Chef Joe Machado has been working in the restaurant industry for 30 years. He began in Rhode Island, where he owned his own restaurant called Valentino’s. When he tired of working nights and decided he wanted a lifestyle change, he moved to Leesburg with his wife and kids.
“I wanted to retire young,” he says.
That lasted for about a year before he started working with Boston Lobster Feast at its original location on Orange Blossom Trail. Now he has been with the company for nine years and currently works in the Bar Harbor Seafood kitchen five days a week, sometimes six depending on the season. Machado is the mastermind behind Bar Harbor Seafood’s lunch menu and lunch specials, creating dishes on the fly based off of what is in supply at the wholesale market.
Machado’s Seafood Diablo includes a little bit of everything from the market. Of course, if items like the red snapper are not available, you can substitute any fresh fish you would like.
Seafood Diablo
Ingredients:
3 oz. olive Oil
1 tbsp. Chopped Garlic
Pinch Black Pepper
Pinch Crushed Red Pepper
Pinch Salt
½ oz. Hot Sauce
3 Basil Leaves
Chopped Parsley
4 oz. White Wine
4 oz. Red Wine
4 oz. Clam Broth
4 ea. Hard Clam (Littleneck or Middleneck)
4 ea. Mussels
2 ea. Sea Scallops
2 ea. Large Shrimp
2 oz. Red Snapper
1 oz. Lobster Meat
4 oz. Long Pasta
4 oz. Marinara Sauce
Directions:
Heat sauté pan over high heat on the stove. Add oil, garlic. Parsley, basil, black pepper and red pepper. Then add clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, snapper, and lobster meat and cook for 3 minutes. Add your wines, broth and marinara and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add your cooked pasta and serve.