This Evening’s Guest

This evening, on our internet radio show we will be talking with Jeffrey Elliot and Salvatore Rizzo, at 8:00pm (Eastern Time). Jeff will be teaching the essential techniques of knife skills necessary for the home cook at De Gustibus this coming Tuesday from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. To sign up for the class, please go to the De Gustibus‘ website. A light Kosher meal will be served.

Jeffrey Elliot has a degree from the Culinary Institute of America and has cooked at prestigious restaurants such as Le Cirque, and Le Bernardin in New York. Since leaving the kitchen, he’s owned an antiquarian bookstore, received an MBA and worked as a stockbroker. He has also worked for Share Our Strength, a non-for-profit dedicated to eradicating childhood hunger in America, organizing Taste of the Nation events in 15 cities across the US and Canada. Currently, Jeffrey is the National Manager of Culinary Relations for Zwilling JA Henckels. He is a co-author of The Zwilling J.A. Henckels Complete Book of Knife Skills.

Salvatore Rizzo (“Sal”), is the Director/Owner of De Gustibus School of Cooking at Macy’s. The school’s mission is “To continue the tradition of serving the culinary community by showcasing the talents of established chefs, rising stars, and sommeliers to food and wine lovers, with the utmost in hospitality.”

Salvatore Rizzo acquired De Gustibus Cooking School in April 2008. He has been active in the culinary world for over 25 years, honing his skills as the consummate host and interlocutor of chefs. Sal was the Director of the Italian Culinary Institute where he managed chef events for several years, after which he became Director of House Operations and Events at the prestigious James Beard Foundation until 2007. A true master of hospitality and friend to many a chef, Sal’s passion involves promoting the culinary arts and creating an environment where people can come together and share incredible experiences centered around food and wine, something he was exposed to daily, growing up in a Sicilian household.

Meanwhile, in case you missed it, why not listen to our last last broadcast? Our guest was Dietitian and Nutritionist Bonnie R, Giller. It was a fun an informative show.

Please, listen to our show this evening at 8:00pm (Eastern Time) on BlogTalkRadio.com.

CS

The Zen of Kitchen Mastery – Lévana Kirschenbaum at De Gustibus

As Sal Rizzo (Owner/Director of De Gustibus) so succinctly stated, “Levana, you’re very Zen in the kitchen.” He totally ‘got it’! What makes Lévana’s recipes so magnificent is their utter simplicity; like her un-garnished use of wholesome fresh healthy ingredients – roots and all – or opting for basic easy tools like food processors and shallow pots and bowls – that facilitate expedience and functionality in prep, or not overwhelming a dish with too many ingredients, thus silhouetting the key flavors, allowing their fine characteristics to fully emerge. It’s a style of cooking where less really is more.

“The sign of a good cook is a good plan”, said the very ‘present,’ in control, Lévana, as she demonstrably zipped through five delicious dishes in well under two hours, all the while providing a virtual wellspring of food tips. (“Peel the back of the celery stalks – then they won’t be stringy and you’ll lose the bitterness.” “Add pepper to your recipe at the very end of the cooking process, – pepper that’s cooked gives off an acrid flavor” ) Lévana‘s immeasurable kitchen wisdom is rooted in 35 years of passion for excellence, unstinting experience and relentless experimenting until utter perfection was achieved; available now in her magnum opus, her new cookbook The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen. “The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen is the culmination of a whole life’s work!”.  “It’s about cutting corners on steps, not ingredients… Everything about cooking is about the mindset.”  How Zen is that!?!

Lévana demonstrated six dishes, contemporary versions of traditional Morrocan cuisine: Chickpea Soup, Fishballs in Lemon Mustard Sauce, Spicy Lettuce Salad with Chick Peas and Preserved Lemon, Hot and Sweet Parsnips, Lamb Stew with Artichokes and Mushrooms, Almond Shortbread Cescents. Each was perfectly balanced, a virtuoso performance of a symphony of flavors. As you can see, the lamb shank recipe below uses onlythree main ingredients and two spices to achieve it’s desired simply delicious outcome.

Lamb Shanks with Artichokes and Mushrooms

All participant got to eat every recipe demonstrated

Ingredients

• 8 lamb shanks, or 3 1/2 pounds cubed lean lamb stew
• 2 good pinches saffron
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 2 pounds button mushrooms
• 2 10 ounce boxes frozen artichoke hearts, thawed

Instructions

Put the lamb shanks or cubes in a heavy pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce to medium, cover and cook 2 hours. Add safron, turmeric and mushrooms and cook for another 15 minutes. Make sure you don’t bruise the artichokes. The liquid in the pot should look thick and creamy. If it is too thin, transfer the meal and vegetables to a serving platter with a slotted spoon, and reduce the sauce on a big flame until it reaches the consistency of maple syrup. Pour the sauce over all. Serve hot alone or with roasted potatoes.

Sal Rizzo is an extraordinary moderator and host. He asks good questions that bring out the best in the great chefs appearing at the various De Gustibus‘ series. It is no small feat to figure out the logistics of featuring kosher chefs and providing kosher food to attendees under strict kashrut standards. Yet Sal and his terrific staff make it look easy, as they provide a stage that features kosher cuisine as an integral component of the best of the international gourmet scene.

Unusually Creative and Delicious

Seth Warshaw, is the owner and executive chef of etc steakhouse (1409 Palisade Avenue; Teaneck, NJ 07666; Telephone: 201.357.5677). The De Gustibus School at Macy’s featured him as one of the top chefs in their The Fine Art of Kosher Cooking series.

Last week, Wednesday, I found my way to his establishment. It was a very pleasant, delicious experience and more than amply confirmed Salvatore Rizzo‘s (De Gustibus‘ owner) high assessment of Chef Seth.

The walls are painted red, otherwise the decor is rather spartan. The dishes I tasted showed tremendous creativity, a rare understanding of the riches of flavor and very nice presentation.

I started with their Pomegranate Rolled Rib Eye..

Pomegranate Rolled Rib Eye

It came accompanied with a pomegranate and Satsuma clementine salad in a grapefruit reduction. The aged rib eye was very tender and juicy. The flavors were a superb blend of meat and subtle fruit juices. Succulent!

I followed with Sweetbreads with Glazed Rutabaga.

Sweetbreads with Glazed Rutabaga

It consisted of superbly prepared sweetbreads with a delicate lima bean puree and glazed rutabaga with a balsamic reduction. I then moved on to the Pomegranate Hangar Steak.

Pomegranate Hangar Steak

Because of the rules of kashrus (where meats must be salted for an hour – to extract the blood – after soaking in water for 30 minutes), in spite of all the rinsing, the meat ultimately absorbs some salt. As a result hangar steaks are very salty. Chef Seth, however, has found a unique way of enhancing the steak’s flavor without one noticing the salt. The result is a very juicy, tender, steak; yet another tribute to the Chef’s creativity and knowledge of the blending of flavors. The steak came with a sweet potato mash, haricot verts, caramelized onion rings in a pomegranate reduction.

I topped off the meal with a House Made Zeppole Trio with vanilla ice cream. Each zeppole was covered with a different sprinkling. One had a combination of fine cinnamon and confectioner’s sugar, another a sprinkling of coconut and the third had cocoa powder. Fried Italian pastries, they were sweet and indescribably delicious. What a great way to crown a superb meal!

CS