. We were looking for a restaurant like the one on Frank’s Place, the CBS-TV series with Tim Reid. No one seemed to know what we were talking about.
Finally, the recommendation of a cab driver brought us to Chez Helene, also known as “the house of good food.” Inside, the dining room looked vaguely familiar. Then we spotted the newspaper articles on the walls and understood why. The restaurant, it turned out, was the inspiration for Frank’s Place.
After a stirring two-hour gospel service at the nearby Greater St. Stephen Baptist Church, we feasted like kings. My husband had pork chops stuffed with ham and shrimp, green beans, macaroni and moist cornbread for $10. I opted for the variety plate, a bounty that included mouth-watering ribs, jambalaya, fried chicken, etouffee (crawfish in gravy), barbecued shrimp, blackened redfish, greens, and red beans and rice for $12. We washed it down with frequently refilled glasses of sweetened iced tea.
In culinary parlance, this was the real New Orleans. No matter that Chez Helene isn’t in the trendy French Quarter, which some tourists never leave. Instead, it’s in a working-class neighborhood on North Robertson Street, the other side of Canal Street. An unprepossessing exterior and a blackboard outside with daily specials give no clue to the fine eating inside, but maybe that’s as it should be. The cognoscenti know how to find Chez Helene, which certainly isn’t hurting for patrons.
— Initially known as Howard’s Eatery, the restaurant opened in 1942 and moved to its present location in 1964, when owner Helen Howard divorced her husband and changed the restaurant’s name to Chez Helene. Business picked up, so she sought the help of her nephew, Austin Leslie. A former chef at several other New Orleans restaurants, he introduced some fancier Creole delicacies to the menu, along with his special recipe for fried chicken. When his aunt retired in 1975, she turned the show over to him.
Leslie is a 53-year-old dynamo who dresses in white with a black-braided sailor’s cap and specializies in soul, French and Creole cuisine. Scan his enticing menu and you may pick from stuffed lobster, trout meuniere, soft- shell crab and oyster brochette, among other entrees. Desserts include apple pie, bread pudding and egg custard.
The dining room on Frank’s Place — which is on temporary hiatus, but is expected to return this spring — is a near replica of the one at Chez Helene. The real thing features a modest-sized dining room with 12 tables covered in red-and-white checkered oilcloth, as well as a second dining room. There are ceiling fans to stir the breeze from an open window, a jukebox and vases with red flowers.
According to Leslie, the TV character Big Arthur is based on him. “The head waitress Miss Marie is like Miss Emma. The writers did a beautiful job.”
But one thing the TV show can’t duplicate is the homey atmosphere.
— This Sunday afternoon, diners are watching the Los Angeles Lakers play the Dallas Mavericks on television, which was installed after the writers of Frank’s Place came to visit for the first time. A Lite Beer clock hangs near the entrance. Red chili peppers and strings of garlic cloves hang from black posts. But it’s the walls that spell the restaurant’s enduring fame through culinary award plaques, photographs, colorful posters and praise-filled newspaper stories from around the country.
Leslie, who is known for greeting customers and sometimes sitting down for a chat, is proud of what Chez Helene has achieved. “We always had notoriety,” he says. “But now it’s on the ball with new faces, new publicity. The proof is in the pudding.”
And in the other tasty items Leslie prepares daily.
“I’m here in the morning, from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., doing preparation work,” he says. “If the gumbo has to be brought back again, I’ll do that. The thing about a restaurant is the man in the back, in order to keep the quality. You can’t camouflage that.
“This is my home here,” he says, gesturing. “I have my nephew and my little helpers who have been around me and this system so that the food always tastes the same.”
Leslie cautions people who buy his $5 cookbook, however, that entrees prepared at home may not taste as they do at Chez Helene. “Even if I give you the recipe, you won’t fix it exactly like me. But I give people a base from which to begin. I give them a way to fry chicken — to drop it in flour with this hand, how to mix water with grease so it pops. It’s a two-handed operation, and you have to be disciplined.”
Leslie says that while the spotlight from Frank’s Place has been welcome, he keeps it in perspective. “It’s good to have. But people come here for the food.”
Here are a few of the restaurant’s specialties, all adapted from Chez Helene, the House of Good Food Cookbook, by Austin Leslie (De Simonin Publications):
BARBECUED SPARERIBS
2 sides spareribs (cut in sections)
Salad oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Barbecue sauce (see recipe)
Place spareribs in large pot. Cover with boiling water. When water returns to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove ribs from pot and place on baking pans. Salt and pepper ribs to taste, then oil ribs lightly and brown both sides under broiler. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place ribs flat in roasting pans and cover with barbecue sauce. Bake in preheated oven 1 to 1/2 hours, or until tender. Baste and turn ribs every 15 minutes. Makes 8 servings.
BARBECUE SAUCE
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespon chili powder
Dash Worcestershire sauce
In a medium-sized skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic in butter until tender. Add the remaining ingredients for sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. Makes about 4 cups sauce.
— Sort of a cross between jambalaya and an extra-thick gumbo, this spicy stew is hearty enough to serve as a main course, with cornbread or crusty French bread for sopping up the flavorful juices.
