It’s the Bomb-Bay!

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December 6th, 2012

by Scott Ingenito

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since my last full post, the holidays were insanely busy, but great. As I hope yours were too! I have been wanting to post up more quick, simple type recipes. Things that people can throw together not only quick, but, also use for a cocktail or brunch party.

On a daily basis I cook “family-Meal” for my staff at the restaurant, it is a fun challenge because there are only certain ingredients I can use to feed that many people. Here is where I get to use my creativity and come up with  delicious recipes that are easy to put together but tastes like it took you hours.

 

Curried Chicken Salad

Ingredients

1 red onion, small dice

3 garlic cloves, minced

4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes, sauted and cooled

1 cup sour cream

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp yellow curry powder

salt & pepper tt

1 cup cashews, chopped

1/2 cup raisins (can be subbed for craisins, dried apricots, or

2 red chiles, small dice

 

Step 1

Chop and saute your red onion & garlic until soft. add in chicken. Season with salt, pepper and a bit of curry powder. Cook thoroughly. Set aside to cool.

Step 2

In a bowl, combine; Sour cream, honey, curry powder, mix well and season with salt & pepper. Set aside.

Step 3

In a large bowl add together all remaining ingredients, pour your dressing from step 2 and mix together. Serve chilled or room temperature. If I am feeling advenurous, I will add this salad to some focaccia or fresh baked bread and press to turn it into a panini.

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Quicky Filet Flatbread petites

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December 4th, 2012

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Quick & Easy  flat breads.

I have some fresh naan bread and some filet. I seared up the filet seasoned with garlic, sea salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika. Sliced it thin, and layed it over the naan pieces. I made a quick champaigne vinegar bbq sauce & a creamy horseradish sauce. Topped with some fresh tomatoes & onion.

Delicious!


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It’s been such a long time…

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November 6th, 2012

Hello again my friends! It’s been a long time since I have posted, so much has been going on. Those of you close to me, or whom follow me on Facebook know what’s been going on the last few months. For those of you who don’t know It has been a crazy few months. Since we last chatted I;

Moved into my own apartment

 

Helped roll out and 

working at one of the Cohn Restaurant Group’s new ventures- 100 Wines Hillcrest

 

got my first Culinary tattoo: MISE EN PLACE in the shape of my favorite Santoku chef knife.

 

I have cooked a ton at the restaurant of course, but I finally got my kitchen setup the way I want in my new apartment. Now that everything is unpacked and setup, I have been working on some new fall/winter/holiday recipes. Here is a simple one I have been making lately, everyone who tries it has loved it, me included. Try it at home, put a spin on it, let me know how it turns out!

 

Lemon Herb Roasted Chicken

serving of 4

 

I have made this for "Family Meal" at work, always a hit!

 

Ingredients

4 Chicken thighs, I use skinless & boneless

1 tbsp of each; Fresh thyme, rosemary, parsley finely chopped

1 Lemon, Zested and juiced

1/2 cup dry white wine

Season with, Sea Salt, Pepper, garlic powder and dehydrated lemon zest (omit if you do not have. DO NOT substitute for fresh zest, it will burn in the oven.

Step 1

In a ziplock bag, place chicken, all herbs and seasoning, the juice of 1/2 a lemon. and your wine. Let sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes. OR 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Set oven to 375*.

Step 2

Place chicken on a parchment or silpat lined sheet pan. Drizzle with Olive Oil or a slice of butter, Roast in oven until interior temp reaches 165*.

Step 3

Serve & Enjoy.

I added a simple pan sauce for this. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, add 1 tbsp of butter, 1 diced shallot, 1 cup sliced mushrooms, saute until tender. Add a splash of white wine,some of your lemon zest and reduce. Drizzle over chicken, if you want more lemon flavor, add the remaining zest & juice to your sauce.

Thanks for coming back to check in with me, I will definitely try to keep up with posts better as I experiment with my new holiday recipes. I hope you all have been well,remember- Cook, Eat, then spread the chews!

I just want to send out a big thank you to all those helping out those affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. ALL of my friends and family are safe, but many of them are without electric, heat, and some are without homes. The devastation is incredible! Many of the places i grew up going to are completely gone! and Although I am glad I moved away from NY, I wish I was there with all of them now. Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and give if you can. I know New Yorker’s are tough, but they need our help.

