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The Times-Picayune- February 04, 2010
The foodie forums for Saints fans on NOLA.com and Chowhound had lots of punny fun with party food ideas for the first-in-a-lifetime Super Bowl featuring the New Orleans Saints.
Beth Fury, aka Mrs. Fury, saluted favorite players: Mac & Sharper Cheese, Reggie Bush Beans. Cindy Smith suggested "The SeaBrees" cocktail. Chowhound posters came up with MarQuiche Colston, Roman Candy Harper and Scott Fujita Fajitas.
Chef Gason Nelson, personal chef to Reggie Bush, happens to use Bush's Best Beans in one of the star running back's favorite dishes.Here's the funny thing. Reggie Bush's personal chef, a New Orleans native who won scholarships from the James Beard Foundation to the culinary arts program at Delgado Community College, actually uses Bush's Best Baked Beans in a dish he makes often for the star running back.
Chef Gason Yen Nelson said Bush is "exciting to work for, open to trying new and different things."
Nelson was just out of high school when he joined the military, where he became a cook and "developed my love of cooking, " he said. After he got out of the military, he cooked at local restaurants and attended Delgado, where he was hired as a private chef by a wealthy Metairie client. That five-year experience was an advanced education in fine cooking, Nelson said.
"Then I was picked up by Stacey Augmon, of the Hornets, and from there I got picked up by (former Saints quarterback) Aaron Brooks for a couple of years.
"Then Katrina hit and I was in Houston working, going through the 'Woe is me, I just lost everything, ' and I got the call from Reggie Bush's agent."
When Nelson started cooking for him, Bush took him along to visit his favorites Los Angeles restaurants.
"I got to eat the food, meet the chefs, learn his palate and what he likes, " Nelson said. Nelson's recipe has a typical New Orleans garnish of chopped green onion tops, which complements the sweetness of the beans, he says. Cooks making this for Super Bowl parties can adjust the brown sugar amount to taste.
"I really do use Bush Beans, " but not because of his famous client, Nelson said. "I just like
Chef Nelson's Bush's Baked Beans
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1/2 pound 80-percent lean ground beef
Salt and pepper
Granulated garlic
1 16-ounce can Bush's Best Original Baked Beans
2 tablespoons honey barbecue sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar (or to taste)
3-4 green onions, thinly sliced, green parts only
Heat oil in a skillet and cook the shallots until tender but not browned. Add ground beef and season with salt, pepper and granulated garlic. Saute until beef is cooked through. Drain the fat.
Add beans, barbecue sauce and brown sugar. Cook and heat. Serve topped with green onions.