AUNT HELEN’S STEWED OKRA
1/2 pound bacon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 pound ham (diced)
1/2 pound smoked sausage, sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 pounds fresh okra, sliced crosswise to 1/2-inch thickness
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
4 large tomatoes (peeled, seeded and diced)
1/2 pound small, peeled shrimp
Salt, black pepper and cayenne to taste
In an enameled Dutch oven, fry bacon until crisp. Reserve drippings in pan; crumble bacon and set aside. Heat bacon drippings and vegetable oil over moderate heat. Brown ham and smoked sausage. Remove ham and sausage; add okra, onions, bell peppers and garlic to skillet. Cook, covered, until okra is no longer slimy, stirring often, 10 or 15 minutes. Pour off any excess fat from pot. Add reserved ham, sausage, crumbled bacon, thyme and bay leaf. Cook, covered, stirring frequently, until okra is tender, 5 to 10 minutes longer. Add diced tomatoes, shrimp, salt, pepper, cayenne and cook 5 to 10 minutes more, or until shrimp is pink. Serve with hot, cooked rice. Makes 8 to 10 first-course or side-dish servings.
Serve this not-too-sweet muffin with any dinner entree, or in the morning for breakfast slathered with butter and honey.
PECAN MUFFINS
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) butter, melted
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add pecans. In a bowl, combine the egg, milk and butter. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Spoon batter into well-buttered muffin tins. Bake 25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.
A signature side dish at Chez Helene.
CREOLE STUFFED PEPPERS
5 or 6 large green peppers
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
4 sprigs parsley (stems and leaves finely chopped)
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 pound ground beef (twice ground)
1/2 pound small fresh shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1/2 loaf stale French bread (about 6 slices)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Split peppers in half, horizontally, remove seeds and membranes, wash and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes and set aside. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat; add onion, celery, parsley and thyme. Saute for 10 to 15 minutes. Add ground beef and cook until pinkness disappears; drain off grease. Stir in shrimp. In a large bowl, dampen bread until moist, squeeze out excess water and add eggs. Mix well, then stir in sauteed ingredients. Blend, then add garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Place stuffing in baking pan or Pyrex dish and cook in oven for 45 minutes. Stuff peppers with mixture, top with bread crumbs and dot with butter. Place on a baking sheet and run under broiler for 2 or 3 minutes, just until browned on top. Makes 5 to 6 main-dish servings, or 10 to 12 side-dish servings.
Note: If you wish to make the stuffing ahead, chill mixture after cooking. Fill peppers with chilled mixture (skim off any fat that appears after chilling); top each pepper half with bread crumbs and place on baking sheet. Dot with butter and heat in 350-degree oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until heated through. Run briefly under broiler to brown tops. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
— This traditional New Orleans specialty is usually served as an appetizer, or a light luncheon dish.
SHRIMP REMOULADE
2 cups Hellmann’s mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped sour pickles
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/2 cup horseradish, drained
1 teaspoon minced parsley
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
Cayenne to taste
1/2 gallon water
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons liquid crab boil
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp
1 head lettuce, shredded
Place mayonnaise, pickles, mustard, horseradish, parsley, garlic and cayenne in bowl. Mix thoroughly and refrigerate sauce. Meanwhile, in a large pot bring water to a boil. Add salt and crab boil to boiling water, then add shrimp. When water returns to boil, remove shrimp from heat and place directly into iced water. Drain shrimp. Place drained shrimp on shredded lettuce on 6 small plates and pour generous amount of remoulade sauce over each portion. Makes 6 servings.
RUBY’S BREAD PUDDING WITH RUM SAUCE
1 loaf stale French bread
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
4 ounces raisins
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 can (14 ounces) evaporated milk
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wet the bread and squeeze the water out of it. In a large bowl, combine with all other ingredients. Pour mixture into a well- buttered 8-by-11-inch baking pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve with Rum Sauce (recipe follows). Makes 8 servings.
RUM SAUCE
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 ounces white rum
Whip butter until light and gradually add the sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Next, add rum and beat several more minutes. Refrigerate. Serve over warm pudding.
Yes, the excessive amounts of Kahlua and vanilla extract called for in this recipe are correct. This is a rich, moist and boozy poundcake — absolutely divine!
KAHLUA CAKE
Shortening and cake flour for pan
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature
3 cups sugar
5 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups cake flour (sifted twice)
3 tablespoons almond or vanilla extract
3/4 cup Kahlua
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 12- to 16-cup bundt or tube pan or Bundt pan. Beat butter by hand in mixing bowl for several minutes. Add sugar to butter, 1 cup at a time. Beat well with electric mixer after each addition. Continue beating butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, until each disappears in the mixture. Next, fold in flour, 1 cup at a time into the above mixture. Add extract of choice (we tested the recipe with vanilla) and Kahlua. Beat in lightly. Pour into prepared pan and bake in middle of oven for approximately 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until a straw inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on cake rack for 1 hour, then unmold. Makes 12 to 16 servings.
These recipes have been kitchen-tested.