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Another satisfied client…

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July 5th, 2012

I catered a small private event last night, my menu came out amazing and all parties involved were super stoked about the outcome. Here are some pics of what I made:

Charcuterie

 

Caprese Salad skewers, drizzled with 18 year old aged balsamic vinegar & italian herb infused Bariani EVOO

Callo Hacha: Half Moon Scallops from Baja. Seared with lemon orange and rosemary infused olive oil. topped with edible flowers.

Mesquite rubbed & smoked Top SIrloin with mango honey hoisin bbq sauce

Pan seared fresh local pacific Halibut with a fresh mediterranean tartar sauce

Roasted rainbow beets with Herbed goat cheese & micro herb greens

Summer squash Carpaccio

Chocolate Chunk tort with Dulce De Leche Drizzle

Independence day Panna cotta: Tahitian Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with fresh berries

Artisan Cheese platter with paired fruit, wines, ports and Liquors

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Surf & Turf for the first day of summer & National Surfing Day

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June 21st, 2012

by Scott Ingenito

What better way to celebrate the first day of summer and national surfing day than to have a delicious meal made from amazing local ingredients?  An amazing butcher friend of mine gave me this incredible Cattelmans cut, I acquired some super fresh local scallops & shrimp to add in, and it was on.  Check out this delicious meal!

Cattlemans Cut: Seared and ready for the oven, topped with my Herb butter

 

Roasted off and resting... Melty goodness of the herb butter draping down

 

Citrus Seared Local Scallops

Southwest rubbed Shrimp

I guess I had to add some veggies: Roasted California Sweet potato & Bruss Sprouts with Cipollini onions

Surf & Turf

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A Night of Nights!

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May 10th, 2012

by Scott Ingenito

I worked for some amazing clients tonight, actually great friends and neighbors of mine here in Ocean Beach San Diego.

Taylor & Suzanne got engaged tonight! A few months in the planning, Taylor did all the hard-work, yard work, and planning then had me handle the food side. I have to say, I was really excited about the menu, and to be asked to cater such a special moment in both of their lives. Overall I was really satisfied with everything, and seeing their plates were totally clean, I could tell they enjoyed the menu as well. It is one of the crowning moments of my short time living here in San Diego, an honor to be included as a friend but also as a chef. Such an amazing night!

 

Taylor & Suzanne

Appetizer: Roasted Mediterranean Salad cups

Entree: Balsamic & Lemon Thyme Glazed Chicken Breast w/ Grilled Asparagus bundles, and Orzo Pilaf with roasted pine nuts, italian herbs, parmesan cheese and artichoke hearts, topped with Shaved Asiago

Strawberries 3 ways: Bride & Groom tuxedo dipped, Dark chocolate & nut dipped, and Fanned with Blue agave drizzle

 

The Daily Chews

Top Gourmet Smartphone Apps for 2012

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May 9th, 2012

Hey everybody,

Hope you all enjoy this special guest post. Jane Johnson of BBGeeks/AndGeeks/Going Cellular contacted me about posting this up on here and I was so excited! Like most people these days, I am totally reliant on my smartphone to run my business, and help make my personal life easier to manage. Here is a short list of the top gourmet apps out right now. Check it out:

 

The Top Gourmet Apps for 2012

By Jane Johnson

Putting delectable recipes right in your oven mitts!
 Do you ever eat at a fancy restaurant and wonder if you could create similar culinary masterpieces at home? Well thanks to smart phone apps you can easily access recipes and the professional cooking techniques needed to cook your own five-star meals at home.  And for hardcore chefs, you can learn specific food preparations from celebrity chefs like raw food sensation, Matthew Kenney; Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver; and Food Network stars, like Alton Brown, Paula Deen, and Bobby Flay.

