by Lauren Kent

photos By Javier Herrera

 

Some may wish to paint the town red, but Chef Blythe Beck of Hotel Palomar’s Central 214 is determined to coat the walls of the boys club that is Dallas executive chefs a pretty, pretty pink. “Dean Fearing, Stephan Pyles, Kent Rathbun—they’ve all been incredibly receptive,” says Beck of her entry onto the Dallas food scene, starting at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. “But I’m focused on total world culinary domination. So please, move over.” Beck is all character, with her fiery red hair, pink chef pants and glittering pink Converse sneakers. Her passion for her self-proclaimed “naughty” style of cooking is evident in every dish she creates, from her bacon succotash to her beer-smoked brisket (when she started at Central 214 a year and a half ago, she immediately added an extra fryer and petitioned for a smoker.) With a stint in the spotlight on Oxygen’s “The Naughty Kitchen with Chef Blythe Beck,” which spoke volumes not only on her culinary tacticts but her cheeky and often brazen personality, Beck hasn’t let the fame go to her head as much as motivate her toward a higher purpose. The new goal: be on the road in a giant pink bus, touring the kitchens of her fans whom she dubs the Naughty Army. “Everybody’s got a dirty food secret,” she says. “I want to be a part of that. I want to know what your grandma taught you how to make.”

  

 

 

3 fresh Diver Scallops

4 Tbsp fresh corn

4 Tbsp fresh peas

2 Tbsp diced bacon

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp chopped shallots

3 Tbsp white wine

3 Tbsp heavy cream

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

Kosher salt

Canola oil

 

 In sauté pan melt butter. Add garlic and toast lightly. Add shallots. Add bacon and allow to render. Fold in corn and peas. Season with salt. Deglaze with white wine. Allow wine to cook off. Pour in cream. Allow to reduce. While cream is reducing; begin heating a new sauté pan. Pour in Canola oil. Season scallops on both sides with salt and sear on both sides for 1.5 minutes.

 

 In a large bowl place your succotash on bottom, then place scallops on top. Enjoy!

 

 

 

1 whole brisket

2 cans of your favorite beer

3 Tbsp bacon

3 Tbsp diced shallots

1 tsp diced garlic

¼ cup malt vinegar

¼ cup water

2 Tbsp corn starch

¼ cup brown sugar

1-2 lbs fingerling potatoes

Kosher salt

Cracked black pepper

 

Heavily season brisket with salt and pepper. Place brisket in smoker on low (225-250) for 8 hours. Pour beer into bowl or container suitable for smoker. Place underneath brisket. Flip brisket half way through cooking time. HINT: remember to allow your brisket to rest out of the heat for 10-15 minutes.

 

In sauce pot, cook bacon and render fat. While bacon is cooking, in a separate container, mix vinegar, water, corn starch, and brown sugar. When bacon is ¾ cooked, add shallots and cook until they begin to brown. Add garlic. Combine liquid mixture to bacon mixture. Allow to come to a boil until thick. Stir often to incorporate ingredients and prevent sticking. Fold in roasted halved fingerling potatoes. HINT: you can roast potatoes a couple of days before you need the salad. When roasting make sure to season with salt and pepper.

 

Slice brisket against the grain. Place potato salad on plate and enjoy!

 

 

2 lbs julienne rhubarb

10 oz caster sugar

3 drops red dye

¼ cup of melted butter

15 strawberries hulled and diced

1 lb cake flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 lb and 8 oz sugar

1 lb and 8 oz butter

½ sour cream

12 eggs

4 tsp vanilla extract

 

 Rinse and julienne rhubarb. Place butter in roasting pan and melt. Swirl butter to completely coat pan. In a small mixing bowl, mix caster sugar and red dye. Sprinkle mixture covering the bottom of the pan. Place rhubarb at an angle in pan, covering the whole bottom of the pan. Sift together dry ingredients into electric mixing bowl. Add butter and  half the sour cream. Mix for 90 seconds. In another bowl blend remaining sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly add in flour. Add diced strawberries to mixture, then bake at 300 degrees until golden brown. Demold immediately.  Enjoy!