Foodie Chap With Chef Adam Sobel of The MINA Test Kitchen

Adam Sobel is the Chef and Partner at The MINA Test Kitchen in San Francisco, a fun and welcoming space in the heart of the Marina/Cow Hollow neighborhood. The first-ever test kitchen for Mina Group, this 1,600-square-foot space serves as the R&D laboratory for chefs Michael Mina and Adam Sobel, where their menu is continually evolving to showcase a variety of cuisines and techniques through a series of pop-up dinners. The first pop-up series at The MINA Test Kitchen, Middle'terranea, is a passion project for Mina and Sobel. The cuisine is inspired by both chefs' heritages - Mina was born in Egypt, while Sobel has roots on both sides of the Mediterranean. With a strong desire to explore their culture while cooking food that is close to their hearts, the duo combines the flavors from the Middle East, the Mediterranean and North Africa.

His passion for cooking has always been a defining force in Sobel's life, from joining his grandmother in the kitchen to entering culinary school while still in high school. After cooking his way through New York City, Sobel enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, to further his skills. Upon his graduation, opportunity knocked in the form of an offer to be part of renowned chef Bradley Ogden's opening team at Ogden's eponymous restaurant in Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas. During his tenure there, the restaurant won the 2004 James Beard Award for best new restaurant in the country and received a four star rating from the Mobil Travel Guide, now known as the Forbes Travel Guide. Sobel then moved on to become Chef de Cuisine at Restaurant Guy Savoy in Las Vegas. Soon after his arrival at Guy Savoy, the restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars and named one of the top new restaurants of 2006 by Esquire and Travel + Leisure. Sobel continued to make his mark in Las Vegas as the Executive Chef at RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Led by award-winning chef and sustainable seafood advocate Rick Moonen, it was here that Sobel began recognizing the need for sustainable sourcing in restaurant kitchens, a commitment that has stayed with him to this day.

In 2013, soon after he moved to San Francisco to take on the role of Executive Chef and Partner at RN74, Sobel was crowned the "King of Porc" at the prestigious Grand Cochon, an annual competition held in Aspen where top chefs from across the country are judged on dishes prepared from heritage pork breeds. In February 2014, Sobel was invited to serve as a guest judge on Food Network's cooking competition show, "Chopped," and in May 2014, RN74 received a stellar 3½ star review in the San Francisco Chronicle,with Sobel at the helm in the kitchen.

The MINA Test Kitchen is a new culinary play pen for Soble who told me - "this is more personal than anything I have approached before". And you can taste the heart invested in each and every dish.

My recent visit was a delicious voyage of discovery, taking me on a tasty trip through food to the Mediterranean. SO many dishes to love but the Brokaw Avocado with pickled hot peppers and Summer vegetables was a standout. Chef Adam has kindly shared the recipe with us so you may explore this super salad in your home kitchen.

Do yourself a favour and sign up soon for a seat at The MINA Test Kitchen. My favorite spot is at the bar where your 5 course feast will be paired with killer cocktails and/or world class wines.

For now enjoy my tasty talk with a rock star chef who is heart and passion all the way.
Cheers, Liam!
 

 

Brokaw Avocado
with Pickled Hot Peppers and Summer Vegetables
Mina Test Kitchen
Serves 6

For The Salad:

• 3 ea brokaw avocado
• 1/4 cup lime juice, fresh
• 2 T espelette pepper
• TT maldon salt
• 3 T extra virgin olive oil

For The Pickled Vegetables:

• 3 ea red fresno chili, sliced thin and seeds removed
• 8 ea baby carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4" pieces
• 1 ear corn, kernels removed
• 12 ea yellow wax beans, stem removed and cut in half
• 1/4 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets about the size of a nickel
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 T salt

For The Shug:

• 1 jalapeno, stem removed and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 bunch parsley, stems removed
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, stems removed
• 1T ground cumin
• 2 ea garlic clove,
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 t salt

For The Garnish:

• 1/2 cup walnut halves
• 1 package Katafi (can be found in the freezer section of the supermarket)
• 2 cups canola or vegetable oil
• 3 ea radish, sliced paper thin
• parsley leaves (optional)
• celery leaf (optional)
• lemon balm (optional)

 
Directions:

• Place all of the prepare vegetables into a Tupperware container. Bring the vinegar, sugar, water and salt to a boil. Pour the hot mixture over the vegetables and close tightly. Allow the mixture to steep for a minimum of 2 hours, overnight is best. This can be done up to a week in advance.
• Place the ingredients for the shug into a blender or food processor. Pulse until smooth. Set aside.
• For the fried garnish - Heat the canola oil over medium heat to 325 degrees. Once the oil is hot, carefully add the walnut halves to the pan and allow to fry until golden brown throughout. This should take about 45 seconds to a minute. Use a slotted spoon to remove the nuts and drain on a paper towel. Season lightly with salt.
• Next fry the katafi until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined tray. Season lightly with salt.

To Prepare The Avocado & Plate:

• Use a knife to carefully score the avocado in half along the perpendicular axis. Once you have scored around the pit, carefully twist the halves apart. Using caution, strike the pit with your knife and twist gently to remove the pit. Repeat with the remaining avocados. Use a large metal spoon to scoop each avocado half out of its skin and place cut side down onto a cutting board.
• Being careful to keep the avocado together cut each piece in half lengthwise then into 6ths horizontally.
• Season each avocado generously with lime juice, maldon salt and espilete pepper.
• Carefully spread 1-2 tablespoons of the shug mixture to fully coat each half of avocado.
• Use a large metal spatula to carefully place each dressed avocado on a plate.
• Remove the vegetables from the pickling liquid and place on a paper towel to remove any excess liquid.
• Top each avocado with a variety of the vegetables. You should use about 1/4 cup of the vegetable mix per plate. Be sure that each plate gets some of each type of vegetable.
• Garnish each plate with fried walnuts, fried katafi and the optional herb leaves.
• Sprinkle each plate with an additional pinch of espelette chili flake.
• Drizzle each plate with about 1/2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

For more on The MINA Test Kitchen, visit minatestkitchen.com
 

KCBS radio "Foodie Chap" and KPIX 5 television "Eye On The Bay" host Liam Mayclem introduces us to the culinary stars behind the food and wine loved by so many in the Bay Area.
Follow him on Twitter & Facebook @foodiechap