I’m opening the vault and bringing you one of MCL Restaurant & Bakery’s time-tested, top-selling recipes: The delectably delightful Waldorf salad. Mouths begin to water.

A tasty Waldorf salad is the perfect accompanying dish for the holiday season. To add to its perfection, prime apple season in Indiana is November through the end of December. We always try to buy locally. Our apples come from Garwood Orchards in LaPorte, Indiana. You can also find self-pick apple orchards across the country here.

Before we start chopping apples, a quick history lesson.

The Waldorf salad is a true American classic. Dating back to the 1890s, it’s obviously been around for a while. Creation credit goes to Oscar “of the Waldorf” Tschirky. Oscar was the famed maitre d’ at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria. Hence the name.

Success is in its simplicity.

The original recipe called for only three ingredients: apples, celery, and mayonnaise. MCL introduced pecans and raisins, because that’s how we live. On the edge. Success.

MCL’s Waldorf salad recipe (serves 10):

Ingredient list:

• 3 cups  Red, or Golden Delicious Apples, cored and diced in ½” pieces (soak cut apples in enough water to cover, and add the juice of one lemon so the apples don’t brown)

• 1 cup Celery,  diced in ½” pieces

• ½ cup Raisins

• ½ cup Pecans

• ¾ cups Mayonnaise or Salad Dressing

Preparation:

1.     Be sure to wash all of your fresh fruit and vegetables with cold running water before you start working with them.

2.     Start by coring and cutting the apples and place in lemon water mixture while you are preparing the other ingredients.

3.     Trim the tops and bottoms of the celery, cut each rib of celery down the middle lengthwise and then dice in ½” pieces.

4.     Drain the lemon water from the apples.

5.     Place all ingredients into a suitable mixing bowl and mix until the mayonnaise evenly coats all ingredients.

6.     Serve chilled.

Make it your own.

Start with the basic recipe as your foundation. Then get creative with it. Let me know what lovely concoctions you conjure up.

Best,

Chef

Cooking for large groups – tips and tricks

The holidays have arrived. Time to feed friends and family. Lots of them. The notion can be intimidating even for the most seasoned cook. It took me a while to get used to feeding 15,000 people. A day.

Don’t freak out. I’ve got you covered. What follows are brief, calm-inducing tips to help you and yours navigate this holiday season.

1. Know who you’re feeding.

Does your aunt Kate have an allergy to nuts? Does your nephew Tom have a severe aversion to little marshmallows on his sweet potatoes? Don’t hesitate to ask your guests these questions. Nothing is more frustrating than spending hours in the kitchen madly cooking up dishes your guests won’t enjoy.

2. Get started early.

Plan your menu in advance. Do all the shopping and initial prep the day before. Ideally your menu should center around dishes that require as little last-minute prep as possible. This will reduce stress and allow you to actually enjoy the company.

3. Get the party involved.

If some last-minute prep items couldn’t be avoided (some dishes are worth the extra work), let your guests get in the game. Most people love to play in the kitchen. It’s a bonding experience and many of our greatest holiday memories are born around the oven or the mixing bowl.

Come to think of it, I’ve never been to a party that didn’t end up with everyone in the kitchen anyway.

Follow these three simple tips and I guarantee you’ll have more fun this holiday season.

Happy Holidays. Happy Cooking!

Best,

Chef

Choosing the best and freshest seafood.

I already covered how to pick the best produce and beef. Now let’s talk seafood.

Good news: High quality, fresh seafood is more readily available than ever. Bad news: Picking seafood can be intimidating. You want to make sure you’re buying the freshest seafood you can. Here to help.

Funny thing about the word “fresh” – it has a different meaning when it comes to seafood. I’m going to pull back the curtain and tell you exactly what to consider when selecting “fresh” seafood.

1.     To buy fresh, buy frozen.

It may be counter intuitive, but if you want the freshest fish available, buy fish that has been flash-frozen. Today, fish can be flash-frozen shortly after being caught. This lessens spoilage, keeps things fresher and makes the fish safer to eat. Unless you live in a harbor town, the flash-frozen fish will be the most fresh. More insight found here.

