Carino's: Chef's Corner

It has been a busy early spring in the test kitchens of Carino's Italian!  I have been busy working on new recipes to get ready for this year's new menu items.  This is always my favorite part of the job - trying new ingredients, new techniques and flavor combinations and seeing what people think of them.  I just spent the past several days with some friends of mine, Chef Rosario and Chef Cesare, touring restaurants in the North End of Boston looking for inspiration for new Carino's menu items.  The North End, in my humble opinion, is the best "Little Italy" in the United States and always seems to be on the cutting edge for new culinary concepts.  I came away with some great ideas and we cooked up some great dishes together while "brainstorming" some new ideas.  Check out some of the dishes we prepared below, and who knows, you might see something similar at your local Carino's soon!

 Butternut Squash Tortellacci

Sausage Sacchetti with Roasted Red Pepper Cream

At Carino's, we have always been very passionate about our food and taking care of our guests.  Behind the scenes, we have always been very passionate about being involved in the community, supporting children's causes and helping out whenever we can.  I was recently given an opportunity to teach nutrition to some great kids at a local elementary school.  They had already been studying nutrition all week so the children were well versed in understanding the basic food groups and what they are for.  We kicked off the class learning about the healthy ingredients we had at our disposal - fresh lettuce, tomatoes, pasta, tomato sauce, chicken, and olive oil (in moderation of course).  Some brave volunteers cut fresh salad and tomatoes, we discussed how to make a healthy salad dressing and then talked about how wheat turns into pasta.  Then it was time to eat!  The healthy meal of tomato salad, penne with tomato sauce and grilled chicken was a hit and we even had some kids asking for seconds!  Who would have thought nutrition could be so fun and taste so good?  Thank you to Ms. Temple and her teachers for allowing me to spend some time working with these great kids!

A few weeks ago, I cooked on Good Day Austin (Fox 7) to showcase our "Sweetheart's Month" menu items and our Sweet Chicken Marsala (see 'Recipes' section) - Here are some fun, behind the scenes shots we put together from that morning.  It's amazing how much preparation goes into a 4 minute long television segment!

Ruffino Modus Super Tuscan

OK, I've been thinking about our wine list at Carino's and how we offer half-price bottles of wine on Wine-Down Wednesdays (participating locations of course...I have to say that) and how for Sweetheart's Month in February we are offering half-price bottles for the entire month of February and I have come to this conclusion............

The best deal on the planet is a hidden secret on our list....the Ruffino Modus.  This is one of my favorite wines of all-time.  It is called a 'Super Tuscan', and this one is a blend of sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and merlot grapes that will knock your socks off.  This is a full bodied wine with big fruit and a little spice that goes great with something hearty, like a grilled steak and some red sauce.  The crazy thing about this wine is this - we already sell it at a discount since we like to keep our prices low but the half-price promotion makes this ridiculous - a bottle of wine that should cost about $80-$100 available for about $30.  Wow.

Don't tell anyone, it will be our little secret!

To kick off Sweetheart's Month (February), I made a special 'home version' recipe of my Chicken Marsala for those of you that want to do some cooking for your special someone.  Here is the recipe that I cooked on Good Day Austin (Fox Channel 7) this morning.  Enjoy!

Sweet Chicken Marsala with Garlic Wilted Spinach - Serves 2 - Pan sauteed chicken breast and mushrooms reduced in a sweet marsala wine sauce, served with fresh spinach wilted in hot olive oil and garlic.

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast, 8 Ounce, 'Butterflied'                                  2 each

Butter, Melted                                                                           2 ounces

Flour, All Purpose                                                                     as needed

Mushrooms, Sliced                                                                2 cups

Salt and Pepper                                                                       to taste

Marsala Wine, Sweet                                                              6 ounces

Broth or Demi-Glace, Chicken or Beef                                  4 ounces

Butter, Room Temperature                                                    1/8 cup

Olive Oil                                                                                      2 ounces

Garlic, Fresh Chopped                                                           2 tsp

Spinach, Fresh                                                                      4 cups

Salt and Pepper                                                                     to taste

1.     Work area and utensils should be clean and sanitary.

2.     Cut butterflied chicken breasts into half, yielding a total of four chicken breast medllions.  Place on sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Chicken medallions should be fully cooked, set aside.

3.     To a heated saute pan, add melted butter.  Dredge chicken medallions in flour, shake off excess flour and add to saute pan.  Add mushrooms, salt and pepper.

4.     Saute chicken and mushrooms until thoroughy heated and golden brown.  Add marsala wine and broth/demi-glace.  Reduce by 50% and then add room temperature butter, let butter reduce into the wine/broth reduction until a thickened sauce forms.

5.     To prepare Wilted Spinach:  Add olive oil and garlic to a heated saute pan.  Once oil is hot and garlic starts to turn golden brown, turn off heat and add spinach slat and pepper.  Toss with olive oil until it becomes warm and starts to wilt.

6.     Place wilted spinach on the side of a plate.  Using tongs, remove the chicken medallions from saute pan nd place next to spinach.  Pour marsala sauce and mushrooms over chicken.  Serve and enjoy!