EXECUTIVE CHEF
 TWISTED SOUL COOKHOUSE & POURS
 THE CATERING COMPANY BY VANTRECE

Atlanta, GA

Twenty-five years of globetrotting culinary adventures will give you a good idea of what people like to eat.  Chef Deborah VanTrece draws on a literal world of experience to feed people comfort food that crosses cultural divides.  Following her time as a flight attendant, Chef VanTrece began her culinary career in 1994 when she graduated as the valedictorian of her class at the Art Institute.  After experiencing critical acclaim from an international audience during the Olympics in 1996, Chef VanTrece opened Edible Art, a small restaurant and catering operation.  Edible Art was a hit and helped to put the East Atlanta neighborhood on the map, laying the ground for the epicenter that it’s become today.  At Twisted Soul, Chef VanTrece revived and updated the soul food principles she established at Edible Art.  What Chef VanTrece continues to serve is the concept of global soul food; the soul food of different cultures around the globe as she has experienced them.  First opened in late 2014, transitioning locations in 2016, Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours’ first iteration was voted best new restaurant in Atlanta by many outlets including Thrillist and Georgia Voice.  Chef VanTrece has been featured as one of Zagat’s Most Badass Female Chefs in the U.S. alongside spotlights in Creative Loafing, NBC News, Eater, New York Times, Entrepreneur and on Cherry Bombe Radio and NPR’s WABE.  She has appeared on Food Network, Cooking Channel and the Travel Channel.  As a female entrepreneur, helping to promote the paradigm shift of female and African American representation in the culinary industry, Chef  VanTrece’s journey has become a 25-year career, but her passion for food and feeding people has always been the foundational piece of her life.

Recipe

Oxtail Rillette

  • 4 to 5 lbs cooked oxtails
  • 2 shallots chopped
  • 8 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 2 teaspoons orange peel
  • 2 tablespoons cognac
  • 2 teaspoons drained green peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon allspice
  • ½  cup oxtail gravy, reserved from cooking oxtails
  • Salt TT

Pull the meat from the cooked oxtails, discarding fat and bones. Place oxtail meat in a food processor.  In a small pan melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat.  Add the shallots and saute for 5 minutes to 7 minutes or until shallots just begin to caramelize.  Remove from heat and place  cooked shallots with butter, the remaining 5 tablespoons butter,  orange peel, cognac, peppercorns, thyme, allspice and oxtail gravy in the food processor.  Pulse mixture until it is finely minced but not completely smooth.  You want to have some texture in the mix.  Empty mix into a medium size bowl and add salt as needed.  Press mixture into crock or mold of your choice and refrigerate.  The rillettes will store up to 7 days in the refrigerator.  For serving slightly warm or bring to room temperature  and serve with crusty bread, hoe cakes or crackers.  Makes 3 to 3 ½ cups.

HEADER-  These are indispensable around the holidays, when unexpected guest drop by, and they are a great way to use leftover oxtails.  It is a dish that goes from humble to fancy depending upon the occasion.