 

Here are the top gourmet food apps for chefs and cooks in 2012:

 1. Jamie’s 20 Minute Meals (Free – for Android)
Jamie’s 20 Minute Meals will help those with a palate for fine foods prepare a delicious and nutritious family meal in under 20 minutes flat! Loaded with 60 of Jamie’s own recipes, the Naked Chef will guide you through food preparation one step at a time, with photos and 21 videos of Jamie cooking, providing useful cooking tips and kitchen techniques (like knife sharpening and food chopping) so your recipe will turn out as good as his! Jamie also provides a cool shopping list that you can take with you when you shop. It sorts ingredients by aisle so you’ll probably only spend 20-mintues in the grocery store too.

 

2. Matthew Kenney’s Raw Express ($4.99 – for iPad)
Raw food is great for the human body. However, if you don’t know how to prepare it properly, you could end up eating just salads for an entire month and ditch the diet altogether. That’s why renowned raw food Chef Matthew Kenney created Raw Express, an app that guides you through the basics of safe, delicious raw food preparation. Sink your teeth into 12 full-length videos that show you useful raw food tricks, such as how to crack a coconut, and how to make delicious sauces totally from raw ingredients. This app boasts 45 good-for-you recipes accompanied by a full nutritional breakdown for each, plus recommended shopping lists.

 

3. Food Network: In The Kitchen ($1.95 – for Android)
If you watch the Food Network regularly, you probably dream about how nice it would be to cook with Alton Brown, bake a Southern feast with Paula Deen, or filet with Bobby Flay! The Food Network: In The Kitchen app makes the star chefs of the network your kitchen mentors. This app keeps a recipe box filled with your favorite chefs and episodes on your smart phone. Each show is filled with yummy recipes, recommended shopping lists, step-by-step kitchen techniques, and even a handy kitchen timer and measurement converter.

 

4. AllRecipes.com Dinner Spinner (Free – iPhone)
After a week of casseroles have you ever wished for a little dinner inspiration? The AllRecipes.com Dinner Spinner provides delectable meal inspiration with a fun twist! Simply shake your smart phone and the Dinner Spinner will present some unique, fresh recipes to try. For a more refined search, you can spin by ingredient to your spinner and the app will show recipes containing these specific ingredients from the AllRecipes data base.

 

5. Epicurious (Free – for Android)
The Epicurious app puts a diverse array of recipes directly at your over mitts! Featuring a recipe data base that’s 30,000 recipes strong, you’ll find inspiration from a variety of gourmet sources—including meals from the pages of your favorite cooking magazines, celebrity chefs, and even homemade user submitted favorites.

 

Bio: Jane Johnson is a writer for GoingCellular, a popular site that provides cell phone related news, and commentary as well as reviews on the latest devices, used cell phones and service providers. 


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Rants & Raves

Super easy Cinco De Mayo

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May 6th, 2012

by Scott Ingenito

Living in San Diego I can walk down my street and stop at any of the thousands of taquerias to grab a top-notch burrito, However I figured tonight, after a few five citrus margaritas, to cook up some quick Cinco De Mayo burritos on my own. Super easy, fresh and delicious.

Chorizo and Spanish Rice burritos

Makes 6-8 Burritos
Ingredients
Grape seed oil, for saute
1/2 red onion, diced small
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 green bell peppers, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
1/2 pack of Soy Chorizo
2 cups of brown rice, cooked
4 cups of water ( I split mine, 2 cups of vegetable stock, 2 cups of water)
1 cup of prepared salsa
2 tbsp of salsa verde
Salt, pepper, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, dried spanish oregano, dried cilantro, chili powder  to taste
Uncooked tortillas, I use Canasta Brand. Store brand or Mission should NEVER be used!
Sour cream and fresh chopped cilantro for garnish
Step 1
Prepare your rice however you normally make it. I like to use a rice cooker, because you can set it and forget it until you need it. Meanwhile, wash all your produce and dice it all up. Heat your pan over medium high heat.
Step 2
Add your onions and saute until tender, add garlic saute another 2 minutes.

Step 3
Add in your green bell pepper and red bell pepper, saute until slightly tender.

Step 4
 Add in your Soy Chorizo (can be subbed for any protein of choice), saute until cooked through.

Step 5
Add in the rice, and seasonings, prepared Salsa,Salsa verde, toss to combine and taste. Season as needed.

Step 6
In a non stick pan over medium-high heat, add in some grape seed oil, toss in your uncooked tortilla and toast up on both sides until slightly toasted and puffy.

