Inspiration for the chicken breast with grit cakes and red bell pepper coulis came from Executive Chef Peter Palisi’s past mentors and his present surroundings. “I was just trying to come up with something different, something that they hadn’t seen before in Shreveport,” he said. “An old chef that I worked for kind of gave me inspiration … We used to do mushroom and spinach potato cakes with mashed potatoes. I kind of got the idea [for the grit cakes] from that.” He added that grits are a regional favorite, so he knew they’d have a spot in his arsenal of dishes.
The menu item is the entree in a three-course meal for the center’s convention business. Utilizing simple ingredients, Palisi transforms a plate from a boring chicken breast with some fixings into something flavorful and uniquely Southern.
Palisi marinates the chicken breasts for 30 minutes in fresh garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, before searing it and placing it in the oven to roast. For the grit cakes, he cooks the grits, folding in cheddar cheese and spreading it on a sheet. Rather than simply spooning them onto a plate, Palisi chills them. “It gets hard so you can cut the cake out,” he said.
He makes a sauce from red bell peppers that are roasted in the oven until they start to turn black. The skin, veins and seeds are removed from the peppers and the remainder is placed in a pot with onion and chicken stock to cook down. “We puree it, then strain it. That’s our sauce,” Palisi explained. He stacks the components in an impressive display that’s a centerpiece to three-course meals at special events.
Contact: (318) 841-4000
SMG Executive Chef Peter Palisi
SHREVEPORT (LA.) CONVENTION CENTER
Although he’s only been at the Shreveport Convention Center since summer of 2013, Peter Palisi has been in the culinary industry for 33 years, starting as a dishwasher in New Orleans in 1982. “I bounced around restaurants in New Orleans for eight years—cooking, grilling, dishwashing, whatever was needed,” he said. Then, an ad in the local Times-Picayune for a culinary program at Disney World caught his eye. “I applied, got accepted and ended up at Disney World for 10 years. … It was a great learning environment.”
From there, he worked in Virginia, Mississippi, Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and finally back in Louisiana since 2008. His experience spans casinos, banquet halls and resorts, and, he admits to being “glad to be out of casinos.”
The team at the Shreveport Convention Center is gearing up for the Duck Commander Independence Bowl at the end of December and although he has to work over the Christmas holiday, Palisi embraces the work with open arms. “I was never in this for the awards and all that,” he explained. “I love to cook. My satisfaction is guests telling me how much they enjoyed the food. That’s it for me.”