Coast chefs at old Grand Casino served up memorable pan roasts. Here’s how to make them.

Before Hurricane Katrina struck the Coast, Grand Casino Gulfport chefs created pan roasts that are still talked about 15 years later.

These pan roasts, served in Grand’s New Orleans Bistro, had a thick roux, and were made with shrimp, crabs and oysters. Readers always wanted the oyster pan roast, but shrimp certainly could be substituted for the oysters and shrimp stock for the oyster water.

Pan roasts are simply a stew that can contain a variety of ingredients from beef to seafood. They can be as mild or as spicy as you want. Often, the pan roasts are slow cooked, and many use a roux. If you do a roux, remember to keep stirring the pot; a burned roux is no good to anyone.

“Do you have a recipe for that wonderful pan roast made at the Grand Casino before Katrina?” asked Joan Clark. “I would love to see them make it again, and it was so good.

“I have tried but can’t make it come out right,” she said. “I would love to get the recipe.”

Guess what? Pan roasts were requested so often after Katrina that I kept the recipe on a disk. Of course, I had to search through the disks, but with success.

Another recipe success story is the finding of French Connection’s Camellia’s Pecan Pie.

Reader Anita Arnold of Kansas City, Missouri, a former Coast resident, still remembers the now-closed French Connection restaurant in Biloxi.

“I am currently scouring the Internet to find information and recipes from the French Connection. My husband and I had many dates and a Valentine or two there before we moved away for a couple of years,” she said.

“We were so excited to move back home and have our first (and only child) in the summer of 2005. We moved home in July, and the rest is history. We so hoped the French Connection would reopen in the months after Katrina.

“We ended up moving away from the Coast 3 years later for a job opportunity. Ten years later still finds us reminiscing about the restaurant and when we visit my parents, driving by the old location just makes us miss that romantic spot.

“I found your article from June 30, 2019, in the Sun Herald and wondered if you or others found recipes or a menu from the French Connection? Any information you can provide would be much obliged,” said Arnold.

Well, Arnold can make the famous pecan pie now.

Oyster pan roast

For the croutons:

4 cups cubed Italian or French bread

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the pan roast:

1/3 cup chopped shallots

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 (14- to 16-ounces) can tomatoes, crushed, and drained in a sieve

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon Tabasco

1/4 teaspoon paprika

30 oysters, shucked, reserving the liquor

2 cups half and half

1 cup milk

Finely chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish

To make croutons: In a baking pan, toss the bread cubes with the oil, the pepper and the salt and toast them in the middle of a preheated 350-degree oven, tossing them occasionally, for 15 minutes or until they are golden.

The croutons may be made two days in advance, cooled, and kept in an airtight container.

To make the pan roast soup: In a saucepan, cook the shallot in the butter over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is softened. Stir in the flour, the tomatoes, the basil, the Tabasco and the paprika.

Cook the mixture, stirring for 8 minutes. Add the reserved oyster liquor, strained through a fine sieve to remove any grit; stir in the half and half and the milk. Heat the mixture over moderately low heat, stirring and being careful not to let it boil, until it is hot.

Add the oysters and salt to taste. Heat the pan roast until it is hot, being careful not to let it boil.

Divide the pan roast among six shallow bowls and garnish it with the croutons and the parsley. Makes about 7 cups, serving 6.

Shrimp pan roast

1 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons cocktail sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon margarine or butter

4 dashes red pepper sauce

1 bottle (8 ounces) clam juice

1 pound uncooked, peeled, deveined medium shrimp, thawed if frozen

3 cups half and half

Mix all ingredients except shrimp and half and half in Dutch oven. Heat to boiling. Stir in shrimp; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 2 to 3 minutes or until shrimp are pink and firm.

Gradually add half and half, stirring constantly, until half and half is just heated through. Pour into individual bowls. Serve with a pan of butter and a sprinkle of paprika on top. Serve with French bread.

Camellia’s pecan pie

Crust:

3 cups plain flour

1 cup shortening

1 tablespoon salt

Ice water

Milk

Put first 3 ingredients in a bowl along with pastry blender and place in a freezer for at least 1/2 hour. Remove from freezer and cut in shortening until mixture is fine; begin adding ice water a tablespoon at a time, mixing well until dough forms a ball. Divide into two parts and turn on to a floured board. Roll each part into a single pie crust and place in a pie pan. Crimp and moisten the edges with milk.

Filling:

2 sticks margarine

2 cups white corn syrup

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

6 eggs

3 teaspoons pure vanilla

2 cups chopped pecans

Combine margarine, syrup, salt and sugar and bring to a boil over low heat. Simmer for 10 minutes and remove from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla. Set aside. Whisk the hot cooked mixture until creamy. Continue whisking and slowly add egg mixture. Add chopped nuts and mix thoroughly. Divide between the two pie crusts and bake at 350 degrees fpr 50 minutes or until lightly set. Yield: 12-13 slices – Recipe by Camellia Ricks

Andrea Yeager can be reached at ayeager51@cableone.net/ and Cooks Exchange, 205 DeBuys Road, Gulfport, MS 39507.