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The Dish: New Orleans chef Tory McPhail shares some secret dishes

December 26, 2015 / 6:57 AM EST / CBS News

Tory McPhail grew up in a small town in Washington State, near the Canadian border. When he was 19- years-old he, moved to the "Big Easy," lured by New Orleans' storied history, soul and Mardi Gras celebrations.

He soon found himself working at the legendary landmark, Commander's Palace, and though he left briefly to extend his culinary repertoire, he returned to the Commander's Palace family in 2000, as executive souse chef of the Las Vegas property.

In 2002 he returned to New Orleans to take over the position of executive chef of the original Commander's Palace, a title he's held ever since.

He was named a "rising star chef" and "best chef 'south'" by the James Beard foundation.

He is also the co-author of "Commander's Wild Side: Bold flavors for fresh ingredients from the great outdoors."

Crispy roast duck with roasted vegetables and orange brandy sauce

Le Tour D'Argent has one of the world's oldest and most beautiful duck presses and a view of the seine, just the ambience at Le Tour D'Argent in Paris is hard to beat, much less their elaborate duck preparation. But if you don't happen to be in Paris nor do you have time to hang your ducks for 2 weeks as we do, then this recipe is one heck of a good substitute.

Makes 4 entrees

1 5 pound Long Island duck

salt and pepper to taste

2 large carrots, peeled, cut in half across

2 medium turnips, peeled, cut in half

4 large new potatoes cut in half

8 shiitake mushrooms, trimmed of stem

12 garlic cloves

2 small onions cut in half or 12 pearl onions

juice of 1 large orange

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

2 ounces brandy

Remove innards and neck then rinse duck well with cold water. Place a quart of cold water over high heat in a large pot. Add innards, neck and lightly season. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.

Trim any excess fat from duck, especially around neck and inside the cavity. Using a fork, prick the skin of the duck just penetrating the skin and fat, especially where there is the most fat. Make a small one-inch incision under the leg bone where it meets the backbone. You will know you have the right spot because you will see a lot of fat. This entire process is to remove and render fat.

Add duck, carrots, turnips, potatoes, mushrooms, garlic and onion to pot. Cover and continue to simmer for about 40 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked, but still firm and duck seems cooked, but not over cooked.

Gently remove duck and vegetables, set aside. Let cool for about ½ hour. Remove innards. Set aside. Place cooking liquid into bowl and refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 425º fahrenheit. Brush duck with some of the orange juice. Season bird with salt, pepper and one half of the chopped rosemary.

In a roasting pan add innards and neck to center of pan, place duck on top. Using that as a rack, keeping duck from touching bottom of pan, gently place all vegetables around duck and roast until bird is very crisp, about 45 - 50 minutes, periodically checking not to burn.

Remove duck and place in center of serving platter. Place vegetables neatly around duck. Remove neck and innards; pick meat from neck and dice innards. Discard fat remaining in pan. Remove cooking liquid from refrigerator and discard any fat that has floated to the surface.

Put roasting pan on top of stove over 2 burners of high heat. Add remaining rosemary and brandy; be careful of possible flare-ups. Using a wooden spoon, scrape off any glaze on bottom of pan that might have occurred. Add cooking liquid and remaining orange juice. Brint to boil, reduce to sauce consistency, about 10 minutes.

Strain sauce into small saucepot. Add neck and innards meat, bring to a boil, and season.

Serve sauce on side in a separate bowl. You don't want to pour it over the crisp skin.

Chef's notes:

At Commander's Palace, we use a Muscovy fresh duck. You can use any domestic duck for this recipe (about 50% are long island. Fresh ducks are hard to get.) Don't let a frozen bird stop you. I always use a grade A. The blanching of the duck and vegetables can be done up to a day in advance.

By refrigerating the cooking liquid and getting cold enough, you let all of the unwanted fat rise to the top. This is why a bowl works well, so it can cool fast and has a large surface. Vegetables should be brown and very tender, be careful not to break them up.

Roasted beet salad

serves 6

Any volume of beets can be cooked in this manner - simply increase the amount of oil and seasoning proportionately. We call for both yellow and red beets for their contrasting colors, but you can use just red beets. This salad is especially good while still warm.

1 ½ pounds mixed red and yellow beets, trimmed and rinsed clean

½ teaspoon vegetable oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons cane vinegar

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon truffle oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees f. Place the beets in a baking dish, rub them with the vegetable oil, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Wrap the dish tightly with aluminum foil and roast for about 1 hour, until tender. Test doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of each beet. They should be soft and the toothpick should pass through with little resistance.

Unwrap the beets and let them sit until they are cool enough to handle. Then rub the beets firmly with paper towels to remove the skin. Cut the ends off the beets and slice them ¼ inch thick. Place the beet slices in a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Hoppin' John

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 onion, chopped

4 scallions, white bulbs sliced and green tops cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 pound collard greens, tough stems removed, leaves washed well and shredded

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 pound kielbasa or other smoked sausage, halved lengthwise then cut crosswise into 1-inch slices

1 10-ounce package frozen black-eyed peas

1 1/2 cups long-grain rice

3 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion and the scallion bulbs and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the collard greens, salt, black pepper, and cayenne and cook, stirring, until the greens wilt, about 1 minute.

Increase the heat to moderately high. Add the sausage, black-eyed peas, and rice and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir in the broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, until the rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the scallion tops.

Shrimp & Tasso Henican

8 appetizer servings

24 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined 2 oz. Tasso (see note), cut into twenty-four 1-in. Strips ½ cup all-purpose flour Creole seafood seasoning or any Creole seasoning mix ½ cup vegetable oil ¾ cup crystal hot sauce beurre blanc (see recipe below) ¾ cup five-pepper jelly (see recipe below) 12 pieces pickled okra, cut in half top to bottom.

Cut a quarter-inch-deep incision down the back of each shrimp where it has been deveined, and place a Tasso strip in each incision. Secure with a toothpick. Combine the flour with the creole seasoning and lightly dredge each shrimp.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and fry the shrimp in the hot oil for about 30 seconds on each side. Shrimp should be firm with a red-brown color. Remove the shrimp and drain briefly on a paper towel. Toss the shrimp with the crystal hot sauce beurre blanc in a bowl, coat thoroughly, and remove the toothpicks.

Place a portion of five-pepper jelly on each of 8 appetizer plates, and arrange 3 shrimp on each plate, alternating with 3 pieces of pickled okra.

Note: Tasso is a seasoning ham widely used in New Orleans but hard to find elsewhere. You could order it by mail, or you could substitute 1 ounce of ham cut in 1-inch strips and tossed with 1 part cayenne and 3 parts paprika.

Five-pepper jelly

1 ½ cups light corn syrup

1 ¼ cups white vinegar

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 each large red, yellow, and green bell pepper, seeded, membranes trimmed, and finely diced

4 jalapeno peppers, seeds and membranes removed, finely diced

Place the corn syrup, vinegar, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper in a small saucepan. Simmer to reduce by two thirds, until mixture is thickened. It will get even thicker as it cools, but the peppers will thin it again when they are added.

Briefly place the peppers in a hot dry skillet and sauté until tender and their color is brightened, about 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, remove the peppers from the pan and them to the corn syrup mixture.

Crystal hot sauce beurre blanc

makes ¾ cup

1/3 cup crystal hot sauce

2 tablespoons minced shallots

6 medium cloves garlic, peeled and minced

¼ cup heavy cream

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Kosher salt to taste

Place the hot sauce, shallots, garlic, and cream in a small saucepan. Over medium heat, simmer until reduced by half, stirring frequently. Slowly whip the softened butter, a bit at a time, into the pot, being careful not to let the sauce break. Strain and keep the sauce warm. Add salt.

Goodnight, Lally

Makes 1 cocktail

Lally loves vanilla. Lally works late. One late night Lu concocted this coffee drink for Lally just before closing time at Cafe Adelaide.

Bright yellow Licor 43 has forty-three ingredients in it, one of which is vanilla. Part of the fun here is making the glass look like a snow globe by coating it with sugar. During a snowstorm, this is the nightcap of choice. It's fun for us, of course, to think of people everywhere whipping up Goodnight, Lally.

2 teaspoons superfine sugar

1 ounce Licor 43

1 ounce Martell cordon bleu or other medium-bodied cognac

6 ounces very strong, hot black coffee

1 large dollop sweetened vanilla whipped cream (page 140)

Place the sugar in a shallow dish. Lightly wet the outside of a large, heatproof wineglass or glass coffee mug with water and roll through the sugar to lightly coat. Combine the Licor 43, cognac, and coffee in the glass and stir to combine. Top off with the whipped cream and serve immediately.