Step 7
Lay out your cooked tortilla, place down some sour cream, rice mixture, and fold together, Enjoy!
I added in some home-made tortilla chips. Simple: take 10-12 corn tortillas, cut in half, then in thirds. Heat some vegetable oil up to *365 degrees. Fry the chips until browned, remove from oil with a spider, salt immediately as they drain on a cooling rack.

I also added a delicious 5 citrus Margarita made with some amazing gifts I received this week. The perfect way to top off this Super easy cinco de mayo dinner!

How did you celebrate your Cinco De Mayo?

 

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Farm to Fork in minutes

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May 1st, 2012
by Scott Ingenito
 
Tonight I was cooking for a client, and had the amazing experience of picking fresh ingredients from their community garden to use in preparing dinner. I grabbed a nice bunch of super fresh, vibrant vegetables and herbs, and came up with a delicious menu on the fly. Here is what I presented for dinner.

 

Pan Seared Organic Chicken Breast with a Creamy Sage & Savory sauce

2 Organic chicken breasts, trimmed, cleaned and pounded evenly to about 1/2″ thickness

Cyprus Flake sea salt & Fresh Ground black pepper to taste

Grape Seed oil for saute

Step 1

Season chicken, heat a saute pan over medium high heat, add in grape seed oil. Then sear chicken on both sides, 3-5 minutes per side depending on thickness.

Sauce:

1 tbsp of butter

2 shallots, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp fresh chopped sage

2 tbsp fresh chopped basil

1 tbsp fresh chopped Lemon Thyme

1/2 fresh lemon, zested and juiced

Cyprus flake sea salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

Step 1

In a sauce pan over medium heat, add in butter, shallots and sweat until tender. Then add garlic. sweat for another 2-3 minutes.

Step 2

Add in heavy cream, all herbs and lemon zest/juice. bring to boil, then reduce heat quickly to low simmer and let it cook until desired thickness. this will help infuse the cream with the beautiful herb mixture.  keep warm until ready to serve. Stir often.

Fresh Garden Harvest Saute

1 shallot, minced

2 tsp of grape seed oil

5-7 leaves of Rainbow chard, stemmed and sliced into bite size pieces

3 garlic chives, minced

1 red bell pepper, large dice

1 yellow bell pepper, large dice

1 orange bell pepper, large dice

5 leaves of Lemon Balm leaves, chiffonade

Cyprus flake sea salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

Step 1

In a saute pan over medium heat, add in your grape seed oil, and shallots. Sweat out until translucent. Then add garlic, sweat another 2-3 minutes.

Step 2

Add in the chard (reserving a hand full to add in at the end),  also add garlic chives and peppers Saute until wilted, but still a bit crunchy. Then add in the Lemon balm and the remaining chard. Toss together, Season with Sea Salt and pepper. Set aside until ready to serve.

Southwestern style Roasted Sweet Potatoes

 

2 Sweet potatoes, washed, sliced in half, scrape the tops with a fork to make grooves

Sprinkle with sea salt, pepper, brown sugar and special spice mix (below)

Lay on a few thin slices of cold butter

Roast in the oven @ *400 degrees for 1 hour, depending on the size of your potato.

My Special Spice mix, in a ramekin toss together a large pinch of each of these; Ground Coriander, ground cumin, ground chili spice, ground Vietnamese cinnamon, ground garlic, dried parsley.

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The world works in mysterious ways…

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April 15th, 2012

by Scott Ingenito

 

Another great perk of my job, Working my some amazing local and nationally known superstar chefs. This past week I got to work with a chef whom I actually was negotiating a job with before moving from New York; RON OLIVER, Chef De Cuisine at Marine Room, at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis club. What a great class, such amazing food, and the best part was getting to work with such an amazing chef and talk and learn in the process. I first learned of Chef Ron Oliver and Bernard Guilles from their reputation in the San Diego area back in 2009. When I was planning my move from New York, I contacted the La Jolla Beach & Tennis CLub and was talking with the GM to try to solidify a spot in their kitchen. Long story short, I did not take the position, but now, nearly a year and huge career change later I got the chance to work with him. What a great night! Check out Ron’s new cookbook.

www.chefronoliver.com

                                             

Rants & Raves