Chef Marilyn Doucette was featured in a Times-Picayune article by Judy Walker about the delicious foods produced by her catering company:
Meals from the Heart (find a few of her wholesome recipes at the end of the story).
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER Chef Marilyn Doucette at the Art Market of New Orleans at Palmer Park. She was serving white beans with brown rice and a healthy sausage.
By Judy Walker
Food editor
Chef Marilyn Doucette is one of those people who follows her heart. And it's a healthy path that is winning her lots of fans at the local outdoor markets where she serves her food.
Customer Don Hutchinson paused Saturday after he bought her white beans and rice at the Art Market of New Orleans at Palmer Park.
"She cooks heart-healthy and it's very New Orleans," Hutchinson said. "Every festival I go to when she has a booth, I get some. Everything I've ever had has just been off the chart, and it's heart-healthy. I don't know how she does it."
"When we're at the markets, people seem to appreciate it. We don't have a shortage of regular visitors," said Doucette, the chef/owner of Meals From the Heart LLC. "When people have the opportunity to (eat) better, they will."
Doucette will be at the Freret Market (just off Napoleon, in the 4400 block) on Saturday (March 1) from noon to 5 p.m.; she also takes Meals From the Heart to the Harrison Avenue Marketplace, which is held the third Wednesday of every month from 5 to 8 p.m. at 801 Harrison Ave. in Lakeview.
Doucette also is a personal chef, a caterer, and runs her own Web site, www.mealsfromtheheartllc.com. Most of her offerings are healthier versions of what customers eat on a daily basis, she says, but with an occasional twist.
"We introduced grilled tilapia once with a mixed green salad, which I do with a walnut-raisin-raspberry vinaigrette dressing," Doucette said. "People try and they discover something new."
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER Doucette specializes in healthy New Orleans meals.
Many but not all of her dishes are New Orleans favorites, such as stuffed bell peppers, which have all the Creole flavor plus turkey instead of ground beef. But the hands-down, all-generations favorite for her personal chef customers, not necessarily a local dish, is lasagna made with ground turkey and vegetables. (She also makes vegetarian lasagna, and vegetarian meals.)
She tries to follow the dietary guidelines of the American Heart Association, Doucette said. And she passes out advice as well as brown rice.
Some of her customers have never tried whole-wheat pasta until she serves it to them. She encourages them to "go brown," with whole-wheat bread and other whole-grain products, and to include vegetables in every meal.
Although some market customers say they want the crab cake just by itself, the chef tells them they don't come that way. The dish is served with salad and a fresh vegetable on the side, usually fresh green beans or summer squash.
The crab cake's fans include Michelle Levine, manager of the Arts Market of New Orleans. On the Friday before the market, Levine goes on WWOZ radio to promote it. She has told listeners Doucette's is the best crab cake in town.
"That's how I describe her," Levine said of Doucette. "It's amazing. Everything is really wholesome and fresh-tasting, and the presentation is very good."
Levine's counterpart at the Freret Market, manager Rachel Mays, is also a fan.
During one of the colder market days, "The chili smelled so good," Mays said. "I don't eat beef so I wasn't going to get it, and she told me it was 100-percent ground turkey. She understands it's healthier for the heart, and it's still delicious."
On Saturday, a customer at the Arts Market asked if she was one of the 7th Ward Doucettes. The chef nodded and said, "I look just like my brothers." Others who know her stop and comment on her very short salt-and-pepper hair: Six months ago, she cut her dreadlocks, after 17 years.
Doucette raised "two African-American men who are doing really well" and worked as an administrative assistant at Tulane University. While she earned her psychology degree, she also worked nights at a law firm. With her degree, she worked at the YWCA as an administrator, from 1994 to 2002, then worked on a violence against women project for Tulane.
STAFF PHOTOS BY CHRIS GRANGER Doucette caters locally and appears regularly at local markets.
When the grant for that project ran out, in 2004, she says she "started e-mailing friends and said, 'You like my food, I'm going to do what I love.'¤"
As soon as New Orleans allowed residents to return after Hurricane Katrina, she began to repair her home in Broadmoor. In early 2006, she took an intensive six-week commercial cooking and baking course at Scalfani Cooking School in Metairie.
"It was not for the faint of heart," she said. "I prayed every day to get through it. But I learned a lot."
After a stint cooking at the African-American Museum in Treme, Doucette became a food vendor at the new monthly markets that popped up around town last fall. She was a regular at the weekly Broadmoor Market, until it closed for an extended break.
"It's a LOT of work," Doucette said of the markets. "Baby, you just don't know. And it's really about timing; you have to coordinate the food. That really takes planning.
"But it's fun. I can tell you that I truly enjoy it. .¤.¤. As Oprah says, 'Do what you love and the rewards will follow.' I really love this. It is my passion."
She has always wanted to eat right, Doucette said.
"I didn't like it when I observed in my family the development of hypertension and diabetes," Doucette said. "I knew we could sort of cheat those diseases if we changed our lifestyle."
After Doucette's mother was diagnosed with hypertension, heart disease and diabetes, her mom, an excellent cook, changed her diet, did very well, and shared her recipe modifications with her daughter.
"I added exercise, and that could be why I've cheated diabetes and don't have high cholesterol," Doucette said.
