Chef: Seasonal products influence his dishes

Lake Villa native Jeff Mauro thinks he's up to the challenges of his new position as executive chef at Jimmy Alexander's Powerhouse Restaurant on Chicago's Near West Side. He's unfazed by the downturn in the economy and the fact that the name of the fine-dining restaurant makes people think of a gym. (It's named for its building, a Beaux Arts structure with a massive 223-foot smokestack that once housed coal-fired generators and boilers to power the Chicago Northwestern Railroad.)

Mauro's got good reason to be confident. His resume includes Opus 251 and Susanna Foo in Philadelphia, Bradley Ogden at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas (which won the 2003 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant during his tenure as sous chef); Charlie Trotter's and North Pond in Chicago, as well as stages at European restaurants, such as Restaurante Martin Berasategui in San Sebastian, Spain. Along the way, he's cooked for such luminaries as chefs Alain Ducasse, Wiley Dufresne, Joel Robuchon, Paul Bocuse and Gordon Ramsay; actor Clint Eastwood; bassist Getty Lee; and hockey player Wayne Gretzky.

That's pretty good for a chef who got his culinary start at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Antioch.

Mauro, who grew up in Lake Villa, attended Antioch Community High School, with culinary training at Lake County Vocational School, before going on to study culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I. He joined Powerhouse as sous chef a year ago and was recently promoted to executive chef. He lives in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood.

What led you to become a chef? I got my culinary career started at KFC. I started when I was 14 - I lied on my application. Then I bused tables at Loon Lake Landing in Antioch. I ended up washing dishes at the Antioch Country Club when I was 16, and I was just fascinated by the kitchen, so I started doing some prep work.

I did the vocational program in my senior year. I participated in the Vocational Industrial Club of America, a program I'd recommend to just about anyone in any field. I was able to earn scholarship money.

Coincidentally, I was learning Spanish at the same time, and that's proved to be a major asset.

While I was at Johnson & Wales, I did my externship at Back Bay Brewing Co. in Boston, and I continued to work there on weekends while I was in school.

But I got the biggest opportunity in my life when I was halfway through my sophomore year. One of my instructors was Alfonso Contrisciani, a Certified Master Chef, before he went on to open a restaurant in Philadelphia - Opus 251 in Rittenhouse Square. He asked me, of all the people he knew, to move to Philadelphia and work with him. He convinced me that I'd learn more with him in two years than by staying to finish the four-year program. I got my associate degree and I earned sous chef at 20 years old, which I think was an amazing feat.

The guy just about crushed me on a daily basis. I learned a ton from him.

How would you define your culinary style? First and foremost, seasonality - based on American sustainable products.

Does your ethnic background influence your cooking? I'm a typical American mutt. My last name is Sicilian. I have one grandmother who is Polish (she was a Polish translator for the FBI in Chicago). My grandfather was German. As far as saying one is more influential than the other ... I'm not going to start a family war.

My father was a big influence. He's a great outdoorsman. We did a lot of hunting and fishing when I was a kid. I learned to respect the creature that was killed and the only justification for that is to learn to cook it well. I haven't hunted since I was 18, but I still do a lot fishing. If I had more time, that's what I'd be doing.

What else do you do in your spare time? The only other thing I do in my life is hockey. I play ice hockey and follow the Blackhawks pretty intensely.

You've cooked for a lot of famous people when you were at Charlie Trotter's and Bradley Ogden. Do you miss that? Every person means a lot to me, especially in these times. Everybody deserves recognition. Especially when you put your name on every plate. Besides, those times will come again. I cooked for Barack Obama in September.

How did you wind up working for Charlie Trotter? I met Bill Kim (Urban Belly) when I was working at Susanna Foo. He had previously worked for Charlie Trotter and recommended me. I had a childhood ambition to work for Charlie Trotter. In the early '90s, he was a Chicago icon.

How are you coping with the economy? One of my first goals was to bring most of the entrees under $30. We have a $25 prix fixe lunch and a $35 pre-theater dinner.

My battle is to bring in the best deal. It affects it tremendously. That's what keeps the job interesting. You have to be adaptable.

For example, I get pig tails in for free and I'm able to make won tons out of that. We make our own sausages.

You developed separate menus for the bar and the restaurant? Yes. In the bar it's a completely different menu. The bar didn't take off very well, so we were open to client suggestions. There we serve steaks, bar-friendly appetizers. I don't spend very much time there. I have great guys there.

