Chef Joe Browns Melange Cafe Cook Book

by Joe Brown, Connie Fisher (Editor), Donna Connor (Photographer)

Overview

Joe Brown's Melange Cafe Cookbook brings the Melange Cafe's assertive and
imaginative Louisiana-Italian cuisine into America's kitchens. The cookbook and
the restaurant buzz with Big Easy spirit, Southern hospitality, and great food.
• Both loyal customers and new friends of Melange Cafe will be delighted
to find the secrets behind the restaurant's most popular dishes in Joe Brown's
Melange Cafe Cookbook.
Starters and Party Food: Crabmeat Cheesecake with Pecan Crust and Wild
Mushroom Sauté; Fried Oysters with Horseradish Mustard Reduction; Grilled
Shrimp with Pecan Corn Crab Relish; Muffuletta Bruschetta
Soups and Salads: Pan-Smoked Tomato Crab Bisque; Crawfish Potato Corn
Chowder; Louisiana Sausage and Bean Soup; Crawfish Salad with Tomato-Leek
Vinaigrette; Crab Cake Salad with Tomato-Basil Dressing
One Pots and Pastas: Chicken, Red Beans, and Rice with France's Cheese
Biscuits; Lobster Gumbo; Seafood Jambalaya; Garlic Shrimp and Pasta; Louisiana
Dirty Rice and Clams
Plated Entrees: Smothered Chicken with Crawfish Mashed Potatoes; Cajun
Turkey with Dirty Rice Dressing; Crawfish Potpie; Grilled Rib-eye with Rosemary
Jus and Garlic Mashed; Tasso-Stuffed Pork Chops; Country Fried Catfish with
Corn "Mock-Shoo"
Desserts: Sweet Potato Crème Brûlée; Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake; Knock
Down Bourbon Bread Pudding; Pecan Bar Cookies; Ricotta Cheese Pie; Southern
Chocolate Chip Cannoli

Product Details

BN ID:	2940012883841
Publisher:	Joe Brown
Publication date:	06/20/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	34 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Joe Brown was born to feed a crowd. The youngest of ten children, Joe learned to
cook at his mother’s side at an early age. His father died when he was eight, and Joe’s
mother raised the large family by herself. Everyone pitched in. Joe especially liked
helping in the kitchen. “My mother was from Tennessee. She really knew how to
cook,” says Brown, “and there were a lot of people to cook for. If I wanted something,
I’d make it myself. After a while I realized that I really enjoyed cooking for everyone.”
Watching his older siblings gain success in college and the work world inspired him to want his own business. Although his
first venture was a Kool-Aid stand, he did not think that business would be a restaurant. However, a summer job after high
school graduation changed all that. Joe started working as a dishwasher at a seafood restaurant, and — pardon the pun — he
was hooked. “Although I hadn’t initially considered cooking as a career, I really loved it, and I had the natural skills — hand
control, stamina, a love of food.” Those skills paid off, and Brown eventually became the first African-American chef at the
restaurant. Still, he felt the need for formal training. “Without education, a cook isn’t a chef but a piece of equipment in the
kitchen. I wanted more than that.”
So the ambitious Brown enrolled in The Restaurant School in Philadelphia. While in school, he continued working at the
seafood restaurant and took on two part-time jobs, one of which was at Landmark Inn. There he met his mentors: the owner of
the Inn who encouraged his dream of owning his own business; and Elijah Dawes, an African-American executive chef who
taught him a great deal about professionalism.
After graduation, Brown began to seriously plan for his own restaurant. He knew what he wanted: a place that would
provide exceptional meals at moderate prices to all ethnic groups. He just was uncertain about the cuisine. Then an “Eureka!”
moment happened. Brown and his wife Robin took a trip to New Orleans. Joe immediately fell in love with the melting pot cuisine
of the Big Easy, the Southern spirit of hospitality, and the energy that buzzed throughout the city. He opened Melange Cafe in 1995.
By combining what he loved — sophisticated Creole sauces; rustic Cajun dishes;

Editorial Reviews

In a publishing year that was stuffed full of big, glossy cookbooks, one of my favorites
was the least showy of the bunch. Joe Brown is the executive chef and owner of
Melange Cafe in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Melange Cafe Cookbook showcases
Brown's fusion of Louisiana and Italian cooking. This is food for foodies, described
with great wit and charm and with a dazzling eye for getting right to the heart of
things. The design here is minimalist and modern and includes no food s

January Magazine