Here’s the Dish with Chef/General Manager Mike Colella of Quincy’s Original Lobster Rolls
4215 Landis Ave., Sea Isle City
609-478-2845
quincysoriginal.com
Here’s The Dish is a regular feature in the Sea Isle Times when we take you into the kitchens of some of the best restaurants in Sea Isle City and Strathmere.
1. Where did you receive your training?
Le Cordon Bleu culinary school and many years in the kitchen of my father’s restaurant.
2. Where do you get your inspiration from, when creating a new dish?
Mainly the flavor profiles I’m looking for with ingredients I have on hand. Am I looking for umami? Spicy? Sour? And what’s in the kitchen now that I can accomplish that with.
3. What do you believe is the most important quality of a restaurant, and why?
Consistency of the dishes and quality of the ingredients. Most restaurants rely on repeat customers, or regulars, for a large part of their revenue. If these customers come for their favorite dish and it doesn’t taste the same, you may end up losing those customers.
4. What is your go-to meal on your days off?
Definitely Tacos al Pastor!
5. What advice would you give to a new chef?
Keep grinding and pay attention. The days are long, the kitchen is hot, but the best way to learn is through experience!
6. What is your favorite summer dish?
Definitely a Caprese salad with homemade fresh mozzarella, garden-grown tomatoes, and basil.
7. What do you enjoy most about cooking?
I love the experience of putting together new recipes and having people enjoy them. It’s a lot of trial and error, but when it comes together, it’s like a finished art project for people to enjoy.
8. What is the hardest cooking technique you have mastered?
Making a good consommé or béarnaise sauce. Also, I was pretty proud many years ago when I perfectly poached my first egg!
9. Where do you find yourself most when you are not in the kitchen?
In the car traveling to our different locations.
10. What is the most needed cooking utensil for a kitchen, and why?
I’m torn between knives or pots and pans, but I will go with great pots and pans. Many recipes aren’t hard but are dependent the level and distribution of heat from the pan. Much like turning your béarnaise sauce into scrambled eggs because the heat was too high, or it wasn’t even. Also, great pots and pans can make cooking much easier from going from the stove right into the oven or broiler.
A Recipe From Quincy’s Original Lobster Rolls
Quincy’s Original Shrimp Roll
Ingredients
• 1 pound jumbo cocktail shrimp (tails removed)
• 4 New England-style split-top hot-dog buns
• ¼ cup clarified butter
• 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup cocktail sauce
• 2 tablespoons mayo
• 2 teaspoons horseradish (prepared)
• 1 tablepoon Old Bay
• 1 tablespoon chives
Directions:
Butter sauce:
Melt and/or clarify ¼ cup of butter in a saucepan over low heat until fully melted and clear. Slice lemon in half lengthwise and squeeze half of lemon into melted butter. Reserve other half of lemon and cut into lemon wedges to serve with rolls. For a bigger citrus kick, grate lemon zest into butter.
Shrimp sauce:
Combine cocktail, mayo and horseradish in a bowl and whisk together thoroughly.
Construction and assembly:
Toast the split-top buns by adding two tablespoons of butter to a skillet and cooking until each side of the bun is a crisp golden brown. Add a light bead of shrimp sauce in the middle of split top bun. Cut the shrimp into ½-inch pieces and stuff the rolls. Drizzle (or drown) the shrimp with the butter sauce and lightly dust each roll with Old Bay seasoning. Drizzle remaining shrimp sauce over the rolls and garnish with chives.
