Chef ropes in great taste

Zac Culbertson will be the very first to tell you that he is not a trained cook. Yet this young, ambitious guy, who is the chef at Arlington’s funky Cowboy Café — a neighborhood landmark that has undergone a family-friendly transition from hangout to casual destination — is no slouch in the kitchen. Anyone who has eaten one of his pork quesadillas and smoked pork burritos stuffed with poblano chiles and grilled onions will agree: this guy can cook.

His kitchen skills may derive in large part from his childhood, much of which he spent at large family gathering in New Orleans, watching family members cook up traditional Cajun dishes, such as gumbos, crab boils, pig roasts, fish fries and homemade sausages and ice creams.

“Cooking was the most important part of our family gatherings,” says Culbertson. “For me, food is always attached to family. My granddad taught my mom to cook, and that’s where it all started. He even let me season food. And as a kid, my brother (who is now his business partner in the restaurant) and I would cook dinners.”

And because his military father was stationed in Europe, Culbertson got an early appreciation for and taste of classic cooking styles. “I was a military brat,” he says, “so I traveled a lot in Europe and in Florida. É I started in restaurants as a dishwasher and then a waiter,” adding that after college, he started working for the local Great American Restaurant Group.

He and his brother eventually ended up working for the Cowboy Café, the brother as bartender and Culbertson himself as the cook. When they took over as owners, Culbertson explains that they kept the old name.

“We didn’t want to start from scratch because it had great name recognition,” he says. “It’s been here since 1991, and then before that the restaurant might have been a clam shack. But we have gentrified this; we shut it down and spiffed it up. When we reopened, the paint was still wet.”

But the brothers have made other significant changes as well. Culbertson has taken his carving knife to the menu, and trimmed it down, leaving in the staples and his almost-endless hamburger choices, but upscaling the dishes and including more daily specials. His cooking tends to include Southern-inspired dishes from his childhood and Latino favorites, such as empanadas, pork pibil, and jerk chicken.

And his gumbo is an adaptation of a family recipe, and he even has developed a signature dish, the shrimp and grits.

“I have eaten this elsewhere,” he says, “and there was never enough heat, and the grits were not right. I am proud to serve this to people. It is just a great dish.”

Culbertson is also proud that he smokes all his own meats, from the hearty Texas brisket that goes into the sandwiches and platter to the house-made sausages.

“I have perfected the smoking,” he says, “and that means not too much wood. I keep the smoker clean for the ribs coated with our special rub.”

While its bar and beer selections still hold a prominent place, the obvious changes add up to Cowboy Café’s new allure for young families, who want a casual neighborhood place to bring the kids for a great burger and a burrito or two. Yet the café still draws in the 20-somethings for the sportscasts and late-night live music. Looks like the brothers have covered all their bases.

Q&A with Chef Zac Culbertson

Do you cook at home?

Oh, yes. Last night I roasted bell peppers for pasta. I make a lot of crawfish stuff lately, specifically, Creole pasta, red beans and rice with tasso ham, grilled vegetables, and home-made mac n’ cheese.

What’s your comfort food?

Italian food, such as spaghetti and meatballs. This is what mom made for us as kids. And sausage and peppers with home-made marinara.

How do you characterize your cooking?

I’m a comfort-food cook, schooled as I went along. I can do some things really well, but I am weak on plating. I try to garnish a plate, and I don’t see a work of art. But the food is tasty, fresh and made from scratch. É I concentrate on Southern food. I often cook with bacon fat.

Which are your favorite restaurants?

Zaytinya, The Inn at Little Washington, CityZen, Acadiana and Vidalia.

What has been your luckiest moment in the kitchen?

Getting to work with my mentor, and coming from a Cajun/Creole background. From that culture, you are going to know how to cook. My family name is “Mouton” and they are compiling a Mouton cookbook.

From the Chef’s Kitchen

Caribbean Meat Pies

Makes about 20 pieces

2 Tbsp vegetable oil plus extra for deep-frying

1 pound ground beef

1 Tbsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cayenne

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

4 plum tomatoes, diced

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 sweet bell pepper, finely chopped

1 jalape–o, finely chopped

1 tsp dried thyme

4 bay leaves

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 bunch scallions, green and white parts thinly sliced

5 dashes hot sauce

1 recipe for 2-crust pie dough or 2 tubes store-bought pie dough, rolled more thinly

1 egg, beaten

1. Heat the 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add the meat, salt, paprika, cayenne, chili powder, cumin, white pepper, and black pepper. Stir together, and cook until the meat browns.

2. Add the tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, jalape–o, dried thyme, and bay leaves, and cook till the vegetables soften, about 10 minutes

3. Dust the flour over the meat, and stir well; add 2 tablespoons water, and cook until it thickens. Stir in scallions and hot sauce, and transfer the mixture to a baking dish to cool in the refrigerator.

4. Meanwhile, roll out the pie dough on a lightly floured surface till 1/4-inch thick. Use a four-inch-round cookie cutter, and cut out rounds of dough. Spoon some meat mixture on to each dough round. Brush egg wash around the edges of dough round, and fold in half over the meat mixture. Seal the edges with your finger or a fork, pressing gently on the edges. Refrigerate meat pies for 30 minutes, or until the dough has firmed up.

5. Heat about 3 cups extra oil to 350 degrees. Fry each pie till golden. Serve with hot sauce.