PRINTChef at home: Trey Quinlan
Trey Quinlan has worked in some of Columbia's well-known restaurants and plans to open his own this August
Elizabeth Pierson
Trey Quinlan prepares risotto with Legacy soup bones and a side of green beans and a salad. The risotto contains garlic, onion, bacon and butternut squash. The salad is comprised of greens, parsnip ribbons, shitake mushrooms, and oil and vinear. All of the ingredients for the entire meal are locally grown. Quinlan is the chef at Red and Moe. His wife assists with the meal preparation and holds their three-week-old son around the kitchen.
July 5, 2012 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Trey Quinlan, a line cook at Broadway Brewery, and his wife, Jessey, kept their baby’s sex a surprise, so Trey came up with the gender-neutral moniker “just a little chef.” Soon their infant son, the gourmet-to-be, will eat meals prepared by one of Columbia’s best cooks.
When Quinlan was a little chef himself, he cooked for his Boy Scout troop and made upside-down pizzas on open fires. He attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York in 2003 before returning to Columbia to work at Bleu Restaurant & Wine Bar, Sycamore Restaurant, and Red and Moe. In August, he’ll open his own restaurant called Trey.
He knows the techniques for preparing liver tartar and pickled beef tongue, but because his most prized client is his wife, Trey’s priority is nutrition. An eggs-centric breakfast is nearly a religious practice, as are stews with hearty vegetable stocks, “composed” salads that mix colorful ingredients such as melons and toasted peanuts and pastas he makes from scratch with his beloved KitchenAid mixer.
Paradoxically, professional chefs often cook all day but never eat, so he’s developed tricks. He uses days off to make casseroles and chilies to heat up after shifts.
Trey ensures his food is healthy by growing his own produce or getting it from local farmers. Enormous sweet potatoes grow in his garden; he picks one up in his root cellar and says, “It’s almost the size of my baby.”
He objects to unregulated chemicals used overseas and thinks everyone should shop at The Root Cellar or local farmers’ markets. Soon Trey will do the same in his restaurant. And maybe one day his little chef will be cooking by his side.
BLACKENED CATFISH WITH PICO DE GALLO
A slightly spicy catfish pairs well with the citrus of a homemade salsa.
Servings: 2
Catfish:
2 catfish fillets
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
2 ounces olive oil
Preparation:
1. Combine all seasonings and olive oil together in a mixing bowl.
2. Dredge the catfish fillets in mixture and grill until blackened.
Pico de Gallo:
3 plum tomatoes, diced
1 jalapeño, minced
1 lime, juiced
¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
8 ounces red onion, chopped
Preparation:
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Season with salt.
STUFFED BANANAS
It’s hard to be healthy all the time, but this fruit-based dessert uses some of Columbia’s nutritious locally made products.
Servings: 5
Ingredients:
5 bananas
½ cup marshmallow fluff
¼ cup Nutella spread
50 grams (1.76 ounces) Patric Chocolate
1 pint Sparky’s vanilla ice cream
Preparation:
1. Cut each banana in half (width-wise, so the peel stays intact).
2. Squeeze out banana into a medium-sized bowl.
3. Add marshmallow fluff, Nutella and chocolate to banana. Mash together.
4. Re-stuff the banana peels, and seal off the ends with aluminum foil.
5. Place bananas on the grill using low heat.
6. Flip the bananas every two minutes. Remove after eight minutes.
7. Scoop a spoon of ice cream into a bowl, and place the stuffed banana halves (foil removed) on top.