2.     If something smells fishy, it is.

Fresh seafood should not have a strong fish smell.  If it smells like the docks, throw it back.

3.     Coming out of our shells.

Fresh shellfish like crab or lobster should be bought alive for optimum freshness. If the shells of the fish are open they are no longer living.

4.     Some like it raw.

Sashimi must be frozen for at least 7 days to be certified to eat raw. Brings us full-circle to point #1.

Now go out and use your newfound seafood selection skills and go score some Steelhead Trout (or Salmon) to test the Asian Infused Steelhead Trout recipe I tossed out several weeks back.

Soon, I’ll follow up on this “fresh ingredient” series with unique preparation tips and even more recipes from the MCL Restaurant & Bakery test kitchen.

Good times to follow.

Best,

Chef

Picking the best steak at the grocery store.

Second rule of cooking: use the best quality, freshest ingredients available to you.

Click here if you need a refresher on the first rule of cooking.

Hunting down the best, tastiest, and freshest ingredients makes up about 60% of my job as an executive chef at MCL. Tough and flavorful work, but someone’s got to do it. Our customers reap the real benefits of my painstaking labor.

So we covered how to select fresh produce. Now we’ll take a look at how one should go about finding a great slab of beef.

• Firm is good. Good beef is firm to the touch with a slight spring-back effect when you remove your finger. If your finger indentation stays after you pull your finger away, you should walk away. The longer meat sits, the more moister it looses. Doctors even use the same test to tell if patients are dehydrated. Same basic principal applies with most meat, poultry and fish.

• Good, fresh beef is red. Packaging should be wrapped tightly. Near airtight. Any brown discoloration is a telltale sign the meat has been breathing a little too much air. Air is bad.

• Always read your label. Not only to see when the meat was packaged but to be on the lookout for meat treated with carbon monoxide gas. Gas mixtures are used to help the meat retain the red coloration until you remove it from the packaging. Sneaky.

• Look for USDA grade beef. It’s your best bet.

Here’s a breakout of meat grades from highest to lowest quality:

- Prime: Highest quality. Is harder to find and is priced accordingly. Only about 2.9% make the grade.

- Choice: High quality. More available in restaurants and markets.

- Select: Still good. Just won’t be as juicy or tender.

Click here to learn more about USDA grading.

How to choose a cut of meat:

Different cuts will carry varying levels of fat and tenderness. Higher quality cuts will be most tender. Example: Filet Mignon is the pinnacle of tenderness, and subsequently, price. But, hey, maybe you like to chew on the firmer texture of a New York Strip or the fattiness of a good Rib Eye. Meat cut choices are very personal.

So whether it’s Filet, Chuck, Sirloin, Flank, or Rib – the world is your oyster. Well, you know what I mean.

Best,

Chef

Picking the best and freshest produce – demystified.

First rule of cooking: use the best quality, freshest ingredients available to you. Simple rule really. A dish can only be as tasty as the ingredients used to prepare it.

Subtlety is a chef’s greatest tool. Many of my favorite dishes consist of mixing flavorful, fresh ingredients together and doing little else to them.

Mouths beginning to water. Pushing forward.

The above mentioned first rule of cooking is especially true when selecting fresh produce. Here are a few secrets from the MCL Restaurant & Bakery test kitchen to help you ensure you’re getting the good stuff.

• Organic is good, but local is better.  Fruits and vegetables lose nutrients the longer they sit after harvest.  Local produce has less distance to travel thus retaining more of its nutritional value, and flavor.

• Eat whatever is in season. It’ll be the most flavorful.

• Choose fruits and vegetables that snap when broken.  If a green bean bends it is no good.

• To tell if a melon is sweet, hold it right up to your nose and smell it.  Ignore the odd stares from other customers. If it smells sweet it’ll taste sweet too.  Sweet is good.

