The Dish: Chef Todd Mitgang

Chef Todd Mitgang was born and raised in Roslyn, New York. He didn't come from a family of "foodies" but was mesmerized by cable TV cooking shows. He decided to turn his passion into a career by enrolling in the French Culinary Institute.

After years of working in award-winning kitchens, he opened his own place in New York: Crave Ceviche Bar. When the restaurant was destroyed in a tragic accident, he returned to his Long Island roots as the opening executive chef of South Edison in Montauk. In 2012 he returned to New York City to open Crave Fishbar, where his innovative menus and creative sourcing landed him on the city's gastronomic map.

Here are some recipes of Mitgang's signature dishes:

Plancha grilled local sea scallops

With orange black pepper oil, homemade red mustard sauce and sea asparagus

Scallops

Ingredients

10 dry sea scallops

1 tablespoon of canola oil

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

Kosher salt

Directions

1. Using a knife, gently score the top of each scallop using a grid like pattern

2. Make sure your plancha or griddle is medium-hot

3. Season with kosher salt on both sides

4. Pour about 1 tablespoon of canola oil on the plancha followed by placing the scallops scored side down. Leave the scallops for about one minute before swirling 1 tablespoon of butter around the scallops. Let the scallops cook for about another minute or so. Then transfer to an oven-ready plate seared side up.

5. Place in a 350°F oven until the scallops are cooked medium to medium-well or cooked just through

Orange black pepper oil

Ingredients

Zest of 3 oranges (use a sharp peeler and not a microplane)

1 tablespoon of black peppercorns

1 tablespoon of kosher salt

32 oz of extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Place all ingredients inside of a high-speed blender and blend on high until the peppercorns are ground

Sea asparagus

Ingredients

4 oz of sea asparagus/sea beans

Directions

1. Blanch sea asparagus in unsalted boiling water for 20-30 seconds, shock in an ice bath

2. Drain and reserve for plating

Red mustard sauce

Ingredients

3 cups of pickled mustard seeds (both brown and yellow)

1 1/2 cups of simple syrup

1/2 cup of annatto seeds

3 tablespoons of hot paprika

1/4 cup of champagne vinegar

Salt to taste

Water to suit your intended purpose

Directions

1. Place all ingredients inside of a high-speed blender and blend on high until smooth adding water as needed to give you either a thick mustard like consistency or for our purpose a sauce like consistency

Plating

1. Using the back of a spoon smear down some of the red mustard sauce

2. Place a scallop to each side of the sauce revealing some sauce to the side of the scallop

3. Arrange and drape both the sea asparagus and red frilly mustard around the scallops artfully.

4. Drizzle the orange black pepper oil on each scored scallop

Plancha grilled yellow wax beans with schmaltz shallots and basil

Ingredients

2 lbs of cleaned yellow wax beans (removing the stem end), blanched

1/4 cup of schmaltz (rendered chicken fat)

1 cup of sliced shallots

1 bunch of basil chiffonade

2 oz of micro basil

Salt to taste

Directions

1. Make sure your plancha or griddle is medium-hot

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together all of the ingredients above with a pinch of salt

3. Pour ingredients on the hot plancha and continue cooking until the wax beans are hot and pick up some color and some of the shallots caramelize

4. Plate in a shallow bowl or plate

5. Garnish with micro basil

Homemade cavatelli with brown butter and lemon, chive and ricotta salata

Cavatelli

Ingredients

1 tin (3 lbs) of fresh whole milk ricotta cheese

11 whole eggs

2.5 kilograms of all purpose flour

1 tablespoon of kosher salt

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a kitchen aid or hobart fitted with a dough hook

2. Mix until all the ingredients come together, then an additional 5 minutes

3. Store the dough in a mixing bowl covered for a half hour

4. Start cutting the dough and roll into 1/2 inch in diameter snakes

5. Clamp down a cavatelli crank and staring feeding the crank with your rolled dough

6. Make sure to use plenty of bench flour

7. Either store made cavatelli in the refrigerator or the freezer

Brown butter and garnishes

Ingredients

1/2 lbs of butter

Juice of 3 lemons

4 oz of finely cut fresh chive

8 oz hunk of ricotta salta cheese

Directions

1. Cut the 1/2 lbs of butter so it melts evenly

2. Place the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat

3. After the butter has melted, keep an eye on it, it will start to color and foam, keep moving it around keeping the solids from burning

