Happy Holidays! Christmas is right around the corner and Chef Marco would like to share another holiday recipe for you and your family to enjoy!

Croissant Bread Pudding with Jack Daniels Caramel Sauce

Ingredients: Bread Pudding

½ dozen croissants
1 quart heavy cream
½ cup craisins
1 cup sugar
½ cup honey
1 TB vanilla extract
8 whole eggs

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, honey, vanilla and heavy cream.
2. In a 13x9 baking dish, tear the croissants and layer over the bottom.
3. Top the croissants with the craisins.
4. Pour the cream and egg mixture over the croissants and allow to soak through.
5. Cover with foil and bake in a water bath at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.
6. Remove foil and place back in oven to allow the top to brown, about 15 more minutes.

Ingredients: Jack Daniels Caramel Sauce

4 oz Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 oz Jack Daniels
3 oz Heavy Cream

1. In a sauce pan, melt 4 oz butter.
2. Add 1 cup of brown sugar and allow to cook into a paste.
3. Add 2 oz of Jack Daniels and Flambé. (watch your eyebrows)
4. When flames die down, add 3 oz heavy cream and stir until smooth.
5. Serve as topping for the bread pudding.

Thanksgiving Recipe

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Here’s a great holiday recipe perfect for your Thanksgiving dinner.Enjoy!

Cranberry Chutney

Ingredients
3 ea Yellow Onion (julienne)
3 cups Dried Cranberries
2 cups Orange Juice
1 TBSP Orange zest
3/4 cups Sugar
4 TBSP Salad Oild (for onions)
1 cup Water

Method of Preparation
1. In a saute pan over medium heat, heat oil and add onion.
2. Stirring periodically, cook onions until dark brown and sweet. Reserve once done.
3. In a medium sauce pot over medium heat add cranberries, orange zest, orange juice, sugar and water. Stir to combine.
4. Reduce until jam consistency is reached.
5. Stir in the caramelized onions.
6. Let cool and serve.



Buen Provecho,

Chef MZ

Chef Zapien will conduct cooking demo/tasting

Chef Marco Zapien, Executive Chef and co-owner of Zapien’s Taqueria and Salsa Grill in Pico Rivera, CA, will be at the West Covina Library Saturday at 2:00 p.m. conducting a demo and tasting.

Zapien will demonstrate and sample roasted tomato salsa, cilantro Caesar salad, chili verde and bread pudding.

The Salsa Grill was voted best Mexican Restaurant on LA's Hot List for four consecutive years, including 2011.
This event is free of charge to participants.

The West Covina Library is located at 1601 W. Covina Parkway, West Covina, CA 91790.

For more information about Zapien's Taqueria and Salsa Grill visit www.thesalsagrill.com.

Zapien's Salsa Grill participates at Chefs for Scholarships

Chef Marco Zapien represented Zapien’s Salsa Grill & Taqueria at the 2011 Chefs for Scholarships at Golden West College in Huntington Beach Sunday from 4-7.

Chef Zapien’s booth had patrons salivating over a nacho bar featuring his own cheese sauce with beans, chili verde, diced tomatoes, green onions and sour cream as toppings.

The Salsa Grill won the “Lucky Vendor” award.

Zapien, his restaurant and catering company, Black Tie & Blue Jeans Catering, are active in carious community programs, including Chefs for Scholarships with proceeds benefiting student scholarships.

Sunday’s event also played a special tribute to Veterans.

For more information please visit http://www.goldenwestcollege.edu/patrons/chefs.html.

Thank You for Making The Salsa Grill No.1

I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone for making The Salsa Grill L.A. Hotlists’ Best Mexican Restaurant for the fourth year in a row. This has been a great run and we want to celebrate with you for making us number one, as well as celebrating our 17th anniversary. Both are great milestones in our business and we would like to take the time to thank all of you for your support. We would not have been able to do this without you, our loyal guests. So to show our appreciation, this week, May 3 thru May 5th, we will be offering 2 for 1 dinners from 4 p.m. – 9 p.m., as well as beer and margaritas for only $2.50. We will be raffling off great prizes as well. Please come in and join us for this great celebration. From our family to yours, thank you again for your continued loyal support. See you at “The Grill.”

Buen Provecho,

Marco C. Zapien

Salsa Grill is No. 1 for Fourth Straight Year

It was a close race the past few years, but this year Zapien’s Salsa Grill & Taqueria seemed to pull ahead.

Surprising no one, The Salsa Grill won the “best Mexican” category for the fourth straight year.

The voting for this year’s competition started just after the New Year and closed last week. Since the first couple weeks The Salsa Grill was in first place.

In the past the competition was My Fox L.A.’s Hotlist, but this year it was just L.A.’s Hotlist.

Fans cast votes for their favorite restaurants and businesses in other categories. Early in the competition The Salsa Grill held the lead and had comments from voters such as, “This is by far the best Mexican restaurant in the LA area,” and “the best service and quality is why we keep coming back.”

In 2008 and 2009 The Salsa Grill earned a segment on Fox for winning the competition.

“It’s really cool to win this award for four straight years and to see all the comments voters leave,” said Marco Zapien, Executive Chef and restaurant co-owner.

Kobe Beef

I’m sure that many of you have seen Kobe beef or Wagyu beef either in the supermarket or on menu’s and have wondered, “What is it exactly?” “What is the difference?” Well, I thought I would take this time to explain to you what it is and why it may be a little bit more expensive than regular cuts of beef.

