Here are some facts about Christian Collins: The first day of his first job in a restaurant kitchen, at age 14, he thought "I get this." With his fiancee's encouragement, he auditioned successfully against 20,000 other amateur cooks for a spot on the Fox TV "MasterChef" reality series, the culinary version of "American Idol." Collins began the series with 99 others, from firefighters to large machine operators to former beauty queens. He impressed judges Joe Bastinich, Graham Elliot and cut-from-the-mean-guy-school of chefs, Gordon Ramsay, for eight weeks of shooting, ending in the top three of the 20-episode series. Collins' veal chop lost out on the final night to Adrien's octopus and Jen's mushrooms. (Jen, the former Miss Delaware, won. With the $250,000 prize money, she's helping her niece and nephew pay for college, and she bought herself a new snowboard.)
Here are some subjective thoughts about Christian Collins: Contrary to Ramsay's accusations, he's not arrogant at all. I think he's a passionate, naturally gifted cook. He's direct and confident not so much about himself, but about his food. He's sure of his Spicy, Chili Garlic Mussels. He knows his signature Shipwreck Stew is good; he started getting food when he was 14, remember? When someone has a calling so young, it may be hard to separate out arrogant personality from ardent belief in what one is doing.
I first met Christian at the Cape Ann Farmers Market in Gloucester where he, local cook Laurie Lufkin of Essex and I judged the NAMA-sponsored Seafood Throwdown: Amelia Lopes of Amelia's vs. Jessica O'Leary of The Breakfast Cafe. Laurie and I were happily impressed by Collins' professionalism, courtesy, and most of all respect for what both kitchens were doing that day with the mystery fish — skate. Later, Collins came to my house to make a video for Taste of the Times. Again, he was as proud of his Monkfish Kebabs with Saffron Sauce as he should have been, but the pride rose from the food, not his ego.
The perfectly grilled fish and vegetables, over a saffron-scented mound of white beans, laced with a deep yellow saffron sauce (we tried to come up with a word to describe the taste of saffron, but agreed there's nothing like it) had reason to gloat. It's a fish entree with so much color, geometry and taste it swaggers.
Kind, happy, funny, even a little nervous, Collins the personality guided the monkfish, linguica and beans to center stage, but Collins the personality soon ducked behind the curtain, washing up his dishes, imagining his next great dish.
Food for Thought runs weekly in the Times' Taste of the Times section and is written by Heather Atwood, an author and mother from Rockport. Questions and comments can be sent to Heather at heatheraa@aol.com. And follow her blog at gloucestertimes.com/foodforthought.
Saffron Cream Sauce
Ingredients
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
2 pinches saffron
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 pinch cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika (Spanish)
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons warm water
Instructions
Combine chicken stock and heavy cream, bring to boil. Stir. Add remaining ingredients except cornstarch and water, simmer 5 minutes. Thicken with cornstarch-water mixture.
Monkfish Linguica Kabobs
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds monkfish, cubed
1/2 pound linguica, sliced
1/2 red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
20 cherry tomatoes
1 can white beans
2 cups chicken stock
large pinch of saffron
olive oil
salt and pepper
Instructions
Skewer fish, sausage, tomatoes, and onion. Brush skewered items with oil and season with salt and pepper.
Strain and rinse beans. Combine beans with stock and saffron and bring to a gentle simmer. Heat beans through. Set aside.
Grill kebabs over medium-hot heat until fish is cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes a side.
To serve, make a mound of beans on each plate. Lay the skewer across the beans, or push the fish and vegetables off the skewer and lay upon the beans. Drizzle all with the saffron sauce.
Recipe courtesy Christian Collins, Sustenance, 2011.
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