• Don’t store tomatoes in the fridge.  It stops the ripening process and makes them lose their flavor.

If you have specific questions, shoot me an email. I’ll be happy to point you in the right direction.

Now I’m off to prepare some tasty goodness concocted from in-season, locally grown fresh produce. Encouraging you to do the same.

Best,

Chef

As a Chef, I am always in pursuit of the best and freshest new ingredients. A few months ago I was able to sample a delightful new fish. I’m playfully calling it “the new and improved salmon.” It’s Steelhead Trout, a variety of Rainbow Trout. It is so much like salmon in color, taste, and texture that in a blind taste test, even I wouldn’t be able to differentiate between the two.

Have a look.

The similarities go even deeper.

• Both fish behave identically in the wild – swimming up rivers to spawn. Once developed, they return to the open ocean.

• Both fish eat the same diet, including large amounts of krill. This krill diet is what gives both fish the distinctive pink color we’re all accustomed to.

You like salmon. You’re sure of this. So why would we consider adding Steelhead Trout to our menu?  Let’s explore:

• Salmon supplies getting low. Cost getting high.

World salmon supplies through 2010 are going to be extremely tight due to crop shortages in Chile (where most farmed salmon sold in the U.S.      comes from).  This means you’re likely to see the price of salmon increase rapidly in supermarkets and restaurants. Steelhead Trout should save you some dough.

• Pink is the new Green.

Rainbow Trout varieties, which includes Steelhead Trout, are on the “Best Choices” list of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s  Seafood Watch List which monitors world fish populations for over-fishing.

• Could be the best salmon you’ve ever had.

After eating Steelhead Trout, I’ve had customers tell me, “that’s the best salmon I’ve ever had”, obviously missing the sign labeling it as Steelhead Trout.

Less expensive, sustainable, and tastier – all great reasons to become a fan of Steelhead Trout.

Now let’s discuss how to prepare Steelhead Trout. Finding recipes written specifically for Steelhead Trout can be challenging. I’ll let you in on a secret: A Google search for “Salmon recipes” returns 59,100,000 results. All of which are acceptable for preparing Steelhead Trout. While I’m sharing secrets, I’m going to get you started with my favorite Steelhead Trout recipe from the MCL Restaurant & Bakery test kitchen. Shhh. Don’t tell.

Click here for the recipe.

Best,

Chef

Asian Infused Steelhead Trout (modified for the home kitchen. Serves 4)

Ingredient list:

Steelhead Trout:
Four 4 ounce pieces of Steelhead Trout (can substitute Salmon as well)

For Vegetable mixture:
1 cup of shredded cabbage
1 carrot peeled and shredded
1 stalk of celery, sliced on a bias very thinly
½ cup broccoli florets
¼ cup water chestnuts, drained
Pinch of kosher salt

For the sauce:
Pan coating spray
1 clove of garlic, chopped
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
¾ cup soy sauce, low sodium
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon corn starch
¼ cup sesame oil

Step by step:

1. Spray skillet with pan coating spray. Heat over medium high heat.

2. When pan is hot add chopped garlic. Cook just until it gives off a sweet roasted smell. Tasty.

3. Add ginger and red pepper flakes. Toast for a few seconds.

4. Add soy sauce, black pepper and kosher salt. Reduce heat to medium.

5. Mix corn starch with the water and the sesame oil. Stir into the hot soy sauce mixture.

6. Continue to heat and stir the sauce until it has reached a slow boil.

7. Remove half of the sauce and save extra sauce to offer guests. Guests will like it.

8. Place trout in pan with remaining sauce. Turn to evenly coat the fish with sauce.

9. Cover skillet with a lid. Reduce heat to low. Continue to cook for 10 minutes.

10. While Trout is cooking toss vegetable mixture with kosher salt. Place in a steamer. Steam for 5 minutes.

11. Place vegetables on a serving tray. Lay the finished trout on top of them. Coat the fish with remaining sauce.

12. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve.

13. Sit back and receive praise.

If you have specific questions email me.

Best,

Chef