Vinny Dotolo, Clearwater: On the cover of Food & Wine

Forget Rolling Stone. Vinny Dotolo, Clearwater native and graduate of Countryside High School, has made it to the cover of Food & Wine magazine. He and cooking partner Jon Shook have been named by the magazine as two of the best new chefs of 2009. (None of the chefs named cook in Florida. Bummer.) Vinny is the one wearing the red bandanna and sleeve tattoo in this photo.

The duo run Animal, a "meat-centric" restaurant in Los Angeles that has "made L.A. excited to eat fried chicken livers." Hard to believe in a land that is populated by people painfully worried about saturated fat (or any fat at all) that the celebs are eating chicken livers. Must be the behind-the-scenes folks.

Shook is also from Florida, and the two made a name for themselves as caterers in Los Angeles who got noticed by the Food Network. They met in the culinary program at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. A 2008 cookbook, Two Dudes, One Pan: Maximum Flavors from a Minimalist Kitchen (Potter, $24.95) got a lot of attention, Next time you're at the book store, check it out.

I am sharing the Fried Chicken Liver, Bacon and Tomato Salad that the two dudes contributed to Food & Wine. I am guessing us Stir Crazy folks would never make it (though a shortcut would be to buy the ranch dressing) but I'd love to try it at Animal. Here's my secret shame: I like liver.

Fried Chicken Liver, Bacon and Tomato Salad with Ranch Dressing

Pickled red onion:
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
Ranch dressing:
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon snipped chives
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Salad:
6 slices of thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon (6 ounces)
3 cups self-rising flour (see Note)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound chicken livers, trimmed and rinsed
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
Vegetable oil, for frying
3/4 pound heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup whole flat-leaf parsley leaves
4 tender celery ribs, thinly sliced on the bias, leaves reserved

Make the pickled red onion: Put the sliced red onion in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the red wine vinegar with the sugar over moderately high heat until just beginning to simmer and the sugar is dissolved. Pour the hot vinegar over the sliced red onion and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 teaspoons of the onion pickling liquid.

Meanwhile, make the ranch dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk all of the ingredients together and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate.

Assemble the salad: In a large skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat until crisp, about 10 minutes; drain on paper towels. Cut each piece of bacon in half.

In a large bowl, mix the flour with the garlic powder, cayenne, onion powder, smoked paprika, 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

In a medium bowl, soak the chicken livers in 1 cup of the buttermilk for 10 minutes, then drain. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk to the bowl. Dredge the chicken livers in the seasoned flour until coated, then redip the chicken livers in the buttermilk and dredge again in the flour to double-coat.
In a large, deep skillet, heat 1/2 inch of vegetable oil to 325 degrees. Fry the livers until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Drain the chicken livers on paper towels and immediately season with salt.

In a bowl, toss the tomatoes, parsley and celery ribs and leaves. Add the pickled onion and the reserved 1 1/2 teaspoons of pickling liquid. Spoon the ranch dressing onto plates. Top with the tomato salad, chicken livers and bacon and serve at once.

Source: Vinny Dotolo/Jon Shook

Vinny/Jon photo from www.lacountyarts.org and food photo from Food & Wine.