For the restaurant, we'll always have two steaks - this is Chicago. The fish has to be relatively familiar. We change an entree and an appetizer every week.

Seventy percent of my produce comes from Green City Market (in Chicago), so we respond very much to the season.

In late September, other people are in a hurry to put butternut squash on their menus. I'm not. I'm still getting heirloom tomatoes at the market. We're going to have butternut squash for the next six months. Why hurry?

What's your favorite ingredient? My favorite thing to cook is fish, because it really needs a delicate touch. There's a certain sensuality to it. I think everybody's able to grill meat and cook vegetables. There's a very fine line between a perfectly cooked fish and one that's not.

Tell us about this recipe: Grilled Wild Striped Bass, Mashed Celery Root, Braised Italian Greens, Roasted Beet Relish. The fish can be substituted with any number of lean, white fish - even walleye. Celery root is a little more popular, not so earthy and pungent maybe as rutabaga, but that can be substituted, or even yam.

Try this at home or at Powerhouse Restaurant, 215 N. Clinton St., Chicago, (312) 928-0800.

• To recommend a chef to be profiled, send the name and contact information to food@dailyherald.com.

Striped Bass, Celery Root, Italian Greens, Roasted Beet Relish

Relish

1 pound baby red beets, washed thoroughly

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 ounces roasted walnuts

1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill or chervil

Salt, lemon juice and pepper to taste

Celery root

2 bulbs celery root, peeled and roughly chopped

2 russet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

1 quart skim milk

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Greens

4 cloves garlic, smashed

1 ounce fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thin

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 pound Italian braising greens (such as spigarello), collard greens or hearty kale, de-stemmed

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups vegetable broth

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Fish

Oil

8 5-ounce skinless striped bass fillets

Salt and pepper to taste

For the roasted beets: Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly toss the beets in a bowl with the lemon juice, oil and salt. Place in a small roasting pan, cover with foil, bake for 30 minutes or until a paring knife can pierce the entire beet. Uncover and let cool 15 minutes. Strain off and save the liquid.

Wearing foodsafe gloves, peel the beets using paper towels. Quarter and place back into the reserved liquid. Set aside.

Just before serving, stir in the toasted walnuts and herbs. If necessary, adjust the seasoning.

For the mashed celery root: Place the celery root and potatoes in a 4-quart pot; cover with cold skim milk. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Slowly bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer about 20 minutes or until the celery root mashes easily.

Strain off the milk into a saucepan and simmer with the butter until thickened.

Meanwhile, begin mashing the vegetables with a masher or electric stick blender. Slowly add in the milk mixture until it reaches your desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

For the braised greens: While the roots cook, sweat the garlic cloves and sliced ginger in the vegetable oil in an 8-quart pot on very low heat for about 4 minutes. Stir in the greens (half at a time) with a wooden spoon.

After all the greens are in and wilted, season with the salt, then add the broth, enough to cover. Bring to a boil, then add the brown sugar. Stir often for about 2 minutes, then turn down the heat to the lowest temp and simmer for about 30 minutes (sometimes longer depending upon the type of greens), until tender.

When tender enough to serve, turn off the heat, cover and set aside. Rewarm if necessary before serving.

For the fish: Prepare a medium-hot fire in a barbecue grill. Lightly oil the fish and season both sides of the fillets with salt and pepper. Place the portions over the highest heat and mark for 1 minute. Make a 90-degree turn on the same side and sear another 1 minute. Flip the fish onto the unmarked side and move to a medium-heat area of the grill. Close the lid (vents open) and cook for about 5 minutes or until the fish is slightly firm but still has very little give on the sides (medium to mid-well).

If the grill proves to be to inappropriate in the late autumn and winter months, simply sear the fish in a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in a heavy-duty, ovenproof pan on medium-high heat for 2 minutes, flip and place the entire pan in a 350-degree oven for about 5 minutes.

To assemble: As the fish is finishing on the grill, begin plating. Place a heaping scoop of the seasoned, hot celery root mash in the center of the plate. Drape the warmed greens around the mash. Lightly nestle the fish into the mash. Carefully place beets on and around the fish. Spoon some of the remaining liquid over the fish. Serve hot.

Serves eight.

Chef Jeff Mauro, Powerhouse, Chicago