By Patricia Fitzgerald
July 25, 2024
Darryl Mickler
Senior VP of Food & Beverage
Golden Corral Corporation
Kitchen Collaborative is a recipe-development initiative formed by Summit F&B and Flavor & The Menu. To fuel flavor innovation, a group of talented chefs partnered with sponsor brands and commodity boards to create recipes that showcase the passion and potential of our industry.
As Senior Vice President of Food & Beverage at Golden Corral, Darryl Mickler leads the strategic direction, development and execution of food and beverage programs for the brand’s 350-plus restaurants across the U.S. This includes a wide range of responsibilities, from managing R&D to building partner relations. But his passion is to create and deliver exceptional dining experiences. “I love the craft of cooking and bringing together flavors in both new and classic ways,” he says. “I have always loved the idea that a recipe created in the test kitchen has the potential to surprise and delight millions of people whom I might never meet.”
In pursuit of his passion, Mickler produced three dishes for Kitchen Collaborative—all shareable starters that bring in the crucial social engagement factor to the dining experience: Pimento Sausage Dip, Ponzu-Seared Brussels Sprouts with Mirin-Glazed Peanuts and Seared Corn Cakes with Mexican Ancho-Lime Crema.
Pimento Sausage Dip
Photo: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley Mickler chose to highlight Tyson® Pork Italian Sausage Crumbles in a shareable starter: the Pimento Sausage Dip. “Sausage is a great fit with peppers, which is the main component of pimento. The sweetness of peppers always blends well with the spiciness and herby notes of sausage,” he explains.
To build the dip, he breaks the sausage crumbles into smaller pieces and combines them with cream cheese, pimento cheese, a chunky salsa and cheddar cheese. The mixture is placed in a skillet and baked until the cheese is fully melted and slightly brown. At service, it’s topped with more cheddar, Parmesan and slices of green onions. It can be paired with tortilla chips or toasted pita slices.
The chef believes guests will find the dish “zesty” but not particularly spicy. “There is enough heat to keep it interesting, but it doesn’t overwhelm the palate,” Mickler notes, adding, “The dish also features good textural interest from the contrasts of the sausage chunks, the salsa and the creamy pimento.”
Ponzu-Seared Brussels Sprouts with Mirin-Glazed Peanuts
Photo: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley “I’ve been a Brussels sprouts evangelist for a long time,” declares Mickler; he’s no latecomer to this enduring menu trend of positioning the cruciferous vegetable as the hero ingredient of starters and sides. “They are an interesting vegetable, standing up well to bold flavors and possessing a lot of flavor potential of their own, without being overly indulgent or filling, which makes them work well as a first course.”
The Ponzu-Seared Brussels Sprouts with Mirin-Glazed Peanuts captivate through four different Kikkoman products: Kotteri Mirin®, Rice Wine Vinegar, Ponzu Sauce and Gluten-Free Thai Style Chili Sauce. “Each of the Kikkoman items play a role that complements but doesn’t overlap the others,” he says. “When I looked at them, I saw sweet, spicy, umami and salty and realized they would all work well together, while standing up to some underlying char flavor.”
That char is a key element of the dish. Mickler begins by roasting the Brussels sprouts until they are brown and firm, then chilling them until service. Also in advance, he prepares a ponzu vinaigrette, mixing the Kikkoman product with chopped garlic, granulated sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, the rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and Thai chile sauce. The roasted peanuts are also prepped ahead of time, tossed in a mixture of mirin and sugar. At order, the chef sautés the Brussels sprouts, adding the peanuts, the ponzu vinaigrette and a touch more Thai chile sauce before plating.
“The Brussels sprouts have a slight, underlying bitter note that allows for greater use of sweet and heat in fairly sizable amounts,” Mickler says. “They are hearty and hold up to charring, marinating and retherming—and still taste crisp and fresh.” He characterizes the mirin-glazed peanuts as a riff on peanut brittle: “The tangy sweet elements of mirin worked well against the nuts.” As for the vinaigrette, guests can expect some heat, an acidic crispness (with distinct citrus notes from the lime and vinegar), plus umami from the fish sauce. “I try to get the acid and oil balanced, and then layer in the other flavors,” he explains.
Seared Corn Cakes with Mexican Ancho-Lime Crema
Photo: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley Corn cakes have a long history—and multiple names—as an American comfort food. Mickler’s contribution to the canon, Seared Corn Cakes with Mexican Ancho-Lime Crema, pulls in a Latin twist, piling the cakes on a curtido radish slaw, itself a spin on the Salvadoran fermented relish. The dish features Mexican Ancho with Lime paste from SupHerb Farms®.
He uses the paste in the corn cake batter and mixes it with sour cream and lime juice to produce a crema topping. He characterizes the paste, a blend of ancho chiles and red peppers, as a bold flavor. “One can use it in small accent quantities on a plate. It also blends well, carrying its signature flavors through a dish.”
For the corn cakes, the chef combines fresh corn kernels, green onions, chopped bacon, sliced jalapeños and the ancho paste with oil, salt, flour, eggs, cayenne and black pepper. Crumbled Cotija or grated Parmesan is the final element. The curtido features shredded green and red cabbage and carrots, thinly sliced red radishes and onions, plus kosher salt, dried oregano, ground cumin and ground black pepper. Positioning the dish as a shareable starter, Mickler summarizes the flavor build of a complete bite: “Salt and bacon notes are paired with the sweet corn and umami notes, with a touch of heat coming from both the fresh and dried chile sources.”
Project Management: Summit F&B
Photography: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patricia Fitzgerald serves different roles on the Flavor & The Menu team, including writing custom content, Kitchen Collaborative chef spotlights and digital editorial content, as well as acting as a contributing editor for the print magazine. As owner of PFitzCommunications, she specializes in various areas of foodservice and hospitality, while also maintaining clients in other industries and professions. She can be reached at [email protected].
ISSUE
This recipe feature is part of the Kitchen Collaborative recipe-development initiative formed by Summit F&B and Flavor & The Menu with support from a handful of sponsor brands and commodity boards. Sign up for our e-newsletter to receive Kitchen Collaborative content in your inbox
