Mario Batali
Television chef Mario Batali, star of the old
"Molto Mario" and the new "Mediterranean Mario,"
is on Maui for the 1998 Grand Chefs on Tour program.
Batali believes in the freshest ingredients, such as
this Atlantic salmon, which looks fresh
enough to bite him.
The key to the celebrity chef's
By Catherine Kekoa Enomoto
success: Good ingredients, simple
methods, big flavor
Star-Bulletin
eace & lasagne, X O, MarioThe three-part closing on Mario Batali's handwritten message was like the three-course shows he hosts twice daily on the Food Network -- quick, honest, accessible.
Quick, because he's a chef on the move. Honest, like the fresh vegetables and herbs straight from his wife's garden. Accessible, because he prepares simple, inviting fare.
Celebrity television chef Batali, who has parlayed the successful "Molto Mario" cooking show into the new "Mediterranean Mario" series, touches down on Maui for next week's inaugural 1998 Grand Chefs on Tour program.
The Greenwich Village chef will pair well with his Maui cohost, Mark Ellman of Avalon Restaurant in Lahaina and Maui Tacos. Both are versatile chefs given to wearing shorts. Batali wears shorts on the air as well as in his acclaimed restaurant, Po.
New York magazine critic Gael Greene hails Batali's fare as mesmerizing and wildly rich and delicious, and Zagat Survey touts the food at Po as zesty and innovative.
Mario Batali
An open-faced sandwich created by Mario Batali
features a toasted baguette topped with blanched
asparagus and sauteed morels.
"I love it," chef/owner Batali said of Po -- written with an accent over the O. "It literally means a little bit. It's Bolognese slang for small. There are 12 tables. It is tiny."He said Po's top-selling menu offerings are white bean ravioli with balsamic vinegar brown butter; marinated quail with plums, frisee and pomegranate molasses; pappardelle (broad noodles) with duck ragu and chestnuts; and Coach Farm goat cheese with shaved fennel.
Greene, "The Insatiable Critic," said Batali elevated the pappardelle to sainthood with butter, egg and white truffle: "It may be madness on the cholesterol scale, but even the most disciplined fatphobe at the table is a goner."
Batali on the phone resembles his cuisine -- fast, proficient, accessible.
In a conversation from Po last week, Batali said his modern Italian cuisine revolves around good ingredients, simple preparations and pure, big flavor. Prime ingredients include olive oil, fresh herbs, great vegetables and goat cheese fresh from his wife's family's farm 2-1/2 hours out of the city.
Moreover, wife Susi Cahn Batali cultivates fresh greens for his creations. "In the summer I have a garden, so I grow a lot of his specialty vegetables," she said. "All the heirloom tomatoes, different kinds of beets, different beans and greens and squash.
"I'm his supplier come summertime, so vegetables are as fresh and direct as possible."
She also supplies balance and catalyst.
"She keeps my stuff together," chef Batali said. "She has the right taste and a good sensibility, because I'm often in a hurry. She helps me to consider, she's my muse, my inspiration."
Susi Batali called her husband's schedule "ridiculously busy." "We barely get to see him. I mean it's wonderful -- but it's craziness."
Mario Batali
Mario Batali's sandwich made with sausage,
peppers, and onions glazed with balsamic
vinegar is called "matto" -- crazy.
Besides his new TV series, which expands his repertoire from Italy to the Mediterranean basin, Batali said he spends 15-hour days, five days a week, at Po; is opening a 100-seat restaurant in June; and will release the 250-recipe "Cooking in Two Villages" cookbook (Clarkson Potter publishers) in October.And what about outside the kitchen? "I like blues guitar, sure," he said. "Jimi Hendrix is one of my favorites of all time. I was just listening to some really great Cuban music by the Buena Vista Social Club. It's my favorite CD of the whole year."
And, the Batalis are expecting a second son in April.
"Our son is 15 months and 22 days old," Batali said, revealing an acute attention to detail.
Mario Francesco Batali was born in Seattle 37 years ago, and grew up there and in Madrid, Spain. He holds bachelor's degrees in finance and in Spanish from Rutgers University in New Jersey.
He studied at Cordon Bleu in London, but his culinary training started at his Italian grandmother's side, in a family that made its own pasta, sausage and wine, and cured its own olives.
