Robert St.John is a restaurateur, chef, writer, and cookbook author from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. For the past 18 years he is responsible for serving over 3,500,000 meals as CEO, President, and executive chef of the Purple Parrot Café, the Crescent City Grill, and the Mahogany Bar in Hattiesburg and Meridian
A Hospitality Management graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, he was named Mississippi Restaurateur of the year in 1996, St.John is also past president and chairman of the board of the Mississippi Restaurant Association.
He currently serves on the board of directors of the Mississippi Arts Commission,
The Mississippi Museum of Art, and is on the National Chef’s Council
for the Chef’s for Humanity Organization.
Recently honored as one of the “South’s Hottest Chefs,”
St. John’s writing and recipes have been featured in numerous publications.
He writes a weekly food/humor column for 27 newspapers and has published four books in the last four years: A Southern Palate, a collaboration with renowned watercolorist Wyatt Waters, Deep South Staples or How to Survive in a Southern Kitchen Without A Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup, a collection of updated and legitimized traditional southern recipes, Nobody’s Poet, an anthology of his food columns illustrated by two-time Pulitzer finalist Marshall Ramsey, and My South, a collaborative effort with the Turner South network.
He has just signed a multi-book deal with Hyperion Books a subsidiary of
ABC and the Walt Disney Company and has three new books being released in
the next two years.
St. John is a good father, a needy husband, and has two beautiful children
who worship the ground he walks on… as long as that ground is in Toys
R Us. He still has all four of his wisdom teeth, and he is waiting for them
to kick in any day now.
Pan
Roasted Black Grouper
Ingredients:Virgin Olive Oil |
Portion/Unit: 2 TBSP |
Preheat oven to 350. Season the filets with the salt and pepper.
In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over a high flame, not quite
to smoking point.
Add in the butter, then quickly, just as the butter begins to brown, place
the filets in the hot oil. Allow the fish to brown well before turning it
over, about 2-3 minutes. Turn the filets and brown the other side. Once the
fish is browned, place the filets on a parchment paper lined sheet pan. Finish
baking the fish in the oven, approx 3-4 more minutes.
Ingredients:U-8 head-on shrimpolive oil, divided Old Bay Seasoning unsalted butter |
Portion/Unit: 6 each |
Using a very sharp knife, split the shrimp lengthwise, taking special care to keep the head attached. Rub the meaty part of the shrimp with half of the olive oil, then sprinkle the flesh with the Old Bay Seasoning.
Heat the remaining oil in a large non-stick sauté pan until just about smoking. Add in the whole butter, then carefully place the shrimp, meat side down in the pan. Allow the shrimp to brown then gently turn them on to their shell side. Lower the heat slightly and continue cooking for 3-5 more minutes, until shrimp is completely cooked.
Ingredients:finely minced shallotextra virgin olive oil balsamic vinegar Creole Mustard fresh chopped thyme fresh ground black pepper salt fresh Frisee diced, cooked applewood smoked bacon |
Portion/Unit: 1/4 cup |
Wait until just before assembling the plates to mix the salad.
Over a low heat, warm the olive oil and the shallot slightly. Remove from
the heat and mix together all ingredients except for the frisee and the bacon.
Gently toss the frisee with the dressing mix and divide amoung the 6 plates.
Sprinkle the salad with the bacon.
Ingredients:Olive Oilminced shallots minced garlic kosher salt cayenne pepper balsamic vinegar ripe tomatoes, smoked, peeled, seeded and rough chopped |
Portion/Unit: 1 TBSP |
In a small stainless steel sauce pot, heat the olive oil over a low heat. Place the shallots, garlic, salt and cayenne pepper in the hot oil and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring often to prevent browning. Add in the peeled and seeded smoked tomatoes and cook over a low heat for 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool for 10- 15 minutes. Place the cooled mixture into the blender and puree until smooth. Stir in vinegar and hold warm until ready to serve.
Ingredients:black-eyed peas, cookedgreen onion, finely sliced red peppers, small dice egg cumin Crescent City Grill Creole Seasoning Romano cheese, shredded breadcrumbs, finely ground Seasoned Flour Clarified Butter |
Portion/Unit: 3 cups |
With your hands or a potato masher, smash the black-eyed peas, leaving a few pieces whole. Add green onion, red pepper, spices, and egg. Mix thoroughly. Add cheese and breadcrumbs and mix well. Divide the mix into 6 2 1/2 -inch balls. Flatten balls to 3 inches in diameter and about 1/2 inch thick. This may be done a day ahead of time, covered and stored in the refrigerator. To cook the cakes, preheat oven to 425_. Heat butter over medium high heat in a large skillet. Lightly dust both sides of the cakes with seasoned flour and place them in the skillet to brown. Leave enough room between cakes to be able to flip them over. When cakes are brown on both sides, place them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for 7 minutes, or until heated through.
Place the black-eyed pea cakes in the center of the plate. Arrange the frisee salad just behind the pea cake. Take two halves of the cooked shrimp and place them so that the head portions meet at the top of the frisee salad. Place the cooked grouper atop the black-eyed pea cake and place a small pool of the smoked tomato sauce near the front of the dish
