Bostaph expanding choices at Café on 26
The Café on 26 in Ocean View has undergone a few changes. One of the former owners, Cathy Berzins, has struck out on her own to develop her own line of gluten-free food products. Maria Fraser is now sole proprietor and has promoted Jason Bostaph to executive chef.
Special to the Coastal Point • Marie Cook
Jason Bostaph, executive chef of The Café on 26, shares some of his favorite recipes with the Coastal Point’s food columnist Marie Cook.
The mother in me tells you that Jason is a fine young man, and a hard worker. He was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pa., and moved here in 1995 with his family, when his father took a position at Beebe Medical Center in Lewes.
Jason has been cooking since he was a young boy.
“As soon as I was big enough to push a chair up to the counter, I began to cook,” he said. “My grandmother was always making jams and pies, and my mother makes the best bread in the world. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been elbow deep in dough.”
Jason is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute in Pittsburgh.
“I’m constantly learning,” he said. “I love to look at what is available locally and in season, and turn it into simple, fresh dishes that I can make at home or in a restaurant.”
Jason is also expanding the café’s menu to take advantage of excellent local seafood.
Although he is proud of where he is today as a chef, his greatest triumph came at the age of 10. As children, he and his cousin, Josh, spent a great deal of time outdoors, often in the nearby woods. One day they built a fort and a camp fire.
“My Aunt Diana was nice enough to let us ruin a few of her pots and pans, and we created a feast,” he said.
The menu was boiled crawfish, roasted frog legs and fresh dandelion leaves tossed with hand-picked blackberries and served with birch/elderberry tea.
“It was the very first complete meal I cooked by myself without adult supervision,” Jason said, “and, to this day, I know that was the defining moment when I realized that I loved to cook and that I would pursue that whenever possible.”
If I may say: I have my own memories of campfire meals, and that combination isn’t one of them! To each his own, right?
This is Jason’s third season at the Café on 26. Before that, he worked for five years at the Bluewater Grill in Millsboro and also worked with Matt Haley to open “the late, great Catch 54” near Fenwick Island, which is now undergoing reconstruction after the devastating fire there last year.
The Café on 26 still plans to offer its full menu with gluten-free options.
“The difference,” Jason added, “is that I don’t want to limit the menu to just gluten-free. I want the entire menu to be offered both ways.”
For those who worry about cross-contamination of gluten into the gluten-free products, Jason is quick to set their minds at ease.
“Cross-contamination is always at the forefront of my concern,” he said. “I wouldn’t boil green beans in the same pot as shrimp, and I wouldn’t slice a tomato with the same knife as raw chicken, just as I wouldn’t toast a piece of gluten-free bread in the same toaster as regular bread. If you think of it like that, there’s no reason why we can’t cater to both groups of customers.”
As I mentioned earlier, Jason is a hard worker. He also works as chef and wedding caterer at the Addy Sea Bed & Breakfast in Bethany Beach. He is fortunate that his girlfriend, Tiffany, also works at the Addy Sea, so he not only gets to work with her, but they coordinate their days off together to maintain a healthy balance of work and play. Jason’s family – parents and four younger brothers – live nearby, and he enjoys spending time with them, as well.
Jason’s idea of the perfect menu for a dinner party: “Ideally, it would be warm and sunny so I could grill outside. Like me, most of my friends are beer geeks, and Delaware happens to have the best microbrewery in America – Dogfish Head. So my perfect dinner party would be grilled pork tenderloin, kielbasa boiled in beer and then grilled with peppers and onions. Accompany that with some homemade salsa and chips, fresh-cut cantaloupe and a few choice brews, and I am a happy, happy man.”
Uh, what time is dinner, Jason? That sounds 100 percent better than your campfire meal.
The Café on 26 is located at 84 Atlantic Avenue in Ocean View. For reservations, call (302) 539-Café (2233). Winter hours are: closed Monday and Tuesday; open for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Saturday, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner; and open from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Sunday for brunch (closed Sunday evening).
