Chef Dena Marino on board the Celebrity Eclipse and a recipe for Stuffed Idaho Trout

Marino, a former contestant on Iron Chef in a battle of figs with Masaharu Morimoto, has mixed emotions about Reality TV and chefs.  Marino, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in 1993, has worked as a chef since then and has owned her own successful restaurant, Ellina Restaurant in Aspen.  “Television is amazing PR, but some of the people on these shows are not chefs.  Cooking on television is nothing like being a chef in a restaurant.”  As we know, television cooks and chefs have to make one good meal while restaurant chefs have to deliver an excellent dish every time.

“I worked thousands of hours for free early in my career.  A number of chefs I became close to at the Food and Wine Festival in Aspen are the real deal, like Mario Batali and Michael Symon.  They didn’t come out of culinary school, go on television and think they are some amazing chef.  Tom Colicchio just did a video talking about this.  He said that most kids coming out of culinary school today are lucky if they are a sous chef in ten years.”  We have heard this from most of the chefs that we have interviewed.  It makes you wonder about the economics of culinary school as well as where this is all headed.

Marino is incredibly passionate when she talks about cooking

Having fun in the galley with new friends

Marino is not only a busy chef who is opening a new restaurant, she is also a mother and a wife.  How does she achieve balance between work and home?  It is hard to achieve, especially since her husband works with her at the restaurant.  “We are both workaholics and I am not a good balancer.”  Now that her son is in school full-time it is easier, but it is always a challenge.  Since cooking with family is very important to this chef, my bet is that her son (who was on the ship with her) will be in her kitchen very soon.

We were so pleased to meet and get to know Chef Marino.  She is truly delightful and very talented.  She has been on board two Savor Your Destination cruises with Celebrity Cruises and is now in conversations to do a third in Europe in 2012 (dates and itinerary to be released soon).  She will also be very busy opening her new restaurant, MC Kitchen in Miami.

Here is a short video to highlight some of the culinary events we attended during the Savor Your Destination cruise, the new friends we made along the way and our cooking class with Dena Marino.

Chef Marino has allowed me to share her recipe for Stuffed Idaho Trout with a Lemon Caper Sauce with my readers.  This is a simple, yet sophisticated dish that is perfect for a dinner party. Use only the freshest fish to prepare the dish.  The fewer ingredients in a recipe, the more important it is to use the highest quality ingredients.

More about Chef Dena Marino

Dena Marino, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, started her professional career at Caesar’s Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  Starting with a short externship, Dena was then promoted to Sous Chef for the culinary team at Caesar’s, working alongside Chef Ron Ross.

It is amazing how one evening can change your life.  Following a dinner at Tra Vigne during a family vacation in California, Marino asked Chef Michael Chiarello if she could spend a day working with him in the kitchen.  Three weeks later she was packing her bags and moved to Napa Valley for the next three years where she became a Sous Chef at Tra Vigne.

The next stop for Marino was Aspen, Colorado, first at Ajax Tavern where she was quickly promoted to Executive Chef.  In late 2005, Dena was asked to open a restaurant called D19 where she was followed by her loyal patrons of Ajax Tavern.  By 2009 she realized her dream, Ellina Restaurant.  She was in Aspen 13 years before moving to Miami , Florida to pursue a new business venture.

Disclosure – We received a media package from Celebrity Cruises to experience the Savor the Destination culinary cruise.   I am not compensated in any way for any articles written about the trip and the opinions expressed are my own.

Print Recipe

Stuffed Idaho Trout with a Roasted Lemon Caper Sauce

Yield: 2 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Chef Marino suggests that you eat the crispy skin of the trout rather than discard it. This adds texture or “crunch” to the dish. It is also where many of the vitamins and minerals are in the fish.

Ingredients:

2 each 8-ounce whole trout fillets
7 ounces Extra-virgin olive oil
2 whole lemons
6 each Parma prosciutto, sliced
8 whole sage leaves
1 pinch sea salt
1 pinch black pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons capers

Directions:

1. Turn the oven to broil.

2. Cut the whole lemons in half and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle about 1 ounce of olive oil over the halved lemons. Place under the broiler until the tops of the halved lemons are charred. Remove and set aside to cool. When the lemons are cool, juice each half. The roasted lemon juice will be thicker than normal fresh squeezed juice and much tastier.

3. Gently open the whole trout fillets and season with a pinch of salt and a pinch of black pepper. Lay the slices of prosciutto neatly onto the whole trout fillets (3 slices each). Then layer 4 whole sage leaves over the prosciutto. Drizzle about 2 ounces of olive oil over the top of the whole trout fillets.

2. Heat a medium to large saute pan with two ounces of olive oil. When the oil is almost smoking, place the whole stuffed trout fillets in the pan, skin side down. Let the skin get crisp and then flip the whole trout fillets over to cook the other side. Take each whole stuffed trout out of the pan and place on a baking pan into a preheated 350 oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

3. While the trout is cooking, use the same pan that the fillets were seared in, heat the pan and add 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Let the butter brown until the milk solids come out of the butter and brown. That is the best flavor in the butter. Then deglaze the pan with the roasted lemon juice. Add the capers. Bring the sauce to a simmer and quickly add 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, lightly stir and remove from the heat. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

4. Lay the whole stuffed trout fillets on a platter. Drizzle the Roasted Lemon Caper Sauce over the top of them

Chef Dena Marino

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