4. When the butter takes on the color of say an acorn, take the pan off the heat and add the cold lemon juice

5. Reserve the butter in a warm spot and add salt to taste

To Serve

1. Bring salted water to a boil for the cavatelli

2. Add the cavatelli for about a minute or so or until they float to the top

# Once they are ready drain the cavatelli and put back in the pan adding the lemon brown butter to coat the noodle

3. When ready spoon the cavatelli on a plate, sprinkle with fresh chive and lots of freshly grated ricotta salta, then more chive then more cheese

Roasted acorn squash with green chili puree and baby watercress

Roasted Squash

Ingredients

2 acorn squash, seeded and cut in eighths

Extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Set a convection oven to 350

2. Set the acorn squash on a baking sheet skin side down flesh side up

3. Drizzle squash with extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and fresh black pepper

4. Roast squash for 30 minutes or until flesh is soft and has taken on some color

5. Remove from oven

Green Chili Puree

Ingredients

4 jalapeño peppers, (2 seeded, 2 whole stems removed)

4 lemons juiced

1/2 a shallot

1 clove of garlic

2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch of fresh cilantro

1 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

Directions

Place all ingredients inside of a high-speed blender and blend for about a minute or until the sauce is smooth

Plating

1. Brush each warm squash wedge with green chili puree

2. Artfully arrange baby green watercress on random edges of the squash

3. Drizzle the completed squash with a good finishing olive oil

Creme Fraiche cheesecake with glazed blueberries and dark chocolate

Crust

Ingredients

7 1/2 oz all purpose flour

2 oz powdered sugar

6 oz very cold butter (diced)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 vanilla extract.

Filling

Ingredients

1 lb 4 oz cream cheese

10 oz creme Fraiche

14 oz sugar

4 eggs

12 fl oz heavy cream

2 tsp vanilla paste

1/2 tsp orange zest

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp salt

Directions for crust:

1. Combine dry ingredients. On medium speed, add cold butter and vanilla. Mix until dough becomes firm, avoiding any chunks of butter.

2. Roll dough till about 1/4 inch. Lining bottom 10 spring form pan with parchment, place dough at bottom of the pan. Trim off any excess. Bake 325°F for about 10 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

3. While the crust is cooling, mix creme fraiche and cream cheese on medium speed till well combined. Add sugar, zests, vanilla and salt. Mix on medium high speed till mixture is fluffy.

4. Add eggs one at a time, scraping bowl after each egg. Continue mixing till batter is completely mixed. Add cream on low speed. Using a rubber spatula, mix the batter to make sure all ingredients are fully incorporated.

5. Spray spring form with non stick cooking spray. Add batter. Line outside of cheesecake with foil. Place in a large Pyrex and onto the middle rack of your oven. Pour hot water into Pyrex, just until it reaches 3/4 of spring form pan.

6. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour on 350°F. Cheese cake should be a golden brown, slightly jiggly. Using tongs, prop open the door, letting some heat out. Let cheese cake hang out in the oven till it's slightly deflated.

7. Cool completely in fridge for 4 hours or over night before serving.

Blueberry topping

Ingredients

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 cup water

2 pint fresh blueberries (reserve 1 pint)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 Hunk of 72% Dark Chocolate FROZEN

Directions

1. In a sauce pan, combine sugar and cornstarch and stir. Add water, lemon juice and blueberries (but only 1 pint of blueberries) and cook while stirring till blueberries burst, and the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from stove and strain.

2. Fold in remaining pint of blueberries. Cool.

Plating

To plate cut a wedge of cheesecake, spoon over blueberry sauce and then using a sharp peeler or course microplane, peel or grate dark chocolate over the cake

Boulevardier

Bourbon, sweet vermouth and campari, served with orange zest

Ingredients

4 oz of campari

4 oz of basil hayden bourbon

4 oz of contratto rosso sweet vermouth

Directions

1. Combine ingredients in a glass with ice, stir for about 45 seconds

2. Strain over a fresh glass with a large ice cube

3. Garnish with an orange peel