Dining
in the Delta
By Jenny Howard / Photography by Dana Finmore & Andrea
Ludwig
MIDSOUTH Living magazine
Talk about great people. A group of
friends so dynamic, so widely known for their talents, spent
a humid April night in Clarksdale, Mississippi, praising gifted
fellows and recalling the magnificence of wildlife explored
on safari excursions. No nouveau riche bravado--just good
food, good wine, and good company.
Actor Morgan Freeman and his wife,
Mryna; New York photographer and cinematographer Rex Miller;
attorney and politician Pete Johnson and his wife, Margaret,
gathered as they have many times at the home of Bill and Francine
Luckett, this time for supper prepared by Dave Krog, former
chef de cuisine of Madidi restaurant in Clarksdale.
The dining room roars with dramatically
tall tales of grizzly bear wrestling and belly-deep laughter.
Between discussions of art and culture are friendly jabs and
clever jokes. This is the essence of Madidi. It's true, unforced
class-an unassuming masterpiece of Southern charisma. It's
perfectly simple cuisine done right, genuine hospitality,
and underneath it all, a salute to life no matter what it
brings.
Built in an early-20th-century building
that was formerly a dry goods store, the Madidi restaurant's
old brick walls tell of Clarksdale's character: bare and jaded,
but look inside awhile, and you'll see the soul of the old
South saturates the air. It floats around in the aroma of
catfish cakes and in the euphoric buzz of witty banter. It
stands tall in local artwork hung throughout and sings when
old friends run into each other once again.
Luckett and Freeman had become good
friends after Luckett did some legal work for the actor, and
in '99 they decided they needed a place to go for fine food
in Clarksdale, if only for themselves. After all, Freeman's
home-base ranch is just down the road near Charleston, Mississippi,
and the man needs a good meal when he's in town. And Luckett,
though he has a home and law office in Memphis, spends quite
a bit of time working and living in Clarksdale as well.
Tonight the two meet yet again among
friends to indulge in Krog's culinary ingenuity. Freeman leans
against the kitchen doorway to hear him describe the evening's
bill of fare: white bean soup scented with cayenne and cinnamon;
smoked salmon and mixed green salad with poppy seed dressing
and saffron aioli; pecan-crusted oysters in a crawfish sauce
with red cabbage slaw; herb-crusted rack of lamb with white
truffle mashed potatoes and a white truffle infused veal reduction;
and pecan-crusted mascarpone cheesecake with an assorted fresh
fruit coulis.
Madidi's chefs have been under intense
scrutiny by nationally recognized food critics since the restaurant
opened in January 2000, preceded by a series of soft openings
for family and friends.
Madidi receives constant praise from
customers raving about its food and ambiance. Luckett relays,
"We get about a letter a week from people who tell us,
'That's the best meal I've ever had, and I've been all over
the world.'"
Thanks to Madidi, we don't have to
travel far. With everything made completely from scratch,
the cuisine is prepared with French technique but with an
eye towards distinctively Southern influences. Krog has since
left Madidi to pursue other opportunities, but 25-year-old
Lee Craven, former sous-chef of Chez Phillippe, the time-honored
French restaurant in Memphis' historic Peabody Hotel, has
now stepped into the kitchen to present his own illustrious,
exciting menus.
"I am very impressed with the degree
of sophistication and classical training in French technique
that Lee brings to our restaurant," Freeman says. "That,
and his true love for Southern cuisine."
Freeman was reared in the Delta with
a local ancestry that traces back to his great-grandfather
who was brought to Mississippi from Virginia.
Freeman's legacy, pooled with generations
more of the Mississippi South, keeps Madidi true to its heritage
as the white tablecloth restaurant presents a delightful carousel
of cuisines from different cultures. After all, Madidi was
named after a Bolivian national park that Luckett spotted
in a National Geographic magazine.
Among Madidi's signature soups are
a watermelon bisque with soured cream and lavender oil and
a smoked tomato broth accented with honeysuckle over a green
tomato salsa which offers a similarly refreshing but more
robust flavor.