Wagyu is a breed of cattle that is raised to produce beef that is high in unsaturated fat as well as having great marbling, which creates a fantastic flavor. Kobe beef refers to beef that comes from the black Tajima-ushi breed of Wagyu cattle. These cuts of beef are raised to have greater flavor, tenderness and marbling than regular cuts of beef. In order to be classified as Kobe beef, there are certain conditions that need to be met. First of all, the cattle must be born, fed and raised in the Hyogo Prefecture of Japan of which Kobe is the capital. The bull must be castrated to purify the beef, slaughtered in Kobe, meet a certain marbling ratio, have a certain meat quality score and come from an animal whose gross weight of beef is 470kg or less.

There are also rumors out there that the Kobe cattle are fed beer and massaged with sake. Some say they are true, some say no way. Well, when Wagyu cattle were introduced to Japan, they were mainly used on farms to help cultivate rice. Because of the rugged terrain and isolated areas, it is said that adding beer and sake to feed was a technique used in order to aid in digestion, and induce hunger. The massaging came about because of the small farms in Japan the animals did not have enough room to sufficiently use there muscles so farm workers would massage them in order to prevent muscle cramping. This seems to be a tradition that stuck and happened to produce great quality beef.

Now with the popularity of Kobe beef in the US, cattle ranchers have taken domestically raised wagyu cattle and crossbred them with Angus cattle to create “Kobe Style” beef which is less expensive and allows the US to meet the demand the public has for Kobe beef. Although it is not Kobe, it is raised similarly and US producers swear that the only difference between real Kobe and Kobe style is purely cosmetic. That’s up to you to decide.

I hope that this has given you a little insight as to the background and traditions of Kobe beef. Next time you see it on a menu or in the market, there is no need to be intimidated, you know what it’s all about. Buen Provecho!

Super Bowl Recipes

Turkey Sliders
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
2 lbs Ground Turkey
1 Red Onion, sliced in thin rounds
8 oz Pepper Jack Cheese
2 cups Chipotle Ranch Dressing
16 slider buns or rolls
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Shape ground turkey into 2 oz patties. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
2. If using a grill, set to medium heat and grease grill before placing patties.
3. Add cheese at end of cooking process. Cook turkey thoroughly.
4. Toast buns and spread dressing on both sides.
5. Place cooked patty with cheese on bun and top with red onion. Serve immediately.

Chipotle Ranch Dressing
Yield-1 quart
Ingredients:
16 oz mayonnaise
6 oz sour cream
6 oz milk
3 TB ranch dressing mix
1 Chipotle Pepper

Method:
1. In a blender add the milk, sour cream and chipotle pepper and blend until smooth.
2. In a mixing bowl add the blended chipotle mixture with the remaining ingredients and whisk together.
3. Check for consistency. Add additional milk if necessary.


Greek Orzo Pasta Salad
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
1 lb Orzo Pasta
1 red Bell Pepper (small dice)
1 English Cucumber (small dice)
½ medium red onion (small dice)
1 ½ cups crumbled Feta Cheese
¼ cup chopped Fresh Dill
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 lemon (juiced)

Method:
1. Cook orzo in salted boiling water. Once pasta is done, drain and toss with 2 Tbsp Olive Oil to prevent pasta from clumping.
2. Spread pasta evenly on a baking sheet to cool.
3. Once pasta is cool, in a large mixing bowl combine pasta, all diced vegetables, cheese, dill, lemon juice and remaining oil.
4. Season with salt and pepper. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner

It’s that time of year again. Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner and if you are a football fan, as I am, you have to be getting very excited. Both the AFC and NFC Championships should be exciting games.
In the AFC we have the NY Jets against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Both teams are known for great defense and I think this game will be evidence of that. Although Mark Sanchez and the Jets offense did do a fantastic job against the Patriots, I think the Pittsburgh defense will be a little too much for the young quarterback to handle. I’m looking for Pittsburgh to beat the Jets in a tough defensive battle. Final score 17-10.

In the NFC we have the Green Bay Packers visiting the Chicago Bears. It should be a cold one. Both teams, however, are cold weather teams so it doesn’t look like the weather will bother either one. I think the Packers have just been on such a roll that there will be no stopping them. Aaron Rodgers has been lights out the last few weeks and I don’t see him stopping until he gets a Super Bowl Ring. I’m taking the Packers in a high scoring affair. Final score 38-28.

We’ll have to wait and see who makes it to the big game. Now that it is almost here, we have to consider the traditional Super Bowl Party. Whether your team is involved or not, it is always a great time to get together with friends and family to enjoy some great football, cold beer and of course some fantastic food. So here are a couple of recipes that you can add to your “playbook” to make your Super Bowl party a TOUCHDOWN!

Shrimp Cocktail (Coctel De Camaron)
1 ½ lbs Cooked and Diced Shrimp (1/2 inch dice)
1 Small Red Onion Diced
1 Bunch Cilantro Chopped
3 Tomatoes Diced
1 Jalapeno minced (feel free to add more should you like more spice)
1 Lime juiced
1 TB salt
1 tsp Pepper
¼ cup ketchup
1 cup Clamato
1 avocado Diced
½ cucumber diced
Tapatio to taste


Method of preparation
1. Cook shrimp in seasoned boiling water for approx 5 mins. Cool and chop.
2. Toss the shrimp with all the remaining ingredients except the tapatio
3. adjust the seasonings if necessary.
4. Add tapatio according to your liking.

Guacamole
3 each Avocados
½ red onion small diced
1 med tomato small diced
1 jalapeno (minced)
¼ cup cilantro chopped
½ lime juiced
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Method of Preparation
1. Remove skin and pit from avocado, reserving the flesh in a mixing bowl.
2. Combine all ingredients in the bowl and mix until desired consistency is reached.
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.