"My dad died of lung cancer when I was 9 years old, in the 1960s, as did so many of my relatives. As a child I saw this. I saw cancer take out a lot of my uncles. It made me very cautious. I realized smoking and drinking caused it, and a diet heavy in starches and pork."
Her solution: "I just stay away from pork." Instead, she eats a lot of poultry, especially chicken breasts; lots of fish; and lamb in moderation.
As for healthy desserts, she makes smoothies, a popular option for her personal chef clients who are seniors.
"They try to eat their biggest meal midday, 1 to 3 p.m.," she said. "If they eat something later it should be light, like a sandwich, and then their smoothie. Many of them tell me that would be their evening snack, and then they're good to go."
Mixed messages are confusing the populace, she said. It gets tough to stay up on what's healthy. She currently is a big believer in Omega 3s, and eats fish three times a week.
"I'm not a fanatic," Doucette said. "I just want people to start somewhere. If you introduce a healthy recipe into your diet, starting at least once or twice a week, you can gradually grow into it becoming more a lifestyle change versus a fad, which doesn't last."
Chef Marilyn Doucette demonstrated this dish last year at Jazzfest.
Chef Doucette's smothered okra, shrimp, sausage and brown rice
Makes 8 servings
5 to 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound fresh or frozen okra, cut¤½-inch thick
1 to 2 tablespoons vinegar
1 pound turkey smoked sausage, sliced on the diagonal
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
½ cup chopped green onions
½ cup chopped celery
2 large tomatoes, peeled, chopped
1 (6-ounce) can Contadina tomato paste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 (10-ounce) can or 1 1/4 cups low-sodium stock (chicken, beef or vegetable)
1 large bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon basil
1/8 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled
Hot cooked brown rice
In a heavy stainless steel pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil on medium-high heat. Over high heat, add okra and vinegar. Stir frequently to remove slime, about 15 minutes. Do not burn. Set okra aside.
In a 2- to 4-quart stainless steel pot or Dutch oven, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat and brown sausage until just slightly charred. Increase oil by 1 tablespoon, if needed; add onion, bell pepper, garlic, green onions and celery. Saute over medium heat, then cover. Uncover and stir frequently for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and brown sugar and stir until hot, 5 to 10 minutes. Add okra, stock, bay leaf, cayenne, black pepper, basil, oregano and thyme, stirring frequently. Cook for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer and stir for about 20 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for 5 minutes. Serve hot over cooked brown rice.
One of Doucette's low-sodium cooking tricks is to use peeled chopped or pureed tomatoes instead of canned ones; she freezes tomatoes so the skins will slip off easily when they are slightly thawed.
Using a no-salt puree balances out the high sodium content of canned ingredients in the dish, so the sodium per serving is reasonable or low.
Stuffed bell peppers
Makes 6 servings
6 quarts water
6 tri-color medium-size bell peppers
1 pound ground turkey
1 small red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup chopped green onions
½ cup chopped celery
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
3 Roma tomatoes, pureed
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove bell pepper tops, seeds and membranes and rinse. In a deep stock pot, bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil, then put in peppers. Cook until slightly tender but not limp, about 5 to 6 minutes.
In a Dutch oven, cook ground turkey, stirring occasionally, until brown; drain off excess liquid. Return to stove and add onions, garlic, green onions and celery. Cook for 8 minutes. Add half the tomato sauce (reserve other half) and the remaining ingredients, except mozzarella cheese. Cook until hot, stirring frequently.
Fill peppers with cooked mixture and stand upright in an ungreased 8- by 8-inch square baking dish. Pour remaining tomato sauce over the peppers. Cover and bake for 35 minutes.
Uncover and bake 15 minutes, and top with shredded mozzarella.
Oven fried tilapia or catfish
Makes 4 servings
1 pound tilapia or catfish
½ cup dry Italian bread crumbs
¼ teaspoon dry dill weed (or¤¾ teaspoon chopped fresh dill weed)
½ teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup skim (or 2 percent) milk
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In one flat pan, blend bread crumbs, dill weed, paprika and cayenne pepper well. In a separate pan, dip each fish fillet in skim milk, then coat with bread crumb mixture.
Coat a 13- by-9-inch pay with nonstick cooking spray, and place the coated fish fillets in it. Lightly spray the top of each fillet with cooking spray and bake, uncovered, about 15 minutes, or until fish flakes with a fork.
Lean no-bean chili with toppings
Makes 4 servings
1 pound ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
½ green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 beefy tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce (Hunts or Contadina)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumim
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Over medium heat, cook turkey and onion, garlic, celery and bell pepper in a 3- or 4-quart saucepan for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until turkey is brown. Drain off excess fat and return to medium heat.
Stir in remaining ingredients and heat until bubbly. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently until desired thickness. If desired, add additional cumin and chili powder to taste and cook an additional 5 minutes.
Serve topped with any or all of the suggested toppings.
Toppings
1 cup white shredded cheddar
1 cup diced red onions or green onions
8 ounces whole-grain tortilla chips
The Arts Council of New Orleans, RTA, and the Carrollton Area Network are creating a grand celebration for the return of the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar to its traditional route. On Saturday, June 28th at 10:00 am in Palmer Park, witness the ceremonies commemorating this historic event, then stay for a day of festivities to follow.