A salad of caramelized plums and "lamb's
ear" lettuce dressed with jasmine tea rivals a bass ale-battered
goat cheese salad with baby red leaf lettuce lightly tossed
in a browned butter dressing with an onion and anise chutney.
The Southern Pride Catfish Etouffee
truly captures its name, coupled with fried green tomatoes
and a navel orange and red onion salad, while the Delta Shrimp
and Crawfish Paella takes you east with Mississippi State
Emmentaler cheese, pears, and Carolina rice served in a saffron
broth.
Soft-shell crab crusted with pecans;
grilled vegetable terrine with a pyramid of house-made ricotta
cheese and roasted garlic oil; Cajun grillades with sweet
corn and black-eyed peas; medallions of pork and beef, slow
simmered in pinot noir and garlic perfumed with thyme and
rosemary round out the first offerings.
Entrees encompass rainbow trout; oven-roasted
Coahoma County, Mississippi, farm-raised striped bass; caramelized
tranche of tuna; spice-rubbed pork tenderloin; house-smoked
tournedos of beef; and grilled rib-eye steak dusted in Appalachian
spices.
With meticulous attention to detail,
flavor combination, and presentation, Madidi strives to get
it right every time. It isn't just another wannabe four-star
restaurant. In fact, it doesn't care much about the stars-just
to-die-for food and great company.
RECIPES
Cheesecake For the Crust:
1 lb. ground pecans
1/4 lb. melted butter
For the filling:
3 lbs. cream cheese
3/4 lb. mascarpone cheese
1 cup sugar
2 vanilla beans (seed only)
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine
butter and pecans. Pack bottom and sides of a 10-inch spring-form
pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove and cool. In a mixer, combine
cream cheese, mascarpone, sugar, vanilla beans, and eggs,
one at a time. Pour into pan and bake for 45 minutes. Cool
and serve with fresh fruit purees.
Rack of Lamb
4 4-bone racks of lamb
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. minced garlic
chopped basil, thyme, oregano
Dijon mustard
white truffle oil
small black truffle
1 lb. mashed potatoes
8 oz. demi glace
Sear the lamb, fat side down until brown.
Place in 450-degree oven until rare. Paint the lamb with mustard,
and pack the herbs on. Return to oven. Heat potatoes and add
truffle. Add white truffle oil to demi glace to taste.
White Bean Soup Scented with Cayenne
and Cinnamon
1 lb. bacon, 1/4-inch diced
1 large yellow onion diced
6 cups great northern beans, rinsed
and sorted
chicken stock to cover
cayenne 1 cinnamon stick
1 cup heavy cream
1 bay leaf
Render the bacon in heavy bottom pot
until bacon is crisp, but not too brown. Drain the fat and
add the onion. Cook on low until they are caramelized. Add
beans, stock, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer.
Cook until tender. Make sure they are always covered with
stock. Add cinnamon stick and cayenne to taste. Stir and let
steep for 20 minutes. Remove the leaf and cinnamon stick.
Add cream and puree. Check seasoning. Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve hot.
Pecan Crusted Oysters
20 large oysters (very fresh)
4 cups white corn meal
1/2 cup chili powder
1 cup toasted ground pecans
kosher salt and white pepper to taste
1 whole egg
6 oz. good beer (whisk together with
egg)
peanut oil
Preheat oil to 335 degrees. Dredge oysters
in batches of four into the beer wash, then to the dry mixture.
Cook in oil for about a minute and a half. Drain on a paper
towel. Arrange around the slaw.
Brandy Cream (for oysters)
1/2 cup minced shallots
1/4 cup minced garlic
1 cup brandy
2 qts heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. olive oil
SautŽ shallots until soft in a
heavy bottom pot. Add garlic and cook for about a minute.
Add brandy and reduce to almost dry. Add cream and reduce
by two thirds. Season and strain.
Slaw (for oysters)
1 lb. red cabbage, shredded
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. whole grain mustard
kosher salt and white pepper to taste
Combine first three ingredients in
a large bowl. Season and serve cold.
