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FOOD Impressive Eats Local Chefs Serve Up Some Tasty Holiday Recipes with a Sparkling Side of Q&A Words by Marla E. Schwartz • Photo credit: Brustman Carrino PR There is nothing more wonderful than celebrating a home cooked holiday meal with friends and loved ones. Depending on your frame of mind, some view holiday cooking as a chore, while others relish it. Miami-based chefs: Brian Collaro, Sean Brasel, Miguel Aguilar and Paula DaSilva definitely fall into the elated category when it comes to cooking any time of year. Lucky for us, they've come together to discuss holiday cooking and share a few recipes that will hopefully inspire you in the kitchen this season. Brian Collar, Florida Regional Prepared Foods Coordinator Whole Foods Market Brian Collaro, the son of an Italian butcher, showed a keen interest in the culinary arts as a young man as he was enamored with the cooking traditions passed on through his family. A natural fondness of experimentation, along with a love for natural foods made him an ideal candidate for Whole Foods, where he rose through the ranks to become their Regional Prepared Foods Coordinator —overseeing all chef prepared foods in the region. It's been twelve years, and he still enjoys a job that allows him to take the classics, and turn them into new and exciting creations using the freshest, natural, seasonal ingredients. Miami Living: The Fruited Brie Torte you create during the holiday season is very popular. Why do you think this is so? Brian Collaro: It's no surprise that our customers go crazy about our Fruited Brie Torte. It's a perfect holiday dish that brings back nostalgic holiday memories with the cranberries and figs and pleases the palate with the complex flavors in our exclusive double crème brie from Isigny Ste Mere. The reaction is always the same, "Wow" followed by "Can I have some more?" ML: What are the 3 most essential Christmas / Hanukkah meals that customers should have on his/her dinner table? BC: Spiral glazed ham is a must for Christmas, as well as some type of dish that features organic butternut squash or acorn squash for Hanukkah. Christmas is about 30 MIAMI LIVING treating your family and loved ones to something special and the locally caught stone crab claws is that perfect item that helps Christmas dinner become a memorable event. ML: If you could invite one famous Miami athlete over for a holiday meal, who would it be, what would you serve, and why? BC: Every Florida born 30-something should have the same answer, Dan Marino. I'd feel obligated to "represent" for all native Italians and cook him every great traditional dish I could —stuffed artichokes, caprese salad, vinegar peppers and provolone, gorgonzola stuffed figs, eggplant parmesan, broccoli rabe with sausage, braciole, beef meatballs and sauce, fried calamari…and then we would start in on the main courses. Fruited Brie Torte (Serves 10 to 12) Ingredients 1 (1-kilogram) wheel Brie, chilled 1 jar fig spread (or plum spread) 1 cup chopped walnuts 10 to 12 walnut halves (optional) Slice Brie in half horizontally, creating two rounds. Spoon fig spread over bottom half of Brie evenly. Sprinkle with walnuts. Top with remaining Brie half. Wrap in plastic, chill 2 hours. Before serving, allow at least 30 minutes to bring Brie to room temperature. Garnish with a dollop of fig spread and walnut halves or slice into slim, single-serving wedges. Serve with crackers or sliced baguette. (Alternatively, remove plastic, then wrap the prepared chilled torte in foil and bake 10 minutes at 350°F. Garnish and serve warm.) Sean Brasel, Executive Chef Meat Market 915 Lincoln Road. (305) 532-0088 meatmarketmiami.com. Sean Brasel, executive chef and co-owner, along with his business partner for over a decade, David Tornek, continue to make culinary magic at the Meat Market. This partnership of Brasel's exquisite cuisine and Tornek's innovative concepts, along with their combined talent for exceeding diners' expectations has brought forth their current creation —a sizzling contemporary American steakhouse infused with an artful and contemporary NYC vibe. "We want to appeal to those looking for a more traditional experience as well as more adventurous diners," he said. The popularity of this restaurant has spread like wildfire and has been warmly and deliciously embraced by the community. Miami Living: Is there any particular food technique that you like to use when preparing holiday meals? Sean Brasel: We pound out the boneless turkey legs and patch the holes with transglutaminase. It allows us to make a near perfect roulade with the boneless turkey leg that we stuff with a seasonal mushroom type stuffing. ML: You're well-known for creating custom sauces for your steaks. Have you created a special, new sauce for the holidays? SB: In October we rolled out new menu items including several new sauces, of which one will have that holiday flair. It has spiced rum as a base, smoked chilies and cranberries. It's awesome. ML: If you could invite one famous chef from anywhere in the world to join you in a holiday mea,l who would it be and why? SB: I would invite Chef Laurent Gras. It would be fun to combine some of his old world French techniques and modern flavors with my American steak concept. I think our uses of innovative meat and sous vide cooking styles could yield interesting, but bold new ideas. Stone Crab and Lobster Cakes (Yields 6-8 cakes) Ingredients ⅛ cup onion, small dice ⅛ cup red bell pepper, small dice 1 Tbsp fresh jalapeno, small dice 1 Tbsp chives, sliced 1 egg, beaten ½ Tbsp Tabasco sauce ¾ Tbsp blackening spice ¾ Tbsp Dijon mustard ¼ Tbsp lemon zest ½ cup mayonnaise ¾ lb. stone crab meat, picked clean of shell ¼ cup lobster meat, cooked, ½ inch dice ½ cup panko breadcrumbs Vegetable oil (for frying) Sweat onion and bell pepper in a small sauté pan with a little bit of oil. Allow to cool. Place all