Cowen celebrates his place at Legal Sea Foods at Park Square, and recipe for Mascarpone Oysters

by Sandra Miller
Back Bay Sun

Chris Cowen, the chef at the Park Square Legal Sea Foods, started cooking at an early age growing up in Rhode Island. “My mom, grandmother and uncle in particular were great role models in the kitchen,” said Cowen. “My family’s Italian-Polish background set the foundation for wonderful meals and a good understanding of the principles of flavor, food combinations, and
presentation.”
Cowen got jobs in local restaurants, and while attending Johnson & Wales University he started working at Legal in Warwick.
“For years, my birthday treat was enjoying a meal at one of Legal’s Massachusetts restaurants,” recalled Cowen. “Then, when my father noticed that the company had opened a Warwick unit, that was my ticket to a job as well.”
By the time Cowen graduated from school, he was a Legal kitchen manager, and took many jobs at Legals, including opening stores in Baltimore, New York, and the Long Wharf and Park Square spots in Boston.
Eventually, he served as chef at Bethesda , Md., before moving to his current ‘home’ store at Legal’s downtown flagship Park Square. As area chef, he oversees not only Park Square but also the Charles Square unit in Cambridge and Legal Test Kitchen in the Seaport District.
Along the way, Cowen has made a few interesting detours. He represented Legal Sea Foods at a Food & Fun Festival in Iceland some years ago, cooked at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City, and he
worked at demonstration kitchens at the PGA golf tournament.
He ended up befriending Dave Matthews, and sometimes is the rock star’s traveling personal chef. “The guys love Legal Sea Foods and always stop by the restaurant when they’re performing on tour,” he said. “Sometimes I tag along for a week or so to cook….”
Cowen, 31, prefers to live in rural Hudson, NH, and loves the long daily commute to catch up with phone work.
He describes the Park Square clientele as sophisticated, global, and accustomed to the best. “We get theater people, hotel guests, world travelers,” said Cowen. But he said working with fish that’s gone through the quality control process makes his job really easy. “All I have to do is cook what our kitchen receives,” Cowen said. “That’s a huge advantage over other restaurant groups.”

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Cowen will be teaching “The Delicate Pairing of Lobster and Wine” at the Boston Wine Expo this Sunday. He joins noted wine expert Sandy Block to help expand the range of wines enjoyable with luxurious lobster through the use of creative culinary seasonings. For more Information, go to http://www.wine-expos.com/Wine/Boston.
He’ll also be doing an oyster and wine tutorial with WBUR donors at an event.

MASCARPONE BAKED OYSTERS

This oyster is not on Legal’s menu until Valentine’s Day. If you’d like to make this for your Valentine, be sure to find the freshest oysters.
Legals is known for quality control, holding onto oyster bag tags for 90 days instead of the usual 30-60 days, and testing the oysters in batches. They quarantine the shellfish for a day to make sure it’s “legal,” and then send it onto the stores. For his oysters, he used Saddlerock NY/NJ oysters, which were sharp but able to stand up to the baking. Cowen doesn’t recommend Pacific oysers, or oysters with a shallow cup. You want an oyster that can hold the topping.
When you buy the oysters, Cowen said to be very concerned with contamination. Don’t keep it lingering in the fridge for more than two days, and make an effort to avoid cross-contamination by placing it in a perforated pan, not in ice or water, which can stagnate. And don’t place it near fruit.
Of course, Cowen recommends buying your oysters from The Chestnut Hill Legal’s market, which sells them in a gel pac for home.
And FYI, Legals is running an oyster special at Legal Sea Foods in Copley Place, Long Wharf, Kendall Square, Charles Square, Framingham and Warwick -- between 3-6pm enjoy a half-dozen oysters for only $6.


Ingredients:

6 ea shucked Cape Cod oysters
6 T mascarpone topping:
6 T pine nut crust
1 ea lemon wedge


PINE NUT CRUST

1 pound pine nuts (toasted until golden)
1 quart panko crumbs
Blend in food processor just until combined, do not over-blend.

Mascarpone Topping
16 ounces mascarpone cheese
6 ounces choriszo
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Mix to taste; this topping mixture can be used in many other applications, which is why Cowen suggested making a big batch.


Preparation Method:

Step 1. Shuck oysters. Wearing stiff gloves, insert an oyster knife into the joint of the shell, going in and then upward, to pry it open. “It has a kick to it,” said Cowen. “If you aggravate it, it will tense up.” Then gently slice muscle at top of shell to separate oyster from shell.
Step 2. For this recipe, discard the oyster’s liquid – this liquor would be good in an oyster stew, if you wanted to save it, said Cowen. If there’s no liquor, throw out the oyster. If it’s too sandy, throw those oysters out, too. It’s best to buy more oysters than you need.
Step 3. Top each shucked oyster with 1 tablespoon of mascarpone topping.
Step 4. Then top each oyster with 1 tablespoon pine nut crust.
Step 5. Place oysters, hinge side in, on a oven-safe plate thickly lined with pretzel or other heavy salt. This will keep the oysters from sliding, and is visually appealing for presentation. It’s also a good insulator to keep the oysters warm when they come out of the oven.
Step 6. Bake until golden brown about 7-9 minutes. Do not over cook or the mascarpone topping will break.
Step 7. Remove from oven and place on a dinner plate. Garnish with lemon wedge and cocktail fork.
Step 8. The chef recommends a nice Chablis, such as Joseph Drouhin.