"Our traditional New Year's Day was to watch football and then make enough sausage to last the whole year," he told the New York Post last year.
Batali apprenticed at a small trattoria in Italy's apennine foothills, between Bologna and Florence.
He said his new "Mediterranean Mario" show will cover cuisines of the region, not just Italy. "What I'm going to show is how similar techniques are to the entire region, but how different flavors emerge according to the geography and climatic conditions of each area."
Recipes from Molto Mario's repertoire include open-faced savories with fresh asparagus and mushrooms; sausage sandwiches titled matto, meaning crazy; and berry-topped ciambela, or tea cakes.
Asparagus and morel bruschetta
1 bunch medium asparagus, hard bottoms removedBlanch asparagus for 1 minute and submerge in ice water to refresh; drain and set aside.
2 shallots, minced
2 tablespoons pure olive oil
1/4 pound fresh morels, cleaned and cut in half
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white truffle oil, optional
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 bunch fresh thyme, leaves only
Salt and fresh pepper to taste
1 small baguette, sliced, toastedSaute shallots in oil until softened, about 1 minute. Add morels and continue cooking for 3 minutes until fragrant and tender; set aside.
When ready to serve, slice asparagus into 1/4-inch pieces, toss with morels, remaining oils, lemon juice, thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Spoon mixture over toast and serve. Makes 4 servings.
Approximate nutritional analysis per serving without optional truffle oil: 430 calories, 20 grams total fat, 3 grams saturated fat, no cholesterol, 590 milligrams sodium.*
Matto sausage and peppers
3 tablespoons virgin olive oil plus 3 tablespoonsPreheat oven to 375 degrees.
2 medium red onions halved with skin on, plus 1 peeled and chopped into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 cup water
2 EACH red and yellow bell peppers, seeded, cored and chopped into 1/4-inch dice
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon crushed hot chile flakes
1-1/2 pounds fresh chicken sausage
1-pound loaf zito bread, cut in half lengthwise and divided in 4 portions
2 cups frisee lettuce, washed and spun dry
4 tablespoons fresh marjoram leavesIn a 6- to 8-inch saute pan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until just smoking. Carefully place 4 onion halves, cut side down, in oil and cook until dark golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/2 cup water and place in preheated oven and cook until onions are quite soft to the touch and vinegar is reduced to a syrup, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
In a 10- to 12-inch saute pan, heat remaining oil until smoking. Add chopped onion, all peppers, thyme and chile flakes; cook over medium heat until peppers soften, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
Preheat barbecue or grill. Prick sausages all over with a pin and place on grill. Cook through, about 10 minutes per side; remove and keep warm. Grill bread.
Toss frisee with remaining vinegar, salt and pepper.
On each of the 4 plates, arrange a bread half and layer with equal portions of pepper mixture, chicken sausage, frisee, marjoram and top half of bread; garnish plate with 1/2 of a balsamic-glazed onion. Makes 4 servings.
Ciambela with summer berry compote
1 pint blackberriesPreheat oven to 375 degrees.
1 pint blueberries
1 pint raspberries
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 tablespoons cold sweet butter, cut in 1/2-inch dice
1 large egg
1/4 cup cold milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon sweet butter for cookie sheetIn a medium saucepan, combine berries, lemon juice and sugar. Place over medium heat and cook until just boiling, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
Place flour, sugar and baking powder in a food processor and pulse quickly to blend. Add cold butter and pulse quickly until mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. In a separate bowl, beat egg, milk and almond extract until smooth. With food processor going, add liquid all at once and blend 10 to 15 seconds, until just forming a ball.
Remove dough from processor to a well-floured cutting board. Shape dough into a log about 14-inches long and 1-1/2 inches tall. Grease a cookie sheet with remaining 1 tablespoon butter and arrange log in a circle in center.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until light golden brown. Remove and allow to cool to room temperature. Cut into slices about 1-inch thick and top with 2 tablespoons of berry compote. Makes 4 servings.
Grand Chefs on Tour
Feb. 5: Ellman's signature dinner
Feb. 6: Batali and Ellman's fusion demo/lunch and signature dinner
Feb. 7: Batali's demo/lunch, and signature dinner
Mario on TV
Batali's cooking shows air on the Food Network:
