You wouldn’t think that a San Diego chef would have the audacity to feature tomatoes in winter, but one of the featured appetizers developed by Aidan Owens, the 26-year-old executive chef of Encinitas’ Herb & Sea, is his Winter Sumac Tomatoes. Once he explains their provenance, though, it makes sense.
“We have a lot of people who come to our back door with different products, and this lady — Jennifer Dassi, who grows tomatoes down the street — brought some,” he recounted. “I told her, ‘Look, it’s winter. We don’t need tomatoes in winter.’ But she asked me to try one and these were ripe and beautiful, and I was shocked. She’s growing them in hothouses in coconut husks. So, I wanted to do a dish with them.” Vegetable Cooler
It’s no surprise that Owens is drawn to home-grown produce by small urban farmers. He was raised on a little farm in Byron Bay, Australia, a small hippie beachside town in New South Wales. Owens’ mom was a naturalist, cooking only natural foods.
“We would never go and buy prepackaged foods,” he explained. “She was very intense about that. I started cooking really young, learning from her through osmosis. And I was lucky enough to be kind of immersed into a lot of other families. There was a Chinese family and a Vietnamese family and a Samoan family who I would stay with a lot.”
Owens left Australia at age 17 for San Francisco, getting a job at a pizza shop while attending community college. He then immersed himself in other restaurant kitchens as a cook before moving first to Los Angeles, which he didn’t like, before landing in San Diego to “be back to beaches and people who were nice.” Once here, he got a job at Kettner Exchange and then The Lion’s Share. He opened seven restaurants with Empress Restaurant Group, serving as what is called a “traveling sous chef” — all by the age of 20.
“It was really difficult,” Owens recalled. “I just didn’t want all that responsibility. I wanted to come in and make the food taste good. So, I bounced around and worked in a bunch of different spots.”
Eventually he met Brad Wise of Trust Restaurant Group and went to work for him, becoming the chef at Trust at age 24.
“It was the craziest time of my life. But it was really cool and really fun,” Owens said. “It taught me way more than I could ever imagine. I had to find a sous chef and teach myself the restaurant because Brad was off opening all these other restaurants.”
Once he trained his sous chef well enough so that he could be the chef, Owens was ready for a new challenge and left to join Puffer Malarkey Collective as chef at Herb & Sea. That was last August. Now Owens is putting down roots, enjoying the idea that the ownership is welcome to change.
The restaurant’s menu is filled with complex flavors, but Owens insists he still has a very simplistic view of food. Yet having worked in so many kitchens, he was encouraged by the chefs he worked for over the years to punch things up, adding different elements, like sauces or pickles. Over the years, he’s developed his own style that, yes, adds depth to a dish but still showcases the main ingredient. Like those tomatoes.
The tomatoes are part of a trifecta of elements. Owens loves sumac and developed a sumac vinaigrette that also includes lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and white balsamic vinegar to marinate the tomatoes, which he slices in half. They only need about 40 minutes in the vinaigrette. That’s enough time to prep his muhammara, a classic Middle Eastern dip featuring red bell peppers and walnuts that delivers a mix of flavors — sweetness and savoriness, along with some smoke and heat.
Toast the walnuts, of course, to bring out their flavor, and roast the red bell peppers until the skin is slightly burnt. But don’t peel off that skin, said Owens. That contributes to the dip’s smoky flavor. Owens also includes olive oil, paprika, cumin, tomato paste, salt and Aleppo pepper, a Turkish spice that benefits from briefly toasting on a pan before adding to the rest of the ingredients. All the ingredients are pureed until smooth.
Once the muhammara is completed, spread it on a plate and place the marinated tomatoes on top. Then garnish with cilantro, mint, dill and sesame seeds. Be sure to scoop up the tomatoes and muhammara together for each bite, whether it’s with a fork or pita chips.
The tomato dish complements one of Owens’ other passions: seafood. Having been raised near the ocean, he was well versed in cooking seafood and grew up learning how to break down fish. He also learned how to break down land animals and his approach to both is similar.
For instance, his Grilled Swordfish recipe could be translated to grilled pork medallion. Here he brines 2 pounds of swordfish loin that he’s trimmed into medallions — although you could keep them as steaks. They soak in a simple brine of water, salt and sugar for 24 to 48 hours.
“I think a lot of people have a hard time cooking fish because they’re worried it will dry out,” said Owens. “What brining does is give you that extra couple of minutes where it’ll stay moist while you’re cooking it.”
To accompany the swordfish, he makes a rich jalapeño yogurt and pickled sumac onions. Full-fat Greek yogurt is whisked together with a puree of seeded, roasted jalapeños (yes, including the skin), fresh dill and garlic.
The pickled sumac onions are a breeze to make but require starting the day before making the dish so they have time to reach full flavor. Simply slice a peeled red onion and place into a clean 32-ounce Mason jar. Then boil together rice wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, water and ground sumac. Strain and pour over the onions. Marinate the onions overnight in the fridge, then take them out before making the full dish so you can serve them at room temperature.
Once the swordfish is brined, pat the pieces dry and grill or cook on the stove until it reach an internal temperature of 155 degrees. Let it rest for five minutes. During that time slice half a tart Granny Smith apple and squeeze lemon juice over the slices to keep them from turning brown.
To put the dish together, spread the jalapeño yogurt on a plate. Owens treats the swordfish like a steak, so slice each swordfish medallion or steak and set them together upright on the yogurt. Then insert a slice of apple between the slices of swordfish. Top with the picked red onions and cilantro sprigs. Both the apple and the pickled onions add texture, but also a tartness and vinegar flavor that complements the deeper flavors of the brined swordfish and the richness of the yogurt.
One of my favorite dishes at Herb & Sea is Owens’ Sweet Glazed Seabass Collars. They’re rich and gooey, and fun to eat. Think of these like chicken wings. The dish reflects Owens’ ethos of trying to use as much of an animal as possible. And lucky for home cooks, fish collars, which you can find at a fish market, tend to be reasonably priced. Make these for a gathering when you don’t mind getting your hands dirty (of course, you can always use a knife and fork, but where’s the fun in that?).
There are two components to this dish: the collars and Owens’ wing glaze. Make the glaze first. Owens starts with chicken bone broth that he cooks over high heat to reduce. Then he adds Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce, a variety of pickled peppers and onions — think pickled peppadews, pickled jalapeños and pickled cocktail onions — along with butter and salt. Stir until the sauce comes together, then set aside.
For the collars you’ll first sear them and then add the sauce and finish them in a high-heat oven. So, take the collars out of the fridge to come to room temperature. Then heat the oven to 450 degrees. Trim any bloodlines from the collars. Once the collars are ready to cook, add a neutral cooking oil to an oven-safe pan over high heat. Place the collars skin-side down and sear them until the skin is golden and crispy. Then flip them, add the sauce to the pan and place the pan in the oven. Roast for 12 minutes, stirring periodically to keep the sauce from burning.
Once cooked, remove them from the oven and transfer the collars and that luscious sauce to a plate, then top with chives, lime juice and sesame seeds.
Makes 1 serving as main course or up to 3 sharing
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Make the vinaigrette: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Combine the tomatoes with vinaigrette in a small dish to marinate at room temperature while preparing the rest of the dish, about 40 minutes. Set aside.
3. Make the muhammara: Place 2 red bell peppers on a baking sheet and char until the outer layer is slightly burnt.
4. Add bell peppers to bowl of a food processor with toasted walnuts, olive oil, paprika, cumin, Aleppo pepper, salt and tomato paste. Blend until smooth.
5. Spread the muhammara on a small plate and place the marinated tomatoes on top. Garnish with cilantro, mint, dill and sesame seeds. Optional to enjoy with pita chips.
Be sure to make the accompanying pickled sumac onions the day before you plan on serving this dish to give them time to fully develop their flavor.
1. In a large container, mix water, salt, and sugar to create a brine. Place the swordfish in the container to brine in the refrigerator for between 24 and 48 hours.
2. Before prepping dish, squeeze lemon juice over apple slices. Set aside.
3. Remove swordfish from the brine and pat dry. Season both sides of the swordfish with salt, pepper, and sumac.
4. Place the swordfish on the grill and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees. Optional to use a sauté pan to cook instead. Let the swordfish rest for 5 minutes.
5. To serve, spread jalapeño yogurt on a plate. Slice each steak and place on the yogurt, inserting a slice of apple between each slice. Top with pickled red onions, and cilantro.
1. Preheat the oven to broil.
2. Cut and seed jalapeños and place them on a baking sheet in the oven for one minute, until heavily charred.
3. In a food processor, add jalapeños, lemon juice, dill, and garlic clove. Blend until smooth.
4. In a mixing bowl, add yogurt and whisk in the blended jalapeño mixture until fully incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste.
These need to be prepped the day before to serve with the swordfish.
1. Slice the red onion and put it in a 32-ounce mason jar.
3. Strain and pour over the onions. Marinate the red onions overnight in the fridge.
2. Trim the collars to remove any bloody areas. Set the collars aside to let them get to room temperature. This will help in the cooking process.
3. Meanwhile, make the glaze by placing the chicken bone broth in a pot on high heat and reduce for 20 minutes. Add sweet chili sauce, pickled peppers and onions, butter and salt. Stir until incorporated and add more salt to taste. Set aside.
4. Coat an oven-safe pan with cooking oil on high heat and sear collars skin-side down until browned and crisp.
6. Flip the collars and add sauce in the pan. Immediately place in the oven. Roast in the oven for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the sauce isn’t burning.
6. Remove from the oven and transfer the collars to a plate.
7. Top with chives, lime juice and sesame seeds.
Golden is a San Diego freelance food writer and blogger.
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