NEW ORLEANS RESTAURANTS & FOOD - Chef's Corner

Chef John Besh of the Besh Steakhouse at Harrah’s Casino

John Besh’s Cowboy Steak Recipe

Trying to break the rules will get most people thrown out of a casino, but not Chef John Besh. He’s betting that guests will prefer the approach he has taken to preparing steaks at his namesake restaurant at Harrah’s New Orleans.

“I wanted to create a steakhouse that broke the rules,” Besh says. “We are taking the approach of a fine dining restaurant instead of just having steaks on a plate. We prepare the entire dish around that steak.”

Besh takes the simple approach of finding the best quality products and then making the most of their natural flavor. Though he’s a native in a city that likes big, bold flavors, he doesn’t believe in over-seasoning the ingredients he is working with.

In putting together a recipe, one of his key techniques is repeating flavors within a dish. Essentially, you can’t get too much of a good thing. That means he might start with a filet, which is an excellent cut of meat but not overbearing in flavor. To highlight it, he might take oxtails and use them to make a jus, or natural beef juices, for the base of a sauce to accompany the steak. Then, to serve it, he might add a touch of molten beef marrow on top. The dish comes together completely on the basis of the beef’s natural flavors. Beyond the big flavor of the meat, the dish has depth and layers of flavor.

While the dishes at the restaurant feature the standard massive sized cuts associated with steakhouses, he’s designed each dish to highlight the particular cut of he’s using whether it’s any one of the beef dishes, or veal or lamb.