According to Jason, Leroy Gravatte – owner of the Addy Sea – is a “Snickerdoodle aficionado.” Last summer, Jason experimented to come up with the best Snickerdoodle recipe.
“Now I have to mail them to Leroy in Florida, where he spends winters.”
Snickerdoodles
Ingredients:
? 2 cups granulated sugar
? 2 eggs
? 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
? 2 sticks butter, softened, room temperature
? 3 cups all-purpose flour
? 1 teaspoon baking powder
? 1 teaspoon baking soda
? 1/2 cup sugar
? 1/4 cup cinnamon
Method for Snickerdoodles:
In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the sugar, eggs, vanilla and butter until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda; then add to the wet ingredients and blend until dough forms. Refrigerate dough for one hour.
Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup cinnamon in a medium-size mixing bowl and whisk together.
After one hour, form the dough into 1-inch balls; toss them into the cinnamon/sugar mixture and place them on a lightly oiled baking sheet.
Bake in a preheated 350-degree F. oven for 12 minutes. Yield: 40 to 60 doodles, depending on size.
Angel Cakes
(Best Pancakes Ever!)
Ingredients:
? 2 cups buttermilk
? 2 eggs
? 1 tablespoon vanilla
? 1/2 cup butter, melted
? 2 cups all-purpose flour
? 2 teaspoons baking powder
? 1 teaspoon baking soda
? 1/2 teaspoon salt
? 3/4 cup granulated sugar
? 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Method for Angel Cakes:
In a medium-size bowl, mix buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and melted butter.
In a larger bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and cinnamon.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. On an oiled electric flat-top griddle or a sauté pan, on low heat, pour about 2 ounces of batter. Wait for small bubbles to form and then flip the angel cakes. Continue cooking until done (approximately 4 minutes total). Yield: 12 cakes.
Old Bay Roasted Chicken
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Ingredients:
? 1 whole chicken (3 to 5 pounds); giblets removed
? 1/2 cup mayonnaise
? 1/4 cup Old Bay Seasoning
? 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
Method for Old Bay Roasted Chicken:
Mix Old Bay Seasoning and mayonnaise. Lightly rub the mixture over the entire surface of the chicken, making sure to get under the skin whenever possible. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the rosemary sprigs and place the chicken in a baking dish. Bake uncovered for 1-1/2 hours, to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Let the chicken rest for 15 to 20 minutes before slicing.
Salmon En Papillote
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Ingredients:
? 1 piece heavy-duty parchment paper (about 1-1/2 by 2-1/2 feet)
? 1 8-ounce piece of fresh salmon
? 1/2 teaspoon Montreal Steak Seasoning (Trust me!)
? 1 tablespoon butter
? 1 bay leaf
? 1/2 fresh lemon, cut into 2 wedges
? 1 sprig fresh dill
Method for Salmon en Papillote:
Fold the parchment paper in half like a book. Draw a large half-heart on the paper (using as much of the paper as possible) with the fold of the paper being the center of the heart. Cut out heart and open. Place the piece of salmon on the right side of the heart next to the crease. Sprinkle Montreal Steak Seasoning on the salmon; place the pat of butter in the center of the salmon and stack the bay leaf, 1 lemon wedge and the sprig of dill on top of the butter. Fold the blank side of the parchment over the fish and starting at the top of the heart shape, fold up both edges of parchment, overlapping folds as you move along. Once you reach the end tip, twist several times to secure tightly.
Place the wrapped fish on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.
Remove from the oven and tear open the parchment. Remove bay leaf, lemon and dill sprig. Squeeze the remaining lemon wedge over the fish and serve straight from the bag. Yield: 2 servings.
(Editor’s note: If you have recipes to share, or recipes you want, contact Marie Cook, Coastal Point, P.O. Box 1324, Ocean View, DE 19970; or by email at ChefMarieCook@gmail.com. Please include your phone number. Recipes in this column are not tested by the Coastal Point.)
