Previous
Guest chef - Brussels Bistro
Eugene Austin at Brussels Bistr
If you travel all the way from The Bahamas to Belgium for an advanced culinary education, you might become the chef of a restaurant like the Brussels Bistro, located on Frederick St in downtown Nassau.
That’s exactly what Chef Eugene Grant Austin did after completing basic training at the Culinary, Hospitality & Management Institute at The College of The Bahamas in 1997-1998.
A native of Eleuthera, Chef Austin went to Europe in 2000 to train with Belgian chefs. After that, he worked in Paris, further developing his “passion for cooking.” He learned the most, he says, from chefs Claude Henry and Renaud Hendrickx, both from Brussels. The most important thing they taught him, he says, is to make sure that food is “well prepared and [cooked] with love.”
Chef Austin’s main goal at Brussels Bistro is to follow that advice and to serve every meal with the customer’s satisfaction utmost in mind.
After returning to Nassau, he worked at Sandals for six months, then moved on to the Brussels Brasserie, the previous incarnation of the Brussels Bistro, which opened with a new owner, Heneliza Henry, in October 2009.
Not surprisingly, Chef Austin’s culinary orientation was further enhanced when master chef Claude Henry (Heneliza’s father-in-law) spent two years in Nassau training the staff and fine-tuning the menu.
A chef for 50 years, Chef Claude is known as “the king of stoemp” (traditional Belgian mashed potatoes). Heneliza declares that his expertise helped to mould her bistro into a true Belgian restaurant.
Chef Austin maintains a high standard as he prepares everything on the menu, from salads to desserts to traditional Belgian “country bread,” baked every morning. Two of his specialities are the Belgian beef stew, accompanied by stoemp, and the mussels entrée.
He also favours the three croquette appetizers on the menu, made with conch, shrimp or cheese. Their fresh conch, he proclaims, is “the best in Nassau.”
His favourite salad is Salade Bruxelloise, made with Black Forest ham, Swiss cheese, hard-boiled eggs and walnuts. For dessert, he suggests the chocolate mousse, but choosing between that guilty pleasure and the crêpe Suzette would be difficult.
Anyone who wants to run a kitchen, he says, must “study and improve oneself” and learn from experienced chefs. Chef Austin has certainly done that.
Here are some of his recipes that you can try at home.
Stoemp
2 lbs peeled potatoes cut into quarters and washed
1 lb peeled carrots cut into 1-in pieces and washed
3-1/2 oz of celery cut into squares
1 onion peeled and finely diced
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic
Boil water in a large cooking pot, add potatoes, carrots and celery and boil until tender. Add onions, garlic and salt. Mash everything together. Serves four.
Stoemp is a delicious variation of mashed potatoes and is traditionally served with Belgian beef stew.
Belgian beef stew
3-1/2 lbs stew beef cut into 1-in pieces
4 tbsp butter
3 medium onions sliced into 1/4-in pieces
3 bottles Kalik beer
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp browning
Salt and pepper to taste
Season beef with salt and pepper and brown it well in a frying pan, about five minutes each side. Transfer beef to a bowl. Reduce heat to medium, add onions and fry until browned, about 15 minutes. Place meat and onions in a pot, add beer, bay leaves, salt, pepper and kitchen bouquet. Reduce heat to low. Cover pot and cook for one hour until the beef is tender. Serves four.
Mussels
1-1/2 lb mussels
2 med onions, diced
2 tbsp fresh parsley
1-1/2 cup celery, chopped
8 oz white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt and pepper
2 tbsp butter
Juice of 1 lemon
In a large pot, place all the ingredients. Wash and scrub mussels thoroughly and place on a steamer tray in the pot. Cover tightly. Bring sauce to a boil and steam mussels about 10 mins. Add lemon juice to the mussels and cook another 2 mins, until all the shells are open. Discard any unopened shells. Place mussels in a bowl and pour sauce over them, as shown. Serves two.
Chocolate mousse
4-1/2 oz dark Belgian chocolate
2 tbsp butter
1 cup cool heavy cream
4 large egg whites
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Whip the heavy cream and refrigerate. Melt chocolate and butter and allow it to cool. Whip the egg whites and the sugar, slowly adding the heavy cream, chocolate and vanilla. Beat until soft and peaks form. Chill and serve in bowls. Serves six.
--
GuestChef_BrusselsBistro_DGJan11
Guest chef
Eugene Austin at Brussels Bistro
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-Mail: Click here
Internet: https://
Disclaimer:
Information in editorial and listings is subject to change at any time.