Moms, Chefs & Barbecue? It must be May!

Hello Everyone.

Grilling is a high heat cooking method. Food is cooked directly over coals (either wood or charcoal briquets) and cooking time is usually a matter of minutes. Grilling temperatures are usually in excess of 500 degrees Fahrenheit and food is cooked close to the heat source. The high heat chars the surface of the food, seals in the juices and creates a smoky caramelized crust. Grilling is the oldest, most widespread and most forgiving method of cooking. Rich and poor alike practice it on six continents in restaurants, street stalls, and backyards.

Barbecue
Barbecuing, by contrast, lies at the opposite end of the spectrum from grilling. It is a long, slow, indirect, low-heat method that uses smoldering logs or charcoal and wood chunks to smoke-cook the food. Barbecue temperatures are usually between 200 and 300 degrees Fahrenheit. This low heat generates smoke, and this smoke gives barbecue its characteristic flavor. The heat source often completely separate from the cooking chamber, which contains the actual food. This method of cooking is ideally suited to large pieces of meat such as whole pigs. It is also perfect for cuts with lots of tough connective tissue, such as brisket or spareribs.
More recently a hybrid method of cooking, Indirect Grilling, has become very popular. This method bridges the gap between barbecue and grilling. As with barbecuing, food is not cooked directly over coals. But the actual cooking takes place in the same chamber as the heat source, and temperatures usually range between 350 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Wood chips or chunks are often placed on the heat source to generate smoke for flavor. Indirect grilling effectively transforms your barbecue grill into and outdoor oven, which is perfect for cooking larger cuts of meat such as prime rib and turkey. We have used this method myself and it consist of lighting (in the case of gas grills) one side of the grill for the heat source and the placement of the meat on the unlit side of the cooking surface. Indirect grilling gives you the best of both worlds, grilling and barbecuing. The charcoal flavor from grilling and the tenderness and smoky flavor from barbecue. Whereas the flavor of true barbecue is hard to beat, the trade-off is that it takes a lot longer than grilling or indirect grilling.
Chef’s Spotlight 
This  week’s Chef Spotlight is about two lifelong friends who are also culinary partners,  Michael Alberini & Chef Mark Canzonetta.
Michael Alberini
Growing up in Youngstown, Ohio, Michael Alberini remembers visiting his Uncle Richard Alberini’s restaurant in Niles, which operated for 56 years. To Michael, Alberini’s was “an oasis,” providing him with an education as he worked beside the chefs of one of the landmark restaurants of ‘The Strip.’
It was during these years that Michael defined his knowledge of fine dining and developed his palette for the marriage of food to Old and New World wines. At 15 years old, he started working at Alberini’s prepping food, washing dishes and bussing tables, and continued to work there through high school. He developed a passion for food and got an in-depth education on wine from his uncle, who was a pioneer in introducing West Coast wines to Ohio. It was common to see winemakers from California, like Earnest and Julio Gallo and Jack Cakebread among others, having dinner with Richard Alberini and talking about wine. “I got to sit and listen to these people talk about wine and learn about wine, and even at that young age I got to taste these wines,” he says. “That’s where I developed a great affinity for wine, and that transitioned into being a wine educator myself.” After high school, Michael attended The Ohio State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in business and communications, then returned to his uncle’s restaurant as a cook and floor manager. Watching his uncle welcome everyone into his restaurant as if it were his home was Michael’s moment of clarity. In October 2009, he opened Michael Alberini’s Restaurant and Wine Shop to set a new standard for upper scale casual dining and cuisine in Youngstown. “I grew up around a table engaging great conversation with family,” he says. “So, I’m trying to bring dinner table discussion amongst family and friends with good food and good wine.”
Executive Chef Mark Canzonetta
Chef Mark Canzonetta credits his passion for food and wine with being raised by an Old World family…and with being stuck inside on a rainy day when he was 11 years old. While watching television, he turned to The French Chef with Julia Child. He was determined to make the lively chef’s recipe of the day, bombe au chocolat, and wrote down Child’s recipe and methodology.“I sent my mom to the grocery store for the ingredients, and we had a very rudimentary version of Julia’s chocolate bombe cake for dessert that night,” he recalls. “From that day forward, my mom said I never let her in the kitchen again.”

Canzonetta entered the restaurant business working for friends who owned local eateries and was encouraged to attend the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. In 1988, he graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Institute and one year later, opened Pesto’s Café in Warren, Ohio. He continued to define his culinary repertoire, incorporating what he learned into the restaurant’s menu, as well as techniques he picked up while traveling to the southwest United States, Italy, Spain, Mexico and the Caribbean. For several years, he worked as culinary director for Gia Russa Foods in Boardman, Ohio. While there, he helped to open The Culinary Arts Center, where he had the honor of designing foods for such celebrity chefs as Mario Batali, Guy Fieri and the Gia Russa brand itself. He continues to consult for some of these national culinary icons regularly, and has done more than 150 cooking demonstrations over the last three years. Canzonetta had been close friends with Michael Alberini for 25 years before joining him at Michael Alberini’s Restaurant and Wine Shop. As Executive Chef, he creates dishes inspired by global influences and local ingredients with a finesse that reflects the many culinary disciplines he’s developed over the years.
Recipe Courtesy of chef Mark Canzonetta

All Purpose Meat Rub for  BBQ

 2 C Paprika

2/3 C smoked Paprika

2/3 C Ground Cumin

2/3 C granulated onion

2/3 C granulated garlic

2/3 T white pepper

1/4 C ground black pepper

2/3 T cayenne pepper

1/2 C dry mustard

1/3 t ground sage

1 – 1/3 c sugar

1/4 C celery salt

1/2 c salt

Combine all together well and store NGO a plastic air free container

 Kansas City BBQ Ribs

 3 ea. St. Louis Racks of Ribs ( 2.25 lbs ea. trimmed and silver skin off bak of ribs removed )

2 C of Rib Rub

1 – 12 oz beer

1 C water

2 C BBQ Sauce ( Guy Fieri Kansas City )

 Method

Take ribs allow to come to room temperature.Rub the ribs generously with the Rib Rub. Place the ribs on a roasted wire rack inside a 6 inch deep full hotel pan.  Pour the beer into the bottom alone with the water. Wrap the top of the hotel pan 2X with plastic wrap, then with heavy foil, roast in a preheated 325 oven on low fan for 1 hour and 45 minutes. 
Remove the pan from the oven and immediately remove the foil and plastic, allow the ribs to cool down. Place ribs in your smoker with some cherry wood , smoke for 2 hours at 200 F , basting every 1/2 with BBQ sauce. Remove ribs, check to see if they still have a little tug or pull, you don’t want these call off the bone. Take ribs and place on your charcoal grill just to give a little char crust and serve at your leisure 

The Costco/Ergo Road Show
We are proud to announce a new Ergo Chef Sales consultant to you all. Don’t worry, Chef Randy will still be visiting your local Costco’s, but we have added to the Costco Road Show, Chef Tom Anderson. Tom will be covering the Northeast and you can find his first appearance info below. come out and see our Chefs Randy and Tom and try out the best knives on the market. 

Chef Randy

May 8th-11th 2014
Costco Special Event – In Store
Nanuet, NY

Chef Tom

May 8th-11th 2014
Costco Special Event – In Store
Avon, MA

Lastly we want to wish all you Moms out there a very Happy Mothers Day!
Till next time.
Ergo Chef