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Kitchen Confidential: Ian Sigmund, The Shebeen

by Lindsay Barnes 10:07 am April 23rd

The Shebeen’s Ian Sigmund.
PHOTO BY LINDSAY BARNES

The secret to great cooking is… losing your inhibitions. A lot of people think there are very specific rules to cooking, but beyond the basics, you should really be secure enough in your abilities to be free to do what you want.

The secret to success in the restaurant business is… attention to detail. Everything that goes on in the restaurant needs to be watched carefully

The secret to making the Shebeen’s Durban chicken is… skewering the chicken breasts with either sugar cane or bamboo. It adds a nice earthy aesthetic touch.

The Shebeen’s Durban chicken

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon ground annatto seed

3 tablespoons cumin

6 tablespoons tumeric

3 tablespoons coriander

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon cloves

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

4 8-oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

24 oz. teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoon water

8 oz. chipotle peppers

Honey

Clean and cut the chicken breasts in half, horizontally.

Mix the paprika, salt, annatto seed, cumin, tumeric, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pepper and use the mixture to season the chicken.

Marinate in seasoning, 160z. of the teriyaki sauce, and water.

Grill or sear chicken in a pan and then finish in the oven at 350 degrees.

Mix 8 oz. teriyaki sauce and 8 oz. chipotle peppers and honey to taste to make “voodoo sauce” to serve on the side or over the chicken.

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Kitchen Confidential: Chris Humphreys, Fellini’s #9

by Dave McNair 11:55 am February 11th

Chris Humphreys, Fellini’s #9
PHOTO BY WILL WALKER

The secret to great cooking is…simplicity. My philosophy is that there should be few ingredients, but they should be treated properly.

The secret to success in the restaurant business is… a bad attitude and a good sense of humor. Have the bad attitude to tell someone when they’ve done something wrong; have the sense of humor to laugh about it later.

The secret to making Fellini’s #9’s calamari is… use fresh seafood, and don’t overcook it.

Fellini’s #9’s calamari: Celery– cross cut, Kalamata olives. Red grapes, halved.

Capers, nonpareils. Sun dried tomatoes, julienned. Fresh, domestic calamari - cleaned and sliced into rings. Fresh spinach. Unsalted butter. Pinch red pepper flakes. Garlic. Salt. Reduced balsamic vinegar. Mix celery, olives, grapes, capers and sundried tomatoes.

In a cold sauté pan add butter, calamari, a handful of the mix, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and sauté until calamari is about ½ cooked– this does not take long! Add spinach– stir spinach until slightly wilted. Do not break sauce or overcook calamari. Serve in a pile in center of a plate, surrounded by pan liquid, topped with a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar.

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