By Patricia Fitzgerald
December 17, 2024
Zack Randol
Director of Catering and Culinary Operations
Piada Italian Street Food
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.
Asked to recall one of his favorite food memories, Zack Randol reaches back two decades to his college days and a summer month he spent with a friend in Greece. “All the food was fresh, clean, simple,” he recalls, citing a particular beachside favorite: “Sardines grilled with a little lemon served with a fennel salad.”
Today, as director of catering and culinary operations at fast casual Piada Italian Street Food, Randol continues a love affair with the flavor influences of the Mediterranean. His Kitchen Collaborative recipe contributions reflect the values of the fresh, clean, simple sophistication at the heart of his enduring culinary memories. Read on to discover three dishes that also manifest menu versatility: Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Tuscan Tomato ‘Nduja Vinaigrette, Roasted Lee Kum Kee Chili Crisp Potatoes and Spiced Chobani® Yogurt-Marinated Crispy Chicken Thighs.
Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Tuscan Tomato ‘Nduja Vinaigrette
Photo: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley There’s no slowing the roll of Brussels sprouts on modern menus, gracing starter and side categories across segments from fast casual to fine dining. “Brussels sprouts will stick around,” predicts Randol. “They are a good carrier of flavors—they have their own distinct taste, and other ingredients can bring that forward and enhance it.” With his Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Tuscan Tomato ‘Nduja Vinaigrette, the chef puts theory into action.
For this dish, roasted Brussels are dressed in a vinaigrette made with rendered ‘nduja, honey, extra-virgin olive oil and SupHerb Farms® Tuscan Tomato paste. “Piada works with SupHerb Farms a lot, especially for dressings,” Randol notes. The Tuscan Tomato paste is a sweet, tangy combination of tomatoes, garlic, shallots and lemon blended with herbs and Dijon mustard. “It has a rich, earthy tomato flavor with citrus notes that pair well with the savory notes of the ‘nduja. The honey and the tomato help tone down the bitterness in the Brussels sprouts—always a risk if they’re not cooked properly.”
While Randol opted for a Mediterranean profile for this dish, he notes that warm spices are another good choice to pair with Brussels sprouts, enhancing the veggie’s earthy flavors. “And bacon, of course,” also works, he adds.
Roasted Lee Kum Kee Chili Crisp Potatoes
Photo: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley Randol can’t remember if he was specifically assigned Lee Kum Kee® Chiu Chow Style Chili Crisp Oil for a Kitchen Collaborative recipe ideation, but says he would have selected it anyway. “I used some of it the other night at home on my children’s dinner after soccer practice,” he says. “My kids love heat—they go to our garden and eat the habaneros; they’re weirdos.” His children may not be such outliers, as spicy heat continues to rise as a top flavor profile across all diner demographics, so Randol knows the target audience for these Roasted Lee Kum Kee Chili Crisp Potatoes extends well past his own progeny.
The simple execution sees Randol roasting quartered red potatoes coated in the chili crisp oil, plus canola oil and kosher salt. The enduring popularity of potatoes—especially roasted or fried—was a driving factor behind this dish, which is elevated in its plating: The crispy potatoes are piled high atop a creamy bed of chili crisp yogurt. Greek yogurt gets a flavor boost from lemon juice, minced shallot, kosher salt and more Lee Kum Kee® Chiu Chow Style Chili Crisp Oil, which is also used for a final drizzle.
“I use yogurt and potatoes a lot, although not necessarily with Asian flare,” says Randol. “It’s exciting to play with favorites like roasted potatoes and give them new flavor and textural balance.” Here, the chili crisp does impart Asian cues, he says. “The yogurt balances out some of the spiciness and fattiness of the oil, and the chili crisp isn’t so spicy as to undercut the cooling effect of the yogurt.” He finds the oil delivers a heat rating of 6 out of 10. “But the yogurt backs that down to a 4, so the rich Asian flavors you expect shine through.” Randol suggests using purple potatoes or yams to further an Asian sensibility.
Spiced Chobani® Yogurt-Marinated Crispy Chicken Thighs
Photo: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley “Yogurt is a great marinade,” says Randol of the direction he pursued when asked to put yogurt from Chobani in the spotlight. “It’s similar to buttermilk, tenderizing and giving flavor. I was glad for this assignment. I love yogurt and often use it as a marinade and a sauce.”
Chicken gets the primary yogurt boost here in the Spiced Chobani® Yogurt-Marinated Crispy Chicken Thighs. But first, the chef kicks up the nonfat Greek yogurt base with allspice, garlic, ginger, honey, lime zest, fresh thyme and salt. Chicken thighs get a nice, long soak in the marinade—12 to 24 hours—before being seared on the stovetop and finished in the oven. “I love the flavor of dark meat. It’s fatty, but protein fat is not a bad thing. It really builds a lot of flavor,” says Randol of his choice to use chicken thighs. “And the yogurt adds brightness, while balancing the richness.”
The overall flavor profile of the dish signals an Asian influence, he notes. Some of that can be credited to a second use of the ingredient: a chili crisp yogurt sauce made with plain nonfat Greek yogurt, lemon juice, shallot, salt and chili crisp oil. It anchors the plate, topped with roasted potatoes and then a chicken thigh.
Pairing the thighs with Roasted Lee Kum Kee Chili Crisp Potatoes gives that Kitchen Collaborative recipe another application. It’s important to create recipes that have inherent versatility across different menu applications, notes Randol. “You don’t want it to cross too many dishes, but definitely more than one. Or maybe it’s something where you can tweak the recipe with a few ingredient swaps in other dishes. The key is to provide ease of execution for the team.” The chili crisp yogurt could work well with strongly flavored vegetables, he suggests. “Brussels, asparagus, sautéed chard—ingredients that will stand up to a strong sauce. “
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
