Michael “Mike” Doctulero, executive chef at Scott’s Restaurant & Bar in Costa Mesa, fell in love with cooking early in his childhood. Working in the kitchen with his grandfather fueled the fun. One of his fondest early memories is the time spent with his granddad while spreading newspaper on the kitchen table and devouring fresh Dungeness crab. Earlier in the…
Raj Dixit, executive chef at Stonehill Tavern at the St. Regis Monarch Beach, makes a scrumptious holiday-themed turkey burger. It captures the bright flavors of a traditional holiday turkey menu: turkey, gravy, crisp apple salad, cranberry marmalade and a sweet potato bun. Dixit grew up in Mission Viejo, about a ten-minute drive from where he works. A Culinary Institute of…
Salt Creek Grille’s Mahi Mahi Including liquid pectin in a glaze for fish was new to me. I was eager to see how Scott Green, the company executive chef for the Salt Creek Grille restaurants, utilized it in his Citrus Glazed Mahi Mahi. Joining me in my home kitchen, he showed me how he prepares the glaze that includes full-flavored…
Imagine the Arc Burger – that luscious cow-duck-pig combo served at ARC, the everything-from-scratch eatery in Costa Mesa’s South Coast Collection (SoCo). The beef is hand cut into itty bitty pieces. The pig is crisp cooked cubes of house-cured bacon. The fowl is rendered duck fat. Watch the short video to see the action (and learn some secrets). At Arc,…
Banh mi, sub-style Vietnamese sandwiches explode with sweet, sour, hot and salty flavors balanced in perfect harmony inside a just-baked baguette. Each element, whether cooked or salad-like raw, weaves a seductive contrast. A marriage of French and Vietnamese components, banh mi showcases side-by-side culinary fusion. Traditionally, the meat filling can be anything from stacks of paper-thin cold cuts to soy-cooked…
It’s easy to fall in love with a salad that showcases crunch and color, along with spicy-sweet flavors boosted with the just right tartness of fresh lime juice. Gabriel “Gabe” Caliendo’s Spicy Thai Chicken Salad hits all these tasty notes. Caliendo, the executive chef at the Lazy Dog Restaurants that have four locations in Orange County, showed me how to…
Bittman’s lentil salad is delicious! No deprivation, honest! Mark Bittman is a part-time vegan. A columnist for the New York Times and author of the best-selling How To Cook Everything cookbooks, Bittman abstains from eating meat, dairy or processed foods until six every evening. Nix before six on alcohol, too. After six he eats what he likes, usually (but not…
Personal chef-caterer Katherine Louis Boucher knows how to turn lamb chops into luscious Greek style “lollipop” appetizers. She says to offer guests napkins and stand back to watch the chops disappear. Watch this short video to see her marinade and grilling technique. Opa! The chops are cut from the lamb rack, and each has a curved bone that is meat-free…